Thursday, 28 May 2009

This wonderful evening was the night of the ultimate combination of drinking and dancing that you could ever wish for in Germany. It was the night of the TV Club. It was also the night the Gothic Festival was going to start. While waiting at the tram station in front of the main train station for Mike’s mentor and her friends to arrive, Adam and I were checking out the rather interesting dressed people arriving into Leipzig and those waiting at the tram station. We got the glimpse of a person in a pair of jeans with a cut in the jeans just below the buttocks. We were like “o yea, that’s nice,” but then, the person turned around. The person was a guy, and a pretty ugly one at that. He turned back around, and Mike had joined us, so we felt it was needed to play a joke on him and make him believe the guy was a girl, for he had turned back around and again you could not tell he was a guy. Once Mike find out, it was quite hilarious, and he immediately hated us for it.



We made it to the club and had to wait outside for an hour or so to be let in and once we got inside, we found out, to my amazement, that the club was still very empty. It was quite a disappointment, but we went ahead and ordered our drinks and awaited the arrival of everyone else that was supposed to come. When more people had shown up, we decided to play some Thumper since there was a giant round table for us to sit around. It was a good time for awhile, then people ran out of beer and, we sort of just dispersed and that was it for that game. On a complete separate note, I was wearing my Dirk Nowitzki jersey for the first time, so just keep that in mind. After awhile, I ran into Adam, and we started seeing whether or not I was the tallest in the club. There was one guy that was very close to beating me. He appeared to be taller than me. But he was wearing gym shoes, and I was wearing sandals, so I believed that I was the tallest while others tried to say that I was not the tallest. Shortly after this debate, I ran into some rather taller women who happened to be friends of one of the mentors. They were good lookers. I was thinking to myself “tall and beautiful; that’s a rare combination to come by, so I went over to talk chat with them for awhile. I don’t remember what was discussed as this quite some time ago now, and I am pretty sure I was already having a very good buzz going on at the time. I do remember I offered to buy them drinks, and they wanted Diesels. Since I was also a Diesel fan, I went ahead and ordered three of those suckers. Something happened either I disappeared or they disappeared after awhile, so I went on and roamed a little.

I eventually ran into Cor and realized that I had not been out on the dance floor yet, so we went out there and danced and danced and danced until she was too tired to dance. She left me, and I went over to Troy who was dancing a little further away with his mentor Anne and her friends. From that point on, I was dancing and drinking with them until the break of dawn, well close to it at least. Troy and I left around 4:30 in the morning to head back to our sleeping quarters, and that was that.

Monday, 25 May 2009

Today at BMW, we did little workouts that were to improve the ergonomics in the work place. It was a program to prevent injuries and strengthen the body of the workers on the floor. It was a lot of fun laughing at people trying to do the workouts and doing the workouts myself. After that, a gentleman gave a talk about the coalition of the eastern German automobile manufacturing companies belonging to a coalition to try to reach the level of the western Germany. The unemployment rate is up around 20% currently and was up to about 40% after the wall had fallen.

That evening there was a dinner with everyone associated in the program – mentors, host families, lady from Leipzig University’s Study Abroad department, and Stefan showed up. It was a great time getting to know some of the other families and to see all the students’ mentors.

The next two days weren’t very interesting, so we’ll just skip to Thursday evening.

Saturday, 23 May 2009 / Sunday, 24 May 2009

O finally it was Saturday, the day that will be remembered and looked back on for days to follow. Our only plan still was to meet at the train station at 9:00. I got up and packed and tried to prepare for what I was about to witness. On the way to the tram I ran into my neighbor, the same one that I had dinner and coffee with earlier that week. We had a short a little chat. I was already late getting to the train station and I was the one who told people they had to be on time to the train station. After explaining that I was not going to be in town for the next day and a half, he let me go and I got to the train station.

Everyone was there and ready to go; there were 8 of us. We got two 5-person day passes that allowed us to travel on any non-ICE train in the country of Deutschland for 24 hours. They were very cheap, and a reason why we decided to leave on Saturday and not on Friday. I was hungry, so I went to Subway as well as did most of every once else in our group. Then, we went to the track where the train was supposed to arrive in a couple of minutes. While there, a young lady walked up to us and asked us, essentially, if we had an extra ticket to Berlin. Indeed, we did, and she joined our group. Her name was Maja, and she dressed very weird, at least compared to us Americans. She was a great help though. We had to get off in Wittenberg to switch trains to get to Berlin, and she knew where we had to go. Also, when we had finally arrived in Berlin, she helped us get out of the train station and to the city center, more specifically Alexanderplatz, right next to the TV Tower. The TV Tower was in West Berlin and was responsible for broadcasting television and radio to the residents in East Berlin during the time of the GDR, when there was a wall built to separate the West from the East. Also, I was able to snag Maja’s number before we got off the train. I got to say I was even impressed with myself with my smooth maneuvering in acquiring it. We do, in fact, have a common taste in music, Techno.

