Ausflüge nach der Schweiz und Italien (Part I)

So, I'm about to embark on a writing journey as this post should have been written a couple of weeks ago. There is also much to write about, and as you know, I'm pretty detailed in the way I write. So I think I will break this post into parts. We'll see...

On the weekend of September 11th- 13th, I travelled to Switzerland and Italy with 4 other PPPler. We actually started to plan for the trip way ahead, and the original idea was to go to Liechtenstein, a small principality nestled in between Switzerland and Austria. However, as we began talking logistics of making it a reality, we decided there was probably a lot to see in Switzerland as well. Originally, when I first when to Zürich and Switzerland for the first time in 2006, I hated it and couldn't understand why people actually go there. Then in 2008, I drove through Switzerland to go to Italy and I saw some of the most gorgeous scenery in my whole life. So Anna and I were the organizers of this trip and we though Davos, Switzerland would be amazing. A quick look at Google Earth told us that nearby was also the Swiss National Park that is also across border lines into Italy. After doing some research, we decided we would go here as well.

(This is really going to be a long post....)

Further investigating and planning for the trip, we decided it would be necessary to have a car. Luckily, because of my instinctive skills to get the best price for anything travel related, I found that Europcar has a glitch in their system which allows me to rent vehicles from them at 50%. Unfortunately, they removed the offer they had going on, making it impossible to book a car like this anymore.

Although Liechtenstein isn't so far away from Radolfzell, if we were going to try to do this excursion, it was definitely going to take the whole day, and we might as well as stay another day. (You can see how the costs are adding up). We decided that we would need other people to come with us in order to get better economies of scale. We started promoting our excursion to other PPPlers and we were able to convince some more people to come with us. This helped us of course, but then are budget was once more shattered as the Youth Hostel I found in Switzerland priced things per person as opposed to per room. I found a 6 bedroom room for 58CHF, but that was unfortunately per person. (1USD = 1 CHF). I continued looking for a place to sleep, but many hotels aren't connected to a Global Distribution System and I had to really search hard. Finally we made the decision that we would spend the night in Italy as Italy is cheaper than Switzerland. In fact, almost everywhere is cheaper than Switzerland.

The hotel that I found was called the Picolo Tibet Hotel in Livignio Italy. Luckily, Livigio happens to be a tax-free region in Italy (I didn't know this) but it claims itself as being a European community as opposed to an Italian one. This is historically true, as earlier this century it was part of Austria. However, nothing about Austria really remains here except for the architecture of the buildings. Since it's on the south side of the Alps, it's much more influenced from Italy and even the Church's walls have Latin writing. Luckily, our hotel included a full breakfast, and we paid only 39 Euros (although it was supposed to be 33).

The car that we rented for the trip was an Opel Insignia with Navi. Since we had 5 people traveling at all times, we needed a roomy car, and a VW Golf wasn't going to cut it for us. But luckily, because of the glitch in Europcar's system, we rented the car for a mere 73 €. (There's a catch though, and I'll get to that later).

So Brian, Trevor, Patrick, Anna and I were on board. We estimated that with the currents costs would average each person approximately 60€ for the weekend. Not bad for what we considered on doing.

On the day of our departure, the plan was to leave school and take the train and 12:17 for Singen (the neighboring town) where Europcar is located. However, being veteraned in renting cars and traveling in Europe, I was sure to bring my passport. But, I forgot to mention to the others, who naturally also wanted to drive, that the car rental needed our passports. I did remind them on the day of, but Patrick had to ride his bike back home (a good 2km) to get his. Well this problem actually was the first of a myriad to occur to one very funny yet incredibly inconvenient day. The train leaves exactly 17 minutes after we get our of school. But Patrick, being in a different class from us, wasn't told that we were taking the 12:17 train. We waited for him at the CDC until 10 after, but then we went to the bahnhof and actually had to run to make the train. Patrick naturally didn't make it, but he biked as fast as he could to make the train. Then because Patrick was so adamant about driving, he decided to bike to Singen (8km) as fast as he could to register as a driver for the car. Again, not necessary since we were able to work something out at the rental agency and there would be no way to get Patrick's bike back to Radolfzell afterwards. Registering the additional drivers cost money too, an additional budget breaker. 6€/day/driver. Anyways, the other guys still wanted to drive so we signed them up, and to our luck, Europcar Singen (literally the last town in Germany before Switzerland) could give us a Swiss Vignette (a sticker that costs 60CHF that allows one vehicle to drive on their highway system. The Vignette cannot be transferred or removed or else it will tear apart. Therefore, many strategies have been developed to "how to remove them with out invalidating them." The trick is to put some vaseline or other creamy lotion on the sticker coating before applying it to the windshield.) The vignette cost us an additional 9 Euro. We additionally asked for a manual since we were all excited to drive a stick. Anyways, who would want to drive an underpowered automatic to begin with?

After registering everybody else as a driver, we had to go pick up the car. We misunderstood the directions for the car park, and walked in the wrong directions. We basically wasted about a half an hour looking for the car park. We did however find it, got seated and were off. Our car, a beige (although described as grey on the key chain) was parked, and we were given a station wagon, which was great! The extra room was great. Our car though, was only had a 1.6 litre displacement, which correlates to approximately 115hp. Mind you, our car was the size of a midsized American car, AND we were set to drive through the steep Alps. However our car did have a full size navigation screen (sometimes in Europe you get just a screen with arrows and a voice telling you where to go). Our Opel was pretty nice, and I was impressed with it's build quality and nice interior plastics. Opel, by the way, is owned/was owned/is partially still owned by General Motors Corp. If only they could take more from the Europeans and use some of the same materials in US versions and products. Opel, though, is also basically bankrupt and was sold off to Magna (a Canadian Auto Supplier and the Russian Bank Sberbank). Also, the license plate bracket from our was stated that we were insured by the infamous AIG. It said, "AIG die Weltweit Versicherer," which translates to, "AIG, the world-wide insurer). I found it odd that we in a GM car and insured by AIG. I prayed that nothing happened to us since both companies recently have abysmal business records.

