The August 1 New York Times has an article on avoiding high phone bills when you're abroad.
http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/travel/01prac.html
Registration is required.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Packing Tips for Germany in January
by Cookie Sunkle
Germany in January will most likely be cold and damp – a higher chance of rain than snow, however. It can be compared to a typical Midwestern winter. Here are some recommendations on how to pack and some reminders of important things to bring.
1. Don’t overpack! Remember, you will be carrying everything you bring, at all times. This means moving those bags on and off trains, planes, buses, and U-bahns quickly. Last trip, I went with a black and white theme so I could mix and match to make more outfits. You can always wash out underthings, socks and shirts, and most hotels provide a laundry service. As long as you shower and look presentable, no one will care if they see you in the same clothes more than once. Bring one “nice” outfit that you can wear to a reception, dinner, etc. It does not have to be fancy.
It is recommended that you bring items that can be layered. There tends to be a lack of central heating in many buildings and therefore temperatures can vary greatly from one location to the next. You may find yourself freezing one minute and boiling as you move to the next room in the same building.
You should also know that jeans are acceptable attire with German academics, so a couple pairs of those with some nice shirts / tops could get you through the entire trip!
2. Use packing compressor bags like this one from Eagle Creek. They will give you up to 80% more packing space (but doesn’t reduce the weight so watch that).
3. Pack comfortable shoes, and preferably one pair that is waterproof. Two pair should suffice: one dressier and one all-purpose. Make sure they’re comfortable and already broken in as we’ll be doing a lot of walking.
4. Bring an umbrella. Even if it doesn’t rain a day while we’re in Germany, all of us having them might decrease the likelihood of a downpour.
5. We strongly recommend that you have a cell phone and that you provide the planning committee with the phone number upon arrival. You can either purchase a plan through your cell phone provider which may allow you to keep your current number, or you can pick up a pay as you go phone in Germany, which you may find is considerably cheaper. These can be purchased at the airport.
6. Laptops are optional. You are welcome to bring one if you don’t mind carrying it. We believe all the hotels will have wi-fi. If you do bring one, we suggest you download Skype and purchase a headset or microphone. This is the cheapest (often free) way to communicate with family and friends in the US.
7. If you do bring electronic devices such as your laptop, cell phone, hair dryer, etc., don’t forget to bring along the appropriate adapter plug for German voltage (230V 50Hz). Here's an example.
8. Bring a sufficient supply of any prescription drugs you are taking and put them in your carry on luggage. It is very difficult to get a new prescription so far from home, especially since we’re moving to a new city every few days.
9. Business cards are the easiest way to give your contact information to the folks we’ll be meeting. They are often willing to email you their powerpoint presentations if you provide your contact information.
10. Bring a color photocopy of your passport, just in case.
11. Both print out AND save the phone numbers and emails of anyone you might want to contact as a Google document (or equivalent) that you can access from anywhere.
12. A travel alarm clock can be useful even if you’re planning to use the alarm on your cell phone.
13. Shout wipes or a Tide stain pen might come in handy.
14. It can’t hurt to have a couple of band-aids with you in case you need them before you have a chance to get to the store.
If you have other suggestions, please post them in the comments.
Germany in January will most likely be cold and damp – a higher chance of rain than snow, however. It can be compared to a typical Midwestern winter. Here are some recommendations on how to pack and some reminders of important things to bring.
1. Don’t overpack! Remember, you will be carrying everything you bring, at all times. This means moving those bags on and off trains, planes, buses, and U-bahns quickly. Last trip, I went with a black and white theme so I could mix and match to make more outfits. You can always wash out underthings, socks and shirts, and most hotels provide a laundry service. As long as you shower and look presentable, no one will care if they see you in the same clothes more than once. Bring one “nice” outfit that you can wear to a reception, dinner, etc. It does not have to be fancy.
It is recommended that you bring items that can be layered. There tends to be a lack of central heating in many buildings and therefore temperatures can vary greatly from one location to the next. You may find yourself freezing one minute and boiling as you move to the next room in the same building.
You should also know that jeans are acceptable attire with German academics, so a couple pairs of those with some nice shirts / tops could get you through the entire trip!
2. Use packing compressor bags like this one from Eagle Creek. They will give you up to 80% more packing space (but doesn’t reduce the weight so watch that).
3. Pack comfortable shoes, and preferably one pair that is waterproof. Two pair should suffice: one dressier and one all-purpose. Make sure they’re comfortable and already broken in as we’ll be doing a lot of walking.
