Meine erste Woche zurueck...

The ride back to Minneapolis was a long one. I rode 2 hours on the fast German Train (Deutsche Bahn ICE) from Freiburg to Frankfurt am Main. Then in the airport I had 3 hours to wait before departure. I first checked in; was selected for random check because of my electricity converter. Whatever; I had time. Then I put my bags on the scale and they are both over--which I anticipated--but the fees were twice as high as I expected and in euros. A nice 80 euro fee to ship my heavy luggage home then came PLUS a tidbit that the plane I was flying on was overbooked. I had the opportunity to go on Standby and if all the spots were full, then I could stay in Germany that night, Lufthansa would give me 600 Euros Cash and pay for my hotel and food. I was talking to the counter attendent practically begging her to let me stay in Germany. She was excited to see that I was gung ho for Deutschland (im Vergleich zu den Foerdern fuer die USA, wie der normaler Typ). But as the line filed on the plane and the tickets were counted, she regrettedly gave me my ticket back to the United States and with welling eyes I accepted it and boarded my plane at approximately 5:00 p.m (17:00 Germany Time).
Because the plane flew from Germany, all the flight attendants were fluent in German. 9 Hours later I landed in Chicago, making it 7:00 p.m. CST and feeling like 2:00 a.m. German time.

My first step was to go through customs. I had three hours again so was not worried. But in the line, I declared that I brought back bacon for my father, real black-forest bacon directly from the butcher and purchased at the marketplace by our city cathedral that I visited regularly during my time in Freiburg. The damn customs agent checked it and said, "Nope. You can't bring this into the country," despite it being air-sealed and pork. The bastard confiscated my gift for my father, the gift I had carted 8,000KM, the gift perfect for my father the Farmer. This customs agent took it away because there was at one point in Germany's history the case of a disease.

Through customs, I finally find my terminal for Minneapolis. I purchase some french fries and was surprised that I received a bill for $1 (Euro uses a coin for 1 and 2 Euros). And then I bought a Mountain Dew--something I had been craving for the past 6 months--and was surprised to find that the price listed on the sign was not what I had to pay. It said "Pop-$2.09". So i laid $2.09 on the counter and the guy asked for, "$2.36". Damn it. So I paid the tax. "Welcome to America, Rick".
One nice thing was that while waiting in the seats to board for Minneapolis, I realized I forgot my entire Study abroad binder on the plane from Germany. But as I went to talk to the gate attendant, a Lufthansa flight attendant walked up and asked if "Rick" was around and had my black binder in hand. This woman came all the way from the international terminals, searched my connecting flights, and found me at the end of the domestic terminals just to give my my lost item. I love German companies and German service.
Flight to Minneapolis--check. Landed at 11:50 p.m. = 6:50 a.m. Germany time. Realize I had woken up at 6:30 a.m. the day before and had NOT slept at all on the traveling to the U.S. Then I was supposed to be picked up by my roommate (Matt) at 11:30. I had no phone. I had no coins. I had no way of reaching him. I'm panicking for a bit and pacing up and down the corridor hoping to catch a glimpse of my roommate. But Gott sei dank that I found a friend I knew from Minnesota, asked her if I could borrow her cell phone, found a number for my Roommate on my Palm, and ended up speaking with his mother who then gave me his cellular phone number. Got in touch, he showed up 15 minutes later. We loaded everything in, my other roommate came too (Jon), and when we were in the car, the conversation was as if I had never left. They didn't ask about Europe; they simply discussed normal events and happenings. When back in the apartment at 1:00 a.m. CST = 8 :00 a.m. Germany time, I dumped my stuff down and fell asleep very quickly.
The next few days contained the goal to see as many as my friends as possible and do as much "Minnesota-things" to remind me that I wanted to be here. After two days, I visited my friend Bridget in Maplewood. Pictured here is Jill and me taking a "MySpace Photo" (where you simply extend your arm with the camera in it and take a picture of yourself). Jill followed my blog the entire time I was abroad--something that really made me feel that a piece of Home was always with me in Freiburg.
While driving around with Bridget, I had the hard feelings of adjusting back to American ways. The streets were different, the businesses were different, the ads, the people, the cars, the skys. It wasn't home; it wasn't pleasant. But Bridget was always right there and she had just returned from Boston and had loved it. She left a lot as well, so in that day we could empathize as each missed home while being in it already.