We set off back for Radolfzell, where we had to pick up our stuff and Anna. It was 1:45 by the time we left. After dropping everyone off at home, I packed my stuff quickly and grabbed some food and went to go pick everyone up. It felt really good to drive for the first time after 6 weeks. The Opel was great, despite how massively big it was, although was comparatively sized as the Renault Laguna Wagons were that we had in Italy. I picked everyone up. Anna was last. As we seated I asked if everyone had their passports with them. Trevor didn't, but everyone else had. Since were so late to start off, and since Switzerland is now part of Schengen (a community of European countries that has open boarders) we figured we didn't need it. Traffic was bad immediately leaving Radolfzell. We got to Konstanz, were we needed to find the Europcar in order to properly get Patrick registered for the car. Our navigation system led us the wrong way into the opposite end of town. Where were we? So, then Patrick called Europcar to get the address of the Konstanz branch, where then we were able to input the new address into the Navigation system. I was already losing faith in our navigation system after this episode. Finally we dropped Trevor off at the Deutsche Bahn and made it to Europcar to get Patrick certified to drive. We picked up Trevor and then headed for the Swiss border, which is literally at the cities border. There are two options to cross the boarder into Switzerland from Konstanz. We chose the smaller one since that's were the navigation system told us to go. At the boarder, the Swiss boarder guard pulled us over, of course. In German (Swiss German -which is an awful un-understandable version of German) he asks me the following quesitons:

1) Does this vehicle belong to you? (Naturally, this was a valid question as Europcar is seated in Hamburg, or Hansa League City Hamburg, and the code on the license plate is HH. Hamburg is basically at the north of Germany, and Konstanz on the very bottom). 2) Where are we going? 3) To see our identification cards.

Everyone except Trevor had their passports, and Trevor gave his American Driver's License with his Inwent ID card. The guard went into the office, while numerous cars passed by without being checked or stopped. After about 5 minutes, he came back out and told us that everyone but Trevor was allowed to enter. He told Trevor that at the Liechtenstein border, he would not be able to enter. Therefore, we had to return to Radolfzell and pick up Trevor's passport. Did I mention we were late to leave?

One hour passes...

So, we're on the road again and travelling back to Constance and we go through the border. No problems whatsoever. However, Patrick is now driving, and he's a little bit rusty driving a stick. Immediately after entering Switzerland, there's a detour, we take the detour and miss the exit we're supposed to take and actually take the opposite one. (Our navigation system misled again, but I will let this one slide because of the detour). After taking the wrong exit, the voice (who I will now refer to as Holly) of the navigation system is telling us. "If possible, make a U-turn" in British English. Since there was so much traffic, Patrick wasn't able to turn around right away, except for the road we were on was taking us exactly to the same border crossing that we tried crossing before, but this time we're on the Swiss side and Patrick is driving. Therefore, Patrick turned left onto some small street and we turned around. The traffic with really thick, and it took us a while to leave Kreuzlingen (the Swiss town that borders Konstanz).

Finally we were on our way, and we finally moving. It was almost 5:00pm at this point and it was going to get dark. We get on the Swiss Highway (can you believe that we were going to forego driving on Swiss Highways because of the Vignette, and had Europcar not had it, we would have taken secondary roads instead). At around 6:30 we arrive into Liechtenstein.

(Capital Building Liechtenstein)

We drove into Liechtenstein from the North, so as to see more. The country is separated by the Rhein river. At approximately 5 miles wide and 15 miles long, it's not very big. The largest city is Schaan. The capital city is Vaduz. We drove through Schaan and saw a lot of people. But not many buildings. Everyone was leaving work. Most people in Liectenstein are extremely rich, and it was clearly visible by the cars they drove. However, a lot of people also rode the bright green "Liechtenstein Bus". In fact, I think we saw more people in the Liechtenstein bus in Schaan than we did in the whole city (hmm? village) of Vaduz.

(Parliament Building - Liechtenstein)

(Henry, Patrick, Anna, Trevor - Main street in Vaduz)

We got to Vaduz, parked and took a walk. Vaduz has a lot of banks. In fact, that's all that is there. Surprisingly, many countries have consulates there too. I was impressed to hear though that the US does not have a consulate in Liechtenstein. Vaduz is literally a ghost town on a Friday night at 7pm. There is no one. No one on the streets, no businesses are open. Nothing. We found the tourism center, which closed at 6pm. I would have gotten my Liechtenstein stamp in my passport had we gotten there in time, but as you've read so far, we were seriously behind schedule. We tried to find a place to eat in Liechtenstein, but everything seemed deserted and not worth it, not to mention the extremely ridiculously expensive prices. We decided to foregoe eating, take some pictures and get on our way. We did see the castle in which the Prince of Liechtenstein lives.

(Liechtensteiner Castle)

(Liechtensteiner Fire Hydrants)

Fürstenberg Brauerei

Last Wednesday was our last excursion with Silkee, our PPP Tutor here in Radolfzell. Silkee studied at Amherst and is one of our most valued resources here in Radolfzell. We took the Bahn to Donaueschingen, just 40 minutes away from Radolfzell. We were all really excited to go to the Brewery. In fact, Fürstenberg is one of the most well known breweries of the world, and they sell their beer all over the world. It was amazing to see the headquarters in a town of just 15,000 people.

Donaueschingen sits at the foot of the black forest on the way towards Freiburg. There is not much in the area in terms of industry and large cities. Luckily the weather was perfect and just a short walk from the train station was the Fürstenberg Château.

There we met with our Brewery Tour Guide, who then quickly showed us the Brewery from inside. The tour was quite short, but all German beer follows a strict law that was introduce by the King of Bavaria in 1516 called the "German Beer Purity Law". It states that beer can only have 4 ingredients: Wheat, Hops, Barley and Water. Other than that, the liquid doesn't qualify as beer according to the German standards. Funny too, because in my Economics 430 course with Prof. Jim Adams we discussed the Germany Purity Laws dating back to 1516 and how they play within the bounds of the present day European Union and its trade laws between member states like Heineken of Holland.

The brewery uses modern technology, and most of it was closed off to us. However, we did get to see the old technology that was used and copper vats of wheat and barley. It was very interesting to see. The smell of the factory smelled like a college party gone wrong, but impressively, the factory was very clean. We saw the bottling room as well. In fact, in Germany because of its strict recycling rules, most of the bottles are reused and sterilized and then reused. I find that very impressive.

At the end of the tour, there was of course a tasting, and beneath the factory in some cellar ceremony hall, we were served our choice of Fürstenberger Beer. We had the choice of Pils, Hefeweizen, Dunkelweizen, Export and of course a Diesel, Radler and alcohol free with lemongrass. We were also fresh buttered pretzels. After an hour of sitting there, we had to scramble back to the train station and make the train, or else we'd be stuck in Donaueschingen for another two hours.

