ZÜRICH FOR THANKSGI... OMG MOUNTAINS

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To start, here's a couple thoughts I forgot to put up from a week or two ago:

I am absolutely amazed by the history that is going on today. I feel like it is much more prevalent being over here compared to the states. There are things that will, down the road, be the things that are taught in History classes as landmark events in time. The splitting of Sudan, a possible independent Scottish nation, the NSA Scandal, the protests in Ukraine and Thailand. I feel like, even without trying, I'm so much more aware to the current events of the world here, and they feel so much more real. We live history every day, and it's weird but pretty awesome to really think about it.

Last Saturday, I went to the home FC Magdeburg match. It was finally my first European soccer match, and was full of surprises. First off, I went with a new friend Robert and his buddy Hannes. Overall the game was pretty cool, but there were a couple super cool things that I got to experience. First was the riot at halftime. Surprisingly it wasn't Magdeburg against the visiting Leipzig, which holds a pretty healthy rivalry. No, it was Magdeburg vs. the Police. This was pretty cool to witness. Check out the video.

Then after halftime there was a bomb/firework thrown on the field that caused a pause in the game. Magdeburg got the win 3-1. Then later on we headed to a packed sports bar to watch the Bayern München vs. Borussia Dortmund Bundesliga game. Quite the even game, until about the 70th minute, then Bayern just took over. Pretty cool seeing all of the fanfare over the biggest game of the year. It felt kinda like the Super Bowl.

Caught up to date, let's continue.

This past weekend was probably my favorite weekend in the past 4 months. And oh yeah, I've been in Europe for officially four months now! Holy crap this has gone by fast, but I have sure enjoyed every bit of it!

The Weekend--Thanksgiving in Europe

Last Wednesday I took a night flight down to Zürich to meet up with Emily, an old friend from OSU, and her flatmates to a) celebrate Thanksgiving and b) explore Zürich and the area. On all accounts, it was definitely worth it, and turned out to be an amazing weekend!

CBYX/PPP - 18 - Zürich for Thanksgi... OMG MOUNTAINS

I got in late Wednesday night, so hit the sack shortly thereafter. On Thursday I explored/walked around Zürich and saw a large portion of all of the sights. I walked along the Limmatt, saw some cool churches and buildings, got let in to the Opera House thanks to a little bit of smooth-talking, then got down to Lake Zürich. Zürich is situated right on a big, gigantic lake, with hills and mountains completely surrounding it. It was a little cloudy on Thursday, but I got to see some hills (that I would later make my way to) over to the West. Absolutely beautiful to FINALLY have some elevation on the horizon. This whole flat land stuff gets to me.

After a little chillin by the lake, I made my way to the infamous Bahnhofstrasse, which is home to some extremely ritzy stores and some of the famous Swiss Banks. Holy crap is stuff expensive. Overall, Zürich and Switzerland is quite the expensive place. But walking down this street was pretty dumbfounding. See the picture of a watch. No way in hell I would ever pay that kind of money for something to put on my wrist. Ho. Lee. Carp.

Next, I started my way to Uetliberg, which is the hill that I saw down by the lake, and I heard it had a great view of the area. I took the tram over, and hiked up the hill, and although the viewing tower was closed down (sad-face), I was not disappointed. It was located on the hill overlooking Zürich, but also overlooked the rest of the lake, and had the Swiss Alps as an amazing backdrop. When I got up there, there was a little opening to see the mountains off in the distance, and it was absolutely gorgeous. I spent a good amount of time up there just taking in the cool, crisp air, and staring at the beauty that is the Swiss Alps. It'd been a long time since I'd seen mountains, and this was truly a sight to behold. The pictures don't do it justice.

Video - GREETINGS!!!
Video - Scenery

Reluctantly I left the hilltop and made my way back to civilization, but thankfully we a had something extra special coming up, Thanksgiving!!! Emily had invited me down to celebrate with her friends in town, and we had quite the setup. I made some garlic mashed potatoes (my first time ever, they turned out great), and there was a big ole turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, green beans, all of it.

And it all tasted amazing! To top it off, we had some football going the whole time (depressing because my Packers looked like crap, but football nonetheless) with wine flowing all night. It was an absolutely great time with great people from all around the world (USA, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, and others, pretty awesome)!!!

