Alpine Summer

The Paris Airport (( Charles De Gaulle )) was very nice. It was clean and modern, but once you commit to your gate, there's no where else you can go. Security does not let you back. It seemed like there was a lot of wasted space, but I get that feeling from a lot of "modern" buildings. I tried to use my cell phone, but all I could get was an automated voice yelling at me in French. Garbled French, so that I couldn't make out a single word. Finally, I found a pay-phone kiosk-thing and got one to work with my debit card. After a few minutes, I was able to receive a call in to my cell phone.

Boarding the plane was quick and easy. It was a much smaller plane and a much shorter flight. I got a window seat this time, and the seat beside me was empty. Instead of 3 rows of 3 seats, there were 2 rows of 3, labeled ABC DEF (( which makes more sense than in the other flight )).

















In the aisle seat of my section was a German lady named Ingrid. She spoke English very well and was eager to speak with me to tell me about Germany as well as ask about America. She was in America three times, from what I gathered; she took a business trip to New York City, honeymooned in Hawaii (( after stopping in San Francisco on the way there and Chicago on the way back )), and visited New Orleans, also for business. She knew about all the hurricane damage to New Orleans, but had many questions about whether people were moving back yet and if it was indeed below sea level. She inquired about why soccer is not very popular in America and came up with her own conclusion that Americans like to hold balls in sports games, and soccer does not allow it. Also, she knew that we have a "football" game, but didn't know anything about it. So I tried to describe it to her. She couldn't understand why it was called football when soccer is called futball elsewhere and you definitely use your feet more in it than American football.

She told me a lot about how Germans are educated. They go to start kindergarten at 3, attend first year at primary school at 6, and move to the high school at 10. They have 12 grades altogether (( not including kindergarten )), as opposed to 13 in France. She said that some schools in France cut back to 12 years but has lessons further into each afternoon; Germany used to have 13 years, but, when they cut back, did not add any time daily. She also complained about the manner in which children are taught English. They are not taught vocabulary and grammar rules, but phrases and sentences. Therefore, if someone asks them a question they've practiced in English, they're fine. But, if something unrehearsed comes up, they are unprepared because they do not know how to compose sentences on their own. This argument reminded me of Luke's complaints with his French classes. He is taught in the same way as the German children, whereas my Japanese instructor gives us vocabulary and reasons why things are the way they are in the language.

















I got to take a few pictures from the plane. Most of them look the same, but I was intrigued by the massive green areas. At some point, I could see the peaks of the first of the Alps on this side, but they didn't come out in the pictures.

The arrival at the airport was very smooth. Again, there was a very good landing. We only had to wait about 10 minutes before getting off the plane, and we were able to walk directly into the terminal. We didn't get a passport stamp at the Stuttgart airport either, but we didn't have to deal with any hassles over customs. Getting everyone's luggage took about 15 minutes, but then we walked out of the baggage claim and met Dr. Noll, ready for Schwäbisch Gmünd.