Blessings in failure

You know that recipe that mom always used to make?  Well, in our family, during the holiday season, the dessert to have was always apple crisp.  But for what it’s made of, apple crisp is actually a lot more complicated than it appears to be.  Either that, or my first attempt at baking was foiled by using the wrong ingredients and utensils on a foreign measurement system.  I can’t decide.

Basically, a mother-approved apple crisp should have the following characteristics:

• a layer of soft baked apples who maintain their shape
• a crispy, sweet crust evenly coating the apples

My “apple crisp” resembled more of a sweetened apple sauce with a loose oat blanket.

Upon entering the kitchen, however, my friends failed to notice the disappointment in my face, and proceeded to distribute and devour portions of the semisolid mixture  before I could warn them of its rather cafeteria-like consistency.

But on a second thought, I realized that most Germans and Mexicans have probably never heard of apple crisp.  So I swallowed my pride – all of its sugary oateyness –  and realized that I don’t necessarily need to stick to a recipe to make people happy.

Hip hop’s hidden message

Behind all of the pimping, drug-dealing, and cursing in hip hop music today, I believe there is a valuable message.

Bookmark my blog or subscribe to my RSS feed for more later!

Sorry America, the Germans beat you to it: Going on strike against tuition.

A few years ago, some areas of Germany introduced a semesterly tuition fee of 500 Euros (about $749).  What followed can be described, somewhat mildly, as the successful transplantation of a very American idea – the freedom to protest.  Thousands of students all over the country flooded the streets to demonstrate their anger at the decision to impose socio-economical barriers on the university system.

Taking to the streets, Berlin (uebergebuehr.de)

But fast forward to today – I’m staring at a flyer inviting me to join in demonstrations at the University of Stuttgart, where large lecture halls are being held captive by groups of students, claiming unfair treatment and demanding change.  My first reaction:

“500 Euros, huh?  So what are they on strike for now?”

My reality and my perspective, though in all likelihood a little too bluntly delivered, serve a legitimate point.  To 100% of the Germans who ask the question, “how much does tuition cost in the United States?”, the answer is shocking enough to literally kill the conversation.  After revisiting the weather, I explain that I actually go to a pretty cheap school in the grand scheme of our system, where out-of-state tuition rates essentially double fees and private schools are no more promising than their public counterparts.  That, paired with a nationally and internationally ranked business school, medical school, IT school, and others, a great friend of mine would call it “pretty legit.”  And pretty legit is the deal I’m getting, but I’m still paying more than 10x what the Germans are complaining about.  So why are they so pissed off?

After some investigation, I discovered that in some regions, including the University of Stuttgart, the administration is not only charging students tuition, but also shortening the length of some highly technical degree programs and completely deleting others.  Holger, a close broseph, explained to me that some technical degrees are going to be shortened by as much as a year, but are allegedly going to retain the same amount of content.  I don’t study chemistry because I know what suicide-inducing confusion looks like when I see it.  But as a business major avoiding such invariably time-consuming sciences, I can’t get my head around the expectation of students to do four years’ of work in three.  To me, it looks like an accounting decision to charge more and provide less. According to students leading the demonstrations on our campus, art, history, and philosophy are all facing the axe.  In a country with an already exceedingly westernized culture, such a complete loss would be a devastating blow not only to the student body’s education, but also to Germany’s ability to preserve its identity.

"Our education? Your opinion!"

So this blog is my shout-out to the students at the University of Stuttgart and other universities across Germany who are sticking up for what is right, both in an educational and a business sense.  Because if I’m paying more for something, especially my education, then I want more for it.  Not less.  And certainly not if I’m losing the option to learn about my country.

My only condition is that you please allow my history lecture to continue, and take a break from occupying lecture hall Kepler Str. 17.01 on Wednesdays between 9:45-11:30.  Thanks!

Colin

Quick announcement

Freshly uploaded pictures of…

(click links to open new window to Flickr page)

The Austrian Alps

Linz, Austria

Enjoy!

Grüße,

Colin

A Tourist’s Tale: Amsterdam

Friday, 10/30/2009 – 1:26AM

Board night train to Amsterdam, climb over carcass of mysterious blanket pile and/or woman occupying isle seat.  Settle in, turn on iPod, try to get comfortable.

