Follow-up

The Fulbright Commission asks us to share our experiences when we return home, and I have been very happy to do that. I have warned friends and family that my five months in Bratislava was a major life experience - and I expect to be talking about it for the rest of my life. I also love showing people some of the thousands of digital photographs I took.

My home College of Liberal Arts at CSULB posted some of my pictures from my stay in Bratislava: http://www.csulb.edu/colleges/cla/
http://www.csulb.edu/colleges/cla/people/news/index.html#Vcamp

I gave a talk at the Women's Business Council luncheon meeting of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce on February 21, 2008.

I also gave a talk for the CSULB International Education program on February 27, 2008. The publicity photo they distributed on campus included one of my favorite photographs, the view from my flat. I'm also using that photo as the new background on my laptop, which means that my CSULB students see it at every class when I get set up to show PowerPoint.

I submitted a lengthy review of the fall 2007 season of the Slovak National Ballet for publication later this spring in [Washington] DanceView. They sent me oodles of great press photos. Here's one of my favorites, the "Dancing Marilyn's" from their new ballet Warhol.

Now I'm working on more essays and articles about my experiences and will announce those later as they are completed.

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

Trip home

The trip home to California from Vienna took almost 24 hours in real time, with a 9-hour time change. Delta operates one non-stop every day in each direction between Vienna and Atlanta. The trip over in September had been over half-empty, so it was surprising that this one seemed almost full. Another surprise: a long line of young boys in blue sailor suits got on this flight together. Yes, the Vienna Boys Choir accompanied me home. We asked them to serenade us, but they respectfully declined.

This was my last view of central Europe as we took off for the U.S.

One of my favorite indulgences at this stage of my life is using my frequent flyer miles to upgrade to first class on long flights. It does ease the pain considerably - worth every mile. This is the first-class cabin on the 767-300ER, the two-class plane Delta uses for this flight.

Here is the view from my balcony in California. For my Slovak students and colleagues, that four-lane road is Pacific Coast Highway (California Highway #1). That's a peek-a-boo view of the Pacific Ocean and, at the horizon, Catalina Island. Would you believe we have buildings here that are over 20 years old!!

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