Back in Radolfzell, most of the PPPlers went out with Silkee to the "Tankstelle" we we ate dinner and had drinks. Amazingly, despite being the end of September, the weather here has been excellent. Chilly in the mornings yet very warm and sunny by mid-day.

Only in Germany

So I've decided that I will start writing about odd things that I've noticed while living in Germany or certain things that I have done. Each subject doesn't really require a whole blog post, so I'll probably do these every week or two.

ROAD CONSTRUCTION:

Like in the US, Germany has passed legislation to jump start the economy, and it has to do with road repairs. Since I've been here I've noticed that roads are in much better condition, and that very few require any type of repair, but since Germans insist that the roads are in need of repair, a lot of construction has been going on.

In Radolfzell alone, there are like 8 construction zones. Two are directly on my way to school. Interestingly, one is only about a 50m stretch of road but also required new sidewalks, and the other one was about 300m long and didn't require new sidewalks. The roads being repaired has no potholes, no cracks, and no signs of ware, yet both are being repaired. The small stretch that's being repaired has now been under construction for over 4 weeks. Luckily this week they just paved the sidewalks with pavers, which is extremely normal here. Seems like a lot of work for not much use. The road is still under construction and only has a rock base, which was installed several weeks ago, and is now being torn up yet again. The other stretch (300m) was literally torn up in a matter of 1 day, and was completely repaved by the 3rd day. Today workers were painting lines with paint. (I think in the US they use reflective tape.) Now they are completely done.

BUILDING VACUUMING

So apparently buildings can be vacuumed as today I witnesses a building in fact being vacuumed. There was a person on what looked like an electrical line repair truck parked in front of the building. In the basket raised up to the 4th floor was a man with a normal industrial vacuum actually sucking up things from the walls near where the walls meet the roof. To the defense of the Germans, there was dirt on the building but I didn't know that it could be vacuumed. It actually worked. I guess it's sort of the equivalent of power washing. However, many buildings in Germany need to be power-washed, but this one didn't.

ENERGY SAVING TRAFFIC LIGHTS

At night, often times traffic lights simply do not work. They shut off to save electricity. In fact, it's a very good idea as there is very little traffic. Mostly this happens in residential areas. In the event someone is driving, the person to your right has the right of way, and you treat the intersection with care and proceed as if you had a yield sign.

RIGHT BEFORE LEFT

Naturally, we have the same driving rule in the US, but it works differently. For some reason, it is thought here that traffic signs are not needed, so it's very rare to actually see stop signs. Instead certain roads have priority over other roads, usually indicated with a sign in the form of a yellow diamond. When you have this sign, you have priority over other roads, and you do not have to yield to traffic coming from your right. However, if both roads are the same size, then the person to your right has priority and the right of way before you do, even if you are driving straight. You are forced to yield to the traffic to your right. Also, if you are at a stop sign or trying to turn left at an intersection and both directions have a stop sign, the person turning left is still require to yield until all traffic turning right has passed.

GERMAN DRIVERS LICENSE

I have applied for a German driver's license. Luckily Michigan has a partnership with Germany that allows me to swap (or actually just get) a German license within 2 years of moving here, however, my Michigan license is invalid after six months of living in Germany. The reason, however I'm getting a German license is so that I can driver legally in Russia and have it as a souvenir.

Wind Surf School Radolfzell

One of my goals of this trip and two month period in Radolfzell was to learn something completely new that I have never done before. Taking advantage of Lake Constance (Bodensee) was my number one priority, and so I decided to learn how to windsurf. When I first arrived in Radolfzell I took a walk around the town, and I noticed a surf school. A couple of weeks ago I decided to go investigate how much it would cost, and how feasible it would be to learn wind surfing in German. Luckily for me, the cost was not too prohibitive, and all materials were included. Also, our instructor was willing to give us an individual time for instruction that worked with our schedules.

Some facts about Germany: In Germany, almost everything requires a license, including windsurfing. So I have the opportunity to take a test after I complete the minimum number of hours of instruction so that I can get a certificate and wind-surf on my own. Other hobbies that require a license are fishing (since you have to make sure you're not catching an endangered fish, wind-surfing, golfing, and most other extreme sports).

Our instructor, Sigi (short for Sigmund), is in his 40's and is part time wind-surf instructor, part time other profession. We have our lessons on Thursdays from 2-4pm. Before I committed, I was able convince some of my other classmates to do it as well. In total, there are 4 of us who are taking Wind-Surfing; Anastasia, Dana, Patrick and I. On our first lesson, we had 1 hour of practical ground training. Unfortunately or fortunately, it was extremely gusty our first day. Sigi was unsure of whether we should go out onto the water, but since it's only a lake, and we can't really drown as the water is only 4-5 feet deep, we convinced him to let us out on the water. Our first exercise was to practice just standing on the board without the sail. The board has a stabilizer underneath against choppy water and is approximately 2 feet wide and about 6 feet long. The sails also vary in size depending on how windy it is, and how talented one is. I started with a sail that was 4.0 sq. meters. Normally, trained wind-surfers use sails between 6.5 and 8 sq. meters. I was pretty successful at standing on the board and was able to keep my balance. Later, we each took turns getting on the board with the sail attached. The first step is to lift the sail out of the water. The trick is to use your legs to pull the sail up as opposed as your back. Lifting the sail out of the water isn't so difficult, but since it was so windy, it was hard to keep one's balance. Once you pull the sail out of the water, you grab the mast with your right hand, and then grab the bar (naturally, I have no idea what the terms are in English, as we're being instructed only in German). Your arms are to be completely extended so as the sail doesn't push you back from the wind into the water. Also you counterbalance the weight of the sail with your own weight and therefore keep your balance better.

At first I was getting the hang of it, but it was difficult to control the direction in which I wanted to travel. I fell into the water quite a few times because I simply wasn't experienced enough to stand, keep balance and travel. Another difficult task is to turn around, which requires flipping the sail around and standing on the other side. This requires you to move your feet and switch sides. Luckily, on our second lesson, there was just a little wind, and it was much easier to get the hang of things. So, now I can say that at least I have the basics down. This thursday will be my last lesson, and then I will decide whether I will want to get my license.