ZOMFG Mountains

I knew I wanted to do a day trip into the mountains at least one day while I was there, and early Friday morning I decided to do it on Friday. The weather looked to be better then than the other days I was in town, so boom. LET'S GOOOO!!!

The plan was to head to Mühlehorn, and from there make my way up to a hiking trail that I found online. At the trailhead I'd take a lift to the top, then hike my way down. So I bought a ticket to Mühlehorn, which would be good all day in the region, turned out to be a HUGE plus. Got to Mühlehorn, and was instantly blown away. The train station I stopped at was situated right on a giant lake with mountains all around. As someone that needs mountains, but has gone without for quite some time, this was so amazingly comforting.

Video - Mühlehorn Scenery

I stopped and stared in awe at the beauty that was around me. Big mountains. A crisp, sunny day. A sparkling blue lake. All of it there to enjoy and take in. It was amazing.

From Mühlehorn, I walked about an hour and a half to the chair lift. The walk was absolutely beautiful, providing new sights and views of the mountains and the lake the whole way. I walked along the road most of the time, but did a little hiking in there too. I also tried hitchhiking for the first time! Let's just say I think the Swiss are either not ready for me, or they all had somewhere really urgent to be. I hope it's the second one.

Well with all of the walking and short breaks to be amazed by where I was and what I was seeing, I got to the lift hill. It looked like it was closed, which was kind of sad. It might have been open, but I didn't chance walking up to the hut from the road because the only bus was coming soon. So I ditched my original plan and got lucky from an awesome bus driver. So my train ticket said it was good for all transportation in the region. But as the bus driver explained to me auf Deutsch (this happened a lot, and I understood it almost every time!!!), the ticket was good for all transportation in the region, but starting in January. Thankfully, he was super awesome and gave me a lift anyways! The ride down the mountain was absolutely beautiful. Continued sights of the mountains, lake, towns in the valley, and everything, it was jaw dropping.

Well, I was painstakingly trying to decide where to go next. Walenstadt or Sargans. Walenstadt was on the other side of the lake, and seemed like it could have a cool thing going for it, and Sargans was a little further on down the tracks, with a castle (handy dandy atlas coming in handy, what up). AND, as I analyzed on the map, there was a possibility for a little novelty excursion on top of my excursion. Long story short, I decided on Sargans.

It was only a short train ride away, and I got some more amazing views of the lake and the mountains along the way. Sargans turned out to be a great choice. I got there, did a little research on my excursion within an excursion, then made my way up to Schloss Sargans. It is definitely one of the smaller castles I've ever seen (looked more like a military fort than anything), but it provided probably the best view I had all day. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Absolutely amazing...

Video - Initial Views
Video - Greetings from Schloss Sargans!!!

Well, it was just a short break before my excursion within an excursion began. I hopped on a bright green bus in Sargans headed for... LIECHTENSTEIN!!! Never heard of it? Shame on you, it's only the fourth smallest country in Europe! After a quick bus ride I was walking around in the second largest city of this principality, Vaduz, with a whopping population of 5,700 people. In all honesty, I went just for the novelty, but upon getting there, it was just as beautiful and cool as the other places I'd seen during the day. I walked around downtown, got a couple souvenirs and they had one of the coin rolling things (!!! I collect them), and then hiked up to the castle overlooking the city.

Video - Welcome to Liechtenstein!!!

Well, unfortunately, the castle is closed to the public. I walked up there anyways to take a look at the place. There were still some great views from up there. While I was walking by the castle, I saw a guy in a hut at the gate, so I decided to ask him a little bit about the place (auf Deutsch, go me). Turns out that the castle is home to the Prince of Liechtenstein and his family. So it's actually the royal palace! I thought this was really cool, that the Prince of the country can pretty much overlook his entire domain, and the fact that it used to be a royal palace, and in today's day and age, it still is!

After checking out the castle, I headed down the mountain, and decided I wanted a beer in Liechtenstein, because I can. Also, I needed a beer glass from the country. Sidenote: I have collected a beer glass from every country I've been to during this program, and from some countries multiple, and am so far up to 22 glasses. Check it out!

2020.05.02 - I can't find the picture of all my beer glasses...