Friday, 10/30/2009 -1:35AM-2:20AM

Accidentally wake sleeping blanket beast, feel confused for not knowing what language to apologize in.  Accept unbelievable discomfort, in chair apparently not designed for human use.  Turn up volume on iPod to drown out snoring in cabin.

Friday, 10/30/2009 – 2:20AM-5:30AM

Sleep in irregular intervals ranging from fifteen minutes to two hours, waking only to readjust blanket over face and turn up volume on iPod.  Snoring in the cabin has repeatedly overtaken previous volume settings.  Begin to wonder why this particular reservation was chosen in the booking process.

Friday, 10/30/2009 – 9:00AM

Receive a call from Steph, fellow Carlson student studying in London, wondering why I am not already at Amsterdam Centraal.  Explain that a “15-minute” delay has been announced.

Friday, 10/30/2009 – 9:45AM

Arrive in Amsterdam.

Friday, 10/30/2009 – 9:50AM-10:20AM

Wander the streets of Amsterdam with Steph and Isabel, another American at the Queen Mary University in London.  Immediately begin to enjoy the comfort of my native language.  Orient selves with map and cheap iPhone App.  Destination: Bob’s Hostel, where reservations are “strictly prohibited.”  Pray to have a bed to sleep in.

Friday, 10/30/2009 – 10:30AM

Purchase room at Hostel, learn that check-in is not for another hour and a half.  Crawl literally on hands and knees through child-sized door into shady, unsecured basement room to store suitcase until check-in.

Friday, 10/30/2009 – 10:35AM-5:30PM

Begin tourist activities:

Van Gough Museum

No student discount, or discounts of any sort.  Exhibits range from sketches, letters, sources of inspiration, and paintings from throughout his career.  Shows versatility in a way that most are unfamiliar with, from his experiments with Japanese prints to his incredibly poetic penmanship.  Plaques on walls tell his life story  and artistic progression.  Worth every penny.

Random wandering

Amsterdam is beautiful, and divided symmetrically with a series of canals.  Streets are named somewhat randomly, and change almost every block.  After embracing this concept and letting go of logical naming conventions, navigation immediately becomes more simple.  Architecture might be described as “quaint,” or “cute.”  Weeping willows frame grassy parks, making for picturesque scenery along the canals.

Tourists are everywhere.

Canal Cruise

Board a long, flat boat with a mini bar that guides you through the canals and slides past Amsterdam’s main sights into the North Sea.  Great way to see what its like to live in a city with canals.  Not a great way to take pictures.

Friday, 10/30/2009 – 6:00PM

Check-in at Bob’s, learn that room is located in another building down the street.  Settle in, shower, make plans for something to do later.

Friday, 10/30/2009 – 7:01PM

See Claire, another friend from Carlson, on a street a few blocks from the hostel, in the coincidence of the century.  Decide to join her group for a pub crawl.

Friday, 10/30/2009 – 7:45PM-????

Pub crawl.  In spirit of Halloween, Claire is dressed as Lady Gaga.  Meet and befriend Irishmen in the bathroom.  We are celebrities, as a result of Claire’s ingenuity, and I am her back-up singer.

For those of you out there not familiar with the concept of a pub crawl, this particular episode of shenanigans went a little something like this:

First, participants meet somewhere.  In this case, at the National Monument in Amsterdam’s inner city.  Then the horde of tourists, ahem, participants, hop on a tram.  Nobody pays.  The tram takes you somewhere in the city, and everybody gets out on when an Irish guy whistles loudly.  His and the other group leaders’ face are painted like the Joker in Batman: The Dark Knight.  At the first club, payments are made at the door.  In exchange for currency, two tokens and a wristband are received.  The wristband assigns you to a group.  The tokens are free shots at the bar.

Upon entrance, a shot of something sweet with booze in it is poured down your throat.  Then you enjoy free shots at the bar.

Next 3-5 bars: Repeat previous two sentences.

