Gopher in Cologne

Continual Development - Final Post

2008-07-27T03:34:00.000-07:00

Sadly, on Tuesday I board a plane and return to the United States. I'm excited to see friends and family, but slightly depressed that I have to leave my adopted home. I want to thank all of you that continued to read my blog. I have received many e-mails of enthusiasm over my writing during these four months, and it has really meant a lot to me.

You have allowed me to fulfill a secret desire of mine, which is to write and actually have people be interested in what I have to say. I have always been a fan of the written word, much more then spoken. Maybe it’s because I am a lot funnier in writing then in real life. I truly envy those that seem to have that perfect delivery.

I find though that writing is a lot more gratifying. It allows you to be more open, and express yourself. Written verse also means something different to all of us. You can read this passage, and add your own emphasis, imagining what it would be like to sit down yourself and say it to another person. Better yet, to compare it to your own life, and inspire you to apply it in some fashion.

Last summer, I started thinking about another semester long study abroad experience. It was in my mind before I applied to Carlson, but became a reality about a year ago. I was fortunate to spend the majority of the 2001 summer in Valencia, Spain, living with an old Spanish widow and speaking Spanish as a first language. I was even more fortunate to spend a semester in London during the spring of 2002. Both experiences were invaluable to my personal development. First, 9/11 was sandwiched in-between both trips, giving me an interesting pre and post foreign perspective of the event. Second, and most importantly, it showed me that there is a world outside of MN.

One thing I struggled with a bit was how I was going to try and sell the idea to those around me. Getting married, having kids, and becoming a home owner are all things I look forward to. Bearing good health, would my life be judged any differently though if I choose not to begin that journey until two years from now, or ten years from now? I don't think so, because in the long run, my life will ultimately be judged by how good of a person, husband, and father I was. At least (as a man) that is how I look at my father's life. Sure he served in the Navy, and became a pretty successful businessman, but in the end, was he a good person, husband, and father? I think so, and that's all I really care about.

All along, I focused on this experience as a continual development of myself. The decision on my part to fulfill a desire in life I know will bring me happiness and make me a better person. I'm lucky to say that in my life so far, I have no regrets. Of course, there are things I've said and done that I wish you could take back, but in the overall picture, it is hard for me to feel any regret. After five years of work, and another 35 ahead of me, I would have regretted not spending these four months in Cologne.

Of course, I should thank the city of Cologne. I appreciate it letting me hang around and learn. Although I've been here for four months, I don't think I could dare say I truly 'lived' in Germany, (or Spain or England for that matter). I believe that to truly live in another country you must go to work everyday, speak their language, and face their same hardships. Istead, I merely studied abroad for four months out of my life. I had a chance to come here and live a happy fantasy life. If I was to say I lived here, I think it would only be to make myself sound more important then I really am. On an elementary level, I like to compare my experience to that of a petting zoo. Not only did I get to see some pretty cool things, I got to open the door and play with them for a while.

In closing, I came across a British fellow during my travels who absolutely loved America. When I asked him why, he simply stated that people believe they can be and accomplish anything they want to, even if they know it may be out of reach. He made me smile because I couldn't agree with him more. I've been amazed at what has come to me simply because I got up and did something. Those that choose not get up and do something will walk in place, and then continue to blame others for the outcome of their life.

In the end, we all share the same fate. It is up to you to determine what you want to make out of your time here. We all have opinions on how to live our lives properly, and I assume that changes over time. I can't say that in my late 20's I know everything because everyone older then me will say that I am in for so much more. At this point in time though, all I can offer to people for advice is to simply 'do something'. Educate yourself, travel, help someone in need. Do what you need to do to diversify yourself to make yourself a more knowledgeable and better person. If you do that, I can only imagine that life will treat you that much better.

Final Tour

2008-07-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

My final tour of sights in and around Cologne continued this past week with a few gems I'm happy I stumbled across. On Thursday I visited the NS-Dokumentations-Zentrum, or the EL DE House, the Gestapo headquarters from the early 30's through the end of the war. It has been renovated into a small museum chronicling the city of Cologne during the Nazi era. I had a highly informative audio guide to walk me through the tour, which is nice considering everything was in German.

The first piece of history you come across on the tour is a cardboard box with photographs and writing on it. It was created in the late 70's / early 80's by a citizen of Cologne upset over what he perceived as a lack of justice for the Nazis living in Cologne. He had heard that the EL DE house was once the Gestapo headquarters and that in the basement there still remained the jail cells of former prisoners. On the walls remained small passages written by the various prisoners. The man convinced someone to let him into the basement, where he snapped some photos, pasted them on his cardboard box, and then wore it around town preaching to the patrons. He soon gained more attention, and the rest I guess is history.

Though somewhat small, the museum is highly informative and took a couple hours to walk through. About half of the history is prior knowledge any novice historian is aware of. The other half though focused on the city of Cologne, and how Nazi policies affected the city. I loved the maps and pictures of the old town during the time. Although many streets were recognizable, you could tell that they really changed a few things during the rebuilding process.

One of my favorite parts of the tour was the room dedicated to highlighting the Nazi leaders in Cologne during the period. I was surprised to find out that the top official was just 29 when he first took the post in the early 30's. He survived the war, and only got four years of jail time after. He became a businessman in Cologne, and died of old age in his home which is not too far from my flat. That seemed to be the common theme for all the high ranking officials here in Cologne. After the war, they were hardly prosecuted, and had the chance to live a normal life after a small punishment. This after they contributed to the persecution of so many people, and their actions brought on the destruction of their city.

The last leg of the tour shows pictures of Cologne at the end of the war. I mentioned before that 90% of the city center was destroyed by allied bombing. A picture from 1949 still shows the city in ruins. Before I left, I took a walk through the basement. There were multiple jail cells (pictured) in the in the cold dark tavern, and on the walls the writing of the prisoners that were housed inside. One of the writings was posted towards the end of the war, and documented the hangings that were taking place. Underneath, the prisoner counted his own final days by writing the date. He got about six days in before it stopped.

Impressed with what the EL DE house offered me, I walked over to the famous Cologne cathedral (Dom) to bravely scale the steps and get a true bird’s eye view of the city. I had to mentally prepare myself as I was told the climb was a bit strenuous. There is no lift, only a narrow spiral staircase with two-way traffic.

During the climb my friend and I were behind a heavier set English speaking fellow. He had to stop about half way up to catch his breath and we gladly scooted past him. We crossed paths with him later at the top. He could see that we were trying to take a picture of ourselves, and he kindly offered to snap the photo for us. As he held my camera, his hand was shaking so much I thought he was going to keel over right there. I thought to myself, JC man are you going to make it?

The view from the top was great (pictured), but I didn't venture too close to the edge. I have a slight phobia of heights so I try not to push my limits. As we descended down the spiral staircase, we caught a glimpse of the huge bells before finally reaching ground. One more tour through the inside of the church, and I said a final goodbye to Cologne's tourist icon.

To cap off my final tour, I visited the town of Bruhl which is just one train stop away from Cologne (between Cologne and Bonn). I was told that there is a chateau there so I figured I would give it a look. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived. The chateau (pictured) instantly reminded me of a miniature Versailles, complete with front gate and gardens. As I walked around the side of the chateau, there looked to be a wedding reception going on. It was complete with men in suits and women in gigantic hats. I thought it would be the perfect place to get married.

I didn't go inside the chateau as it didn't look like it housed any tours. I did walk around the grounds though, and enjoyed the peace and quite, along with the finely trimmed trees, rows of flowers, and small streams with ducks, fish, and turtles. I took a short walk through the small city center of Bruhl, and then hopped a train back to Cologne happy with my find.

Afterwards, I sat at an outdoor cafe in Cologne and had some lunch and a beer. I relaxed and reflected on the places I had visited and came to grips with the fact that my travels were over for right now. I've been fortunate to see so many people, places, and things over the past four months. It's a bit sad, but gratifying at the same time.

I return to the US soon, but I have one last post left in me, so please stayed tuned!

Goats, Beethoven, Chocolate, and Cologne

2008-07-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

Before I return to the states, I've made it a point to visit my favorite places, and those which I have yet to see in and around Cologne. This past weekend, I visited my favorite spot for the third time, the wild park in Stadtwald Park next to my flat. It's a nature park/petting zoo complete with deer, goats, strange looking birds, and hundreds of screaming and crying children. For 0.50 Euro cents, you can purchase a box of feed from the vending machines in the park and hand feed the animals. Who could pass that up?!

I guess the one downside of the park is that it has no wash station. Therefore, once a sheep licks all the feed out of your hand in one swoop, you have nothing left but a gross looking film on your hand. Speaking of sheep, I found them to be my least favorite animal to feed. The goats are a little cuter, and a little less rude and disgusting.

In an attempt to get away from the hoards of screaming and crying children, I walked down a path not used by many of the patrons. I came upon a group of goats, and with one little jiggle of my box of feed, a few headed my way. After feeding them some food, a few of their friends decided to join the party. Eventually, I was surrounded by the entire herd. If you notice in the pic, I couldn't get the feed out of the box fast enough, and I had goats literally jumping on me. I quickly closed up the box, and headed towards the less aggressive deer.

Growing up in MN, I am accustomed to seeing deer in northern MN, and even out the office window. I've never got this close to them before though, and it is amazing how comfortable they were. The highlight was watching a two year old break free and make a bee-line out into the field. Needless to say, the deer got a little scared and hauled tail further out into the field. After listening to child after child cry and scream, watching various animals "go to the bathroom", and being disgusted with the thought of my hand being attached to my body, I left the park content with my visit.

Next on the list was a visit to the neighboring town of Bonn to get a look at the house Beethoven was born in. Bonn is a quaint and beautiful town. It was the seat of the West German govt during the DDR and Berlin Wall days. It too has a large university, and contains playful Baroque style architecture. This was my third trip to Bonn, but the first was on a Sunday, before I knew that Europe closes on Sundays, and the last two were to evening festivals just outside the city. So, I feel it was my first REAL visit to the city.

Since I visited Vienna and am a complete expert on classical music now (me being facetious) I thought a visit to Beethoven's birthplace (pictured) would be cool to see. It truly was a nicely preserved place, completely full of old letters, busts, and his pianos, violins, and funky looking instruments he used to compose his music. I looked at the things, and thought to myself, how in the hell did he produce such great music on those instruments. They looked so primitive. Actually I guess you could say they were. At the end of the tour is a plaster mask of Beethoven shortly after his death. It was gross.

Walking through the house, and reading about his life, it sounds like Beethoven was actually well taken care of and nurtured. With all of these mythical figures, you expect them to have these highly interesting and twisted lives, but his seemed pretty normal. I was amazed to find out that he was actually extremely hard on hearing. There was a case in the museum which housed all of his hearing aids. Again, how do you compose such great music basically deaf? When he died, I read that they opened up his head to see if they could figure out what caused him to loose his hearing. Can't you just accept the fact that he was deaf and move on? I can picture his ghost sitting in the corner and saying, "Hey guys, it's a little late for that. Can you please put my head back together?"

Next stop was a return visit to the chocolate museum in Cologne. What a fantastic idea, a shrine to my secret lover chocolate. The museum starts off with a history of the cocoa bean, chronicling its cultivation and use. Various rooms show how it was discovered, how to grow it, what tools were/are used to pick it, and how it was transported around the world.

Half-way through the museum is when my heart was truly taken over though. There in all its shiny glory were the modern machines used to make chocolate. You could hear the beans rattle around here, and see the liquid chocolate pour out there! Then perfectly shaped bars and truffles come out over there, and gold wrappers secure them here! Oh I was in heaven. It was a scene right out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

At the end of the room was a large shiny fountain of chocolaty goodness (pictured). A woman dipped wafers into it and handed them to visitors. I pushed three kids out of the way in order to get my hands on it. To cap it off, there is a huge gift shop by the entrance were you can buy a chocolate anything. Chocolate bars, chocolate truffles, chocolate soccer balls, chocolate beer! Oh boy, give the person that invented that a raise! I filled a bag with $11 worth of chocolate and ate it all as soon as I left.

Next on the list was a visit to the House #4711 (sign pictured). It's better known as the birthplace of Eau de Cologne. It was a concoction developed in the late 18th century meant to enhance the senses and attract the ladies. Basically, I think it was developed to be more of a deodorant then anything. I couldn't pass it up though, and the current fragrance store on the site has a mini museum on the second floor providing the history of the fragrance and displaying the original packaging and bottles it was sold in. Although I didn't buy a bottle, I'm sure the ladies love it.

Vienna

2008-07-19T06:11:00.001-07:00

Exams successfully came to a close on Wednesday, and I finally have a life I can live outside of my flat. In order to celebrate, and feed my travel addiction, I booked a flight to Vienna. As a way of saving some cash, I booked a 6:50 a.m. departure flight on Thursday, and the 8:40 p.m. return flight on Friday. It's like traveling on steroids.

I didn't set myself up too well for Thursday though as a group of friends and I stayed out on Wednesday night until 2. It was the last chance for me to say good-bye to some, so I didn't want to miss that. We chatted the night away with one of our Swedish friends, who was hard to say good-bye to. The negative result was that I had to wake up two hours later, pack, shower, and take the train to the airport for my flight.

I got into Vienna around 8 a.m., and wandered aimlessly through the city until I finally found my hostel. It started to rain, and I was glad I remembered to pack my umbrella. I wasn't happy though that I forgot to pack my deodorant and a complete change of clothes (I’ll let you guess what I forgot) for the next day. I guess that is what I get for trying to pack with one eye open.

Even though the umbrella kept my head and upper body nice and dry, it didn't prevent my legs and feet from becoming soaked. After about 30 minutes, the insides of my shoes were completely saturated. With every step I could feel the water squish between my toes, and I knew I had about 8 hours left of that feeling.

I didn't really know where to start, but a couple of my friends here in Cologne just said to walk through the city center. That is where all the sites are apparently. So, I took their advice, and that is where I headed. My instant impression of Vienna is that it is a very classy city. Mozart, Beethoven and the rest of the famous musicians bleed from the walls and streets. There are a million cafes, and you can see people drinking either wine or coffee at any given moment.

The architecture is similar to Munich, but a little less playful. Huge Baroque buildings cover the city center, and the immense Hofburg Palace is the centerpiece. I was told before I saw it that it was similar to Versailles, but once I visited it, I thought it was nothing like it. Sure, they are both big palaces, but Versailles is located outside of the city, and is more of a place to go relax and get away from the noise. The different parts of the palace were converted into various museums, none of which really lit my fire. So, I just enjoyed the view from the outside. It did have a couple nice gardens though, one of which had a lovely memorial to Mozart (pictured).

After touring the palace grounds, I walked a block over to get a view of Parliament and then another block over to get a view of Rathaus. I couldn't get a good idea of what the Rathaus actually was, so I had to look it up on Wikipedia when I returned to Cologne http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathaus%2C_Vienna. No offense to the govt of Vienna, but when you look at the building, you would think that it seats a much more important body. Rathaus Park is located right across from it though, and that was pretty cool. Rose bushes dominate every corner of the park, and of course, what park in Vienna wouldn't be complete without a memorial to Mozart. Since it was really rainy on Thursday, I returned to it on the somewhat sunny Friday to get a good shot (pictured). A day of rain, and some sun really made the roses blossom!

From Rathaus, I made my way to the Stephansdom, which is an old church smack in the middle of town. It serves as the cultural center of Vienna, complete with all the tourist trap horse and carriage rides, and men dressed up like Mozart wanting to tell you something. I didn't stay there long, as there were a ton of tourists just hanging out.

When I was on the train from the airport to the city center, I noticed this massive cemetery (turns out it is called Zentralfriedhof) along the way. Not thinking anything of it, I quickly found out from my trusty travel book that it holds the graves of a number of famous composers and former patrons of Vienna. Looking to get out of the city center for a while, I jumped on a tram and made the trek out there.

My first impressions were that it was humongous! Apparently it holds over 2.5 million souls. That's a lot of people! The graves are also extremely elaborate, with huge gravestones scattered throughout the grounds. The land had an eerie feeling to it. The grass and trees grew over, under, and around the graves, really giving the place a neat feeling. In fact, I started walking down one of the many paths carved here and there (pictured), and had to turn around really quickly as I started to get a bit freaked out. Especially since I was the only person around.

There is one really interesting part of the cemetery though. The graves of Beethoven (pictured), Brahm, Schubert, and Strauss form a semi-circle around a memorial to Mozart. Apparently Mozart is in an unmarked grave in another cemetery somewhere in Vienna. I haven't seen the movie Amadeus in a while (whether that is historically accurate or not is debatable) but what does it say when you are the cities patron saint and they can't find your grave? Well, a quick review of Wikipedia clued me in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart#Final_illness_and_death. Seems it was normal practice at the time.

After a while hanging out in this eerie yet fantastic historical treasure, I took a tram back to the city center. After some food, I searched for a cafe to have a hot chocolate and warm up. Ironically, the only one I could find near me was a Starbuck's. So, I visited a Starbuck's for the first time in Europe. If you think the prices are high in the US, you should visit one abroad. A little over $6 for a small hot chocolate. Yikes! My body was worn out from all the walking, dreary weather, and lack of sleep, so I headed back to the hostel, and ultimately hit the sack at 9 p.m. and proceeded to sleep for 12 hours.

The weather was a little nicer the next day, and again I just wandered around town with no agenda in mind. I thought that since Vienna seems to be so classy and cultural that I would join in and see how it feels. I read that people like Freud used to sit in Viennese cafes, sipping coffee and politicking. Well, not sure if Freud ever sipped on a warm glass of hot chocolate, but I did, and it was good. I some funky bread with butter, sea salt, and some type of seed on it. Not sure what it was, but it was tasty nonetheless.

From there, I walked to the other side of town, and caught a tram and then a bus to outside of the city. I read that wine taverns, or heurigen as they are called in Vienna, are a fun place to visit. I like wine, so I thought why not? As I approached a recommended place, I was a little unsure whether I was in the right place. I came to find out that these are basically family run businesses literally outside of the home.

The street it was located on your basic suburban (European suburban) street, where normal people live. Unsure what to do, I simply tried opening the front door. It was locked. Ok, I guess I'll walk through the gate on the side of the house. As I passed through the gate, an old man was sitting there alone smoking a cigarette and drinking something out of a glass. He looked like a lone sole waiting outside of the O.K. Corall. Kind of like the calm before the storm. A bit intimidated, our brief conversation went like this.

Nick: Hello, English?
Strange Guy: No - Italiano.
Nick: Hmmm.
Strange Guy: Francais?
Nick: No.
Nick: Espanol?
Strange Guy: No, Italiano
Nick: Heurigen? (Pointing my finger at the ground)
Strange Guy: Huh?!
Nick: Heurigen?
Strange Guy: Yeah (pointing his finger further around to the back yard).

So between us we knew five languages, yet couldn't find one that matched. Luckily for me, a nice older lady greeted me towards the end of my conversation with the strange guy, and guided me around the bushes to the 12 picnic tables spread throughout the back yard. I got there just after it had opened, so there wasn't anyone around. Although the picture doesn't really do it justice, it was a quiet and beautiful spot and a brilliant idea on my part. I drank a couple glasses of red wine, while the old lady (who also didn't know English) did some gardening and her cat prowled around mischievously.

I sat there calmly, looking into the surrounding hills, and soaking up the quiet. As I left, I returned my glass inside, where there was an old guy standing with a cane who looked like he was on the verge of tears. I set the glass down, and quickly said Tchuss (good-bye) to the old lady before the scene with the guy with the cane turned awkward. Near the gate exit were a couple of other fairly old ladies who just stared at me. I began to think that they don't see many people like me (a young male who can't speak their language) in a given day.

As I walked down the street to the bus stop, I just thought to myself....weird but cool. That pattern developed often over my brief visit, and I guess you could say it sums up my stop in Vienna. I will say though that it is one of the cities I have visited abroad where I thought I could live. It had that calm, classy, and sophisticated feel to it that appeals to me.

It's The (Final) Countdown

2008-07-14T04:32:00.000-07:00

Well it's finally here, it's finals weeks in Cologne. Well for me anyways. I realize that my last few posts have been kind of a snooze. I promise all remaining posts will be a lot sexier. It's a basic reflection of my life these past few weeks. More work then play. I have some good adventures left before I return though so stay tuned.

