Darmstadt - Summer 2008

"... in my little town."

2008-08-17T22:43:00.003+02:00

Hello everyone!

After a long delay, I'm back! Hopefully you haven't been holding your breath. I had hoped to finish the blog earlier, but with family and friends in town for the last two weeks and with a trip to St. Louis for a concert with my brother, I was unable to get to it. I'm sorry if this delay has worried any of you. I am currently in good health and happiness at home.

When we left off, it was my last full day in Darmstadt, and on the following day (Thursday July 31st) I would be heading to Berlin for one final adventure before the end of my travels in Europe. I had no problems with the checkout from my room, although saying "goodbye" at my place of work took longer than I had expected. With my luggage in hand and on back, I took the trolleys through Darmstadt to the train station. From there, I took a train to Frankfurt and then another to Berlin. As always, the view of the countryside was enjoyable. I arrived at the Berlin train station around 5:30 PM local time, taking the S-Bahn across town to a stop near Three Little Pigs, my hostel. As it turned out, the hostel was connected to a Catholic church which made going to Mass on Sunday much easier. After I had checked in, I ate some dinner in Mitte at a nearby Italian restaurant and then returned to the hostel to make plans for the following day.

On Friday morning, I woke up at 7:00 AM, eating breakfast at the cheap and delicious buffet in the hostel. I would need all the energy I could get as I did more walking that day than my longest day of walking in Paris. I first walked northwest along Stresemannstrasse to Potsdamer Platz and then north along the eastern edge of the Tiergarten past the Brandenburger Tor to the Reichstag, the place of the German parliament where a fire helped bring Hitler to power. After about an hour in line, I gained entrance to the building and was allowed access to the roof where I would enjoy the view of the surrounding area and the solar cone which gives power to the building. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to tour any other parts of the building. Afterward, I went back to the Brandenburger Tor where President Reagan gave a famous speech in 1987. Next I walked through the Tiergarten along the Strasse des 17 Juni, stopping by a Soviet war memorial along the way toward the Victory Column where Senator Obama gave a speech to 200,000 people just a week earlier. After exploring the grounds surrounding the Victory Column and taking a break in the shade, I set off for the Tiergarten S-Bahn stop and took that all the way to Alexanderplatz where I visited Neptune's Founatain and the base of a large communications tower, also stopping for a snack along the way. Next I walked southwest to the Berliner Dom and Rotes Rathaus. After touring the inside of the these buildings, I went to Babel Platz, the location of the infamous book burning done by the Nazis during their reign of terror. Then I went south to Checkpoint Charlie which didn't have any of the original Berlin Wall remaining as I had anticipated, but the location did have a museum which described the resistance against and escape from Soviet occupation during and after the construction of the Berlin Wall. Eventually, I went to the northeast part of the city to the Berliner Mauer Dokumentationzentrum which was right next to a long stretch of the original Berlin Wall. By this point it was getting late in the evening and I was quite tired and hungry. Luckily, I was able to find a market where I bought some snacks for immediate use and for the next few days. I ate dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant and then proceeded to head back to the room.

On Saturday morning, I again woke up early and ate breakfast at the hostel. I would travel to the nearby town of Oranienburg that day to see KZ Sachsenhausen, a Nazi concentration camp where, accoring to Let's Go: Germany, more than "100,000 Jews, communists, intellectuals, gypsies, and homosexuals were killed between 1936 and 1945." Needless to say, it was a mostly somber experience and often sorrowful. I was able to see the various methods of containment, the barren grounds, the cramped bathrooms and sleeping quarters, the monument of the Soviets who later used the camp as a detention center, various sytems of execution, the experimental "medical" wards, among other things. It was a really sobering and absolutely worthwhile experience. Afterward, I ate a late lunch at a local grocery store before taking the one hour train ride back to the city center. After dropping off my things at the hostel, I decided for dinner that evening I would jump onto a random train going an unknown direction within the city, get off after a random number of stops, and attempt to find dinner without the aid of a map or locals. Eventually, I settled on a Turkish meal outside one of the stations. After finishing my meal, I returned to the hostel in order to prepare for my final full day in Berlin.

On Sunday morning, after once again eating breakfast early at the hostel, I set out to visit the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, nickednamed "the hallow tooth" by Berliners. Apparently the original building was damaged during WWII and the more modern buildings were build a few decades later. Unfortunately, the church was closed for exploration on Sundays, go figure. After exploring the area surrounding the church, I traveled back to the Tiergarten, this time to first explore the Zoologischer Garten, Germany's oldest zoo. There were a huge number of animals of all shapes and sizes. Particularly enjoyable was the Aquarium which housed creatures ranging from sea crabs to eels to crocodiles to walking sticks. I don't know if it was because I was extremely hungry or because of the spider and centipede exhibits, but at some point I began to get "the chills" and was a little woozy. After getting a snack, however, I felt a lot better and did some more exploring of the zoo, seeing the lions and elephants, among others. Afterward, I took the S-Bahn across town to the German Technical Museum, stopping for another snack along the way. The museum had a variety of exhibits ranging from engines to aircraft to weapons to wind power. After dinner and Mass (with sufficient time in between, of course), I went back to the dorm tired after three days of walking around in a row.

On Monday morning, I ate breakfast for the last time at the hostel, and this time I was joined by a group of German geography students and their professor who were on a class trip to Berlin and the surrounding areas. During my stay at the hostel, I had a few really good discussions with one of the students who had lived in Iceland and India, doing research on organic farming. On that note, I ought to note that during my stay at the hostel I had conversations individuals from a number of different countries including Germany, Ireland, England, and Australia. It was always enjoyable to hear their perspectives. After checking out of the hostel, I took the S-Bahn to the main station and boarded a train for Frankfurt. My last major adventure in Germany was over.

In preparation for my flight back to the US early the following morning, I stayed at a budget hotel that had shuttle service to and from the airport. While the places I had stayed in previously had all been clean and comfortable, this one was much nicer than I was used to. Since the hotel was far removed from the city center, there wasn't much to do in the surrounding area, so I ate dinner, went back to the hotel, watched a movie, prepared my bags, and went to bed early. I had no trouble getting to the airport the following, and although my gate was changed at the last minute, I had no trouble boarding the plane either. On the flight, I spoke to an older gentleman who has traveled the world, working in the grain market and distributing farming equipment. It was an odd mix of emotions leaving Germany. I think that after several weeks of work and travel, I had been ready to come home for some then, but I always knew that while I was there I should try to make the most of my opportunities. After nearly nine hours in the air, I landed in Chicago and was greeted by a joyful father and brother. I was so glad to see them.

Wow. What a summer! I don't think that I could have possibly anticipated, even as the summer progressed, all the great people I would meet, the interesting places I would visit, and the experiences I would have. Being home the last couple of weeks reminded of me how much I missed without my friends and family this summer but also of how much I was able to experience on my own. I am so thankful to have had this great opportunity and to have had the support of such wonderful people back home and abroad. I will be forever grateful to the efforts of the students and staff at the Institute for Steel Construction and Materials Mechanics, most especially those of Professor Lange, whose efforts made this opportunity possible, and of Regine Schneider, whose patience and generosity helped make my living and working in Germany so pleasant and fulfilling. Thank you all for following and supporting me during my experience this summer.

"Yeah the truth is that I miss you so."

2008-07-30T14:32:00.002+02:00

Like I promised yesterday, I will today, my last full day in Darmstadt, be writing about my experiences in and around Munich with my parents, so here goes!

My flight from Riga to Munich proceeded without incident, and I arrived in Munich on Monday, July 21st around 1:30 PM, roughly two hours before my parents. I found a grocery store in the airport and made a big lunch for myself. My parents and I had established a number of plans to find one another at the airport, and in the end I ended up waiting for them at the exit to their gate. With a swift "Kehoe Whistle" contact was established. Mom and Dad were very tired after nearly a day of travel but were overjoyed to see me. It was great to see them as well. We took a train from the airport to the main train station in Munich, and then walked to our hotel which was extremely close. After settling in, we went to dinner at Augustiner, a famous biergarten, and ended up running into some students from the University of Indiana who had been studying in London earlier in the summer. After dinner, everyone was pretty tired so we went back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep.

On Tueday, we all got up for breakfast in the hotel and then walked to the city center to see the sights. After stopping at an outdoor cafe, we went to the Deutchesmuseum, exploring the various exhibits concerning aviation, power generation, and the environment, among others. It was a pretty cool place with more to see than could be done in a single afternoon. Afterward, we regrouped back at the hotel and then went to dinner at Rechthaler, a restaurant near the train station. After dinner, we returned to the hotel to relax, playing cards and watching the BBC.

On Wednesday, we took our first of two day trips. After some breakfast, we took a train through the beautiful countryside with a tour group to Schloss Neuschwanstein, a castle built (but never fully finished) in the late 1800's for Ludwig II of Bavaria. I can understand why it is supposedly the number one tourist attraction in Germany as the the castle and surrounding area were quite beautiful. After checking out a nearby lake, we took a bus up the mountain, and then walked to a bridge that overlooked the castle and the surrounding area. The bridge was extremely crowded and the wooden planks did a lot of moving around when people walked on them, which made Mom pretty uncomfortable. Despite (or perhaps because of) the spotty weather, the view from the bridge was great. After a little while, we walked down to the castle itself and embarked on a guided tour of the inside. Sorry, but no pictures were allowed of the inside. Once again, the view of the surrounding area was marvelous. While I always really enjoy castles (and this was certainly no exception), I was shocked by house gratuitously lavish the decorations were. For example, in the master bedroom, Ludwig had fifteen wood carvers working for four years on his bed alone! Since the castle was initially designed by a theatrical set designer and not an architect, I think that Ludwig's priorities were pretty clear. Having said all that, it was by far my favorite castle I had ever seen although I had only seen three other castles up close before that. After a while, we returned to the hotel and then went to dinner at Andescher am Dom, a restaurant with tables looking out on a busy pedestrian courtyard. For dinner, we sat down at a table of six where three other people were already dining. They spoke in a foreign language that I eventually recognized to be Spanish. Eventually, I decided to see where they were from (northern Spain near the border of Portugal) and ended up having a forty five minute conversation with them, even talking to their youngest son (who is an architect) on the phone. It was a very pleasant (but exhausting) exchange. After dinner we went back to the hotel for the night.

On Thursday after breakfast again at the hotel, we began a bus tour of Munich, seeing many of the famous sights of Munich as well as getting off and exploring a few of the more interesting places. We visited the Palace of Nymphenburg where we explored the grounds even ran into the Spaniards from the previous evening! We also took Where's Michael? and Where's Kevin? pictures for you to enjoy. Can you find us? Another site that we visited was the Olympic Park which was created for the 1972 Olympics. While here, we once again explored the grounds, going to the top of a tower for a great view of the city and also eating some lunch despite the bees that were extremely interested in our beverages. The final site we visited was the Schwabing/Siegestor, walking to the English Garden where we enjoyed a drink under a Chinese tower. After finishing the tour, we ate dinner at Bratwurstherzl and had a drink at the Hofbrauhaus, eventually returning to our rooms once again.

