Preparations for the Poetry Conference

I woke up today to yet more rain, so I wore my jeans today, with my cardigan and sweater tank, and put on a scarf. My breakfast of cereal and currants was quite tasty while I waited for Petra to return from her morning walk with Alegra. As soon as she was ready, we were off and had our morning chat on the way to her shop. She told me that she had gotten a parking ticket yesterday and a speeding ticket the day before, but she didn't mind too much, since the police officer was cute. She explained to me that parking and minor speeding tickets don't require much paperwork on the part of the driver, just pay the fee and you're off again. However, if it's excessive speeding or drinking and driving, then the fines are much steeper, and sometimes a license is revoked.

When I got to the library, I had to wait outside, since it wasn't quite 10:00 and the doors weren't open yet. When the doors were opened, I got settled in and began typing more of my paper. I was able to add some more resources today and solidify the criteria I need to use to evaluate the literature from an international perspective. Instead of eating at the library today, I opted to go with most of the group to McDonald's just down the street. The choice today for lunch was dumplings again, and I thought a salad would be better, since I haven't had as many veggies as I'm used to lately.

After lunch, I returned to my work and got some helpful feedback from Dr. Veltze. I'm hoping to use tomorrow morning to work on the science part of my unit and rough that out reasonably well. At the end of the workday, we all collected our things from the locker area and met outside for a group meeting. It seems that the library staff is convinced that our presence here at the library researching will show the politicians, who are coming for the morning portion of the conference tomorrow, that the funding that the government contributors provide for the library is well spent, since we are an international presence. We also met to find out what meals we'll have tomorrow and Friday as a part of the poetry conference and what some of our duties might be. Thankfully, we will have tomorrow morning, at least, to continue working on our papers (and I'll work on my unit plan). It will be exciting to see how this conference is run, to see the staff all dressed up (most of them will come in the traditional durndles (sp) and leiterhosen (sp)), and to experience the "fair-like" atmosphere that the staff has tried so hard to arrange in the courtyard of the castle. I should have some exciting pictures to post of the events tomorrow and Friday.

We left the library and traveled to Hoptbanhof, where the central station is for regional trains. We will leave from this station on Saturday morning to go to Salzburg for the weekend, and we'll return on Monday evening. (I realized another "green" feature of Germany--escalators. They don't run continually, but are triggered by someone stepping on the metal landing before the first step. Also, the revolving doors are not electronic, they are regular pus turn-style doors.) After we figured out how to get to this station and our meeting area, some of us went shopping. I tried to find a pair of tights to go with the shoes I found yesterday so that I could wear my skirts, but could only find pantyhose and leggings. So, Mary and I decided that we would go out tomorrow afternoon and try to find some things at H&M, since we didn't get there today.

After Mary and I left department store, we went back to the Hoptbanhof station, had a bratwurst on a baguette, and caught the S6 train back toward Tutzing. Mary got off at Pasing to catch her bus, and I came the rest of the way to Grafelfing. I walked home in the misty rain and was greeted by Alegra at the door. After putting my things down, I went downstairs to get a few things from the fridge and saw that the rabbits were in the livingroom (in their cage). So, I took their picture to post here. One is named Jimmy and I don't remember the other's name, but Petra said that they've lived longer than they have expected them to. I'm planning to work a bit more on my paper tonight and then just relax with a book and the radio. Hopefully, tomorrow, I will remember to take pictures of the lake, ducks, etc. at the library and can post those here.

By the way, I'm missing your comments! Please post any questions you have so that I can answer them for everyone. I'd like for this to be as interactive as possible.