The two-week “you thought you were finished with school sucker!” German course is officially finished and I am now a professional in the art of Deutsch sprechen. Sike! My German still sucks but I’m speaking much better than I was when I got here. When anyone gives me crap I just tell them I’m American. Surprisingly I haven’t been beat up for that yet.
So the status of my climbing-injured finger doesn’t appear to have changed since the last time I tried to hang on the trim molding around the door. I’m going climbing next weekend anyway. A climbing friend from the States lives a few hours from me and invited me up to her place to climb. Since I am a known masochistic outdoor adventurer, I accepted. I plan on taping my fingers up to the point of nearly cutting off circulation and hopping on a few easy climbs before succumbing to taking my rightful place as belay bitch for the rest of the day. I’ll also be taking my fancy camera along to snap some sweet shots of the area. Regardless of my level of success at climbing next weekend, it should be a fun trip.
I really do miss climbing though. It’s nearing 3 months since the last time I climbed anything more enthralling than the 3 flights of steps it takes to get to my apartment. If I don’t notice any progress in healing then I will have to temporarily supplement my climbing addiction with other endeavors. Namely running, mountain biking, drinking large amounts of German beer while meeting excessively attractive fräuleins, reading novels and playing games that distract me from anything productive and OCCASIONALLY dabbling in the study of the German language. Hmm, on second thought I better bump the “language study” part up a few notches in priority since it currently conflicts with the potential for meeting said excessively attractive fräuleins. I better get on that.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Lay down the hammer!
Has anyone been watching the World Cup lately? Given the time that it airs in the States, probably not. We have the advantage of the games airing at 4PM and 8:30PM. I remember people skipping class to see the games during my freshman year at Widener. If you think that's a bit overboard, you should see how big the WC is over here. They have huge tv screens outside at some places for public viewing. Biergartens are the most popular site to be at for gametime. Imagine the outdoor seating at your local sports bar, multiply that by about 6 and then add a 1 Liter mug of beer in each observer's hand. Then you're getting close. Don't forget that Germany is still in the running to win the whole thing. Remember when the Phils won the Word Series? That's how ALL of Germany will be if they win the cup. The Germans have incredible national pride and don't hesitate to show it one bit. People were driving around blowing their black, red and gold vuvuzelas and honking their horns after Germany beat England. Mind you it was about 10:30PM when this happend. Damn vuvuzelas.
I was in Munich for the game against Argentinia. This was expected to be a tough match for Germany, but that first goal set them on a rampage that ended in a 4-0 shut out. Aufwiedersehen Argeninia! I won't be going back to Munich for the game on Wednesday. I'll suffice for watching it on my friend's nice HDTV.
After the Argentina game I went to a bar with a few friends and played my first German drinking game. It wasn't much of a drinking game except that it is incredibly more difficult, and entertaining, when drunk. Additinionally the loser buys the next round of drinks. Anyway, the game is played on the top of a large log. More like a tree stump honestly. It's 2 feet in diameter and about 3 feet off the ground. Table height. Each player is given a standard nail, the kind with a nice, big, flat head to aim for. The game starts by tapping the nail into the log with a hammer, just barely enough to get it to stand up. Now the fun starts. Each player must hit their nail into the log until the nailhead is flush or below the surface. But you have to do it with the opposite side of a pick hammer. Like this one:
Get the idea now? To make matters more difficult, you are not allowed to place the hammer overtop the nail during the wind up. You have to start your swing with the pick end touching the edge of the log. One upstroke and lay down the hammer! Add a few beers and this game is way more fun than beer pong. The first person to sink their nail into the log completely is the winner and the last person to do so must buy the next round of drinks. Then it's game on again! Oh yeah, and don't put your drink on the log (table).
I was in Munich for the game against Argentinia. This was expected to be a tough match for Germany, but that first goal set them on a rampage that ended in a 4-0 shut out. Aufwiedersehen Argeninia! I won't be going back to Munich for the game on Wednesday. I'll suffice for watching it on my friend's nice HDTV.
After the Argentina game I went to a bar with a few friends and played my first German drinking game. It wasn't much of a drinking game except that it is incredibly more difficult, and entertaining, when drunk. Additinionally the loser buys the next round of drinks. Anyway, the game is played on the top of a large log. More like a tree stump honestly. It's 2 feet in diameter and about 3 feet off the ground. Table height. Each player is given a standard nail, the kind with a nice, big, flat head to aim for. The game starts by tapping the nail into the log with a hammer, just barely enough to get it to stand up. Now the fun starts. Each player must hit their nail into the log until the nailhead is flush or below the surface. But you have to do it with the opposite side of a pick hammer. Like this one:
Sunday, June 27, 2010
M&M
So it would seem like I'm due for another post. Well get comfortable. I've got some catching up to do here.
To star things off, I have to talk about my first trip to Munich. I was scheduled to go there for a language course lasting one week. Classes were roughly 9-4 with a 45min lunch break. During that week I stayed with a family that collaborates with the firm that I took the course through. They more or less rent a room out a student taking a course there, with the cost being built into the overall cost for the course. Work paid for the whole enchilada so I wasn't too worried about that. Anyhow, I took a train into Munich and it was like no other train I've been on. First off all, I walked in and saw stairs. Stairs on a train??? Heck yeah, I'm goin' up! It was a double decker train. The train had rows upon rows of bucket-style seats, never more than two per row, with some rows faced towards each other for groups traveling together. Each seat was generously padded and had a small trashcan, with a lid, at each window seat. This thing was clean. The train ride took about 45 minutes but along the way I noticed a few people wearing backpacks. Not just regular backpacks, backpacking backpacks. Climbing backpacks, with climbing shoes attached to the outside. I knew I was heading in the right direction. I had already researched a few climbing gyms in Munich so I knew their had to be a shop with climbing gear somewhere in this city. I would be on the hunt.
When I got off the train, I took a taxi to the family I would stay with for the week. Let me tell you about this taxi. It is NOTHING like what you would find in Philly or NY. All the taxi's here are Mercedes with full leather interior. Some are sedans and some are station wagons. There is no barrier between you and the driver. It honestly feels like riding with a personal chauffeur more than riding in a taxi. The rearview mirror has a few buttons and the meter display, showing you travel distance and fair price in real time. Lastly the drivers aren't Arabic or any crap like that. Just regular ass men trying to earn a living. Not a bunch of dirtballs either. Anyway, when I got the house I met the man of the household first and was pleasantly surprised by his friendliness. Combined with strong English speaking skills, I felt very relieved. We exchanged stories over coffee and I learned that he is an artist for a living. He mainly does sculptures with stones. Sometimes the sculptures take up a while wall or room. Some are meant to be centerpieces inside large buildings or offices. You know how companies like to jazz up their buildings these days. Half of his time is spent on his artwork and the other half is spent painting houses. Gotta pay the bills somehow. I think it's pretty admirable that he's found a way to live his passion while still managing to be a good provider to his family.