On Friday, after once again eating breakfast at the hotel, we took our final day trip, this time via train to Salzburg, Austria. Along the way, we had to take a detour involving a crowded bus because one of the cars in a train on the track in front of us caught fire. On the bus, Dad lost his hat. This might be the last picture taken of my father with the hat. On the bright side of things, as you will see Dad did get a pretty good replacement once in Salzburg. When we arrived in Salzburg, our guide took us through the city and then we were free to explore by ourselves for a few hours. On a hill overlooking the city was by far my favorite castle to date, Festung Hohensalzbur g, and it was there that my parents and I, along with a grandmother and her granddaughter from The States whom we befriended at Nueshwanstein, would spend the majority of our free exploring time. The reason I like this castle so much more than the others is because it was so formidable with very little parts of the structure built purely for aesthetics. Plus, it was by far the most zed-proof castle I have seen, complete with gates, cannons, and a well. All things considered, Salzburg was a really neat city and Austria was probably the most beautiful country I have ever seen. Eventually we took a train back to Munich, this time without any delays or transfers, and then ate dinner at Nurnberger Bratwurst Glockl am Dom. What a mouthful! Dinner would once again be our last major activity for the evening.

On Saturday, our final full day in Munich, we decided to check out some of the museums we had seen during the tour on Thursday. We traveled via electric trolley which was a fun experience. First, we went to the Alte Pinakothek, which has art from the 13th to the 18th centuries. After spending a couple of hours seeing the various displays, we ate lunch at Tresznjewski, a restaurant near the museums. When we had finished, we started making our way to our next and final museum of the day, the Neue Pinakothek which focuses on 17th and 18th century European art including art from Leonardo da Vinci, Claude Monet, and Vincent van Gogh. It is always pretty amazing to be able to get so close to the work of such famous people. After seeing all the rooms in the museum, we made our way back to the part of the town where we were staying, getting a drink and a snack at a biergarten on Augustinerstrasse while waiting for Mass. We went to Mass at a Jesuit church named after St. Michael. It was a beautiful service. After Mass we ate some dinner before heading back to the hotel. Mom and Dad had a really early morning the following day so we tried to get to sleep as soon as possible. Speaking of sleep, even though our hotel was near the train station and even though we had to sleep with the windows open due to the heat, we were able to get a lot of sleep thanks to Mom bringing ear plugs. Mom and Dad woke up the next morning at 3AM and were out the door before 4AM. After seeing them off, I continued to sleep until eight o'clock, ate some breakfast, and checked out of the room in time for my 9:39 AM train back to Darmstadt.

It was really great to see Mom and Dad again. While this may sound cheesy, the highlight of the trip for me was not the awesome castle in Salzburg or the beautiful countryside but rather being able to spend some time catching up with my parents. I know that I learned a lot about their history that I had either forgotten or never knew in the first place, and I think that they learned some things about me as well. More generally, we had a really good time simply hanging out. I am thankful that I have two such wonderful parents with whom I can get along so well.

As I mentioned before, today is my last full day in Darmstadt. It is hard to believe how quickly things have been going, but my summer in Europe is not quite over yet. After checking out of my apartment and taking care of a couple of other administrative issues, I will be leaving for Berlin where I will remain for a few days. On August 4th, I will travel to Frankfurt in preparation for my flight to the US which is the following day. As this will be my longest trip by myself and as I will be exploring such a historical city, I am very much looking forward to this last adventure before my European experience ends. I will update you when I can, although I do not know whether that will be in the hostel in Berlin, the hotel in Frankfurt, or my room at home. In any case, I look forward to seeing how this goes and sharing my experiences with you!

"Some dance to remember, some dance to forget."

2008-07-29T13:57:00.005+02:00

Hello dearest family and friends!

It has been a while since I last posted but a lot has been happening. I got back from Munich on Sunday and had intended to post on Monday about at least my experiences in Latvia, but I was invited to a barbecue with some Americans who are in Darmstadt through the National Science Foundation, so I had to delay my posting. I had a pretty good time, talking with students from Yale, Virginia Tech, and even the University of Illinois, among others.

My trip to Latvia began at 2:45 AM on Wednesday, July 16th, eating some breakfast in my room in time for the 3:56 AM trolley to the train station. Luckily there would be no walking across town at night this time. I took the 5:00 AM - 6:30 AM shuttle from Darmstadt to Frankfurt (Hahn) Airport. Despite the number of crying babies on the flight, I still managed to get an hour or so of sleep.

When I arrived in Latvia, amazed by the size of forests surrounding Riga, Toms, a friend who was an exchange student at my high school and with whom I would be staying, picked me up and took me to his father's apartment. They were in the process of moving to another apartment and were very apologetic about "the mess", but it was not a problem whatsoever. After dropping off my things, we walked through downtown Riga, getting some lunch, seeing the sights, and running a few errands. Afterward, we picked up Martinsh and Dace, two of his friends, bought some groceries, and headed to the house of Roberts, another one of their friends, where we would have a barbecue. I had a really good time in their company, listening to music and eating some good food. After dinner, we walked down to the beach to watch the sunset. After some time on the beach walking, talking, and playing catch with a frisbee, we returned to Roberts' house to finish off the food before heading back to Toms' apartment. By this point, I was pretty exhausted and ready to get some sleep.

After breakfast the next morning, Toms, Roberts, Dace, and myself traveled by car to the Bauska District of Latvia (near the border with Lithuania) where we were to visit a palace and then a castle. The weather looked pretty terrible along the way, but fortunately things cleared up by the time we arrived. The palace was fairly interesting, but I think that I enjoyed the interior less than the grounds. After touring the inside, we decided to relax in the gardens behind the palace. [In the previous picture, from left to right are Toms, Roberts (who successfully quit smoking over the weekend), and Your Humble Narrator.] Next, we went to the castle, which was actually more of a ruin than a castle. Climbing the main tower provided a nice view of the surrounding area. I always enjoy exploring castles and this one was no exception. Before heading back to Riga, we ate some cheap and tasty lunch at a local diner. That evening, I was to eat dinner with Toms' father and step-mother, so I freshened up when we arrived back at the apartment. Since they were moving out, there was no dining room table, so we ate dinner on the coffee table in the TV room. The meal, consisting of Latvian soup, a main plate, and dessert, was absolutely delicious, and the conversation, which mainly concerned global economics, was really interesting. Toms' father studied economics in school and is currently a successful businessman. His step mother is one of the top lawyers in Riga. [In the previous picture, the girl on the left is Dace and the woman on the right is Toms' step mother.]

As it was Thursday night, Toms and his friends would be going out to the clubs, and since the clothes I brought were inadequate, I would be borrowing outfits from Toms. The first place we went to was Coyote Fly, but I was denied entry because I am a foreigner. Apparently, the club had decided to enact a "Latvians only" policy in response to the growing problems presented by obnoxious groups of English or Italians that travel to Riga for the sex trade, often causing significant property (not to mention personal) damages. The bouncer did speak English, and he didn't find it very funny when I pointed out the inconsistency of denying entry to a single (and sober) foreigner with a group of well-behaved regulars while the club plays almost exclusively foreign music. Oh well. After our failed attempts at entrance we went to a place called the Cuba Café where live music was being played. I think everyone enjoyed themselves there. Eventually, we decided to head to "number one club in all of Baltics", Club Essential. It was a really huge place with three main areas. The main room had a large dance floor and a bar over two stories and played almost exclusively hip hop. A second room had couches and tables for "talking" and such. The third room had older music that I could recognize and actually understand, so I preferred it to the others. Despite the footage of animals having sex on multiple television screens and the songs glorifying materialism and objectifying women in the main room, I surprisingly wasn't that bothered since everyone there seemed to be with friends and having fun. When we left, the sun was rising.

On Friday, after catching up on sleep, we went again to Roberts' house where we made lunch before heading down to the beach. At the beach, we swam, threw around the frisbee, and played 3 on 3 soccer. I don't recall ever having played soccer barefooted or on the beach before that, but it was pretty fun. After a few hours, we started to head back to Toms' apartment in order to get ready for Dace's graduation that was to take place later that day. Toms and Roberts had convinced me that I needed to purchase a suit (and consequently pants, shirt, and shoes) for the graduation. While this did make me upset since I hate to waste money and since it would be difficult to transport all the additional clothing, I justified the purchase since I wasn't paying for my lodging for the entire trip. But, as it turned out, they were totally leading me on. Apparently, while I am wary of what strangers tell me, I have a hard time telling if my friends are telling me the truth or messing around with me. Thankfully they were generous enough to inform me of this before I had purchased my outfit although they had considered waiting until afterward.

Since Dace's school is one of the best in Latvia, the ceremony was in a really nice building and was followed by an expensive reception which I, and Roberts, did not attend immediately. Instead, we ate some dinner at a local restaurant while Toms found, with his many connections, some extra tickets for us. We stayed at the reception for a couple of hours and then proceed to head out in a big group once again to the clubs. We again tried to get into Coyote Fly, but I was denied entry for the second time. This time however, Toms spotted someone he knew who worked as a bartender there and she pulled some strings to get me into the club. I must admit that it felt pretty cool getting in outside the rules. Despite all the efforts to get in, we didn't stick around very long and headed over to another club, Salt and Pepper, which was extremely crowded. We stuck around there for a while and then went to one more club before finally returning to Club Essential. This time, the sun was rising as we arrived, and there seemed to be a very different group of people this time around.

There was a group of men, most middle aged, that were moving about the dance floor in search of drunk young women to take advantage of sexually. While I had known in the abstract of such "people" and such behaviors, it was the first time in my life that I had seen them with my own eyes. It was disgusting and infuriating. Of course, there were some women who actually welcomed these advances, but it was still tragic because such hedonistic relationships can at best cause temporary satisfaction and at worst lead to ruined health and broken hearts. There would also be those that would, due to their intoxication and social pressures, accept such invitations that in almost any other circumstances hastily reject them. I wanted do something. I wanted to tell them, "do you realize that he is using you only for your body?", but then there was the language barrier and also the chance that my actions might make the user more sympathetic. Yes, the vast majority of these women still had a choice, but some of them may not have due to drugs, but how would I know which were which? I didn't know what to do. Meanwhile, my patience was quickly diminishing and my fury was rapidly increasing. I came to the conclusion, for better or for worse, that direct intervention would not be the best course of action. I decided that by being at the club (paying admission, purchasing drinks, dancing to music, etc.) I was supporting the means by which such unfortunate acts are committed. I acknowledge, however, that problem obviously wasn't caused by the dancing or even the purchasing and consuming of drinks. Certainly, societal pressures were involved, but societal pressures are the result of the combination of all choices made by the member of the society and all the reactions each individual has with the other members of the society, those choices and reactions being biologically (genetics and hormones) and environmentally (the family unit, financial well-being, friends, education, constructive dialog, etc.) influenced. So maybe my own actions will have very little effect on someone else let alone the whole picture, but if enough people make a similar effort, the consequences can be amazing. Regardless whether or not I think other people are going to make a similar effort, in the name of that possibility I must try, and so I left the club for Toms' apartment for the night still very upset with Roberts. Maybe it was escapism on my part since basically every bar and club in the world has such people, but I didn't want to be there any more. When I got back, I did as many push-ups as I could, took a shower, and went to bed.

