The Netherlands

Just returned from a work trip to The Netherlands.  I'm always happy to visit The Netherlands, but it always reenforces just how hopelessly incompetent we Americans are at languages.  In addition to Dutch, English is compulsory and in school they are required to take another language.  Most folks take German, as it is close to Dutch, but, of course, the Scandinavian languages are popular, as our Spanish, French and Italian.  Most folks I met were fluent in four or more languages!

A view from EuroMast in Rotterdam, with gardens below

This was my first extended trip to Rotterdam.  I had only visited there prior on a trip to their port in 1996 as part of a conference.  Rotterdam is pretty different than the rest of Holland (the two large states on the coast of The Netherlands).  According to the story I heard, the Dutch told the Germans in WWII that they were giving in to their demands to occupation, but the message was misinterpreted.  So, instead of calling off a bombing run, Rotterdam got it full blast.  As a result, Rotterdam is a "modern city."  No narrow, windy cobblestone streets here ... normal streets and both a subway and tram system.  And, of course, the bikes!  The Dutch are famous for their passion for biking.  With a nice flat country and bike lanes EVERYWHERE, it does seem odd to see parking garages for cars (but you should see the parking sheds they have for bikes!). 

The purpose of my trip was to visit a colleague at Erasmus University.  It is the 4th-highest-ranked business school in Europe and my colleague is known as "the warehouse expert of Europe."  I gave a research seminar on my warehouse work and then later a seminar to the graduate students about publishing their research in top journals.  I also helped another colleague prepare for a big research proposal presentation that was coming up.  I think it is safe to say that they got their money's worth for my visit!  

I met many new colleagues and genuinely enjoyed learning about their system, seeing a few sites, and of course, eating some good food (although don't go to The Netherlands for a big lunch ... the traditional lunch is four pieces of brown bread!).  I had a thought-provoking conversation with my colleague's department head about the possibility of taking a position with them.  I told them I was years away from such a decision, but it is something that's crossed my mind a few times during the year.  As those of you that know me know, I do have a hard time holding onto a job :-)

On the way back, a business leader in my field from the US was hosting some meetings in the Frankfurt airport.  We coordinated our schedules for a long lunch meeting that hopefully will lead to a mutually beneficial partnership down the road.  

All in all, this was just about what I expected from my sabbatical ... meeting European colleagues and learning about different cultures.

Russ

For fun ...

Most of my posts are almost reporter style, detailing the latest trip here or there.  Well, this post is just for fun :-)

Saw this posted to a telephone pole out away from Graz and it just cracked me up!

Click on the picture for a larger view so that you can read the pull-off tabs!

Sue kind of burst my bubble on this saying that she's seen this before (in the US, mind you) and thought it was probably all over the Internet and Facebook.  But seeing this on a small road up to a castle from the 1600's in a German-speaking country cracked me up.  Yes, America, we can export our culture anywhere!

And for the next one, all I'll say is that I wonder what kind of grief this guy (or gal) gets about his/her car.

I mean, I get grief for having a license plate that reads "LOGISTX," which is way less geeky than this!  Right?

Russ

Austrian Workshop

Russ tries an artistic photo of Ben, but ....

I hosted a workshop for two colleagues last week.  One colleague (Ben) arrived from Quebec City on Thursday and we spent a day and a half discussing a project that we are working on to design logistics facilities for the Physical Internet (PI).  We made some nice progress and I was able to re-introduce him to Graz (he attended the same conference that we attended in 2006).  He joined our family for dinner one night and the kids were thrilled to have a new audience member.

My other colleague (Eric) arrived from Paris late Friday night.  So, on Saturday, the three of us drove less than 2 hours to Schladming, Austria, which is just about the geographical center of Austria, right in the Alps (and for skiing enthusiasts, Schladming was the site of this week's World Cup Skiing Event).  The way we run our workshops is to spend part of the day (usually the morning when we are fresh) discussing the book we are writing on the PI and other matters (proposals, strategic planning, coordination of research, etc.).  We then take a break in the afternoon and do something active.  In the past, that was going for a hike (look back for the trip to France in September).  For this workshop, it was going skiing.  After our activity, we eat dinner together and get in an hour or two of writing before bed.  It is really productive and enjoyable, and I appreciate Ben and Eric making the effort to travel here.

