Back in Columbus

It was a long day yesterday. We took the #42 S-Bahn to Beusselstraße, then transferred to the TXL bus, which took us to Tegel Airport, where we went through security and questioning and then had a little breakfast and coffee before our eight-and-a-half-hour flight back to the U.S.

My seat partner was (remarkably--this is my third time in a row sitting next to an unknown academic on a cross-Atlantic flight) an English and Music professor at Fordham. He was reading a Conrad short story at the back of a copy of a Barnes & Noble edition of Heart of Darkness in preparation for an undergraduate English class on--get this!--narrative and modernist literature. Crazy coincidence. I can't wait to tell my adviser, who heard all about my previous encounter with a much less quiet professor of philosophy. Turns out Prof. K. teaches Kermode and Ricoeur and Peter Brooks, but it sounds like classical music is his true passion. Most of his research and scholarly activity is in music now. I should have talked to him about Dr. Renker's classes in nineteenth-century poetry and alternative music. He was quiet, so I didn't want to bother him too much, but we had a very enjoyable conversation before we both got back to our respective reading and movie-watching.

It's so nice to have your own personal TV screen on the seat back of the chair in front of you. I watched several episodes of House on this trip when I wasn't sleeping or reading about science studies in preparation for my upcoming class this fall (Global Studies in Science and Technology). What have I gotten myself into? I think ultimately I will teach it like a narrative theory class with an emphasis on how science uses narrative forms to present its research. Or something like that. Only three days left to prepare. Eek.

Ryan got searched at Newark, which was a little scary, but since we weren't smuggling drugs or farm animals, they let him go. After waiting through security again (I don't remember having to do this in Philly, but if I did, it was not nearly as annoying as the security at Newark). After a little more waiting, we finally got on our plane to Columbus, which was a quick 1.5-hour flight. Then our lovely neighbor and friend and catsitter-extraordinaire Nancy brought the Yanmobile to pick us up and we were finally safe and sound at home.

Kashka seems happy to have her people around, although we hear that she has a new boyfriend. Our upstairs neighbor, a wonderful guy named Dave, has been letting her inside his place to sleep at night. I just hope she'll decide to come around our place at night sometimes... Charliekat comes back this weekend from my parents' place. They are coming to Columbus to pick up a new piece of furniture, which my mom apparently found in the Columbus area. It's a very cool Heywood-Wakefield dresser, which I think means that my parents can finally get rid of the old, falling-apart dressers they inherited from my sister and I years ago. I'll post a picture later.

So, yes, the trip was a success. And we're happy to be back. We'll post more photos and notes after we catch up on some more sleep. Thanks for reading!