Note: this entry is actually a lot of entries that I have been unable to post for the last month, and have kept on adding to it. Also, an edit from the last one: My gastbrüder’s name was Vilmosh. Vil for short, not Will. Bah.
Woohoo, so now I have more fun European experiences to describe. The past few days since my last update went very fast, but every day we did something new. Well, kind of new.
We ended up going back to the Thermabath one more time, this time at night. We didn’t stay for too long, but played volleyball in the pool outside. Also, we went back to Wilhelmshöhe Park, and took a trip up to the statue of Hercules. There is a pretty amazing set of waterfalls that go from the top of the mountain/hill down a series of steps and finally into a lake in front of the castle. We took a bus to the top of the hill and followed the water down. It reminded me a lot of Disneyland, actually. The water turned on at a certain time of day, and these two statues played music (well, if you can call it that… It sounded a bit more like a cow was being crushed slowly). At the bottom of the hill, just above the lake was a pretty spectacular bridge, and we took a bunch of pictures in front of it. A huge jet of water sprayed into the sky in the middle of the lake, and there must have been at least two hundred people in the park watching it. We sat on the grass for a bit, but didn’t stay for long because people were starting to pack for their departures.
The next night was a big party for everyone in the Kassel Language program, so about 31 people met in the school. There, we had wine, beer, and brownies and danced some Irish dances. That was really the highlight of the night, because everyone was awake and full of energy. Afterwards, we headed out to an Irish pub, “The Shamrock” for karaoke, but there were too many people there. Instead, we wandered a bit until we found a Cuban Club, which was empty except for two or three people. So, we sat outside on beach chairs and drank fancy cocktails for a while. We took a lot of pictures, and some people were beginning to depart. Finally, the last few people went back to the Shamrock, where we finally found a table in the corner. Only Vilmosh and Sasha sang, but we all lined up in front of the stage with our arms around each other, singing along with them. It was insanely fun, but by the end everyone was very tired. We walked back to a park in the hopes of finding something to do, but decided it was getting far too late. Thus, we took a cab back home at roughly 3am.
Later, I drew a portrait of Vilmosh as a going away present, and my host family wants me to draw something in their guest book as well. It turned out surprisingly well, even though I haven’t had the chance to do much drawing lately. I really want to draw some of the architecture here, but the weather has been pretty bad. It actually reminds me a lot of Oregon, in that sense. Light rain, cool, and heavily forested. There are some hills, but not as high as the ones back home. The stars are roughly the same too, as I discussed with Felicia, the young girl from Portland/Moldavia. It makes me a little homesick to think about it.
Once again, on Friday we all went out again to a little pub for some beers to say our final farewells. It was a nice little Stockholm themed pub, but the service was pretty bad. That’s actually a theme to most German restaurants and cafes, I think. Only in the Orangerie have I had good service (it’s a beer garden in an old palace type thing overlooking an amazing park by the river). Maybe the servers just hate foreigners or something… Anyways, the beer was good. I had a tall liter of Dunkeles Wiezen, or Hefeweizen Dunkel (dark wheat beer). It was nice and smooth, unlike many American wiezens that I’ve tried.
Saturday morning I saw Vilmosh off, and I will be meeting him and some others in Munich for Oktoberfest. Also, Vilmosh invited me to Sylvester (new years) in Budapest.
Brain hurts. Today I decided to get some sleep and stay at home. This week I spoke way too much English, so I will be switching to German. I’ve done pretty well for myself in Restaurants and getting Taxis. Since I now know Kassel pretty well at this point, I will probably show my Oregonian classmates around. There are also two more people from the big group staying until this coming up weekend, Danni from Italy and Yuki from Japan. I think we will be hanging out a lot.
Jessica’s host family actually knew my German teacher from Oregon, Christian Stehr. I must do a lot of things this week with him, including open up a Bank account here. I have also decided that I should really get a mobile phone here. They aren’t too expensive, but I probably won’t be able to afford one until September when I get my first stipend.
German is going well; I can understand more of what people are saying now, provided that they speak slowly. I’m still amazed at how many people use “Denglish”, or Deutsch plus English. Especially on the TV, there is a lot of words people use from English. I still have to concentrate a lot on what people say, but I am confident that I will be able to learn it quickly. Starting to gather up vocabulary that I know I will be using a lot. I had to buy a bigger dictionary, but it is really good. It comes with little illustrations for certain things to cover common words, like items in the kitchen or body parts. Oh yeah, and I apologize if I begin capitalizing every noun. That’s just how they do it here.
I’m getting homesick, but I’m happy that I’ve been making so many friends. Now I know people from almost every European nation, and then some. I hope to see them all again in Munich for Oktoberfest, and perhaps again for New Years in Budapest. So much to do. I miss everyone back home, and hopefully I can resolve this stupid internet issue this week.
