Anything that I See

(This was written yesterday morning. Blogger wasn't working, so I copied and am now posting 24 hours later...)
It is 6 hours until we get on a train to leave Germany. Of course, there are two loads of laundry, a music class, shopping, going to the bank, taking Daisy to the park, cleaning the refrigerator, and, dauntingly, lots more to do in that time, so I really don't have time for a blog post. But I remember opening this blog on a dark winter night in Munich two and a half years ago, and it feels necessary to close it while still "over the ocean."

Everything we've seen here...the people we've met...the art and the history we've encountered...it's made us different. I'm really sad to leave it behind. However, I feel a grain of optimism about this move and my ability to keep these experiences with me and around me and flowing out of me for the rest of my life.

My song for this transition has been Ingrid Michaelson's Lady in Spain. With more time, there would have been pictures to go along with this for a slide show. Perhaps it's better left in the imagination, though - who we are, what our essences are, and who we are to become.

I think that I'll blog again once we're in Atlanta. The travelogues will be missing, but I'm still very attached to our camera and to creative nonfiction! I'll post a link to the new blog once it's up.

Our itinerary for the next month:

June 30 - July 3: Camping at Katwijk aan Zee, Holland (near the Hague) with friends

July 3-12: Cruise from Rotterdam to New York City, with shore stop in Southampton, where we'll see Salisubry and Stonehenge

July 12-13: NYC

July 13-17: Madison, WI

July 18-25: Orange County, CA

July 26: Atlanta

August 1: Chris' first day of work at Emory

Until the next time, Auf Wiedersehen!!!

Sweet Home Atlanta

As May reaches June

(Time's drum is so steady),

Beneath a balloon

Lie four boxes, ready.

Our international move comes with a long to-do list: packing up, researching Consumer Reports' car list, feeling irritated at customs procedures, purging closets, planning July's schedule, and signing a lease!

Our new condo in Atlanta is just one mile from the chemistry building at Emory. It is two stories, with both bedrooms and the bathroom on the upper level (weird). Besides the cute, hand-drawn floor plan that Gretchen, our new landlady, drew for us, these four pictures (and Google street view) are all we've seen of our new home. 

There you have it. At least it has air conditioning, ceiling fans, window coverings, and access to a pool. Everything else it may have is frosting on the cake. Or gravy on the biscuits. Sugar in the tea?

Going...slowly...over the ocean!

Although Daisy is a model airplane passenger, I think that we would both agree that we've had seven transatlantic flights too many. As Chris and I considered our timeline for moving to Atlanta, a couple of alternatives to flying crossed our minds:

1) Cargo ships. These are manned by modern-day sailors and offer a handful of passengers transport. There's one that leaves from Hamburg and passes through Savannah, GA! Meals with the crew are included in the price, and the ships allow kids over age 3. Yes, they're really slow and it would be so boring for kids to be stuck on a ship with nothing to do for three weeks. But how I would love to someday sail from Long Beach to China, alone with the sea and my journal, eating with the captain, playing ping-pong with the crew...

2) Cruise ships. Peak seasons for transatlantic cruises are spring and fall, when the lines reposition from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean. However, there are a precious few scattered throughout the summer, one of which actually works for us. And we are most definitely going to take it.

Holland America's MS Rotterdam departs on July 3 from Rotterdam, Holland (even closer to us than Hamburg and just a couple of hours away by train) and arrives at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal early on July 12. There's just one port call, in Southampton, England. We will spend nine days swimming, eating, and reflecting on this new phase of life we're entering while slowly pulling ourselves away from the normalcy we've created here. We'll even adjust to the new time zone before we arrive! At various moments across the Atlantic, I will assuredly muster all my imaginative energies to recreate the feelings of the passengers of the Mayflower, the Titanic, and the countless ships filled with hopeful - mournful? - immigrants, not to mention my literary friends who have sailed it. I can't wait to experience what it feels like to suddenly see land after feeling lost in the ocean for a week and to see the Statue of Liberty just like my ancestors did, raising her lamp "beside the golden door."