Any ways back to Berlin. We did not really have any plans or anything when we got there, so we were kind of lost and awestruck on how big Berlin was and how extensive the subway and bus system was built up. So, we just decided to walk around and try to absorb the atmosphere we just dropped in on. We walked through a flea market by a fountain by the TV Tower. I was focused on trying to figure out where we were and where we needed to go based off of the research I had done the night before. I was using a map of Berlin Jay had gotten from his host family and this thing was huge. It I had been unfolded all the way, it would probably been 5 feet long and 5 feet wide. Berlin is a gigantic city. It turned out we wanted to be at Alexanderplatz for one of the tours I had researched, but while trying to find the rest of the group we ran into a lady who was handing out flyers for her company’s touring bus trip, I decided it was better to do that because it was cheaper, and we were able to get a deal for Potsdam. We were hoping to stop there on our way back from Berlin the next day.

We jumped on the bus and were on our way to seeing the big sights in Berlin. In the first 5 minutes, the guide told us where all the bars were, so we now knew were we wanted to find a hostel after the tour was over. When we reached the Brandenburg Gate, we jumped off the bus to get a closer look and take some closer look. The area was insanely crowded because of the celebration of the Republic of Germany being founded 60 years ago, but we were able to get some pictures of ourselves in front of the big gate and with our professor’s book that he had written. It was pretty cool. A couple of us were approached by a gypsy who wanted some money for her mother and daughter who had traveled to Berlin two weeks ago and now had no money or food. I politely declined because once you give money to one person, you feel you need to give your money to everyone that asks you. Chances are her story was a complete fabrication. We jumped back on the bus and continued our tour to the Main Train Station and other sites in the city, including the old Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie.

When we got back to the area by the fountain and the TV Tower, we asked the lady who told us about the tour on where we could find a hostel by the strip of bars, which included a 24-hour bar called “AM to PM.” We found a hotel, but it was expensive so we went down the street to find another hostel. We were unsuccessful so we went to the AM to PM bar to have a drink and think of what we wanted to do. To cut the long story short, we walked around for an hour or so looking for hostels. We were tired and hungry and because of that our tempers were growing shorter and shorter by the minute and each unsuccessful attempt we had at each hostel we found. Finally after a trip on the subway system, we found a place by the zoo that we had passed earlier that day on the tour. While Frank was checking us in to the A&O Hostel, the rest of us sat down and ordered ourselves another beer. During this time, Frantz found an ad for a pub crawl that was going to start at 8:00pm. It was currently 7:00pm, so we needed to sort of get a move on if we wanted to do this pub crawl. We moved all our stuff in and found a döner place right below us, which is pretty much a gyro place in the US. I ended up eating two döners I was so hungry. We went back up to the hostel and had another beer while we waited for someone to come pick us up from the hostel. Keep in mind that in this pub crawl, the guides were walking around handing out free shots at each bar.

When the girl came to pick us up, we headed to the 24 hour bar called Am to PM to meet up with everyone else that was going to join us for the great adventure. We were given a Beck’s Gold beer upon our arrival and the fun started. Our first bar was decorated in old GDR flare. I ordered two beers and two Jäger-bombs. Once I got my drinks, the stupid drunk Brit that was on the pub crawl felt the need to up one on me and ordered the same thing but also ordered two pitchers of waters. I don’t know if he ever got the waters, but it was the principle of the thing, which does not really make any sense; however, I am sure you get what I am saying. In Berlin and I believe all throughout Germany, you are allowed to carry an open container on the streets, so the conscious was to take advantage of this opportunity while we can. When we left the first bar, we were sure to have a beer with us to carry on the streets to hold us over until we reached the next bar. Um, the second was interesting and is easily describable as a small disco place that had a bar in which no one was dancing. After a couple of drinks and an hour later, we headed to the third bar where they were giving free shots out with every beer you bought. It was bad news, but I was already heading that way anyways once I had a Jäger-bomb at the first bar. At this bar, we got into a conversation with a guy who turned out to be like the head guy who inspects produce and purchases it to be shipped to the US. I do not know what company he works for, but he was very interesting and will probably never find another guy like him. At this bar, I felt the need to smoke a cigar since I saw Nick sitting outside at the picnic table smoking one. I am not sure whether this was a good idea or not. I enjoy smoking cigars, but I don’t really like smoking after I have drunk. However, by smoking the cigar, I was then not drinking any alcohol, so it is hard to say really which was the lesser of the two evils. I’ll just leave it up to the reader to decide. On our way to the fourth bar, a different guy on the tour was trying to teach some German so I could pick up to German girls. I was decently gone and kept telling the guy that his tries were futile because of the state I was in at the current time. He did not seem too pleased with me. At the fourth bar, there was an inside area where people were dancing, an outside area that was covered in sand, and a second floor. Troy and I tried to find the second floor but came up empty handed. This is about the time I stop remembering what happened the rest of the night.