Saturday, 10/31/2009 – 10:00AM

Wake up, astonished, without assistance from my alarm.  Attempt to make small talk with French roommates.  One speaks English clearly enough for me to understand that there is no hot water.  Pull on clothes, head across the street to meet Claire for breakfast.

Devour mixture of white and wheat bread, an assortment of spreads, coffee, and a hard-boiled egg.  Attempt to come to grips with the reality that the entirety of the budget allotted for Amsterdam has been mysteriously spent.  Begin to strategize how to survive Saturday and Sunday with 2.50 Euro in change.  Decide to eat another plate of bread in preparation for a long day.

Saturday, 10/31/09 – 11:00AM-6PM

Wander Amsterdam, absorbing culture and beauty.  Learn Dutch from a market cashier.  Visit art galleries, acknowledge that a career as student implies that art purchases are still in the distant future.  Take an embarrassing number of pictures.

Saturday, 10/31/09 – 6:30PM-7:30PM

Meet with Steph and East-Coast Click from the Queen Mary University in London, wander with them through a flea market.  Try to convince a new yorker to buy a child-sized t-shirt with a duck on it for 20 Euro ($30).  She is not amused, but it is still for charity.

Saturday, 10/31/09 – 11:00PM-11:40PM

Tour the Red Light District, filled with hundreds of curious men and no more than five women.  Pause to watch a woman negotiating with a (female) prostitute, amused.  The district spreads over an area across the Klovieniersburwal Canal through winding alleys in some areas no wider than two shoulders’ width.  In such alleys, prostitutes creatively beckon guests in, in ways that only prostitutes would.  Standing close to such entryways is uncomfortable.

Saturday, 10/31/09 – 11:45PM

Remember that it’s Halloween.

Sunday, 11/01/09 – 10:00AM

Stuff face with breakfast.  Check-out at Bob’s and recover 10 Euros from deposit for room key.

Sunday, 11/01/09 – 11:30AM-4:00PM

Further wandering of Amsterdam.  Visit second-hand bookstores, seeking budget souvenirs.  Purchase two croissants and 1L of pomegranate juice at a supermarket.  Plan for a light dinner.

Sunday, 11/01/09 – 4:30PM-8:00PM

Relax, exhausted, with Claire and Brian until train departs.  Part ways with Amsterdam most anti-climatically.

Sunday, 11/01/09 – 8:30PM

Board train, thank multiple religious figures for decision to book sleeper car.  Fall asleep immediately.

Monday, 11/02/09 – 4:20AM

Wake to someone saying something that sounds like Stuttgart.  Light is in the cabin.

Monday, 11/02/09 – 4:21AM

Realize arrival in Stuttgart.  Step out under the familiar fluorescent lights of Stuttgart’s Hauptbahnhof (Central train station).  Check listings of S-Bahn (Subways) and other forms of public transportation available.  No shot.

Monday, 11/02/09 – 4:25AM

Start walking home, thinking about how much fun lecture will be in 5 hours.

Liebe Stuttgart…

Dearest Stuttgart…

You are so cool.   Your shopping is too expensive, your architecture is a puzzling combination of old and new, none of your statues have arms, your hills have a San Franciscan chic, and your nightlife rocks.  What else could you expect from a city completely destroyed by World War II that managed to rebuild itself into an economic powerhouse in less than 50 years?

Today, I had some spare time after getting some work done, so I decided to take a Spaziergang (stroll) through Schloßgarten, which is a beautiful park nearby the government and finance buildings.  This blog’s purpose is to deliver my observations to you.  Enjoy the pictures.

(Hover with your mouse over the pictures for a quick description)

Kunst = Art

Stuttgart’s main train station

Grüße,

Colin

Was geht ab!?

What’s up!?

Hey all, haven’t written in a while.  A couple weekends ago I went to Paris. Unfortunately, I can’t speak to the beauty and… Frenchness of it.  So to replace words, I uploaded a bunch of pictures.  Check out the “more pictures” link.

But if your taking the time to read this, you’re probably wondering, what IS up?  I’ve had a lot of free time, but I’ve spent it primarily with three activities:  figuring out the university, finding an internship, and aimlessly wandering around Stuttgart.