It turns out that Daisy won't cost much on the cruise, so the total price is about equivalent to the total of 3 (full price) one-ways between Dusseldorf and Atlanta for those dates. Given the extraordinariness of the cruise option (when else would we even have the time for this, or want to do just a one-way passage?), we decided to spring the extra cash to get us from NYC to Atlanta. I hate to turn down a good opportunity when it presents itself...such as, if I arrive in Brooklyn and fly out of La Guardia, shouldn't I stick around for a little bit and enjoy the city? Hmmm.

Tell Me About Atlanta

One way in which I see the US differently after experiencing Europe is by noticing how huge it is. It takes six hours to fly from coast to coast! Sure, it takes that long to cross Europe from Lisbon to Helsinki, too. But think of all the languages people speak along the way: Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, French, Italian, German, Danish...and I'm not even halfway done. To me, the size of European countries and the governance of a smaller area seems more practical, on a more human scale. It makes the US seem like a Super Size country, all speaking one language, all pledging allegiance to one flag, with all states submitting to federal rule. Personally, I wouldn't mind more differences among states...

I've had some questions about the city of Atlanta and the surrounding area from some German friends, and I thought I'd put our new home into European terms and provide some statistics:

The area of the State of Georgia is 59,441 square miles (153,951 square kilometers). That's bigger than Greece. Georgia is bigger than Austria or the Czech Republic. It's also bigger than the combined areas of Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium. It's a little under half the size of Germany. Georgia is pretty much average in size for US states, ranking 24th out of 50.

The summer Olympics were in Atlanta in 1996. Atlanta is the capital and largest city of Georgia. The metropolitan area of Atlanta has a population of 5.5 million spread through 28 counties - this is the same population as the industrial Ruhr area where we're living now, and more than the metropolitan area of Berlin, Germany's biggest city.

Atlanta's airport is the busiest airport in the world according to passenger traffic, followed by Chicago-O'Hare and London Heathrow.

Atlanta is a four-hour drive inland from the Atlantic Ocean. It takes 7.5 hours to drive to Disney World, in Orlando, or to New Orleans. It's 10.5 hours to Washington, D.C.

Famous Atlantans:
- Martin Luther King, Jr., was born in Atlanta and pastored a church there until his death in 1968.
- Jimmy Carter - there's a presidential library!
- Margaret Mitchell wrote "Gone with the Wind" from her apartment in Atlanta. It's still open for tours and writers' workshops, and she's buried in Atlanta.
- Athletic stars: Hank Aaron (baseball), Bobby Jones (golf), and John Heisman (coach at Georgia Tech, with namesake trophy), to name a few.
- Musicians: Ray Charles, Usher, Little Richard, The B-52's, Robert Shaw, Chris Tomlin, John Mayer, Indigo Girls, Third Day, Ciara...
-And I didn't yet mention rappers: Kanye West, T.I., OutKast, Ludacris, and maybe 40 more.
- Stars: Julia Roberts, Holly Hunter, Jane Fonda, Dakota Fanning, Ryan Seacrest, and more.
- The founders of Coca-Cola, Home Depot, and Chick-fil-A all founded and base their businesses in Atlanta.
- Chris Scarborough, professor of chemistry at Emory University

Georgia on my Mind

Throughout the last six months, Chris and I watched the forty universities he applied to get whittled down to the one. While waiting for the results to flow in, we fell into a routine of medieval superstition in order to identify where, in fact, we would land. After every little thing that happened, most notably the shooting star that Chris saw after discovering that USC was hiring, we would say, only half-jokingly, "It's a sign!"

Well, looking back on it, Emory University offered its share of signs.

1) It was Chris' first application, so we took a picture of his email as he was about to click "send" on September 23, 2010.  It's the only application we photographed; it's a sign!

2) After clicking "send" and preparing other applications in the following week, Chris noticed a spelling error in Emory's teaching statement. He'd reworked some sentences and, instead of replacing experimentation with experimenting, accidentally left it as experimentating. How mortifying. That's why, when Emory called with an invitation to interview, we began referring to all the "experimentating" Chris will be expected to do once he's there, or that maybe he can collaborate with other people there who experimentate?