The next morning (Sunday), I awoke in my bed in the hostel in Berlin with a little bit of a hangover and feeling very tired. For about an hour or so, the eight of us there relived the night before and tried to piece together the portions we do not remember. Sadly, no one remembered what the club looked like nor did anyone have pictures to look at to try to jog our memory of what had happened the night before. The only thing people remotely remember were the hookers on the street on our walk to the tram. We think they were wearing all white, white knee-high boots, white skirt, and a white top. We also remember them being really, really hot, but then again we were all really drunk at the time. We dragged ourselves out of bed finally and got our stuff together to get ready to go back to Leipzig. On the way back, we were going to stop in Potsdam, but apparently, the train on the way back does not go through Potsdam, so we did not get to see any of Potsdam.

Once back in Leipzig, we stopped for food in the main train station, and then, I headed home back to the apartment and passed out. When I awoke, the host family had returned from their trip from the Baltic Sea, and head white asparagus to make for dinner that night. It was very good. Then, I went back to sleep and prepared for another day at BMW.

Friday, 22 May 2009

When I wore up Friday morning, I was still so tired from the activities from yesterday. It was hard to get up and get moving. At class, the guys were very tired and hung over from the night before. No one had done the homework for one of the professor’s class. Students were also falling asleep while the professors were teaching. It was a really bad day, so bad that at 12:30 the professors sat us down as a group and reminded us why we were over in Germany. After the talk, they let us go for the rest of the day because they were so upset with us. It was very bad and definitely a real low point in the program. I personally felt real bad for the professors and hoped that the students’ eyes have been opened. I did feel the talk was needed because it really could have gotten out of hand very fast.

The talk put such a damper on the entire day that our trip to Berlin was seriously being considered to be canceled so that we could refocus ourselves and get back to the grind of studying. Then, we gave it a second though and realized we were thinking crazy passing up on this opportunity to go to Berlin. It was finally decided that we would meet at the main train station at 9:00 the next morning and head out for Berlin.

After lunch in the Mensa, we went to the Leipzig museum to check out some more of the Leipzig history. We ended up just checking out the GDR exhibit instead, which wasn’t realized until about half way walking through the exhibit. It was interesting but since everything was in German and people were really tired, it was hard to be able to truly enjoy the history of it all. When we left, I separated from the group because they were going to go back to the dorms, and I was going to go back to the apartment but decided to look for a good map of Berlin. I couldn’t find one that I liked after going to a couple of the bookstores, so I went back to the apartment and made one of the frozen pizzas I had bought earlier in the week for an early dinner and to watch some South Park and do a little research on Berlin. After that, I took a nap and went around the city in the evening to take some pictures and actually buy a map of Berlin. However, all the stores were closed by the time I went out the second time. I went back to the apartment unsuccessful and hungry, so I made the second pizza I had bought and watched more South Park and did more research on Berlin. This research contained mostly of trying to find a good hostel and sightseeing tour. Then, I went to bed to prepare for tomorrow’s festivities.

Thursday, 21 May 2009

The next morning, Thursday morning, I had coffee with my neighbors. It was again tough because we were unable to communicate to each other. After many feeble attempts of trying to have a conversation, I left and headed to class. Today, I had to ride my bike because I was going to go to the lake again with my mentor Kathleen, Adam, and two of Kathleen’s friends. I got to class real early because it takes me like 5 minutes to ride to class in the morning because I am allowed to ride down all the streets. After 11:00, some streets are cut-off to pedestrians only. You could technically still ride down those streets as long as you don’t get caught by the Polizei. Also, you could walk around with your bike, but why walk when you can ride?


