Itinerary

Here is a link to our itinerary: Itinerary

Another quick update

For anyone who might be sending worried e-mails to their son: everything is fine. We have been so busy that updates have become difficult. All is well and we will be catching up with the pictures and text soon. I've been working on my presentation (still not done) that I have to give in Italy in a few days rather than typing updates in my free time. We are leaving Warsaw for Milan tomorrow morning.

Omaha to Dublin

A brief introduction is in order. My name is Nick Schafer and I am traveling with my good friend Dan Mehr. Dan and I met at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where we were (essentially) housemates for 5 years. While we were at the UW, Dan and I met many amazing people, and the trip we are about to embark on is, in many ways, because of them. We have been planning a trip like this, an after-graduation-round-the-world trip, for some time now. The itinerary, in short, is the following: US, Poland, Italy, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, and Thailand. After this, I will be going to Denmark and Dan will be returning to the US through Korea.

I woke up early in the morning having spent the previous night (a late one) with my friends from Omaha, NE. I finished up packing, said goodbye to my dad and headed to the airport with my mom. I arrived several hours before my flight and so I was not too concerned when I saw the infamous “SSSSSSS” mark all over my ticket, indicating that I had been chosen for an extra security check. In passing through security, I was placed in a large box and made aware of my right to request a private search area. I declined politely, thinking that if I had to be groped by a large man in blue plastic gloves, I would rather not first be transported to a dark room outside of the public eye. By the time he had determined that I was not a threat to society, the other TSA employees had completely unpacked my backpack and duffle bag and begun repacking all the items in the incorrect bags. Needless to say, they were not able to get everything back in the bags. I told them I’d take care of it, at which point one of them turned to me and asked, “Did you check any bags, sir?” “Actually, I didn’t; why?” “Obviously not.” If it was so obvious, I’m not sure why he asked. TSA’s aim might be to piss everyone off, but they are doing to have to try harder on me; I’m on vacation.

I slept most of the way through my flight to Chicago. When I arrived, right around lunch time, I found that all of the food vendors were backed up with long lines. I decided to walk towards my gate and take my chances. I found a small hotdog stand where there was a very loud man screaming, “No hotdogs!” In so doing, he was successfully scaring away most of his clientèle, so I thought I’d give it a try. I was able to get some Italian Beef, which was not Italian but probably beef. After only one gate change, I was off to Boston.

As I was boarding my plane to Boston, a woman sitting behind me actually recognized my badminton racket. “Are you going to badminton camp?” “Kind of, after a few other stops.”

The flight to Boston went very smoothly and Dan’s family picked me up from the airport. On our way to dinner, we stopped by Toscanini’s to pick up Sam, Dan’s brother. We then made our way to Les Zygomates, a French restaurant. As Sam put it, the food was “expensive and very delicious”. I had Steak Frites, i.e. Steak and French Fries. During dinner we discussed many things including the utility of an iPhone and the Nebraska Unicameral system, as well as some Molecular Dynamics. We decided after dinner to look for an Apple store so that we could access the internet and find the contact information for a person who Sam was supposed to pick up a free piece of kitchen equipment from. After a rather hilarious failure to find said Apple store, we returned to the Mehr/Epstein residence. Dan and I spent most of the rest of the night doing last minutes planning and packing. Between the two of us, we have one large roller suitcase, one duffel bag and one backpack. Sam returned home later that night with a free grittle and 27 inch television.

The next morning, Dan and I went to the MIT badminton club to get in a little practice before we left. On the way, we stopped by a CVS to print pictures and purchase some over the counter medication. While I was waiting for my pictures to print, Dan approached me and asked me if 100 hours worth of PeptoBismol was enough, or if he should go for 200 hours. I told him that if he was experiencing that much gastrointestinal distress then we would seek medical attention. When I arrived at MIT, I realized that I had left my badminton shoes. Many thanks to Patrick Mehr for stopping by MIT to drop off my shoes. With my shoes, I was able to play several entertaining games with some of the local Boston players. Though technically not attending the MIT badminton, there was a group of several familiar faces on the other side of the gym, including Daphne Chang, Niel Davies and Arthur Zhu. Arthur was in town hosting a camp for the Maugus club before he heads out to his faculty position at the Univesity of Wyoming. It was certainly good to talk to him and to see him playing again.

After we were done at MIT, we stopped by to get brunch at Toscanini’s; brunch somehow turned out to be just ice cream. After a quick stop to buy Dan a quick-dry towel, we headed back to Dan’s place to make the final preparations and print some documents. Dan’s dad then took us to the airport and our Irish experience started immediately as we entered the international terminal. Aer Lingus, an Irish airline, was our carrier from Boston to Dublin and Dublin to Warsaw. Everyone behind the desk was wearing green scarves and spoke in an adorable Irish accent. I had a brief scare when one of the employees was unable to scan my passport, but soon enough she had simply typed in my number and we were off to our gate.

Our flight was a little late taking off, which gave Dan plenty of time to dispense automotive advice to Mr. Joseph Kapper and gave me some time to work on my presentation that I’m supposed to give in Venice. Once on the plane, Dan and I made preparations for sleep. I was lucky enough to have an empty seat to my right. The passenger to the right of that seat was using the empty seat’s tray table for storage space. On the table were two empty cans of Coke , one empty coffee cup, one full can of Coke and one deck of “Healing with the Faeries Oracle Cards” authored by Doreen Virtue, PhD. As I was drifting asleep I made eye contact with the man, who was staring at my rather intensely. I imagined he was divining my fortune, and hoping that it was a good one.

Our Camera's Better Half

If you want to see more photos from Poland from a different perspective, check out Bess's Photostream: http://picasaweb.google.com/elizhambt/

Our Google Map

Google Map

Hopefully this will continue to be updated as we make our way across the globe.

Our Flickr Photostream

Our photos will be uploaded to this website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mehrschafer/

Just a quick update

For anyone who is going to wake up this morning and check this blog... we are doing fine. Dan and I arrived in Poland and David Dynerman and company were already waiting for us at the airport. A more thorough update will follow.

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