My classes start next monday, and quite honestly, I’m excited.  Yes, I have to get up before noon on Monday (noooo!) but it’s for a class that I’m rather exited about.  The course load here is a little different, though, as each class meets only once a week, and sometimes less than 10 times per semester.  Because of this, I have to take seven courses: International marketing, globalization, marketing research, chinese I, scientific german, and innovation management.  Only my innovation management class is taught in English, so wish me luck!  But hey, if I have a question, it just means I’m going to meet some more people … it would be nice to have more friends than my roommates and the two people from the exchange.

(Holger und Georg: Du bist doch gut genug für mich)

But beyond time at the university, and after the semester, I would like to stay and intern at a German company.  Apparently, as a foreigner, and because of the number of mega-businesses located in Stuttgart, I have a very good chance at landing one.  I wish I could tell you more about it, but all I know right now is that I’m sending applications to companies such as Daimler (Mercedez), Volkswagen, Hewlett-Packard, Bosch, and a few other little-known international giants.  Again, wish me luck.  And mom, I probably need to buy a suit.  Don’t worry, I’ll do it at H&M for real cheap.

Lastly, but certainly not leastly, has been my day-in-and-day-out figuring out where everything is in Stuttgart.  At this point, I can (probably) find most of my classes, the bank, a few important bars, the grocery store down the street, and the baker.  That’s truly an ongoing process, but hopefully by the time it gets embarrassing not to know, I’ll actually know the city.  If not, I’ll just pull the “I’m an American” card.  Works every time.

In other news:

- VfB Stuttgart, our soccer team, is less than stellar with a record of 2-2-5, but I think I still need to experience football live.

- I’ve officially booked trips to Amsterdam (Halloween), Salzburg (Nov 6.), and Berlin (New Years)…. Woo! ‘Nuff said.

- My previously blossoming love for techno/house music has developed into an obsession.  (Wenn du Deutsch wärst, bitte empfehl mir manche Gruppe!)

- However, my American-bred passion for Hip-Hop is struggling to survive as there is NOTHING here.  (If you know some new songs, PLEASE link me to them.)

That’s all for now…

Grüße,

Colin

New picture site

Hey, quick press release:

There’s a new flickr site link on the right, so that I can upload more pictures per month.  I might just buy the yearly subscription, but until then, check out a few pictures from Paris on the “Even more pictures” link.

Grüße,

Colin

Fortschritt durch Feiern

Progress through Partying

I’m getting to a point now where forming high-level sentences and thoughts in English requires just as much concentration and effort as attempting to describe the artistic merit of a surrealist painter in German.  My mind, in a sense, now operates completely in German.  So much so that yesterday on the return trip from München (Munich)  I dreamed for the first time completely in German.  When I was here five years ago with the exchange I experienced this too, but strangely this time my dreams consisted not of newly conjured thoughts and imagined situations, but rather translated memories.  And last night as well I dreamed that I was telling my brothers at Phi Psi that they should speak German so that we could make fun of people in front of their face (a benefit enjoyed first by Sevi and I, during his stay in the US due to the lack of German-speakers in our notoriously ignorant nation).  So however puzzling my dreams may be now, I must say that I look forward to another five months of completely German thought processes.

Now for the stuff you really want to hear about: Oktoberfest (yes, the Oktoberfest), München, and German Bier.

With a Mitfahrgelegenheit, or ride-share program, I conversed with two friendly Germans  in their late-20s to a friend’s place in München.  During the two hour voyage, I learned everything from the different mid-and northern-dialect types (Roland came from Hamburg) to survival skills at Oktoberfest (eat pretzels constantly or at least between beers).  They were so nice and helpful, in fact, that the American notion of riding with complete strangers on a highway with no speed limits never even crossed my mind as questionably safe.  Upon mention, however, ride-sharing in the United States was to both of my companions as terrible an idea as I would have thought.  But when we did eventually arrive at our destination, they wished me a fun and safe weekend, and I bid them adieu.

And then I went to Oktoberfest.