So, the language course. I took the subway into Munich, which by most counts is very convenient and cheap. I bought a pass that allowed me to ride any of the subway lines and buses for the entire week for about 13€. I'd call that a deal. Once I got to the course, I realized that I would be sitting one-on-one with an instructor. I expected this. What I wasn't quite ready for was how much German this instructor was going to spit at me right off the bat. She started talking at me like I should understand. When I informed her that I didn't understand, she continued to try and explain, in German, what she just said. Did you not fuckin' hear me? NO ENTIENDO DEUTSCH DUMBASS! Mind you I took a fairly inclusive entry exam online several weeks before arriving. Upon filing out this exam, I was also asked to indicate my background in German. ZERO. So when this lady started speaking to me in German and getting upset when I didn't understand her, I wanted to curse her out and ask her if she bothered to read my file. Eventually she got a whiff of what I was trying to tell her and she began speaking a little English. However, the tone remained much the same as she continued to teach mostly speaking German and expecting me to be able to understand. Since nearly every word she spoke was new to me as of the moment she spoke it, it took a while before I was able to dissect what she was saying. This wasn't like any class you'd come across at a university. I was mostly being talked at instead of getting any kind of explanation. Since I don't do well with being talked at, it took a lot of self control to keep my thoughts to caged up and just take notes. Lunch came and I couldn't have bee more happy to escape. I walked around the block to see what kind of shops were nearby and settled on a sandwich place before making my way back to the class. The second half of the day was with a different instructor. He followed a similar pattern of talking German at me except that I could barely decipher his words. His pronunciation was horrible. At least I could pick out words when the other instructor spoke, even though I didn't know what they meant. I had to stop him a bunch of times, but I made it through the rest of the day.
When the next day started off the same way as the first I had had enough. I needed to set the tone now if I was going to get anything out of this course. I set her straight pretty quick and she began speaking more English. The day went much better afterward. It was a little frustrating when she wasn't able to translate certain words. I wasn't remembering certain words that she had mentioned the day before. For instance, she mentioned three words that she said all meant "for" but in different ways. Well that doesn't help. How am I supposed to know when to use which one if you can't tell me the differences? I got pretty pissed off and made a note to look this words up when I got home. Google translator revealed the secret that she could not explain. One word actually meant "for", another meant "since" and the other meant "at." Trusty ole Google. I informed her of the translations I had found and she immediately agreed. So why couldn't you explain that yesterday? Grrrr. I had a different guy in the afternoon and I much preferred his approach. He began with some German but actually asked if I understood and then proceeded to go over it, in English, so I could understand. He was much more methodical about how he taught. I was much happier.
The rest of the week got a little better. I still got frustrated occasionally, but that's mostly because I've been trained as an engineer to ask questions until I know exactly how it works and why. I was looking for a little more insight to how the grammar works and for some clearer, more literal, translations of some words so I would know when and how to use them. After some pestering and some research I got what I was after. I continued taking notes and firing off questions when I needed to. Since they threw so much at me in one week, my plan was to just keep it all organized and then study it later. It would have been way too much to try and memorize right away. Note cards and post-it notes have been doing wonders.
So after the course was over around 4, I want walking around Munich. I wanted to explore a bit. I was hunting for something. Mission 1 was to find a French Press. My flat came equipped with an electric kettle that makes hot water in less than 2 minutes. With that in mind I figured I didn't really need to buy a coffee maker. A French Press would be cheaper, doesn't need wasteful paper filters and I'd be able to pack it easily when traveling. The problem was I hadn't been able to find one in the small town of Waldkraiburg. I figured Munich had to have one. So I started off down what looked to be a main strip of stores. The first store that caught my attention was one selling backpacks. All kinds, from school bags to handbags. I came across a 28L Deuter pack. Since I was in need of something small enough for a bike trip but large enough to hold some gear, I snagged it. The aluminum frame was nice, but I think the built-in rain cover is what really sold me. So I checked out, put my books from class inside and slung it over my shoulder. Onward.
I was in need of a new pair of shoes. Nothing sport specific, just something comfortable but with a bit of style. I sure picked the right street because there were a LOT of shoe stores. I stopped in a few of them, but kept on moving when I didn't exactly what I was looking for. The first sign of potential came when I stumbled upon a Timberland store. They had some cool stuff, but I didn't want to make any hasty decisions because I saw a Columbia store just across the street. They had an interesting selection but I wasn't quite sold. There was a nice rain shell I might go back for though... Moving on.
I was making my way a little further down when I was surprised to see a Starbucks. I didn't really plan on going in until I saw the French Press sitting on the shelf. HARD RIGHT! I swooped right in and nabbed it. I got a coffee too.
My last stop of the day was at North Face. It was happy to find a few outdoor retailers around. I walked straight back to the shoe rack and began to assess their stock. Not too shabby. I walked around the rest of the store before coming back to the shoes to make my decision. I walked out with these.
To star things off, I have to talk about my first trip to Munich. I was scheduled to go there for a language course lasting one week. Classes were roughly 9-4 with a 45min lunch break. During that week I stayed with a family that collaborates with the firm that I took the course through. They more or less rent a room out a student taking a course there, with the cost being built into the overall cost for the course. Work paid for the whole enchilada so I wasn't too worried about that. Anyhow, I took a train into Munich and it was like no other train I've been on. First off all, I walked in and saw stairs. Stairs on a train??? Heck yeah, I'm goin' up! It was a double decker train. The train had rows upon rows of bucket-style seats, never more than two per row, with some rows faced towards each other for groups traveling together. Each seat was generously padded and had a small trashcan, with a lid, at each window seat. This thing was clean. The train ride took about 45 minutes but along the way I noticed a few people wearing backpacks. Not just regular backpacks, backpacking backpacks. Climbing backpacks, with climbing shoes attached to the outside. I knew I was heading in the right direction. I had already researched a few climbing gyms in Munich so I knew their had to be a shop with climbing gear somewhere in this city. I would be on the hunt.