Since I don’t have much to offer in terms of adventure and awkward cultural encounters, I'll break down for you what I have to learn for my Exams.

First up is my Economic Expansion in the 19th Century final, which happens in about t-minus 4 hours. Half of the course focused on Economic expansion in the Germany during the century, and the other half focused on economic expansion in the countries of Britain, Belgium, France, Austro-Hungarian, and Russia. The format of the exam will be two essay questions, one hour, 100% of your grade for the term. A little stressful when you say it like that, but all of us feel like we have a good grip on the course content.

Basically, economic expansion can be analyzed throughout the continent by looking at the macro level developments in agriculture, labor, capital, technology, trade, and institutions. All of which developed in certain ways which complimented each other, and allowed the continent to take off (some countries more then others).

Second up on the schedule is tomorrow's Governance and Policy-Making in the Multilevel-System of the EU final. Again, one essay question, one hour, 100% of your grade. Sounds scary, but again I feel pretty good about it. The course focused on the evolution of the European state taking into account various treaties, and the development of the state from territorial, to nation, to constitutional, to industrial, to welfare, and finally European. It will also focus on how the Lisbon Treaty stands to affect the structure of the European Union if it ever gets ratified. Within that we analyzed the make-up of institutional architecture, which accounts for the European Council, European Commission, European Parliament, Council of the EU, European Court of Justice, and the European Central Bank.

Finally, on Wednesday I have my two retail courses, which have been the courses I've enjoyed the most. They will be my most challenging finals based on the breadth and depth of the material covered. My Retail Marketing final is up first at 8:30 in the morning. In a nutshell, here are the high level topics to be covered:

- The Nature of Retail Marketing
- Consumer Behavior
- Channels and Formats
- Merchandising & Category Mgmt
- Pricing
- Promotion/Communication
- Store Brands and Private Label
- Services

Later on in the afternoon, I have my Strategic Mgmt in Retail final, my last final. Again, here is a high level overview of what will be covered:

- The Role of Retailing
- Assessing the Retail Space
- Theoretical Frameworks
- Retail Strategy and Panning
- Segmenting / Targeting / Positioning (STP)
- Retail Branding
- Location Planning
- Finance / Controlling

As you can see, I've had my hands full. I feel pretty good though, and am highly looking forward to Wed afternoon. Plans are already in the works for a few beers and BBQ in what will hopefully be sunny Wednesday!

EU Overload

2008-07-10T09:43:00.000-07:00

The beginning of the end got underway this week with our final presentations for my Political System of the EU class. I have spent the past few weeks compiling information, and writing the paper that is to accompany the presentation. After working on it for so long, I am a bit tired of reading and talking about EU humanitarian aid efforts.

Our presentation seminar consisted of two full days of non stop presentations on anything and everything to do with EU policy. Our professor is a visiting professor from Paris, so she travels to Cologne to teach the course. She's a nice lady, but pretty much your stereotypical Parisian. Kind of hard to read, rather nonemotional, and monotone. Fittingly, our seminar took place at the Institut Francais Cologne. During the first day of the seminar, we were treated to a little presentation on what the institute does. Unfortunately for me, the presentation on French culture was provided in German. It was basically a no win situation for me. I politely paid attention to the presenter even though I couldn't understand anything he was saying.

Here's the line-up of all the topics we discussed:
- The Role of the European Parliament
- Europe as an Empire
- The European Neighborhood Policy
- Turkey's Place in the EU
- EU / Russian Relations
- The EU and Iran
- MERCOSUR and the EU
- The EU and Anti-Terror
- The EU as a Humanitarian Player
- The EU and the Environment
- The EU and Energy
- The United Nations and the EU

As you can see, we covered a breadth of topics, and I actually learned quite a bit about the EU. What I thought was a disappointing class turned fairly informational in its last days. I felt a little pressure to deliver a good presentation since only two of us were not from the Union. Even though I put a lot of preparation into my presentation, I'll admit that I did have an advantage over the others as only two of us were native speaking English people.

The format was to present for 30-40 minutes, and then the professor would basically pick it apart and tell you where the gaps were. We are supposed to then include her recommendations in our final paper. Knowing that the format would be this way, I strategically selected a somewhat neutral topic in the EU as a humanitarian player.

There were a few brave souls though that wanted to tackle such issues as Russia, Turkey, and Iran. During the presentation, I could see the professor writing feverishly, almost with excitement to critique and pick apart their presentations. 30-40 minutes of presenting was followed by 20 minutes of her telling us what we did wrong. The nice part was that it was the same for everyone, so you didn't feel too bad when she provided her feedback. Luckily for me, my topic was the one topic she had the least amount of background experience in, so the arrows weren't as sharp. Although there was one moment where I got cold called on. She asked if I knew what year the Monroe doctrine was finalized. Huh? I just smiled and said I didn't know. If you are curious, it was signed in 1823, basically saying Europe wasn't allowed to colonize or mess with the affairs of independent nations throughout the Americas.

In total, both days were a success, and I was impressed with the job everyone did. We were a bit glazed over by the end, and even though the professor offered VERY direct feedback, it was all with good intentions. The only thing to do now is finish up the paper, which will have to wait until finals are over.

Speaking of finals, I have successfully wrapped up all classes, and now only have to prepare for exams. As I mentioned before, the entire semester comes down to the final exams in most classes, which is the case for me. I have four exams in three days, two from the same professor. He gave a final about a month ago, and 25% of the class failed it. I'm not joking. That is a true fact. Needless to say, to make my trip worth while, I will be studying day and night until next Wed is over. Wish me luck!

Study Break

2008-07-07T01:29:00.000-07:00

Not much new to report in Cologne. I have spent the better part of two weeks now sitting in my flat preparing for the end of the semester. It's hard to believe that I return to MN in a mere three weeks. Personally, it feels like I just arrived yesterday. It has been about 14 weeks now though, and time seems to just fly by. I am excited to experience the MN summer. The day I left MN, we received eight inches of snow, so the day I return should be a lot better.

A group of us managed to take a study break Saturday night. We went to Bonn for an outdoor music festival. Before we arrived, I was excited to catch the action. What better way to spend a nice Saturday night then hanging out outside listening to music. Despite the sunny weather all day though, an annoying drizzle managed to fall most of the time we were there.

Still, we toughed it out, and checked what the festival had to offer. There were five stages, each playing a different type of music. The alternative stage had a sparse unlively crowd, pretty much the antithesis of what you would expect. Next was the main stage where Ben Folds was actually playing. I don't really know his music personally, but I know he is popular in the states. The stage after that had the heavy rock complete with head bangers and body surfers (pictured).

Beyond that was the hip hop stage which was a sight to see. It's always funny to see how a particular part of American culture is absorbed and expressed by another culture. I've never heard someone rap in German before, and it sounded a bit weird. From there we made our way to the last stage where a DJ was playing techno. There were people gyrating in interesting ways, and I think your presence required you to be in an altered state if you know what I mean. We quickly left that scene, and headed towards the main stage, where our German friends wanted to check out a popular German band that was playing.

Needless to say, the festival turned out to be a little bit of a dud. In an attempt to beat the crowd to the trains, we left 30 minutes before the last act finished. Our intentions were good, but unfortunately for us, a lot of other people decided to leave as well. First, we had to wait in line forever to catch the first train. Then, once we got on the first train, there were so many people aboard we were packed liked sardines. Let's just say that the majority of the crowd that attended the festival weren't the cleanliest people. The guy I was forced to lean up against had long greasy hair with a shaggy beard. This of course complimented the all black attire and combat boots. The smell that radiated from his body was nothing to write home about either. I guess that was better then being pinned up next to the guy and girl with matching purple mohawks.

After 20 minutes of cuddling up next to Charles Manson, we had to wait 30 minutes at the Bonn main station for the next train to Cologne. Of course once that arrived, there were a ton of people, and we repeated the sardine act we performed earlier. Luckily for me though, I didn't get stuck next to any grease balls on this trip. I did have to stand though, and my legs were a bit wobbly by the time I got home.

In the end, what typically is a 20 minute train ride from Bonn to Cologne ended up taking two hours. I felt so gross from the trip home that I had to take a shower before I could go to bed. I was a little bummed the night didn't turn out the way we thought it would, but I guess it was nice to have an excuse to get away from the books for the evening.

This week marks the final week of preparation before exams. I do have one class that ends this week with a two-day marathon seminar. Each student is expected to present their topic of choice on EU policy for 30-40 minutes and then discussion. I'm slated to be one of the last presentations on the final day so I'm sure I'll be presenting to a lot of glazed over faces itching to get out of there. It should be interesting to see what people come up with. I'm a little nervous considering I'm one of the few in the class that doesn't live in the Union, and thus has little knowledge of how the Union runs. I think it will go well regardless.

Although I'm not looking forward to my departure, I am really looking forward to returning home and watching a Twins game. Over halfway through the season, and I have yet to catch a game. From what I've read, they are doing really well too. I'm also looking forward to sitting in the backyard BBQ'ing, and relaxing. Although summer in Europe is wonderful, there is something to be said for MN summer as well.

Ole Super Deutschland

2008-07-03T10:33:00.000-07:00

Well it was an exciting finish to the European Soccer (Fußball) Championship. Unfortunately, Germany lost in the final to Spain. In the end, the best team did win, but the Germans put together a spirited effort. Needing a break from the crowd after our Munich trip, we watched the game in the comfort of a flat surrounded by a handful of friends.

Still, it was a rowdy and cultural few weeks in Cologne, something which was exciting to see. As I mentioned in an earlier post, you hardly see a German flag waving anywhere here, but for those few weeks, a German flag was draped over, under, on, in, and around anything you can think of. On game nights, people dressed up in their Deutschland jersey, black, red, and gold clothes, or simply wrapped the flag around their necks and wore it like Superman. Even my American friend Stasha and I got into the act. Notice the lovely face paint we sported during the Portugal match. By the way, the face paint was common attire for the matches. Since I'm not used to wearing it, both cheeks were a black, red, and gold smudge at the end of the night.

Finals are just around the corner, and I have been spending morning and night preparing for the tests. When you study abroad, there is less pressure to get good marks as the grades do not transfer. Basically, all I have to do is pass the classes, and I get credit for them. Therefore, whether I get an A or a C really doesn't matter as it is all the same in the end. That said, my pride and conscience will not let me slack, and I am gearing up to get good marks before I head back to Minny. I have four finals in a three day span, but then I have ten days of nothing before I have to leave Cologne. Needless to say then I don't feel bad hitting the books during the warm summer days.

Speaking of the weather, it has been beautiful in Cologne recently. The tan line on my neck grows more and more comical by the day. I think I may spend those last ten days trying to even it out, but I'm not sure I want to scare away the locals by taking my shirt off in public. I almost died in my flat yesterday. I spent the afternoon in my steamy penthouse (top floor being the only thing "pent" about it) studying in nothing but a pair of gym shorts. One advantage of being up so high and facing the park is that I can see the sky for miles. I could see the impending storm approaching more and more, and I've never wanted rain clouds to come so fast in my life.

The rain stuck around today, which makes sitting in class all day easier and more bearable considering the classrooms are not air conditioned. I've found that when you wear your flipflops in the rain, they are good at just that, flipping the dirty water up onto your body. When I got back to my flat today, I felt like Tommy Boy after his cow tipping episode. I'd write the line, but you all know what he said. :)

Since I was in the classroom for six hours today, I thought I could treat myself to what has become a favorite pastime of internet surfing once I returned to my flat. I start with the two e-mail accounts, then hit up Facebook, move on to ESPN, and then see what news Kare 11, CNN, Star Tribune, and the NYTimes has to offer (repeat). It's a vicious cycle I try to stay away from. I'll throw in the occasional Wikipedia and YouTube if I need some offbeat references to support the news stories I read. If I feel like having a good cry, I'll even look at the checking account, student loans, and credit card statements.

It is amazing how happily one can live on a tight budget. All play and no work (well some work) equals low funds, but you find ways to "dumb" down your life so it isn't too much of a concern. Cooking my own meals (or going to a friend's flat and having them cook for me) and walking/biking has got me extremely far. I try to limit unnecessary purchases as well. I do a pretty good job, but unfortunately my chocolate addiction must be fed on a daily basis. One thing I actually look forward to though is earning a paycheck again.

Speaking of that, I have been in contact with work setting up some logistical things for my return. Issues at home are finding more and more room in my head these days. Determining a living situation, means of transportation, and gearing up for August wedding season are becoming more and more of a reality. That said, I am in no hurry to leave my adopted country, and will continue to enjoy my time to the best of my ability!

Munich & Berchtesgaden

2008-06-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not updating the blog for a week. I was in Munich from Wed - Sun, and didn't have time to update it before I left. I hope I'm keeping my audience intrigued, even if my mother is the only person left reading this thing. On a side note, I do appreciate those that have stuck with me so far!

To my dismay, I thought my flight to Munich departed last Thursday. When I checked my departure time, I realized that I actually left on WEDNESDAY. 30 minutes worth of internet searching on the Germanwings website, and one 10 minute phone call to their call center later, the cost of changing my flight to Thursday turned out to be astronomical. Soooo, I left for Munich on Wed night, and had to watch the big soccer match between Germany and Turkey alone.

When I arrived on Wed, I didn't do much. I didn't get in until around six in the evening, and the sky opened up as soon as I got there. Since I didn't have an umbrella with me, much of my time was spent seeking shelter. I did manage to do a little bit of sightseeing though, and watch the game at an outdoor cafe later in the night. Germany pulled off the victory 3-2, although many thought that the Turks outplayed them. There aren't too many Turkish immigrants in Munich, not as much as in Cologne at least, but the few that are there were waving German flags after the match. I heard the same occurred in Cologne, which is pretty cool to hear. Many of the German fans climbed in their car afterwards, and poured outside of windows and sunroofs waving German flags, and honking their horns throughout much of the night. I hit the sack early out of little else to do.

On Thursday I was up and at 'em early, and hit the town running. My fellow American Stasha was flying in later in the night, so I spent much of the day alone. My instant impression of Munich is that it fulfills every single stereotype of Germany. Playful architecture, lederhosen, wurst, and large beers. The people of Bavaria (the area of southern Germany) like to consider themselves separate from the rest of the country, and culturally they are.

I had no plan of attack, so I wandered around the city center as that seemed to be where all the people were. Much of the city was destroyed during the war, so it has that common "new old" feel to it. My first stop was Marienplatz which is basically the main square. The Neues Rathus (pictured) rises above the square, and the Glockenspiel chimes throughout the day as Bavarian figures move about. The thing reminds of one giant toy, something my nieces and nephews would get a kick out of.

From there, I made my way through the rest of the square, and around the perimeter of the town just soaking in the atmosphere. I didn't really go into any sights or attractions. Munich is mainly a city to enjoy the culture, whereas Berlin is the place to go if you need a historical fix. That is of course unless you want to learn about the history of beer (more to come on that later).

After an afternoon full of touring, I made my way back to the hostel to relax for a bit, and wait for Stasha. Once he arrived, it was already evening, and so we just grabbed some food, and watched the other Euro Cup semifinal match between Russia and Spain. After that game, it was apparent that Spain seemed to be the best team in the tourney, and that Germany would have their hands full come the championship game.

On Friday, we woke up early, and headed to the northern part of the city to check out the 1972 Olympic stadium and village. It was beautifully laid out, although the complexes seemed a bit small and outdated. I guess that makes sense since the games were 36 years ago. Obviously those Olympics are famous more for the death of the Israeli athletes then the competitions themselves. I had a hard time finding any information concerning the events though, and wasn't sure where exactly they took place.

From the Olympic complex, we walked over to the BMW headquarters and museum (pictured). What a treat that was! The museum was one of the best I have been to so far. It chronicled BMW (Bavarian Motor Works) from it's inception, and had cars, racecars, and motorcycles on display dating back to its beginning. The museum had a very posh and glamorous feel to it. Even the museum workers were all in suits.

After our early morning expedition, it was midday, and we were growing hungry. Everyone knows Munich is known for its biergartens, so we thought when in Rome. It took little arm twisting to convince me to sample the local fare, so our first stop was a biergarten in the English Garden. The English Garden is a beautiful stretch of land in the Northeastern part of the city that is apparently larger than Central Park. It's lush green, with strong flowing streams, and people spread throughout soaking in the sun. I purchased a meal complete with a brat, mashed potatoes, a giant brezel, and of course a stein (pictured). I devoured my meal without hesitation.

After that, we had to make our way to the famous Hofbrauhaus for a stein. Before that though, we walked through the park, and enjoyed the scenery. As I mentioned, there are streams flowing everywhere, and the water was so clear that it looked like you could drink it. People would jump into the water, and be carried down stream for a short stretch before climbing out. We even came upon one part of the stream where the current was so strong that people were surfing (pictured). I've never seen that before on a stream, and Stasha and I definitely got a kick out of watching it for a while.

From there, we made our way to the city center, and the famed Hofbrauhaus (pictured). It's as advertised, with large spacious tables and loud groups of jolly old men enjoying their steins. I ordered the Hofbrauhaus dunkel (dark beer) and we sat in the outside courtyard and soaked it all in. Although they serve food, and many people were eating, the selection of choice was beer. We sat back and watched a group of eight or so men throw back beer after beer and shot after shot. After about an hour of this, they all stood up and carried each other out of the place.

After a couple beers, we decided to head back towards the hostel. Of course, we had to grab doner along the way. Right next to our hostel is another large biergarten (pictured). Since we were already feeling good at this point, we figured why not? So we grabbed a stein, and nestled into a picnic table until the sun went down.

Although Friday was a blast, and we enjoyed what many people go to Munich to enjoy, we definitely felt it on Saturday. I peeled myself out of bed showered up, and caught an early train for a day trip to Berchtesgaden, which is on the German - Austrian border. The trip took three hours, so it gave me some additional time to get the engines up and running.

Berchtesgaden was brought back to public eye with the release of the HBO series "Band of Brothers". Kehlsteinhaus, nicknamed the Eagle's Nest was built around 1938/39 as a gift to Hitler. It was a vacation house used to entertain Hitler and guests. Obviously, that is what brought me to the town, but I also wanted to soak in the scenery of the wonderful Bavarian Alps. We caught a bus that brought us all the way up to the top of the mountain. I thought the transmission was going to give out at any moment as the climb was steep and a little hairy.

By the time we got to the top, clouds were passing under our noses, and the scenery was to die for. Every angle provided a breathtaking view, and I'm sad I can only share one with you (pictured). For a while we just sat on a rock and stared out at what Mother Nature had to offer. There was hardly a sound, and the air was cool and crisp. At that level, in that moment of solitude, everything seemed to stop. The town below looked lifeless, and all cares drifted away with the passing clouds.

After some lunch, we reluctantly headed back down the mountain, and caught our train back to Munich. Between the previous night, and the fresh air of Berchtesgaden, we couldn't wait to get some rest. We woke up early and caught our plane back to Cologne, reenergized and happy to have a head full of new memories.

The Döner

2008-06-22T11:18:00.000-07:00

Since I touched on eating habits in the last post, I figured I'd use this post to highlight my favorite fare here in Cologne, the döner. The döner is a wonderfully delicious contraption of homemade bread, chicken or lamb, lettuce, tomato, cabbage, onion, carrots, and specialty sauce (pictured). Words can't describe the taste and pleasure it brings to my life. I visit my favorite döner shop, the Durener Döner at least three times a week.

I've had döner before in France. It was a staple of my diet during my solo travels through Paris and Normandy. Basically because of the language barrier, and the ease in which to order a döner. I wasn't impressed with it then, and merely looked at it as something that occupied space in my stomach. That is of course until I came to Germany, particularly Cologne, and sampled what they had to offer.

One thing you must get over is the manner in which the meat is prepared. It is set on to a metal rod, which turns at a slow pace in front of a heating unit. Kind of like a vertical rotisserie. Check out some pictures on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doner. It's not the most appetizing looking thing in the world, and watching them shave and slice off the meat is a little disgusting. The taste more then makes up for it though.

The döner is funny because it is the European's way of eating fast food, without the guilt of eating fast food. Hands down, the number of döner shops in Cologne outnumber the total amount of McDonalds, Burger Kings, Subways, and KFCs combined (at least it feels that way). Since each döner shop is individually owned and operated, it doesn't have that stigma of falling under a chain of fast food joints. Therefore, it is ok to eat there multiple times within a week. Right? I hope so.