Porsche Museum Stuttgart

Sorry for not posting lately. It's been difficult to get pictures and ideas for new posts and life has become a little bit more ordinary and I haven't gone off doing exciting things. I have now some good topics for upcoming posts, so be prepared to do some reading this week.

This post is about my recent visit to Stuttgart, the capital city of the Bundesland Baden-Würtemburg. Stuttgart is the home to several famous German companies like Mercedes-Benz, Robert Bosch, and Porsche. It's also largely involved in the automotive industry. Stuttgart was completely destroyed during WWII as it was a center of industry for the Third Reich. Since then, Stuttgart has rebuilt itself, turning itself into one of Germany's prime centers for business and industry. Stuttgart is by no means a very pretty city, however, it has some unique characteristics that set it apart from other German cities. Stuttgart is very small, although it's the 6th largest city in Germany. Settled in a valley, the land area of Stuttgart if very small, and most of the city is built on the hills that surround the city. Only the downtown area is in the valley, where you can find the palaces of the Würtemburg family. The main pedestrian area of Stuttgart, known as Königstrasse is the place to go. Since things are closed on Sunday in Germany, and I mean completely closed, it's more of a place to go to get a cup of coffee and people watch. Luckily the weather afforded us some sun and warmth, as the weather here is definitely switching to fall.

I met up with my friend Patrick at the Bahnhof (Train station) and from there we took the suburban train to Porscheplatz. The train literally drops you off in back of the brand new Porsche Museum. The museum is located in the compound of the headquarters of Porsche. The buildings surrounding the museum all belong to Porsche, some are business/corporate buildings, one is the main Porsche dealership, and the other one is actually one of the factory assembling the cars.

The Porsche Museum itself was only recently completed, and it's marvel of modern engineering and design. The aesthetics of the buildings reminds passersbye of the direction that Porsche wants to go. Modern, technical, beautiful and advanced. The building is vaulted above ground and is support by large concrete pillars. The building is designed with angular surfaces covered in a shiny gun metal color. Interestingly the building has no windows, but because the building is so shiny, it reflects the colors of the sky and building around it.

Porsche Museum Entrance

Inside the museum, a modern white covered the walls and floors. We bought our tickets for the entrance (4€) and then stood on the long escalator that took us up. The museum doesn't have floors, but rather is a linear ramp that goes up and up (sort of like the Guggenheim museum in New York). However, the floor is the ramp, and so the installations are also on the ramp. Porsche was started by Ferry Porsche who helped developed the first people's car (Volkswagen) the Beetle in 1950. That's the reason why the original Beetle has a similar profile as all Porsches.

Original 911

I particularly like the Porsche's of the 1990's and I feel the design is classic much more unique. I particularly like the Porsche 959 and of course the 911. I was pleased to see that Porsche's signature color was a nice green color. In fact, when ordering a new Porsche, that green color fetches a $3000 premium.

Porsche 959

After exploring the museum, we went downstairs and ate at the adjoining restaurant. There were many Americans (to my surprise) at the museum. Maybe some of them were coming to pick up their Porsche using the European Delivery program.

The Porsche Centrum (Dealership) Stuttgart

After visiting the museum, we had to wait 30 minutes until the next suburban train going back to Stuttgart Hbf, so we ventured over to the dealership to take a closer look at the current offerings from Porsche. Not that I was shocked, but we Americans are really fortunate to know that most German products cost significantly less in the United States that in Germany. Odd to think that a German product built in Germany would cost up to 160% more in Germany. For instance, Porsche's Cayenne S SUV can retail in the US for ~$90,000, while in Germany the vehicle easily reaches the 110,000€ mark, (the equivalent of $150,000). Also, a big difference in buying a car in Germany is that every option is a standalone one. Unlike the US where options are usually packaged into bundles which are usually cheaper than selecting the standalone option. When getting ready to buy a car in Germany, you actually have to go to the dealer and pick up the order books, and which point you select every single feature that you want on your car. A base Mercedes C class will have not have the following features which are standard in the US: air conditioning, alloy wheels, power rear windows, sunroof, leather seats, etc. These options must all be selected when purchasing your car. In fact, if you're going to buy a new car, you can't just show up at dealer and say I want that one (although you can do that, there are only 2 or 3 vehicles available to pick up like that), but you have to place an order which takes usually 3 months to build. But at least you get every feature you want.

The Porsche Centrum (Dealership) Stuttgart

After Patrick and I got back to Stuttgart, we went to Starbucks. I was getting homesick, and the comforting feeling of knowing that I could go into a Starbucks and feel like I was at home (since all of them look identical inside). From there, we met Jutta for a brief 30 minutes as she was frantically trying to finish a 2+ month assignment for work before she leaves for the US this upcoming Friday.

Well, that was pretty much my day in Stuttgart last Sunday. On the way home, I rode the train with Anna, and randomly to our surprise ran into Ashley on her way back from Münster. Unfortunately, the good/bad thing about the German trains are that they are all air-conditioned. Since I've been living here, I have had no air-conditioning, so riding on the train always makes me sick, as I can't tolerate cold air blowing on me anymore. I've been the sole PPPler is perpetually sick, and all that I can say is that I'm tired of it. Hopefully this weekend, I will get the fresh Alpine air and feel better.

Next post: Surf School

p.s. Sorry for the poor quality of the photos, they were taken with my cell phone.

Neuschwanstein Ausflüge

The Carl Duisberg Centrum in Radolfzell has almost daily after school activities for students to go on. Notably, last week, they offered a fully organized tour of the Schloß Neuschwanstein near Füssen, Germany. If you’re not familiar, you should be since it’s the castle that Disney used to build the magic kingdom. Perched atop a mountain, Neuschwanstein is one of Germany’s most iconic places. Built only in the 19^th century by King Ludwig of Bavaria, it was King Ludwig’s project and commemoration to Richard Wagner, King Ludwig’s favorite composer. The castle was designed to be as modern as possible for its time, and it included central heating and running water. The castle on the exterior looks much larger than it actually is. This accounts for the fact that the castle was never finished as King Ludwig died in 1886. Since the cost was too prohibitive, the castle was never finished and immediately turned into a museum.

