Countdown

I've been swamped marking papers from all my students this past week, so I've been on a blogging hiatus. This week I'm giving their final exams, so I have another grading marathon ahead. I fly home in two weeks, and it's going to be hectic finishing everything, packing, and shipping things I have accumulated that won't fit into my suitcases. The only bright spot in the collapse of the dollar is that I have not gone on any shopping sprees here. But I have collected many precious souvenirs, books, and papers that I want to get back to the U.S. Alas, I have a long list of places I have not yet visited in Bratislava, but I will squeeze in what I can.

I did see something fascinating while walking back from Billa's a few days ago. The "tow trucks" here are actually cranes that can lift a car out of any spot, swing it high above the others, and lower it onto the truck to be taken away. Maybe they have tow trucks like that in the U.S., but I've never noticed one.

I'm paying close attention to the U.S. primary elections - easy, thanks to videostreaming on the Internet, along with CNN-International, etc. A few months ago one of my students here asked me the correct pronunciation of someone that he had been reading about on the Internet: "Obama" -- accent on the second syllable, I said. My student was really impressed with him. Is it significant that university students in central Europe are excited by his candidacy?

NOTE: Click on any image in this blog to see it full-size.