Meeting on December 4th

Our final meeting will be on Friday, December 4th at 3 p.m. in Hill Hall 104. This is obligatory and every McDaniel student MUST attend it. Bring your laptops with you, in case you have one. Also please e-mail me with any questions you have.

In preparation for the meeting, please inquire about the following issues:

1. Call your bank and make sure your ATM card can be used in Europe (Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria)
2. Find out from your cellphone company whether you can use your cellphone in Europe and how much this will cost you.
3. Do you have your passport? Did you give me 2 copies of the information page? If not, then bring those with you to the meeting. If you didn't get your passport yet, you need to contact your elected officials and ask for their help.

Good News: I have just learned that our tour guide will be Jürgen, the same person I had 2 years ago. He is simply awesome. He is bi-lingual German and Hungarian and speaks fluently English. I'll call him and talk to him about 2 optional tours: a night cruise on the Danube in Budapest and a de-tour to visit the castles of Ludwig II in Bavaria. These are not part of the trip. In order to do that, there will be an additional fee. Last time, we paid 40 Euros for both. I don't know how much this will be this time, but I guess not more than 50 Euros. It will be definitely cheaper than going through the travel agency, which will charge double the amount. Also the travel agency has charged us $34 extra for the non-stop flights from Washington to Frankfurt and Frankfurt to Washington. Therefore, please bring a check in the amount of $100 (made out to McDaniel) with you to the meeting, to cover the 2 tours and the additional fee for the non-stop flights.

In the price you have paid there is a lifetime membership fee for EF. In case you have traveled with EF before, you will receive a refund of $100. Those who are traveling the first time with EF, are entitled to a discount next time they travel with EF. Currently, there are 5 or 6 students who have traveled with EF in the last 4 years. I'll e-mail you separately. You don't have to pay the $100 additional amount. EF will issue us $100 refund for you.

Opera in Vienna: I contacted the Opera in Vienna and tickets fir both the State Opera and the Volksoper will go on sale for January 2010 on December 1. Therefore, I need you to read the descriptions below (and see the prices) get back to me what you prefer to see. Here are the options Just e-mail me back with

Option A: Jan 8: State Opera: Manon - Opera by Jules Massenet (3 hours long with intermission)
Tickets cost 57-168 Euros (most expensive and also will be sold out very fast. It is the opening night o a Friday. I doubt that we will find any good seats.)
Synopsis: http://opera.stanford.edu/Massenet/Manon/synopsis.html
 
Option B: Jan 8: Volksoper: The Land of Laughter, Operetta by Franz Lahar with English subtitles (2 hours and 45 minutes with 1 intermission)
Tickets cost: 36-80 Euros
Synopsis: Lisa, daughter from a good Vienna family, falls in love with the Chinese prince Sou-Chong. The couple want to lead their life as a couple in China, but the cultural differences are soon revealed as unsurmountable and their love fails as a consequence. The prince is ultimately left only to conclude sadly: "Always keep smiling..." - even when your heart is at its most despondent. Franz Lehár created beguilingly beautiful music, making this work one of the most well-known and most frequently performed operettas worldwide. With English Subtitles

Option C: Jan 9: State Opera - Nutcracker Ballet (2 hours with Intermission)
Tickets cost 48-130 Euros
Synopsis: http://www.nutcrackerballet.net/html/nutcracker_story.html

Option D: Jan 9: Volksoper: La Boheme, Opera by Giacomo Puccini (2 hours and 15 minutes with 1 intermission)
Tickets cost: 36-80 Euros
Synopsis: http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/stories/synopsis.aspx?id=7