Füssen, where the castle is located, is a small town at the base of the Alps. Only kilometers away from Austria, it basically lies on the border and is the last place of inhabitation before Austria. The peaks of the mountains to the south create a clear-cut demarcation line dividing Germany from Austria. The area is very pretty, with some snow-covered peaks, lakes, streams and forest. The castle lies on top of a small mountain with views of a waterfall and Marienbrücke, and bridge that is made of wood that connects Neuschwanstein to the forests and mountains leading towards Austria.

The CDC organized the whole trip, and the 28 of us rode in a mini tour bus 4 hours to Füssen. Our driver was definitely German and quite frustrated with the high traffic load on the roads. In Bavaria, a predominantly Catholic Bundesland, it was Ascension Day so everyone was on holiday. The neighboring state of Baden-Württemberg was also on holiday, and so the autobahn was a parking lot with tourist from all over the country trying to get to Füssen, Italy or Austria. Luckily, I was seated in the back of the bus where there was a small table and I along with some other Russian CDC students taught the others how to play Durak, a Russian card game with no winner only a loser.

Finally, we had arrived at Neuschwanstein only to be surrounded by throngs of other tourist from neighboring European countries. Luckily, since we had reserved our tickets beforehand, we were able to go grab lunch. As one would expect, Neuschwanstein is touristy, with many restaurants and inns overdoing the Bavaria theme. Of course, we ate a typical or perhaps untypical (depending on the way you want to look at it) restaurant. Surprisingly the meal was not overpriced, but it was not very tasty. I had pfefferlinge knödel, which is chanterelle mushrooms in a sauce with a bread ball (similar to a matzo ball). Luckily for desert, my vanilla ice cream finally came with natural warm raspberry sauce. Something I had been wanting and not being able to find.

Our tour through the castle was naturally conducted in German. The castle has only a couple of completed rooms. We saw the bedroom of King Ludwig. The rooms, like in traditionally castles were all interconnected. There was a fairly large chapel, as well as a theatre for Wagner performances. In fact, the castle still hosts concerts in the months of September. We saw the modern kitchens as well as Ludwig’s personal cave room. It was all quite impressive, but much smaller on the inside than it seemed on the exterior.  The most fantastic part of the castle, however, were the views. The tour lasted only a half hour, and the rest of the time we spent hiking through the trails behind the castle. We went to the Marienbrücke, where one has the best view of the castle. Also, I went down to the base of the waterfall with Anna, and actually filled up a bottle with pure alpine water. In fact, it tasted better than the bottled Evian water that was in the bottle beforehand.

 With so much time wasted on the trip getting to Neuschwanstein, we were unable to stop in Lindau for a cup of coffee. We again slept and played Durak on the trip back from Neuschwanstein. Despite fewer cars on the autobahn and roads, the trip home still took a solid 3 hours. 

Zürich, Switzerland and the SR Technic Tour

Today, I went to Zürich, Switzerland for a special organized tour of SR Technic at the Zürich International Airport. I found out about this tour and the possibility to spot aircraft from the observation deck from my airliners.net forum, which I’m an active participant. I was hesitant to commit to an event that would be taking place miles away from home back in June, but I believed it would be a good way for me to network and perhaps make new connections in the European aviation industry. The day our tour was set to take place also happened to be the Zürich Street Parade, which if you don’t know, is a huge techno fest that takes place around the harbor in Zürich. People go to this festival in unique dress from skintight leather pants and shirts to weird self-made clothes.

The day began in Radolfzell where I met my friend Anna, a fellow U of M student that just also happened to have applied to this program, and who had also been placed in Radolfzell. Anna is of Polish decent, and thus has an interest in Germanic and Eastern European history and policy. Patrick, another PPPler, also had decided to join us on our excursion. At the train station, we met yet another fellow PPPler, Meredith, who had planned to go on a different excursion but was ditched by her friends who failed to show up because of too much partying the night before. So at 9am we were on the train headed for Zürich.

The train ride from Radolfzell to Zürich lasts all of 1:10. We had to make one connection in Singen (Hohentwiel) 5 minutes away from Radolfzell where there is a large junction. Since Switzerland is now part of Schengen, it is no longer necessary for people travelling between Germany and Switzerland to pass through border control. However, boarder guards did come on the train, and despite us asking for them to stamp our passport, they told us it was not possible as they were now members of Schengen.

Upon arrival at the train station in Zürich, it was clear that the Street Parade was in full swing. Since the train station is enclosed, there was a huge stage set up (mind you, it’s still early morning) with people dancing to the music. It was loud and crowded. Not very pleasant when you’re trying to find the tourist information so that you can get a map and navigate the city. However, we finally did get a map of the city and we were off. The city was filled with techno fans though, and it was quite difficult to walk around immediately from the Bahnhof (Train Station), as there were so many people. We decided to go to a section of the city called Lindenhof, where there was a viewing platform of the whole city. Also located in the old section of the city, we where able to roam the small streets, shops, and also grab some lunch. Unfortunately, the weather was turning gloomy, and it began to rain. Fortunately, we were able to walk around the old town, and I was able to see Marc Chagall’s stained glass window in the cities most prominent protestant church, the Fraumünster.

Following, we ended up on the city’s most chic shopping boulevard lined with stores like Bally, Louis Vuitton and others. We did some window-shopping, and I came across Burger where I actually found a great deal on some great tailored shirts. I bought two shirts, and that will probably be the culmination of my shopping in Europe at least until the next year. As it was already nearing 1pm, I decided to get a move on to the airport, where I was supposed to meet for my tour. I have to say I’m pretty impressed with the train system in Switzerland. The train from Zürich to the Flughafen (airport) was direct and simple. Any ticket for any train was valid on the route, and I got to the airport in 20 minutes. Additionally, there were trains every 15-20 minutes. At the airport, which I think was one of the nicest that I have ever been too (so you know that’s impressive) I met the other anetters (members of the airliners.net forum) for the start of our tour.

 SR Technic was a daughter company of the Swiss Air Group. However, the Swiss Air Group was dissolved a couple years back, and the airline component was bought out by Lufthansa GmbH. The other parts were sold to other investors. SR was the former airline IATA code for Swiss Air. SR Technic however still does all the maintenance for Swiss Air and many other airlines around the world, as well as engine manufacturers. Once we passed security, we were transferred by bus from the airport terminal to the SR Technic main building. There, on foot, we went from hanger to hanger touring the facility and how the company repairs aircraft engines.