Another interesting phenomenon about döner shops is that they all seem to be operated by the large Turkish community that has immigrated to Germany. Therefore, you can order various Turkish fares including falafel and Turkish pizzas. I go straight for the döner though. Why pass on something so good?

Speaking of the large Turkish population, a large amount of German born Colonians seem a bit "annoyed" by the number of Turks that have moved here. That's funny considering Germans, Colonians in particular, have a very open and liberal viewpoint of things. The country is socially conscious, but the boisterous Turks seem to be touching on a slight nerve.

That point considered, it should be interesting to see how both sides react to this Wednesday's Euro Cup 2008 semifinal between the two countries. Last week, Deutschland beat up on Portugal, and Turkey slipped by Croatia to set up the match. The streets of Cologne were in a kind word "jubilant" after both victories, so I'm curious to see how one side will react when the other is celebrating in their face.

We are not sure where we are going to watch the match yet. We watched the Portugal match at the Kölnarena (pictured), which is a little smaller then the Xcel Center. Every time Germany scored, I got an elbow to the head, elbow to the side, beer down the back, heel to the shin, you name it. The people here go absolutely nuts over this, which is the exact reason I'm curious to see how this week shakes down.

Battle of the Bulge

2008-06-19T06:29:00.001-07:00

Back home, a lot is said about the size of our bodies and Americans in general. Although we have our fair share of fit Americans, the stereotype is unfortunately true. Our European counterparts beat us out in the weight category. This has been proven throughout the various countries I have visited over the past seven years. Our closest competitors may be the English, but we still have the upper hand. Our European friends like to poke fun at it, and I try to avoid the conversation all together.

This issue has been brought to light by news stories, the rising cost of health care, and pop culture material such as the documentary "Super Size Me". All of which look at various reasons why there is such a difference. Is it the portion size of our meals? Our lifestyles? The type of food we eat? The preservatives inside the food? Hereditary reasons? I really don't know. I wish I could put a finger on it for everyone, but it remains a mystery to me.

I think the easy way out is to say it is hereditary. This excuse has always bothered me the most. I recently came across a factoid where German constitutes the largest percentage of ancestry in MN at around 38%, with the Norwegians coming in a distant second at around 17%. This tells me that I would expect to see similar type bodies here in Germany as I would back home. That is unless our DNA mutated while crossing the Atlantic. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The faces look familiar, the bodies do not.

Foreigners like to point out that we are a fast food nation based on books that have been published and the already mentioned documentary. To be honest, I see just as many McDonald's, Burger Kings, Subways, and KFC's (yes KFC) here as I do back home, and when I look inside, I see just as many people. The portions are the same size as well, although you don't see the super size option here (could be that I just don't know how to read that on the menu).

I do notice a difference in portion sizes here and there, particularly with deserts. Ice cream stands rarely go beyond one scoop, and packaging in grocery stores is generally smaller, thus containing less product to consume. If you are ever bored, check out some studies on packaging size and consumption. We consume product at the same rate disregarding packaging size. Something to the think about next time you want to save 20 cents by buying the family sized package.

Ok, portion size may be one factor, but there still isn't enough there to convince me that is the root cause of our flabbiness. Looking at portion size and the type of food we eat there may be something there as well. Most Europeans start their day off with a light breakfast, which typically consists of some type of bread with spread and either coffee or tea. Lunch usually consists of some type of baguette, which often leaves out the fatty sauces and spreads we tend to lather on our sandwiches. To our defense, the spreads they use are either Nutella, which even though is spectacularly delicious, is nutritionally worse then peanut butter (I think), and REAL butter, not the fake stuff. Also, German meals are heavy in meat, potatoes, and veggies swimming in some type of gravy or sauce.

So, to say the type of food we eat is the main culprit may not be entirely accurate. The question of preservatives is way over my head so I can't comment on that. Maybe the size of the US forces us to inject more into our food to allow it to flow through the entire supply chain and onto the shelf. That is just speculation though, I really don't know.

Many like to point fingers at our sedentary lifestyle. I could see that argument just by analyzing my own life. I start off my day by sitting in my car and driving to work, followed by sitting at my desk for 9 hours (including eating lunch at my desk), followed by eating dinner while sitting in my car and driving to school, followed by sitting in a chair in a classroom for 3 hours and 20 minutes, followed by sitting in my car and driving home, followed by sitting on my couch and watching a little TV, followed by laying in my bed, and only getting 6 hours of sleep. Add on top of that the stress of performing at work, in school, and at home, none of which equals a healthy body. I like to workout, but I often find myself too tired at times to get to the gym.

I have never worked in a foreign country, so I can't compare what the work week and life are like compared to the states. Obviously, technology has made things a lot easier for everyone, and in many fields has required us to do less physically. I will say though that I see more people walking and on bikes throughout Europe then I do at home. I'll even see pregnant ladies tooling around on beach cruisers worthy of a Peewee Herman film.

I think there are many reasons for that. First, European cities are often more concentrated, making the bike the most efficient means of travel. The population density, tight streets, limited parking space, and growing earth consciousness throughout the continent make having a car, a large car anyways, almost a nuisance.

Still, I have found myself walking distances on this trip that would be laughable in MN. It would be the equivalent of me walking from my door step in St Louis Park to Calhoun Square to meet friends for a couple drinks. Socially that is awkward, and I would be considered odd back home. For some reason though it makes sense here. I think I'll find myself walking more, investing in a bike, and taking the stairs more often when I return home.

One thing I do defend about Americans though is that we are not lazy. Although I do have growing motivational concerns about a large part of our population (particularly college grads), our society is constantly searching for ways to create, innovate, and be leaders in all fields. You often see these qualities in managers throughout the workplace, which is why they serve as such great role models.

I always get a kick out of people across the pond who want to work less and make more money. They usually come back with the argument "yeah but I work more efficiently." I say that it is your job to work more efficiently. In fact we should be trying to figure out how to work more efficiently in order to decrease costs and maximize profits. If that isn't at the core, or at least a main part of what you are doing, then you won't find yourself at the higher position.

All things considered, I can't put my finger on what it is that separates Americans from the rest of humanity in the weight category. I'll take the easy route and say that it is a combination of things. I do think our portions could be smaller, the type of food we eat healthier, and our lifestyles more active. Personally, my body feels better then it has in a long time, and my pants aren't as tight as when I first arrived in Cologne (I am excited to try on my work pants when I return home). Then again, I have time to be on my feet more often, and my stress level isn't anywhere near where it is at home. In the end, it is in the individual's hands to grab the issue, and change it for the better. Be aware though, the difference between cultures is there.

Berlin

2008-06-15T11:41:00.000-07:00

I spent this past weekend on the other side of the country soaking in the vast history of Berlin. I was curious to see how one German city on the western(ish) border differed from that on the eastern(ish) border. Also, I needed to fulfill my history addiction, which had suffered a bit since I left Sweden. Obviously, Berlin has a lot of stories to tell.

I flew into Berlin in the late afternoon on Friday, and wandered aimlessly a bit until I found my hostel. I uncharacteristically dragged my feet booking accommodations for this trip, and unfortunately had to stay in two different hostels due to the lack of available beds. To my chagrin, neither panned out to be superstars, but the price was right so what do you do?

After I dumped my stuff off in the room, I quickly headed out the door to check out the sights. Since there was so much to see, and my trip was a bit abbreviated, I had to plan effectively and make the best of things. The obsessive compulsive side of me actually enjoyed the need to plan (more to come on those details later).

I figured the best place to start would be the Brandenburg Gate. Before I reached the gate though, I crossed paths with the Berlin Dom (cathedral), which for a Lutheran church is quite fancy and detailed (pictured). Although the chance of checking out a giant statue of Martin Luther was intriguing, I skipped the inside. As I've said before, once you see a handful of big cathedrals in Europe, they all start to blend together.

After another block or two, I finally made it to the Gate (the picture was actually taken the following day, due to the sun not cooperating with me Friday night). It was great to see, and if walls could talk someone would be telling it to shut up already. Of course, as with any major tourist attraction, the area in front of it was swarming with street vendors and beggars, so I quickly got out of there.

From there I didn't really know where to go, so I started following the outline of the Berlin Wall that was etched on my map. The Gate was one of the separation points between East and West, so I didn't have to go far. I really wanted to check out Checkpoint Charlie, the major check point in Berlin to cross from East to West, so I followed the outline all the way to that.

Every map in every tourist station and guide booklet in Berlin has a giant red outline of where the wall once stood. On the streets, you'll often see two-tone brick trying to hide where the wall once stood. Unfortunately, for Berlin, the wall has become one giant scarlet letter, a past it can't escape. Whether that is for the best or not, I'm not sure. I did give it its due respect though and tried to follow its history as best as possible.

As I followed the route of the wall, I tried to take notice of what was on each side of the street. I was curious to see to what degree the two sides had meshed together. I think my favorite juxtaposition was the fast food joint across from the Mexican restaurant. Now instead of Berliners wondering what life was like on each side of the wall, the guy eating the burger can look across the street and see a pack of loud Englishmen drinking margaritas.

As I approached Check Point Charlie, the old style station complete with sand bags and red and white candy striped traffic control bar (pictured) stood out amongst the tall glass buildings and the giant advertisement to buy an HP computer. I looked for the museum and after spending 20 minutes in a Check Point Charlie gift shop, I asked the lady behind the counter ringing up my purchase where I could find the museum. She informed me that I was standing in the gift shop of the museum and that actually this marked the end of the tour. Oh...

She kindly advised me to enter the museum two doors down which I gladly did. The museum is highly informal, and chronicles the history of the wall, including the various ways in which people escaped to the West. Berliners literally went over, under, around, and through the thing. People hid in cars, in speakers, in kayaks, you name it. After my visit, the sun was going down, and it was time to head back to the hostel.

Back at the hostel, I had to think up my plan of attack for the following day. After some schnitzel and a beer, I grabbed my travel book and a blank piece of paper and went to work. I wrote down in order all the sights I wanted to see the next day, based on walking distance of each other of course, the times they were open, and their cost. After a short period of time, there shined a shiny piece of organization worthy of the hall of fame. I folded up my trophy, stuck it in my travel book, and hit the sack.

The next day I was up bright and early at 6:30. I cleaned up, ate some breakfast, and checked out, only to go searching for the next hostel. It was too early to check in, so I left my luggage and hit the road. The first stop was the Reichstag (pictured), the current house of the German govt. Like the Brandenburg Gate, if the Reichstag could talk, it would be a Chatty Kathy. Although Hitler apparently never set foot inside the building, he set fire to it in 1933 in order to declare a state of emergency and seize power. At the end of WWII, the thing was bombed out and depleted. A famous photo involving the Reichstag shows a soviet soldier hanging the red flag with the hammer and sickle from the top, symbolizing Soviet control of the city.

The building has been restored in all her glory. Up close you can see her wounds, with multiple bullet holes and large portions of brick patched up here and there. Visitors are allowed to the top of the building to get a view of the city and the glass dome. In true German fashion, an upside down solar cone (pictured) helps power the building.

From there I caught a glimpse of the Soviet Cenotaph, a memorial (in the old West Berlin of all places) dedicated to the Soviet soldiers who died in the fight for the city. Included are the first two Soviet tanks to enter Berlin. It's a hop, skip, and a jump from the Brandenburg Gate, so I walked through that again, and past the Russian embassy. It's the size of one city block, and is almost like a symbolic fist coming down on the city. I continued along past the Neue Wache memorial. It contains the remains of an unknown soldier, and a concentration camp victim, along with soil from various battle fields and camps. Inside is a marble sculpture of a mother holding her dead son.

The next stop was the German history museum. It's one of the best museums I've been to yet, and chronicles the history of the area that is now Germany dating from the first settlers to present day. After three hours of wandering through the museum, my stomach was curling under the pain of starvation, so I grabbed a quick bite, and made my way back towards the hostel to regroup.

Along the way I stopped by the Berlin Wall Documentation Center. There, a stretch of the wall remains intact for people to observe. The site resides on the grounds of an old church that was cut off from its parishioners when the wall was built. Even old graves had to be dug up and moved to make way for the wall. Not really a way to win over the people you are trying to govern huh? There is a platform you can climb up to get an aerial view of what it looked like (pictured), including the no mans land brave souls tried venturing into to make their escape.

Fatigued, I finally crawled back to my hostel to officially check in, and secure my bed. The hostel was highly regarded in my travel book, so I thought it was a no lose situation right? Wrong. I came to find out that I would be sleeping in a room with around 40 beds in it. One shower and toilet for the guys, one shower and toilet for the girls. Between the hours of 11-4 I got no sleep from the constant stream of people coming in. Even after I took a shower, I still felt dirty. The total package was a first in my hostel experiences.

I wasn't done exploring, so I hoofed it to the other side of town to check out some more sights. The funny thing about Berlin is that it doesn't really have a city center. The city was divided for so long that there are almost two of everything. So, after walking for what felt like an eternity, I came upon an entirely different city. I checked out the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, and then jumped a tram out to the Olympic Stadium.

By this time it was getting late, and not too many people were at the stadium. It is a bit outside the city, so it was nice to enjoy the peace and quite. The stadium has obviously been renovated since it hosted the 1936 Olympics, but the outside still resembles its mid - 30's appearance. As you walk around the perimeter, the grounds act as a type of museum, with signs up here and there describing the grounds, the historical significance of each building, and pictures. Still standing at the one end of the stadium is the Olympic torch (pictured), and etched into the stone of the building were all the winners of gold medals. Prominently displayed at the top were Jesse Owens' accomplishments.

With sore feet and hips, I made my way back to the hostel to crash. The next morning, I was again up bright and early. I checked out the memorial at Bebelplatz where in the early 30's, Nazi students burned thousands of books by what they considered "subversive" authors (think of the scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). A piece of heavy glass allows you to look underground at stark white empty book shelves. Included on the ground next to the memorial is the German poet Heinrich Heine’s ironic statement in 1820, “Wherever they burn books they burn people.”

After, I had brunch with a friend of a friend from work who has been living in Berlin for the past three years. It was fun to hear her story, and meet someone new. After a couple hours, I made my way to the airport, and back to Cologne. In all, Berlin has a lot of history to share, but can be a confusing city to figure out. Like a huge scar on a face, it's past sticks out there for everyone to see. It has persevered to become a symbol of struggle and peace throughout Europe.

Election Mania

2008-06-13T01:49:00.001-07:00

Who are you going to vote for? That seems to be the primary question whenever I meet a German for the first time in Cologne, or any international while traveling. I don't understand your political system? That seems to be the second question.

Although I agree with the second question, I obviously tread lightly when answering the first question. I try to defend both candidates, calling out their strengths and weaknesses. My response every time is that I really don't know (which is the truth by the way). What I am honest about is that the next president should hopefully be an improvement from the previous. That is as far as I let my political opinions fly.

In an ideal world, I tell them that if I could take McCain's experience and anti neo conservative approach and mesh it together with Obama's charisma, youth, and speaking abilities, we'd have one heck of a president. Unfortunately, that is not possible, so we'll have to choose one, and hope things turn out for the better.

I don't think they ask me these questions because they are looking to form an opinion about me. I think they are just plain interested in the outcome of the next election. Particularly because of all that has (and has not) happened in the past eight years.

One thing is clear, if Germany had any electoral votes, they would all go to Obama. Even when he was running against Clinton, you would only see his face on the magazines and newspapers in Cologne, and Eastern Europe. Hilary wasn't even a consideration which is surprising considering that Germany has a female chancellor, and Bill is highly regarded throughout Europe. I guess people over here seem to be more interested in something new as opposed to the same old same old of the last 20 years.

People back home and Americans I meet abroad are always very interested in how people outside of the states treat me. To be honest, most people I meet over here could care less that I'm from the states. Of course you always meet the one person who thinks that they have everything figured out and signal America as the bully. These people are few and far between though, and are generally just asses. You can find them in MN too. It has nothing to do with where they are from, just their personality.

One comment that seems universal is that people abroad like Americans, but hate our president. I've had two foreigners from different countries tell me at different points in time that ten years ago, everyone wanted to travel to the states. It was still seen as a great place to visit and live. Now, that feeling isn't there anymore. They feel unwelcome, and would rather travel elsewhere.

This is really sad to me because Americans have such little contact with our friends across the pond. I feel that one way to grow and understand is to expose yourself to various people and places. Putting up walls breaks down relationships. Working together, collaboration, is key to understanding.

Ok enough of that political jargon. I wanted to follow up on Germany's performance so far in the European Championship. On Tuesday, Deutschland downed Poland 2-0. I watched the game with a group of my German friends, which was quite the cultural experience. We watched the game on the Zulpicher Str which is a popular street here in Cologne lined with many bars, pubs, and clubs. They had to close down the street to traffic because there were so many people there!

I have to give credit to the five people from Poland that were in the bar I was in, and their attempt to cheer louder then the German folk. Every time they opened their mouths though, the Germans quickly sang louder then them.

After the game, people from the various drinking establishments emptied out into the street and started singing and chanting. I was quickly yanked into a particular cheer where everyone has to kneel on the ground, and once the drunk guy with the megaphone says the magic words, everyone jumps up into the air, bouncing up and down, and singing a particular song. So there I was, stone cold sober, wearing flip flops, jumping up and down with a bunch of random Germans. The picture is the scene of the crime. It is hard to see since it was late at night, but if you click on it, it should expand and give you a better idea.

Unfortunately, Germany lost their second match last night 2-1 to Croatia. They have one more match against Austria, and they have to win to qualify for the next round. I'd hate to see how people react if they should lose. Then again, I'd hate to see how they’d react if they win!

(Over) Half Way Home

2008-06-08T08:16:00.000-07:00

I glanced at the calendar yesterday, and realized that I am well past the half way point of my trip. Ten weeks in the bag with about seven to go. For the first time, I'm starting to feel a little stressed. Class is beginning to bear down on me, and every Euro is becoming well analyzed before it is spent.

Still, the weather in Cologne has been fabulous. Mother Nature has finally given us a bit of a rest with the rain, although it still manages to pour now and then. For example, on Saturday I spent the entire day lounging in my flat. The ten minutes I stepped outside to buy food from the supermarket, it decided to pour. I was left defenseless, wearing flip flops and sans an umbrella.

I've been longing over the past couple weeks to sit on a couch and watch an American sporting event. I missed the hockey playoffs, and the Twins are limping through the regular season without my support. All I have is my computer and the crappy highlights on ESPN.com.

I've found that I've resorted to soccer or Fussball as it is called here. Actually, soccer is quite fun to watch in Europe. Since the sport is so popular, the athletes are much better then what we see in the states. The game moves a lot quicker, and it is exciting to watch. Also, the fans get into it, which makes any event a whole lot better. Even for games that don't involve German teams, the bars are packed, and people go crazy.

The Euro Cup just started yesterday. It's a tournament that occurs every four years (like the Olympics or World Cup). It involves only European teams, and is a much anticipated event throughout Europe. For the last week, people have draped German flags over just about anything you can think of, which is fun to see as you rarely see the German flag waving in this country.

Germany's first game is tonight, and as I took an afternoon stroll around town, I saw groups of people here and there dressed up in black, red, and gold, singing songs and leading cheers. If you travel to Germany, you'll find that to be commonplace. People are always walking around singing, chanting, and cheering on game days. It could be the local club team in last place, it doesn't matter.

I'm looking forward to watching the game, although I have a feeling it could be a little bit of a mad house. They are opening up the local arena and showing it on the big screen for free. We are heading to one of the main drags though to catch the game in a bar. If yesterday's match between Turkey and Portugal is any indication of what the crowd is going to be like, we better get there early, or else there won't be a seat available from here to Berlin!

So What Are You Learning?

2008-06-05T07:16:00.000-07:00

In a recent phone conversation with my mother, she expressed how much she enjoyed reading about my travels. She half jokingly mentioned though that I should probably write about what I'm studying as people back home won't actually believe I go to class. The good news is, I really do attend class, and am taking some interesting courses.

The courses offered were of no specific importance; they weren't even all business courses. They were simply a collection of courses that happened to be taught in English. They said, “Here is what we have, choose what you want.” The only requirement is that our course load equaled 30 points, which is at least 5 classes, which is comparable to a full-time student back home.