Always amazing was/is Julie. Julie and I hung out for the first few days of my readjustment to American life. She had to put up with me always referencing what they would do in Germany and she had to tolerate my poor English because a lot of words were coming to my head in German and I then had to translate into English.
The second night, Julie cooked a deliciou pasta dinner and made caramel apples with sprinkles. Kristi is admiring her suggary delight here left.
Then a few days later, Julie, Sarah, Chris, and I went to the state fair (photos available on Facebook) and had an amazing time at the "Great Minnesota Get Together". I had so much fun with these friends, I still think about it often.

ich vermisse mein Heim.

I'm still adjusting to all the intricate aspects of American culture, currently emphasizing homework in addition to final exams, and missing Germany a lot. However, I am looking heavily into internships in Frankfurt and London next summer. If I'm in London, then I could work with Philipp and if I'm in Frankfurt, then I'll be back in Germany. I have a lot of work to do, but I'll make it happen and I will go back to Germany. I miss my home and there is no way I can leave it forever.

So I thank you for reading this blog. It has been an adventure abroad and a pleasure to know that you took the time to see me. Thank you!

Later Days,
Rick

The Last Week in Freiburg

The last week in Freiburg was one of the best. I spent every moment possible with friends and enjoying everything that I knew I would miss.

(Left) Friday night, Philipp and I went to a real German Football (Fussball=soccer) game. We had talked about it for almost a month as he insisted I see a real Football game before I fly to the U.S. We had real Rothaus Bier, we could see the Black Forest mountains behind the stadium, and we wore our Freiburg Sport Club Scarves with pride. My scarf was a parting gift from Philipp and rode by my side the entire flight/trip back to the US.
Philipp also insisted I learn the Baden Lied (the song from the region the team comes from). The entire game, I was cheering on Freiburg and shouting and singing in German with the German fans.

Philipp and Anne. These two are fantastic together and just started dating two weeks before I left Germany. They're adorable and I am (unendlich) endlessly happy for Philipp that he is happy in this relationship.

She works in marketing for the Sport Club Freiburg, and Philipp has been visiting these Football games with his father since he was big enough to stand.

After the game, Philipp and I met his father in the outdoor bier garten to discuss the sport, current developments, and enjoy a Rothaus together. (His father is the manager of the TravelEx banks in Switzerland)

And about Philipp and Anne, this showed me more of the European style of dating. They are more conspicuous in public in comparison to Americans. But the silver lining I found and try to tell myself, is that potentially it's good that I left them in Germany. Then as Philipp spends more and more time with her and less time with Viktor and me, I won't be as hurt as I slowly lost time to spend with him.

Philipp and Viktor after the Football match (Freiburg vs. Paderborn. Freiburg won 1-0!)
We met to enjoy a bier at Feierling Brauerei, Philipp's favorite micro-brewery in Freiburg.

Afterwards we went to the movie theater to see Transformers. Unfortunately, the movie wasn't showing any more that evening so we picked Quentin Tarantino's Deathproof (Todsicher), in which I fell asleep after about 15 mintues of the movie. I made a concious judgement that the movie was not better than sleep, so I opted for that. Good thing too, because Philipp and Viktor told me afterwards that the movie was pointless and absolutely terrible.

If you haven't seen a theme yet, let this remind you--we grill a lot. For my farewell, I invited a few friends over for drinks and grilling. Here Philipp, Anne, and Viktor prepare Shish-Kabobs for enjoyment.