When engines need overhauling, repairs, or maintenance checks, Airlines don’t ground the plane, but rather have spare engines available to swap in for an engine that needs a check up. Thus, the plane never actually sits on the ground, but rather has its engine swapped every 2-3 years. SR Technic does not repair and service all engines, but they do service GE and Pratt Whitney engines, and they have one time, repeat, and contractual customers. Some of their customers include Swiss Air, Cathay Pacific, Vietnamese Airlines and 100’s of others. SR Technic will dismantle the entire engine into every part, clean the parts, analyze the wear on the each part, and assess what needs to be replaced. Such a service usually costs an airline between 1-2 million dollars. Additionally, SR Technic will need a minimum of 40 days to turnaround the engine, but usually requires much more time as the supply of parts is tight considering the extravagant cost of each spare part. Additionally, there is no place to store so many parts. Some engines have over 100,000 parts.

During the tour, we saw many engines on carts getting prepped for repair. We also saw airliners being converted from passenger variants to cargo, as well as a complete refurbishment of other airliners (including new seats, carpeting, window panels, overhead bins, crew rest cabins, and exterior repainting. In all, I cannot fathom how one opens such a business as the start up cost are extremely exorbitant, the know-how of personnel much be extremely technical, and the work done must be of the highest quality. Basically, in our globalized economy, many airlines are finding that it is much cheaper to outsource such work rather than opening their own shops. Additionally, manufactures use such repair facilities to send their engines when they are overburdened with work. However, our tour guide did acknowledge that the amount of work has diminished due to the global economic crisis, as airlines are favoring grounding airplanes that require upcoming checks due to the slack in demand.

Next post, Trip to Neuschwanstein Castle and Bavaria. 

My Host Family and my New Home - Kasernenstr.

My House

Once I had arrived in Radolfzell, my host mom, Birgit Wotjas picked me up from the CDC. I was nervous to meet my new family as I wasn't sure what to expect. Since I had arrived in Germany that day, several things had changed. First, I was to move in immediately with my host family, which was different from what I was initially told. Instead of moving into the school's dormitory, I moved right into with my family... I was happy about this. The other thing that I learned that I was to get my full stipend as opposed to a reduced stipend, because my family was not providing me with breakfast. This worried me a little bit too, as our host families for the first part could range from just boarding housings to full fledged accepting families. 

My host mom picked me up in her black Fiat Punto, (another bad sign at least I thought). Fact is, Germans spend a high proportion of their income on their cars. They're very proud, and since my host mom drove a Fiat, an Italian car, I was not sure really what to expect. I was also pretty embarrassed in the fact that I had 3 bags, 1 box, and a backpack, way more than the average. I rationalized by telling everyone that I planned on buying nothing but a pair of jeans in Germany. Anyways, everything fit into the back seat and the trunk, and we drove the 5 minutes home.

However, in many ways, when I arrived home, I realized how lucky I actually was with my family placement. First, my home is situated in Radolfzell proper, not a outlying village. This meant that I am able to walk to school in only 20 minutes, as opposed to taking a bus or buying a bike. Second, my home is only 6 years old, meaning that most everything is up to date and modern. I have a big large bathroom, a large vaulted ceiling room with balcony, and downstairs we have a kitchen with a washing machine and every other convenience. Third, my host mom and host brother are really nice. I'm welcome into their home, but I also have my privacy. The second floor where my room is, has its own kitchen and bathroom. There are also two other renters that live there. However, since I'm a guest from the US, I'm welcome to use the living room, downstairs kitchen and the whole basement. We have a small backyard with patio and we even have an above ground swimming pool. So in many ways, I have one of the best living situations. Also important to note is that I was given a key immediately to the house. Some of the others are not as fortunate as I am. 

My Bedroom

So in the time that I have been living on Kasernenstrasse, my host mom and I has repaired an old bike of theirs for me to use, taken me grocery shopping, gone running in the woods, prepared dinners together and taught me how to play several board games like backgammon, nobody's perfect auf Deutsch, and Battleship auf Deutsch. I in return have helped them with their computers, cell phones, and shown them how to make pesto. Last night we prepared a huge dinner for Birgit, me, Quentin (Birgit's son) and our other host student who just moved in Ashley. (Ashley is also on my program with me, but she's from Atlanta). Since I made the pesto which they absolutely couldn't get enough of, Birgit has decided that I should be the head chef. Since I suggested we have chicken for dinner, I was put in control for cooking it. I decided to take a page out of Maria's cookbook (from Italy) and make Lemon Chicken. It was pretty good, but definitely could use improvement.

Birgit making Quiche Lorraine for Dinner

In the 2 and 1/2 weeks that I've been here, I've done my laundry 2 times (using a European front loading washing machine and a 20 year old dryer, although most things are air-dried). The only thing that's really bad about living in Radolfzell is the amount of bugs and mosquitos. It's really really bad, and I'm always worried. I've been bitten all over, and as I'm writing this, there is a mosquito flying around me taunting me. 

I will be keeping you updated as well with my host family throughout my posts. Unfortunately, when I move to Frankfurt in September, I will have a new family, but perhaps I will be equally as fortunate. 

Carl Duisberg Centrum - Radolfzell

The Bodensee - Us PPPler often eat lunch here

This post is dedicated to my school in Radolfzell, Germany. The Carl Duisberg Centrum is a network of German Language schools located throughout Germany. When we (the 20 students bound for the Radolfzell language school) arrived here at the CDC, we were treated to German pretzels, cinnamon cake and juice. It was a very nice arrival after being flying for 14 hours and then taking a 4 hour bus ride. Needless to say, we were hungry and tired. We had a short introduction, met our tutor Silkee, and met the director of the CDC Radolfzell, Frau Heinz. It was very interesting. We immediately received our stipends for the month, received our welcome packets, and waited only for our hosts to come pick us up. Around 5pm, our hosts arrived, and we were driven home. 

Me in front of the CDC-Radolfzell

The following Monday (we arrived Saturday), was my first day at the CDC. We took a placement exam, and had some bureaucratic affairs to deal with. We had to register with the local city hall, and had to fill out several forms regarding our stay in Germany. 

The second day, we found out our placements. I was placed into level B1.2, which is intermediate. I was quite pleased with my placement, as I would be doing some review, but would actually go into the level I finished off with last summer in Berlin. (Today I took another exam, the marked the end of level B1.2, and so tomorrow we get our results, and we will see if I will move ahead into B.2 or whether I will have to redo B1.2. I believe I will move ahead). 

