From Minnesota to Amsterdam

Yesterday, March 6, I began a journey from Saint Paul to Barlad, Romania.

As  noted in my previous blog we had received a dump of snow. I called for a shuttle ride, a service provided by my building management, and found that I had to leave at 2:30 PM rather than 4:00 as I desired. The shuttle van had been involved in an accident and so a small car was being used for transportation which lessened the amount of riders for each trip. So I was all checked in for my 7:35 PM flight by 3 PM. This included a review of my passport both by TSA and the Delta staff person who checked in my luggage. I had more than enough time to wander around the airport!

I went in to the G concourse all the way down to about gate 30 for I have discovered the wonderful Mill City cafe from other trips through the airport. I had a very nice turkey sandwich there. Then I walked a bit into the sky way that connects the two long wings of the airport. I got this beautiful view out the window there.

 Finally it was time for the flight to begin organizing and boarding. I was surprised to be paged. The Delta staff wanted to check my passport. I'd never had that happen before. But then as I waited I noticed about 40 people got paged. I surely couldn't figure out what we all might had in common that called for this extra check of a passport.

It was an uneventful flight, and that's certainly the best kind. The only surprise was how good the food was. For "dinner" I chose the cold salad. it came with grilled chicken which was very good and the salad greens and dressing were very good.  For breakfast we had a breakfast sandwich and a banana.

Passport control  in Amsterdam was a bit more stringent than I've encountered before. I had to answer some detailed questions about where I was going, did a I have a ticket back to the states, and also did I have enough money to support myself. This, plus the extra passport check, made me wonder if there is a security warning of some kind quietly in place.

I checked into the Citizen M hotel at Schiphol and elected to pay for an early check in for I didn't want to add another 3 hours of sitting around to this trip. Took a 2 hour nap and then opened up the Internet to deal with things rolling in now from North America.

Wandered back to Shiphol Plaza to look for a couple things I had forgotten to pack. I went into a supermarket. Enjoyed seeing the products there. Two things took my eye in particular.

I thought these guys were cute. The containers are for cheese spread. I was amazed at the idea of "cheese spread" in a country noted for production of fabulous cheeses. I tried to read the packaging and I'm guessing this product comes from Germany.

The shop was full of Easter chocolates, something I may pick up on my way home. However, I was surprised to find Christmas chocolates on a shelf.

The Christmas chocolates were not even on sale! In the United States this would have been on a clearance sale on December 26 and two days later the shelf would have been full of things for Valentine's Day.

I went to my favorite restaurant in Schiphol Plaza -- and I am really lucky to be able to travel so much to have a favorite restaurant here! I ordered the burger special.

 Oh, yes, the wonderful French Fries here come in a paper cone. The burger includes sliced cucumbers. We often use pickles, but I'd never thought before about using raw cucumbers. It is very good!

I was really thinking about lingering longer over a coffee, but couldn't see my waitress. Suddenly there she was saying, "How about a coffee?"

A very nice evening getting onto Europe time. 

Snow, Beautiful Snow?

Yesterday a friend said on Facebook, "I'm so done with winter." That's really how we feel in March. And then the insult this week of a double snowstorm. The first one started early Monday morning to make rush hour a mess. I had a 9 AM meeting and the driving was not pleasant. it By late afternoon when it was time to go to Polish class, the snow had stopped and the major streets were in "good winter driving condition."
I got to the neighborhood early and stopped at the near Nicollet Island Inn to make a reservation for Easter Brunch. Walking out I noticed a lower level outdoor cafe, not quite yet ready for sitting in the sun with a cup of coffee.

The snow began again about midnight.

I looked out my window and saw this unusual sight.

The above is not a Photoshop trick. The shadow really did look golden brown.

I awoke on Tuesday morning to a lot more snow. I had an appointment to get my nails done so chugged out of the garage through the snow.  By the time I got to the more main streets, the driving was good. Glad I worn boots instead of shoes (and only a week ago I was dreaming about wearing sandals to this appointment!) for most of the sidewalks were not yet shoveled.

The snow was wet and there was not much wind, so the world was very decorated.

I had a class last evening. By the time I left for that the sun was shining. Most everyone showed up for class, but I heard from one student who wrote an e-mail saying, "I spent 3 hours in the ditch this morning waiting for the tow truck. I'm not coming to class and will take any penalty that causes." Well, no penalty if she somehow takes an opportunity to make things up. I say at the first class that if students act like adults, I'll treat them like adults. It is simply the total lack of communication or explanation that drives me crazy. Our student population is not 18 year olds living in a dorm. Part of being a professor in a university like this is working with students while they blend "life with learning."

Tutoring Adventure

My granddaughter is taking a quite comprehensive anatomy and physiology course as part of her high school curriculum. She has an exam on Tuesday on the nervous system and asked for some tutoring help. We went to a Culver's Restaurant and worked hard on concepts such as parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system, sodium-potassium pump, and peripheral nerves. A family was dining next to us and when they got ready to leave, the mom in the group approached us and saluted my granddaughter for studying so hard. What a nice and unexpected thing.