Looking back at my previous paragraph, I went on about that for a lot longer than I anticipated, and I don't want that situation to stick out in your mind when you think of Latvia, the people of Latvia, or my experience in Latvia. I am sure the frequency of that happening is similar to that of most of the world. The people in Latvia were generally extremely nice, and I had a vastly positive experience.

On Saturday morning, we drove to Toms' summer house near the beach in preparation for his brother's 25th birthday party. While waiting for all of the family and friends to arrive, we played some 2 on 2 soccer in the yard, threw around the frisbee with members of Toms' famous ultimate frisbee team, swam in the sea, and even visited a nearby lighthouse. After everyone had arrived, we played a game where everyone stood in a circle passing around a garbage bag full of unknown articles of clothing as we listened to a Michael Jackson song. When the music stopped, whoever was holding the bag would have to grab a piece of clothing and wear it. Everyone was a good sport and had a lot of fun. The birthday celebration would continue into the night. Seeing such a large gathering of friends and family reminded me of the gatherings of my own friends and family and how much I miss all of you. I enjoyed the games but even more so I enjoyed the conversation which varied from Hitler's rise to power to politics in Russia to the changing state of the US in the world.

As the next day was Sunday, I found a church in the nearby community. Toms was kind enough to drive me even though no one else attended the service. After four days in a row of partying, everyone was pretty tired so after cleaning up at the house we headed back to Riga to relax for my final full day in Latvia. On the way, we stopped at the summer house of Roberts as he took care of a few things. While we waited, Toms and Martinsh swam in the pool as I shot with the basketball on the backyard court. It was nice to pick up a basketball again. Oh, and once again I was tricked by Toms and Roberts (who is studying to become a doctor) who convinced me that the bug bites I sustained the previous evening may have contained a disease known only in Latvia so I needed to go the hospital before I left. Naturally, going to hospital sounded better than the alternative, but eventually they let me know that they were once again leading me on. We all got a pretty good laugh. When will I ever learn? After all that was cleared up, we dropped off Martinsh and Roberts at their respective homes, got to Toms' apartment shortly after dinner, and proceeded to hang out at the apartment for the rest of the evening. My flight was set to leave around noon on Monday. Toms and Dace took me to the airport and helped me changing my Latvian currency to Euros, Dace also giving me Latvian chocolates.

Despite the one negative experience at the club, I had a really great time in Latvia. It was really good to see my friend once again, especially considering when I saw him last I didn't think I was likely to ever see him again let alone his family, friends, and country. It was also really neat to see him in his element rather than in the US. He is really comfortable in Riga and tries to make the most of his surroundings. I had fun hanging out with his friends as well. We mutually enjoyed one another and discussed a number of interesting things throughout the weekend. My summer experience was greatly enriched because of my experiences in Latvia, and I am very glad that I was able to visit. Tomorrow I will be writing about my experience in Munich (and elsewhere) with my parents, so stay tuned!

"I thought I saw..."

2008-07-15T21:50:00.003+02:00

Wow.

These last few weeks have been a whirlwind. I am sorry about the delayed reply regarding Paris. I finished my last day of work earlier today and will be heading to Latvia (and afterward Bavaria) in a just few hours! But, before I get to Paris, I think that I ought to share with you an experience I had yesterday.

After work, I went to the city center for some dinner and last minute shopping for my upcoming trips. I went to a few stores and paid for my purchases with no problems, but when I attempted to buy a book about Darmstadt at a local bookstore, that was a different story entirely. My wallet was gone. I checked all of my pockets (I was wearing cargo pants and a jacket), and it simply was not there. Much of my money, my ATM card, my credit card, and all of my identification (except for my passport) were in my wallet. The only things I had left in my possession were my keys, a compass, a cell phone, a German phrase book, and a few loose coins. I thought that perhaps my wallet had been stolen when I was leaning against a counter reading the book that I had intended to purchase. I was amazed that I had felt absolutely nothing. Thank God the cashier spoke English. I explained my situation to the cashier and asked her if she had seen anyone come up behind me, but when she replied that she hadn't, I asked her to watch my jacket as I ran back to the stores I had previously visited. Perhaps I had forgotten it there? Meanwhile, I was getting pretty upset, but I knew that wouldn't help anything. I checked the last store where I had knew that I had used my wallet (a supermarket), and it turns out that I had left my wallet at the check out. They had taken it to the back for safekeeping. My disaster had been averted. What an adrenaline rush!

But on to Paris! Paris (and the surrounding area as you will see) was really great. As I don't have too much time to go into much depth and as we went to a lot of different places, I will try to be brief. My two companions (from Cologne and Ireland) arrived in Paris on Thursday night at about 11:00 PM. After some searching (due to a slightly inaccurate map), we were able to find our two-star hotel Hotel de l'Europe (near the Gare de l'Est) which turned out to me more than sufficient for our needs with air conditioning (my first exposure in Europe), free breakfast, internet access, and daily cleaning service. We decided to go to bed as soon as possible in order to get an early start for the next day. We would need it.

As I alluded in the previous paragraph, Friday was a very long (but still satisfying) day in Paris. After breakfast, we walked south to the Ile de la Cite Conciergerie, stopping by the Place de la Republique, the Bastille, and the Sainte Chapelle (although we didn't go into the last) along the way. At the Ile de la Cite Conciergerie, we visited Notre Dame and a WWII memorial, among other places. Afterward, we walked to the Lourve, seeing it from the outside only (for the time being) and then to the Arc de Triomphe. When we had finished with that monument, we walked south to the Palais de Chaillot Cineaqua. We had lunch on the steps of the Palais looking on to Paris' most famous monument the Eiffel Tower, which was just across the Seine River from the Palais. The Eiffel Tower was our next stop. We had been hoping to go to the top, but as there were huge lines, we decided to come back at an earlier time another day. Next, we walked southeast to UNESCO building which was unfortunately closed for the rest of week. So, we walked northeast to the Musee de l'Armee, which supposedly had a large dedication to Napoleon. Unfortunately, it was also closed (for Bastille Day which was to take place on Monday). So, we walked north to the Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres which was closed as well. Undeterred, we bought some Nutella crepes from a vendor at a small carnival that we chanced across, and then we walked back to the Lourve to finally go inside. We had found out that entrance to museum was free on Fridays after 6PM and we wanted to make the most of this opportunity. We walked around the museum for a little over four hours, seeing a number of famous works of art including the Mona Lisa. After we had finished, we thought that the crowd at the Eiffel Tower might have died down at night so we walked back to the famous landmark and found that the crowd had not diminished. Since we didn't want to stay at the top for only a short period of time (even though the sun was setting and the sky was beautiful), we decided to once again try our luck at a later time. By this point, it was getting late, and we were very exhausted (with hurting feet from miles and miles of walking), so we took the to metro back to the hotel and crashed.

After breakfast the following morning, went to a nearby supermarket to load up on food for the day in what turned out to be a very good frugal decision. We walked to the Sainte Chapelle where THE Crown of Thorns was said to be located. Apparently, the Sainte Chapelle was created soley for the purpose of storing famous Church artifacts. Once we had arrived and seen the Crown for ourselves, we found out that it was instead an exact replica as the original had been melted down during the French Revolution. It was a disappointment but the building was still neat. Afterward, we walked to the Musee d'Orsay. While the Lourve held art from up to and including the 17th century, the Musee d'Orsay had art from the 18th and 19th centuries. The Van Gogh and Monet exhibits were especially interesting. After a few hours in the museum, we took a train to Versailles where we explored the grounds surrounding the Chateau de Versailles including the gardens of Marie Antoinette which were some of the weirdest places I've seen. After a few hours the grounds were closing for a festival, so we made our way back to the Eiffel Tower where spent a few hours on the top, watching the sunset and eating the food we had packed. The surrounding area was quite the sight. Eventually, we headed back to the hotel, once again exhausted after a long day.

Peter left early Sunday morning for Darmstadt while Adam and I stayed behind. We allowed ourselves to sleep in a couple of extra hours and then went to Mass at a nearby Church I had found during our exploration. After Mass, we went to the Sacre Coeur which was so crowded with swindlers among others that we didn't spend much time there. We then went to Moulin Rouge which was nearby. Along the way, we passed by a number of questionable shops and were approached by a prostitute twice. And this was during the day! I can hardly imagine (nor do I want to) what the place would be like at night! Having said that, I am very glad that I passed through as I was able to see another side of Paris that I wouldn't have otherwise. Next, we went via the subway to La Defense, a desolate part of town with lots of modern architecture which was a welcome respite from the pressures of the previous days. We explored this area for a few hours, doing a little more walking through the city until we made our way back to the train station for the journey to Darmstadt. Luckily, the local transportation was running when we arrived so I didn't need to walk across town again.

Paris was a very interesting place and I am glad to have went. I wish that I had more time to share with you some of the nuances of my experience there, but time and sleep are precious commodities at the present. I will be in Latvia until Monday when I will travel to Munich to meet up with my parents. I will return to Darmstadt on Saturday or Sunday. I will keep you posted as soon as I can.

"In fact, you have become..."

2008-07-10T13:25:00.000+02:00

Hello everyone.

I am sorry about the delayed update and that I won't be able to give a very thorough description of my experience in Heidelberg from this past weekend. On the bright side of things, the reason I am so busy is because I am visiting Paris this weekend! I will be traveling with the same two companions from Cologne and Ireland, Peter and Adam. I've received a lot of good advice from friends who have visited there, but I still have much preparation to go!

On Thursday morning, I met at the Darmstadt train station with five of the six other North American students who are working in the city through the RISE program. The ride to Heidelberg took about an hour, and I had a good time catching up with everyone. [To give you a mental picture of Heidelberg (real pictures will follow), Heidelberg is bisected by the east-west flowing Neckar River and is set between hills on the north and south banks. The oldest part of the town is south of the river and Heidelberg Castle stands on the southern hills.]

When we arrived at the Heidelberg Youth Hostel, we checked into our various rooms and enjoyed some coffee and cake as we waited for the official activities to begin. We were welcomed and introduced by the RISE time at a lecture hall the Institute of Zoology at the University of Heidelberg. This took about two and a half hours and was admittedly very boring. I was concerned that the whole weekend would be like that, but luckily it was not. When that had finished, we returned to the hostel for a tasty dinner.