The CDC - Radolfzell

My teacher's name is Frau Angelika H. She is quite nice, but I've noticed that the German education system is pretty different from ours. First, they really encourage exercises and they don't cover the grammatical rules. So you're supposed to figure out the rules yourself or through examples. I don't really like this way of learning, but I realize that I'm in a different country and things are done differently here. In fact, I'm sort of surprised that things are taught this way, I would have expected the Germans to teach with tables and rules, not exercises. Anyways, we play games and sing songs. Interestingly, on Wednesdays we have a substitute, and yesterday he played his guitar for us. 

So I'll keep you updated on my events here at the CDC, next post my host mom and my new home. 

Washington DC Part 2 and Flight to Frankfurt

On our last and final day in the United States for one full year, we awoke early because we had to check-out of our dorm rooms at 7:00am. All 75 of us then proceeded to put our luggage in one of the two luggage rooms that the program had secured for us. We then went to eat breakfast, our last American one, at the cafeteria that overlooked the Potomac. 

I felt sombre, as the weather wasn't ideal. Humid, rainy, and overcast. Looking out the window onto the Potomac and into Alexandria, it began to dawn that this was it. I was leaving, my world, my home, my family for an entire year. Well anyways, we had our last seminar that day before our trip to the airport. The people at CDS wishes us farewell, and at 1pm we were off for Dulles Airport. Right after we loaded our luggage and boarded the bus, it began to downpour. 

The trip to the airport was uneventful. America passed before my eyes as the bus got closer to the airport. Cousin Joe came to the rescue though, as I left the greater portion of my stuff at his house. Joe delivered my stuff to me at the terminal before my flight. At the airport, I checked in at Lufthansa, but I skipped the line because of my wonderful Uncle and his US Airways Platinum Star Alliance membership card. With this card, I was able to check-in in the first class line, but as Lufthansa is a German airline, they required to see the card in order for me to get the perks of using such a card. Just giving them the number wasn't enough. I argued, told them that I didn't need the card for the year. In the end, the man allowed me to check in 3 bags, which was great as I really didn't want to take the bag onto the plane, as I already had so many, and I sure didn't want to pay the $150 fee for an additional bag. 

In the airport, Terminal B at Dulles is fairly nice, but not as nice as DTW's McNamara terminal. This was my first time flying Lufthansa, and as we arrived to the airport 3 hours early, our plane had not arrived from Frankfurt yet. When it did arrive, the weather was already better, and the sun had come out. The plane was late though, very un-German, and even worse, we left late. The plane in question was a Lufthansa 747-400. Most of the CBYX'ers now known as PPPler in Germany (Parlimentarisches Patenschafts Programm). We domineered the whole rear of the aircraft. After pushing back from the gate and heading on our way to Frankfurt, finally bidding farewell to the US, we got the word from the control tower, that we needed to wait for bad weather to pass before we were to depart. We were also 11th in line for takeoff. After waiting 40 minutes to take off, we were given word by our disappointed pilot that we would have to wait at least another hour. As we waited on the tarmac, away from gates, we were instructed to stay in our seats, but as more news became imminent, we were allowed to move about and use our cell phones. In all, our flight left Dulles 3 hours late, making all the ordeal of getting to Radolfzell, Germany much harder as everything had to be pushed back.

 

Frankfurt was not what I expected. The airport was crowded, cramped and hard to follow. Additionally, the lines at passport control were long, and it took nearly an hour to receive our luggage. One of my bags was damaged, and therefore I had the distinct pleasure of unwrapping lufthansa tape from one bags. 

However, we were greeted by the inWEnt staff at the airport, and we loaded our stuff, once again, onto the bus for our 4 hour bus ride to Radolfzell. For those of you, who aren't familiar with where Radolfzell is, it lies on Lake Constance on the boarder with Switzerland. The closest major city to it is actually Zürich Switzerland. 

Washington DC Part 1

The first part of my orientation program began in Washington DC. The Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange Program takes place on the campus of Georgetown University in Northwest Washington DC. On Monday, June 27^th, I was invited to attend the final seminar for the 2008-2009 CBYX program year at the German Embassy in Washington. Arriving at the embassy was really the first signal to me that I was about to embark on this full year program abroad in Germany. I arrived along with other guests, and we had to first pass clearance at the gate just to get in. Once inside the compound, I followed the signs to our seminar and luncheon. I immediately located the other American participants that were part of the 2009-2010 CBYX program year. We mingled as were supposed to, spoke about our fears, especially concerning our host families and what we expected to get out of the program. In total there are 75 participants taking part in the program this year. At the embassy, we discussed the year the Germans just had finished and what their experiences were like. They also discussed how their experiences in the US can prepare them for their return to Germany. Also, the program organizers spoke about the reverse culture shock that were about to encounter upon return to Germany. During the luncheon, I decided to meet some of the Germans. After speaking with them, I realized that we, the Americans, were in many ways more fortunate then the Germans. Once of the kids that I met told me that he was placed in the outskirts of Louisville, Kentucky and live with what seemed to me a redneck family. Most of the Germans were placed in small-town America, and as we all know there is a significant difference between suburbia, urban living and rural America. I felt bad for the students placed in Kansas and Nebraska.

We CBYXers were scheduled to arrive between 4-5pm at Copley Hall. Upon arrival, we were instructed to check-in and receive our room keys.  The university campus is actually quite small. The buildings are pushed up together, and there are not very many open spaces. The weather was hot and humid, with temperatures reaching above 90°F daily. The first evening we had a barbecue, which really wasn’t a barbeque, but a poorly catered college dinning services meal. However, at the reception, we were able to fully meet all 75 participants. Michigan was extremely well represented with 7 participants, and 5 of those being students or graduates of the University of Michigan. There were also participants from Alaska, Hawaii, Nebraska, Arizona and many other states. I would definitely say the selected group represented all aspects of the United States. It was amazing to see how well we all got along. Of course there were the icebreaker activities, but we all seemed to have similar interests (and not just Germany). The following day was filled with guest speakers about culture shock, people from the department of state and one guest from inWEnt gGmbH (our program’s partner organization in Germany). Later that day, we went to the Capitol to take a picture of the entire group, and I was fortunate enough to be able to schedule an interview with my local congressman, Gary Peters, from Michigan’s 9^th District. 

