Travelling the World - or How to Utterly Mess up your Sleep Schedule
Proper (and long) post alert!!! It's been a while since I last posted. Since I'm spending some time on planes (for details read the rest of the article), and my life not quite as boring as usual at the moment, I decided to write about some of the things that are going on. Expect a few posts from me ;)
I realise there's still one Venice post missing - I just completely forgot about it. I forgot to pack my notes but I hope I'll be able to write it during my crazy sleep schedule time :)
How it Began
More than a year ago, m flatmate told me he was planning to go to Japan.
My first thought was: I want to go, too! Travelling to South East Asia been a huge dream of mine ever since I was a child, long before I first heard about anime and manga (which I got to know when I was 13 or so - and I still love them a lot!) - back then, China would have been an equal option, but while I've done a couple of Japanese classes I can't say much more than "Hello" in Chinese. I still want to go to China though, too!
My second thought was: But how can I afford it? As far as I was aware, a flight alone cost over 2000€. However, it turned out that I was wrong. Nowadays, flights to Japan can cost as less than 500€ - how awesome is that? We immediately started planning where and, more importantly, when to go. It had to be during lecture break, obviously. And we already knew that spring and autumn are very nice seasons in Japan. When we finally knew when our exams for this spring are scheduled (early November), we booked our flight. We decided to go from 25th of March till 8th of April.
It was also around that time (a bit earlier maybe) that my boyfriend was offered the opportunity to write his Bachelor thesis in Davis, California, starting in January (that's next to Sacramento and North East of San Francisco).
Around Christmas, I got an invitation for a workshop in Bodega Bay, California (close to Davis). I can only guess the reasons I was invited but I gladly accepted the offer. The dates just about matched my plans - the workshop is from March 19th to 21st, so I could get back to Germany in time. As my last two exams were planned for the 13th of March, I decided to leave a bit earlier to see San Francisco (and have more time to spend with my boyfriend - by this point we would already be separated by several thousand kilometres and a 9-hour time difference for two-and-a-half months. I decided to go from March 15th to 21st (which means I'll arrive in Germany late on March 22nd)
The Problem
The avid reader (I love that expression - I'll have to use it in a paper some day!) may have noticed that the time span from the arrival in Germany from the USA trip to the departure is rather short. I'll be in Germany for a little more than 60 hours.One obvious option would have been to change my flight to Japan so I'll leave from California. However, there is an exam I need to help monitoring and correcting. (I've been told we could arrange something so the exam would be corrected when I'm back - but first of all, it's my job (which I'm paid for) and second, I know what it is like to wait for exam results for ages. I happen to like the people who attend it so I wouldn't do that to them ;))
It was clear I would go back to Germany in between.
Now, I was faced with another problem: The time difference. Between California, Germany and Japan, there would be an 8-hour time difference*. In my travelling direction this would add up to a massive time difference of 16 hours which I would have to cover withing 2-3 days (okay, maybe 4).
The Solution
I decided on an easy solution: While physically travelling to Japan via Germany, I would mentally travel to Japan over the Pacific. Meaning, I'll just pretend to be in the time zone of, let's say, Hawaii in between.
Constraints:
The schedule I worked out is conform with all the constraints. If I have to, I can also extend my third day by another hour for the exam correction. The only small problem is switching flights in Beijing because it's rather early (8:25 Japan time/7:25 Beijing time).
I ignored the jetlags I'll have in California and back in Germany (in April) but I guess I can cope with eight hours time difference within a few days. ;)
Some Stats
Flights
During this very exciting time span, I will sit in 7 different airplanes! Good lord! That also means 14 starts/landings (my poor ears :P but I guess it's worth the struggle). In case Mum is not the only one who's worried about me: you should be able to check the flight statuses online.
Not hearing from me indicates I'm alive and well. (If there was trouble, I'd call (or my boyfriend (US)/flatmate (Japan)). If the trouble was so big I couldn't call, you'd see it on the news. :P)
Frankfurt to San Francisco: 15.3. 9:55 - 15.3. 13:20 (Lufthansa)
San Francisco to Munich: 21.3. 22:00 - 22.3. 17:15 (Lufthansa)
Munich to Frankfurt: 22.3. 18:50 - 22.3. 20:00 (Lufthansa)
Frankfurt to Beijing: 25.3. 14:40 - 26.3. 7:20 (Air China)
Beijing to Tokyo: 26.3. 9:25 - 26.3. 13:55 (Air China)
Tokyo to Beijing: 8.4. 19:00 - 8.4. 21:55 (Air China)
Beijing to Frankfurt: 9.4. 1:20 - 9.4. 5:40 (Air China)
* The United States, i.e. most states (there are exceptions), switched to Daylight Saving Time on March 14th, one day before I left Germany, thus reducing the time difference between California and Germany from 9 to 8 hours Quite amusingly, the German Daylight saving time will also be switched while I'm in Japan, thus reducing the time difference between Japan and Germany to only 7 hours. Japan doesn't use Daylight Saving time
And of course, there will be pictures!
