Off to a Bumpy Start!

              Currently, I am rocking back and forth (in a rocking chair, not in a nervous breakdown) and fighting the urge to graciously attack the grand piano in the Charlotte Airport. I've already scoped it out, noting there is no sign saying "For professionals only!" or even the brand name. Clearly, I am warming up my piano-observing skills for tomorrow.
               Tomorrow is a big day! Not only will it be my first day ever in New York, but it will be the day I tour my first piano factory! The Steinway & Sons factory awaits me tomorrow morning at 9 am in Astoria, NY. Supposedly, I am to have a meeting with either an engineer or the Vice President of Manufacturing, who has already answered most of my sustainability questions.

Anonymous Grand Piano 

               Now, the reason for the unsettling title. My fear of flying is not that huge, but this small plane, carrying approximately forty people, was quite jolting. I read the safety handouts regardless of plane conditions just because I like to be useful in times of emergency. But I thoroughly memorized this handout. I believe the flight was only thirty-five minutes long; however, every five seconds there was a jar in the plane that gave you a not-so-friendly reminder of gravity and its potential death threat. The poor girl next to me looked terrified as well.

Charlotte Airport 

                 I was thoroughly pleased to have Katya as a seat buddy. (And her name probably was not Katya, but I never learned it so I will think of her as Katya from this moment on). From the terminal I had admired her antique-style luggage and her blouse ( I own the same one). I struck up a conversation because human interaction is a basic need for me. We talked about how sitting so close to the blade was disconcerting because it could chop our faces off and was noisy. After covering some generalities about ourselves, we finally reached a more calming, yet exciting topic of my trip! Katya once traveled to Germany with her Oma (grandmother) to visit a few Holocaust concentration camps. She had a lot of advice to give, which I was beyond grateful for. One thing she said I just had to see was the salt mines in Salzburg, so that is now on my "must do" list. Below is a short list of Katya's thoughts and advice:
               1) Germans are really nice, although Northern Germans may seem rude, but they just have different mannerisms.
               2) People in Prague hate Germans and apparently don't speak German, but should speak enough English for me to get by. Prague is also Katya's most favorite city in the world.
               3) "Are you going to Paris," she asked somewhat excitedly. "No."  "Good, it's definitely not worth it." Apparently the French truly do dislike Americans. Katya's family was refused service several times.
               4) Prepare to be thirsty. Apparently, mineral water tastes bad so I must ask for flat water. She said once she found a gas station having Evian water bottles and bought them all.
               5) People outside the main cities will probably still be wearing Liederhosen.
               6) I must visit a concentration camp. This was already the plan, but I may look into visiting more than one.
                And that was information gathered in between taking many (of what we thought would be) our last breaths. I will miss you Katya, and I hope your plane ride to Tallahassee and mine to New York is smoother.