From our hotel in Schladming, right on the slopes

As an aside, we skied all three days in varying snow/weather conditions, from sunny days with good snow to rainy days with slush at the bottom and snow and fog at the top.  But for the first time this winter, I seemed to really make some progress on my skiing (Eric and Ben boosted my ego saying that I was now ready for a "black," but I'm not so sure!).  It's too bad that the snow is leaving us now -- I'd like to get out a few more times (and see if they are right!).

I drove them back to the airport on Tuesday for their departing flights and was sad to see them go.  But, as it turns out, we had some good friends from Auburn visiting Monday-Friday, so it was from one set of hosting activities to the next!

Russ

Grace turned 9!

We can hardly believe it, but our "little" Grace is 9 years old!

March 2, 2003 in Blacksburg, VA

2 March 2012 in Graz, Austria

Grace received some of her favorite things!

The tradition here is that the birthday child brings a snack for the class. Grace requested that I make her chocolate chip cookies. Grace tells me that her fellow students LOVED them, which pleases me greatly. Grace said that she had a GREAT day at school and we went to our favorite pizza place for dinner. Grace's pizza came out in the shape of a heart, which Grace loved.  I told the kids they could have some leftover chocolate chip cookie dough for dessert and we all headed home for that and to open presents.

A cool thing about Grace is that she can be very generous.  She made sure Henry wasn't left out by giving him a gift ... a wooden car that she made in art class at school ... very cool, Grace!

Henry, admiring his new toy car from Grace

Saturday was supposed to be a family day outside on the slopes, but not skiing -- sledding, so that everyone could join into the fun. But alas, like in Fayetteville, spring came before Grace's birthday and the likelihood of finding good sledding nearby was going to be tough. So, instead Grace played with her new toys in the morning (and Russ did all the weekend shopping) and we arranged a "date" in the afternoon with her buddy Francesco (Mom from Argentina, Dad from Canada, and they've lived in Germany and Austria in addition to Canada). We went for ice cream and then to a big park with lots of cool toys. Sometime during the afternoon, Grace, Henry and Francesco hatched a plan to have him sleep over. And although our first inclination was to say no (hey, we're parents, right?), we realized we had no good reason not to agree. So, our first sleepover in Graz and with a boy-friend no less! :-)

Grace and German Class Buddy, Francesco

Sunday we were invited to a friend's house for a "simple lunch" (which turned out to be spaghetti Milanese, spaghetti with a chicken cutlet).  So, Grace and Henry played with Carlo while Russ and Sue took turns talking with Carlo's mom, Loulou. Loulou is an American married to an Italian living in Austria. It's hard not to feel inferior around these families we've become friends with!

Anyway, it was a busy weekend, but one that Grace enjoyed quite a bit.  Many happy returns, Grace!  We love you!

Russ

Innsbruck Ski Trip

First, sorry about the lack of posts, but as you'll see below, our recent spate of health issues continued into February.  Not that we let that defeat us!

With school starting in Mid-Sept and going through July, February is when the first semester ends and the second one begins.  So, the public school kids are off for a week in mid-February as a "semester break."  But because of the relative madness of our lives heading up to the break (Sue in the hospital twice, my trip back to the US, etc.), we really had nothing planned.  We had talked about Italy and had a friend coming for a ski trip, but we'd only overlap for a day, so we didn't pursue that.  We had another friend coming to Innsbruck for a conference, but it was a 6-hour train ride and Sue had a follow-up doctor's appointment and I still needed to finish a big proposal.  So, we settled on a compromise.  Stay home for most of the break, rent a car to go skiing or sledding once, and take a short train trip into Slovenia or Hungary or something.  That way, we'd get in skiing, a train trip, and could take care of our things at home.  Sounds like a plan, huh?

Well, then Grace comes home school on the last day before break and declares that she told her whole class she was going skiing in Innsbruck for break.  The things kids hear/pick up on when you don't think they are really paying attention!  So, Friday night, I booked us a hotel and train tickets ... to Innsbruck!