When I got off the train, I took a taxi to the family I would stay with for the week. Let me tell you about this taxi. It is NOTHING like what you would find in Philly or NY. All the taxi's here are Mercedes with full leather interior. Some are sedans and some are station wagons. There is no barrier between you and the driver. It honestly feels like riding with a personal chauffeur more than riding in a taxi. The rearview mirror has a few buttons and the meter display, showing you travel distance and fair price in real time. Lastly the drivers aren't Arabic or any crap like that. Just regular ass men trying to earn a living. Not a bunch of dirtballs either. Anyway, when I got the house I met the man of the household first and was pleasantly surprised by his friendliness. Combined with strong English speaking skills, I felt very relieved. We exchanged stories over coffee and I learned that he is an artist for a living. He mainly does sculptures with stones. Sometimes the sculptures take up a while wall or room. Some are meant to be centerpieces inside large buildings or offices. You know how companies like to jazz up their buildings these days. Half of his time is spent on his artwork and the other half is spent painting houses. Gotta pay the bills somehow. I think it's pretty admirable that he's found a way to live his passion while still managing to be a good provider to his family.
So, the language course. I took the subway into Munich, which by most counts is very convenient and cheap. I bought a pass that allowed me to ride any of the subway lines and buses for the entire week for about 13€. I'd call that a deal. Once I got to the course, I realized that I would be sitting one-on-one with an instructor. I expected this. What I wasn't quite ready for was how much German this instructor was going to spit at me right off the bat. She started talking at me like I should understand. When I informed her that I didn't understand, she continued to try and explain, in German, what she just said. Did you not fuckin' hear me? NO ENTIENDO DEUTSCH DUMBASS! Mind you I took a fairly inclusive entry exam online several weeks before arriving. Upon filing out this exam, I was also asked to indicate my background in German. ZERO. So when this lady started speaking to me in German and getting upset when I didn't understand her, I wanted to curse her out and ask her if she bothered to read my file. Eventually she got a whiff of what I was trying to tell her and she began speaking a little English. However, the tone remained much the same as she continued to teach mostly speaking German and expecting me to be able to understand. Since nearly every word she spoke was new to me as of the moment she spoke it, it took a while before I was able to dissect what she was saying. This wasn't like any class you'd come across at a university. I was mostly being talked at instead of getting any kind of explanation. Since I don't do well with being talked at, it took a lot of self control to keep my thoughts to caged up and just take notes. Lunch came and I couldn't have bee more happy to escape. I walked around the block to see what kind of shops were nearby and settled on a sandwich place before making my way back to the class. The second half of the day was with a different instructor. He followed a similar pattern of talking German at me except that I could barely decipher his words. His pronunciation was horrible. At least I could pick out words when the other instructor spoke, even though I didn't know what they meant. I had to stop him a bunch of times, but I made it through the rest of the day.
When the next day started off the same way as the first I had had enough. I needed to set the tone now if I was going to get anything out of this course. I set her straight pretty quick and she began speaking more English. The day went much better afterward. It was a little frustrating when she wasn't able to translate certain words. I wasn't remembering certain words that she had mentioned the day before. For instance, she mentioned three words that she said all meant "for" but in different ways. Well that doesn't help. How am I supposed to know when to use which one if you can't tell me the differences? I got pretty pissed off and made a note to look this words up when I got home. Google translator revealed the secret that she could not explain. One word actually meant "for", another meant "since" and the other meant "at." Trusty ole Google. I informed her of the translations I had found and she immediately agreed. So why couldn't you explain that yesterday? Grrrr. I had a different guy in the afternoon and I much preferred his approach. He began with some German but actually asked if I understood and then proceeded to go over it, in English, so I could understand. He was much more methodical about how he taught. I was much happier.
The rest of the week got a little better. I still got frustrated occasionally, but that's mostly because I've been trained as an engineer to ask questions until I know exactly how it works and why. I was looking for a little more insight to how the grammar works and for some clearer, more literal, translations of some words so I would know when and how to use them. After some pestering and some research I got what I was after. I continued taking notes and firing off questions when I needed to. Since they threw so much at me in one week, my plan was to just keep it all organized and then study it later. It would have been way too much to try and memorize right away. Note cards and post-it notes have been doing wonders.
So after the course was over around 4, I want walking around Munich. I wanted to explore a bit. I was hunting for something. Mission 1 was to find a French Press. My flat came equipped with an electric kettle that makes hot water in less than 2 minutes. With that in mind I figured I didn't really need to buy a coffee maker. A French Press would be cheaper, doesn't need wasteful paper filters and I'd be able to pack it easily when traveling. The problem was I hadn't been able to find one in the small town of Waldkraiburg. I figured Munich had to have one. So I started off down what looked to be a main strip of stores. The first store that caught my attention was one selling backpacks. All kinds, from school bags to handbags. I came across a 28L Deuter pack. Since I was in need of something small enough for a bike trip but large enough to hold some gear, I snagged it. The aluminum frame was nice, but I think the built-in rain cover is what really sold me. So I checked out, put my books from class inside and slung it over my shoulder. Onward.
I was in need of a new pair of shoes. Nothing sport specific, just something comfortable but with a bit of style. I sure picked the right street because there were a LOT of shoe stores. I stopped in a few of them, but kept on moving when I didn't exactly what I was looking for. The first sign of potential came when I stumbled upon a Timberland store. They had some cool stuff, but I didn't want to make any hasty decisions because I saw a Columbia store just across the street. They had an interesting selection but I wasn't quite sold. There was a nice rain shell I might go back for though... Moving on.
I was making my way a little further down when I was surprised to see a Starbucks. I didn't really plan on going in until I saw the French Press sitting on the shelf. HARD RIGHT! I swooped right in and nabbed it. I got a coffee too.
My last stop of the day was at North Face. It was happy to find a few outdoor retailers around. I walked straight back to the shoe rack and began to assess their stock. Not too shabby. I walked around the rest of the store before coming back to the shoes to make my decision. I walked out with these.
The next day after class I walked down the same street, passing by all that I saw the day before, and continued my hunt. I still hadn't found everything that I was looking for. I found a whole bunch of shops that kinda reminded me of Modells or Dick's Sporting Good. They seemed to have a surplus of your typical sports equipment. Biking, hockey, running, soccer, swimming etc... Not quite what I was after. I was getting to the fourth sports store of the day when I arrived at Schuster Sporthaus. Tons and tons of sporting equipment. Everything you could possibly think of for fitness. The first floor was covered in Soccer gear. The second floor was mostly running shoes and clothing. The THIRD had mountainbikes, roadbikes, triathlon bikes and whatever else you can think of or need for a bike. The fourth floor was mostly hiking and outdoor clothing. This is when I started to drool over how awesome this store was. The fifth floor sent my jaw dropping even further when I saw all the backpacking and hiking gear. I nearly lost it when I saw the mannequin at the top of the stairwell leading to the sixth floor. He had a harness on with cams, biners and slings on it! Racing up the stairs I found what has the be one of the most amazing assortment of climbing gear in one place. Endless amounts of shoes, biners, draws, slings, rope, and pro! I'll let the pictures do the talking. Check out the "Munich" pictures.