Sooooo, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for me to branch out and take some interesting courses. I finally settled on two retailing courses, an economics course, and two political science courses. I ensured all 5 were scheduled between Mon-Wed, allowing me time to travel on weekends, and learn outside of the classroom. Of the 5 classes, my final grade for four of them comes down to the final. For the other, I have to complete a paper and presentation.

In my Retail Marketing class, we have focused so far on consumer behavior, complaint behavior and management (very applicable to my job back home), merchandise management, and pricing. The professor is German, but earned his doctorate in the US, so he speaks very good English and often uses American companies in his examples. He also uses case studies throughout the course, which is very similar to how we are taught at Carlson. I find it makes class a little more interesting and engaging.

In my Strategic Management in Retailing course, we have assessed the international retail market, which is comprised primarily of American companies, all of which I'm familiar with thus this part of the class was a bit of a review for me. We have also looked at defining a retail strategy, segmenting targeting and positioning (STP), and branding. This course is taught by the same professor, so again case studies are used often, and I find it easy to follow along.

My economics course, Economic Expansion in 19th Century Germany and Europe, is a hybrid of a history course and an economics course. It's taught by a young Porche driving German professor, who the Eastern European women seem to fancy. He told us he teaches the class as a favor to the school. Apparently he runs his own business and teaches at a private university, so I'll have to agree with him. I love this course because the professor speaks like an American. He is very aggressive, forward, and direct. When you leave the room you feel like he knows everything in the world, and maybe he likes that. He goes off on all types of tangents, and uses interesting analogies and examples to get his points across.

You may ask how beneficial a history course is to an MBA, but I'm finding it to be highly beneficial. As you can tell from my blog, I have a soft spot for learning about history so my perception may be jaded. That said, the 19th century is the century in which Germany became rich as a country and among the world powers. We have discussed common themes which are present in economics and business today including: outsourcing, technology, free trade, population & labor needs.

I particularly find interesting the phenomenon of outsourcing, which we mistakenly think of as a recent trend. For example, we have discussed how the states became an outsourcing destination for grain during the 19th century. Germany went from the leading exporter of grain to importing it from the US due to the fact that the US could produce it cheaper. As you can see, an understanding of yesterday helps you understand the phenomenon of tomorrow. They are just packaged a little differently.

My first political science course, The Evolution of the EU, discusses the collaboration between the separate nation states beginning after WWII, and the ultimate development of the EU. So far, we have focused on the Lisbon treaty, the role of the European Council, and the role of the EU presidency. The class is taught by the chair of the dept, who is an older witty professor that speaks with a stereotypical German accent.

The second political science course, Governance and Policy Making in the EU, focuses on the EU's role in Europe, and the EU's foreign policy. We've discussed whether the EU is a strong political actor. We've also discussed the role of the EU and military presence. As you can imagine, the US is discussed frequently throughout the seminar, and I find that the course often focuses too much on military conflicts in the world.

We are done meeting as a group for that class, but have to prepare a final presentation, and write a 5000 word paper on a topic of our choice. Due to the recent natural disasters affecting China and Burma, and the rising price of food in third world countries, I selected my topic to be the EU as a humanitarian player. I plan to look at it from a reputation and business aspect and have found a wealth of information on the topic so far. A couple students in the class selected the EU's role in Iran & Iraq. Good luck with that one!

Besides class, I have also done some additional reading. I have re-read one of my favorite books, "The World is Flat". It was published a few years ago, and looks at the role of globalization in our world. It's 600 pages, and is a bit redundant at times, but is a recommended read for everyone, particularly young adults. I'm almost finished with a book titled "In Europe". It's about a Dutch journalist that spent one year traveling through Europe at the end of the 20th century. He recaps the history of Europe beginning in 1900 and ending in 1999. It’s another epic novel, at just over 800 pages, but a pretty good read so far. It's particularly interesting to me as a lot of the places he visits and discusses are places I have visited and experienced over the past seven years.

Besides the classroom and the books though, the ultimate learning experience has been the "field" work I have been conducting. I don't look at it as much as tourism as I do a learning experience. I have yet to take a vacation where all I do is sit on a beach (although that doesn't sound too bad). Instead, I have focused my travels to places that have shaped the way people live their lives.

For example, a walk through Normandy shows you how nationalism and unilateralism can negatively affect nations, people, and businesses. Staring at communist statues in Budapest demonstrates how stifling personal freedoms and creativity and closing your borders to the outside world slows down development and advancement. Both of which produce jobs and ultimately happy people and lives. Walking from a broken down street into an Indian office building shows you the positives of collaboration.

As I move about, I constantly look at what went right, and what went wrong so as to build on and learn from mistakes, and capitalize on the positives. Seeing where people come from helps you understand why things develop the way they do. I travel to learn and understand. I've found that there is plenty out there, and that the journey is long and exciting.

Göteborg

2008-06-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

I spent this past weekend searching for an unknown history to help explain how I came to be. The history is quite obvious from 1980-present, but I was more curious beyond myself, and even my parents. Therefore, before I departed the States, I mailed a letter to distant relatives still living in Sweden. I wanted to see what their life was like, and in a different life what could have been. Obviously they received my letter, and I met them for the first time.

My grandmother moved to the US from Sweden in 1922, at the age of 17. Five of her seven brothers and sisters eventually moved to the US as well. Of the two that stayed, one had a family that still lives on in Göteborg today. Unfortunately, her youngest brother was not able to move to the states based on the fact that he had a mental illness. My grandmother would often tell my mother that when they were leaving, her younger brother stood outside the house crying, asking them not to leave. I was told that it was something that stuck with my grandmother for the rest of her life. It would be 40 years before she would see him again.

Besides meeting relatives for the first time, I wanted to know where my grandmother came from, what her life could have been like, and why she came to MN. Let's just say that her father, my great grandfather, literally bet the farm in a game of cards. To escape the past and begin a new life, they moved to the states and little old MN. Raised and educated in Sweden, my grandmother moved to the states not knowing a word of English. After a few years she met my grandfather, and the rest is history.

I think every American tries to claim a heritage outside of the states, and secretly wishes they could call themselves European. In reality, they are as American as the next person, and actually know very little of what lies outside their borders. I am no stranger to this, claiming over the last 28 years to be Swedish. It is only in the past couple years where I have started to look at it a bit differently. The Swede in me only accounts for part of my DNA, along with probably some German and French. It is the portion though that my family is most proud of, and the main source of my grandmother's pride.

I departed Cologne last Wednesday. Since I'm on a tight budget, I decided to fly Ryanair. That turned out to be a bad decision. Although my roundtrip flight only cost around $65, let me break down some of the intangibles that made it actually a more expensive flight had I taken a regular airliner. First, my flight departed from a little remote airstrip past Düsseldorf. A $33 two hour bus ride. My flight landed in the little town of Växjö in south central Sweden. From there, it was a $28 train ride to Göteborg. The return trip involved an $18 train ride back to Växjö and a $91 hotel room since I couldn't find a train back to Växjö early enough on Sunday to catch my flight. Ryanair also tacked on an $8 charge for physically checking in, and not checking in online. The finale involved a $33 bus / train ride back from the tiny airport outside of Düsseldorf. So, as you can see, my plan to fly cheap cost me around $280. I should have flown standard.

If you've never flown Ryanair, it's an interesting airline. This was my second experience, and I'm not sure I will fly with them again. First, you get picked up and dropped off at tiny little airports throughout Europe. I think the two airports I flew out of were old military bases, at least that is what it felt like. Then you generally have a good amount of transit time from the airport to reach wherever it is you are going. As you board the plane, they are playing disco music which makes you feel like you are entering a club rather then an airplane. While on board, they not only try to sell you food, but they try to sell you perfume, and lottery cards. The planes are also half full, which makes you feel guilty for flying, and they jack up the volume on the loud speaker. I assume this is so you don't miss the many "deals" they are trying to sell you. You're half deaf by the time you get off the plane.

Aside from that though, it was a quick flight from the western part of Germany to the southern part of Sweden. I reached the center of Växjö two hours before my train to Göteborg departed, so I took the opportunity to scope out possible hotels to stay in Saturday night, grab a bite to eat, and purchase some flowers as a gift to my family members. The town of Växjö is very quaint, and scenic.

As my train departed for Göteborg, The Swedish country-side instantly reminded me of MN. Mainly the North Shore and the North Woods. Obviously it’s beautiful, and very stereotypical of what you would imagine Sweden to look like. After a few hours in an extremely warm train, I arrived at the Göteborg central station.

My family members were standing there waiting for me, waving a Swedish flag. I rcvd a warm hug from each of them, and I was happy to see that they were very excited to meet me. Part of me was nervous that I was forcing them to host me during my stay, but that was quite the contrary.

We quickly departed the central station, and it was just a quick car ride back to their house. Disa is my closest relative. Her father and my grandmother were brother and sister, so that makes us second cousins. She and her husband Bertil are in their early 80's. They have a daughter Ulla, who is married to Kurt. They are just a few years younger then my parents; they are in their late 50's. They are neighbors, so I got to see all four of them all day every day during my stay.

Disa didn't speak any English, although I knew she understood what we were saying at times. Whenever I would say something in English, she would respond in Swedish right away. Sometimes, I think she understood more then the others, although you wouldn't know it right away. She's a great cook, and often shakes her head at the jokes her husband tries to tell.

Her husband Bertil was quite the character. He likes to tell jokes, and claims he knows French when in reality, he has memorized one line that he repeats over and over again. He was a star trap shooter back in the day, and has a house full of medals to show for it (pictured). He also enjoys sweets as he was never shy during post meal coffee and desert.

Ulla is very young at heart. Whenever she is in the house, she is always playing her music, and sings along to every song. She is very proud to be a new grandmother, and showed me plenty of pictures of her 4 year old grandchild. She is also a wonderful cook, and works as a nurse.

Kurt loves old cars, and technical gadgets. His 38 Oldsmobile is proudly displayed in the driveway. He had plenty of pictures of all the car shows he attends, and knows a great deal about cars in general. I guess that is fitting since he is an engineer for Volvo trucks.

My first night there was spent trying to get to know my new found past. I arrived at dinner time, and Disa had a table full of food waiting for us. It was nice to eat a well prepared home cooked meal. It has been a while since I've had one of those.

After dinner, Bertil showed me around their house a bit. It's a smaller house, but full of history. As I mentioned, his shooting awards are spread all over the house. He is very proud of that part of his life. He also showed me their collection of refrigerator magnets. There had to be at least 200 magnets on their fridge, many of which made various noises.

I guess they had various things that made noises in their house. If you were in the general vicinity of the door, you could hear strange noises come from the house about every ten minutes. There was the cookoo clock, the cat meow as you entered and left, the pig that oinked when you opened the fridge, and my favorite the singing and dancing lobster (pictured). Of course, Bertil had to sing and dance along with it.

After a brief tour, we enjoyed some coffee/tea and desert outside. Bertil kept showing me books that discussed our past. At one point, I think he had more of his books outside the house then inside. I laughed as Disa only sat there and shook her head at him. Of course, he couldn't help but show me his smiling tree (pictured). While we were sitting there, Ulla mentioned that she couldn't believe I was sitting there. Of course, I knew what she meant, and I took it in a good way. Again, it felt good to know that they were happy I was there.

After, we sat around and chatted for a bit, we took a walk down to the sea. They live a half block from it, and I am extremely jealous of that. We walked back to Kurt and Ulla's house, where they showed me pictured of their current family. It was important for me to get to know their current life before I tried to get to know their past life. After that, I fell fast asleep. I was tired from a day full of traveling. I'm not used to the sun going down at 11 like it did in Göteborg, but that didn't stop me from falling fast asleep.

The next morning, we enjoyed some breakfast, and then headed to the center of Göteborg, where we took a bus tour of the city. All four of them grew up in or near Göteborg, but even they commented that they were seeing some things for the first time. After that we walked around the harbor for a bit, and I got to the see the point at which my grandmother caught the boat to America (pictured).

After walking around in the sun for a while, we grabbed some lunch at a nice sea side restaurant, and headed back to the house. I could tell they were tired and needed a break, so I grabbed my book and headed towards the sea shore to read for a bit. It was nice to relax. Besides, hosting a guest is time consuming. I wanted them to have at least a couple hours to themselves. It was hard not to soak up the lovely scenery (pictured). The sea was calm, and sun was bright.

I lost track of time a bit, and got back to the house a little later then agreed on. When I got back, Ulla asked me where the others were. Apparently, Kurt and Bertil went looking for me. They showed up not that long after, and we enjoyed a wonderful salmon dinner. After which, we enjoyed some coffee/tea and dessert at Bertil and Disa's house. We played Yahtzee, and of course Disa won, rolling three Yahtzees.

The next day we drove to a cliff overlooking Göteborg to get a great view of the city. From there we took a day trip to a small town on the coast. We took a ferry to an island where there was an ancient castle that overlooked the city. Again, it was a great view from the top (pictured). We ate lunch by the shore, and watched all the fishing and sail boats drive by. Every now and then a large yacht would cruise by as well. I had the feeling there was a quite a bit of money in the town.

From there we returned to the house, where I once again read my book by the seashore, and dangled my feet in the cool sea water. We had a BBQ, and I watched Bertil eat more food then any person his age has ever eaten. Again, we enjoyed some coffee/tea and desert afterwards. Bertil really enjoys watching handball, and Sweden had a big match against Poland, so I couldn't pass up to the chance to watch my first game with him. He provided commentary throughout the 60 minutes match. 11-11! 15-14! 21-21! 20 minutes left! 10 minutes left! He would say to me as we sat there and watched. Within one hour we offered me a piece of fruit from the fruit bowl at least 5 times. Again, Disa just sat in the chair and shook her head. It was truly a memorable experience.

After the game, I decided to retire for the night. The previous day I had told Kurt that I found out my grandmother grew up on a farm between Göteborg and Växjö, and that I was planning on renting a car and trying to find it. This grabbed his interest, and he quickly said that we would all go find it together. Piecing together some information my mother e-mailed me, we were able to find the general location where the house was located. My grandmother's brother painted a picture of the house in the late 20's, which the four of them still had. Using the road layout from the painted picture from the 20's, we were able to find the house via a satellite image on the internet. Bet you never thought Uncle Dick imagined his painting would be used like that did you?

So, we packed up the car early Saturday, programmed the GPS, and drove straight to the house. As we came to the house, it was as if it was frozen in time. It looked exactly as it did in the painting from 80 years earlier, right down to the colors and the windows.

As we pulled in, the owner of the house was outside with his son. The owner is 89 years old, and moved into the house in 1944. So in other words, the war was still going on when he moved in. He purchased it from his father-in-law, who purchased it from my great grandfather. The owner is now widowed and confined to an electronic wheel chair. His voice was horse, but his mind seemed as sharp as ever. We showed him the painting of house done in the late 20's, and he shared stories with my Swedish relatives. I walked all around the outside of the house, snapping as many photos as possible. It was extremely fascinating to see the house my grandmother grew up in. I was trying to picture her living in this house on this farm, and what it was like to leave from the states.

I think Disa especially enjoyed the trip as she chatted with the owner for quite some time. She's in her early 80's, and for the first time is getting a look at the house her father lived in for a time. The owner shared some interesting stories that were translated for me. For example, moose apparently wander into the yard and eat the apples from the apple tree. If they eat too much, the apples have an intoxicating effect on them, at which point they have to lay on the ground until they can sober up and walk away. Also, the owner pointed out that the house turned 100 this year.

Before we left, we gathered in front of the house for a group photo (pictured). This stop was the highlight of the trip, and was very special for me. Afterwards, we enjoyed a lunch picnic on the shore of a nearby lake, before they dropped me at the train station, and I said my good-bye. Before I got on the train, Bertil put his hands on my shoulders, and asked me to come back soon. That meant a lot to me.

In all, the trip was a great success. I ate more food then I could handle, and my relatives didn't let me pay for a thing. I felt at home the entire time, and they treated me as if I was their son. I wish there is a way I could repay them. I should say that I got to meet family for the first time, but I feel more as if I made new friends that I will have a bond with for the rest of my life.

As I left, I realized then that the main reason I visited Sweden, and sat looking at my grandmother's house, was not for me. I think initially I wanted to claim this was my past, but in reality, my past resides in North Mpls, and St. John's. I realized that I was doing this more for my grandmother. I'd like to think that when she walked away from that quiet piece of land that she hoped some day at least a part of her family would come back to say hello to what was left. 87 years later, I did just that. I hope I made her proud.

Prague

2008-05-26T07:14:00.001-07:00

I spent another weekend country hopping, this time to Prague in the Czech Republic. The city is always well spoken of by young people, and is a common and trendy spot to visit these days. My fellow American Stasha and I left Cologne early on Friday. It's a very short flight from Cologne, maybe 50 minutes. We took a bus from the airport, and then a Metro to our hostel. At first, it felt like we were traveling to experience various forms of transportation, not to actually visit a city.

We stayed in a very "hip" hostel. It had a modern art appeal to it, and it kind of felt like we were spending the night in the Walker Art Museum. We got a taste of how touristy the city was right away, when we realized that the majority of the people staying at the hostel were Americans, followed by Aussies, Brits, and Canadians. By the way, I think the Czech accent is my favorite accent of English as a second language people. Not sure what it is, but I like it.

We quickly threw our stuff down, and headed out to explore the city. Our first stop was food. We had a typical Czech meal of pizza (just kidding) along with a local brew. From there, we walked towards the city center to explore the culture. It was a bit rainy, and I was beginning to think that Stasha is a bad luck travel mate seeing as rain clouds tend to follow us when we are together. The clouds went away though, and it ended up being a pretty nice weekend.

We first headed towards the old town, which is where the tourist action and hoards of people are. Right away, the city reminded me of a larger Krakow. It is much bigger, but it has that "old" feel to it. The old town square (pictured) has many shops, restaurants, street vendors, and just about anything you can think of. Old churches and synagogues are sprinkled throughout the city, and attract the majority of the picture takers.

From the old town, we made our way to the banks of the Vltava River, and across the famous Charles Bridge. The bridge is strictly a pedestrian bridge. It's very old, and has street vendors all over it. There are so many people walking across it and checking out the goods, that the foot traffic is very slow, and it is easy to get separated from the people you are with. There is everything from jewelry makers, to caricaturists, to instrumentalists trying to make a buck. I told my travel mate that I thought it was interesting the various ways people find to make money.

After we crossed the river, we found a beer garden up a hill that overlooks the city. It had a great view, and we needed a break by that time anyways. We just sat at a picnic table under a bunch of trees, had a drink, and looked out on to the city. After that we made our way back down the hill and across the other side of the river, where we headed back to the hostel to regroup for a bit before heading out for dinner.

Our second eating experience is what you would call more traditional. We only ordered from the "traditional Czech meals" part of the menu, and decided to go with the "Thanksgiving meal". We came to find out that it could literally feed a thanksgiving meal to a family of four. It had various types of meat, cabbage, kraut, and I think fish. Whatever it was, it was tasty. We hardly left a scrap on our plates, and had to be rolled out of the restaurant when it was time to leave.

From there, we thought we would experience the famed Prague nightlife. We took a tram to the other side of the river to visit a music bar recommended by one of the Slovakian girls in our program here in Cologne. She was nice enough to recommend some more traditional bars, where we would be surrounded by Czech people, and Czech prices. True to her word, we were definitely the only non-Czechs in the place. We received a lot of puzzled looks, but everyone we came into contact with was pleasant with us. They played all kinds of music, ranging from Latin to the Macarena, to Summer Love or whatever that song from Grease is called. We were there for a while, but had to leave as the smoke was burning our eyes out. Oh how I miss smoke free Minnesota.

From there, we walked to another club we just so happed to spot while on the earlier tram ride. It was also fun, but had a little heavier tourist presence. There were a few people on the dance floor who provided some amusing interpretive dance. After a while, we headed back to the hostel to get some rest for a days worth of "touresting" the next day.

On Saturday, we had a hearty breakfast at the hostel, and made our way into the town. Our goal this day was to scale the large hill on the other side of the river and get a look at the Prague castle and St Vitus cathedral that were perched above the city. Instead of walking though, we cheated and took the tram. The castle grounds were very medieval, and the cathedral looked just like the one here in Cologne, only smaller (picture was taken from the observation point mentioned in the next paragraph). The admission price to go inside was pretty steep, so we decided to pass on that, and just take our time wandering around the grounds. Besides, as I noted earlier, you can only look at so many tapestries, jewels, and antique furniture.

