SCHWER, ABER SCHOEN. SO IST DAS LEBEN
Pictures
CBYX/PPP - 28 - Hamburg HafengeburtstagCBYX/PPP - 29 - Mein Geburtstag und Abschlussseminar in Berlin
First, My Mindset
A while back I had a conversation with Lutz, my roommate. I was having a bit of a bad day or two. My bike got stolen, I was worrying about my future plans, and just one of those times where it all comes together at once for a perfect storm of gloom.
Well, he called me out for consistently being down, frustrated, worried, stressed, etc. It was a bit of a shock/small surprise to hear, but he was and is totally right.
I always let the many aspects of my life get to me, or I worry and stress about them too much. I can't keep letting life freak me out or get in my way. I need to learn to love today, to enjoy what I have and what I am doing right now. To not be afraid to take chances, but not worry to death about the potential outcomes. I've got to keep it all in perspective, control what I can, and love every second there is air in my lungs!!!
So with this rejuvenated attempt at enjoying my life, here's what's been going down.
Hamburg, Jubilation
A couple of weeks ago, the beautiful city had another wondrous reason to celebrate. The Harbor turned 825 years old!!! Hafengeburtstag (Harbor Birthday) is a big party every year, but 825 was obviously a special one.
I was advised by my landlady and a number of people to go check it out. I took off early on Friday to do just that. Went home and made lunch and was going to go meet up with some people later. Well, it was wetter than a lake. The rain was pouring, and I did not wear my hiking boots. As soon as I stepped out of the train station, I was soaked in 10 minutes. I called it a night and went home to dry off.
Saturday was the big event, the Hafengeburtstags Schlepperballet. A tug boat ballet. I was pretty pumped for it. Long story short, it was cool. Not exactly what I was expecting, but definitely a unique event that we were able to enjoy. I spent the day cruising around with my fellow PPPlers Tyra, Derek, and Matt, and one of Tyra's friends Ellie. Although it was still like taking a shower all day, I was a little more prepared with my rain gear and waterproof boots. So despite the gloomy weather, it didn't dampen the mood! A successful day at the festivities.
Sunday I was invited to brunch at Tyra's guest family's house. A relaxing meal with great company, a common theme in my time here in Deutschland. Always a treat.
After that, me and Tyra walked around the festivities. The weather was much better. No rain, a little bit of sun, and tons of stuff going on. We walked through the whole harbor and got a little taste of what was going on. Big giant ships, helicopter fly-bys, booths and food and stuff, quite the good time. We worked our way over to Altona from the Innenstadt, and got to Tyra's guest mom's work, and got a nice place to relax and watch the Auslaufsparade (exit parade). Ships and horns and a cool place to watch it from. A great way to end the weekend.
I'm really pissed I didn't witness this. BUCKEYE BOUNCE!!!
Eurovision Song Contest
That Saturday night I got a very european cultural experience. It's called the Eurovision Song Contest. Here's a synopsis of this: BOOM Wikipedia.
Well, the public viewing for Germany was taking place in Hamburg!!! So amidst our adventures and wandering around on Saturday, we made our way to the stage for a little glimpse of the party and festivities. We didn't stay, every one was tired and wet, so we split up and I headed home to watch it.
Normally, I am not a fan of this kind of stuff. But this, this was enjoyable, and I got pretty into it. All of Europe in a 'friendly' competition to see who has the best music act, that's awesome!!!
The coolest thing was not the songs. There were some awesome songs, but the intro to each performer was something really cool and artistic. Here's a snapshot of what I'm talking about.
There were quite a few catchy songs, too. My favorites were from Sweden, the UK, and Belarus. Here's a playlist of all the ones I really liked...
Work
Has been off and on, boring and interesting. But last week I officially got a job offer to keep working at my current company. Woohoo!