While at the StuSie Bar one night as Viktor was bartending, I met two great Juristen = Law students. Thedo & Melissa gave me the bottle of Baden Champagne (Sekt) that I have at the apartment. We just had so much excitment chatting with one another (quatschen!).

They walked almost an hour to get to the farewell party becuase Thedo thought they were close and decided against taking the tram.

One of the best pictures from Freiburg. The day after the Farewell, Philipp, Viktor, Anne, and I got together for a "Veg-Out" night. We had pizza, bier, sweats, and movies. Well, I had sweats, Viktor was still over-dressed, and Philipp searched for a casual/comfy sweater, which was really great that he gave it the effort.

This was the beauty of my time abroad. Amazing friends having a great time, simply spending time together around a few beers and movies. I know I have my friends in Minneapolis, but I don't have all of them; I don't have some important ones. So I miss 'em.

As "Veg-Out" wrapped up, Viktor, Philipp, and I met the next day to hang out in the city, take photos by the Muenster, cook dinner together, and end the evening with drinks with friends at Philipp's place. That was the hardest night as I had to leave but knew that it was the last time for over a year that I could say "good night (or gute Nacht)" to my friends. It was so unfair that I had to leave all of it behind in Freiburg.

And on the final day, Philipp and Viktor arrived early at my WG, my Apartment, in Vauban to have breakfast together and spend the last four hours together. It meant alot that they came so early to take advantage of the time remaining. So I said my goodbye's to my roommates and we headed off to the train station. There, we waited for the train with all my luggage and in the chaos of climbing on with an apartment's worth of luggage and attempting a final goodbye, Philipp and parted as I began my journey 8000 km away. However, Viktor rode with me for the next hour as he was going in the same direction to go home for Semester Break. Having his company for that bit was a good consolation, but I was still distraught having just said good bye to Philipp and Freiburg in the same moment. Then as Viktor exited the train in Karlsruhe, my European adventure was officially over. I had to return to the United States and I had to leave, what developed to be my home, 8000 KM away.

The story of Readjusting is in the next post.
-Rick

We Grill A Lot.

As I've said, Germans love being outdoors, so any excuse they have to take advantage of that, they take. Therefore we grilled a lot, especially during my last weeks in Freiburg.

For Christoph's Birthday party, we grilled. He, the beloved cook, baked four varieties of delicious, made-from-scratch bread. He marinaded all the meat (about 6 pounds or 3 Kg) in a variety of sauces. And then add this to a wide selection of beverages and you've got "grillen".



As it was Christoph's Birthday, Janine bought for him his own easel that he could finally use here in Freiburg. He loves to paint, but always lacked the supplies to do so.

Funny story-- I always thought Janine and Christoph were dating, as they would commonly shower together or "uebernachten miteinander". Then I met Christian, who seemed to be dating Janine and I was completely confused and started making bad assumptions about the German Culture. Turns out they were just friends with benefits. That's something we have in America. Noooowww I understand.
The next night, another group of friends and I gathered to grill at StuSie. We met in the park and slowly tried to light the grill. With the introduction of rain, things went even worse. We hauled the grill to Viktor & Dora's building, planning we might be able to grill on the balcony. When finally let into the building, we realized that the coals were still going and we had no good way of getting it up 7 flights of stairs, so we definately put the lit grill in the elevator, as seen here at left.











Finally, everything was set up, about 10 people showed up with meat, bread, salads, and drinks. We grilled on the balcony without any of the roommates knowing we were there (for the first half).
Here you see Philipp with his stick--a necessary item for a man and fire. Behind him is Simeon (Darina's Boyfriend) and Darina.