There were a ton of people there, and I felt like I was part of the herd at times. I was waiting to fall and get stampeded at any moment. We quickly made our way outside of the castle grounds, and scaled up further to Petrin Hill & Observation Tower to get a good view of the city. It was built to look like a mini Eiffel Tower and by the time we walked up the hill and climbed the tower stairs, it felt like our legs were going to fall off. Once we were on top though, there was an absolutely beautiful view of the city (pictured). You could see for miles. You could also get a bird’s eye of the castle and cathedral (picture in previous paragraph).

Although the walk down was easier then the walk up, we were in no mood to move our legs at this point. It would have been easier had they just tied a zip line from one end of the town to the next. I would have gladly taken that trip. We eventually did find level ground though, and ventured across the river, and back into the city center to find a bite to eat.

Since we are both on a budget, we made our way towards some street vendor food. I'm generally pretty leery of street food abroad, but the brats looked pretty legit, so we indulged. It was a great decision. So great, that we visited the stand again the next day. We sat down and enjoyed our food and people watched a bit. We were in an area close to the National Museum (pictured), so we walked up there after we were done with our meal. The building was fantastic, but I think the content is your basic science and history museum. We passed on the entrance fee and again took a breather on the steps. We were way out of gas by this point, and I was praying for someone to carry me back to the hostel.

Although I couldn't find any takers to carry me home, we finally did crawl back to our place. Stasha and I kept saying to each other that we wished we would have brought a pedometer with us to see how far we walked. I think the distance would have been quite significant. To add to that, most of the day was spent walking up hill. You know that old saying "we used to walk both ways up hill in the snow"? That was us. Well, that is without the snow anyways.

After regrouping at the hostel, we grabbed some food, and made our way out into the town once again. After spending a good hour trying to find the club we were looking for, we finally found it. Both Google Maps and an online map of Prague were incorrect. Go figure. We did know the place was along the river though, which provided us a chance to take in some of the late night scenery. The town is as beautiful at night as it is during the day.

We finally found our destination, and the place lived up to its hype. It was a five level club, where each level played a different genre of music. It was a very fun atmosphere, chalked full of tourists, and of course more interesting interpretive dancers. It's interesting to see how some people absorb American music and pop culture. Most are true to their local identity, but there are always some that try to dress, dance, and act the part. It's quite entertaining.

Sunday was kind of a lazy day for us. We had already seen most of the tourist attractions, so we just slowly walked around the town. We again headed for the river, as that is where the majority of the action is. We walked onto some various islands, and again scaled more hills. We walked back over the Charles Bridge, and into the Jewish quarter. We had read about this extremely old graveyard we wanted to get a look at. We came to find out though that in order to walk through the grave yard, you had to pay an arm and a leg to walk through three different synagogues. Lucky for us, we were able to peak through some tiny openings in the wall to get a glimpse of the yard.

After walking around all day, we were again out of energy. We headed back to the hostel, where I spent some time reading my book, and Stasha studying for a test this week. We grabbed a bite to eat, and then spent the remainder of the night sitting in the hostel bar chatting with each other and a few of the hostel patrons. We met a guy from Montreal, who both Stasha and I agreed was in Europe more for the party scene then the culture scene. We also chatted for quite a long time with a British guy who actually has traveled the US more extensively then Stasha and I combined. It's always a joy to meet others as eager to learn about people and places as much as myself.

Overall, I loved Prague. There is plenty to do there, and the culture scene is fantastic. The city appeals to people of all ages, and caters to foreigners very well. Part of me wishes I studied there, but then again, I wish I studied in about every city I visit.

The Green Factor

2008-05-22T03:04:00.000-07:00

Much is said these days about living "green" and buying "green" products. Companies in the states talk in great detail both internally and externally about minimizing their global "foot print". There is constant pressure from world organizations and NGO's to monitor the way we live our lives. This concern has come into focus even more as China, India, and Eastern Europe continue to grow and modernize. It's good that millions of people are rising out of poverty and are able to live prosperous lives. With that though comes increased consumption, particularly of fossil fuels and food. This increases prices, and thins out the available supply for the population.

Germany definitely does its part to monitor their global "foot print". This was apparent before I even touched down in Cologne. As my plane from Amsterdam approached the Cologne airport, there were fields and fields of wind turbines literally as far as the eye could see. The country has really dedicated itself to harnessing wind power. There are only two turbines that I can think of in MN, the one off 169 near Princeton, and one sitting in downtown Maple Groove. To note though, MN ranks in the top 5 in the US for wind energy. I believe the majority of the turbines are in Southern MN.

Germany, as well as most of Europe, has great public transportation. The rail system here is extensive and efficient. Traveling from town to town and within the city is very easy. This decreases the need for automobile travel, which decreases CO2 emissions. Many times you'll hear people in the states say that it wouldn't work there based on the structure of our cities, but I think that is incorrect. To me, it makes more sense based on the fact that our urban sprawl is so aggressive. If you set up rail from many large hubs, and then create park and rides and bus routes at those hubs, I think people would see the added benefit. It would decrease highway traffic, and the high cost of owning, operating, and maintaining a car.

Germany is also very good when it comes to recycling. In my flat, I currently have four trash cans. One can is for all paper products, right down to empty toilet paper rolls. Another can is for plastic, and tin. Another is for glass, and another is for general refuse like banana peels or anything that can't be recycled. Outside of my building, there are then four separate large trash cans that we empty our waste into. Again, it's very efficient, and it's something to feel good about at the end of the day.

Plastic and glass drinking bottles are another benefit by themselves. Most grocery stores will accept and refund returned bottles. This includes everything from the normal bottle of Coke you get out of the pop machine, to the large container of water you purchase during your grocery trip. Returns are processed at the checkout of most discount stores, while non-discount mainstream stores have large machines you insert your bottles into. The machine then prints out a ticket with the amount to be refunded, which you then hand to the cashier at checkout.

An added side benefit to this process is that poor and bargain hunting citizens often scour streets and trash cans for bottles to return to the store for refunds. You can't imagine what this does to improve the cleanliness of the city. Basically, they're paying pseudo workers to clean up the city. The "workers" are then compensated when they return the bottles to the store. Many times when we are walking along the street and drinking a water, soda, or beer, we'll simply just leave the bottle sitting on the ground next to the trash can. This is so the people looking for bottles can easily see them, and so they don't have to look through the trash to find them. Believe me, they pick them up pretty quickly!

Regarding grocery stores, if you shop in Germany, then you better bring bags with you to carry your stuff home because they don't have stacks of free bags sitting there for you. Many stores will sell you large plastic bags for 1 Euro (roughly $1.65), but I haven't been to one yet where they were free. I love this policy. Many people have these rolling carts they bring with them to carry their goods home. I just bring my school bag with me as I shop periodically throughout the week.

I know some of you are saying this wouldn't work in big box stores back home, but there are still ways to help. For one, set up plastic and paper bag recycling bins at all stores: discount retailers, grocery, and convenience. It's easy, and it's something a 16 year old working for $9 an hour could maintain. Second, sell or encourage people to bring in their own cloth or environmentally friendly bags to shop. Cap their size so they are easily recognizable and prevent shortage from those who try to sneak goods out by hiding them in their bags. There is a concern about the cleanliness of personal bags and the health risk they pose, but the option is still worth considering.

It kills me back home when I buy $50 worth of goods, and walk out of the store with 10 plastic shopping bags. It takes quite a bit of energy and fossil fuels to create those bags, and minimizing their use would be so easy. Even though it takes a long time for plastic bags to degrade, paper isn't that much better either as it occupies more space in land fills. Even though the resources used to create them are sustainable, you can't really grow a tree overnight.

Ok enough carrying on. The main point of the post was to point out the great lengths Germany goes through to help minimize their global "foot print". You can see it on their streets, in their parks, and particularly in their river. After visiting half the countries of the EU, I can say Germany seems to be the leader.

As this issue becomes more and more popular, it wouldn't surprise me to see companies in the states become more public about the things they are doing to help out. Not only is it the right thing to do, it is an easy way to gain a competitive advantage over competitors, especially in a tough market like right now. I'm also proud to say that the option of recycling in MN is very easy for its citizens, and something I will take more advantage of when I return home.

Hostel Life - Pun Intended

2008-05-18T04:34:00.000-07:00

I thought I would devote a separate post to the phenomenon that is staying in a hostel. For the budget traveler, it's the way to go. It often costs half as much as a hotel and you get to meet all types of interesting people. I personally love it. Some hostels have the option of obtaining a single or a double with a shower, but most involve you sleeping in a room of at least 4 people and using a community bathroom. They cater to many different travelers. I'd like to summarize some of the groups I have come in contact with.

The traditional undergrad study abroaders:
These people are usually around the age of 21. They have just received their first real taste of foreign travel and feel they have everything figured out and are experts. I can say this in confidence, because I was once that person. You come to figure out though that there is a lot of world to see, and that the life you have been living abroad is not necessarily a normal life.

Anyways, they generally focus on the party scene as opposed to the historical scene, and have been known to wander into the hostel in the wee hours waking up everyone else in the room. They usually travel in groups of four and the women in the group can be reeeeaaally loud. They tend to dominate common areas, and often the other patrons look forward to them leaving.

Hippy traveler:
These people are a little older, and often travel alone. They are on a current world tour that doesn't have a solid end in sight. They may be college educated, but they are definitely in no hurry to venture into the working world. They work odd jobs in exotic cities, and talk to every single person they come in close proximity to.

For example, during my recent stay in Budapest, there was an American in his mid to later 20's working at the hostel. He was currently living in Prague, but decided just to come stay in Budapest for the month. The hostel let him stay there for free, as long as he agreed to work the overnight shift, which involved him dealing with the above mentioned study abroaders and sleeping on a loveseat.

Very nice guy, but I'm not sure he was necessarily the head of the class. He enforced the stereotype and spoke like a California "dude". I overheard him talking to another traveler about American politics and economics. I couldn't help but cringe a little. Regardless, he was very pleasant, and I found out he grew up playing hockey in CA, and attended a few camps in MN, so he was alright with me.

Wandering souls:
I would like to think that this is the category I fit into the most. This group usually consists of 1-2 travelers, who have a definite plan of attack for each city they visit. They have a set amount of time they will be traveling, and are more into experiencing the local sights and history. They try to accommodate to local customs, and are more understanding when people don't always accommodate to them.

Now you are probably saying that Nick is trying to make himself sound like the perfect traveler. I am not, but most of the places I travel to are for educational and historical purposes. I have never traveled anywhere just to sit on the beach. Although, I will tell you there is a strong possibility that could happen by the end of this trip.

Wandering souls are my favorite people to meet. For example, in 2002 I met an Australian guy at a hostel in Rome. He had worked for a while, saved up enough money, quit his job, and was going to travel around Europe for one year. He had a specific plan of where he wanted to go, and what he wanted to see. He spoke really well, and seemed sensitive to each culture he came in contact with.

I went to dinner with him and the two other girls that were staying in our hostel room at the time. They too just so happened to be from Australia, and also spoke intelligently, and had a wealth of experience traveling. Since this was months after 9/11, much of the conversation revolved around that. I also asked them about Australia though, and their other experiences traveling abroad. It was a very memorable experience.

Another example was my recent trip to Krakow. There was a Canadian couple in their early 30's staying in my room. They had spent a year planning and saving for a 4 month tour of Europe. They both took LOA's from work. Like the previous experience, I had the pleasure of sight seeing and having dinner with them. Another memorable experience. I couldn't help but ask them though what they did when they got sick of each other. I figured no matter how much you love someone, there are always those days when you need a breather from each other. They just simply said that they agreed to do their own thing that day and meet back up at a certain time again. I thought that was cool.

Hostel life is not always sunshine though, don't let my post fool you. I have shared a room with up 7 people before, and you often have no privacy. In a room that big, there is always someone coming in late, and someone leaving early. Of course you have the one person that snores heavily and wakes up the entire room. I've been told I snore at times, so maybe I sought my revenge.

You can't change clothes unless you just don't care if strangers see you in your skivvies. You have to lug your stuff down the hall to the community bathroom, change, and then come back. You have to constantly be on guard with your possessions, and keep them locked away. That leads to the point that you are generally living out of a bag / back pack / suitcase, which gets annoying after a while.

The bathroom is constantly being used, so it is never pleasant to walk into. There is always water all over the floor and sink area. Also, many showers require you to wear flip flops to avoid any foot disease that another traveler may have left behind. Sometimes only one person at a time can use the bathroom, so it is not uncommon to stand outside and wait.

It's hard to find a quiet place to decompress and maybe read a book. Most common areas are always crazy, and it's just too hard to sit on your bed and do it. Besides, there is always someone that wants to chat with you, which isn't a bad thing. It's just sometimes you need a little alone time.

The beds sometimes don't necessarily qualify as beds. They usually just resemble what looks like a bed. My latest experience resulted in me having to sleep on the top bunk. After two days, I had a head cold, and itchy red bumps on my skin. Yuck. That was a first though in all my hostel experiences, and I don't think I will be visiting that particular place again.

So there you have it. A hostel is just that, hostile. Negatives aside, they are the best way to travel when you are on a budget. The staff is always helpful and friendly. They generally have free maps, and a wealth of knowledge. You also get to meet and talk to many interesting people from many different places. In a way, hostels increase the experience you take away from the city you are visiting.

Warsaw

2008-05-17T15:17:00.001-07:00

My 10 day excursion finally ended in Warsaw, where unfair to the city I was exhausted and coming off a natural high from Krakow. Unlike Krakow, Warsaw was almost completely destroyed during WWII. Therefore, the city has a newness to it. When the train pulled into the central station, it did so underground. When you come up from above, you feel like you've arrived in another country, it seemed that much different.

There is a definite hustle and bustle to Warsaw. It's a pretty big city, and it's where the big jobs seem to be. The architecture is very interesting. After the war, the city was under socialist rule for 50 years. Therefore, the Soviets rebuilt much of the city, and many of the buildings have a square grey communist appearance. I believe the proper architectural term is social realism. I would call it depressing architecture built after a depressing period in time. Juxtaposed next to those buildings though are large glass sky scrapers that mark the movement into capitalism. There is one structure the Soviets seemed to get right, the Palace of Culture and Science which is pictured.

Even though it was almost completely destroyed, the "old town" was rebuilt after the war to resemble its old form. That is where I spent most of my time, basically sitting, relaxing, and eating. My budget fully enjoyed the cheaper prices in Poland. The old town contained more of the cultural sites of Warsaw, including the reconstructed palace that was rebuilt after the war. Many of the artifacts inside were hidden from the Nazis during occupation. I tried to visit the palace, but 10 minutes into my tour I encountered a frustrating communication problem with one of the employees inside. I could tell by her tone of voice I was in the wrong place and that she wanted me to leave. I think I entered through the exit and she assumed I already went through the museum and was trying to go through again. Oh well, I just left. I quickly realized it was more tapestries and chairs where old royals once sat.

I had one full day, and then two half days to see the city which proved to be enough. My one full day I spent walking around looking at war time sights. A couple of my favorites included the Umschlagplatz, a large monument commemorating the point at which Jews in the Warsaw ghetto were rounded up and sent to the death camp in Treblinka. I also got to the see the remnants of the old ghetto wall, which was a lot higher then I thought it would be.

The city is very proud of the Warsaw uprising, during which the Polish underground launched an attack on their Nazi occupants towards the end of the war. There are various monuments throughout the city which portray the role citizens, particularly children, played in the event. After experiencing Warsaw, and seeing some of its most famous sites, you really get a feel for and understand the movie "The Pianist". I'm looking forward to watching it again when I return home.

In 2004, they constructed a museum dedicated to the uprising, which I highly recommend to anyone visiting the city. It shows the struggle of the people during the war, the planning and execution of the uprising, and the subsequent "reward" of socialism which came out of it. The feeling I got out of it was that they got the short end of the stick in the end, and had to endure a tougher rebuilding period.

For the most part though, I was lazy and kind of loafed around. I spent a good chunk of time eating and reading my book. I wanted to taste what Poland had to offer, although I didn't dare try the pig's knuckle which every place seemed to serve. I do recommend the dumplings though. Very good! I had the sour kraut and mushroom dumplings, although I'm sure the meat ones were good as well.

In all, my 10 day trip was educational and rewarding. Nice weather followed me everywhere I went, and my cheeks and neck got plenty of sun. It looks like my head was literally removed from one body and put on another body. The tan line is comical. Poland is a beautiful country, and exceeded my expectations. Hungary also is great and was a nice little addition to the itinerary.

Auschwitz & Birkenau

2008-05-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

My first full day in Krakow was spent taking a day trip to Auschwitz & Berkinau. I had two full days in Krakow, and I decided to do this first in case there were any hiccups and I had to give it a go again the next day. I woke up early, and caught the bus to Oswiecim, the proper name of the town the Nazis relabeled Auschwitz. It took about an hour and a half to get there, and the bus was more like an oversized conversion van.

I'm a 20th century history junky, and have been waiting to visit the two camps for quite some time. I was laughing to myself though on the way out there. The bus / van driver had the radio on. The song "Rhythm is a Dancer" was promptly followed by Madonna and Justin Timberlake. I figured, here I am on my way to see something I have waited to see for some time, a very somber part of history, and I have the group Snap to help welcome me. The world is flat.

I got dropped off at Auschwitz I, which was the first of three camps established in the area. The entrance fee was free, and I only had to pay 3 Zloty for the English language guide pamphlet, which is a little over $1. I thought it was cool that the experience was so affordable for people. I'm not sure how much a guided tour is, but I prefer to move along at my own pace. Besides, the pamphlet was very informative, and every building you walked in had the history summarized on the wall for you.

The self guided tour began with a short film, which included images taken by the Soviet troops that liberated the camp. As you can imagine, the images were very powerful and hard to take in. This is the camp that has the famous Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Brings Freedom) over the main gate. As I walked under it, I almost got chills thinking about what actually happened there, and what it used to mean for someone to walk through that gate.

My first impression was that the camp wasn't that big. I knew Berkinau was bigger, but I thought the first camp would be bigger then it was. Don't get me wrong though, it did cover significant ground. I instantly noticed the barbed wire fencing and observation towers. There were various signs that indicted the barbed wire was electrified, and warned people to stop.

There was a peaceful calm about walking through the grounds by myself. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and it seemed like such a pleasant place. How ironic. I walked through the various barracks, which recalled what specifically happened in each building. One building contains the possessions taken from the people brought there. In one room behind glass, there were piles and piles of human hair. In another rooms there were piles of suitcases. In another eye glasses, and in another pots and pans. One room had the clothing of small children, and another the empty containers of Cyclon B used to gas prisoners.

Within Auschwitz I, there is Block 11, dubbed the "Death Block". It was basically a prison within a prison if you can imagine that. The courtyard of the block was sealed off, and within it were various stations of punishment and death used by the Nazis. The execution wall, at the end of the courtyard is where 1000's of people were lined up and shot.

The end of the Auschwitz I tour ended with a walk through of a crematorium. It was basically a test chamber to see what would work effectively to kill prisoners. It was left intact with the infamous smoke stack and everything. It was a very chilly feeling. When you walked inside, the first stop was the room where the people were gassed, and then the next room contained the ovens used to cremate the bodies. That was very heavy. The method for killing prisoners was basically perfected there, at which point, large scale killing moved to Berkinau.

After Auschwitz I, I made my way to Auschwitz II - Birkenau. I missed the hourly shuttle by 15 minutes, so I decided to hoof it to the camp. It took about 25 minutes by foot to reach it. It was in the neighboring town, just on the other side of the train tracks. As I was walking there, I knew I was getting close. I walked by quaint little countryside houses, and all of a sudden the infamous gate through which the trains traveled through appeared. Instantly I thought, who would want to live right next to this. Maybe after time, you just get used to it.

As I walked through the gate, the enormous size of the camp astounded me. In all, Berkinau covers 425 acres. That's huge. When the Nazis were retreating, they tried destroying the evidence. There still are a number of barracks standing, but many are just shells composed of concrete foundations, and brick chimneys. As I walked into the first barrack, again I got a weird chill. It's basically a wooded shack with large wooden shelves in it. The toilets were holes in the ground, and the wash room just a couple of tubs. I didn't take any pictures inside the barracks, it just didn't feel like the right thing to do.