Well, I’m going to get back to studying more. Tchuss!
Woohoo, so it’s been a week since my last journal writing session. Where to begin… So last week everyone from the one international volunteer organization departed, but I was quickly joined by about 13 other students from OSU. It was very bizarre suddenly being surrounded by other Oregonians, let alone other citizens of the USA (I can’t get away with just saying “American” now because that technically includes everyone in both continents…). Bah. So what do people from Oregon like to do? Drink, of course. I showed them around the town a bit, but they were for the most part much better off than I was since they came in such a large group and were actually integrated into the program. I still went with them on their tour of the city though, which wasn’t terribly exciting because I had seen it all already. But it was still pretty funny to get the tour from Reiner, the only male teacher in that language program. He’s a ridiculously funny older guy who always wore a yellow cardigan sweater and had a cup of coffee at all times. He was a great teacher because he never really had to break into English to explain things to us. Instead, he would use a combination of sound effects, hand gestures, and simplified expressions in German. I found this to be the most effective way to learn how to understand what others are talking about. I have become decent at understanding people as long as they speak clearly and slowly.
So for the most part, last week was drinking and hanging out and going to class. Truthfully, two weeks there was not enough to become a confident speaker, but I am thankful for my newfound ability to hear spoken German. It will take some practice to speak, I guess.
Anywho, so on Saturday, I had to leave my host family since they were getting a new pair of female students, one from the Czech Republic, and one from Slovakia. So, I had a day to burn before I had to be in Stuttgart, so I decided to go down and visit my future roommates in Saarbrücken. So, on the way I encountered some more adventures. In Frankfurt, I jumped onto the wrong train on accident, but fortunately everything in that area is relatively interconnected. So I just jumped on the next train from Mainz down to Saarbrücken.
Saturday night, I stayed at a youth hostel in Saarbrücken, which turned out to be a total ripoff. It cost me more to stay there than it would have to stay in a hotel. So, after that, I managed to get to an internet Café that was open on Sunday. Now let me tell you about how things work over here. Germans do not like to do anything on Sunday. Absolutely nothing is open. The city is totally dead on Sunday, with the exception of petrol stations, public transit, a few cafes, and fortunately, internet cafes. Otherwise, the town is devoid of pedestrians and cars. And Saarbrücken is a relatively large city. Not really any skyscrapers, but it is a big city nonetheless. So, I got to the internet café and found out that Zach (my one roommate was out), and couldn’t get a hold of my landlady. Such luck. However, I went to the apartment still, and met one of my other roommates (well, future roommates). His name is Mohammed, and he comes from Palestine. He was really awesome, and showed me around town and told me about the place. I was able to drop off one of my pieces of luggage there, which is a big relief, since now I just have one roller bag to deal with. Mohammed told me a bit about the school as well, and it sounds like I could get used to the place. I have 3 months of lecture period, and then 1-2 months of exams covering the lectures. There is a three month period between the lectures where I don’t have class, so if I managed to finish my exams in the first month, I would have two months of vacation before the next lecture semester. Apparently, things aren’t so bad as long as you study and don’t slack off during the lecture periods. Otherwise, if you party and procrastinate, you get hosed in the exam period. I will have to get used to things, but I don’t think I will have a problem.
Saarbrücken is right in the middle of everything in Europe, too. It is a relatively short train ride (two hours) to Paris, three hours to Frankfurt, four hours to Munich, and it lies on the border with France. In fact, Mohammed told me that it is only an hour long bike ride to the next French town across the border, and he tries to make that ride most weekends. I will definitely have to get a bike here, because they have a lot of nice paths by the river.
So now I’m on a train on my way to Stuttgart, where I will stay in another youth hostel for a night. Hopefully this one won’t rip me off. Then, tomorrow morning I begin work with Daimler, which is making me a little nervous. I have no idea what they can have me do in only one month. Plus, they know that I can only stay for one month so I’m not sure if they even expect anything out of me. Well, at least they didn’t turn me down.
So now I’m going to point out some fun observations I’ve had during my travels so far. So deodorant doesn’t exist as we know it in the USA here, as far as I can tell. The closest thing I found was this strange roller ball thing that actually dispenses a liquid cologne thing. It is not an antiperspirant, but rather just a smelly liquid. Fun.
Trains. Trains in Germany are really interesting. They run incredibly efficiently, but aren’t really meant for people carrying more than three bags. I’m glad that I managed to get rid of one of my roller bags, because you begin to run out of space on the more crowded trains.