After experiencing Munich for a week it was back to Waldkraiburg. Lame. Before getting back to the daily obligatory task more aptly known as work, I went on my first mountain biking trip in Germany. I went with a friend from work and his girlfriend. We piled in the car at the ass-crack-o-dawn for the 1 hour ride to Rosenheim. Our intention was to ride the trails around Samerberg. (berg means mountain). We ended up doing so without a GPS. Needless to say, we took a few "unfortunate" turns and occasionally found ourselves attempting to climb what were clearly trails intended for downhill riding. Oops. Still a fantastic ride. The landscape here is absolutely amazing, not to mention a few animals... Again, the pictures will explain it better than my blabbering. Check out the "First MTB trip in Germany."
Now it was back to work. Things are starting to pick up as I'm becoming more involved in the project now. I've been popping out 3D drawings like it's my job.... But I still managed to get my ass on the track a few times for some workouts. I was recently introduced to some running trails that are labeled for 5k, 7k, 10k and 15k. I hit up the 5k trail last week after tacking on 3 miles beforehand. Next time I'll be after that 10k or 15k!
Now I'm back in Munich for one more week of this dreaded language course. I did the note-card thing like I planned but I know that I'm going to fumble for the right words when the professor asks me something. Or I just won't understand what she's saying. Either way I'll be happier when this week is over and I can continue to learn German at my own pace and in my own way. I'll let my computer teach me. (Rosetta Stone!)
Seeing as how my hands are cramping from typing this run-on post, I'm gonna call it quits for now. Over and out.
After experiencing Munich for a week it was back to Waldkraiburg. Lame. Before getting back to the daily obligatory task more aptly known as work, I went on my first mountain biking trip in Germany. I went with a friend from work and his girlfriend. We piled in the car at the ass-crack-o-dawn for the 1 hour ride to Rosenheim. Our intention was to ride the trails around Samerberg. (berg means mountain). We ended up doing so without a GPS. Needless to say, we took a few "unfortunate" turns and occasionally found ourselves attempting to climb what were clearly trails intended for downhill riding. Oops. Still a fantastic ride. The landscape here is absolutely amazing, not to mention a few animals... Again, the pictures will explain it better than my blabbering. Check out the "First MTB trip in Germany."
Now it was back to work. Things are starting to pick up as I'm becoming more involved in the project now. I've been popping out 3D drawings like it's my job.... But I still managed to get my ass on the track a few times for some workouts. I was recently introduced to some running trails that are labeled for 5k, 7k, 10k and 15k. I hit up the 5k trail last week after tacking on 3 miles beforehand. Next time I'll be after that 10k or 15k!
Now I'm back in Munich for one more week of this dreaded language course. I did the note-card thing like I planned but I know that I'm going to fumble for the right words when the professor asks me something. Or I just won't understand what she's saying. Either way I'll be happier when this week is over and I can continue to learn German at my own pace and in my own way. I'll let my computer teach me. (Rosetta Stone!)
Seeing as how my hands are cramping from typing this run-on post, I'm gonna call it quits for now. Over and out.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
The latest of late
I've passed the due date for my weekly expat update. I got lazy, get over it. I'm pretty settled in at work, plugging away with drawings and designs. A component here, a piece there... the work is adding up but it's all manageable. Mostly simple things that need to be drawn and dimensioned so we can find out the cost to manufacture it. One piece at a time, it'll all get done.
The search for a sick mountain bike is over. I wanted to get a bike that I could take into the REAL mountains out here. Something I don't have to worry about collapsing underneath of me when I land a jump off some rocks. I wanted to be sure that it had good components that would last. There is no doubt that I have found and purchased the right bike. It's green!
The components are a respectable level of Shimano (XT-combo) with a solid full suspension and disc brakes. Time to tear it up in the mountains! A guy from work is going to take me out to break it in during one of the coming weekends, when the weather breaks.
This past weekend I found the laundry mat. Just in time. Until recently getting the gear and clothing that I mailed to myself, I was running low on clothes. More specifically I was running low on underwear, even after the relief shipment. So I was on a mission to find the laundry mat this weekend. I asked a fellow apartment dweller if he knew of a place in town where I could do my wash. After quickly explaining, in German, that my German was still horrible he went to get his son who surprisingly speaks English pretty well. He then explained to me where the laundry mat was. Off I went and no such luck. Right where the kid told me to go was a dry cleaner. Balls. I couldn't blame the kid, I could "clean" my clothes here. Just not in the manner I was looking for. I peeked in the store to find no washers or dryers. No dice. Onward. After cruising around the small town for a while I started to realize that they would not put something as boring as a laundry mat along the main strips. I started looking to some of the bordering side streets, making a perimeter around the somewhat circular downtown area that is Waldkraiburg. My logical reasoning had paid off. Just barely off the main strip, just enough not to be an eyesore, was the laundry mat that I was looking for. I happily pulled out the bag of clothes from my pack and followed the instructions above the washer. Coming prepaired, I settled into the book that I'd brought along for the wait. After making some generous progress in the pages of my book, I retrieved my now clean and dry clothes and headed for home. That's not before stopping off at small burger joint on the way. It was a little sloppy to be honest, as I was not expecting this to be a fast food type of place given the appeal of the outside. Just the same I happily drank my coffee and ate my double cheeseburger.
The way they serve coffee here. Real coffee has froth!
The rest of the weekend was fairly uneventful as I chose to read for most of the day. After getting restless from sitting for hours, changing positions trying to avoid getting stiff, I could no longer resist the urge to run. I had only gone for a run once since my running shoes came in with the rest of my gear. The roads were calling and I could deny them no longer. Mindlessly suiting up in my moisture wicking runner shorts and shirt, I strapped on my Nike watch and took to the streets. Whenever I find myself in a new place, I generally look to a run to get a feel for my surroundings. I took this opportunity to venture out beyond where I had already ridden my bike. The trails around here are incredible. A vast amount of the roads here are accompanied by nearby forest and have trails that run parallel to them. Some are close to the roadway and serve as walking and bike trails for general travel. I hoped on one such trail that follows the contour of a fairly popular road, one that I was confident would continue for a long time and would permit me to run without dwelling on my direction. I made a good choice. This road was endless and the trails re-connected as intersections broke the gravel path I ran on. At one point the road would be sandwiched between to thick walls of pine and then suddenly fan out into the open fields of farmland. Enjoying the scenery a bit too much I noticed the winds pick up. Not too far off were the storm clouds I was looking for. At nearly 25 minutes into my run it was time to shift gears and head home before mother nature decided to unleash havoc. I made it back before the clouds did, getting out of shower just when the thunder and lightening began to pick up. Perfect timing. Then I made chicken carbonara with pasta for dinner.
