"How do you have more luggage than me?"

San Francisco International Airport - We arrived early to the airport. About two hours early. Such is the way of my in-laws. It's OK: I took a nap on the floor in the terminal. I understand that firm surfaces are good for your back.

We also came with stuff. A lot of stuff. Seven check bags and four carry-ons. H is indulging in what I consider excessive smug because I ended up taking more stuff than she did. Apparently, this little detour from heteronormative packing patterns is news that everyone needs to hear: the ticketing agent, the TSA security woman, and practically all our neighbors and friends.

The reason I have more stuff is that I am taking skis and H is not and ski gear is rather bulky. H briefly explored the idea of having me leave the ski gear behind, but this idea failed to gain traction with me. Switzerland is rather well known for its skiing and I wasn't about to pass that up.

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Italy

Dear Reader: We visited Italy twice in two weeks in November 2021. This blog has been sitting in my drafts folder since then. I am publishing it now because my family will shortly be arriving in Rome and I have little confidence that they will manage this trip successfully without my guidance. Without further ado: -------- Our first trip was a weekend jaunt to Milan and our second trip was a weeklong sojourn to Rome during the week of Thanksgiving. Over the course of our several travels, we've developed a sociological theory: the triangle of rules. We believe that rules can roughly be arrayed in a triangle, with the points being actual rules, aspirational rules, and inscrutable rules. Societies can be positioned in the triangle based on the extent to which certain types of rules dominate the social contract. Actual rules are written rules with prescribed penalties that are respected and enforced. In Switzerland, there are many of these: trash may only be disposed of in specially m...

Amsterdam and the Netherlands

Amsterdam, Netherlands - We enjoyed ourselves on our recent jaunt to the Netherlands. Below is a disorganized jumble of the many and varied things we learned. Names of Things Amsterdam Let's start with an easy one. I had never taken time to think about the name Amsterdam until I got here, but the origin of the name is rather literal - it refers to the dam of the river Amstel, the river on which the city was founded. When you arrive here, you'll notice that many places in the Netherlands are named similarly: Edam, Monnickendam, etc. Controlling the flow of water is, as it turns out, very important in a country where a third of the land area is below sea level and the average elevation is 98 feet. The Netherlands vs. Holland The Netherlands means the Low Countries and it refers to all twelve provinces. People, particularly English speakers and sometimes the Dutch (particularly those who live in Holland), often use "Holland" to refer to the whole country. But ...

We're Back!

Paris, France - We've returned to Europe for a three-week sojourn in France, Switzerland, and the UK. We're obviously very excited. We arrived in Paris Sunday around 11AM. Our approach to jet lag is akin to tearing the bandaid off quickly: We purposely sleep little if at all on our transatlantic flight (below is a photo of Hannah, trying not to sleep on the flight), consume copious amounts of caffeine after we land, slowly descend into irritability and mild delirium, and then collapse after staying up as late as we can on our first night in Europe. Our body's, overcome by shock from this maltreatment, eagerly accept a full night's sleep, even if it's offered at an hour that's entirely out of keeping with our normal schedule. Works like a charm. After depositing our things at the hotel, we aimlessly wandered around Paris for a few hours before meeting up with Maggie, an acquaintance of Hannah's from work. Maggie took us to the wine bar Delicatessen where we ...

The Neutral Zone

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