Here's the skivvy. I would assume the role of On-Site Project Coordinator on site in Esbjerg, Denmark. I would spend 15 days on site, then have 15 days vacation. I would be responsible for technical documentation and reporting to the customer, communicating the developments of inspections and issues that need to be addressed, and I think the coordination of personnel. I would spend time working with the coordinator from the other companies, and work to keep things moving along. The idea behind this is to slowly work me into a Technical Consulting role, provide me experience, and slowly build up my know-how behind the work that we do.
So yeah, it would be a pretty good way to get officially started into a new job. I'd gain some good experience with project management/coordination, working in a big project, and all that stuff.
Right now, I'm 80% sure I'm going to take it. I'm waiting to get a couple answers to some questions I have about the details, but yeah. I might be calling Hamburg 'home' for a little while longer.
But I am also in the midst of the application process for an 18-month development program with another company. This would be quite the broad experience, with 5-6 different international rotations to gain experience in different projects and areas. I've got a phone interview on the 27th, and if I go further in the process, the Assessment Center day would be June 30. We'll see how things go with this!!!
Regardless, it looks like I might be staying in Germany for a bit longer after I officially graduate from this beloved CBYX/PPP Program. Who would've thunk!!!
24th Year Around the Sun
Well, my Birthday was Sunday, May 18th. And it turned out to be a memorable, relaxing, and absolutely wonderful day.
The night before I hung out with Lutz and his friends. We threw around the frisbee a little bit, grabbed some good 'ole Döner, then watched the DFB Pokal Finale (Final in the Germany Tournament). That was quite the exciting game between FC Bayern München und BVB Dortmund. It went into extra time, with Dortmund putting the pressure on the whole time. Well, one quick mistake by the Dortmund keeper, and München got on the board. They topped it off with a back breaker, and ended up winning 2-0. Quite the final!
We then started throwing the frisbee around in the train station. We got a couple evil looks, and I'm surprised nobody came out to stop us or tell us to go away. But, we threw in peace, and had a little fun. Only had to jump on the tracks twice to get the disc. Then at midnight, Lutz and a random lady on the train wished me 'Alles Gute' for my birthday. There is some humanity out there. :-)
We got home a bit after midnight and I was surprised with a little treat from my landlady. She gifted me a cool shirt to display my new Hamburg roots and baked some absolutely scrumptious rhubarb muffins!!! So great. A little chilling around with muffins and champagne and great company (again, a running theme) was a great way to start my Birthday.
That next morning I got up and jumped on an ICE train to Berlin. We've got our Final Seminar all week, so I decided to head down early to hang out or whatever. I got to Katherine's guest family's house and chilled around for the afternoon. I eventually passed out on the floor and got an awesome nap, which I apparently really, really needed. I woke up to some yummy Kaffee und Kuchen. I wish I could always wake up to that after naps...
Also, I got an awesome b-day gift from Katherine. I was pretty excited about it, hence the crazy eyes.
After a little essen und trinken, we (Me, Katherine, and my boy Pat) headed over to an event to help collect left over food for a local organization. We got a pretty good haul, and we ended up getting a free bottle of wine out of it too. Baller.
There was only one thing I wanted to do on my birthday. Back story: Two summers ago, when me and ZZ Tobes, aka Toblerone, aka Zach Tobin were wandering around Berlin, we stumbled upon this AWESOME beer garden. Super chill, on a pond, great food and beer, everything you could ask for. So my only wish was to go there, get some stuff to imbibe, and just make a nice, chill time out of it all with a few friends. So that's what we did.
Pat was unfortunately not able to join, but that left me in the company of two cool ladies, Katherine and my new friend Katrina. It was my first three-way date. Not bad for a birthday, I'd say...
We made our way to Cafe am Neuen See, and it was just what I wanted. Unfortunately the beer garden was closed, but we chowed on some yummy food and enjoyed some cool beer next to the pond with foxes and ducks gracing our company. After we sat around for a bit, we had a nice little adventure out on a row boat.