The past week or so I've been gearing up for this presentation on I project I'd spent a lot of time working on before departing for Germany. The presentation was to be delivered to some upper management folk here at NETZSCH Germany. That presentation was today. Presidents, department managers, research and development directors, etc. Seven people in all, but each exceptionally important to the company in a different way. My presentation lasted for nearly two hours as I had expected it. What I had not expected was the amount of positive feedback and praise for all the work I had put into this project and presentation. My boss' boss's boss.....the guy in charge of the department I work in, awarded me 1000 € as a bonus for coming to work in Germany and giving such a good presentation on my project. WHAT!?!?!?!?! Sweet deal. It's almost like I didn't drop a whole paycheck on that bike....
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Week 2
Week two has commenced and I'm starting to settle in. Work is getting more interesting. I've been given the task of retro-fitting our pump to fit into the dimensional constraints of a competitor's pump. Basically we have a customer that doesn't like our competitor's pump anymore and wants to put ours in it's place. The pipework has already been fitted to the dimensions of this other pump and the customer doesn't want to redo everything. So I get to design some mods to our pump to that it will fit. I spent the last week drawing up some ideas in 3D (since everything is done in 3D here). Real design work! Sometime next week we'll talk about it and decide what we're going to do.
I still haven't gotten my clothes and gear from customs yet. Someone from our shipping department contacted me about a packing list and a declaration of goods. I had to confirm that there were no alcohol, drugs or weapons in my stuff. With all documents forwarded along, all I can do now is wait for them to finish and tell me when I can pick it all up. I hope it's soon. I've been rotating between 3 sweaters and two pairs of jeans for the last two weeks. I think the guys at work are catching on.
After going to the bank and making a few calls to my bank in the US, I discovered that I can't just transfer money from one bank to the other. I don't understand why not. If I have the account number it doesn't seem all that difficult to me. I pay my bills just by supplying an account number. I wonder if I could set up a bill payment to my German bank account.... Anyway, I found out that I get free international withdraws from ATM's and that I can take out up to $1000 per day. Not a bad deal to be honest. I can take out money at the ATM outside the bank and then walk in and deposit it. I also avoid any kind of transfer fee. Good deal.
Earlier this week I got a few particulars about the language course I'm supposed to take. Starting June 7th I'll live with a host-family in München for a week while I attend the course. The course lasts from 9-4 each day and is said to be pretty intense. The program requires living with the host family in order to totally immerse you in the language and force you to use what you've learned. It's going to be pretty wild. The good news is that I won't have to worry about work stuff while I'm there. After this week, there is a 2 week break before I return for a second week. I'm looking forward to being able to speak to Germans without a translator. It's kind of a pain when you can't talk to anyone at the bar.
On Friday I decided it was pretty important that I get a bike so I can ride around town and figure out where things are. I went to the closest bike shop and picked up a secondhand mountain bike for 100 €. Good enough. Saturday I threw on my pack and took the bike out for a spin. First stop was getting a haircut at a salon that a friend from work goes to. This was going to be tricky. How am I supposed to tell them what I want? Easy, a picture! Lucky for me there was someone there that spoke good English. So I explained to her what I was looking for with the help of the pictures I brought. She then relayed the requests to the hairstylists and we were good to go. Before I sat down they asked me if I would like a coffee. Yes please! That's so cool that they ask you that here. It made me feel pretty relaxed. It also helped that the hairstylist was good looking. She took her time with the cut and did an awesome job.
Happy with my new cut I decide to go and explore the town a bit. Riding down the street the first thing that catches my eye is a giant sign with a skier doing a backflip with his skis crossed. I take a closer look at the store and notice Deuter backpacking packs on display in the window. I hit the brakes, pull over and lock up my bike. When I walk in I'm immediately drawn over to the packs. Most of them are Deuter, a German brand that I'm familiar with from outdoor gear shows, gear shops and outdoor film festivals. Sweet packs. On my left I see a small rack with spools of rope, cord and webbing. A little higher and I find the Edelrid slings and Mammut draws and lockers. Not a very big selection, but still comforting to know that it's here. I continue to walk around the store and take inventory. The store is an odd combination of an EMS and Dick's Sporting goods. There's a good selection of outdoor clothing and hiking shoes/boots with a small section of sleeping bags and tents. There's a fair selection of running shoes which I also like. Yeah I stopped long enough to see which models they carry. Moving on I see they carry an assortment other sports equipment, most dominant is the fußball(soccer) equipment. Soccer is so much bigger here than it is in the states. It probably won't be long before I need to buy a pair of cleats for pick-up soccer games.
I decided to part with my bike in exchange for walking and really taking my time to get to know the town. Continuing my stroll I find dozens of little coffee shops with a wine shop scattered in here and there. I also noticed a bunch of places selling fresh fruit. Not having much room in my pack, I decided to make a fruit run the next time I come back.
Next I stumble across a book store. Another weakness. Not expecting to really find much, I walk in. I don't recognize any of the books or authors at first. As I proceed to browse the shop I notice German versions of books that I'm familiar with, most notably is the Harry Potter series. I've read the first four books in the series, but being as that the copies here are in German I keep walking. Eventually I get to a section that reads English. I'm fucked. I know I'm walking out of here with a book. I just finished an awesome book called "A Million Little Pieces" and I'm dying for another adventure. I won't get my books until all my stuff is released from customs, so I'm in need of a book. I recognize a few of the titles, and after picking up some of the others I determine that they're not worth buying. Back to the ones I know. I read the back cover of a half dozen books and none of them thrill me. I'm left with one alternative. The Twilight Series. I was kind of hoping to find something else when I saw these books here. No such luck. I delved into another vampire series by Laurel K. Hamilton well before the Twilight books came about and I really enjoyed them. I intend to finish the series actually. Being as that this other vampire series was entertaining I figured I'd give this one a try and ignore any stigma that may come about from reading a "love story." There and vampires and werewolves, it's gotta be good! Look at Underworld. Those movies were awesome! So I bought it. I'm about 30 pages in so far; no real opinion yet but I'll be sure to comment on it later.
At the end of my tour I stop at a sandwich shop that I'm familiar with. A friend from work took me here for lunch the day before. Liking what I had, I came back. They roast turkey on a vertical rotisserie device and then scrap off shavings to make a sandwich. It kinda looks like the chopped up meat you would see in a cheesesteak except that it's turkey. It's sooo goood! They serve it on a kaiser roll that they flattened and grilled in a sandwich press; the kind they use for panini sandwiches. They cut the roll about 3/4 of the way through and then stuff it with turkey the way you would a pita. Anyway, they dress it up with a mayonnaise-like sauce, lettuce, onion, tomato and sprinkle a paprika seasoning on it to make it spicy. Gooood stuff. It's pretty cheap too. 3 €. One of those and a drink is all you need.