4. Bring an umbrella. Even if it doesn’t rain a day while we’re in Germany, all of us having them might decrease the likelihood of a downpour.
5. We strongly recommend that you have a cell phone and that you provide the planning committee with the phone number upon arrival. You can either purchase a plan through your cell phone provider which may allow you to keep your current number, or you can pick up a pay as you go phone in Germany, which you may find is considerably cheaper. These can be purchased at the airport.
6. Laptops are optional. You are welcome to bring one if you don’t mind carrying it. We believe all the hotels will have wi-fi. If you do bring one, we suggest you download Skype and purchase a headset or microphone. This is the cheapest (often free) way to communicate with family and friends in the US.
7. If you do bring electronic devices such as your laptop, cell phone, hair dryer, etc., don’t forget to bring along the appropriate adapter plug for German voltage (230V 50Hz). Here's an example.
8. Bring a sufficient supply of any prescription drugs you are taking and put them in your carry on luggage. It is very difficult to get a new prescription so far from home, especially since we’re moving to a new city every few days.
9. Business cards are the easiest way to give your contact information to the folks we’ll be meeting. They are often willing to email you their powerpoint presentations if you provide your contact information.
10. Bring a color photocopy of your passport, just in case.
11. Both print out AND save the phone numbers and emails of anyone you might want to contact as a Google document (or equivalent) that you can access from anywhere.
12. A travel alarm clock can be useful even if you’re planning to use the alarm on your cell phone.
13. Shout wipes or a Tide stain pen might come in handy.
14. It can’t hurt to have a couple of band-aids with you in case you need them before you have a chance to get to the store.
If you have other suggestions, please post them in the comments.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Tour Participants
The following participants have registered for the trip as of July 26:
Elizabeth Ametsbichler, University of Montana, liz.ametsbichler AT mso.umt.edu
Andrus Ashoo, University of Mississippi, dru AT olemiss.edu
Lisa Broome-Price, University of Kentucky, lisa.broome-price AT uky.edu
Nona Charleston, The University of Tulsa, nona-charleston AT utulsa.edu
Patricia Condon, University of Louisville, patricia.condon AT louisville.edu
Denise Della Rossa, University of Notre Dame, dellarossa.1 AT nd.edu
Dana Dudley, Pepperdine University, dana.dudley AT pepperdine.edu
Lisa Gates, Middlebury College, lgates AT middlebury.edu
Luke Green, Seattle University, greenl AT seattleu.edu
Lisa Grimes, College of WIlliam & Mary, lmgrim AT wm.edu
Steve Hallgren, Oklahoma State University, steve.hallgren AT okstate.edu
Stephen Hill, Northwestern University, s-hill AT northwestern.edu
Hanna Lee, Villanova University, hanna.lee AT villanova.edu
Daniel Lindley, University of Notre Dame, dlindley AT nd.edu
Ruth Mendum, Pennsylvania State University, rmm22 AT psu.edu
Jane Morris, Villanova University, jane.morris AT villanova.edu
James Pletcher, Denison University, pletcher AT denison.edu
Kefryn Reese, University of Miami, kefryn AT miami.edu
Lauren Stolper, California Institute of Technology, Lstolper AT caltech.edu
Cookie Sunkle, Denison University, sunkle AT denison.edu
Wendy Sheets, The University of Tulsa, wendy-sheets AT utulsa.edu
Elizabeth Ametsbichler, University of Montana, liz.ametsbichler AT mso.umt.edu
Andrus Ashoo, University of Mississippi, dru AT olemiss.edu
Lisa Broome-Price, University of Kentucky, lisa.broome-price AT uky.edu
Nona Charleston, The University of Tulsa, nona-charleston AT utulsa.edu
Patricia Condon, University of Louisville, patricia.condon AT louisville.edu
Denise Della Rossa, University of Notre Dame, dellarossa.1 AT nd.edu
Dana Dudley, Pepperdine University, dana.dudley AT pepperdine.edu
Lisa Gates, Middlebury College, lgates AT middlebury.edu
Luke Green, Seattle University, greenl AT seattleu.edu
Lisa Grimes, College of WIlliam & Mary, lmgrim AT wm.edu
Steve Hallgren, Oklahoma State University, steve.hallgren AT okstate.edu
Stephen Hill, Northwestern University, s-hill AT northwestern.edu
Hanna Lee, Villanova University, hanna.lee AT villanova.edu
Daniel Lindley, University of Notre Dame, dlindley AT nd.edu
Ruth Mendum, Pennsylvania State University, rmm22 AT psu.edu
Jane Morris, Villanova University, jane.morris AT villanova.edu
James Pletcher, Denison University, pletcher AT denison.edu
Kefryn Reese, University of Miami, kefryn AT miami.edu
Lauren Stolper, California Institute of Technology, Lstolper AT caltech.edu
Cookie Sunkle, Denison University, sunkle AT denison.edu
Wendy Sheets, The University of Tulsa, wendy-sheets AT utulsa.edu
Basic But Important Tour Information
As stated in the title, this post contains a lot of basic - but important - information. It will live on the blog so you can refer to it later.
