by Kirsten Sheppard, Director, CIE
Traveling to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, & Tajikistan
Aaahh Frankfurt International Airport...the waystation to the rest of the world. Not the prettiest airport. Not the most user-friendly. Not the most comfortable to wait 5 hours for your next flight. But it is filled with latte macchiatos and German chocolate so I suppose I shouldn't complain too much!
It does seem as though you could fly pretty much anywhere in the world from here. Something to think about for those of you who want to live somewhere that will give you access to everywhere. I'm hanging out at McCafe (yes - that is the Starbucks-ish McDonalds franchise in the rest of the world). No Big Macs but yummy coffee. I practiced my German and ordered all in German. The lady didn't even switch to English, so I was pretty pleased with myself. I even understood when she asked if I wanted it here or to go. Fortunately "hier" is in my German vocabulary.
Like most travelers, I am spending this short layover wondering what I forgot; whether or not I should get a voltage converter for 12 Euros (just in case); wondering if I can find somewhere close to my gate to sleep some more; not feeling hungry, but desperately craving German food. Ok, maybe that last one is unique to me.
But really I need to be studying my Russian for my next two weeks in former Soviet nations. I have no hope of learning the native languages of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan, but since I have a hidden passion for all things Russian (coming from a year of studying the USSR in grade 7) I thought I might get to practice. Unfortunately for me, the little Russian I know (from spending a summer living with 4 Ukrainians) is not helping me decipher the Barron's phrasebook pronunciation. I am also thinking that I will not be in a fully functional state when I arrive in Almaty at 2:30am after very little sleep.
For those of you I have failed to tell, I am off to Central Asia to participate on an Interview Panel for the Global UGRAD program. We will be selecting students to come to the USA next year to study as exchange students. Maryville College has been a long-time supporter of this program, and we have received students most recently from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, and Uzbekistan. It has been 3 years since I last traveled to do this (to Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan), and so it should put my travel skills to the test. I don't often get to go somewhere I have never been before, where I don't speak the language, and don't know anyone! As you might imagine, I am both excited and nervous.
One of the main things I will be working on with students when I get back to MC is pre-departure preparation. We will be talking about visas (I had to get 3!), flights and emergency back-up arrival plans. So far all of my flights have been on time, and I expect to have a driver pick me up on the other side. I don't expect to have to make alternate arrangements, but I am trying to figure out how to give taxi directions in Russian in case the driver isn't there. Thanks to Alex for giving me the tip to bring small US dollar bills (aka $1/$5s) since Frankfurt doesn't have the currency I need and I couldn't get it in the USA either.
Ok - well off to explore German delights. Side-note: I am also coveting people's ipads here in the airport. I will have to see what kind of international service costs are for one of those. I wonder if it is cheaper than the 5 Euro/hour internet I purchased?
Traveling to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, & Tajikistan
Aaahh Frankfurt International Airport...the waystation to the rest of the world. Not the prettiest airport. Not the most user-friendly. Not the most comfortable to wait 5 hours for your next flight. But it is filled with latte macchiatos and German chocolate so I suppose I shouldn't complain too much!
It does seem as though you could fly pretty much anywhere in the world from here. Something to think about for those of you who want to live somewhere that will give you access to everywhere. I'm hanging out at McCafe (yes - that is the Starbucks-ish McDonalds franchise in the rest of the world). No Big Macs but yummy coffee. I practiced my German and ordered all in German. The lady didn't even switch to English, so I was pretty pleased with myself. I even understood when she asked if I wanted it here or to go. Fortunately "hier" is in my German vocabulary.
Like most travelers, I am spending this short layover wondering what I forgot; whether or not I should get a voltage converter for 12 Euros (just in case); wondering if I can find somewhere close to my gate to sleep some more; not feeling hungry, but desperately craving German food. Ok, maybe that last one is unique to me.
But really I need to be studying my Russian for my next two weeks in former Soviet nations. I have no hope of learning the native languages of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan, but since I have a hidden passion for all things Russian (coming from a year of studying the USSR in grade 7) I thought I might get to practice. Unfortunately for me, the little Russian I know (from spending a summer living with 4 Ukrainians) is not helping me decipher the Barron's phrasebook pronunciation. I am also thinking that I will not be in a fully functional state when I arrive in Almaty at 2:30am after very little sleep.
For those of you I have failed to tell, I am off to Central Asia to participate on an Interview Panel for the Global UGRAD program. We will be selecting students to come to the USA next year to study as exchange students. Maryville College has been a long-time supporter of this program, and we have received students most recently from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, and Uzbekistan. It has been 3 years since I last traveled to do this (to Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan), and so it should put my travel skills to the test. I don't often get to go somewhere I have never been before, where I don't speak the language, and don't know anyone! As you might imagine, I am both excited and nervous.
One of the main things I will be working on with students when I get back to MC is pre-departure preparation. We will be talking about visas (I had to get 3!), flights and emergency back-up arrival plans. So far all of my flights have been on time, and I expect to have a driver pick me up on the other side. I don't expect to have to make alternate arrangements, but I am trying to figure out how to give taxi directions in Russian in case the driver isn't there. Thanks to Alex for giving me the tip to bring small US dollar bills (aka $1/$5s) since Frankfurt doesn't have the currency I need and I couldn't get it in the USA either.
Ok - well off to explore German delights. Side-note: I am also coveting people's ipads here in the airport. I will have to see what kind of international service costs are for one of those. I wonder if it is cheaper than the 5 Euro/hour internet I purchased?