My flights went as well as could be imagined. My flight from Austin to Chicago was a short 2:30 hours or so. I had been fairly comfortable. When I arrived at O'Hare airport, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I had received a voicemail from my uncle Mike. I had a lay over of about 6 hours, so he picked me up and we went out on the town. We parked at his condo on the lake in the city, and rode bicycles to a place called Benchmark. I had my last true American meal there: a bacon cheeseburger. God bless America it was delicious. We had a pint or two before we had to leave back to the airport again.
Getting into O'Hare wasn't too much of a headache. I was at my terminal with plenty of time to spare. The airplane was a Boeing 777, which is a very large aircraft. It was two aisles with two seats on the outsides and five seats in the center. I was the middle seat of the center about midway back on the plane. This turned out to be lucky for me, however, as there was no one seated in either seat adjacent to myself. The nine hour plane ride was as pleasant as one can expect a plane ride of that length to be. There were several movies played and I enjoyed the feature on the monitors that showed the gps position of the plane, as well as gave readouts of vital avionic statistics (altitude, airspeed, etc.). Everything was bi-lingual as well. All said and done, it was an enjoyable trip.
No problems at all on arrival in Munich. I moved swiftly through customs to baggage claim and then on to meet the group of 10 other new people to join Edelweiss today. We waited a short while for the bus to arrive, and then we embarked on the final leg of our trip. The bus ride south took a little over an hour. There was enough scenery and pleasant conversation to last us the trip.
Upon arrival at The Abrams (the residential complex and HR headquarters for Edelweiss) we underwent a short sit down orientation and found our rooms. After an exhaustive tour of The Abrams Complex, we were set free to unpack and explore. My new roommate, Andrew, and I went on a trip across town to the Edelweiss Resort as well as the Commissary. On the way back to the dorms, we took a different route on the edge of Garmisch that followed a small snow fed river. This town is certainly a pretty place. it is in a valley and thusly surround by steep rising mountains that disappear in to the mist. I can see hints of snow on them and expect there should be lots more soon. The buildings in town are very old and very Bavarian looking.
For dinner our residence assistant took some of us to eat at a local place called Peaches that has some amazing pizza. After the long overdue dinner and a pint of what is possible the best dunkel I've ever had, Andrew, some others and I headed back to the dorms to retire.
I've got a big day ahead tomorrow. I found out through some of my coworkers that I'm working in the warehouse. Manual labor suites me fine, and the rumor is that I won't have any required dress, which is a plus. Wish me luck!
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