At the very end of the camp were the two large crematoriums. Unfortunately, 75% of the people that arrived at this specific camp were sent straight to the gas chambers. This was composed mainly of women, children, and old men. Younger men were often retained to do manual labor. In their retreat, the Nazis blew up the crematoriums with dynamite. All that is left now is rubble. You can still see the steps though people had to walk down to get into the complex.

Many areas of the camp are marked with memorials where the ashes were dumped. The are various holes and ponds still visible for everyone to see. The holes still have a grey tint to them, which presumably are the ashes themselves.

The building I found most intriguing was the one used to register those that were actually retained. If you were selected to work at the camp, you first filed into this big room, where you had to take off all your clothes, and have your number engraved into your body. Often times, women that were selected to remain in the camp as workers were discovered to be pregnant once they took their clothes off. They were then sent to the gas chambers. The next room is where they cut off all your hair, and then the next room is where they had a mass shower. You could still see the water spouts on the ceiling. The next room is then where you received your striped clothing before going to your assigned barracks. This building also contained large steamers used to sterilize clothing taken from the prisoners, which was ultimately shipped to the center of Germany for distribution and use.

As I walked through all of this, it was again a very weird feeling. I got to waltz right through there, but the people that made it infamous did not. The whole time, I was trying to imagine what was going through their head. Many times I also wondered what the officers thought as well. I know not all of them could have carried this out without it at least weighing a little on their mind. Maybe their motivation was the fact that they too could be gassed or lined up and shot should they help anyone.

The rest of the day was spent slowly wandering through the grounds. It was quite a sight, and exceeded all of my expectations. Part of me didn't want to leave. I think if I lived near it, I would somehow be employed there. I think just the fact that it actually happened amazes me. That part of history just amazes me.

As I left the camp, I turned around a looked that the gate one last time. The tracks coming out of the camp eventually disappeared into brush and overgrown grass. It's hard to imagine a train full of people rolling by. When you visit a place like that, your perspective on certain things change. It's too bad that not everyone has the opportunity to go.

Krakow

2008-05-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

To pick up where I left off on the last post, Krakow was the prized stop on my tour. I had heard nothing but good things about the city, and I was just dying to get a look at it. The train from Budapest left at 8:30 in the morning, and I knew I had a long painful trip in front of me. The ticket SAID 9 hours (I'll get to that in a bit) and I left the hostel too early to get the free breakfast, so I grabbed a jelly doughnut at the train station. Train station food is hardly anything to write home about. Ironically I am writing home about it, so let's just say it isn't that good. Besides I figured there would be a food cart on the train.

Well fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. The trip in total took close to 12 hours, and there was no food cart. We stopped at every bum town from here to there. I did travel through the entire country of Slovakia though. I thought it would be a barren, flat nothingness. It actually is an extremely beautiful country, especially in the north where the Carpathian Mountains are. Picture is the view from the infamous train boxcar.

I have much the same to say about southern Poland as well. Very beautiful, green, and hilly. Still though, even the most beautiful scenery can't take away from the fact that you've been staring out a window for 12 hours without any food. Even people in line at the Pearly Gates would be yelling at St. Peter to get his act together and get this line moving. My personal favorite was the 25 minute wait at the second to last stop before mine. That was fun.

So again, here I was in a new foreign town in the darkness looking for my hostel. After I found my home, I threw my stuff on the floor, and quickly made my way to the center of the city to find food. I found this outdoor cafe, and ordered the biggest pizza and beer they had on the menu. I quickly realized though that I hadn't eaten anything all day and that if I took one sip of beer before the food arrived, I would pass out on the table.

I ordered a sausage pizza, and a sausage pizza in Poland literally means a sausage on a pizza. Picture a pizza crust complete with sauce and cheese and on top is a sliced up sausage. Two meals in one. I have to say though it was pretty good, and I left no evidence behind. The worst part though was that it was now late, and time to go to bed. So, I went to bed completely uncomfortable. My day would not be taught in any logistics course any time soon.

The next morning I woke up early to take a day trip to Auschwitz & Birkenau. That was the main point of the trip, and thus I will reserve a separate post for that one. Make sure to look for it. It took almost the entire day!

When I got back to Krakow, I headed to the city center, or old town as it is referred to, and enjoyed some dinner. I sat in this lovely square where there were tons of outdoor restaurants. I had a lovely dinner for one, and quietly enjoyed the scenery. I have been budget conscious, but I thought what the heck, some dessert and red wine sounds pretty dang good right now. Before I ordered though, a thought came to me. Europeans are very affectionate in public. It is not uncommon to see two people kissing or touching each other anywhere. Now I just realized that for the past 10-15 minutes, the guy sitting at the table next to me has been doing something to this girl's neck, which has thus caused her to close her eyes and twist her face in a manner a mother could not be proud of. I could either A) have my dessert and wine, and continue to witness this, or B) relocate. IIIIIIIII think I'll relocate.

Sooooo, I went to the other side of the square, where I enjoyed a candle lit moment for one along with some really bad cheese cake and Sutter Home wine from CA. I bailed before the couple next to me could start getting into it, and headed back to the hostel where I enjoyed a couple beers with some of the other hostel patrons in the basement bar. They were Canadians from Vancouver, so I made fun of their hockey team for about 10 minutes before actually introducing myself.

The next day I woke up early again and traveled with a couple other Canadians I was sharing the room with to an old salt mine on the edge of the city. The mine was a great sight, I believe construction on it began around the 1500's. Since it is a salt mine, everything is wonderfully preserved. Even the original rope and wood cranks used to raise chunks of salt to the surface were intact. We were told that the salt mines were actually what helped financially develop the town of Krakow. It was valued as currency because it helped preserve food. In fact, the word salary comes from the fact that salt was once used as a form of currency. Bet you didn't know that! (Neither did I until the guide told me).

The tour began with an 800 step decent into the mine (elevator ride back up of course). The guide took us through a cavern of tunnels. The interesting part is that Poland is a highly religious country, and there are multiple chapels carved underground. The end of the tour stops at the main chapel which is basically an underground church. Carved into the salt is an alter with various scenes such as the nativity and last supper. Very cool. Various caverns did have pools of water in them, which our guide told us has a salt density of just a little over 30%. Therefore, if you dove in, the water would basically throw you back up to the surface. It would be impossible to swim beneath the surface. A few brave souls did lick the walls, and they did say it was very salty. Felt a little like Willy Wonka. "The snoze berries taste like snoze berries."

After the tour we had a little lunch at the cafe which is located way below the surface. We only ate there for the blind fact that we were eating lunch and having a beer way below the surface. We thought we would be paying an arm and a leg for it, but it ended up being the cheapest meal of the trip. How does that make sense. You have people trapped way below the surface, and you offer them dirt cheap food. Ironic.

I spent the rest of the day walking around the city enjoying its culture. I wish I could say I went to a bunch of tourist locations, but I didn't. The nice thing about Krakow is that it wasn't destroyed during the war (how I don't know), so it has that old European feel to it. Therefore, I sat in the main square and just relaxed and people watched. I already mentioned that Poland is very religious. There are pictures of John Paul II everywhere, and it is not uncommon to see priests and nuns walking around. It reminded me of grade school a bit. I even saw a priest and a nun walking together in a mall. Very funny!

There is a castle there, and a bunch of churches, but I have seen enough tapestries, crown jewels, and stain glass in Europe over the last seven years then you can shake a stick at. There is something to be said for just doing nothing when you are traveling. You find it to be very relaxing. After hours of sitting, I made my way back to the hostel to meet up with three Canadian travelers and an American. We headed back to the main square for dinner, and then conducted our own little pub crawl to check out the establishments. A very fun, and memorable time.

I woke up the next day a little bitter I had to leave Krakow. It really is a gem, and a very relaxing place to visit. I took my time checking out of the hostel, and walked to the train station to buy my ticket to Warsaw. Now, I encountered nothing but very nice people in Poland. I did manage to find a very crabby lady working behind the ticket counter though. She obviously did not speak English, and I surely didn't speak Polish, so much of the conversation was completed by writing departure times on pieces of paper. I selected the next express train out of Krakow, and now came time to pay. Here is the part where she was supposed to write the total on the piece of paper and show it to me. Instead in a stern voice she just kept speaking in Polish. I kept saying, "I don't speak Polish, how much?" Finally, it got to the point where I just started laying bills down on the counter until she took the money and made change. When the transaction was over, I nicely said thank you. She said something back, and the three people behind me started laughing. I'm thinking it was something along the lines of, "go away stupid English speaking person."

Flustered from my encounter the ticket booth lady, I stepped inside the tourist office to ask where the nearest post office was. My mind on the previous exchange, the conversation with the tourist lady went something like this"

American: Can you tell me where the nearest post office is?
Polach: Yes, it's just outside the main door, and it is the white building to the right.
American: Thanks. Can you tell me where I can buy stamps?
Polach: Umm. At the post office.
American: Right.

I finally boarded my train, and made the 3 hour trek to Warsaw. By this point in the trip I was starting to feel exhausted, and could have used another day to relax in Krakow. Although my upcoming post on Warsaw indicates that is a great city, if you have one place to choose to go in Poland, don't miss out on Krakow!

Budapest

2008-05-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back from my 10 day stint in Central / Eastern Europe, and have a plethora of posts to send your way. I hope I haven't lost any readers during my break. I have a whole new bag of tricks I think you'll find interesting. So, bear with me and read up on my adventures.

I took a plane and headed for Budapest, Hungary last Wed night. I flew on Germanwings, which I was actually impressed with. I guess it is what you would call a discount airliner, except, they don't pick you up and drop you off at some remote airport that was last used during WWII. It was a quick trip, only about an hour and half.

To be honest with you, I didn't know the first thing about Budapest. No stories or knowledge about it's past. I just heard that it was a cool place to visit and it was in a part of the world I have never been to, so I thought, what the heck let's do it. The main course of the trip was a much anticipated stop in Poland, so I needed something as kind of a nice side benefit to being in the region.

I landed in Budapest, grabbed my bag, and headed for the train. As the train approached I was a little intimidated by its looks (for those reading this that went to India with me, picture something a little similar, except without the interesting smells). I guess I witnessed other humans getting on it, so I figured I'd get on it too. At first I couldn't tell if it used to transport cattle or coal (being facetious here) but I fully expected to see Mr. Ed at some point. The train was arranged in compartment style, so each compartment had three seats on each side that faced each other. I sat in my seat, kept all my extremities close, and waited for the 25 minute ride to come to an end.

Generally, I would not recommend going to a city you have never been to in the dark. It's harder to find your way around and you just don't really know what "part" of the city you are in. Not following my own advice, I hit the streets of Budapest around 10 at night to find my hostel, which was supposed to be close to the station I rolled into. I typically use travel guides to find good places to stay, and I've had nothing but good luck so far. Although you can trust what they say about the place, don't follow their map! I aimlessly walked up and down the street my hostel was on for a good 30 minutes looking for the damn thing.

Finally, I caved in and asked this family of four if they could help. They didn't speak any English, and I sure as heck didn't speak Hungarian. I was on the right street, but couldn't find building 12. I found 11, I found 13, now where in JC is 12? Even though they couldn't speak English, I blurted out the number 12. Thankfully the little boy said, "Ah! Ten, eleven, twelve." I shook my head with great enthusiasm, pointed at the address next to where we were, and did the one finger, two finger awkward sign language delivery of the number 12. He starting searching around the street for me and within minutes helped me find my place. Thank you Hungarian speaking Hungarian boy.

I woke up early the next day, had a typical European breakfast of bread and tea (or coffee if you actually like coffee (yuck)), and hit the streets of Budapest. First task was to find the tourist office to get free maps and suggestions on things to do. If you are ever traveling, I highly suggest tourist offices. The people are always friendly, and they have good ideas and free stuff. Anyways, Budapest is huge, and extremely confusing. The streets go in every direction, and looking at a map of Budapest is like looking at a pile of freshly laid pixie sticks.

I figured I would head to the river, as every major city has a river that runs through it, and that is generally where the action is. As I found my way through the street to the river, I came upon a spectacular site. The Danube divides the city into Buda on one side and Pest on the other. There is an entire history lesson on the eventual combination of the city, but I'll leave that up to you to research. Much of Buda rests on high hills that come up from the river. For three days I had to climb those darn dang things. It didn't help that the sun was absolutely blazing. I was sweating like a Republican at an earth summit, or if you cheer for the other team, a Democrat trying to figure out who is going to run in my own party.

The view from the top though was wonderful. You could see all of Budapest, which is a spectacular city. The sun shimmered off the Danube, and you really got a feel for how large the city was. In my opinion, it is the east's version of Paris, except without a steel tower in the middle (you know I love you Eiffel).

My first stop was at the summit of the largest hill (felt like a mountain) to see the Statue of Liberty, which ironically was put in place by Communist Russia, which if you didn't know was good at stealing just that, liberty. It was to symbolize the city being liberated from the Nazis. I almost died walking to the top. I felt like Rocky, I wanted to throw my hands up in the air when I finally got up there. They should have put a statue of me on top, symbolizing the climb I made on that quiet day in May 2008.

After a prolonged breather, I made my way to the Castle District, which is still on the Buda side of the river. The only catch is you have to walk down one hill and then climb up another to get there. I didn't do much in the castle district. I just walked around, breezed through a couple museums, and sat down at a cafe. I had a chicken caesar salad, but there was nothing caesar about it. I swear it was mayonnaise on that lettuce, I'm not kidding.

Intrigued by what was on the other side of the river, I walked over to Pest, and down the most notable street in the city called Andrassy. To use Paris again, it's like a Champs-Elysees. I walked all the way to the end to get a glimpse of Hero's Square (again, history lesson up to you), and then back tracked down the same street to experience the House of Terror museum, which highlights the Nazi and Communist occupations. Very interesting, especially the basement of the museum, which was used to house political prisoners.

After all of that, I thought my feet were going to fall off. I went back to the hostel for a breather, and determine where I was going to eat. I figured that since I was in Hungary I should try the local fare. So, I looked up good places to eat, and promptly picked the one that was the closest walking distance. I sampled the goulash soup and the pickle salad. Very good!

Day two in Budapest required me to use public transportation, which in itself is foreign to most Americans, let alone an American in a foreign city. I jumped a tram to the edge of the city, and then caught a bus to what I consider the country side to get a glimpse of Monument Park. It's a park in the middle of nowhere that has all of the old Communist statues that used to be located throughout Budapest.

Now, riding public transportation in Germany is quite easy. The tram or bus automatically announces the next stop, and the name of the stop is nicely displayed outside; so if you didn't hear it, you can darn well see it. Not in Hungary. Riding on a bus in the country side without a travel companion and not being able to speak the language can be a little tense. Since it is a relatively well-known tourist attraction in the city, I scoured the bus for other tourists. I always look for the ones that are holding tourist books, that is the safest bet.

Since you have to be aware of where your stop is, my forehead couldn't have been pressed against the bus window any harder. If we were able to open the window, I would have looked like a dog with my head sticking out of the car cruising down the road. It became clear to me I wasn't going to find this place on my own. Eventually, I gave up and relied on the other tourists.

As we approached this one stop, still no movement. The other tourists sprinkled throughout the bus looked like we had hours until the final destination. Just then, a little old Hungarian lady tapped me on the knee and pointed outside. I quickly looked at the bus driver, and he to was turned around and just staring at everyone. I realized this was my stop, so I quickly jumped up and got off the bus. As soon as I did that, five other people did the same thing. It appears we all had the same idea, only everyone was relying on a different person to give them the queue when to get off. I'm happy to say I was the person for the group. Thank you old Hungarian speaking Hungarian lady.

My first impression of the park was, this is cool, but why the heck is it in the middle of nowhere? It seems they could make a lot more money on it if it was in the city. Then again, maybe they don't want these anywhere near the city! The statues were slightly comical. All of the famous communist figures were on display: Marx, Lenin, and Stalin. You know, the dream team. My personal favorite was the big burly Soviet soldier holding the flag with the hammer and sickle with a gun strapped around his neck. The statues always look so proud. Too bad life couldn't imitate art.

After that stop, I made my way back to Budapest for some more public transportation, and great Hungarian food. Apparently, paprika is a big export, and they sprinkle it on everything. I had some more goulash soup and paprika chicken which was a delight. That was followed by some more walking around the city which culminated with my arrival at the hostel.

There weren't too many sights to see on my final day, so again I just walked around, enjoyed the culture, and ate, ate, ate. I did stop at the train station to purchase the ticket for Krakow, which I was leaving for the next morning. It was an experience that can only be rivaled by the DMV. I stood in an endless line, only to get up to the window and have the lady close her window and point me in the direction of another one opening up. As you can imagine, it was a mad dash to the next window, but I came through victorious.

My final night in Budapest was just spent relaxing. The food was probably my favorite part. The people were neither nice nor mean. Monotone seems to be the best word to describe it. In all, I highly recommend you visit the city. Just make sure to pack your walking shoes.

Gopher on the Road

2008-05-08T09:29:00.000-07:00

I'm writing my first post outside of Cologne from a very sunny Budapest. I've spent the last 10 hours walking around the city, and have stopped back at my hostel for a much needed break. Although I have a ton to talk about so far, I'll save the details until my Budapest experience is over. I'll just say that I'm impressed so far!

I wanted to give you an update to the badminton rematch. This week's contest took place in a much warmer gymnasium, so weather played a factor (adding drama to the event). I came out of the gates sluggish, falling behind 26 - 13. I slowly chipped away and finally pulled even at 40 - 40. My efforts were wasted though as my opponent rattled off 7 straight points before time ran out. I'd like to consider it a moral victory, and I would urge you to place bets in my favor before the next match.

Since my badminton skills aren't up to par, I thought I would try my luck at beach volleyball. The weather has been fantastic lately, so I thought it sounded like a good idea. The school has a couple nice sand courts on campus, which surprised me a little. The amenities on campus are sufficient for learning, but aren't what you would call glamorous.

Anyways, a group of six of us started playing, and wouldn't you know on the third serve, I screw up my thumb. This is after I biff the first two serves sent my way, and before I biff the next four. I looked like a complete doof out there, and my hand puffed up like the Pillsbury Doughboy. Soooo for the next hour, every ball I played came with pain. What was supposed to be a fun afternoon turned into me praying it would be over. Afterwards, I could hardly take notes in class.

I'm happy to report though that the hand is doing much better. I almost have my entire grip back, and the swelling has gone down. I'm glad, I was not hoping to find out weather my insurance covered a volleyball injury or not. It seems that physical activity is not specialty on this trip. The spirit is willing, but the skills seem to be lacking.

Well, I think that is it for this post. I'm itching to get back out and explore the city. I arrived in Budapest late last night, and will spend the next nine days traveling throughout Hungary and Poland. Since I have loaded all of my classes in the beginning of the week, my week long spring break turned into a week and a half long spring break. I will spend four nights in Budapest, three in Krakow, and two in Warsaw. I'm very excited to travel a little further east and hopefully enjoy some cheaper prices. Since I will be on the road and want to write about my experience in detail (with pictures) I will more then likely not write another post until I return on the 16th. Please check back after that time to read up on everything I have been up to!

Rhein in Flammen & Euskirchen

2008-05-05T05:59:00.000-07:00

One thing I learned this week is if you challenge a 4'11" Vietnamese/German girl to badminton, you will lose. Still, I think I put up a good fight, and have asked for a rematch slated for 20:00 hours tonight. I think I'm on to her game. She likes to hit the deep birdie, followed by the drop shot over the net. For a week, I couldn't get the sound of her voice saying, "You need to run" out of my head. Of course, the shin splints I have developed from jogging haven't helped anything either. I think as long as I keep her on the back line I have a shot.

Physical limitations aside, it was another great week in Cologne. The weather here has improved quite a bit, and my pale cheeks got pretty red yesterday. On Saturday, a group of us took a short trip to Bonn for a festival they have around the same time every year. It was very similar to the city festivals we have in MN during the summer. I was excited to finally grill some food here; I miss the Weber "big red" back home. I knew I was in for quite an event when there was standing room only on the train from Cologne to Bonn. The Germans I had spoken to earlier in the day had nothing but good things to say, so I figured this would be the thing to do.