3) This one's good. Some of our bedtime reading during application season was a fantastic translation of Grimms' fairy tales. Every time I opened the front cover, my eyes would be caught by the translator's dedication:

Not only is Joyce Crick telling us to go to Georgia, but she is also hinting for me to name a future daughter or puppy Rose.

4) When Chris was in Atlanta for his first interview at Emory, I got to talk with him on Skype. He clearly adored the character of the chemistry department and was impressed enough with the area to tell me that he could imagine us liking it there. There were lots of trees and birdsongs in winter and even a band for me to join! I already had the (slightly sinking) feeling that Atlanta was going to be in my future.

5) With a name like Holly - or Daisy Charlotte, for that matter - we will fit right in. The movie we watched on the airplane on the way into Atlanta was set in Atlanta and the main character was named Holly; in addition, practically at every restaurant we visited, someone at an adjacent table was apparently named Holly.

The signs were there. Now that it's official - we are moving to Atlanta in August for Chris to work at Emory University as an assistant professor in chemistry - I am gearing up for the move. Not so much the practicalities, but the gusto I need to fuel such a change. Maybe it's resorting to 15-year-old behavior, but I made myself a "Let's Go to Atlanta" music playlist on the free listening website, Grooveshark. It's a sign to myself that I can do this and that it will be fun, even if there's a little blues along the way.

Holly's Thoughts on Leaving Germany

Question: "How are you feeling about the move?"

Answer:

When I think about leaving Germany so soon, I feel a tightness like a wire squeezing my chest. I will really miss it all: the warm friendships we've developed, the adventure of getting to know a new language and culture, the relatively liberal politics, the cobblestones and half-timbered houses, the outdoor markets and accordions and church bells and swans...

But it was bound to come, and the life awaiting us back in the US offers new things to look forward to.

Although speaking English isn't what I'd call an adventure, it is actually very exciting to see Daisy speak English with other kids on the playground and to imagine being active members in our community. We are ready to dig deep, maybe even deeper than before because of our exposure to that famous German bluntness and comfort with conflict. We're ready to meet our neighbors and join committees and find a church and talk, talk, talk. Can't wait.

I'm fixated on the novel concept of making our next home permanent. Ever since moving away to college in Illinois, and to Wisconsin for Chris' graduate school, and now to Germany for the postdoc, we have lived temporarily. I've never even painted my walls or bought curtains. When we move this summer, I will have completed a full two and a half years 1) without a car and 2) with a very primitive kitchen situation: no microwave, no dishwasher. No stand mixer. No toaster, zester, or cheese grater. No mixing bowls (we use pots). No whisk (use forks). We got a timer about a year into it (use the position of the sun...just kidding). The point is, we've consciously avoided accumulating material things - duplicates of which are sitting in a basement in Wisconsin - in favor of targeting specific European experiences that we won't be able to have again. And, even though a cheese grater wouldn't have thwarted a trip to Paris, I like the fact that it won't have to join a landfill when we leave in a few months. I've honestly enjoyed this mode of living lightly - it's somewhat like the spiritual exercise of voluntary poverty recommended by ancient Roman philosophers and still practiced in monasteries. Later this year, however, it's back to the car and dishwasher and cheese grater lifestyle - so opulent! - and I have to admit that the idea of living with more gets me a little excited.

Living with not just more, but nicer-more. Because we've been living temporarily, we've been getting by with pretty much the cheapest furniture Ikea has to offer. Although it gets the job done, Chris is always the first to excuse himself from the dining table because of the uncomfortable chairs. If we're investing in a permanent home, we have an excuse to invest in quality furniture or chandeliers or clawfoot bathtubs because we can use it all for as many years as we want.

This is all because we finally are making a professional income. No longer student stipends! Good job, Chris! I am so happy that my husband has landed his dream career and so excited to watch him develop into the kind of professor he's always talked about being.

Although we will miss Germany and might leave a chunk of our hearts here when our final plane takes off, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't leave; it just proves to us with gleaming clarity that we were so right to come.

Emory University

I should start by saying that we have not yet accepted Emory's offer, but it could be official within the next few weeks. Status = very probable.