Throughout the day I noticed tons of bike racks. There's one outside every other store almost. So many people bike to get around here, I love it. I've even seen a bunch of old people riding around. Some of these folks have to be in their 70's! Crazy! So cool though. I hope I'm biking around town at that age.
I got home and relaxed for a bit before making dinner and watching the Bayern München game. They got shut out by Inter Milan. Boo!
I'm beginning to feel the effects of this six hour time difference to the east coast. It's made it really difficult to chat with friends. When I hop online after work everyone at home is still in the middle of the work day. When they get home from work, I'm in bed. That makes real-time conversation an inconvenience or an interruption for someone no matter what time it is. I've been getting by mostly on facebook comments and wall posts. Emails are certainly better when I have a lot to say but I find myself waiting longer for a response since most would prefer to send emails from their computer instead of the short messages that are so easy to send from a phone. I'm trying to be as patient and positive as I can, but this six hour time difference makes for some solemn hours in my apartment.
I still haven't gotten my clothes and gear from customs yet. Someone from our shipping department contacted me about a packing list and a declaration of goods. I had to confirm that there were no alcohol, drugs or weapons in my stuff. With all documents forwarded along, all I can do now is wait for them to finish and tell me when I can pick it all up. I hope it's soon. I've been rotating between 3 sweaters and two pairs of jeans for the last two weeks. I think the guys at work are catching on.
After going to the bank and making a few calls to my bank in the US, I discovered that I can't just transfer money from one bank to the other. I don't understand why not. If I have the account number it doesn't seem all that difficult to me. I pay my bills just by supplying an account number. I wonder if I could set up a bill payment to my German bank account.... Anyway, I found out that I get free international withdraws from ATM's and that I can take out up to $1000 per day. Not a bad deal to be honest. I can take out money at the ATM outside the bank and then walk in and deposit it. I also avoid any kind of transfer fee. Good deal.
Earlier this week I got a few particulars about the language course I'm supposed to take. Starting June 7th I'll live with a host-family in München for a week while I attend the course. The course lasts from 9-4 each day and is said to be pretty intense. The program requires living with the host family in order to totally immerse you in the language and force you to use what you've learned. It's going to be pretty wild. The good news is that I won't have to worry about work stuff while I'm there. After this week, there is a 2 week break before I return for a second week. I'm looking forward to being able to speak to Germans without a translator. It's kind of a pain when you can't talk to anyone at the bar.
On Friday I decided it was pretty important that I get a bike so I can ride around town and figure out where things are. I went to the closest bike shop and picked up a secondhand mountain bike for 100 €. Good enough. Saturday I threw on my pack and took the bike out for a spin. First stop was getting a haircut at a salon that a friend from work goes to. This was going to be tricky. How am I supposed to tell them what I want? Easy, a picture! Lucky for me there was someone there that spoke good English. So I explained to her what I was looking for with the help of the pictures I brought. She then relayed the requests to the hairstylists and we were good to go. Before I sat down they asked me if I would like a coffee. Yes please! That's so cool that they ask you that here. It made me feel pretty relaxed. It also helped that the hairstylist was good looking. She took her time with the cut and did an awesome job.
Happy with my new cut I decide to go and explore the town a bit. Riding down the street the first thing that catches my eye is a giant sign with a skier doing a backflip with his skis crossed. I take a closer look at the store and notice Deuter backpacking packs on display in the window. I hit the brakes, pull over and lock up my bike. When I walk in I'm immediately drawn over to the packs. Most of them are Deuter, a German brand that I'm familiar with from outdoor gear shows, gear shops and outdoor film festivals. Sweet packs. On my left I see a small rack with spools of rope, cord and webbing. A little higher and I find the Edelrid slings and Mammut draws and lockers. Not a very big selection, but still comforting to know that it's here. I continue to walk around the store and take inventory. The store is an odd combination of an EMS and Dick's Sporting goods. There's a good selection of outdoor clothing and hiking shoes/boots with a small section of sleeping bags and tents. There's a fair selection of running shoes which I also like. Yeah I stopped long enough to see which models they carry. Moving on I see they carry an assortment other sports equipment, most dominant is the fußball(soccer) equipment. Soccer is so much bigger here than it is in the states. It probably won't be long before I need to buy a pair of cleats for pick-up soccer games.
Deuter packs
I decided to part with my bike in exchange for walking and really taking my time to get to know the town. Continuing my stroll I find dozens of little coffee shops with a wine shop scattered in here and there. I also noticed a bunch of places selling fresh fruit. Not having much room in my pack, I decided to make a fruit run the next time I come back.
Next I stumble across a book store. Another weakness. Not expecting to really find much, I walk in. I don't recognize any of the books or authors at first. As I proceed to browse the shop I notice German versions of books that I'm familiar with, most notably is the Harry Potter series. I've read the first four books in the series, but being as that the copies here are in German I keep walking. Eventually I get to a section that reads English. I'm fucked. I know I'm walking out of here with a book. I just finished an awesome book called "A Million Little Pieces" and I'm dying for another adventure. I won't get my books until all my stuff is released from customs, so I'm in need of a book. I recognize a few of the titles, and after picking up some of the others I determine that they're not worth buying. Back to the ones I know. I read the back cover of a half dozen books and none of them thrill me. I'm left with one alternative. The Twilight Series. I was kind of hoping to find something else when I saw these books here. No such luck. I delved into another vampire series by Laurel K. Hamilton well before the Twilight books came about and I really enjoyed them. I intend to finish the series actually. Being as that this other vampire series was entertaining I figured I'd give this one a try and ignore any stigma that may come about from reading a "love story." There and vampires and werewolves, it's gotta be good! Look at Underworld. Those movies were awesome! So I bought it. I'm about 30 pages in so far; no real opinion yet but I'll be sure to comment on it later.
At the end of my tour I stop at a sandwich shop that I'm familiar with. A friend from work took me here for lunch the day before. Liking what I had, I came back. They roast turkey on a vertical rotisserie device and then scrap off shavings to make a sandwich. It kinda looks like the chopped up meat you would see in a cheesesteak except that it's turkey. It's sooo goood! They serve it on a kaiser roll that they flattened and grilled in a sandwich press; the kind they use for panini sandwiches. They cut the roll about 3/4 of the way through and then stuff it with turkey the way you would a pita. Anyway, they dress it up with a mayonnaise-like sauce, lettuce, onion, tomato and sprinkle a paprika seasoning on it to make it spicy. Gooood stuff. It's pretty cheap too. 3 €. One of those and a drink is all you need.