As we arrived in Bonn, there was a sea of people, young and old, scattered throughout the riverbank of the Rhine. Attached is only a small fraction of the scene. Beyond that were the fair grounds, complete with beer tents and music stages. The main stage had quite an interesting group playing some tunes. As I approached, they were playing "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", and the lead singer was dressed head to toe in her best pleathers. I couldn't help but think of how nasty sweaty she was underneath. She was followed by the Meatloaf look-alike, but I can't remember the song he sang, I was too mesmerized by the attire he had on.

After a stroll through the fair grounds, we settled in on our spot on the river bank for some food. There were BBQ's going everywhere, and the smell made me think of sitting in the yard at home. We got there at about 6, and the fireworks didn't happen until around 11, so there was plenty of time to hang out and chat. I didn't bring much to drink, and I was happy about that as going to the bathroom was quite the adventure. First you had to fight your way through the people, and then you had to wait in an extremely long line for the port-o-potty. If you've never tried doing that in the pitch dark, you should give it a try, especially trying to orientate yourself once inside the toilet.

The fireworks display at the end of the night was great, much like what you would see at a top spot during the 4th of July. They were over at around 11:30, and I immediately stood up and made a bee-line for the train. Long story short, the trip back to Cologne was absolutely dreadful. By the time the fireworks were over, and by the time I got back to my flat, it took three hours. I was so happy to be home, and to wash my hands.

On Sunday, a German friend took me to a small village called Euskirchen, where she grew up. It's a quaint village not too far from Cologne, and very stereotypical of Europe. It's tucked into hillsides with fields of flowers, and quiet streets. We visited her parents, and stole one of their cars for the afternoon to visit another neighboring village and lake area. It was weird to ride in a car again, as it has been a month since I've traveled in one. She kept offering me the opportunity to drive but I passed.

Overall, it was very peaceful afternoon. The scenery was spectacular, and I was very jealous that she had the opportunity to grow up in such a place. The first stop involved us walking to the top of the remnants of what appeared to be an old fort that surrounded the city. From there, we were able to look down on the little town, and enjoy the view. There was an interesting mix of homes, restaurants, and shops through cobblestone streets.

After that we drove over to a lake area tucked away from busy roads and walked around. It reminded me of northern MN. There were a lot of people in and around the lake, fishing, swimming, and enjoying the view. The weather couldn't have been better, and I was quite tired from the fresh air and sunshine. We stopped at a lakeside cafe to have a drink and some ice cream. My friend, tried to convince me to order in German, but I was a bit hesitant from my previous experience at Burger King. I deferred to her, and the order went off without a hitch. Overall, it was a peaceful and relaxing weekend.

Slight Differences

2008-05-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

The main things that makes travel enjoyable are the slight differences. If you visit India, then it is the extremely large differences. For most of Europe though, it is the little things here and there. I've already touched on some things in earlier posts such as living, transportation, drinking, and MULLETS! Really though, it extends to every aspect of your life.

I recently had dinner with a German friend here in Cologne. She studied abroad at the University of MN last fall, and during her time in my city, I would always ask her what was different. I was very curious to get an outsiders view on Minny. I know the obvious things like transportation, food, clothing, seven months of depressing cold, but that is not the good stuff to me. The good stuff is differences in the little things that aren't discussed in newspapers or beer halls.

Now that I was in her backyard, it was her turn to ask the question. I explained that besides apparently having this completely different language thing, I find slight differences around every corner. Take for example window screens. Now, you would never think of the impact a window screen could have on your life. That is until it has an impact on your life. Apparently here in Cologne they do not believe in them. Considering the fact that air conditioning is not custom here, and heat rises, my deluxe flat in the sky feels like an Easy Bake Oven when I return from class. The only way to beat the heat is to open the windows. The windows of course do not have screens. Therefore, Mother Nature has free access to my room.

I don't know what I prefer more, collecting the leaves and seeds from trees off my pillow before resting my head on it, or becoming Lord of the Flies at night. It's a toss up. No wait, my favorite is when it rains. Since a rain cloud visits Cologne once every 30 minutes a lot of my time is spent trying to find the happy medium of a cool breeze venturing into my room, and preventing rain drops from short-circuiting my computer.

You are probably saying to yourself that Nick is starting to crack in his foreign territory. It's quite the opposite actually. I love the life here, and appreciate most (not all) of the differences. I always tell people that they have to lower their expectations when they travel. I think most people feel that if they spend a bunch of money and use up vacation time to travel that it means they should be catered to. That is fine and dandy if you are sitting on a beach at an all exclusive resort sipping Mojitos. If you want to go somewhere to experience its culture and history though, you can't let little things get in the way. If you focus on the fact that you felt the service was poor or someone got frustrated with you because you didn't know their language, then you miss out on the good stuff. If you travel expecting nothing, then you receive so much more out of it.

Ok, to change direction a bit, today is a national holiday in Germany. I believe it is the equivalent to Labor Day, but don't hold me to that. Therefore, April 30 is a popular night for young people to go out. Take it from me, if you are in Germany on April 30, don't go out. That is unless you like hanging out with 20 years olds, standing in long lines, and paying $10 for a drink. Every other night is great. April 30 though, not great.

The interesting part about this holiday is that during the night, if a man fancies a woman, then they are to go into the woods, cut down a specific type of tree, decorate it with colored paper, and put it outside her window. I'm serious; I'm not making this up. I personally didn't participate but during my walk around the city today, I saw various small trees taped to the side of buildings decorated in various colored paper. It's like teepeeing someone only not only to do you bring the teepee, you bring the tree as well.

Besides that, every store in Cologne was shut down today, which doesn't bode well is you are out of groceries. I had a grease craving and justified the fact that since it was a holiday I felt no shame in visiting Burger King. When I got there I thought to myself - when in Rome. So, I tried ordering my meal in German. I thought it was a basic sentence. "Number one with fries". Turns out the lady thought I was trying to order one fry. She rang my order before I caught her (more likely my) error, and she had to get a manager to come reset the register. Her manager then proceeded to yell at her. So, me trying to accommodate to the native language actually made things worse. Guess I should have stuck to English on this one.

The rest of the day was spent wandering around town. I took advantage of the quiet streets to have some good alone time. I walked quite a bit, and boarded random trams to see where they took me. The end of the night was spent sitting in the park by the university until the sun went down. It was very peaceful and calming. I have included a picture of the park. I know it's just water and trees. It's one of those you had to be there kind of things. Until next time!

Sense of Direction

2008-04-27T14:06:00.001-07:00

Almost a month has passed by here in Cologne, and still my sense of direction escapes me at times. For example, a quick run through the park earlier this week turned into a 3 hour "Where's Waldo" adventure. Granted the park is extremely large and wooded, but you would think that an hour walking aimlessly through the highway of paths and trees would result in me finding a sign that says "Nick Curtis ----->". Ok, maybe not that obvious, but only the man upstairs and the trees of Stadtwald Park will be able to perfectly recite the choice words of my experience. Luckily for me I was able to recoup, find my way home, shower, and get to class where I was saved by the bell.

Unfortunately, my next example doesn't involve me, but some poor German trying to find his way around Cologne. It was a Wednesday night, and I just got off the Tram towards the center of town. I was walking for about a block before a German guy approached me speaking the native language. I gave my standard deer in headlights look, and held my hand up to my mouth and moved it back and forth. I said the word English and unluckily for him, he knew English and asked if I knew where the Aaechener Str was. Now in my head I thought, ok I have this one figured out. I have frequented that street, and it is a major road that shoots through the middle of Cologne. Without skipping a beat, I quickly pointed my finger and said, "it's one block that way!"

Words can't describe the feeling I had when I actually helped a German of all people find their way in Cologne. That excitement was quickly destroyed when I turned around and discovered that it was actually one block in the completely opposite direction. Before I realized my mistake, the poor guy had already crossed the road and was making a bee-line for Siberia. Ironically, I was actually walking to the Aaechener Str myself, and had been on that street about every day of my trip so far. The hand symbol I described earlier means to laugh in sign language. Thinking back on it, maybe the guy should have given it to me.

I had a similar experience the next day while standing on the bus stop waiting for the 136. Again, the individual approached me in German, and again I repeated the deer in headlights / laughing in sign language response. He too knew how to speak English, and said he was trying to find a friend in Lindenthal. I explained that I lived in Lindenthal, and would be able to help him to the best of my ability. He politely declined, and said that I wouldn't know where to send him. Thinking back on it, the guy was right. I probably would have put him on a train to Moscow.

So, directional disasters aside, it was another great week in Cologne. The sun shined a bit more, and it felt good not to wear a coat for the first time since Sept. I also found a way to be a little entrepreneur. One of my professors asked the class if there were any native English speakers that would be willing to take a look at the English version of his website. Since I am the only one that is a native English speaker, I raised my hand. He wanted to pay me for my time, but I offered my services in exchange for the case study packets to each of his two courses I am taking. That's roughly a $70 value, which isn't bad for the four hours of work I put in. The previous week, a German friend asked me to critique the paper he had to write in English. My cash cow has arrived. I'll charge 10 Euro per paper, and 15 Euro per presentation. If only I could advertise that in German. Nah, I would have done it for free. I have the time, and it is always nice to feel needed when you are the one that needs tending to every day.

This weekend was a bit interesting. Friday was the big semester party at the Mensa, which is the main eating facility on campus. The party stretched three levels, had four different rooms playing four different types of music, and about 4000 students. Very fun. That was followed by an 8 am alarm going off and telling me that it was time to go to Phantasialand.

Phantasialand is basically Camp Snoopy on steroids. The nice thing was it was outside, so my pasty white skin was able to begin the annual fashion statement called a farmers tan. Apparently it was discount day, which combined with the nice weather and the fact that it was a Saturday meant hoards of people and screaming kids. The people watching didn't quite rival the state fair, but there were flashes of entertainment here in there. The interesting thing to note is that the mullet is VERY much in style in Europe - no kidding! It's the 80's all over the place here, and Saturday didn't disappoint. My personal favorites were the guys that had the sides shaved close, the hair spiked and frosted on top, with the complimentary frosted tail in the back.

Anyways, the rides were fun, but utterly painful to wait for. We waited in line for 80 minutes at one ride, and it lasted no longer then 2 minutes. Buaaaahhh. The pic is of me getting ready for the 4D movie. The entire 10 minute show was in German, so obviously I understood very little. From what my friends tell me, I didn't miss much. I thought the effects were cool though.

After nine hours of Phantasialand, I was ready to take my shoes off and veg in a chair. Besides having little sleep and extreme sun exposure, I was with eight Germans all day who were obviously speaking German. My brain and body were fried, and I crashed pretty hard on Saturday night.

Other then that, not much new to report. I feel like I'm learning a lot, and I'm still highly enjoying my life. I read the news and saw the pictures of the snow MN received yesterday. I feel for you people, but I quickly get over it.

Social Scene in Cologne

2008-04-23T07:26:00.000-07:00

Well I figured I'd write about what most of my friends seem to want to hear about, and that is the social scene here in Cologne. As I've said before, Cologne is a very young town. The university has 40,000 students; so of course, there is your fair share of social establishments. The Zulpicher Strausse is full of German, Irish, and Cuban bars, as well as dance clubs and all the Doner Kebab shops your heart desires.

Having a drink with friends and colleagues in Cologne is very similar to London; it's just a common thing to do. It's funny how when something isn't taboo how it sort of regulates itself. For example, drinking in the states isn't allowed until you are 21, can only be done indoors, and involves complex planning with transportation (rightfully so). If you go to the bar, you'll often see young adults drinking in excess and acting belligerent.

Cologne is not completely free of individuals that like to go above and beyond when it comes to consuming their drink of choice, but I would argue that the percentage is drastically lower. Here, I believe the drinking age is 18. There may be an age limit for when you can start drinking beer, and when you can start drinking alcohol, but I am unsure of that. I never get carded anywhere, I can buy alcohol at the grocery store, and I can walk down the street drinking a beer.

The interesting thing about many of the kiosks (small convenience stores) is that they have a bottle opener hanging from the door knob of the entrance. This is so you can crack your beer on the way out of the store. Unbelievable, yet pretty cool at the same time. It is not uncommon to see two people standing on the street corner at 5 o'clock drinking a beer and talking. It's like a mobile happy hour.

I'm not saying the states should be like this (I'm afraid that would have a negative impact), but I'm pointing out how interesting it is that cultural norms can completely change the way we look at something, like consuming alcohol. One thing to analyze though is that the structure of American cities is vastly different then the structure of European cities. European cities are generally constructed around a city center, with many people living in apartment style housing (flats). There is an extensive construct of public transportation, trains and busses, that is very cheap. Also, if you need to take a taxi, you are not traveling very far, so they tend to be pretty affordable.

In the states, we love space, so our lives generally do not function around a city center, but specialty stores spread throughout suburbs. There is no convenient mode of public transport, so we depend on cars to get us from point A to point B. Therefore, if you plan a social night out on the town, it is logical to more closely regulate drinking to prevent the negative aspects of the activity. So there, you have just been introduced to the Nick Curtis theory of social behavior of consuming alcohol in Europe as compared to the United States. I'm sure there are many scholars that could poke holes in my analysis, but that is my perception of it at least.

Like most of Europe, Cologne has its fair share of smokers. It's the one part of the social life here I can't stand. You go into a bar, and you walk out feeling (and smelling) like death. An interesting note for all you Minnesotans, Cologne will officially ban smoking indoors in July. This is similar to what many other large European cities are doing, and it is the wave of the future. I'm just sad that they will finally change it when I have to leave.

It's very common here to stay out until 5-6 in the morning. I have yet to attempt such a feat, but many of my classmates partake. I had another interesting conversation with one of my Swedish classmates about this phenomenon. I believe his statement went something like this:

"In Sweden, it is not uncommon for us to stay out until 5-6 o'clock as well. We don't go out though until 11-12 at night. Germans go out at 9 o'clock at night and still stay out until 5-6 in the morning. I don't get it, I don't know how long I am going to last!"

I'm content with enjoying a night on the town and heading home at typical MN closing time to get my beauty sleep and actually have a Saturday afternoon to enjoy. As long as I have enough time to have good conversation, and make friends, I'm fine with that.

To change gears slightly, the last couple of days have proven that the sun DOES shine on Cologne for more then 10 minutes at a time, and that a jacket is not always required to function here. I was excited to find out that Colonians love to BBQ, which I assumed was a strictly American thing to do. My American friend Stasha and I already told his roommate that we would chip in and purchase a small grill for her so that we can enjoy the outdoors a little more.

Next to the university, there is a large grassy knoll (no JFK jokes please) that leads to a beautiful pond. I've been told that when the weather is nice, the entire thing is packed with students grilling and enjoying their favorite refreshment. I can't WAIT to experience that, and I have already started to see groups of students here and there gather on it. Very fun.

To close the social portion of my blog, our first week in Cologne was dubbed welcome week for all international students. There is a group at the university comprised of German students who have studied abroad during their time at Uni Koln. The idea is that they can sympathize with our experience and help us assimilate a little easier. To help the group get to know each other, each of the first nights revolved around us drinking the local beer Kolsch at some establishment.

The highlight of the week was the Saturday pub crawl. The entire group was separated into groups of roughly six people (my team pictured). Each member of the group had to be from a different country, which was a great idea. I believe I got to know more people that night, then any other night here in Cologne.

At first, I was nervous that we would have to partake in numerous drinking games, but it was the complete opposite. Each "station" had a different goofy game we had to participate in. The first station involved two volunteers blindfolding themselves, slipping a garbage bag over their body (with holes cut out for the head and arms) and trying to feed pudding to each other. I volunteered for my group, and ended up with pudding all over my face.

In the second station, the group was given various scenarios, all of which didn't match, and were asked to create a mini play. Think of "Who's Line is it Anyway?". I'd like to say our artistic performance was top-notch. I have always secretly dreamed of performing on stage, but to a story that actually made sense.

For the third station, we had to walk to a bar about four blocks away. The catch was, on our way we had to stop people on the street and ask them for the words to various Colonian songs. In Cologne, they have a song for about every kind of activity you can think of. During nights when there are soccer games, you can't get on a tram without hearing at least three different songs sung by almost every person on the train. And this is public transportation! Very cool. Anyways, we had to get at least one verse to four different Colonian songs, and sing them to a group of girls at the bar. Now imagine trying to do this and not knowing the language (ME!). It wasn't quite Maverick singing "You've Lost that Lovin Feelin", but I thought I had a good show. The third station also involved us holding a clothes pin in our mouth and using it to pass around a playing card. Each successful pass was a point for our team.

The fourth station involved us playing a little game called suck and blow. To cut to the chase, and keep this blog conservative, that is a game where you take a playing card, and pass it to the partner standing next to you only using your mouth. The person passing the card obviously has to blow on it to pass it, and the one receiving the card has to suck to receive it (I hope this explanation goes over well with my mother and boss). I quickly situated myself between the Chinese girl and Japanese girl. Nothing like watching two girls from extremely conservative cultures participate in this game. I was dying laughing. The main goal was to earn points for each successful pass.

The last station was a night of dancing and conversation at a club called Das Ding. For those of you that don't sprechen Deutsch, Das Ding is German for.........the Ding. Overall, it was a very playful and fun night. All the crazy and awkward games brought us closer together. Ironically, it is probably the most important thing we have done so far on the trip.

Frankfurt

2008-04-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

A friend and I decided to make a weekend out of it and travel to Frankfurt, which is only about a two hour train ride from Cologne. We arrived early in the day on Saturday, and quickly checked into our hostel so we could explore the city. For those that aren't familiar with hostels, they are accommodation businesses with dormitory type living arrangements. They are a cheaper alternative to hotels and are marketed towards students and budget travelers. We did manage to get a very nice room with two beds and a full bath.

Unfortunately, it rained all day on Saturday, so our first order of business was to buy umbrellas. We headed towards the city center since that is where the majority of the shops would be and quickly scored the cheapest options we could find. It was by far the best purchase of the weekend, although it didn't prevent the rain from saturating my shoes and socks! It's very interesting to try and walk through a sea of people all of whom are holding an umbrella. As you pass people you hold your umbrella up really high to get by them. You kind of feel like Mary Poppins getting ready for take off.

Frankfurt is the most modern German city I have visited so far. It has a distinct downtown area with skyscrapers, much like the United States. This is juxtaposed to an old town that has the old fashioned churches and timber buildings. Like most of Germany, Frankfurt was leveled during WWII, so that helps explain some of the modernity. The river Main (pronounced mine) flows through the middle of Frankfurt, and I was told that the proper name of the city is actually Frankfurt am Main (Frankfurt on the Main).

We walked throughout the city, braving the rain, and doing some mean window shopping. We ate some great food, and stopped back at the hostel to take a rest and dry off a bit. At night, we found a really small pub, and watched some soccer with a handful of locals. I'm not the biggest soccer fan, but if you watch it in the proper setting with people that are knowledgeable about it, then it isn't half bad. After that, we found an Irish pub where we had a Black and Tan, and enjoyed some live music, before heading back to the hostel for the night.

The next day we ate some breakfast at the hostel, checked out, and explored the city a bit more. Looking back on it, a day trip to Frankfurt would have probably sufficed. I think part of us just wanted to get out of Cologne for a night. The weather was remarkably better today, and like most cities, the majority of the shops were closed because it was Sunday. We did have a chance to tour Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's house (author of Faust), and a history museum of Frankfurt. We also scaled (took an elevator) to the top of one of the skyscrapers to get a wonderful glimpse of the city.

The train ride to and from Frankfurt was very scenic, and we got the chance to see some of the smaller towns in Germany out the window. Part of you almost wants to skip the big cities and see what the smaller towns have to offer. It was quite beautiful. On one side of the train you had large hills / small mountains, and on the other side you had the river, and then the town on the other side. Sometimes the scenes felt like they were straight out of a movie.

At the conclusion of the weekend, I was happy to see Cologne (and not ride a train for at least the rest of the day). The city is starting to feel like home to me, and I'm finding it easier to get around every day. I really enjoy my classes and am looking forward to class this week as well. I have a heavy travel itinerary for the month of May, and need to start figuring out living accommodations. I went a little crazy this past week hunting for and purchasing discount airline tickets. I have a feeling the next month is going to be quite the adventure!