Chris adored his first visit to Emory in November. He came back gushing about the friendliness of the faculty, the top-notch quality of the facilities, and the kind of life he could see for us in Atlanta. He received an offer from Emory in January, revealing that the warm feelings were mutual. This morning, we just got back from our family visit, which the chemistry department provided to convince us - mainly me, they admitted - to move there. Given the fact that Emory is currently the only school we are considering, and that Chris loves them and they love Chris, I could never veto the move, even if I do have issues with the summer temperatures and bugs, congested traffic, and the plain non-Europeanness of the US.  Although I wouldn't say that I fell in love with Atlanta, I feel like I gained an appreciation of what it has to offer and I believe in its potential.

Arriving at Atlanta's international terminal is outrageously tiresome. We landed on the tarmac, picked up our bag from the carousel, and were ready to head for the exit when we realized that we still weren't allowed to leave. We had to 1) Deposit our checked bag once again onto a conveyor belt, which would turn up again at the central/domestic baggage claim and 2) Perform an exit security screening, removing the shoes and liquids and all. Taking Daisy out of the stroller again. Removing her toggles/zipper/coat. Deep breaths.

We finally got out and rented a car from the airport - a Jeep Patriot, to my joy - and used it throughout our five-night stay. Even for Atlanta, it was an unseasonably warm spell, hovering around the upper-60's and lower 70's.

Driving into the city from the airport

We stayed at the Emory Conference Center hotel on campus, which was convenient and beautifully Frank Lloyd Wright - inspired. When we checked in, the clerk handed us a giant welcome bag sent by Chris' host in the Chemistry department. It was filled with toys and snacks for Daisy. After our long trip, it felt meaningfully welcoming to us, and the variety of books and crafts came in handy, both

At the hotel:

And out and about:

Pipe cleaners: endless possibilities

One of my first glimpses of the wooded nature of Atlanta was from the courtyard of the hotel, where Daisy insisted on playing every day. There are so many old trees and wild patches of forest! One of chemistry professors told the story of how her tree fell on her house, apparently a common occurrence here.

Chris had a fairly busy schedule for the first few days. First, he met one-on-one with the professors and discussed the terms of hire with the chair. He also went over plans for his lab space and how he would want it laid out. He attended a departmental seminar and had lunch with current graduate students. Daisy and I joined him one afternoon for a Wine and Cheese reception in honor of us, where I got to meet a lot of these people for the first time. We also went out to dinner with a few professors afterward, including a couple with a 3-year-old boy. Everyone was really friendly.

Emory's Chemistry building

The second half of the trip - and part of the reason that our visit was so long - revolved around the visitation weekend for prospective graduate students. This was one of Chris' first opportunities for explaining his research at this level and establishing his character and reputation as a professor, and I know he loved trying to convince the good students to come to Emory. The final night included a banquet that Daisy and I attended, as well.

A little about Emory: In 2011, it was ranked #20 of undergraduate institutions in the country by U.S. News and World Report. It's a major draw for academically minded students (Emory's sports aren't very emphasized) in the Southeast who want to stay relatively close to home.  The average incoming freshman's GPA last year was 3.84. There are about 7,000 undergrads and 10,000 grad students attending Emory, which shows the success of Emory's interesting meld of liberal arts college and high-powered research institution.

Here are some pictures of Emory's quad, lined with marble buildings:

Oh, the money at private schools: emblemed
trash bins!

What did Daisy and I do while Chris was busy with faculty meetings and graduate recruitment? One day, I visited a professor's wife who lives a 45-minute drive outside of the city to get a comparison of homes and communities. She made us lunch and took us to a park. But the rest of my time was filled with visiting preschools and rental properties around the university, meeting with realtors, and walking around neighborhoods.

The cooperative preschool I decided on meets in this Episcopal
church. I'm looking forward to being involved with this
community.

Daisy, helping me check out this condo 

Daisy, helping us check out this apartment complex

On our last day, we also got a chance to see my old friend Lindsay! She has lived in Atlanta for a few years after completing a master's program at Emory. After more time at the playground with Daisy, we had lunch with her and her boyfriend at a good old Southern bbq place. I still can't believe how delicious it was.