Throughout the day I noticed tons of bike racks. There's one outside every other store almost. So many people bike to get around here, I love it. I've even seen a bunch of old people riding around. Some of these folks have to be in their 70's! Crazy! So cool though. I hope I'm biking around town at that age.
One of many bike racks in town
Now thats a bike rack! Look at all those spaces!
My European loot left over from the day
I got home and relaxed for a bit before making dinner and watching the Bayern München game. They got shut out by Inter Milan. Boo!
I'm beginning to feel the effects of this six hour time difference to the east coast. It's made it really difficult to chat with friends. When I hop online after work everyone at home is still in the middle of the work day. When they get home from work, I'm in bed. That makes real-time conversation an inconvenience or an interruption for someone no matter what time it is. I've been getting by mostly on facebook comments and wall posts. Emails are certainly better when I have a lot to say but I find myself waiting longer for a response since most would prefer to send emails from their computer instead of the short messages that are so easy to send from a phone. I'm trying to be as patient and positive as I can, but this six hour time difference makes for some solemn hours in my apartment.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Up and running!
OK. So it took just under a week to get some internet in my new flat in Germany. With the help of a colleague here at NETZSCH Germany, I now have mobile internet via a USB stick, and a cell phone. Pretty sweet that I can have internet anywhere now! It certainly makes me feel human again. I can finally talk to people! Now it's time to post about my past week in Deutschland. Where to start....
The Plane Flight:
The flight wasn't so bad to be honest. At the airport I bought a universal power adapter so I could plug things in as soon as I got here. That was a clutch decision. It at least enabled me to use my laptop for music. I wouldn't have lasted long without music. I also took out 100 euro so that I could buy food and such upon arrival. This was also a really good idea since a lot of places around here only accept cash. So during the flight I ended up watching Invictus. Not a bad flick. They had some other fairly recent movies that I haven't seen yet. Halfway through the movie they started serving dinner. Priorities first. I finished the movie after dinner and managed to fall asleep shortly after it was over. I woke up with about 2 hours before we were expected to land. From there they served a bit of a breakfast (a pastry and coffee) before landing.
Saturday:
After getting off the plane I was lucky enough to meet up with another employee of NETZSCH Germany who happened to be on the same flight. He stuck around to make sure that I met up with a few people from the team that I'll be working with during my stay. When the arrived I was told that we were going out for a "real Bavarian breakfast." For those not in-the-know, that means weissbier and weisswurst (really good wheat bear and white sausages). Beer for breakfast? I'm down. They serve soft pretzels as an appetizer at most meals.
Weisswurst and pretzels
(not actually from the restaurant)
The waitresses at this restaurant were also wearing the beermaide outfits that Germany is so well known for. Yeah, I'm really diggin' this whole Bavarian breakfast thing.
Next they took me to my flat.
The living room/dinning room
(with a few welcome brews on the table)
The kitchen/dinning room
The kitchen
The refrigerator (it's a little small, but it'll work)
The bathroom (with dual flush toilet!)
The bedroom
The bed
Weird nightstand (it's green though)
The desk
Dresser/Closet
Sweet rotating overhead lights
More overhead lights (living room)
The German light switch
The German door and lock
(not the door to the apartment)
Skylight window
Skylight window (open)
Bedroom window (closed)
Bedroom window (open: method 1)
Bedroom window (open: method 2)
Sweet mini-vacuum cleaner
Spice rack
Kitchen ware
Coffee maker :)
Toaster
Before leaving, they let me know that they'd be back to pick me up later for dinner at a local (mini) beer fest. Nap time. I'm pretty beat from this whole jet-lag phenomenon. It's time to recharge a bit. The mini beer fest turned out to be a bbq at the local firehouse. They cooked up sausages (go figure) with fries, "steak" with mashed potatoes, and fish. I'm not a fish person so I stayed away from that. I had sausages for breakfast so I kinda felt like trying something else. Steak sounds good. Right away I was warned that this would not be the steak I'm used to. It's steak so it can't be all that bad right? I'm hungry, just give it to me. "Steak," mashed potatoes and weissbier it is! We all get our food and sit down. Naturally I'm the first to finish my plate and one of the last to finish my beer. They refilled the beer shortly after. During the meal someone asked how the steak was. I thought it was OK. Kinda like cafeteria steak. Low quality, but it's still food and it made me happy. I was later told that it was pig and not cow. Fine with me. In the middle of my second beer I still felt hungry and went back for a weisswuerst and fries. After dinner I asked if we could stop at a market on the way back to my flat so that I'd have food for Sunday.
Sunday:
SLEEP! So after sleeping in I made some breakfast and went out for a run on the trails that start right next to my flat. What else was I going to do? The trails are right there, I can't ignore them.
Trail entrance (from my bedroom window)
Another trail shot (from my bedroom window)
It turned out to be a pretty productive run. They cross over a few main roads so I got a bit of a feel for my surroundings. The trail goes out for a mile or two and then loops around. As the trail gets closer to home again it dips through some thicker forests where there are some logging trails. I made some food, unpacked a bit and took it easy for the rest of the day. Thankfully I had my laptop for music and a good book to occupy my mind.
Monday:
First day on the job. Most of it was spent in a meeting with two consultants from London that are working with our team. It was nice to be around a few other people that speak English. Their accents weren't too difficult to understand. It's better than listening to most of the team argue in German and not being able to understand a damn thing. I'm still using Rosetta Stone and the books I bought, but so far I've only accumulated a handful of vocabulary and minimal grammar so I still sound like a first grader. The company has me set up to take a language course sometime soon. Hopefully it's REALLY soon. So during work I discovered that the coffee here is SO much better than in the US. It's a lot stronger and much better tasting. I don't need nearly as much cream or sugar. Good deal. After work I went out with one of the guys from work to buy a badass video camera for documenting our tests. They dropped 1000 Euro on this thing! Afterwards we stopped at a restaurant to have pizza. It's pretty customary to eat pizza with a knife and fork here. It's not cut into slices for you, but some people will cut it up and eat it like we do in America. I tried the knife and fork thing. Kind of a pain, but I managed.
Tuesday:
More meetings. More yelling in German. Time for more coffee. As the day wraps up I get ready to go out with some guys from IT. Luckily our IT from the US was here for some sort of training. At least I have another American with me. We all go to another small beer fest, only this one is more like a carnival or fair. All the rides and games set up for the week. We sit down and order a round of drinks and then our dinner. These beers come in 1 Liter mugs. Are you fucking kidding me? A nalgene of BEER? This is awesome! I had two that night and I could feel it. Two liters of beer is nearly 5 beers back in the US. After dinner one of the German guys we were with bought a bunch of tokens for the bumper cars and insisted that we join him. I can't remember the last time I was behind the wheel of a bumper car. It was pretty fun riding around looking to T-Bone the guy across the track from you. Needless to say I had a stiff neck for the next 2-3 days from all the whiplash.