Beggers. There are an incredibly large population of homeless or beggars here. I was approached by a woman on the train the other day who said she had two kids she needed to feed, and the fact that I didn’t know how to respond in German immediately must have put a big sign over my head saying “American Rich Sucker”. So immediately another woman came up and they practically cornered me. God I hate beggars. Fortunately, I got away with only paying them a few cents, because my station came up.
Food. So apparently Germans have a fairly unique concept of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They seem to lump them all into the same category. Bread. Cheese. Meat. Butter. Mayonnaise. Mustard. Meat. Cheese. Meat. Meat. Meat. Oh yeah, and potatoes. Apples and bananas are the only fruits that I’ve had so far, and vegetables seem to be absent in most popular dishes. Döner is Turkish food which is very popular here, and it consists mostly of fried breads with various paprika and spices. I honestly haven’t had any yet, but I hear mixed reports about it. McDonalds is very popular here, which is a little depressing. I refuse to set foot in one though. Pizza is actually one of the best foods I’ve had while I’ve been here. It is very different from pizza in the states, because it isn’t really big or thick, and it only has a very thin tomato paste on it (almost only for keeping the dough moist). It is very crunchy, and they usually come in single person servings (like a dinner plate sized pizza).
Climate. Just like Oregon. Maybe more humid. It is just starting to get rainy here, so the weather is very unpredictable. Last week in Kassel the weather would be overcast and cool in the morning, and extremely warm and muggy in the afternoon.
Plants and Animals. Most of the trees and plants are recognizeable. Nothing too special there. Practically the only animals that I’ve seen are dogs, rabbits, pigeons, and the occasional small lizard. I guess I did see one extremely fat cat in Kassel, but that was the last. There were a few interesting groups of homeless folks in Kassel that would have a ton of dogs with them, and they would hang out in the City center all the time.
Racism. Ive already seen three fights between “native” German kids and Turkish kids. There is almost always some tension in the air if a group of young white Germans approach some Turkish guys. It seems very silly to me, but I do not understand all of the nuances of the German/Turkish relationships here. One person tried to compare it to immigrants in the USA from Mexico.
Geology. I don’t know enough specifics to describe everything that I have seen, but I can tell that the Geology is different between the Kassel region and Saarbrücken. I saw a lot of basalt columns in Kassel, and they used it for building walls and decorative things there. On the train between Frankfurt and Saarbrücken, the rocks were much more crumbly and tan.
Architecture. Everything here is a jumbled mix of old and new buildings. Older buildings are almost all stone with ceramic roofs. The very new buildings look like they belong in downtown Tokyo or something. Very futuristic, and perhaps a little industrial. One thing I have noticed is that there is graffiti on everything in the cities. Churches. Houses. Parks. Everything has something scrawled on it. It just seems strange to me to deface some building that is very old and beautiful.
Education system. Specialization is the strength of Germany. Specialization is the weakness of Germany. One of my teachers in Kassel told us about the education system here, and that was basically what she said. Germany produces people who excel in whatever field they are specialized in, but they have very little knowledge in anything else. Granted, that was just her opinion on the matter, so I have no right to form a judgment on the matter.
Well, I need to chill out of a bit and get ready for my train stop. I hope that everything is going well for everyone back home. I seem to have had a lot of luck in my endeavors so far, so I remain optimistic about the future. Please email me or contact me if you can, because I want to hear from everyone.
Ciao
Will
And I’m back again. This time I’ll keep it relatively short. Wow, German keyboards have already screwed me up. I’m switching my y and z keys around… Ugh. Ah well. I guess I should get used to it.
Well, It’s hard to believe, but I’ve been in the Stuttgart area for a week already. Last week I left off in the train on the way from Saarbrucken. Well, I arrived here, and things are going well. The first night here I spent in a youth hostel like the one in Saarbrucken, but a lot nicer (and without the hidden fees). I lucked out too, because one of the guys who was staying in the same room was a nice Polish fellow who showed me around the city center that night. He comes to Stuttgart a lot with his fiancé and his church, so he knew the town pretty well. There was a wine festival going on in all of the city center, so there was no shortage of people and alcohol. Also, the entire city center was lit up and active, which was surprising for a Sunday in Germany. If I haven’t mentioned it already, German cities are absolutely dead on Sundays… Well, unless they are having a festival, apparently.
Unfortunately, I left my camera back in the hostel, so I don’t have any photographic evidence of this outing, but it was rather breathtaking. Fountains, statues, and a mixture of new and oldish architecture (probably post WWII, since most of the buildings from pre-WWII were destroyed). Still, everything was amazing.