Oktoberfest, or Wiesn, is essentially a culmination of all stereotypes, good and bad, that one could possibly associate with the German people.  And as the pictures below show, it’s crazy fun.  Emphasis on crazy.  (But also on fun.)

A Party Group, fully decked out. Awesome.

One of many wasted people :)

The Infamous Beer

New Friends, had to lie and say we’re all together just to get in the tent

Our waiter

Beer tent

People enjoying strong beer

In the Beer Tent

Random guy, decked out

Full Subway to Oktoberfest

The pictures are virtually self explanatory, but if you have questions, please comment!  I like comments.  But now to our next subject, the infamous Maß.  A fest beer is 1 Liter, and this isn’t your mother’s beer.  Let’s do the math:

1 Maß = 1 Liter

1 Liter = 33.814023 Fluid Ounces…

33.8 Fluid Ounces = Roughly 2.8 Standard American Beers

However, each Maß isn’t your typical 3.5% watered-down american sludge lite, but rather closer to 6% concentration.

6 divided by 3.5 gives you an approximate 1.7 to 1 concentration ratio.

Therefore, if 1 Maß = 2.8 beers that are 1.7x more concentrated, then each maß contains the alcohol content of…

4.76 Standard American Beers.

Multiply that times the number of Maß I drank (3.5), and we get about 17 standard beers.  Or a blackout, depending on your tolerance.

Anyways, I shouldn’t cast a drunken shadow over the incredible beauty of München.  The next day we went sightseeing to the English Garden, and a variety of other places whose names my tourguides were not often able to conjure.  No offense Simon.  I’ll buy a tour book later and recap.  Anyways, pictures of that daytrip are on my flickr page (link is on the right side of this page), so go check them out.

Sorry for not writing more, but I’ve been kind of busy.  Today I got my Visa (#@#$ing finally), and now it’s legal for me to rent my apartment and study in Stuttgart.  Only took me a month, 50 euros, countless trips to and from Stuttgart, the bank, and the Rathaus.  Oh, and endless amounts of bureaucracy-induced stress.  But enough venting, I’m going to Paris in two days so look forward to more beautiful pictures.

Grüße,

Colin

1. Kapital – Kulturelle Unterschiede

Chapter 1 – Cultural Differences

Due to an unexpected surge in demand for my blog, I have decided to write again before any major event occurs and reflect on a few thoughts that have occupied my mind lately.

I’m currently waiting at the train station in Dettingen, jamming to techno music, and anxiously awaiting my first solo voyage aboard the clean and efficient machine that is the Deutsche Bahn, or german rail system.  But just sitting here pretending to know what I’m doing got me to thinking: maybe you guys would be interested in learning about some of the cultural differences between Germany and the United States?  Therefore, I have decided to start writing a sub-blog about that very topic.

In this chapter, I would like to attempt to explain to you the spaghetti-bomb of an election coming up in the next few days here, where not two, or even three political parties attempt to woo the German public, but rather more than 5.

I know, right? From what I have gathered from the loosely collected and roughly translated explanations regarding German politics, voters must actually vote not for a candidate or political party, but instead for a coalition.  Because no single party, large or small, has enough Mitglieder, or members, to maintain a majority in parliament.  To control the government, larger parties form teams, so to speak, with smaller parties.  So as simultaneously-competing political parties are forming teams and the voters are guessing how coalitions will form, my guess is that the candidates themselves play no larger role in the election race than being faces on billboards and posters.  Not to downplay that role, though, as they are practically everywhere you look.  And hey, they get the perk of ruling the country afterwards right?

Note: Wenn du Deutsche(r) bist, kommentiert mal, ob ich Recht habe.  Wenn du willst, oder weisst.  Es scheint, dass niemand wirklich den ganzen Prozess versteht.

In other news:

I just tried canned meat for the first time.  And it really wasn’t bad!  I know you all like pictures, so here’s the proof:

Canned Wurst

So I thought this train was coming about 40 minutes later than it actually was, so I was in a hurry and Andreas passed this off to me with a spoon.  It really wasn’t bad at all, and now I’m kind of eager to try spam.  They say studying abroad changes you fundamentally, but it’s only been a little more than two weeks! Uh oh…

Grüße,

Colin