Wednesday:
The London guys went back home today so we had a little time to focus on our regular work. My first job was to draw up some 3D lettering that was going to be put on our pumps. Not a difficult task except that the program was in German. Luckily I've used the program before so I was able to recognize icons and such. It was still a pain to make it do what I wanted though. I still honestly need a fair amount of training with the program, regardless of which language it's in. Later on I got to see the pump get put to the test. First go, not so good. We got some vibration that shouldn't be there. We took it apart and checked a whole bunch of dimensions to see if anything was off and then checked to see if anything was slipping. Nada. We put it back together and tried again, this time adding a little more tension to the belt drive. All systems go this time around. It's still running even now. They're running the pump for 500 hours. That's quite a test!
Thursday is some sort of holiday here and since we didn't have work the next day a few of the guys wanted to take me out to a bar called Sudpfandl. It's a pretty cool bar that used to be a brewery. It's got two bars (one smoking, one non) and a dance room. We walked around a bit and ended up at the non-smoking bar. Good choice. I started off with a good ole Weissbier and then switched to cubra libre. That's what they call a rum and coke. Fine with me! We went through two bottles that night. You can order a bottle of rum and a bottle of coke. They'll put it in a bucket full of ice for you. I talked with a few people that spoke a bit of english, so that made the night a little better.
Thursday:
SLEEEEP! We were out until somewhere around 2AM so I needed sleep. When I finally got up I made some breakfast and started making some modifications to the presentations I've been working on back home. My boss volunteered me to present my work before a bunch of the big-wigs here at NETZSCH Germany. THANKS ASS!!!! I really didn't want to make any changes and I really don't feel like presenting this crap. I don't have much of a choice since my boss already put me on the agenda for this big meeting on June 1st. I better get my act together and quick!
Friday:
Most people took off since Thursday was a holiday. The guy(s) I work with are a little crazy so we went to work. They gave me some more 3D stuff to work on. This one is A LOT harder though. They gave me a 2D drawing of a competitor's pump and told me to draw it in 3D. This would be tough even with the english version of the program. This is going to take a few days. I'm pretty sure we have this pump down in the lab so I'm going to take a look at it on Monday to get a little more familiar with what I'm supposed to draw. Sometime next week I think I'm supposed to meet some of the guys in the design department. They'll teach me more about the program and such. This will be good stuff. Later on we went to the bank so I could set up an account. The girl we met with was smokin' hot! Short black hair, tan, and a slammin' bod. I might be stopping in the bank a few times a week.... After that we went and got set up with a cell phone and mobile internet stick. So far so good! The phone is in German though so that takes a little bit of work. The T9 is all for German words, so I'll be texting in German. Great.
Saturday:
Today I woke up and went right out for food. My stockpile is getting mad low. I went out for food on Wednesday before bar night. It took and hour or so of walking around before I found the supermarket. What a pain. You have to pay for your bags too, so you learn to pack the heck out of them. Today I knew the way so I didn't waste any time. I brought a small backpack and the bag I bought the last time I was there. I went prepared this time. Every time you go to a supermarket in the US, you notice shopping carts everywhere. Not here. They have a pretty nifty system for that. The carts all have a chain attached to the hand rail. On the free end is a key. This key is pushed into a locking device on the cart in front of it (closest to you). So essentially all the karts are changed to each other. The only way to disconnect this chain is to insert a coin (1 euro) into the locking device. This pushes the key out and free's up one cart. When you're finished shopping you have to put the cart back and use the key from another cart to lock it up. When you push the key in, you get your euro back! It's a pretty neat incentive to put your cart back where you're supposed to.
So shopping itself was pretty interesting. I can only understand a few words on any of the labels so I'm basically looking for pictures for things that aren't so obvious. Buying fruit, veggies, milk, meat and cheese are fairly easy so I opted for those items first. Pasta isn't too hard to figure out either. What took the longest was trying to figure out which bottle was body wash and which bottle was shampoo. Some shampoo bottles were shampoo & conditioner and others were shampoo & bodywash. Both are VERY common here as opposed to all the specialty items we have in the US. Not knowing any of the four terms in German made for some tricky deciphering. I'm pretty sure I got it right though. At least I'll smell good either way.
Shopping bags
A well stocked fridge
Milk, OJ, tomato sauce, ketchup and mustard
Bier, bacon, lots of yogurt, sausages-a-plenty, apples,
oranges, cheese and bologna.
Pasta, TORTELLINI!, coffee, raisins, dried plums,
PEANUT BUTTER and peanuts.
I found peanut butter!
The standard Focus
I've seen over a dozen Focus's over here. All different models. The Ford Fiesta is also a really popular car here. It's been around for a while. We'll see the newest model in the states for the first time in 2011. The new Focus should be statebound somewhere in 2010. Keep an eye out!
That's all I have for now. I hope this post was long enough to make up the long wait. I'll be posting more stories as they come and the pictures that go with them.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Hurry up and wait!
This past week has been absolutely insane. I packed up my apartment in all of two days and spent the next two cleaning it. All my backpacking/climbing gear was sent to Germany by air freight on Wednesday. I turned in the keys to my apartment. I discovered that you do not acquire the title for your car until you pay off the loan you took out to finance it. I also discovered that you cannot sell said car without the title. So I guess I'll be hanging onto this car for a little longer. Lame.
My bags are packed and repacked. We're good to go! Hurry up and wait, until 6:30. So far away. I'm starting to realize that this is going to be a long ass flight. 8+ hours is a long time to be packaged up like a sardine and my knees are not looking forward to it. I can't sit still that long even when I have all the leg room in the world. My body doesn't like sitting still. I need to run, climb and bike! This is going to be rough. Not to mention that being away from my best friend is going to eat at me every second I'm on the plane. You mean the world to me! Worst of all is that I won't be able to do anything about it. I'm not looking forward to this feeling.
Tick tock, tick tock, tick...
My bags are packed and repacked. We're good to go! Hurry up and wait, until 6:30. So far away. I'm starting to realize that this is going to be a long ass flight. 8+ hours is a long time to be packaged up like a sardine and my knees are not looking forward to it. I can't sit still that long even when I have all the leg room in the world. My body doesn't like sitting still. I need to run, climb and bike! This is going to be rough. Not to mention that being away from my best friend is going to eat at me every second I'm on the plane. You mean the world to me! Worst of all is that I won't be able to do anything about it. I'm not looking forward to this feeling.
Tick tock, tick tock, tick...
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