So I got my beer, which was delicious, acquired a cool glass, then started the trek back to Zürich. What a long day, a day full of beauty, and a day leaving me wanting so much more adventure in one of the most beautiful regions I've ever been lucky enough to set foot upon. Just amazing.

The Rest of the Weekend

It was about an hour and a half back to Zürich, and once I got back, I had a little surprise waiting for me. Although I wasn't able to make it to Oregon for Thanksgiving, I got to Skype with my Mommy and sisters while they were all together!!! It was great talking with them, catching up on how they spent their turkey-day, and getting caught up on everything that's been going on. I miss them.

Might be the best funny picture I've ever seen or taken. Props to mommy.

Later that night, we went to the branch campus of ETH (Zürich's Technical University), and went to a bar/club/lounge that was having two different parties. One was an 80's dance party hosted by a bunch of biology students, and the other was a party that was being put on by a physics lab (I think). Either way, fun was had and rugs were cut.

Saturday was a little later start, but I got some more exploring done around the city. First I made my way to the FIFA world headquarters. It's situated way out of the city, next to the zoo. Once I got there, the gate was open, so naturally I made myself welcome and headed in. There was a giant staircase that led to the building, and on the sides of each step they had engraved all of the names of the member countries. I thought this was sooper cool. Well, before I could make my way down, some lady came out and told me I had to go. BOOOOO. Kinda lame, and I didn't get to see the museum in there.

From FIFA, I walked across a valley and through a park with a giant, probably the biggest ice rink I've ever seen. Kinda cool seeing all the people frolicking and falling on the ice, after it had snowed the night before, which provided a beautiful backdrop. From the ice rink, I walked a little further and made it to The Doldan Grand, a super swanky hotel on a bluff overlooking Zürich and the lake. Beautiful view here. And, when I walked inside, I walked into the warm, coddling lap of luxury and his mistress (not sure if luxury is a guy, but let's run with it). Well this place was all sorts of swanky. I felt all sorts of out of place with my hiking boots and down jacket. A harp in the lounge, display cases of outrageous jewelery, porcelain, and unnecessary items, and other things of extravagance. The staff was nice though, all saying hi to me as I aimlessly wandered the corridors.

From there, I made my way downtown again and explored the Weihnachtsmarkt they packed into the Hauptbahnhof (main station). Pretty cool. There was this one cheese-based dish that I wanted to get, but it was true to Swiss fashion, super expensive in my standards. Finished walking around there, walked up to the West Town area, and stopped at Steinfels for a beer. Had my first Christmas Ale of the year, and OH BOY was it delicious!!! It reminded me a ton of the Great Lakes Christmas Ale I frequently got into this time of year in Ohio. Damn, so good. Then went to this crazy hipster/boutique messenger bag store. It was all sorts of overpriced and pretty interesting, but the top of the store had a nice view of town.

Next to that, I went to a bar with probably 6 badminton courts. That was a cool setup. Reminded me of the volleyball courts in a lot of bars in Northern WI that I saw visiting my aunt up there. Then walked along this place called The Viaduct. It's a train bridge that looks like an old Roman Aquaduct, but between the arches, they put stores. This reminded me a ton of the Short North in Columbus. A very artsy, hip place to be. And it made me miss Columbus. Not gonna lie though, as the day after the Alps, it was a little sad. Even though Saturday was fun, you just can't top a day where you're surrounded by beautiful mountains...

Sunday I hit up the Landesmuseum, aka the Swiss National Museum. This was cool, and took you through the whole history of Switzerland. Lots of stuff to see. And they even had a whole exhibit on furniture!!! Which I conveniently just walked right through. It was cool reading up on such a unique country. Switzerland is surrounded by some of the most historical countries in the world, is right in the middle of the Eurozone, and yet still remains to stay in its position of neutrality. They touched on this a lot, and a common headline/point on the signs was "Alliances?". Kinda funny to see, but very interesting to read up on.

Well, after that, I walked back down to the lake to take in a few last breaths of the sights and this awesome city. Overall, I had an amazing time in Switzerland. It was an absolute blast catching up with Emily and meeting all of her friends and housemates. I wish her all the best in her PhD Program Applications!!!