It was really everything I could have asked for in a birthday, with a chill atmosphere, good food and beer, great friends, and a little time on a row boat. All-in-all, it was the perfect birthday, and a great way to start my 24th year of life. WOOT WOOT!!!
Monday
A lazy start to the day and a little bit of rain led me to Starbucks on Pariser Platz to do a little work and wait for some friends to get into town. After that I wandered around the Hauptbahnhof a bit, and along the river, and eventually meeting up with Thad, Scott, and Cort, and then heading over to Potsdam.
When we got to Potsdam, we met up with one of Cort's old professors who is living in Potsdam on a professor Fulbright. Bikes were rented, and after a broken derailleur hanger on mine (thankfully just as we started to leave), we got a wonderful little tour of the town. I'd been there a few times beforehand, but that was my first time on the bike. We visited some places I was familiar with, and some I wasn't, and had a wonderful little evening.
Tuesday
After a relaxing morning, I dropped my bag off at our hostel for the week, and then did a little more wandering. Time wasn't as open as I thought, so I just made it up to the Reichstag green space and took a little nap, before meeting with Mike M. and Laura from the program.
We headed off together to the hostel to check-in, be bombarded by people we haven't seen in a while, and officially get the week underway. A quick intro from the program directors followed by a nice little dinner were on the list for Tuesday.
Our hostel was in an awesome area. The best part, there was a micro-brewery about 50m from it. And the best part of that, they had a Stout on tap. A true, american-like stout. ZOMFG was it amazing. I went there multiple times throughout the week, AND they gave me the glass to take. So much win.
Wednesday
This was the full day. We had an intercultural exchange and discussion that lasted all day. It was a great experience, where we talked about all of our experiences and stuff from the past year. One of the parts that we did involved a rating scale of events throughout the program. The program was split into the different portions (entry, Language School, University, Internship, Social Life, etc.) and we were asked to write out memorable times, places, people, events, etc. and put them on a board based on if they were good, bad, or in between. This was really interesting, to see how many different impactful things everyone had, and how they varied between everyone.
The picture below comes from a different part of the program. We had essentially a speed-dating setup, where groups of us would meet at tables and discuss a few questions about the program:
- What was the most difficult part of the program?
- Who helped get you through the tough times?
- What skills/abilities have you developed because of the program?
- What do you feel has changed in you?
After the thing, we went to this play called Flip. It was kinda like Cirque de Soleil. It was cool and acrobatic and stuff.
Thursday
So begins the official portion. We had quite the day lined up for us, and it turned out to be pretty cool.
First up was the U.S. Embassy. But it wasn't just our program, it included all of the other programs included in this umbrella of exchange programs. The bad part was, we were the only non-high school group there. Oh well, little kids need good experiences too, right! Hahaha
Well, we got in, had some fun, and were back on U.S. soil, if only for a couple of hours. We mingled and stuff, then got to meet the people that came from our home state. The little kidlets from Washington were pretty cool. Here's a pic of my PPP bros from the PNW, Colin and Charlie.
I gained some mad XP in something I've been working on over the last year. Next time you come over to my house, we'll have a cup of coffee and I can show you what I'm talking about...
After the U.S. Embassy, we walked over to the Reichstag and got to go in this time!!! We were treated to an introduction and welcome from the President of the Bundestag, the U.S. Ambassador, and quite a few other Bundestag members and higher ups. This included a Question/Answer session. After the introductions, they opened up the floor. Here's the video of the event (I'm at around 25:00, woot).
I was able to present a question to a panel of Bundestag reps regarding renewable energy. Holy tits was I nervous. I was shaking and sounded like a child the whole time. But, I asked my question, and got the most useless answer. I asked if there was any sort of information exchange regarding renewable energies between countries in place. The guy who replied talked about the fact that Germany doesn't want nuclear energy, but that renewables exist here in Germany. Didn't even come close to recognizing my question. Classic useless politician.