The Metric System, Dates, and Times

2008-04-17T02:23:00.000-07:00

Typically, I like to spread my posts out to ensure I have enough to talk about every few days, but I wanted to share my experience with what I highlighted in my title. Since I have traveled before, I'm used to the differences in measurement, dates, and times. I had an interesting conversation with one of my Swedish classmates though, that I wanted to share. I went like this:

Swede: You know Celsius was a Swede right?
American: No I didn't know that. Pretty cool.
Swede: Yeah, it's quite simple when you think about it. He said, "Ok - water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius and boils at 100 degrees Celsius."
American: In Fahrenheit, water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit
Swede: That doesn't make any sense.
American: Well I don't really know what to tell you. I guess you have a point.
Swede: You know Fahrenheit was a German right?
American: Well, let's blame the Germans then.

I still have not perfected translating Celsius into Fahrenheit. All I know is that 0 degrees Celsius equals 32 degrees Fahrenheit. That is when it starts to snow in Minnesota, which means there is probably a Wild game on at some point that week. Let's then thank the Swedes and Germans for letting us know when hockey season rolls around.

As far as measurement goes, a kilometer is shorter then a mile. That's all I know, and I sleep well knowing my brain stops there. I do know that a 5k run is almost 3.2 miles, because I ran one back in college (circa 2000). It took me around 30 minutes to run and I thought I was going to have a heart attack after. Running is not in my genes, and I need a ball or puck to keep my legs moving forward. Kind of like a donkey with a carrot in front of its nose.

Now for dates and times, something I can say I fully understand! In the states, the next episode of "The Office" is on 4/17 at 7:00 p.m. (making that up). In Europe, you would say the next episode is on 17/4 at 19:00. I'm backing the states on this one. I'll give you Celsius, but it seems more efficient for me to say "April 17", and not "the 17 of April". Also, military time can be quite confusing when you are presented with it for the first time. Here is how I figured it out the first time I came to Europe.

If it is 19:00, subtract 2, and that gives you 17:00. Now, drop the 1, and you can see that it is 7:00 pm! When the severity level increases, and the time is 23:00, subtract 2 again, and that gives you 21:00. Now replace the 2 with a 1, and it is 11 pm!

See, it's all so simple. I do find it slightly amusing that the US is basically the only country that follows the guidelines we use for these measurements. I guess it is our attempt at being different. Believe me, it leads to all types of tangents.

Dusseldorf

2008-04-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

I had some free time today, so a friend and I took a train to Dusseldorf. An express train will get you there in about 25 minutes which is perfect when all you want to do is a day trip. We were warned by our fellow Colonians before we left that people from Dusseldorf tend to be cold and arrogant. Apparently, there is a friendly rivalry between the citizens of Cologne and the citizens of Dusseldorf.

If you ask a Colonian to explain it, they will say that first, the people of Cologne are more outgoing and playful, whereas the people of Dusseldorf are reserved and cold. Second, they will remind you that their city is much larger then Dusseldorf, and that Cologne NOT Dusseldorf should be the capital of the federal state. I believe Cologne used to be the capital, but was destroyed too bad during the war and thus the government was moved to Dusseldorf. Don't hold me to that though.

Fair and balanced reporting aside, we didn't get into it with any Dusseldorfians to put the stereotypes to the test. We did notice though that Dusseldorf is much smaller, and more modern then Cologne. The architecture is more 21 century, and the business centers are easy to point out, much like the states. I think Dusseldorf is a main hub for business, and there is a lot of money there, which could help explain the "snob" label. Cologne is more of a young person's town which adds to the "lively" and "hip" conceptions.

We didn't have a plan of attack, so we started with the tourist office, which is always a good idea when you are traveling. They usually have good information on what to do, and maps to help lead the way. We spent our afternoon wandering through the city center and along the Rhine. I felt the city was quite beautiful, and like Cologne, very clean.

The smaller scale of the city allows for a more majestic view of the river, and we scaled (took an elevator) to the top of the media tower which stands high above the city next to the Rhine. Some of you may know, but I am not terribly fond of heights. Therefore, I stood a good five feet from the window when looking down onto the city. The view was spectacular though , and it gave me the opportunity to snap a few photos and scope out the lay of the land.

After wondering through the city for a bit we worked up an appetite, so we stopped at a traditional German restaurant and had some Wiener Schnitzel and a glass of the local beer, Alt. This is another point of contempt with Colonians. In Cologne, you drink primarily Kolsch Bier, which they will tell you is far superior to Dusseldorf's Alt bier. Personally, I like both. Kolsch is what we would consider light beer in the states, and Alt a dark. Both cities serve their beer in 0.2L glasses which if you are not familiar with litres is tiny! They say that it ensures the beer is fresh the entire time you consume it. I say it just makes me stand in line more often to get a drink. It's perfect though when all you want is a small drink with your meal.

Overall, Cologne is the type of city you would want to live in as a young adult, and Dusseldorf maybe as an older adult. I like both cities, but both are new to me, and I appreciate anything that is different from my norm. As far as this trip goes, I appreciate more and more everyday where I ended up. Cologne is a very fun place to be as a student, and it offers you a lot culturally. It's the big city without having to be in London, Paris, or Rome.

Two Weeks in the Bag

2008-04-14T03:13:00.001-07:00

I'll start off this post with a couple pictures of the Dom (cathedral) here in Cologne. For outsiders like me, it's the main image of Cologne. Ironically, many Colonians I have spoken to have never been inside the thing. Regardless, life around the Dom is quite busy, and I found it to be very beautiful. After visiting Vatican, many European churches pale in comparison. I still found it interesting, and its Gothic architecture makes it intimidating at night. It's pretty much the only thing that didn't get destroyed in Cologne during the war. I was told that the Allies used it as a central marker, but I would also like to believe that both sides wanted to preserve some of Europe's historical culture. Check out the picture of Cologne circa 1945 on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne. The church didn't escape the bombs all together though as you can see its wounds when you are up close.

Moving on, two weeks have flown by here in my new / temporary home. I've grown quite fond of my new life. I wake up every day without an alarm, I go for runs (with periods of walking :)) in the park next to my flat, and the overall pace of my life has slowed down quite a bit. I guess you could say I live a fantasy life. Well, I do, but hey I'll take it for this short period of time. I do miss that candy dish at work though. It's probably for the best. The work pants weren't fitting quite like they used to before I left. Hopefully I'll come back a new man!

The newest development since my last post was the first laundry date at the new household. Doing laundry in Europe is slightly different then in the states. Most households don't have a dryer, so you have to let your clothes air dry. This cultural norm makes sense to me. It seems like a good way to conserve energy. Anyways, since you have to let the elements dry your skivvies, this can spell trouble if you wait to do laundry at the last minute. I planned accordingly though. That and I stocked up on the essentials before I left the states.

When I studied in Spain as an undergrad, my housemother would do all of my laundry, and even iron my underwear. Although I don't go to those extremes, I consider myself a fairly domestic person. Those close to me will tell you that Sundays are domestic days for Nick, when I do my laundry and grocery shopping. I have quickly discovered though that it is best to do laundry more frequently here. If you wait to do one huge load, you'll have articles of clothing hanging from every piece of furniture in your room including: fans, chairs, nightstands, and bookshelves. I persevered though, and now will plan on doing laundry twice a week!

Now for the weather. Those reading this in Minny will not feel bad for me as Mother Nature keeps picking on you poor folks. In true European fashion though, most days here consist of 10 minutes of beautiful blue sky and birds chirping to 20 minutes of soft, cold, annoying rain, followed by 5 minutes of hard, cold, annoying rain (repeat). Why is it that I always end up outside during those 5 minutes of hard, cold, annoying rain? It's penance for what I'm missing back home.

Yesterday, my friend Stasha and I had a failed attempt at visiting the town of Bonn, which is about a 30 minute train ride from here. First of all, we didn't know the entire town shuts down on Sunday (something to think about when traveling through Europe). Second, every time we stepped outside the sky opened up. We did find a nice quaint Pizza Hut where we sampled some fine pepperoni pizza. The trip wasn't a total loss. The town does have a German historical museum that basically goes from WWII to present. It's interesting to see how a country remembers a not so proud moment in time. I thought they did a good job, and it seemed consistent with what I've seen in other countries.

To close, I let the obsessive compulsive part of my personality get the best of me the other day. Since I return to the states immediately after the semester to get back to work, I have to do much of my traveling during the semester. Sooooo I sat down and physically drew out four months worth of calendar and wrote down all the dates where I have obligations here in Cologne. Now I have this beautiful display of organization in my room telling me when I can travel and when I can't. I get a huge smile on my face every time I look at it (picture Monica from Friends after cleaning the bathroom). I look forward to a much anticipated trip to Poland, and another to Sweden to visit distant relatives. Other then that, we'll see where the wind blows me.

Classes

2008-04-09T07:21:00.000-07:00

Classes started this week, and I was excited to see how the classroom experience compared to that in the states and my other study abroad experiences. Before I came to Cologne, I was under the impression that there would only be international students in my classes, but I was wrong. There are actually very few of us. The school offers a limited number of classes in English, and many of the German students appreciate the opportunity to learn in English. I also appreciate the fact that I get to communicate with other German students while in class.

An interesting fact in Germany is that you don't register for most of the classes. You simply just show up, and then at the end of the semester, you register to take the test. This is one of those cultural things that threw me for a loop. I'm so used to registering months in advance. Also, you have suggested readings to go along with the lectures, but nothing that is considered compulsory. In the states, I'm used to having constant deliverables that help you track your progress throughout the course. This is good and bad. Good because it allows you a little more free time during the semester, and bad because it is not uncommon to have 100% of your grade come down to the final test. I've already been warned that the end of the semester here is pretty stressful. Most of the classes I selected though require me to turn in a research paper, and prepare a presentation, which is right up my alley.

I'm taking a total of five courses, all very different from each other. Three of the courses have a focus in political science and how decisions made in the political arena can impact the business world. These classes are smaller, and are generally discussion based, which is what I'm used to in the states. One of the courses, The Political System of the EU, is taught by a French professor. I'm the only native English speaking and American citizen in the class, so you can imagine that a lot of attention is given to my thoughts and impressions. This is a very daunting responsibility. I try to remain very general in my responses and preface that I don't speak for all Americans. Also, my knowledge of the subject matter is not always perfect so I try to speak from my own experiences, not "how it is".

I'm also taking a Strategic Retail Management course. I'm very excited for this course, mainly because I have worked for one of the largest retailers in the world for the past five years. Also, I'm curious to hear European ideas and feedback concerning American retailers. My professor did bring up Target, and asked if anyone had ever been inside a Target. With a huge smile on my face, I raised my hand and said that I actually work for them. He was pretty surprised; I think I threw him a curveball. He asked if I could summarize how Target has changed in the past ten years, which was a little stressful. I'd hate to answer his question incorrectly when my job requires me to be in the know on the company. Luckily, I answered it correctly and was able to dodge the embarrassment of not being able to explain my own company. Staying true to strategy, I never reveal any proprietary information about the company. I stay very general, and tend to not give more information then can be found on Wikipedia. :)

My German classmates always ask me the same question. Why are you here? Why Cologne? They think it's weird that I would choose a non-traditional European city to study abroad in, especially a country where I don't know the language. I always tell them that Germany was the next European country I wanted to visit, the timing was right for my job, the school has a partnership with mine, and I wanted to be in an environment where every day was a challenge (language).

Much of the learning on study abroad programs happens outside of the classroom. Although the courses are great, and the content good, you learn the most about culture and issues out in public. I also feel that you learn about yourself and evolve as an individual much more outside of the classroom. Your mind is constantly firing, trying to figure out simple tasks, like how to grocery shop. In the states, I always tell young undergrads that if they don't study abroad, they are making a huge mistake. It's really important for personal development, in understanding the world outside of the US, and for just plain having fun.

Based on what I've written so far, you can see that I have become the focal point of many of my classes; mainly because I like to talk in the classroom, but also because I bring diversity and experience to the table. Most of the students have very little to no work experience, which I am very unaccustomed to participating in the MBA program at Carlson. I like being the working American in the class though. It's an easy way to meet people, and I feel extremely valued. I have had multiple students approach me after class to strike up conversations which is cool.

Overall, I've tried to take courses that are heavy in discussion and rapport. I feel that's the best way to learn as opposed to having someone stand in front of class, read off a bunch of information, and then have you regurgitate it at the end. This format allows multiple ideas to be shared throughout the course. It also gives you a better understanding of backgrounds, and helps you make friends. I like what I've experienced so far, and feel the educational value will be quite significant come the end of the semester.

International Students in the Program

2008-04-06T05:40:00.000-07:00

The international program in Cologne has a very diverse mix of students. They mainly come from Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Spain, and Mexico. There are only two Americans in the program, and both of us are from Minnesota. Everyone has been extremely friendly so far, particularly my main men the Scandinavians.

Many of the students don't know where Minnesota is. They know it is in the United States, but they don't know where. I describe it as in the middle, north, and bordering Canada. On the flip side though, I can't say that I am an expert on where their countries and towns are exactly situated, particularly the Eastern Europeans. Most of the students have also never traveled to the US. The few that have visited the states have traveled mainly to New York, Florida, Vegas, and California. I guess Mpls isn't exactly a tourist destination (unless you like shopping, hockey, and cool people)! :)

It's fun to trade stories and discuss what life is like in our home countries and cities. Many of the students have asked me what the people in the United States are like, and if they are different. I tell them that is a very difficult question to answer, but I generally describe that East Coast, Midwest, and West Coast people are typically different, as are Northerners from Southerners. I can't say that I'm an expert on the people of the entire US so I try to focus just on Minnesota. I discuss the Scandinavian and Polish ancestry of the past, and the make-up of the current immigrant population. I tell everyone that the United States is so big that of course people are going to be different from place to place. Another popular question is what are my thoughts on the upcoming election and who am I going to vote for. I generally stay away from politics and sharing my views. All I tell them is that I'm happy I get a four month break from the campaigning!

This is my third study abroad experience (Spain summer 01, London spring semester 02) and on each program I always tell the people I meet abroad how lucky they are to easily travel to different countries in the EU. You can get on a train for little money, travel for two hours and be in an entirely different country where they speak a different language, eat different food, and have different customs. I've always been so envious of that. At home, I hop in the car, and drive for two hours and end up at Grand Casino Mille Lacs. :) I explain that for an American to travel is very expensive, and the opportunity isn't there as much. Hopefully that helps paint the picture that our understanding of different cultures can sometimes not be as advanced as theirs. I think they understand that because it is very difficult for them to travel to the US as well.

My fellow American Stasha and I (pictured) are the two oldest students here, which suprises me a bit considering the median age of MBAs at Carlson is around 30. The educational structure at this school is slightly different though, and they don't have the well defined Undergrad and Grad programs we're used to in the states. Hopefully my work experience and education will play to my advantage in the classroom, but we'll see.

Most of the students are also here to practice their German, and will often speak German to each other. I don't speak German, so I am a bit of an outsider when it comes to that. Everyone knows English fairly well, and our classes are in English, so it isn't as stressful as you may think it to be. I do get the chance to speak Spanish with the Spanish students though. I'm pretty rusty as I haven't practiced in six years, so I guess Spanglish is the better term to use.

First Impressions of Cologne

2008-04-03T07:17:00.000-07:00

I have arrived safe and sound in Cologne! My flight from Mpls to Amsterdam was nice and quick, especially compared to my previous flying experience to India. I had the chance to ride on my first prop plane from Amsterdam to Cologne. It was tiny and there were only about 30 people on the flight.

I arrived in Cologne early in the morning on Tuesday. The school set me up with a "buddy" to help me get acclimated to the city, and Vitalijus was nice enough to pick me up from the airport. He is from Lithuania and has lived in Cologne for the past 5 years. He was pretty excited to get matched up with someone from the states which works out well for me! Before I left MN, I asked him if he would like me to bring him anything from the states, and he told me "something Timberwolf". Unfortunately, the size large shirt I bought him is probably not big enough as he is about 3 inches taller then me!

My roommate seems nice so far. Her English is pretty good so we are able to converse. We will have pretty different schedules, so I'm not sure I will get the chance to see her very much. I imagine it is pretty weird to have a stranger from a different country to come live with you. I figure the more I stay out of her way the better. :)

I spent the entire day on Tuesday walking around Cologne (Koln as it is referred to here). It's a quaint, clean, and beautiful city. It is relatively new by European standards because of the war. The Rhine flows through the middle of the city, much like the Mississippi flows through Mpls / St Paul. It's huge! Much wider then the Mississippi, Thames, or Seine, and it moves pretty well. I was really tired by the time the day was over. I walked 5-6 miles easy and had been up for 31 hours. I crashed hard at the end of the night which helped me adjust to the time difference fairly quickly.

The language part can be stressful at times, and many people I meet are amazed I would come to Germany for such a long period of time without knowing a word of German! I tell them that is one of the main reasons I wanted to come here. I wanted to be in a country where I didn't know the language and where I was a minority. Appearance wise I blend in pretty well. It's only when I open my mouth do I stick out. :)

For the most part though, the population knows English. I have found that the younger the individual, the more English they know. The only really tough place is the grocery store. The cashier at the one by my flat definitely got annoyed when she asked me a question about the apple I was trying to buy and I just stared blankly back at her. I think she may have been asking if I knew the price of it, but who knows.

Reflection on recent trip to India

2008-03-22T08:52:00.001-07:00

This past January I had the pleasure of visiting India with 24 of my Carlson classmates as part of a two week global enrichment program through school. We spent the first week in Delhi and the second week in Bangalore learning about managing in a global environment with an emphasis in outsourcing and off-shoring.

Delhi is a very dynamic city. It is extremely populated with 7 times the people of Minnesota. There's not much sense of personal space, and the air has a very distinct smell (and taste) from the smog. It's the first time I've ever traveled where I felt true culture shock and found it a bit difficult to get around. The people though were extremely friendly, as in all of India, and the food was great!

Delhi is the DC of India, so that is where we got to meet with various government officials, including N Gopalaswamy, the Chief Election Commissioner of India, and Som Mittal, Chairman of NASSCOM. We also met with various business leaders, including a stop at MN based United Health Group. UHG was my favorite stop because we got to meet with the two individuals that launched their operations in India before we left MN, and then got to meet with the executive group that continued the operation when we visited in Gurgaon.

After a week in Delhi, we took a five hour train ride to Agra, which is where the Taj Mahal is located. The picture on this post is of a peasant girl just outside the Taj. The train ride can only be summed up nicely as an "experience". We were all excited to get to our hotel after that's for certain!

Agra is rural compared to Delhi although it definitely had a hustle and bustle in MN terms. It is the one city where we did see the most wildlife. It's strange to see a monkey haul tail across the street, but that is one of the aspects that made the trip so enjoyable. The Taj Mahal is beautiful, and they maintain the grounds wonderfully. It truly is a great site. I thought that seeing pictures of it my entire life would trivialize it, but I was pleasantly amazed much like the first time I saw the Colosseum and Eiffel Tower. The only thing I disliked about Agra, and I'm sure many of my classmates will agree, were the numerous street vendors that followed us around everywhere. The town is a tourist destination, so the vendors are out in full force!

We took a bus back to Delhi which allowed us to see much of the countryside, and listen to the bus's extremely loud horn for five hours. We went straight to the Delhi airport, where we took a plane to Bangalore for our last leg of the trip. We all liked Bangalore instantly; it was a bit more modern with wider streets and trendier shops and pubs. We had a chance to meet with leaders from large businesses like HP, Dell, and Target, to manufacturing firms and NGO's. We really met with a wide variety of leaders which added depth to the experience.

In true Target fashion, we were welcomed with open arms, and given a very long and detailed presentation. We had a chance to meet with a group of expats from MN living and working in Bangalore. I really admired what they were doing, and was envious of their experience. HP was interesting as well as it was our first taste of a mega campus complete with housing and a huge campus like cafeteria. Of course the trip was completed with a stop to Raymond's and two tailor made suits!

My experience was important from both a professional and personal development standpoint. The people of India were very accommodating, and I was impressed with their hunger to work and educate themselves. The trip completely altered any perception, negative or positive, I had of the country. Hopefully I'll get the chance to visit again in the future. It's interesting to see how someone living a completely different life half way around the world can help you succeed and vise versa.

Welcome!

2008-03-22T08:43:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone - Welcome to my blog!

Throughout my experience in Cologne I will use this site as an easy and efficient way to keep up with my family, friends, and coworkers back home. I hope you enjoy reading about my experience, thanks for your interest!

Nick