Going through the airport, I stopped in the duty free shop (it was conveniently the only way to get all the way through security). And BOOM BABY dropped the hammer and picked up a couple of bricks of Toblerone Dark Chocolate. Holy crap is that stuff delicious. I cracked open the first bar when I got home and was in sweet-tooth heaven.

And on the way home, I hit the flying jackpot. My flight there was in November, my flight back in December. What does that mean? A new airline magazine in my seat pocket. LETS GOOO!!! And Tom and Jerry was playing on the flight TVs. What awesomeness. The only downside, was that I was on the opposite side from the Alps. It was clear flying out of Zürich, so I could have had an amazing view, but I was on the wrong side. Sadface...

Beard Update

I love the headphone's I've got, one reason because it's got the little volume and control toggle on the cord. Well, my beard has gotten to the point where I need to move my headphone wires to rest on top of my beard if I want to actually use the controls. If I don't, I have to dig through my beard to find the controls. My beard is big, and getting all over the place.

I do love my beard. It is quite awesome, and I find it pretty representative of me. It's kinda my thing, and I like it. But despite all of this, I'm kind of excited to cut it down a little bit. I'm ready for a little bit of a change. Although I'm looking forward to changing things up, I'm still going for the yeard. Perseverance baby.

You HAVE to be able to Laugh at Yourself

I'm learning this. And actually getting quite a lot better at it. And boy am I glad, because I'd be getting myself pretty pissed off and embarrassed quite often. Here's an example why.

Never before have I mistakenly entered the women's restroom more than in the last few months of my life. I've done it at least 4 four times. I don't think I'd done it more than 4 times in my previous 23 years of existence.

Every time, I walk in ready to take care of business, then I'm like, "Hmmm, what a weird bathroom with no urinals. I've never seen that before..." and THEN 2-3 seconds later I go "Oh crap, wrong bathroom" and make my way to the exit. In the airport in Berlin was the first time I got confronted. Right as I opened the door to leave there was a stalky German lady standing there giving me a heavy "WTF" face. I could only laugh and move on.

But honestly, the pictures on the doors are very similar, , and in a different style, and sometimes it's just words and my infantile german brain is not quick enough to distinguish between 'Damen' und 'Herren' fast enough. That and I think I'm always thinking about three other things at the same time, it just doesn't register until it's too late. That or I'm going insane. Yeah, that sounds more plausible.

Things I Learned About Things This Weekend

1. Flying is a very different experience in Europe. Especially in Germany and Netherlands. In the USA, you get a crazy hectic check-in counter, and helluva long line to get through security, then usually some other kind of headache once you get through the terminal to the gate. Not in Europe. Last year in Amsterdam, and at Berlin, the security checkpoint and check-in was at the gate. Because of this, the terminal at Berlin-Tegel was a lot more crowded and hectic. Now Zürich, on the other hand, was the flying experience from heaven. Check in was empty, it took a total of 5 minutes (including speaking auf Deutsch with the lady!), security was an absolute breeze, and the place was the most well kept airport I've ever seen. So if nothing else, Europe has more of a broad spectrum for travelers to experience. We'll see how my time with Easyjet goes in January. Like to an irrelevant topic, but something I find interesting and agree with.


2. In Switzerland, trains go on the left side. It's like Britain roads. But it's not Britain. And they're not roads. I thought this was pretty interesting.


3. Switzerland might be my new favorite country. Zürich is absolutely beautiful, and Switzerland is drop dead gorgeous, if nothing else than just because of the mountains. Yes, there were that awesome, and I only saw a small portion of them. I know for sure my future will have more of Switzerland than I previously would have thought. It is absolutely gorgeous, and I would highly suggest it to anyone looking for somewhere to travel.


4. Baggage collection at Tegel - worst I've ever seen. Never before have I seen a more poorly designed baggage carousel and waiting area, I was pretty appalled. Well, it was a small oval track (no more than 20m all the way around), and was right outside the exit bridge, and connected to a couple (at least one) other gate. Well, the bags get dropped in from the middle after coming up a conveyer belt. BUT they don't get let on to the carousel unless there's a sufficient gap between the bags already on the carousel. Well, we got there and there were bags from 3 other flights still on the carousel sitting there. Along with that, there was another plane that just landed in the gate right next to us. So there were 3 flights worth of leftover bags and 2 new flights that needed to get through. Long story short, their system was absolutely terrible. Shame on them and the terrible engineers they employed to design that waste of a system