This is also the night when Philipp and Anne officially started dating. We were pretty excited for him. Although, the details were really unclear until the next day. We were at the apartment grilling and he and Anne were just talking forever in the other room. We checked on them and they were simply conversing. That night we decided to go to Waldsee, the only club or bar popular on Monday nights, and Philipp and Anne were going to come along too, just later in Anne's car. But after arriving at Waldsee without them, I receive a text saying they wouldn't be able to make it. Then my response inquiring for details, and the lack of a response therafter. I'm pretty sure, but this was also the night when the next morning since I hadn't heard back from him, after he told me that he "always writes a response", I was really concerned for his safety. I ran to an internet cafe to search headlines to make sure nothing happened. Fortunately, we met up for Schnitzel that night and everything was alright. I was simply worrying for no reason.


Other things I learned about Germans:
*They pause the water during a shower to apply soap, then restart to wash it off.

*There is no Santa Clause, it's The Christmas Man here. And St. Nick comes around December 8th to put candies in stockings.

Now to move on to the last posts of my Deutsche Adventure.

Later Days,
Rick

Visiting the Isles of the North

After all the anticipation and planning, Philipp, Viktor, and I went off to London, Dublin, & drove through the countryside of Ireland.

Pictured left is Philipp and me at Buckingham Palace. The place was constantly littered with tourists, and surprisingly the palace was not very impressive. With what I assumed were strict Greek architectural lines, the only ornamentation was the (Wappe) or coat of arms on the gate.

So we saw the sights and met up with a friend of Viktor's, but other than that, we agreed that London was only a place to come on a business trip.

This picture summarizes our stay in London. Everything was so expensive that we looked for cheap deals everywhere. We ate so many cheap sandwiches, stayed in a dump of a hostel (as seen here), and avoided anything that required spending money. For this picture, I was practically standing in the other corner of the room--that's how small it was. And behind me in the room was the shower and sink--that wasn't a pleasant stay.
The exchange rate was bad, and the prices were worse. London hat uns nicht gut gefallen. i.e. we didn't like it.

So in between London and the auto adventure, we visited Dublin. The people were amazingly friendly, the city had a great atmosphere, and the hostel/University (which was on summer break) was the best hostel experience I've had. The city didn't offer too much for attractions (plus everything in Ireland is terribly expensive) so we found the city to be relatively less exciting than we anticipated.

But then we rented our auto for 4 days and headed Northwest to Achill Island. We found great bed & Breakfasts along the way (not terribly cheap, but amazing views with friendly hosts, and a full "Irish Fry" (translated to a full breakfast) every morning.
Here Philipp and I stand overlooking the bay from the Atlantic Ocean by the hills in Achill.
The next day we drove further south along the coast and found the Famine Memorial, directly across from this hiking path up the mountain (as seen here). The funny part was that we found the park where we wanted to have lunch, and Philipp & Viktor didn't translate the word "Famine", so we had our food at the famine memorial...great.

This was also the day of the first time I ever saw Philipp mad. He drove the entire day, stopping everywhere Viktor wanted to go and at the end of the day Philipp decided we would spend the night in a city where we could visit a pub. We searched a dozen B & B's for the best price and finally decided on one. Then 2 seconds after paying Viktor again raised a discussion that he didn't want to stay there. It was simply too much and, as everyone expects at least once on a vacation, the two butted heads.


All resolved, we drove the next day through the rain, mist, and fog to visit the famous "Cliffs of Moher". With only moderate enjoyment, pictured here are Viktor and Philipp. It rained the entire day and we just couldn't get a good view anywhere.


We also drove throug Limerick, the 3rd largest city in Ireland. They hated it becuase it was really industrial, but I kind of loved it becuase there were no tourists.

Then the last day we drove along the "Ring of Kerry" a touristy drive along the coast of Ireland (yet further south) and crossed the bridge onto Valentia Island. Poor Philipp, who drove the entire time, had to maneuver through roads too small for a single car covered in potholes and pedestrians.

Here almost finished around the Ring of Kerry, we stopped on the beach for a last moment of Irish air before heading back to Germany.

