This is in our hotel room in Toronto. We are not impressed with the service.

Detroit, Michigan. This fountain was really the only nice place we could find in Detroit. What a depressing city! It looks like a ghost town with so many houses abandoned. We also went to the Motown Museum where we could walk around and see the original studio A with the microphones still hanging from the ceiling. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pics there.

And here is Toni in the back of the Nissan - before we sold it. Afterwards we rented a car and drove in style - a Mercury Marquis! Toni didn't look so sad in that one...

Toronto, Canada, on a Sunday afternoon. Not much going on downtown.

This is Todrick in a park in Toronto, just chillin'... It was a nice, sunny day. Toronto is ok, maybe not as interesting as we had expected it to be. It's funny because most of the streets are named after streets in London, England.

Look how packed up our car is! This is on Sat when we left.

...after the border...

It was 6 p.m. when we turned around at the Canadian border and went back the same road. It didn’t take us long, however, to figure out a new route and so we were on our way again – with some delay and a certain degree of “pisstivity” but nevertheless still optimistic, and tired. We were really looking forward to our first hotel, which we expected to be in the next town about 40 miles ahead. This town, however, turned out to be really, really small and we didn’t even see one motel. So we drove on. The next one was a bit bigger. We stopped at a motel whose office was inside the gas station right. They were full. So we drove on. The next town was about 100 miles away but it looked bigger and we were sure to find something there! As you can guess by now, we were wrong. There was not only a fair and some car show going on, there was also a wedding! Everything in the town was booked, and this was actually a pretty big place! Now we were starting to lose hope, but we still decided to try one more town about 15 miles away. Completely booked! Well, what else can you do at this point and at midnight but go to a bar and have a shot of Hennessy? It made us feel so much better and so much more tired. We left the bar, got into the car, drove as far as the next supermarket, pulled over and slept. It was about 2 a.m. I crawled in the back with Toni and Todrick slept on the passenger seat. What an experience! I had never slept in the car before – and I hope I won’t have to do it again!

As the journey continues…

Sarina

"Blame Canada!"

Todrick and I started our road trip from Seattle to Toronto, Canada, on Saturday, Aug. 20, at about 8 a.m. Our plan was to drive through Eastern Washington to Spokane and then North to the Canadian border. Everything went according to plan – until we got to the border. It was a small, not very busy border, run by women. We expected to be questioned about the purpose of our trip, how long we were planning to stay in Canada, if the dog has all the papers, if we have any drugs, etc. Everybody knows the routine, right? Well, their first question, however, was, whose car I am driving and what am I going to do with the car in Toronto? At this point I was still certain, that everything was gonna go fine because, after all, I had sold the car on e-bay and the buyer was supposed to pick it up in Toronto. Well, the border control did not like that and said she needs some sort of proof. So, I told her that all I need to do is pull up my e-bay site and show her the sale of the car. And now the waiting started! First we had to go into the immigration’s office, where, after the same questions again, we got a permit that would allow us to stay in Canada until Aug. 30, our departure date. On this date we have to submit the permit to the customs officer at the airport in Toronto. All this already took about an hour because these people were taking their time! Then the focus went back to the car. Who is the buyer? Where is he from? How is he going to get the car? Do you have his phone number? Yes, I did. The officer called him. I didn’t hear their conversation, but apparently he told her that yes, he bought the car but now he doesn’t know how to get to Toronto to pick it up! What??? So, I talked to him on the phone and reminded him that the purchase of the car is a contract that he has to fulfill. Well, it was useless because the damage was already done. The Canadians said they couldn’t let us in unless they know exactly what’s going to happen with the car! Needless to say at this point – after at least two hours at the border with Toni in the car waiting – we were pretty pissed off. But we had to make a decision. We decided to turn around, drive through Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois to Detroit, Michigan – instead of going through Canada. When I informed the “border women” about our plan, one of them showed concern about our lovely e-bay buyer and whether or not I’m gonna inform him of the change of plans! I almost had to laugh in her face. The other woman looked me into the eye and said: “Just to let you know. Do NOT try to get this car across the border because if you do, we will seize it! Do you understand?”

I understand. Completely. But what they don’t understand is that I really don’t give a damn about this car and who gets it.

Happy travels!
Sarina

Michi and Todrick: "Jesus!" "Yes, my child?"

The UW experience

As my time is coming to a close here at the UW in Seattle, I feel like summing up my academic experience a bit. I came here from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville – a small town in Northwest AR – where people are extremely friendly and hospitable. My professors there have my respect forever for all the great work they do. Their engagement in their students’ life is remarkable. They always showed sincere interest and helped me (and other students) out wherever they could. Their honesty and caring made my experience there so much more positive than I had expected it before. Arkansas might not be the place where I would want to live, but I would like to have colleagues like my professors there any time!
So, this was the background setting before I came to Seattle. I had gotten to know the city many years before and I absolutely loved it. I was very excited to start my Ph.D. program at such a prestigious university as the UW with a good reputation. But I soon discovered that things were different here. From the beginning I noticed that most professors at my department were not engaged at all in their students’ lives. It seemed to me that everybody was much more interested in their own research than in the success of their students. All together I never felt welcomed and not once has any of my professors shown any interest in me as a person/student. This might sound harsh now and one might wonder why I stayed at all. Well, everybody is friendly and kind of helpful if you approach them. But at the end of the day it seems rather superficial to me. I know, of course, that this is a much bigger department than the one in AR, but it’s not that big. There should be time to get to know each other. What kind of life is it to just sit in your office by yourself and read all the time?
My best experience at the UW was the teaching, and I would like to thank Manfred Bansleben for giving me the opportunity to teach many different levels. I have enjoyed that very much and I have also learned very much.
All together, the result of my two years at the UW is positive, however. My time here has really shown me what I want to do. Teaching is my calling – and not the quiet research in a lonely office. I am very grateful for the time I spent in Seattle because even though my academic life did not turn out so well, my private life has improved so much. Most importantly, I met Todrick, but I also met many other wonderful people! Plus, it gave me a chance to spend some more time with my good old friends.
I am leaving with many positive memories, but more so, I’m leaving with great expectations for the future.

Thank you!
Sarina