After dinner, we had the option of attending meetings concerning graduate and PhD studies in Germany, but as those didn't apply to everyone, a group of about fifteen of us decided to head to the "Old Town" of Heidelberg. We had been walking around aimlessly for a little while when ten of the fifteen decided to hit the bars for the remainder of the evening. The other five of us decided to check out the castle as the view at dark was said to be breathtaking - I was not disappointed. The castle, which was huge, was basically completely empty except for the five of us, two police officers, and two very romantic couples, so we took our time exploring the grounds and enjoying the view of the city and surrounding area. We even found a way into the walls of the castle! As a side note, it appears that the musical artist Ben Folds had been in town for a concert earlier that night. It's too bad I missed him.

After breakfast the next morning, the RISE participants visited places of industry in the Heidelberg area. I visited a chemical company named BASF, which calls itself "The Chemical Company", and for good reason. The company's facilities in Heidelberg cover dozens of square kilometers, and the yearly revenue for the company is in the hundred of billions of Euros. We were given presentations on the various areas of research the company is pursuing and were given tours of the BASF Visitor's Center, a biotechnology laboratory, and a product fermentation laboratory. While the work BASF that I was shown didn't directly coincide with my possible fields, I still had a very interesting day and learned some things that wouldn't have otherwise. When the tours were finished, the groups of RISE participants returned to the hostel separately and then went out to dinner together. Once again, I was given a feast. After dinner, a similar group to the one from the night before decided once again to experience the night scene of Heidelberg. This time I decided to accompany them, and we visited a few places in the "Old Town" before heading back to the hostel.

On Saturday, the following morning, most of the RISE participants would check out of the hostel. I along with some others, however, had opted to stay for an additional day. Personally, I sought a day to myself in Heidelberg without time frames or a group to limit my exploration. After breakfast we were "debriefed" and all together traveled as a group to the "Old Town" for a formal guided tour of the city. Since the tour only lasted two hours, we were only able to see many of the historical locations briefly, but it was still an interesting experience. We were able to visit the castle once again, and the view was equally beautiful during the day. When the tour had finished shortly after midday, people began to split ways and I set off to to find a Catholic church and to explore on my own. I set off for the wooded hill s north of the river, and chanced across an old watch tower and a ruined monastery. After a few hours of aimlessly hiking, I decided to head back to the hostel as it was getting close to evening and I was hungry and exhausted. I found an Italian restaurant close to the hostel and returned to my room for the evening, content to finish To Kill a Mockingbird and prepare for an early morning on Sunday.

The next morning I packed my things, ate some breakfast, and checked out of my room. I visited the Heidelberg Zoo for the first time and returned to the castle once again, this time to check out the Apothecary Museum which was really interesting. After some final exploring of the "Old Town" I headed to the train station and back to Darmstadt, where the crowds of Heinerfest, Darmstadt's biggest street festival, enjoyed the food, drink, fellowship, and fun. I was pretty exhausted by this point (I had basically been walking for a few days straight), and since the Heinerfest would continue the following day, I decided to head home and return on Monday. As it turned out, much of the department where I am working went to Heinerfes t on Monday afternoon, and I accepted their invitation for me to join them. Since I was better rested and with company, I had a really nice time. Time and time again my coworkers have been very generous with their inclusion of me in their activities, whether it be with soccer or with celebration. I am certain that part of the reason why my summer has been so pleasant is because of their kindness.

Alright! Things are going to be moving very quickly for the next few weeks. I will be in Paris this weekend, Latvia next weekend (after my work is finished for the summer), and Munich (with Mom and Dad) for the following week. After that, it is really up in the air. I can't wait to see how this goes!

"Can still kick a ball a hundred yards."

2008-07-02T22:55:00.005+02:00

I didn't anticipate writing another post today, but playing soccer for a few hours with my colleagues this evening went so well that I feel compelled to tell you about it. While I still made a few clumsy mistakes, I felt a lot more natural on the field this time around, and consequently was able to run around much more while getting significantly less tired than before. I did a much better job playing defense, and also led the team in points with five goals and one assist. You would have really enjoyed watching, Dad.

Among other things, I got an email from my brother today, and he shared with me a comparison of a picture he took when he was in Dublin four years ago (on the right) and a picture I took from last weekend (on the left). It is pretty amazing to see that, without any planning, I ended up standing four years later at exact same street corner and taking a picture from such a similar angle. It will be interesting to see where else our paths cross. I also find it extremely fitting that the bus in my picture has the phrase "Looking out for you." written on its side.

Anyway, I need to get packing for my trip to Heidelberg. It's now only several weeks until I see many of you, and I look forward to catching up.

“The heart is a bloom, shoots up through the stony ground.”

2008-07-02T15:14:00.009+02:00

Wow. How do I begin to describe my weekend in Ireland?

Ireland is an amazing place. The people are very nice, the scenery is beautiful, and the culture is enchanting. This weekend was a time of many "firsts" for me. It was the first time I've been to Ireland, the first time I've flown intracontinentally within Europe, the first time I've stayed at a hostel, and among other things, the first time I've been stalked by cows.

My journey began on Friday morning at 1:00AM. My flight from Frankfurt was set to leave at 6:40AM, so the only way to get there with enough time to check in was to take a shuttle from the train station in Darmstadt at 3:00AM that same morning. In order to get to the train station by that time, I needed to make the hour walk across town since no local transportation was running around that time. When I stepped out of my dorm I was shocked at how dark it was and immediately thought, "This is a mistake! What was I thinking?" Much like in Frankfurt I was tempted to turn back, but I had no choice but to go forward, and so I continued, but not without apprehension. I stuck to the major roads and was on high alert the whole time, using all of the strategies learned from my brother and Shotokan instructors. Eventually, I made it to the station and met up with my two travel companions, Peter and Adam, the two I with whom I traveled to Cologne. They live much closer to the train station than myself and only had to walk a few minutes.

We took a train to the Frankfurt (Hahn) airport in plenty of time to check in, and I was actually able to sleep in the waiting room for about an hour. The two hour flight was relatively uneventful, and we arrived in Dublin ahead of schedule. We caught a bus from the airport to the city center, and then from the city center of Dublin to Galway. When we arrived and for the duration of the four hour trip to Galway, the weather was pretty messy (although apparently somewhat typical), but I was still able to enjoy the view of the countryside. Along the way, I had a really lengthy and pleasant conversation with a young lawyer in training from Galway. He is a member of the Lohan (as in the (in)famous actress) extended family and apparently wishes to disown her as she disgraces the family name. Most importantly, Mr. Lohan was a great guy, strong in his faith and well read in the world at large. We talked about everything from the legal system in Ireland to the structure of government in the US to faith and reason to the importance of family to the history of Ireland. It was a really fascinating and enlightening conversation.

In Galway we didn't have much time to explore as our bus to Doolin was leaving shortly and we needed to get a bite to eat. On the ride from Galway to Doolin, as we traveled closer to the western coast of Ireland, the landscape became much more rocky and, in some ways, more stunning. We made to our hostel in Doolin after the bumpy ride which took a few hours. After checking in, we decided to check out the Cliffs of Moher, following a road up the incline for some time until we found a path that took us closer to the water's edge. The view was spectacular. Eventually, we found a way down to the base of the cliffs which we explored for some time. While exploring, we were approached by a young man named Jon who is entering his final year as a drama student at Julliard and is currently here in Europe because of a fellowship with the Oxford School of Drama for the summer. We invited him to explore with our party and decided to continue up the cliffs as much as time and weather would permit. While the rain had ceased for a couple of hours, the wind was quite strong and we wanted to be careful. Eventually we made it to a bend in the cliffs where the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. We decided to stop for a while and take in the view. I cannot emphasize enough how cool it was to sit there in silence for several minutes, hearing only the crash of waves against the cliffs, the sound of the grass blowing in the wind, and the calls of seagulls as they soared above the cliff.

After several minutes, we decided to continue moving up the cliffs but were greatly started as some cows had taken it upon themselves to stalk and intimidate us. Stuck between an angry cow behind a small electric fence on the one side and the massive cliffs to the other, needless to say we vacated the premises as quickly and safely as possible. As we continued up the cliffs, the weather became a lot more inhospitable, but the view was still amazing. After stepping fully into a number of invisible puddles, we decided to head back before it got dark or before the weather got worse. Once again, the weather seemed to improve the lower the elevation. On the way back, we were able to see a number of interesting ruins on the way back to the hostel.

As it turned out, Jon was staying at the same hostel as us, and after we had cleaned up we headed over to McDermott's, an Irish pub in Doolin, for some much needed dinner. While there we met an American couple who really took a liking to us. There food was delicious and there were some musicians playing typical Irish music who really added to the mood. Since Jon and Tash, a person from England that we had met at the hostel, desired to play along with the local Irish, we headed over to O'Connor's, a dimly lit but lively family pub where Jon and Tash would be able to join with the local musicians. It was really nice to see people of all different shapes and ages come together for a night of simple fun and fellowship.

Talking with Mr. Lohan on the bus to Galway and seeing the families and friends interacting at the pubs in Doolin really made me think a lot about myself and my priorities. I do have a lot of really important goals for my life and for the world at large, but I think that in my efforts to achieve those goals I have tended to lose sight of many of the "little things" in life that are actually really important too. The "Mid-week Specials" with my amazing family, the "Movie Nights" with my best of friends, the walks with my "sister" Jackie (I could go on), all greatly shaped me into the person I am today. Writing about this I am honestly brought to tears. I am so thankful for the wonderful life I have had. I am without a doubt one of the luckiest kids on Earth, and I need to remember that from time to time.

After a few hours of listening to music, I headed back with Jon and Tash to the hostel and began to unwind. As I wouldn't be seeing them in the morning, we said goodbye and exchanged email addresses before turning in. In my limited travels I have been fortunate enough to come into contact with some amazing people, and I really hope to be able to see some of them another time. But, I understand realistically that the vast majority of our paths will probably not cross again. I need to be sure to make the most of my encounters and not take anything for granted, even with those I have been fortunate enough to see often.

I woke up early the next morning and ran to the pier that was a few kilometers from the hostel. While the weather was overcast, it wasn't rainy and the temperature was perfect. It felt really good to work out the sluggishness from a long day of travel the day before, and it was really neat to be by myself in the middle of such a strange and beautiful place with the pounding of my feet and the waves across the shore the only sounds in the area. After a moving several minutes at the rocky beach, I returned to the hostel and prepared for my journey back to Dublin via Galway. The weather was much nicer this time around and I was able to get some more shots of the villages and countryside.