Things I Learned About Me This Weekend

1. My impatience translates to every bit of my life.
   I always want to find out now and not wait. This is prevalent in ALL aspects of my life. Job Interviews? Why haven't they gone through all of my papers and stuff, I sent it to them only 9 hours ago and still haven't gotten a reply! Looking for an apartment? Man, the world is slow, I was given the ok to move last night and I still have not moved in somewhere and am already used to it. But also for little stuff too. I'm always wanting to just get stuff done, or get a final decision on things, that I rush things in an attempt to get to that end result. This could be beneficial in some aspects, but mostly I just put unneeded stress on myself when a little patience and a slower tempo would do me a world of good.


2. I'm a nature guy.
   Straightforward and clear. I can't get enough of the outdoors. Cities are cool, but walking through once is usually enough for me unless there's a cool museum I want to see or if I know something about an historical event that happened there. Otherwise, it's usually a quick "that's a cool building" then on to the next one. But not when I'm outside, out of the city, and surrounded by trees, lakes, and mountains, and especially all three at once. Every time I am surrounded by the world out in nature, I just can't help but stop and stare. Or when I'm taking advantage of nature by mountain biking, boating, hiking, whatever, there's just nothing better than that!


3. I need to settle down in a geographically awesome location.
   From this trip, from my life experiences thus far, the places I've lived, and finally getting back to some mountains, I came to a realization. I don't think I could settle down anywhere without some combination of trees, mountains, and water. Honestly. It just changes my demeanor having any or all of these things close by, so I don't think I could establish myself somewhere without them. PNW lookin might fine right about now...


4. I need to learn to make moves.
   And not be such a wimp when it comes to initializing things. This applies to any aspect of my life. Whether it be getting out and finding something to do, going to talk with a girl I'd probably have no chance with, going to meet new people in a hostel or new city, or just anything. I let opportunities pass too frequently. I need to change that and be proactive. I can't keep waiting for things to happen. I need to make things happen.


5. I like dancing when I know the words to the song.
   A little alcohol running through my veins mst definitely helps too. If there's a familiar song busting through the speakers, I've got a good buzz going, and I'm surrounded by good friends, there's a good chance a dance party is taking off right about then. If not, it's a different story... I don't know, I just like being familiar with the tune. This could probably get pretty philosophical too, but I'll save that for a later date.


6. I'm a crazy balance of introvert and extrovert.
   I love doing things on my own. I've been able to do a lot of traveling by myself, and have been able to do some awesome things because of it. It's hassle free, I can do what I want when I want, and I get some alone time.
   
   Despite this, I have really come to cherish the company of close friends, new and old. It's so much fun to be around all of the great people I know. I love being around other people and developing those friendships. Whether it be at home, especially here in Magdeburg where I'm trying to get something social in every night (double purpose, get to hang around some cool people, and most likely get a ton of german language practice in), or on the road traveling.
   
   This trip was such a great combination of the two sides of myself. I got to explore, wander, change things up, and experience a ton of things on my own during the day (my trip to Liechtenstein would not have been the same with another person tagging along). Then at night I got to hang out with some great and genuine people. That kind of combo is hard to find, but something I will seek no matter where I go.


7. I like to reminisce.
   I had my computer with me, and a good portion of the flight/train travel, I was going through old documents and pictures. I have done a shitton of things in my life, traveled to a ton of places, and have met more great people than I can remember. With always having something going on, sometimes I forget about that, so it's refreshing to look back on the things that I've done and seen.
   As a note of this, I'm going to share something with all of you that I found pretty relevant to my life right about now. My sophomore year at OSU I took a digital photography class as an elective. For my final project, I made a vertical panorama from right before the sunrise, all the way over to the moon about to set. I compared that to my life then, and it is still pretty relevant to my life today. Enjoy.
   
   
   
8. I suck at asking questions.
   This will get touched on later. I'm not good at formulating meaningful questions of things that I want to know on the spot. I'm a pro at doing it after the fact, but on the spot is not a high point in my repertoire. This came evident in my Guest Family interview last week, but also with the job interview I had today. I have no idea why, but I just suck at it. I need to spend more time before events like that thinking of meaningful questions I need to ask.