As far as I can remember, class was nothing special. It was essentially a “normal” day of classes if there could be something that would classify as such a thing. After class, Adam and I waited for Kathleen outside of the Ring Café. It took awhile for her to arrive because she had two bikes to handle; Adam didn’t have a bike. The five of us headed out to the lake. On the way there, I saw a ping pong table outside in a little park-ish area. Shortly after that, the break on the front wheel on Kathleen’s friend broke when turning the corner, so she ended up having to jump on the tram while the rest of us headed to the tram stop by the lake. The stop was by a forested area which separates the lake from the city center. Once we got near there, we decided to get ice cream while we waited for the friend to show up. I would say her name, but I don’t remember it. When she finally showed up, we made our way to the lake. She rode on the back of Kathleen’s bike where the basket would normally sit on top of the rear wheel. It was rather funny watching Kathleen struggling to pedal her bike with the extra person causing the rear wheel to flatten out. We found an ice cream place along the lake to sit, chill, and take in the view of the area. There was talk about riding around the lake but that is as far as that went.

On the way back from the lake, we saw some guys about to get in a fight because one guy probably ran into another on their bikes. It was quite amusing even though I could not understand what any one was saying. I would have liked to have sit there and watch it play out and see if anything would have actually happened, but we didn’t because we needed to get to dinner and needed to stop at Kathleen’s place first for something. I ended up watching an episode with Sandra, Kathleen’s roommate and the other girl that went with us to the lake that day. It was a pretty good episode. Both Kathleen and Sandra are big fans of the show. They own all the seasons and watch the shows in English because some of the jokes are lost in translation from English to German.

We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant because Adam is a big fan of Mexican food. We went to Enchiladas. I ordered a Coconut Mojito to drink and then a combo meat Fajita dish. The food and drink, sadly, was subpar. Sandra said it used to be a really good place to go where you got a lot of food with what you ordered. Apparently, times have changed. O well. We ended up being there from 19:30 to 23:00. We were just having a good time hanging out and talking. Also, we had to wait a long time for both our dinner and our dessert. I had to go back Kathleen’s apartment to pickup my bike. That ended up being a bad choice because the restaurant was right next to the apartment that I have been calling my home for the past week or so.

Some of the guys from the program had gone to the TV Club that evening. I had planned on going out with them to the club, but since dinner had gone so late, I decided to not go out and just go to bed after getting a shower.

Tuesday, 19 May 2009 / Wednesday, 20 May 2009

Tuesday, the class and I went back to BMW for further presentations and evaluation of the plant. It was a lot of fun. It just was not a lot of exciting things to talk about nor do I really remember at this point, so we will just move on to the next day.

Wednesday came and gone with nothing real special. We had real class in our kindergarten room. After class, I headed back to the dorms with the rest of guys to try to plan out our weekends for the rest of time in Leipzig. Only Troy and I were the only ones who actually did some planning. During our planning process, we decided that we should not waste the weekend that was about to come, so we “planned” a trip to Berlin. The “plan” will be further explained in the upcoming days. Since my host family had left for the Baltic Sea today and were going to be gone until Sunday, I had dinner with the neighbors below where I lived. If I did not mention before, they used to be owners of a hotel and have very limited English speaking abilities. It made dinner very interesting. I am not sure what sort of meat that was served to me, but I did have potatoes and a reddish-purplish cabbage. The meal was not too shabby. After dinner, I went back up to the apartment to do laundry for the first time in a different country. The wash machine was easy to work and figure out since my host mother had gone over how it worked the night before. It was interesting though when it went on its final spin. It sounded like and aircraft was about to take off in the apartment. It wasn’t as loud, but it definitely reminded me of about to take off in Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago. I put my clothes in the dryer for about 10 minutes or so before I checked on them because I didn’t want them to shrink. The clothes were extremely hot, like I just pulled them from boiling water. It was then that I realized that the dryers in Germany were not at all similar to those in America, so I decided to lay my clothes out on the drying rack to dry overnight. I proceeded to then pass out watching an episode of South Park.

Monday, 18 May 2009

Well today was a fun day. We went to BMW in Leipzig, which is north of the city center. We were given a tour of the plant by a man who sort of reminded me of the character Borat. It was pretty amazing walking around a manufacturing plant of BMW. It was very clean and quite. We were able to see the production of the X1. It will be released in Europe in October and next Spring in the US. There is no picture on the internet that depicts that actual look of the model. There are only speculation pictures and drawings. It was a rather interesting car, and I am very pleased to have gotten to see it months before it is being released to the public. However, it is not really my type of car that I would want to buy for myself. Lunch was pretty good considering we got food from the cafeteria there. I was impressed. Also, I was impressed by the ladies in yellow leading around car salespeople in the plant. After lunch, we had some presentations by people from the plant and by our professor Dr. John Heitmann. Once they were over, we were released and made the journey home back to our respective places to return once again the next day. I had dinner on the balcony and then I passed out watching an episode of South Park.


On a side note: If you ever have a questions about parts of what I right about or wish to know more, please let me know, and I will do my best to answer your questions.

Thank you.