When we arrived in Dublin it began to rain, but luckily just as soon as it started it had gone. We found our hostel with no problems and proceeded to make our way along the Liffey River to the Guinness Storehouse. Along the way we also walked through some interesting districts, seeing some of the famous locations such as Christ Church Cathedral. The Guinness Storehouse was interesting, and as part of the tour we were able to enjoy a pint of "The Black Stuff" from the Gravity Bar and soak in the view.

We had worked up a pretty big appetite by this point, so we made our way to Kehoe's Pub. However, it seemed that the owners of the bar catered only to followers of the liquid diet, but they were able to direct us to O'Neill's where we enjoyed generous portions of some delicious food along with some local beverages. After finishing our meal we returned to Kehoe's Pub and, at the request of some family members and the locals, enjoyed a few more pints of Guinness.

While I would have been content to stay at Kehoe's Pub and talk with the locals for the whole evening, we decided to check out Trinity College and as we left, the crowd at Kehoe's Pub was really picking up. Unfortunately, most of the college was closed, so we decided to head to Temple Bar, Dublin's Cultural Quarter and popular night spot, and return to Trinity College the following day. We walked around the busy and wild streets for some time. After a while we were getting pretty tired, so we headed back to the hostel in order to get an early start the next day.

Sunday began with breakfast at the hostel, and then I was off to find a Catholic church which wasn't difficult as there are over two hundred parishes in Dublin alone. Since I would be unable to check out later that morning, I packed my things and headed out. Along the way I was able to see a number of interesting sights. I found a Catholic church in an industrial part of town. Francis Xavier was the patron saint. Since I had about an hour before Mass was to begin, I explored the surrounding area and found a massive stadium apparently where the Gaelic Games are played. I also found Holy Cross College and walked through some pretty cool neighborhoods. At the church, the priest was Jesuit, and I spoke to him after Mass, telling about my connections to the Jesuits. It was really a breath of fresh air to attend Mass in my native language. However, I was troubled that I barely saw any young people, and consequently, the average age of the congregation was probably over sixty-five.

After Mass, I walked though the city to meet up with my companions at Trinity College, checking out Dublin Castle and enjoying the perfect weather along the way. Trinity College was beautiful even with rain clouds coming in. After waiting around for a little while, my companions arrived, and we proceeded to check out the rest of campus including the building which housed the Book of Kells. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed so I was unable to document the inspiring Book of Kells (which is one of the oldest best preserved books in the world) or the Long Room (which housed literally hundreds of thousands of books that would cost as much as my undergraduate education). My favorite part was definitely the Long Room. After touring the building, we took our final pictures of Trinity College and set out to find some lunch. We headed toward the docks where there was a tremendous amount of construction happening. Eventually, as we were running out of time, we settled on eating at a grocery store/cafe in an upscale part of town. We caught a bus to the airport, and our flight from Dublin to Frankfurt passed without incident. My time in Ireland was over.

Waiting for the shuttle from Frankfurt to Darmstadt, I was able to catch the second half of the championship of the European tournament in the airport. Germany lost to Spain 1-0. Spain was clearly the better team. When arrived in Darmstadt the city was still boiling with a mix of joy and despair from the game. There were dozens of police officers about trying to keep order. But, I made it back to my room without difficulty and finished up the night with a Skype conversation with Mom, Dad, and the Decatur Hubbard's.

My trip to Ireland was without a doubt my favorite trip thus far. I have never felt so compelled to return to a place as with Ireland. The people, the landscape, and the culture were absolutely amazing, and I was able to learn a lot about myself and the world around me in my short time there. I really hope to go back one day. Until then, I look forward to heading to Heidelberg tomorrow where I will almost all of the other North American students working in Germany this summer and where I will be able to meet current leaders of German industry. It should be an exciting weekend and an exciting next couple of weeks. Thanks for your patience with all this.

"Zombie Nation."

2008-06-25T23:10:00.005+02:00

It turns out that I made it to the city center a full two hours before the start of the match, but the crowd (also here and here) was already building, and not surprisingly there were a lot of security guards and police officers around. Since I had so much time, I decided to explore the city center, but when I returned to the main viewing area, a significant line had built up and no more people were allowed entry. So I found a cafe with a screen and watched the first half there. I randomly ran into my friend Ola from previous posts, and we ended up watching the second half together at another cafe. It was a fun match and I really enjoyed watching the people. In the end...

GERMANY WINS 3-2!

"'Cause all you really need are a few good friends."

2008-06-25T11:10:00.006+02:00

While almost all of my days in Germany have been very good, yesterday was unexpectedly and especially great. I was nearing the completion of my first test of the day when all of the sudden the machine I was working with made a loud and sudden "REEEEEER". As I had never heard that noise before, and since was extremely startling/scary, I immediately shut down the test. Apparently the steel specimen I was testing had snapped, so I knew that I had done the right thing in shutting down the test immediately, but I was still worried that I had done something to damage the machine. In the end, after checking things over with my advisor, I had done everything right and nothing was damaged. Actually, this development was very exciting for the overall research for two reasons: one, the important part of the steel specimen was not damaged in the breaking so the molecular characteristics could still be studied; and two, since the goal of this research is to reevaluate, and if necessary improve, the existing European fire code for buildings, the premature failure of this steel brings up a number of issues which will need to be addressed.

Yesterday afternoon I was invited to a celebration by one of the PhD students at the office with whom I get along well. He turned in his PhD dissertation yesterday and also signed a contract for a good job in Darmstadt yesterday, so he and his coworker friends were going out for dinner and drinks that night. We went to Grohe, a place here in town that makes its own beer, apparently the best in all of Hessen, and sat in a courtyard next to the brewery. The weather was very nice, and the food and drink were quite good, but the company was even better. Here, here, here, here, and here are some pictures I took of the group throughout the evening. The young man in the second picture was the one for whom we were celebrating. He has been really nice to me during my time here and I was honored to be invited. I should remember to do likewise.

As an example of how random and interesting things are here, as I was typing this post out in my office, a student stopped by looking for the German with whom I share an office, and we ended up introducing ourselves for a few minutes. Sasha is originally from Uzbekistan but has been living in Germany for the last twelve years and has gained German citizenship. He is studying civil engineering. His great grandfather was a civil engineer, but his grandfather and his parents are teachers, so he has it in his "blood, but far removed." We wished each other luck and parted ways.

And among other things, this evening Germany is playing Turkey in the semifinals of the European Championships. Since Germany has such a large Turkish population, and since this is such an important match, everyone is very excited. I think that I will head down to the city center tonight and catch a little of the spirit.

UPDATE: I can't believe that I forgot to mention that throughout the night I spoke almost exclusively Spanish with two of the people at the celebration. (This never ceases to surprise me.) One was from Bolivia and the other was from Frankfurt, Germany. I must admit that I got a little pleasure knowing that I could speak a language most at the table could not. It was a nice change from the usual situation. Plus, I think I got props from my coworkers for speaking a language other than English. Anyway, I am off to the city center to get dinner and experience the spirit of the match. I hope the weather turns out alright. It looks like it could be pretty nasty.

"We're on top."

2008-06-22T17:08:00.006+02:00

Hello everyone.

I had another really good week of work (and life) this past week even without soccer on Wednesday because the stadium was occupied. I believe that we will resume playing again this week, but we'll see. Looking at my calendar it is hard to believe that I am already halfway finished with my period of work here in Germany. Only four weeks of work left and then about two and a half of travel. This weekend I have been trying to finalize my plans for the remaining weeks which are looking to be very busy. In light of the need for preparation (and rest), I decided to forgo making a day trip to a far off location such as Nuremberg, and instead visit a place next to a town that is near Darmstadt: Frankenstein Castle. I would be traveling by myself. Apparently, this castle was the one that inspired Mary Shelley to write her famous novel. Since I wrote a term paper on the book during my junior year of high school, the place has a special significance to me, beyond the usual coolness of a castle in general. Oh, and it is supposedly haunted.

I got an early start on Saturday morning after eating a quick breakfast and gathering my supplies. I took the trolley near my apartment to a bus/train station (not the primary one), and then boarded a bus that would take me to Eberstadt, which is the town I mentioned that is next to Darmstadt. When I arrived in Eberstadt, the final bus that I needed to take in order to get to the castle (which was on top of a mountain) was not going to arrive for another forty minutes, so I thought that I would explore and take some pictures of the surrounding area when I chanced across a road sign stating the direction of Burg Frankenstein. Since I still had a good amount of time, I decided to walk, for as long as time would allow, along a path that seemed to follow the directions given by the sign. It led me over the highway and to the base of the mountain where I was led to believe Frankenstein Castle was located. I arrived at a fork in the road and chanced across a young man who was running in the area, so I asked him if I was on the right path to "Burg Frankenstein". He responded in the affirmative, pointing to one of the paths which went "up, up, and up the mountain", his arms extending higher with each up.

Next, I did something that was probably very rash. I decided to follow this path as far as time and nerve would allow, taking the word of the runner and abandoning the guarantee of the bus system. My thoughts were as follows: "At worst, I will have spent some time exploring beautiful scenery, taking some good pictures, and getting some exercise. I could always go back and wait for a later bus." As it was still mid morning, I didn't have to worry about nightfall catching me off guard. So, I followed the path and was very pleased by the scenery (also here and here). Things seemed to be going extremely well until I was met with my first fork in the road. There would be others farther along. Unwilling to turn back after already having gone so far, I would mark my path through a variety of ways. In all of my years of exploring the forest near my house (yes, I did go there Mom and Dad) or in Rock Springs, I have never done that, but I am glad that I did. There were simply to many forks to remember, especially in a foreign country in an area with which I am completely unfamiliar.

Eventually after over an hour of hiking and climbing, I found stone among the rock and knew that I was getting close. Since it was requested that I take more pictures of myself, here is one of me in front of the stone quarry. Anyway, shortly thereafter I saw the foundations of a stone wall. However, I didn't know if I had made it to Frankenstein Castle or some lord's castle, so I was careful not to look like I was sneaking around and that I was supposed to be there. I entered through the first gate I found. The castle was empty, and the first person I saw was a small boy who looked surprised to see me and was all by himself. One would think that such a famous location would have had more people visiting it even in the late morning. But, since he didn't seem threatened by my presence and as I had already come so far, I went in a little further. Finally, my suspicious were laid to rest when I found a sign welcoming guests to Frankenstein Castle. I made it.

While I am sure that there are castles that are much bigger or more interesting, and even though I have been waiting my whole life to explore a castle, I was not disappointed. Here, here, here, here, and here are some pictures I took of the grounds along the way to the highest accessible tower. As you can see, some of the castle is undergoing repair. The view from the top was absolutely amazing with lots of communities and interesting landscapes within sight. After staying in the tower for some time, I headed back down and explored more of the castle. Here, here, and here are a few more shots of the castle grounds. I ate lunch at the restaurant that was part of the castle, and eventually made it to the roof of the restaurant and took some more pictures of the surrounding area. It turns out to the North that even Frankfurt was in view.