Pretty much as soon as I did, Sue said, "I'm not feeling that great ... I think I'm getting a cold."  Well, that always gives us pause around our house, and with Henry having missed almost all of the week with a nasty high fever, bad cough virus, we were both thinking, "uh oh."  And sure enough, by noon on Saturday, both Grace and Sue had succumbed to the virus.  But we thought, if they are over this in 2-3 days, we'll still be in good shape to get onto the train on Wed at noon.

As you might have already guessed, with 3 of the 4 folks in a small apartment having succumbed to a virus, it was just a matter of time for me.  And that came by noon on Monday for me.  I did as much work as I could on my proposal Monday morning and then came home Monday afternoon to sleep.  We were hoping this went through me as quickly as it did for Sue and Grace (2 bad days and then getting better).  Being the eternal optimist, I didn't cancel our hotel or change our train tickets.

But with Sue having to pick up the slack on Monday while I was down, that stressed her compromised health state and she had to go to the lung doctor on Tuesday to get some antibiotics for a lung infection!  I'm still in bed and the kids are bouncing off the walls.  I kept thinking, at least the train will keep them interested, right?

So, Wednesday morning dawns with a Sue that is feeling a lot better than the day before and I'm not feeling too bad.  We decide to make the trip.  The first leg is to take all our stuff (read into this, all of our ski clothes, helmets, etc. on top of other stuff, like toys and clothes, for a 4-day trip) on two buses to get to the train station.  We had so much stuff one of our only-German speaking neighbors wondered if we were returning to the US!

By the time we arrived at the train station, I was a puddle of fever-induced sweat.  I could barely function properly and couldn't stand having the sun beat down on me in our train car.  It was not fun.

But amazingly, the kids did great on the train ride.  I say "amazingly" because 6 hours is a long time to be confined.  But they were constantly entertained by things going on outside.  And after an hour or so, there was snow everywhere, sometimes REALLY deep.  They also liked our 6-passenger compartment.  And they liked going out in the "hall" and goofing around.  Sue and I were so thankful!

As we headed into the station I started dreading another session of dragging our stuff around.  And even though the hotel was only 500m from the train station, I called them to ask if they had a shuttle!  But guess what?  Our friend Bill who was in town for the conference ... he met us at the train and carried the heaviest bag to the hotel ... our hero!

Ok, enough with the play by play :-)  We spent Thursday exploring the city, including the Tyrolean native folk museum (Innsbruck is in the state of Tyrol).  I spent the afternoon back at the hotel recovering.

Henry and Grace on the bunny hill.

On Friday and Saturday we all went skiing.  It was rough going at the start for Henry, but after the first trip down the bunny hill, he did great.  It was low key enough for me that skiing with a fever was feasible.  And I even tried the "olympic course" on Saturday, which was scary, but absolutely gorgeous scenery from the top.  You can see why Innsbruck dubs itself "capital of the Alps."  And a little trivia:  Innsbruck has hosted the winter olympics two times (1964 and 1976) and both times they won the pride-and-joy event, the men's downhill (Egon Zimmermann and Franz Klammer).

Grace, Russ and Henry skiing outside of Innsbruck, Capital of the Alps!

Bill and Susan (CELDi Retreat in Wyoming in 2008).

Friday night we had dinner with our friend, Bill, and helped him celebrate his birthday, complete with the kids singing him "Happy Birthday."  He said it was the best birthday he'd had for a while.  Of course, every other year he spends it at this conference :-) It was great to have time with Bill.  He and his wife Susan have been two of our most supportive friends this year.  They spent a year in Munich on sabbatical when their son, Garland, was 9.  They understand what we're going through like few others and have always been there for us with advice, lending us travel bags, etc.  And they forever endeared themselves to Grace and Henry with Bill bringing mac and cheese (Grace) and yogurt raisins (Henry) -- he also brought some Tylenol for the "old folks."

The train ride back on Sunday was another good experience.  The kids discovered that you could make the seats into half beds and they took full advantage.  We arrived back in time for a normal dinner time and bed time.  I wish I could say that I was all better, but I survived and Grace could tell all her friends about her traditional winter break spent skiing :-)

Russ