The trip home included driving through Cork, Ireland, driving through the night, eating all the remaining food we bought from Grocery Stores along the way (namely Tesco--our saviour--as the prices in restaurants and everywhere were outrageously overpriced), then flying to Friedrichshafen, taking the train to Basel, then connecting finally to Freiburg. Almost 20 hours just of traveling. We were glad to be back.

But then began my last week in Freiburg.

Later Days,
Rick

a short Vacay along the Border

--2007--

The Year of my European Adventure
The day after my last final, I went off to travel along the Western German border. First to Trier, Germany (the oldest city in Deutschland, older than the Romans).

The Elk here is the symbol for the Culture Capital of Europe for 2007, which is Luxembourg and surrounding area.

(I first thought it was something for MTV or Comedy Central when I saw it)
By the castle and park in Trier. The morning was rainy and a miserable walk across the entire city from the Hauptbahnhof (train station) to the hostel. But then the second I left the hostel to see the city everything cleared up.

What I first discovered in Trier.

The sign reads, "Dear Guests, we are taking a Vacation from Business from July 2- July 27. -Your ATHENA Team".

There's almost no way they could pull that off in the U.S.
But, hey, it's Europe. They take vacation.

(the marker writing simply says, "Open Today starting at 5:30")

The sunset in Trier. Really a beautiful city.

This was near the Hostel, the hostel that was more like resort.

Here, Nina (brunette), Linda (blonde), and I explored Luxembourg, Luxemburg together. Nina & Linda are friends from Uni-Freiburg.

Linda is actually from Luxembourg, so it was great having a personal guide through the city and then when we met up with her friends, I actually got to hear Luxembourgish. (almost, well, actually, a whole language on its own. A combination of slurred German with a bit of French influence)

As you'll see below, the city was gorgeous, founded in 963 above a large valley.

But we did have one jerk in the hostel room, the fat, hairy, foreigner who snored loudly and irregularly, and of course, slept in the nude, which added a disadvantage to the location.

Here is what I mentioned.

Luxembourg above the gorgeous valley (Tal, auf Deutsch) and with sunny weather fantastic for sitting on a bench with a cup of coffee.

Next after only 2 1/2 hour train ride I was in Liege, Belgium (french speaking part of Belgium). And, as always with the French, they only learn French. A few people had a pair of words in German, but I actually had it once where I went into the office building where Ernst & Young was located and asked the lady if she spoke English (I at least asked the question in French). "Non" was her answer. Wha?!?! Business center, speak English! That was a bit of a challenge. And here I am standing on the top of over 300 stairs, randomly replacing the need for a steep street.


And here a Belgian Waffel in Belgium. Because they spoke French and very little English, a friend in Freiburg actually recommended and wrote out what I should order. So when I went in I tried, but I ended up just showing the paper to the employee and they knew then what to do.

Maastricht, Netherlands. (Holland as all Germans say). I actually met a Dutch man in Liege and ran into him again in Maastricht where he studied for college for 7 years. He is a translator between Deutsch and Dutch, and English and Dutsch. So he gave me tipps on what to see in the city.

Unfortunately, I was so tired I just wanted to get back to Germany so I was only in the country for about 4 hours. Tired because in Liege was also a fat foreigner who snored.

And back in Germany I found Cologne (Koeln auf Deutsch). Right along the Rhein River, here the railroad bridge lies in the background over the Rhein.

The city prides itself very strongly on it's Cathedral...








The cathedral poorly pictured here.
Loaded with tourists, I of course went up to see the view and "do the sights". Although the city was great with a nice view, the tourists everywhere totally turned me off to it.

Well, now that the trip has been updated, I'll eventually get around to the blog of "Germany makes Party". The story of how right at the end of the semester, there was a party tent around every corner. BUT, I had to study all of July so that meant I was at home locking my windows trying to block out the sound.

More to come later.

Next I am off to London & Dublin with my best friends here, Philipp and Viktor.

Until then,

Later Days,
Rick