The day after, I went to work for the first day, which was an interesting affair altogether. I should have paid attention to the directions that had been given to me, which told me to take the S-Bahn (kinda like a Train/Tram that goes moderate distances). Instead, I hopped on a U-Bahn (a Streetcar/Bus that goes shorter distances). This dropped me off about 2km from the building I needed to get to, and I was hauling a good 80lbs of luggage. (I left a bag in Saarbrucken, fortunately). This was bad enough though, because I absolutely demolished one of the castors on my big suitcase, so it was dragging and bouncing around like some possessed thing from the abyss.
However, I managed to get to work still, only ten minutes late (albeit drenched with sweat). My coworkers are all really nice and energetic about their work. They enjoy practicing their English with me, I think. Fortunately, I am forced to use my German on a daily basis, otherwise I would have very little social interaction. Every morning, people always greet everyone in the office when the come in and shake their hands, saying “Morgen” (a truncated “Guten Morgen”, kinda like if someone said “Mornin” back home). It’s a very casual atmosphere, and there are only about 20 people working on my floor. We are in a separate building from the main Daimler facility, which is like a mini city. There are about 10,000 people working in the main facility, and they even have their own fire department. I haven’t been able to explore it much, but I really want to go to the museum.
My department is basically the prototype designers for new product concepts for Daimler Semi-trucks in Europe. They also work with Freightliner in Portland on many projects, so several of my colleagues are familiar with Oregon. This is very bizarre, because I find myself chatting about things from my old internship… It’s almost like I’m back home, in a lot of ways.
Except that everyone is speaking German, and there are hundreds of Smartcars, and I’m surrounded by buildings that are older than the USA. And everyone smokes. And you have to pay 50 cents to use public toilets. And despite being a very ecofriendly country, I find myself thinking “Jeez this place is dirty” a lot. For instance, at the train station tonight, I counted about 30 cigarette butts, 2 bandaids, 4 smashed cups, a bazillion petrified globs of chewing gum, and one broken off fingernail – all in a six foot radius around my bench. Oh yeah, not to mention the thirty GIGANTIC spiders that were crawling all over the ceiling clock at the train station and the fluorescent lights. God I’m going to have nightmares tonight. They were HUGE! ALL OF THEM! I’m never standing underneath that clock again… *shudders*.
Well, I have to get up pretty early for work tomorrow, so I’ll add more to this later. This will at least make for an amusing read once I get the opportunity to post it. Hope that all is well.
Peace,
Will
Hoo boy, this is turning out to be another very very very long blog post. Perhaps I will break it up when I post it with photos. I just finished up my last day of “work” with Mercedes, and find myself once again en route to Stuttgart by train. Technically, yesterday was my last actual day of work. I finished up my lufteinlassgitter Catia model, went over the fifty pages of formal resignation documents, and turned in my security card. Incidentally, there were two fire alarms yesterday as well.
However, today I went on a trip to Hannover to the largest Commercial Vehicle Expo in Germany, called IAA (something in German). Because it was only commercial vehicles, there were no passenger cars or anything like that. Only LKW’s, or semi trucks and trailers. Over two thousand companies were represented, many of them in the aftermarket product business, selling various gadgets and gizmos to ‘bling’ out and pimp European trucks. Quite the business, apparently.
The most interesting thing for me was to see the variety of approaches in trucks between international markets. For example, Mercedes Trucks, Freightliner, and Mitsubishi Fuso all belong to the same company (Daimler), but all approach the commercial vehicle business very differently. On one extreme, you have the Freightliner Cascadia, which features a massive sleeper cab, that one could easily move a small family into. You can stand up and walk around in the cab, and there are many features that focus on driver comfort and space. On the other extreme, there is Mitsubishi Fuso’s SuperGreat (yes, that’s what it is actually called. For some odd reason the first spokesman that comes to mind for this truck is Big Gay Al from Southpark). The SuperGreat has many of the features of the Freightliner on the other side of the room, but it is all compressed into a shoebox. Additionally, when you sit in the driver’s seat and close the door, one cannot help but feel a bit claustrophobic. The “happy medium” is the Mercedes Actros, which is looks basically like a streamlined SuperGreat with more plastic and perhaps a little bigger. However, all of the cosmetic (and superficial) differences aside, each vehicle represents different laws, regulations, needs, and customer requirements. Argh. I just had an urge to make a house of quality *punches self*.
Ah, much better. There were also debuts from every major truck manufacturer for Hybrid, Fuel Cell, Natural Gas, and generally more eco-friendly models. The approach for each model was very similar, although every manufacturer treated their particular model like it was the best thing since sliced bread. Fun Fun. It made me hate marketing departments worldwide.
Well, I’d better go. It’s time to check the train tickets (urge to do a Dogmaesque reenactment of the famous Indiana Jones line… “No Ticket”). Heh, I’m even in Germany. Not on a Blimp, though, Ah well. It would be fun to toss someone from a train like in Dogma. Perhaps that’s why it came to mind… Ah well.