After lunch, I decided to return to the tower and more seriously take in the experience, recording my thoughts and feelings. One of the things that I realized and that really struck me was the fact that I am probably never going to see that wonderful place again, and the same is true for the vast majority of the places I will visit this summer. It was definitely a bittersweet realization. On the one hand, that was it. That would be the only time in my life that I will see these wonderful things. But, it's not like I won't see other wonderful things between then and the end. On the contrary, I will probably see many other great places, some before the end of the summer. And even if I don't for one reason or another, I am thankful to have been able to see these once. There are probably too many wonderful places on Earth to see in a lifetime. I should be content to see as much as I can.

Then I thought that maybe there was something more to be learned. I will never experience the same moment more than once in my life. With every passing moment, I and the world around me are forever changed, and no matter how meticulous one's effort to reconstruct a time or place, one can never return to the way things were. Just as before, I should not regret the moments past. Rather, I should be thankful for what I have already experienced and for what I will experience. I am undoubtedly one of the luckiest kids on Earth.

Meanwhile, a crowd was beginning to build both in the castle and in the tower, and as I had already explored all of the accessible areas of the castle, I decided to head back, taking more pictures of the landscape along the way. I was able to find the trail I took to find the castle and follow my signs and markings all the way back to bus station. Surprisingly, both on the way up and on the way down, I never took an incorrect path. I made it back home safely but exhausted. Even though I had high expectations for visiting Frankenstein Castle, my hopes were exceeded. What a great day.

"...concrete under your feet."

2008-06-13T19:14:00.010+02:00

Hello everyone.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, Thursday was my day to visit Frankfurt. Despite somewhat of a late start getting out of my room, I was able to catch the trolley because one individual held the door open for me for several additional seconds as I ran. I should be sure to remember to do likewise.

After that, I made it to the Frankfurt with no difficulty, and when I exited the train station, I was impressed by the skyline (here). Since it was the first landmark I noticed, I first checked out the Commerzbank Tower (here). While it is probably hard to tell from the picture, the multistory indentations in the tower are actually filled with trees and other vegetation. I tried to see if I could get to the top floor for some awesome pictures, but I was denied access. So, I decided to check out the Main Tower (here) which is the second tallest building in Frankfurt behind the Commerzbank Tower. Typically, the top floor is open for viewing, but as the building was experiencing "technical difficulties" I was once again unable to reach the top. While I was a little disappointed, I wasn't really upset because there would be a lot more to see before I went home.

I next went to Römerberg, which is the old city center. The building with the flags in this picture is the Römer. It has been Frankfurt's city hall since 1405. Here is another picture of the same plaza. The main spire of the Dom can be seen in the distance. I walked through most of the old town and saw all of the major landmarks that were there. Here is a picture of the old town with the Alte Nikolaikirche to the right. There was also an Archäologischen Garten, which boasted Roman building foundations dating back over 2000 years. I was very upset when I found a bunch of kids filming parkour on the ruins (here), but they didn't seem to be damaging anything. I also checked out Paulskirche (St. Paul's Church, here), but it seemed to be more governmental than religious.

After eating a quick lunch just in time to escape the rain (here), I headed across the Main River to visit some museums. Here and here are a few pictures I took looking back at the downtown area. The first museum I attended was the Museum of World Cultures. While it was much smaller than I anticipated and only focused on a specific culture in Papua New Guinea along the Sepik River, it was still interesting, and while I was probably not supposed to take any pictures, I did manage to take a few including this one of some of the artifacts used by the tribe.

The Museum for Communication, which I attended next, was probably the highlight of my sightseeing in Frankfurt. It traced the evolution of communication from some of the earliest scratchings on stones (here), to writing in the Middle Ages (here), to Industrial Revolution postal infrastructure, to telephone (here), to television (here), to computers (here). There were a lot of interactive exhibits with lots of levers and things of that nature, so this "Button-Boy" was in heaven. There were also some funny exhibits like this.

After finishing at the Museum for Communication, it was nearing the end of the day, so I headed home pretty tired after two straight days of walking. But, my weekend was far from over as on Saturday I headed to Stuttgart, Germany with two other individuals whom I met through a mutual acquaintance. I had never met them prior to Saturday, but I can say that by the end of the day I felt comfortable telling them pretty much anything. Here is a picture of them on the train near the end of the day. Zhaoyi (on the right) was born in China but moved to Montreal when he was eleven. He is now trilingual (Mandarin, French, and English) and working on his bachelor's in electrical engineering. Chunjie (on the left) is also from China and is currently conducting post-doctoral research here in Darmstadt.

Once again, I have to emphasize how much I enjoy seeing the German countryside (here and here). It is really neat to see the landscape and communities along the railroad. In some cases the scenery is very familiar to home which is exciting, but in others it is completely different which is also exciting. Anyway, the first place we visited in Stuttgart was the Mercedes-Benz Museum (here and here). We had a lot of fun at the museum playing with statues (here), looking at the sweet cars (here), and checking out the fun exhibits (here and here). It was really neat to see the evolution of the automobile and some of the prototypes for things to come. The Mercedes-Benz Museum rocked. Afterward, apparently not having seen enough cars, we decided to check out the Porsche Museum which, while interesting, paled in coolness to the Mercedes-Benz Museum. Anyway, here is a picture of the outside of the complex and here is a picture of part of the main viewing room.

When we had finished with the museums, we headed to the very scenic Schlossgarten (here, here, here, and here). The weather was much nicer at this point in the day as compared to yesterday so there were a number of people out and about. On the opposite side of the Schloss, there was a plaza which was breathtaking. Here, here, here, and here are a few pictures. And, due to popular demand, here is a picture of me. Afterward, we walked through the old city and checked out the shops. Like I said, it was very busy. Here and here are a couple of pictures of a church we also checked out along the way. By this point, it was once again nearing the end of the day, so we started heading back. Here, here, and here are a few pictures I took of the countryside along the way. And to top off the day nicely, it just so happened that we sat next to a Professor of Theology from Marquette University (here) who was lecturing in Germany for a couple of weeks. We talked for about an hour, discussing really exciting things like the definition of the soul, what it means to be human, the political attitudes of Jesus, current events, his family, and my aspirations. Honestly, there is not much in life that pleases me more than constructive dialog, and I really cherish these sort of chance encounters. Eventually, we parted ways and we landed in Darmstadt. Perhaps you'll recognize this landmark?

Anyway, it was a really interesting, fulfilling, and tiring weekend. But, after Mass, running, some good food, laundry, and not much else today, I feel pretty recharged. I am not really sure what my plans for next week are. I may go on another day trip next weekend or perhaps I might try something a little bigger. Either way, the last weekend of June I will be going to Ireland with a few of my friends, and I can't wait. I am really thankful for all of my experiences and look forward to sharing them with you.

"...unless you sing."

2008-06-12T19:51:00.004+02:00

Since all of my coworkers are going to be in Austria on a working vacation from today until Sunday, I finished work for the week yesterday and am now in the first day of a four day weekend. Leading up to this weekend, I saw this four day period as a tremendous opportunity to travel. I looked into a number of options, but for one reason or another it appeared that my best option would be to see all of the major landmarks in Darmstadt on Thursday, visit and explore Frankfurt on Friday, take a day trip to somewhere else (still to be determined) on Saturday, and see what happens on Sunday.

Because I would not be traveling very early in the morning today, I was able to play six on six soccer with a few of my coworkers and some of their friends last night. Not having played a competitive team sport since the spring of 2006, and not having played competitive soccer for a few years before that, my soccer skills were a little rusty, but things went well overall. I was definitely rusty and made a number of silly mistakes including a hard collision with an opponent (probably still closer to football mode), but I was eventually able to get into the groove and even score a goal. Everyone took the game seriously, but everyone was kind and patient with me and others. I had a lot of fun and look forward to doing this regularly for the duration of my stay.

A few weeks ago on one of my first trips to the city center, I picked up a free guide to the city, "Sights of Darmstadt", which had an indexed map of the city which marked and described in German and English the major landmarks in Darmstadt. My plan was to see as many as time and energy permitted. I ended up walking to around twenty landmarks and took a good number of pictures, so I will try to be as brief as possible.

I started off mid-morning with perfect weather at the Luisenplatz (here), which is considered the center of the city. I then checked out the Hessian State Museum (here and here), but couldn't get in. Next, I went to Herrngarten (here), which was laid out as garden in the 16th century. Right next to the Herrngarten was the Porcelain Collection in Prince Georg Palace, but I did not go inside and instead enjoyed the amazing view (here and here).

After that, it was a fairly long walk to the Waldenspirale, but it was well worth the effort. The Waldenspiral is one of the weirdest buildings I have ever seen and apparently contains 105 apartments. Here, here, and here are a few pictures of the building, the last of which was taken from a nearby parking garage. For a while I tried to find a way onto the roof of the building as it looked like a continuous garden from afar and would provide an excellent view of the city. Eventually, I found one, but I don't believe it was the intended path as it required jumping over two short fences and walking through thick brush (here). Needless to say, after I getting a decent picture from the roof (here), I departed as quickly (and safely) as I could.

I then took a long walk to the Technical University of Darmstadt (here) where I ate lunch in the cafeteria (here). On my way to the House of History (here) which I explored briefly, I snapped a picture of the Darmstatium building (here) where I attended a conference last week. My next stop was the Market Square (here) where I also took a picture of the White Tower (here) which is apparently the landmark of the city center. After that, I checked out the City Church, which is the big red building in this picture. Inside, I chanced across an orchestra practicing (here) and listened out of site for a while. They were very good.

While I had explored many of the cites previously mentioned (I've tried to cut out the details for the sake of brevity), at this point I was losing steam so for the remainder of the sites that will be mentioned, I merely appreciated them from the outside. After the City Church, I went to the Pedagogy (here), and then I checked out the Old City Museum (here) which was neat. Afterward, I stopped by the Jugendstilbad (here) and then the Church of St. Ludwig (here). Keeping with the religious sites, I checked out the New Synagogue (here) which was finished the year I was born. My last stop for exploring the city was the State Theater (here).

On the way home, I stopped by the grocery store in the mall and was pretty much exhausted. My feet hurt, my back and right knee were sore from soccer, and I was hungry. As I was slowly walking through the isles, a song came on the store's loudspeaker, one that I knew very well. It was "Sing" by Travis, and it literally stopped me in my tracks. As I stood there, frozen, listening to the lyrics, a line really struck me. It read, "For the love you bring won't mean a thing unless you sing."The point it made to me was that no matter where I go and no matter how many neat things I see, they will mean nothing if I cannot share them. While I don't know if that was what the singer was going for, I do know that it was a very powerful experience and that I hope to be able to share my experience as much as possible.

"They will see us waving from such great heights."

