Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Heading for Salzburg - back by about July 22nd

Rather than simply leave my typical "on hiatus" note, I thought I'd share an actual post about my temporary departure from blogging.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Europe to attend Salzburg Global Seminar. As anyone who saw the regrettable summer confection Knight and Day will attest, Salzburg is a gorgeous locale of castles and cobblestone streets located in Austria. A UNESCO world heritage site, also the birthplace of Mozart, Salzburg is home to the Schloss Leopoldskron, setting for the Von Trapp family's adventures in The Sound of Music.

I've read this, but honestly I have no clue what to expect during my trip. I just have a basic itinerary. I'm flying to Munich, where I'll meet a friend [When speaking of a forthcoming trip to a distant city, there are few nicer phrases than, "I'm meeting a friend," are there?]. We're splitting a room at a hostel, visiting a biergarten or two, and then taking the train to Salzburg the next day.

There we will join a crew of folks from SJSU and a handful of other universities to attend a seminar on global citizenship. We're all staying at the Schloss, which I'm told is an amazing venue for convivial conversation. The goal of this trip, aside from on-site learning and networking, is to enhance a sense of global consciousness at our respective schools after we return.

Following the week-long seminar, I've got three or four days to myself. As with my 2006 solo-trip to Asia, I have no plans, no sleeping arrangements, and no assurances. I'll get on a train and head somewhere (probably Vienna) and see what happens. Somehow I'll make my way back to Munich on time to catch my flight home.

In the meantime, I won't be blogging over the next couple weeks, though I plan to take lots of pictures and try to write something about my experiences. Thus I'll surely make up for my temporary absence with narratives from Austria and Germany.

For anyone who visits Woodland Shoppers Paradise on a regular basis, thanks for your patience with this hiatus.

I'll be back soon.

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