I realise there's still one Venice post missing - I just completely forgot about it. I forgot to pack my notes but I hope I'll be able to write it during my crazy sleep schedule time :)
How it Began
More than a year ago, m flatmate told me he was planning to go to Japan.
My first thought was: I want to go, too! Travelling to South East Asia been a huge dream of mine ever since I was a child, long before I first heard about anime and manga (which I got to know when I was 13 or so - and I still love them a lot!) - back then, China would have been an equal option, but while I've done a couple of Japanese classes I can't say much more than "Hello" in Chinese. I still want to go to China though, too!
My second thought was: But how can I afford it? As far as I was aware, a flight alone cost over 2000€. However, it turned out that I was wrong. Nowadays, flights to Japan can cost as less than 500€ - how awesome is that? We immediately started planning where and, more importantly, when to go. It had to be during lecture break, obviously. And we already knew that spring and autumn are very nice seasons in Japan. When we finally knew when our exams for this spring are scheduled (early November), we booked our flight. We decided to go from 25th of March till 8th of April.
It was also around that time (a bit earlier maybe) that my boyfriend was offered the opportunity to write his Bachelor thesis in Davis, California, starting in January (that's next to Sacramento and North East of San Francisco).
Around Christmas, I got an invitation for a workshop in Bodega Bay, California (close to Davis). I can only guess the reasons I was invited but I gladly accepted the offer. The dates just about matched my plans - the workshop is from March 19th to 21st, so I could get back to Germany in time. As my last two exams were planned for the 13th of March, I decided to leave a bit earlier to see San Francisco (and have more time to spend with my boyfriend - by this point we would already be separated by several thousand kilometres and a 9-hour time difference for two-and-a-half months. I decided to go from March 15th to 21st (which means I'll arrive in Germany late on March 22nd)
The Problem
The avid reader (I love that expression - I'll have to use it in a paper some day!) may have noticed that the time span from the arrival in Germany from the USA trip to the departure is rather short. I'll be in Germany for a little more than 60 hours.One obvious option would have been to change my flight to Japan so I'll leave from California. However, there is an exam I need to help monitoring and correcting. (I've been told we could arrange something so the exam would be corrected when I'm back - but first of all, it's my job (which I'm paid for) and second, I know what it is like to wait for exam results for ages. I happen to like the people who attend it so I wouldn't do that to them ;))
It was clear I would go back to Germany in between.
Now, I was faced with another problem: The time difference. Between California, Germany and Japan, there would be an 8-hour time difference*. In my travelling direction this would add up to a massive time difference of 16 hours which I would have to cover withing 2-3 days (okay, maybe 4).
The Solution
I decided on an easy solution: While physically travelling to Japan via Germany, I would mentally travel to Japan over the Pacific. Meaning, I'll just pretend to be in the time zone of, let's say, Hawaii in between.
Constraints:
- I have to be awake for travelling to and from airports (or at least awake enough to catch trains and planes)
- I have to be awake for the exam and its correction
- I have to be awake for a presentation (13:00, March 23rd)
- I don't think I can do more that 3 hour jumps at a time
The schedule I worked out is conform with all the constraints. If I have to, I can also extend my third day by another hour for the exam correction. The only small problem is switching flights in Beijing because it's rather early (8:25 Japan time/7:25 Beijing time).
I ignored the jetlags I'll have in California and back in Germany (in April) but I guess I can cope with eight hours time difference within a few days. ;)
Some Stats
Flights
During this very exciting time span, I will sit in 7 different airplanes! Good lord! That also means 14 starts/landings (my poor ears :P but I guess it's worth the struggle). In case Mum is not the only one who's worried about me: you should be able to check the flight statuses online.
Not hearing from me indicates I'm alive and well. (If there was trouble, I'd call (or my boyfriend (US)/flatmate (Japan)). If the trouble was so big I couldn't call, you'd see it on the news. :P)
Frankfurt to San Francisco: 15.3. 9:55 - 15.3. 13:20 (Lufthansa)
San Francisco to Munich: 21.3. 22:00 - 22.3. 17:15 (Lufthansa)
Munich to Frankfurt: 22.3. 18:50 - 22.3. 20:00 (Lufthansa)
Frankfurt to Beijing: 25.3. 14:40 - 26.3. 7:20 (Air China)
Beijing to Tokyo: 26.3. 9:25 - 26.3. 13:55 (Air China)
Tokyo to Beijing: 8.4. 19:00 - 8.4. 21:55 (Air China)
Beijing to Frankfurt: 9.4. 1:20 - 9.4. 5:40 (Air China)
* The United States, i.e. most states (there are exceptions), switched to Daylight Saving Time on March 14th, one day before I left Germany, thus reducing the time difference between California and Germany from 9 to 8 hours Quite amusingly, the German Daylight saving time will also be switched while I'm in Japan, thus reducing the time difference between Japan and Germany to only 7 hours. Japan doesn't use Daylight Saving time
And of course, there will be pictures!