Afterwards, though, I got interviewed for the young-people portal to the German Parliament. They took my picture and stuff and asked about my year here in Germany. It was about the whole PPP program and getting an insight on the participants. Here's the article. I didn't get quoted or anything, Katherine did, but they just talked about the program and what it is commemorating.
After the day's events were done, we got fed, and were able to see an awesome sunset on top of the building. It was an absolutely gorgeous evening!!!
Friday
This year coincidentally coincided with the 65th anniversary of the German Basic Law, which was provided to help guide the new German country after WWII. This was quite the big event, and turned out to be pretty memorable.
The whole program (all 400 or so of us) were invited to the Reichstag to watch the event. We were hoarded into rooms in the building for a live broadcast of the event (that was going on in the same building). But before things got started, they started taking small groups of students that were able to run and jump over people fast enough, into the room to see it face-to-face. I was lucky enough to be in one of these groups. Below is a picture during the end of the event. Angela Merkel is the one in the center of the picture facing the front, with the beige jacket.
That was quite a unique cultural experience. Here is a commentary on the speech (in English, with parts of the speech translated into English), and the full German Text.
After the main event, we had a little break, just enough time to get changed into some shorts and a t-shirt (it was blazing hot all week), grab some food, then meet back up to head over to Tempelhof Airport. We were lucky to get a tour through the airport full of history from both Germany and America, and it was great to learn more about it.
The most impressive thing that I learned has to deal with the rooftop below. Our tour guide (Hans, "like hands, but with no D") asked us why the building was designed the way it was. As visible from a birds-eye view, the building looks like an eagle with its wings spread out over the airfield. I thought this was right, so I shouted it out. Wrong. The answer was waiting for us on the roof.
As you can see in the pictures, the roof is pretty tiered. Well, the Nazi regime planned to use the airport as a giant stadium. The existing structure is only half of what was planned, which makes it even more nuts. They planned on using Tempelhof as a yearly venue for an air parade to showcase the technical prowess and national pride, and so on and so forth. Just imagining that they planned to have roughly 1 million people packed on the roof of this building for an air show is absolutely nuts.
Friday night was a great time as well. We ended up getting a bunch of beers at the market down the street and started off by taking them back to the hostel and hanging out having some chill beers. After it got dark, we re-stocked, then headed down to explore and walk around Berlin at night. As always, surrounded by good company in an awesome city, the night went awesomely, ending things on quite the high note.
Saturday
Well, the seminar was quickly gone on Saturday, with breakfast then a little evaluation/information period, then the goodbye's started. I hate goodbyes, and I was sad while people started heading out. Getting so connected with such an awesome group is going to make it really hard once this program officially comes to an end.
I took an ICE back up to Hamburg, and slept the whole way. It's amazing how a week of seminars, drinking, hanging out, and a lack of sleep catch up to you. I felt good, got home and had some food before the Champions League final. Me, Lutz, and Elke were going to watch it out in the garden, but 20 minutes before the game started, we heard a little thunder. We got everything in just in time before the downpour started.
The first half was good, and I decided to take a little nap during halftime to get some more energy for a birthday party I was planning on attending later. Well, I woke up during extra time and felt drunk from exhaustion. I made my bed, and passed out. I really needed some sleep. Unfortunately I didn't make it to the festivities, but I was in no shape to do anything other than be unconscious...
Projects
When I was a kid, and still today, I know I was not good at art. There was one thing that I could do that turned out to look pretty cool. It's a line-design type thing, where you connect lines to make curves and stuff. Well I came up with the idea during the mid-year seminar, and I'm finally getting to making something out of it.
I'm making an alphabet, and it's turning out to be pretty cool. Some of the letters aren't quite what I want, but it's a work in process. I wanted to make this so I could make some sort of personalized water mark for my photos, that I can show it was my work. Overall, it's turning out pretty well.
