Lo, I have returned after a) being stranded at the Munich airport for 4 hours on Saturday morning in an ice storm, b) missing my connecting flight in Amsterdam and having to spend the night in Schiphol, and c) sharing an 8-hour trans-Atlantic flight with multiple screaming infants and some asshat who wouldn't stop kicking the back of my seat.

Whee.

Photos of my trip, meagre though they may be, can be viewed here.

Gute Nacht.

UPDATE: Now that I've had a bit of sleep, I'd like to elaborate a bit on the "screaming infant" portion of my trip. When I say "screaming", I mean it...nonstop...top of their little lungs, for hours on end. The parents made absolutely no attempt to console or distract them, nor had they brought any playthings on board. The passengers in the nearby seats were yelling at these parents to try to get them to attend to their children, but they just sat in their seats like drugged zombies. Finally, some volunteers began distracting the poor kids by playing with them and they eventually calmed down for the rest of the flight.

Now, I've flown with my kids many times when they were babies and we never, ever ignored them when they cried, deprived them of toys, and refused to change their diapers for the entire flight. I mean, WTF?!

This flight had originated in Bombay, and the children involved were all Indian. Is this a reflection of some sort of cultural gap between Asian and European child-rearing techniques that I was hitherto unaware of, or is it just piss-poor parenting? Inquiring minds want to know.

Posted by MrBaliHai at 7:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

It's been a long and busy, but entertaining week in beautiful, downtown Vaterstetten. I've taught 2 classes to 12 students from 5 different countries, including Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, the U.K. and of course, Germany.

One of the good things about having a lot of out-of-towners in the class is that one never lacks for sociable companionship in the evening. We've mostly hung out here in Vaterstetten at a Greek restaurant near our hotel. The proprietors and the waitstaff are incredibly nice and the food is excellent. They've also been providing us with plenty of free shots of Metaxa and Ouzo both before, and after dinner. Opa!

I've made it into downtown Munich a couple of times this week. I took the Brits with me to the infamous Hofbräuhaus so they could see real Bavarians playing Oompah music, slapping their shoes, and dancing around in Lederhosen and Dirndls. We enjoyed the spectacle, particularly after drinking a couple of Beers As Big As Our Heads[tm].

Last night, I went downtown with the 2 Italians and the Czech for a somewhat more authentic experience at the Weisses Brauhaus. The place was packed to the rafters, but we managed to find a place to sit and enjoy the excellent Weissbeir and the gute burgerliche kuche (good downhome cookin') in huge portions. I had Tellerfleisch (boiled beef) with potato salad and grated horseradish. Heavenly.

I'm leaving tomorrow morning for home. It's been fun, but I'm ready to sleep in my own bed again.

Posted by MrBaliHai at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)