DEADLINE
August 2 is the deadline for payment of the remainder of the $1500 fee. Information on how to do this is in the email confirmation you got when you paid your deposit. If you have any questions about this, please contact Nichole Burruss at nichole.burruss AT louisville.edu
TRAVEL
Start looking for plane tickets now. Remember that we start the Tour in Berlin - Tegel (TXL) is the international airport - and you need to be at the Park Inn hotel for dinner at 6 p.m. on Thursday, January 6. You'll have an overnight flight so will leave the U.S. no later than Wednesday January 5. The last event of the tour will be in Munich on the evening of Friday January 14 so you will fly out of Franz Josef Strauss airport (MUC) no earlier than Saturday January 15. You may of course arrive earlier and depart later as long as you're with us on the tour between January 6 and 15. On July 27 a quick kayak.com search produced fares as low as $784.
SURVEY
Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey. The information will be useful very for the planning committee as well as for our counterparts in Germany. We'd appreciate it if you'd complete the survey by August 2.
WAIVER AND COPY OF PASSPORT
Complete the attached waiver form and mail along with a photocopy of the photo / personal information pages of your passport (inside front cover) to
Cookie Sunkle
Gilpatrick Center
Denison University
P.O. Box 810
Granville, OH 43023-0810
Original signatures are required on the waiver - no faxes or scanned documents will be accepted. We'd appreciate it if you'd do this by August 16.
BLOG
As you know, since you're here, the planning committee is keeping a blog for tour participants. This is where we'll post useful information like the members of the group & their contact info, suggested reading lists, packing lists, etc. Feel free to follow us if you do that sort of thing, and we'll send an email notification when new content is posted. We'd love to see your input / suggestions / advice in the comments!
Questions? Please email any member of the planning committee.
Denise Della Rossa dellarossa.1 AT nd.edu
Lisa Grimes lmgrim AT wm.edu
Cookie Sunkle sunkle AT denison.edu
DEADLINE
August 2 is the deadline for payment of the remainder of the $1500 fee. Information on how to do this is in the email confirmation you got when you paid your deposit. If you have any questions about this, please contact Nichole Burruss at nichole.burruss AT louisville.edu
TRAVEL
Start looking for plane tickets now. Remember that we start the Tour in Berlin - Tegel (TXL) is the international airport - and you need to be at the Park Inn hotel for dinner at 6 p.m. on Thursday, January 6. You'll have an overnight flight so will leave the U.S. no later than Wednesday January 5. The last event of the tour will be in Munich on the evening of Friday January 14 so you will fly out of Franz Josef Strauss airport (MUC) no earlier than Saturday January 15. You may of course arrive earlier and depart later as long as you're with us on the tour between January 6 and 15. On July 27 a quick kayak.com search produced fares as low as $784.
SURVEY
Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey. The information will be useful very for the planning committee as well as for our counterparts in Germany. We'd appreciate it if you'd complete the survey by August 2.
WAIVER AND COPY OF PASSPORT
Complete the attached waiver form and mail along with a photocopy of the photo / personal information pages of your passport (inside front cover) to
Cookie Sunkle
Gilpatrick Center
Denison University
P.O. Box 810
Granville, OH 43023-0810
Original signatures are required on the waiver - no faxes or scanned documents will be accepted. We'd appreciate it if you'd do this by August 16.
BLOG
As you know, since you're here, the planning committee is keeping a blog for tour participants. This is where we'll post useful information like the members of the group & their contact info, suggested reading lists, packing lists, etc. Feel free to follow us if you do that sort of thing, and we'll send an email notification when new content is posted. We'd love to see your input / suggestions / advice in the comments!
Questions? Please email any member of the planning committee.
Denise Della Rossa dellarossa.1 AT nd.edu
Lisa Grimes lmgrim AT wm.edu
Cookie Sunkle sunkle AT denison.edu
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