His staff was very nice, and gave us a tour through the Capitol building after I met briefly with my congressman. It was very interesting to see how the congressmen and senators vote. Afterwards, I decided to walk back to Georgetown (that was a mistake, as it was 4,8 miles and extremely hot and humid). After finally making it back, I rested on my bed and gave myself a break. Later that evening, I went out to this restaurant for dinner called Tombs. It was our last night in the US, and I ate a salad. Something I think I will really miss in Germany.

 

Washigton DC and Flight to Germany Part II – coming soon.

Departure for DC

Today was my last day in Michigan. I left for DC with my dad around 10:30am and it took us 10 hours to drive from Bloomfield Hills to Herndon, VA where my cousin Joe lives. The drive was mostly boring, and I tried to stay clear from cops. Ohio was surprisingly easy and cop free. I packed 3 bags and have a ton of stuff. I'll have to consolidate while I'm here in DC though. Tomorrow I'm off to the German Embassy for "The Cultural Impact of Change" Event. There will be free food and I hope to meet a couple of the people on my program. 

Here are some pictures of my bags, and how full the car was. 

Saying good bye to my mom and the dogs. 
The back seat was pretty much full. It definitely couldn't be used as a seat. 
The remaining space is all that my dad got for his luggage. I felt a little guilty, but at least we're saving money since we're driving and there are no overages for overweight and 3 pieces of luggage. 

The Final Stages

So this will be my first post for my upcoming year in Germany. It's hard to believe that almost a year has gone by since I was last really in Germany, and now that I have decided to go back, I'm realizing that I'm not just going back, but I'm starting a new era to my life. Never had I expected that going on the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange Program (CBYX) would mark such a dramatic end to one period of my life, my college years, and set the beginning of new era, early years after college. Now, I have to say, I've had already experienced living and working for myself. You all remember that last year I lived and worked in Berlin Germany, but somehow I see this upcoming year as more of test. Spending a full year in another country (even if it's Germany... and you all know how much I obsess) is challenging. Being away from family, friends, pets and home is far harder when gone for a year. Speaking another language, communicating with people of different nationalities, filtering through the bureaucracy, understanding the humor, navigating the cities, understanding the work culture, adjusting to the inconveniences, learning to appreciate time, making new friends, budgeting finances, the list goes on... is all very challenging, but even more so when out of one's element. 

As I pack my last bags, I want everyone who reads this blog to know, that I am the person that I am because each one of you in one way or another has enabled me to reach thus far, and that I am only capable of achieving what I have because each person has left their personal touch on me. 

On Sunday, my father and I will drive to Washington DC where I will be until Friday, July 31st, when I will board my flight for Germany. I will first go off to Radolfzell am Bodensee, a small village on Lake Constance near the Swiss border, and then later onto Hessen. Where I will exactly be you'll have to read and find out. Please contact me throughout the year with questions and comments. I hope to communicate to all of you through this blog, and share my experiences of living in Deutschland via this means of communication. This blog will serve as a way of communication back to all my family and friends in the states, but also be a way for me to remember my experiences abroad. 

-Henry

-Henry

Wustrow and the Baltic Sea

This past weekend, I went to the Baltic Sea with Eileen, Sasha (our intern from Moscow, and her parents, who are business partners of ours) and there we met Guenter and his wife, Inna. This part of Germany, that I went to is very famous for its beautiful shores. Because it's from the East, it is also newer and less built up. It is also only 20miles from the Danish shores and 60miles from Sweden.

The land there is really nice, and very similar to Michigan. There are lots of little lakes, and many trees that cover the streets. Als0, there is the Baltic on the otherside. To begin, we left Berlin early in the morning to drive the 2 and a half hours to Wustrow, but that's with Eileen driving her FD Seat Leon, which is quite fast. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for Sasha's parents) there was a lot of traffic, and we couldn't drive any faster than 100km/h. There were pockets of fast driving, but in the end it took us about 3.5 hours to drive there. When we got off the autobahn, the landscape was filled with meadows and cows and pockets of forest. It is amazing how Germany is the most populous country in Western Europe and yet is smaller than France and Italy, and yet retains so much natural land. Well finally we arrived in Wustrow to this small harbor where there were parked only sailboats, no yachts or motorboats. Here is a picture of the sailboat. Its about 8 meters long (about 2 feet). To begin, I helped Eileen and Guenter change the mast to the storm sail so that we wouldn't go so quickly, and that the ride would be quite a bit smoother. We departed the marina using a little honda engine, and then we put up the sail and we were off. I should note that around this village Wustrow their is an large inlet of water, which is basically surround on three sides by land, so the water is much calmer, warmer and shallower than the open Baltic. However, this didn't matter, as we sailed at about 20 knots into the center. I learned that the boat can sail the fastest when the wind is coming from directly behind, but actually from a quarter angle, as the wind is forced between the two sails, and thus basically creates pressure pushing the boat faster. In fact, when the wind blows from behind, the boat can only sail as fast as the wind, but when the wind is from a quarter angle, the boat can travel up to two times faster.
As we turned around the bouey markers, I was resting above getting some sun. We were luckly, because in Berlin it was actually raining, but here, it was sunny and warm. I even got a light tan. When the sail was up, I wouldn't have been able to lie like this, as the boat would be sailing at such an angle that it would be hard to hold one's balance.
After watching Eileen get in the water, I decided to swim (drag) behind the boat as we were sailing at the quick pace. It was a lot of fun I have to say, and not so scary unless you let go of the rope. The problem was though that my swim trunks wouldn't stay on. At least it wasn't only me. It was a really good work out though, because pulling yourself out of the water at such speeds requires a lot of upper body strenght.
Here we are with Inna at the Baltic getting ready to go swimming. The water here was much colder, and it was filled with non-stinging Jellyfish. However, the water was not so salty, not like the Atlantic or Mediterranean. So in all, the baltic is really similar to Michigan's great lakes, and it was a great feeling to be there as it reminded me of home. The one thing you have to be aware of in Germany (especially in the East) is that people are not ashamed of being naked (fully stark naked) on the beach with their families. Most people just sit and play completely naked and go swimming with nothing on. I was a bit put off by this, and found it sort of funny.
In all, I hope to go back to the Baltic as it is really nice and pleasant here. Not so far from Berlin as well. It also means that there is only Northwest Germany that I have still to see, because otherwise I've travelled through the whole country.