2008-06-08T19:22:00.009+02:00

My day of travel to Köln (Cologne) began at 6:40 AM last Saturday. I ate some breakfast (peanut butter and banana sandwiches), met up with Ola (from the Schlossgrabenfest a few posts ago) at the trolley stop by our apartments, and went to the train station where we were to meet two other North American students who are also participating in the RISE program in Darmstadt. Adam is an electrical engineering student from John Brown University in Arkansas, and Peter is a mechanical engineering student from Mississippi State University. Here is a picture that Ola took later in the day (from left to right) of Adam, myself, and Peter. Since we had time before our first train departed, I walked around the station and took a few pictures. Here, here, and here are pictures of the hauptbahnhof (train station) in Darmstadt.

The train ride was not at all what I expected. In order to get cheap tickets, we agreed to travel on only "local" (or short distance) trains with multiple stops and two transfers along the way. This ended up turneing out nicely as we were able to see, at least briefly, a number of cities along the way. On the way to and from Köln, we transferred trains in Mainz and Koblenz and made a stop in Bonn among other cities. Since we had some (a little) time in Mainz, I ran out into the plaza in front of the hauptbahnhof in order to get some good pictures of the city. Here and here are a couple. Our train was delayed in between Mainz and Koblenz, so we ended up having a window of only a few minutes to find and get to our next train at the Koblenz Hauptbahnhof. Naturally, a dramatic dash through the train station (straight out of Hollywood) ensued, complete with a jump over two girls to the bottom of an escalator (earning an awed "Whoa!" from both) followed by a sprint to the train doors as they were closing. [Don't worry. No animals (or humans) were harmed (or ever in danger) in the making of this adventure.] I had a good laugh when, after several minutes of being in the train and a few past the departure time (still with an accelerated heartbeat), we hadn't yet left the station. Apparently, that train also had delays, so the rush was unnecessary.

The highlight of my trip, perhaps even more than Köln itself which I will get to later, was the German countryside. As our train paralleled the Rhein for much of the trip, I was able to see a number of breathtaking river valleys, beautiful river towns, and impressive castles and monuments. Here, here, and here are pictures of some of the communities we passed along the way. [As a side note, the German government is shutting down a lot of their nuclear reactors which has brought both lavish praise and stern condemnation, making it a big issue in their upcoming elections.] But the castles! Oh the castles! Here, here, here, still here, here, and here are a few of the many pictures I took of them along the Rhein. It would be interesting to learn about the history of each of them and thoroughly explore them, but one can only do so much. I think that I will make a conscious effort to explore at least one castle extensively while I am here. Oh, and did you notice that they farm even on the steep banks of the river valley? Also, is the symbol on this flag on our family crest? In any case, here is a picture of my three companions. They were all very easy to talk to.

When we finally reached Köln (thanks for being a good sport and reading all this), one of the first things we noticed was the Dom, which dominated the skyline (here). Honestly, when I exited the train station (which was right next to the Dom) and first cast my eyes upon the Dom, I was short of breath at the shear immensity of it. Here, here, and here are few pictures. As a little history, the Dom was finished in 1880, and at 157 meters tall, was the tallest building in the world until the Washington Monument surpassed it in 1884. According to Let's Go: Germany, "Today, construction continues to repair the damage wrought by WWII and centuries of pollution, pigeons, and acid rain." So, in honor of the historical nature of the Dom, I had my friends take this picture, so that I could ask the question, "Where's Michael?" in honor of the Where's Waldo? series that I really enjoyed as a child. Were you able to find me?

We toured the inside of the church, and while I did not want to take many inside, here and here are two. Apparently, the Dom houses the remains of the Three Kings (of the Bible), so I definitely took a picture at Shrine of the Magi here. But, perhaps the highlight (no pun intended) of touring the Dom was the 509 stair trip to the top of the south tower and look down at the town below. The stairs were very narrow with no railing on the way up and unfortunately, there was writing all over the walls (here, here, and here). I am really surprised how close they let us get to the edge (here, here, and here)...

In all seriousness, here is a picture of the barrier. The view from the top was great and the weather was perfect. On the way down we stopped in the belfry (here).

After seeing all of the Dom, we traveled to a few other sites in the city: an excavated Roman barracks (here, here, and here) and an excavated Jewish settlement that is one of the oldest in Germany (here). We also walked down to the Rhein and took a few pictures. Here, here, and here are a few.

Eventually, we began our return journey to Darmstadt after a very long day. But, I did manage to take some more photos of the journey, some of which I will share with you here, here, and here; still here, here, and here; and finally here, here, and here. Finally, here and here are some pictures of Mainz, the city where I had my Hollywood adventure.

I am so glad that I was able to visit Köln. More importantly, I am glad that I was able to make a few friends. We will be seeing each other over the summer and going on a lot more adventures. I will forever remember my first serious excursion during my summer in Germany.

"It's a rare condition, this day and age..."

2008-06-06T11:06:00.006+02:00

Guten tag!

As I mentioned before, the events of Sunday were definitely the highlight of my weekend. I went to Mass in the morning at Liebfrauen, a Catholic Church here within walking distance of my apartment. Here is a view of the entrance to the church, here is a view of the side of the church, and here is a view of the altar. I ate some lunch on the way back to the room where I messed around for a couple of hours until I left in the mid afternoon for dinner with Regine and her family at her home. As her house is at the opposite end of Darmstadt, it was about a thirty minute trolley ride and fifteen minute walk away which allowed me to see much of the city.

When I arrived, Regine's parents and one of her brothers were approaching the house. Here is a picture of them arriving. After I made my presence known, I was led to the back yard, where I met Regine's husband and their 22 month old son. The whole backyard area was really cool. They had their own well and garden, and the grass was like that of a golf course. Here is a picture of the backyard from the back of the house, and here is a picture of the back of the house from the backyard. Notice the sleepwalking gnome on the roof.

The food they served was wonderful (here and here), but even more so were the people. They were more than willing to share their stories with me and were genuinely interested in my thoughts and opinions. Being around such a warm family at dinner was definitely a taste of home. Both Regine, who is from Germany, and her husband, who is from the Czech Republic, are structural engineers with specialties in steel construction. Her father has been an engineering technician most of his life. Her mother is and expert gardener, but works in a different profession. Regine's brother Frank is in the final year of his "diploma" studies, which is the equivalent to our master's degree. As it turns out, Frank, who is about my age, spent the Fall 2006 and Spring 2007 semesters at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, my freshman year! Perhaps he and I may have passed each other on the Quad and not even known it. What a small world!

Here is a picture (from left to right) of Regine's mother, Regine herself, Regine's husband, and Frank, her brother. Here is a picture of Regine's father and her son with the shed for the well in the background. There had been some heavy rain and wind a few days before, so I helped move the shed back into it's original place. Here is a picture of the whole group plus a neighbor girl who spoke Spanish and German. Once again, I got to use Spanish. Perhaps the pervasiveness of Spanish (or any language for that matter) is only visible if one is open to finding and using it. For me, who doesn't speak very much German, Spanish is a welcome respite. And just to share a few more photos, here is a picture of the neighbors' houses, and here is another picture of Regine's son, who by the end finally warmed up to me.

After dinner, I was offered to be dropped off at a trolley station near my apartment. Regine's father drove while Regine's mother, Frank, and myself rode. [As a side note, his experience as an engineering technician has granted him the ability to drive the same Mercedes Benz car for over thirty years, and it is now considered a "historical" vehicle, earning it a special license plate. Here is a picture of it.] And to top things off, Frank showed me which trolley to take back to my apartment and also offered to hang out during while I in Darmstadt.

The whole family was so nice. I am extremely grateful for their generosity and openness. I will be sure to do the same if someone, especially one from another culture or country, visits me. Like I said before, my experience this Sunday has been, on a personal level, the highlight of my trip.

Among other things, it appears that I will be visiting the city of Köln tommorow with a few of the North American students who are also working in Darmstadt through the RISE program. As this will be my first trip within Germany, I am very excited to see how this goes. I'll be sure to keep you posted!

"The boulevard is not that bad."

2008-06-01T13:47:00.004+02:00

Hello everyone.

Last Friday after work I went to the Schlossgrabenfest, a free music festival here in Darmstadt. Since I went so early in the evening, there wasn't yet much of a crowd so it wasn't all that interesting, but on the upside I was able to take some pictures (of a really cool building here, for example), eat dinner, and pick up groceries.

After sleeping in on Saturday, I went running in the forest which is right next to campus (seen in the distance here). As it had rained a few hours earlier and was nice and cool, I was flying. For better or worse, I did not bring a watch or a compass with me, so after a while (although I still felt good), I realized that I had lost my sense of direction and had no idea how long I had been running. So, I stopped in order to get my bearings, only to realize that I still had no idea where I was and that I was actually pretty tired. But, I had no choice but to keep moving (albeit at a slower pace) in the hopes of running into someone who could give me directions. Eventually, I chanced across an elderly German couple and was able to ascertain the general direction of campus. I made it back to my room, ate some lunch, and did my laundry.

By the time I had finished those activities, the time was drawing near for me to head to the trolley stop at Schloss where I was to meet another North American student (who is working in Darmstadt through the RISE program) and her coworkers and go once again to the Schlossgrabenfest. While I was waiting for the others to arrive, I ate dinner a place called "Ye Babam Ye", but I am not really sure of what ethnicity it was. For my meal, I ordered something (I can't remember the name exactly, but the picture of it is here) and it was delicious! Here is a picture of one of the workers preparing it for me.

Unlike the department I am working in where everyone is German and therefore primarily speaks German, Ola's (my North American counterpart's) department has individuals from Italy, France, Iran, and China in addition to Germany. Because of their diversity, the common language was English, which was extremely convenient for me. Here is a shot of some of the group. I failed to get one of everybody, but you live and learn, I guess. In any case, they were warm to me and were and fun group to be around despite the short period of rain (here and here). We listened to a few bands, the best of which was a German-Reggae group that played a number of fun songs including covers of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal", U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday", Bob Marley, and The Killers. Also, I had my first Mojito (in honor of my days as a vice cop in Miami) from a Brazilian beverage hut, and once again needed to use Spanish to sort things out.

Overall, I had a very good Saturday, but the highlight of my weekend occurred on Sunday which will be described in the following post. Until then, tschüs!

"Asking only workman's wages..."

2008-05-30T23:15:00.005+02:00

Hallo damen und herren!

As I have now finished my first week in Germany, I thought that I'd get you up to speed with what has been happening thus far and what will be happening in the near future. First of all, the people at the Institute for Steel Construction and Materials Mechanics are great. Throughout the learning process, they have been nothing but patient and kind to me.

It just so happens that the lead professor at the Institute turned 50 the previous weekend, so he put on a lunch for all the members of the department on Monday. Here is a picture of the food spread (in honor of you, Mom), and here is a picture of some of people in the department at the party. While I am at it, here is a picture of an office that I share with an especially nice individual in the department.