The overall idea behind this is to use it as a watermark for my photos. Copyright and theft can be a problem with photography, so I figure I can establish my own 'brand' for use on my work. Who knows, maybe someday something more official will come out of this.
Here's a draft of the watermark. Comments, ideas, and suggestions are always more than welcome!
Germans being German
It is really funny to see Germans really portray the really stereotypical German qualities in themselves. Example: I went to a friends house for dinner. She just moved into the place, but she was unbelievably worried that she didn't have a coat hanger set up for guests. Honestly, I couldn't care less. But that was the first thing she mentioned when I walked in, "Es tut mir leid, ich habe keine Garderobe!" Funny seeing the stereotypical qualities come out. Nothing bad, just enjoyable and comical to notice.
My Life and Me - Negatives
For part of the exchange during the cultural part on Wednesday, we discussed what the extremely difficult parts of the program have been for everyone. During this, I came to the realization that I either a) have a terrible memory, or b) haven't really had many extreme negative experiences during the program, namely nothing I wouldn't experience in a normal life. This program has felt pretty normal to my life, just in new cities on a new continent.
My Life and Me - Impressions
For some reason, despite everything I do in life, I rarely am under the impression that what I do is out of the ordinary or anything special. Sometimes I get hit with moments of awe in understanding what I'm doing, but most of the time it just feels normal. I'm not sure why, but most of the times, this awe of what I do is suppressed, not intentionally, but somehow. And I'm not sure if this is good or bad, or if I'm just focusing on what I do and not making a huge deal about it, but just going for it and making things happen.
Reverse Culture Shock
Bogus term, you may think. I didn't hear these words until the intro seminar last July in D.C. But from the talk from Dr. Gary Weaver, it's real, and when I get back to the States, it's going to hit hard. It is going to affect all of us participants in many ways, and it is going to take some real effort to adjust to it.
Well, we were discussing the future and the program end and stuff, and we got to the topic of discussing our experiences with people when we get back. One of the aspects of reverse culture shock, as explained from past participants and directors and such, is the seemingly uninterested mentality of people back home. Granted, some people will truly care about what has gone on, how we've changed, what we've learned, and everything that comes with a year in a foreign country. But most people are not going to be this engaged or interested. They've got their lives, and that's that, we're just a little portion of that.
Stefan brought up a great point. We are going to have to actively balance trying to share our experiences with trying to understand that life went on with the people that we have back home. Yes, I am going to be ready to talk about any and all aspects of this program upside and turned around, but how interested will people really be? It may be a shock to me, but not everyone has the same intrigue in such an experience or what may come from it. Whether I come back to the US in July, or a few years for now, this is going to be a challenge to work through.
Up Next
I've got a really short week this week, and I'm looking forward to it. Work tomorrow and Tuesday morning. Then on Tuesday afternoon, I've got a phone interview for one of the positions I applied for. If I go further than this phone interview, I'll have an interview at the end of June. Who know's how it will all work out, but I'm along for the ride!
After the phone interview, I'm heading back to Süddeutschland, and off to Innsbruck for the weekend with Zack, Dawn, and Katherine. A nice little last hurrah for us four to do some hiking and hanging out in the mountains (Side note: I am PUMPED to finally get some more mountains around me...). I'm really excited.
After that, work and adventures. You know the drill...
Cultural Commentary
Father of Killed Missoula Exhange Student Slams Gun CultureThis article discusses the German Exchange Student that was shot and killed in Montana recently. One of the participants in the program, Michael Haupt, provided a beautiful commentary on the situation, especially with experience in both cultures. I think it is definitely worth a read.
I've thought a lot about this and I decided to write description of what it's like living in a relatively gunless society and why I think stuff like this happens pretty much exclusively in the States.
It's totally different living somewhere where not everyone can so easily obtain a weapon. It's actually one of the reasons that I really like Germany. Of course if you hunt, you can still rent or buy a gun, but it's really expensive and you have to jump through a million and one hoops to get it, but it is possible.