Service Fair Adventure

The blog has been quiet because all that is out my window is gray and snowy.

At Thompson Park Lodge, West St. Paul, MN while attending the Minnesota Department of Health Oral Health Summit, February 22

Snow Covered Roof at St. Olaf College, February 28

While we don't have as much snow as other places in the Midwest, at this point winter does get tiresome! I simply didn't want to waste everyone's time complaining about it.

Today I went to St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota as a volunteer for Global Volunteers to participate in the College's World Wide Service Fair.

There were many organizations represented, but in wandering around I found only one other that really offered the possibility of doing something internationally.

We had a lot of students stop by and ask questions. There was great interest in the program in Ecuador. Apparently through something from the College students had been there before and fallen in love with the country. Near the end one young man stopped by and explained he was going to Europe anyway this summer and thought he might as well do something.

The time went by very quickly.

This was my first time on this campus and enjoyed wandering about the building. I found the campus radio station.

There is a lot of art work, always interesting to see.

The painting below is called A Matter ofTime and the artist is Jill Ewald.

Lunch was provided by the College in the nearby Viking Theater Room.

Here I found some interesting wall sculptures.

The one above is called Leif Ericsson and the one below is St. Olaf.

Sorry I did not get the artist's name.

Fun to be in a new place! Enjoyed doing this volunteer activity very much. Hope we get some new volunteers.

Saturday Night at Union Depot

For about two  years I have been driving around a construction project when going to work. The Union Depot was and now has been restored. It will be a terminus for the Green Line of the light rail and is beginning to be a stop or terminus for many bus routes.The Amtrak passenger train will be re-routed to this depot sometime within the next year.

On Saturday night a Lite-Brite mural opened. You may ask what is a Lite-Brite display? Lite-Brite are little bulbs that one can organize into making pictures. These were really fun toys.

This display is actually an art piece designed by Ta-coumba Aiken, an artist I've been following for years. Many volunteers sorted out the packages of Lite-Brites, which comes in mixed colors, and then many other volunteers helped to put the mural together. It will be in place until February 28. [Update on February 20 -- A story in MinnPost explains the mural has 596,000 lights and it will eventually be put on permanent display in a place yet to be determined.]

Found my way into the parking ramp and then into Main Hall for the first time ever.

Wow!

There were kiosks for snacks and drinks as well as activities for kids.

The display set a Guinness record for being the largest Lite-Brite display created. I estimate the display is about 40 feet wide and 10 feet high.

Here is a close-up of one part of the display.

I was intrigued by the little sun that is in the upper center of this panel.

I'm anxious to go back in the daylight soon so I can get a better view of the restoration of the Main Hall.

The Sun is Back!

Years ago I took a meteorology course at the Science Museum of Minnesota. I learned a trivia fact -- that February 15 is the date when the sun warms enough it is statistically impossible to keep an outdoor ice rink frozen in Minnesota. Sometime later when I mentioned one of my favorite dates is February 15, someone asked, "Is that because it's the day all the Valentine's Day chocolate goes on sale?" So I explained the trivial sun fact.

Well, the week holding February 15 has arrived and it's good.

We've been having some snowfalls and the mornings can look like this:

But the streets are beginning to look like this

as the sun begins to melt the snow.

Finally waking up AFTER sunrise, which today was 7:09 AM. My older granddaughter gets on the school bus at 7:02, so now at least she is able to walk to the bus stop with some daybreak light. 

Here's the view I see from my bedroom and living room windows.

 Sunset has now moved to 5:42 PM. My Monday night Polish class now begins at 5:30 PM, so from now on I'll be arriving in daylight. That makes life much easier, because I park in area where one has to find an electronic station to pay for a parking space. It's really hard to find and use these stations in the dark. Makes me wonder if the designers every tried them in the dark!

$23 Billion Ketchup

I was driving around accomplishing some errands today and listening to Minnesota Public Radio. A business news story coming across is that Warren Buffet bought Heinz.

Yes, indeed this is the "official" ketchup of the United States. This is almost a brand new bottle from my refrigerator. The story prompted me to really study the label. This bottle refers one to cocacolo.com. Who knew that that was the former owner? Surely not me!

And in the fine print on the label I learned the ketchup is made from tomatoes grown from "Heinz seed."

The news story went on to explain that Heinz changes the recipe from country to country to have it match the taste palate of the country. I surely know ketchup tastes different in Central Europe. The news story said we perceive ourselves as liking somewhat bland food, but actually American ketchup is spicier than that sold in many other countries.

Well, I'm off to Romania in two weeks. Almost one of the first things I will do upon arrival is walk across the street to the grocery store and read the label on the ketchup bottle to see what company manufactured it.