All in all, a very informative and positive trip! I've applied to the preschool because the due date is soon, but we're still waiting to closer to our move-in date to commit to a rental property. It will be nice when all of this becomes final!

"Medium" List

A few months ago, I shared an incredibly long list of the schools that Chris applied to in order to be a professor. The total count was 41. He wasn't picky; we decided that we'd rather have more choice than be snooty about living in Oklahoma, although I'll admit that I am thrilled that Oklahoma is not on our current list.

Our current list, or what I'll call the medium list, includes all the departments which invited Chris to come out for an interview. Eleven is kind of a lot of interviews to take, but, once again, we're not going to be picky yet. Although it's been a long interview process (still not over), and it's really intense, Chris has been living the good life. They're paying for airfare, all his meals, and nice hotels. When he comes home, he only half jokingly asks what's for dessert and if he could please have new towels.

Someday within the next month, he'll see what schools want to give him offers and we'll have a short list. Until then, here's what we're dealing with, in order of ranking (from best to good):

University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Cornell (Ithaca, NY)
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Princeton (NJ)
University of Washington (Seattle)
Emory University (Atlanta, GA)
Iowa State (Ames)
University of Rochester (NY)
University of California - Riverside
Notre Dame (South Bend, IN)
University of Vermont (Burlington)

The List

What's this I found next to our bed? Not my nighttime reading material...

My husband, recently a graduate student, has transformed into future Professor Christopher C. Scarborough. As the first deadline of September 24 approaches, Chris is trying to publish papers, create brilliant research ideas, and sort through the unique application demands of each school. Despite the hours Chris is working, he lingers at the breakfast table with a pot of tea and makes sure to come home for dinner and playtime with Daisy before running back to the library. It feels like we're a team; I've had way too much fun making excel sheets for the application requirements of each school and doing everything secretarial that I can think of.

Although we have "no idea" where we'll be next year, it will most likely be one of these schools that are currently on his application list (ranked according to graduate chemistry programs in decreasing order). If all we're left with is Iowa and Detroit, though, we might opt to stay in Europe after all...

Cal Tech (Pasadena, CA) MIT (Cambridge, MA) UC- Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)

Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA)

Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign, IL)

University of Wisconsin (Madison, WI)

Northwestern University (Evanston, IL)

Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) University of Texas - Austin (Austin, TX) University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC)

University of Chicago (Chicago, IL) Princeton University (Princeton, NJ) University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI)

UC - San Diego (La Jolla, CA)

University of Minnesota (Twin Cities, MN)

University of Washington (Seattle, WA)

Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA)

Washington Univ. in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)

Emory University (Atlanta, GA)

Iowa State University (Ames, IA)

Boston College (Boston, MA) Duke University (Durham, NC)

Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) University of Rochester (Rochester, NY) USC (Los Angeles, CA) Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA)

North Carolina State (Raleigh, NC)

Notre Dame University (South Bend, IN)

University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA)

Wayne State University (Detroit, MI)

Univ of Nebraska - Lincoln (Lincoln, NE) Univ of Oklahoma (Norman, OK) Univ of Vermont (Burlington, VT)

Temple University (Philadelphia, PA) Univ of New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM)

Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, OK) UC-Merced (Merced, CA) *Unranked because it's so new McGill University (Montreal, Canada) *Unranked because it's not in the US

The first step is to apply. Then, Chris WILL be invited for some interviews. After these go well and he has offers pouring in, we'll start talking about what our options are. Until then, I have "no idea."

Slide show: "Home"

I feel very sheepish posting this since I realize how conceited it can seem, but I know that some of my relatives will like it, so here it is. When I recently heard the song "Home," by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, my mind tore through a mental flip book of my little family's journeys around Europe together. Since I have some creative time on my hands these days while Chris is working and Daisy is sleeping like a little angel, I got to try my hand at reproducing the truth that wherever we are together, that's home. I am holding this belief as a promise as we face another new transition to an unknown home next year. I hope you enjoy this sprint through our last year and a half!