One the first things I've noticed is how police act differently here. This is because they don't always have to assume every person has a gun and might shoot them. They even look a lot friendlier here and in their presence I actually feel like they are there to protect me, not just searching for a reason to screw me over. As a matter of fact I have almost no trust for Police back home, even though I've never really had encounter with them and I'm not a minority that they regularly harass. (type in #myNYPD once)
(Major Cultural Difference- in Germany Police are sent to Protests to protect the protesters from the surrounding people as opposed to shutting the protests down like in the States)
In general I think people trust other people a lot more here. I think most people see the society from top to bottom as relatively fair, which is something I think is extremely important and I'll touch back on later. Fairness is something we've lost in the States, especially since wages have stagnated since the 80's, the middle class is disappearing, and the gap between the rich and poor continues to widen. People here are very well taken care of with health insurance, public transportation, and they can earn livable wages much easier. You really do have to try to end up homeless or without food here.
I've also noticed that the culture here is much less violent. My host family is often shocked by how violent some American shows are when they come on the tv. I think one positive thing about being here for a year is being shielded from violence, just so that I can look at my own culture with as fresh set of eyes when I come back.
Another huge, I mean huge, difference that I've noticed here is just how much respect and humanity Germans have for other people. Killing someone, no matter what the reason is, is just an absolute no-go. For example, most Germans would say that even though the German exchange student in the news story was probably stealing something, there were absolutely 0 grounds to shoot him. I think most Germans would even go further to say that breaking into someone's house is not a good enough reason. It is even rare here for a Police officer to have to shoot someone. It's in the law that lethal force can only be used in the most dangerous situations only after all other methods are exhausted.
This is quite different to what I would describe as a shoot first, ask second trigger happy culture that we have in the States. In many shootouts it's been tallied the US police had used upwards of 100 bullets in one shootout, sometimes even against unarmed suspects. And I think this extends on to regular people too. For example the man who just shot the exchange student in this story.
So, I've come up with what I think is a decent explanation of why such things happen in the States. I'm sorry if it's at times a bit brutal, but here it is.
Firstly, it has a lot to do with easy access to guns. Sorry if that offends you, but let's face it. Any person, even criminals, can easily and legally buy a gun. We've got an armed society that has basically an endless supply of guns to call upon.
Secondly, is a culture that glorifies violence, revenge, and vigilantism. If you don't believe me watch any old western movie. It's the 21st century, but people are still trying to be cowboys (need I bring up George Zimmerman?).
Thirdly, we live in the most individualistic culture in the world. People pretty much flat out don't care about other people. We, as a society, don't care if someone is sleeping on the street, we don't care if someone can't go to the doctor, we don't care if some guy robbing a bank gets shot, we don't care if our drones are killing innocent people halfway across the world, hell half of our Congress blocked a bill to close the gun show loop hole after 20 odd little kids where murdered in Newtown. Our society has pretty much lost all regard for human life other than our own, and that's truly tragic.
Finally, and I think MOST IMPORTANTLY, trust within our society has seriously broken down. I think this mostly has to do with the economic downturn and the high levels of inequality in the US (but just as important is that society is also perceived as being highly unequal).
I could go on and on about inequalities in the US, but the point is in such a society were no one trusts each other, that trust is replaced with fear. People fear the police, they fear the government, they fear they will lose their jobs, they fear they will lose their stuff, they fear each other. People don't really know what to believe in so in American fashion they decide to take matters into their own heads. Since they don't really think about how valuable human life is, it's easy for them to just shoot without thinking twice.
So it's really sort of a perfect storm of culture that brings us to this point, but I think that if you took the fear out things would improve quite dramatically. But, I think that would only happen if society was perceived as being relatively fair.
--Michael Haupt
Original Publish Date: May 25th, 2014