Back to the Real World (Can I Call this That?)

Today I had my first interview with a German Company for ein Praktikum (internship). It was SO much different than any other interview I've ever had. Not sure if I've explained this already, but even the application process is extremely different. So with my application, I sent a Cover Letter and a resume, both of which pretty much sum up any job that I've done in the past. But on top of the Cover Letter and Resume, I sent a packet of all my transcripts, photocopies of my diplomas, an exit interview from a past internship, and a couple certificates of participation from various programs or events. So right off the bat, they know a little bit more about me.

Well, the interview was all sorts of laid back. Now, looking back on it, there's a good chance that because this company was pretty small, this could be an outlier experience. Regardless, they just spent a few minutes talking about what the company does, their project focus and technology realm that they specialize in, and some other stuff. We discussed what an intern would most likely be doing, they asked me about my interests, my long term plans (here in Germany, where would I like to work/settle, stuff like that), and then asked if I had any questions (I scrambled here, but ultimately failed).

No "Describe a time where you over came a big challenge", or "What are your strengths/weaknesses?", or "How do you work in teams?" kind of questions. All just a big laid back discussion about the company, my interests and goals, what they might be able to offer for an internship, and that was that. Super chill, low pressure, and not intense at all. Although I'm not too interested in this company or the things they do, they really made me feel comfortable talking to them, and were very helpful in explaining the different options they could provide. Overall a pretty good experience. I've got to email them back, let them know what I think about what was discussed, then probably go in for another interview. At least it's something!

Looking Back

It's already been four months in Germany. FOUR. That's RIDICULOUS!!! This time has gone by extremely fast. I've lived in two different cities, visited so many amazing places, met more amazing people than I could try and count, and I'm not even half-way done with the program. This is such an amazing experience, I can't adequately put it into words.

What's Next?

I'm still on the search for a new place to live. I've got an appointment tomorrow with a guy from an apartment company, so I'm hoping he might have something good I haven't found yet. I've been running searches online to try and find something, and trying to get other people to keep an eye out. So far, nothing firm just yet. But we'll see how things go.

I'm still on the search for an internship. All the big names and the positions that I really want haven't replied yet, with either something good or something bad. That's kind of frustrating. I need to keep searching for potential places to work, not only here in Magdeburg (there's not much else to search, so this might be running dry super soon), but also throughout Deutschland. I'm really hoping I can find something that will be a good experience, and hopefully turn into a career. I've also recently got the feeling that I want to try and find something in Project Management. And one of the companies I applied with had the perfect internship for that, and they have offices throughout the world (including Vancouver B.C.). This would be a match made in heaven, but no reply just yet. Fingers crossed and thumbs held tight.

This weekend I'll be heading up to Lübeck for a frisbee tournament with the team from Magdeburg! I'm excited! It'll be an indoor tournament, so fun there, then we're going to go to the Lübeck Weihnachtsmarkt! I've heard that one's pretty cool, and I'll get to go with some of my new German friends! This should be a fun weekend!!!

Next week, I'll be assisting in the set up and running of a Weihnachtsmarkt in my little part of town. This should be pretty cool. We've had a few meetings thus far, but it's next week, so things are coming to fruition. Not sure what all I'll be doing, but it'll still be a pretty unique experience!

It's Christmas time already. Woah. That's weird. Right now, I've got a tentative plan for Christmas Break:

• Dec. 19-23 - going to Nürnberg with some friends to explore
• Dec. 23-26 - maybe somewhere in the Black Forest or Southern Germany to hike and relax for Xmas
• Dec. 29-Jan X - headed to Hamburg to celebrate New Year's with my Friend Lutz. Sooper pumped for this.

I don't have classes until Jan. 6, so I've got a nice long break to go have some fun. There's also a chance that my Mommy might be coming out during Christmas Break. So if that happen's there'll probably be a change of plans. But we'll see how things play out.

Other than that, it's class, searching for internships, trying to find a place to live, playing a little frisbee, working on my German, rinse and repeat. I still feel extremely blessed every day to have this amazing opportunity. I learn something every day, either about myself or the world I live in, and couldn't be more thankful. Yes there's ups and downs, but that's life. This has been, and will continue to be a truly amazing experience.

Original Publish Date: December 4th, 2013