An Afternoon and Evening in D.C.

My airplane out of Columbus was two hours late. That made it risky to make my connection at O'Hare in Chicago for my flight into Washington, D.C. When we finally landed in Chicago I noted the departure time of my connecting flight on the kiosk and realized that I had two minutes to get to the gate to my connecting flight on the opposite side of the terminal. I quickly ran with my two bags, camera, and purse to catch two escalators down and then go across the bridge to reach my gate (without knocking anyone down). I arrived at my gate just as the plane was boarding. Once I got on board I took a much needed restroom break as other passengers were filing in.

Getting on the Metro was an experience! It's not that I haven't been on one before, it's that I've always had my husband to rely upon and I wasn't toting two bags, a camera, and a purse. But a Metro employee came to my rescue. He helped me get on the correct train so that I was able to emerge in the middle of Chinatown in Washington, D.C. as per the institute's instructions.

I came across some interesting "Walk" and "Do Not Walk" signs here in D.C. Some of the streets were so wide that seconds counted down to let you know how much time you had left to cross the street safely. You can see the image above.

After finding my way to the Hampton Inn, I freshened up and went to the Goethe-Institut branch in D.C. There the staff introduced themselves and the German consul came to welcome us. An ice breaker activity ensued before we were refreshed on German courtesies and institute guidelines.

Our airline tickets to Germany were distributed and then we previewed a film on contemporary Berlin. What a progressive city! We also viewed the premier of a new Goethe-Institut film which we were asked to critique. The film noted that the current mayor of Berlin was schooled in Ohio! It didn't say exactly where in Ohio. I will try to find out tomorrow.

The evening ended with a sumptious Mediterranean meal consisting of some foods that I would classify as Middle Eastern, such as the stuffed grape leaves. We had German beer and wine to compliment our meal. I "hooked up" with another second grade teacher from Kansas. It's amazing how much Vickie O'Neal and I are alike.

No pictures yet. Must get to bed to get up early for our morning meeting and an intensive German language lesson. Then it's off to Berlin by way of Frankfurt.