And the research itself is going well. I can now do the entire testing without assistance. I work in two different buildings: the main building which houses the department (here), and the lab (here) where I do my testing. My lab is the room to the right of the door. Here is a picture of me at work in the lab, and here, here, and here are some shots of the equipment with which I am working.

This weekend there is a big (and free) music festival here in Darmstadt. Tomorrow night I will be meeting up with one of my North American counterparts and her friends, so that should be pretty fun. On Sunday I will be going to a barbecue at the house of the PhD student for whom I do research. Much of her family will be there. I wonder how it will compare to a Hubbard reunion! I'll be sure to keep you posted!

Life is good.

“The Atlantic was born today and I’ll tell you how.” - Part II

2008-05-28T18:42:00.002+02:00

After talking with Regine (who speaks very good English) on the payphone, she picked me up in about fifteen minutes and drove me to my dormitory apartment, which is very near to my place of work (on the campus of TU Darmstadt) and a trolley station. Also near my apartment are a swimming pool, stadium, and some open fields. Regine had warned me via email that the apartment would be small (and indeed it is), but upon entering and seeing it for myself, I tried to keep a positive attitude despite the small quarters in addition to the dirt, dust, hair, and insects (dead and alive) that were on the floor, in the cabinets, in the sink, and on the wall. One of the first things I did was to check the Internet to see if it worked but it did not, and as I had arrived on a Saturday, I would be unable to seek help with it until Monday. At that, we left together so that Regine could show me how to get to the trolley and to the city center, where to buy groceries, and how (and when) to get to Church. Despite being with someone who could understand what I was saying and was there to help me out, walking through the city under the bright sun, already emotionally and physically exhausted, was pretty overwhelming, and my upset stomach hadn’t yet left me.

After about an hour of being shown about the city, we parted ways at a mall in the city center. If Regine and her family wouldn’t have had a very important party to go to shortly thereafter, I wouldn’t have been left so soon. But, circumstances were what they were, and there were a few things I had to take care of before I could return to my room. It was now Saturday afternoon in Darmstadt, and my last substantial meal had been on Thursday night at Sam and Marcy’s, so I was extremely hungry. I found a Chinese place in the mall and ordered the only thing on the menu with the German word for chicken on it that looked remotely good. Apparently, I agreed to purchase an alcoholic beverage with my meal which probably served to dehydrate me more. In any case, after eating my less than satisfying meal, I went to the grocery store (also in the mall) and tried to purchase enough bread, peanut butter (made in the USA!), jelly, and bananas to provide dinner for that night and breakfast for the next morning. I also bought a few newspapers for the construction of my curtains.

So I left the mall, and went to the trolley stop carrying my awkward grocery bag. I tried to purchase a trolley ticket from a machine, but as this machine was different from what I was shown earlier and as it was entirely in German, I had no idea which ticket to buy or how to buy one. When a line would build up behind me, I would act finished and casually linger until there was no one else working on the machine only to resume my increasingly frustrating efforts. But, eventually I made it back to the room only to be confronted by the difficulties that awaited me there.

When I arrived, I cleaned off all the shelves and put away all my things. For some reason, when I found that my power adapter for my laptop, shaver, and camera would not work in the room, all of the emotion that I had been holding back the entire time came forth, so I heavily cried. It didn’t take too long, however, to distract myself in the work of creating my curtains. After that was completed, I took a warm shower (which felt awesome) and proceed to make myself dinner. Between the time I took a shower and the time when I went to bed, at various times for different reasons my emotional composure would break down and I would heavily cry. None of these breakdowns lasted more than thirty seconds at a time, but with every breakdown I knew that it was more and more important for me to get to sleep as I was in no state to fully consider what lay behind or before me.

I went to sleep somewhat hungry at 6:00 PM local time while it was still daylight and slept until 8:00 AM the next morning. I ate breakfast and began to write about transition from the United States to Germany. Perhaps because I was still tired or perhaps it was too soon to a traumatic experience, but I almost lost my emotional composure as I had done the day earlier. So I distracted myself in my search for the church and found it in due time, praying for the virtues necessary to get me through everything all the while. After Mass, I headed to the city center (which came with its own set of difficulties) to find a substantial meal and chanced across a Chicken House. Even though I am sure now that the meal was terrible, it was one of the best I had tasted in a while. After getting a solid meal in me, things really started turning themselves around. I wouldn’t say that I was a completely different person or that there haven’t been further difficulties, but things would from that point only get better. The sights and sounds weren’t quite so daunting and my challenges weren’t nearly as difficult. I was able to walk through the city without any plan to where I was going. Eventually, I made it back to my apartment and ate the last of my bananas (for peanut butter sandwiches) and went to sleep again early. My first weekend in Germany was over.

I know that this post and the one prior to it have mostly been doom and gloom, but for the first 48 hours in Germany, my experience was mostly and significantly negative. I don’t want you to think that things haven’t improved at all – they absolutely have. Seriously, things are going amazingly well right now. After experiencing my first couple of days of work, meeting my excellent coworkers, getting a regular eating and sleeping schedule, and walking through the city on my own, I can honestly say that I now have complete comfort getting to everywhere in the city that I need to go. But I hope that my current comfort and happiness is due to more than simply knowing how to go everywhere in the city that I need to, because in life you can never know everywhere that you need to go. I hope that my experiences the last few days, the good and the bad, will have helped me to grow and to learn about myself and the world around me. I know that things won’t always be easy from here on out and that that I will face hardships and shortcomings further down the road, but I can honestly say that I am now better prepared to face them. I look forward to seeing where my experiences take me. Now, it is “full speed ahead!”

“The Atlantic was born today and I’ll tell you how.” - Part I

2008-05-27T08:50:00.003+02:00

[NOTE: I am very sorry about the delayed post regarding my arrival in Germany. I have had loads of Internet / computer problems which should (hopefully) soon be done for good. Pictures will be added when time is available.]

Where to begin? I guess where I left off. Mom, Dad, and I made it to Chicago in plenty of time despite the bad weather. After checking in my luggage, the line to get past security was rapidly growing, so it was time for me to depart from my parents. I tried not to show any outward sadness at our departure, but when my parents started to cry, so did I. After quickly gaining my composure, I made it through the rest of the events at O’Hare uneventfully and boarded the plane, which left at 3:45 PM CST. My plans for the flight were to listen to music, study German, and sleep. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do much at all of the latter two, but the flight still went relatively quickly. Surprisingly, although I felt some excitement listening to various songs and thinking about what was ahead of me, my primary sensation for much of the flight was an upset stomach which actually wasn’t that bad. I am not sure if I lacked emotion because I was numbing myself in preparation for things to come or because I felt that things would work out one way or another.

In any case, I arrived in Frankfurt at 11:55 PM CST. My plans for Frankfurt were as follows: pick up my luggage, find the bus station, and take a bus to Darmstadt.

Having landed in Germany, without a cell phone and not really knowing any of the language, I was pretty tense, and every step I took brought me further away from my family and friends and further into the uncomfortable unknown. I found and picked up my luggage with no problem and proceeded to find the bus station also with no problem. Finding the correct bus was a different story entirely, however. There was no central information desk or attendant at the bus station, and the bus station was almost completely empty, so it up to me to read the signs and figure things out. But, since I was unable to do this even with the help of a German-English dictionary, I sought the help of a young German family, some of the only people around, but they didn’t speak any English whatsoever. They were, after much effort, able to tell me to wait for a certain bus that would arrive in several minutes and take me where I needed to go. Upon boarding the bus, I asked the Greek bus driver (just to be safe) if this bus would take me to Darmstadt, and he informed me that I had boarded the wrong bus (although I had followed the family’s instructions accurately). The driver told me to look for a specific bus at a different stop, so I set out in search of the new stop.

As I was unable to find this new stop, I sought the assistance of a nearby (and different) bus driver and got absolutely nowhere with him. Prior to my not-really-a-conversation with the second bus driver, I felt that I had achieved at least the illusion of understanding in each of my previous conversations. After several failed attempts to make my needs known to the second bus driver, he left me abruptly in frustration. I was completely alone. Throughout all of my previous encounters at the bus station, my nervousness had been building, so eventually I was cursing myself for not having the discipline to learn at least the most basic of German before I arrived, the government for not having a better organized transportation system, and the German people for not knowing English. I wanted to go home but knew that I shouldn’t. I couldn’t let myself fail so completely this early in the journey. I mostly just wanted to escape, from my situation, from my feelings, and from my inadequacies, but I couldn’t.

So I just kept moving forward and happened across the place I believed that I was supposed to be, but I could never be too sure. There was no bus to be seen and no visible markings denoting Darmstadt but I waited anyway, sitting on a bench at an empty outdoor McDonalds. An old man sat on a bench next to me and I (vainly, I thought) asked him if he knew where the bus was going in my best German (after my English failed) and he told me that the bus went to Darmstadt. I was very relieved and put a lot of faith that the old man understood me and knew what was going on. I don’t know how I would have felt or what I would have done if he had not been completely right, but he was (and thank God). All told, my search for the correct bus took an hour and a half.

The bus ride from Frankfurt to Darmstadt was obviously encouraging, and I took the thirty minute bus ride to snap pictures of the countryside. The plan for once I had arrived in Darmstadt was to call Regine Schneider, my PhD supervisor from the transit station, from where she would pick me up in fifteen minutes after my call. Luckily, the bus had taken me to the desired place and luckily the facility had a central information desk. While the attendant did not speak any English, one of her friend coworkers did speak Spanish, so I was able to get the information I needed to get to right place in the facility and use the payphone correctly. Who would have thought that I would have used Spanish in Germany for information? Based upon that short exchange, I decided that working in a Spanish-speaking country would have been a hell of a lot easier for me, but it was a little late for that. Mostly I was thankful to be able to get a hold of Regine. The whole day thus far seemed to be an exhausting, emotional roller coaster of highs and lows, but my day was far from over and many more set-backs and triumphs would follow....

"Then it begins."

2008-05-23T00:36:00.000+02:00

Hello family, friends, and strangers!

Thanks to an extremely patient effort by Mom, I am now fully packed and ready to depart on my journey to Darmstadt, Germany. For those of you who are a little hazy as to what exactly I will be doing over in Europe for the summer, I will be conducting research at the Technische Universität Darmstadt for eight weeks, and then traveling for about two and a half weeks. My research will involve the study of high temperature stress-strain behavior of structural steel. Apparently, not much research has been done in this area, so the end goal is to have compiled a lot of data by the end of the summer that will then be used to make future steel framed structures more fireproof.

I will be leaving from O'Hare tomorrow afternoon and will be arriving in Frankfurt early Saturday morning. I'll let you all know when I have settled into my apartment, but until then, "I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing."