The First Ride

30-Aug-08

This morning, I rode my bike to Bonn. It was, without doubt the best road ride I’ve ever done. I forgot my camera.

Having heard it was possible to bike from Köln to Bonn on bike paths, I decided to wake up early Saturday morning to give it a go. I stretched while eating my granola and yogurt and assembled my gear. I put on my new padded bike tights, undoubtedly the most expensive piece of clothing I wear that I’ll try not to be seen in, and after I regulated my tire pressure, I hit the road. After a few minutes I was on the bike path and after a few kilometers I was out of the city.

Riding a bike early in the morning is a fantastic sensation. Your legs feel fresh and powerful, the air is crisp and calm, and the fluid clicking of the chain and sprockets is relaxing and exciting at the same time. After a few kilometers of weaving with the paved path along the Rhine, it opened up to fast fields of grass and corn that appeared infinite because of the heavy fog. Visibility dropped drastically but was mostly restored when I took my sunglasses off. I sped down the path taking in all of the scenery. The fields, the river, the slow barges. It was all so picturesque.

The path to Bonn on the east side of the Rhine is a daisy chain of quaint small towns linked with wide open bike roads. At that time in the morning, the first town was asleep but as the kilometers and minutes ticked past, I saw the typical German town awaken in a sort of quasi stop motion animation sort of way. The early birds walked their dogs. The gardeners prune their shrubberies. The bakeries erect their canopies. The towns folk return home with fresh bread and sunflowers in their bike baskets. It was as if I had biked back in history or into another world. It was exactly what I would have expected to see in a small German town, and I was really surprised. I asked a couple wearing wool sweaters and walking their dog for directions and rolled down the cobblestone road past the small church and cemetery.

As I went on, I passed families out for a Saturday bike ride, a weathered old harbor harboring old weathered gentlemen, a herd of goats, and more beautiful scenery than I’m able to account. It was all so fresh, so typical, yet so extraordinary. Only the pain in my legs kept me connected to the real world.

Including scenic stops and getting lost, the trip to Bonn took about two hours and I rode about 40km. In Bonn I grabbed a cheesy pretzel and a chocolate croissant, I joined the old cannons that overlook the river from an old fortified picnic bench, and I started to think about how I would describe the last two hours. Fantastic.

Mobile

As of 1400 today, I am mobile. I just purchased a 10 year old road bike from a middle aged gentleman in Horrem, about 30 minutes out of Koeln. It has a steel Italian frame, Gios, and the complete Shimano 105 component set including pedals and shoes! If I was going to build a bike to have here, this would have been it, more or less. I just road maybe 10 miles or so and it feels great! I'm still not convinced a road bike is the proper tool for the European inter-city commute but it fits well and I got a great deal so I'll ride it. Europe just shrunk a bit. Happy trails!

-H

Radio

26.Aug.08

When I’m in my room, I listen to EinsLive, a local radio station somewhere in the 80s or low 90s in the FM band. It is a pop and rock station so they play a lot of American and European hits, chart toppers, and they generally do a good job at picking songs. I enjoy it more than radio stations back in the States, perhaps because there are no commercials and they also play more European music that doesn’t make it to America. One of the big things I like about is the news bits in between. Based on my listening experience, pop stations in the States keep their listeners up to date with the latest celebrity information, and the life details of the DJs and what they did last weekend. I don’t care about celebrities’ marital status or children’s names and I certainly don’t want to hear exaggerated tales about a DJ’s weekend. EinsLive has breaks in the music with interviews and news about politics, economics, science, and people. It’s fantastic.

I think the hype of something has a lot to do with the public opinion towards it. There are lots of people that became celebrities mostly because they inundated the media market with images and stories. People see and hear so much that they want to see and hear more and a celebrity is born. This effect also applies to music. Songs that would otherwise be considered not good but get a lot of air time and hype are regarded as good. In my last weeks in the states, I heard something on the pop music station that was terrible. At first, I assumed it was a satirical spoof of a song because it was so ridiculous and bad. Beat, lyrics, everything. Then the DJ came on and said “Today’s BEST music.” I shed a tear.

That song was played often and people actually requested it! Maybe I’m just getting old and the kids these days have evolved to appreciate forms of music I may never understand, or maybe the artist and song were poured onto the general public by the barrel. I digress.

The German folks are really into conversations. Many of my friends here said they got into deep conversations about politics within minutes of meeting their host families. They seem to take pride in being informed on what is going on globally and locally. That got me thinking: what if we stopped running clips about celebrities misbehaving and replaced that airtime with news, economics, science, and serious interviews? What if our pop music stations and trendy TV shows had important information rather than garbage? Would the kids talk about important political and social issues? Would people spend less time observing bad roll models? Perhaps. I’d like to see what would happen.

Batman

24.Aug.08

“Knight of Darkness”

I just got back from the newest Batman movie with Philip and one of his friends. The whole movie was dubbed in German except the name “Batman” (apparently “Fledermausmensch” doesn’t have quite the appeal). I’ll describe what the German movie going experience is like:

As the film just came out a few days ago, we phoned ahead and got a reservation number, 22, which we used at the window to get our tickets. The theater had a two piece curtain that separated at the middle when it was time to see stuff. We spent the first half an hour or so learning what we need to buy and what movies we will need to see in the future. The first commercial was for cigarettes, something we don’t get in the States. It was cowboys riding horses in the great planes of America, herding cattle, and looking over majestic canyons while sipping on cancer. Interesting side note: all tobacco products need to have a big label on them that says in black and white (literally) that smoking is bad. I’ve seen “Rauchen kann toedlich sein” which means “Smoking can be deadly” but there are also labels that say “smoking harms you and others around you”.

The movie was good but I had to concentrate to understand what the people were saying so it wasn’t quite as relaxing as the original version would be. The other difference I found interesting was a “Pause” right in the middle so we could get up, stretch, pick up some more sweets, and discuss the first half. House lights on, curtain closed, elevator music playing, the whole thing. A few minutes later, we got back to our seats and watched the rest. Interesting.

-H

Concerts and Düsseldorf

This is a sweet manhole cover in Düsseldorf.

I caught a Sitar/Guitar and Indian/Asian Percussion concert the other night. It was on the ground floor of an unfinished building so the benches for the 30 or so audience members were on bare concrete floors and there was temporary lighting hanging from the bare ceiling. The music was relaxing and would have gone great with that Indian flat bread and hummus. The whole scene had a cool vibe to it. It was a free concert and people in the community gathered where they could find space just to enjoy some international music. Cool stuff. I got a CD.

My second concert experience this week was a bit different. I saw the advertisement for gospel music and I dashed out the door to the U-Bahn to make it to the old church in time for the performance. It turned out to be a youth choir (middle-high school) singing songs that reminded me of my middle-high school Catholic school days. It was kind of comforting in that respect but also a little disconcerting. All of the songs were in English. They did a fantastic job with them all but I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t sing German songs. Who is going to propagate German traditional songs through generations if not the Germans? Sometimes I think there is too much American influence abroad and I worry about cultures losing their potency of traditions and such.

I went to Düsseldorf today with six other Americans in the CBXY program. Düsseldorf is known as the fashion capital of Germany and we saw evidence of this claim in the windows filled with hip and trendy mannequins. And the cars! I saw a Ferrari 599, a new Bentley, more Porsche Turbos than I could count, an original Mercedes Gullwing, a Maybach, an Alfa Romeo Guilia, and a Mercedes Benz 190e 2.5-16v Cosworth. The streets were really crowded with people, tourists and residents, and there were a lot of restaurants, cafés, and brew houses in the Altstadt (oldtown) where we spent most of our time. The city has a nice waterfront area as well. Delightful day trip.

-H

Nighttime in the City

After a concert in the city, I took the long way home on foot to take advantage of the crisp, after-rain air. There's something quite relaxing about a damp evening and a consistent footstep, like the beat to the music of a sleeping city. Ahhhhh. Here are some pictures I took:


Cool shapes and lines.


Different angle.


The Dom.


The Dom. Front facade.


The Dom, but I forgot to smile.


The Dom Bridge!
Have a nice day,
-H

German vs. Engineering

There are lots of different things in the world, and some of them are similar. Profound, I know, but allow me to explain. I have spent a sizable bit of time learning how to engineer stuff and do math. For those who may not be familiar with this sort of thing, a good portion of engineering and math is understanding rules and applying them to translate a situation into something that makes sense. That is a broad sweeping generalization but we can apply it to a specific example.

We’ll take something simple, like an airplane, and we want to know if it will fly. We first make assumptions about the situation: the air is normal, the plane won’t randomly fall apart, and the rules we use are correct. If we have the specs of the airplane, the problem is essentially complete. Will it fly? Of course, the rules and specs tell us it will.

Ah, if it were only that easy. Unfortunately, it’s difficult for us to look at specs and rules and see something meaningful. Sooooo, we must simply translate the answer into a form that makes sense. More specifically, plug in the airplane specs into flight calculations (based on our rules) and ultimately find that the weight is less than the lift, or something.

Same with math. If we are solving a problem (rather than proving relationships or some other theory type thing) we are simply using rules to translate what we have into a more recognizable form.

The way to get good at math or engineering is to really know the rules and formulas. Know, like understand where everything comes from and why it only works a certain way (tangent: that is why mathematical proofs are important). You’ve got to make the rules your own so you can command them to work for you. A fundamental understanding of the rules allows for adaptation and flexibility when solving problems. The opposite of that is only understanding how to get an answer for a specific problem. This is not good; rarely does one encounter an identical problem. It’s much better to be flexible.

However, at the moment, I am a German language student and I find many similarities with the styles of learning. We are learning grammar, the logical and mathematical aspects of language. We learn new words, verbs, and constructions, different rules that can be applied to different situations. Like in engineering and math courses, we learn the rules, and practice examples. The only way to really remember a grammatical construction is to understand the rules behind it and a good understanding helps the speaker to be flexible in building sentences and phrases.

When I encounter a text or conversation in German, it is similar to an engineering problem. The answer (complete understanding, or English translation) is mostly right in front of me. I have the specifications (the German sentences) and the grammatical rules so all I have to do is literally translate the German into a form that is more recognizable. My goal is naturally to know all of the rules so I am equipped to handle all sorts of German language. As rules get used more frequently (both German and math), they get engraved into the brain and the translation happens quicker, with the rules being applied instantly in the subconscious. That is what I would call language fluency or mathematical competency.

As languages go, German is pretty logical and I’m enjoying working at identifying rules and practicing on my host family. It would seem engineering and languages are not as different as they are made out to be. Well, at least in learning styles.

Fantastisch.

-H

Typical German Outing

17.Aug.2008

I have just returned from an outing with my host family on what was declared a typical German outing. I was really excited to be invited to a family event; it is typical for the German folks to meet up at places around town but meeting at someone’s house is something special. We drove out to the Bergischesland west of Köln. It was for me, the stereotypical European landscape. We drove on a narrow two lane road through small villages with tall steeples, fields of sheep, and lots of green grass. We went to visit their grandmother, Frau Frielingsdorf, and Annette’s sister Diana, brother-in-law Derek, and their children Johanes, Katarina, and Max. They all live in Frielingsdorf, a town of about 5000 occupants and much natural beauty. The town, Frielingsdorf was originally Freilingsdorf (meaning Free Village) because it was the first free village after some large political change way back in the day. They blame the ei-ie change on a typo (verschreiben).

The grandmother lives on the first floor of a house with her daughter and grandchildren on the second floor. After introductions and a glass of apple juice and mineral water, the grandkids and I headed out to see the area. We walked through the town, and up a hill through a forest to get a good view of the town. Compared to Köln, there is almost an overwhelming amount of green, present in the expansive rolling fields and evergreen trees surrounding the quaint picturesque village. We got back to a house filled with the aroma of fresh waffles, whipped cream, and cherry sauce. Interesting note: “Waffen” in German is weapons, “Waffeln” is a traditional German patterned pastry often enjoyed in the afternoon. Imagine a sweet elderly lady saying “I think I’ll prepare some weapons for after your walk. Do you like weapons with whipped cream?”

She had also made a fantastic plum pie. It had a very thick lower crust, about 1.5cm or so, that was kind of like a dense cake but not as sweet. Fantastic. After the sweets, we played a lot of UNO, but it was crazy UNO because we used a normal deck of cards, and there were weird rules, and we yelled “Mamao” instead.

Then came the barbeque. They grilled a couple of different types of wurst, chicken, pork and steak, and we also had a salad and some spicy feta cheese. The German people like to grill outside and at the end of the day, they said “And so you have it, a typical German afternoon.” To cap of a great day, Annette let me drive her all the way back to Köln.

There was something peaceful and relaxing about the whole trip, despite mild anxiety about the language barrier. Clean country air, lots of green grass, a light breeze, a grandmother’s pie, and playing cards outside. Deutschland!

Bonn and More

Though I planned almost nothing for this day, most everything turned out wonderfully. I started the day early with a bowl of granola and soy milk and a trip to the Fahrradmarkt (bike market). Unsuccessful, again. After taking pictures the DOM to help remember information from the tour on Friday, I met up with my architect friend. We walked down the banks of the mighty Rhine river to take a look at some of the new buildings going up and their interesting modern designs. On the way back to town, we stumbled upon a small classic show featuring a few nice BMWs, Isettas, and a good collection of Mercedes sedans. We split ways and I made it back to the Wohnung (apartment) in time for brunch with my host family. I ended up talking with them for a while and missed meeting up with my friends to go to Bonn, a smaller city about a half an hour south on the train. I decided to go anyway so I packed a sandwich, an orange, and loaded the maps on my trusty GPS.

Thirty minutes later I arrived at the quaint town of Bonn, famous for Beethoven and maybe the currywurst, but I think the sign on the sausage stand was stretching the truth a bit. I first decided to make my way to Beethoven’s birth house-turned museum. Similar to Mozart’s place in Salzburg, Beethoven’s museum is situated right in the middle of the narrow-street old town shopping district. The house had a few musical instruments, original sheet music, and paintings of the relevant folks of the time as well as plaques with biographical information. The building was in good repair but I would have thought the first thing they would fix would have been the floors. Not so. They were the squeakiest wooden floors I have experienced ever. Distractingly loud, even. It was cool to stand still and see the very room where a piece of musical greatness was born. Afterwards I went to their “Studio” slipped on the headphones, and listened to the “Pastorale” section of his 6th symphony for the orchestra while reading along with images of the original manuscript. It was awesome. When everyone else was gone, I conducted. I was surprised at how few notes there were on the pages – a lot of repeats and so on. There were also a lot of sections that were crossed out and the numbering on the corners of the pages indicated that he changed the order a bit as well.


After that exciting classical experience, I wandered the streets until I felt lost. When I looked up, I saw a sign for the Arithmium and I went for it. What a find! The entire museum was devoted to intricate machines designed to do one thing: calculate. This museum chronicled the mechanical calculator throughout the ages and had several available for use. These things were all unique intricate masterpieces of mathematics, logic, and mechanical design. I used a couple to add and multiply some numbers. They generally worked like this: clear all registers, slide register to one’s position, select add, input numbers, turn wheel, input numbers, turn wheel, see result. I was “geeking out” as they say.


I walked around a bit more, strolling past the botanical gardens, some cannons that guarded the city back when it needed guarding, and a couple of weddings. On the way back through the inner part of town I ducked into a smallish church. It was cool to have such beautiful inner and outer architecture secluded in the peace and quite of a church amongst the hustle and bustle of Bonn life. It was nice to sit in quite for a while.


My time in Bonn ended at an Iron Maiden and AC/DC tribute band concert in one of the bigger plazas. Out of the quaint buildings, cobblestone alleys, and traditional local pubs wandered long haired enthusiasts proclaiming their affinity for rock with black T-shirts and prolific leather vests. After a few minutes of rocking out, I made haste to the Hauptbahnhoff to catch the train back to Köln. I bolted back to the house, chugged some juice and jumped into my concert clothes in the hopes that I’d make it to the Kölner Philharmonie at 8pm. By the time I got to the venue near the DOM, the symphony had been playing for a few minutes. However, there was one sole ticket remaining and I won the coin toss so the euro68 seat was mine for the night.

I entered the hall after the first song. It was a spectacular room. It was all unpainted swoopy wood with box seats that surround the stage which was flanked by columns of organ pipes on the left and the obligatory euro-spiral staircase on the right. Before I describe the 1st piece I heard, I will say that such music is very difficult to play and they did it well, I think. It was kind of like this: the director says “Okay everyone, this is going to be a greatest hits song. Everyone play your own favorite song, but only play every few seconds or minutes and whatever it is play loud and fast when I wave my hands furiously.” To my uncultured ears, this contemporary music wasn’t as melodious and pleasing as some things. But the Brahms afterwards made up for it.



Brahms Symphonie 4, op.98 was a good one. Daniel Barenboim was conducting and he did a great job. It reminded me of the Sorcerers’ Apprentice. He was dancing about in front of a churning sea of dresses, suits, and string instruments; this orchestra swayed around a lot and their motion kind of added to the swellings and dynamics of the music. After about 10 minutes of clapping, with the musicians standing and sitting for recognition at the directors command like an über-directed crowd-wave, the director started pulling flowers out of a bouquet and handing them out to some of the soloists. Suddenly, he pulled a baton out of the bouquet! The musicians sat, he stood, and before we knew it, they were off into another nice tune.

I sat next to a music student from Chile studying German in Bonn. He’ll be studying percussion performance in Munich in a few months so it was cool to get his opinion on the performance.

What a day.

Cerebral Canvas

This is a picture by the Rhine taken from about 150 meters away from my place. That big one in the back is The Dom and there's another church in front of it. One day, I did a steeple chase, where I would spot a steeple and chase it. Once I caught it, I would spot another and run to it.

If you will permit me to paint a picture on your cerebral canvas, here’s a good one:

I bounce down the raggedy worn cobblestones on a raggedy worn bicycle through the narrow streets of an old German neighborhood. My backpack is full of apples, juice, cheese, and fresh bread from the bakery. Kids run down the sidewalk on the way back from the first day back at school. The old regulars sit outside a local bar with a glass of Kölsch and watch passersby. The skies are blue, the clouds white, and I think about the girl’s smile when we passed a second time running in the park.

-H

A Day in the Life

I have almost settled into the rhythm of life here in Köln. I don’t spend as much time looking at maps at my bahn stops and I feel like I know how to get around. I’ll describe what has become a typical day:

Alarm from my cell phone. Time to get up. I turn it off while still in zombie mode and roll around for a while. Similar to the differences in sliced bread, the German version of the mattress is thinner but more dense than the American example. The German version is, however, very delicious/comfortable as well. The windows here swing open on a vertical axis like in America but I keep mine tilted open on the secondary hinges pivoting parallel to the floor (neat window design and pretty common). Quick shower and breakfast with Annette and Philip consisting usually of bread, meat, a few cheeses, orange juice, and a piece of fruit.

The U- and S-Bahn system in Köln is fantastic – there are three nearly equal options from where I live. The Bahn population is quite varied: business people, students, shoppers, dogs, and mohawk wielding, pierced gentlemen and ladies alike find solace in the precision of the timetables. Many have earbuds popping up though their shirt collars and there is hardly any chit-chat. After a few stops and maybe a change, I arrive at my station. The larger bahn stations generally have some sort of food involved, be it Seven Eleven type fare or full blown bakeries with fresh bread every morning. Many will grab a small Brötchen or a sandwich on the way out.

I walk a few blocks to the CDC. Not everyone stops for the no-walking signs, but the vast majority respects the authority of the red man in the lamp. It holds almost as much authority as a stop light for drivers in the states. The older people will sometimes make funny faces at the kids as they cross on a red.

My class at the CDC is largely conversation based and it invariably involves discussions on how things differ in our various homelands. That’s my favorite part.

After my classes, I walk around, run around, see the sights, and do homework. Today I stopped by a couple of bike shops in search for a snazzy way to get around. All of the folks I spoke with were quite nice and friendly, contrary to typical German stereotypes. One guy I met was also an engineer and we talked about my plans and his past career in a small scale stamping facility. The other day I met another guy who was way into biking and we spoke for 20 minutes or so about biking for the pleasure of riding a bike. Plenty of evidence that Germans can be friendly.

I pull my clothes off the clothesline and fold my shirts while I eat my cheese, tomato, and cucumber sandwich and talk with Philip about school. It was a good day.

-H

Schocoladen Museum

The other day some of us from the Sprachschule went to the Schocoladen Museum on the river. I got to translate a little from our English tour guide to German for my Kazakhstani friends. It turns out that the first Europeans that tasted chocolate thought it was gross because it was way more bitter. The chocolate we know today is a combination of sugarcane from the India area and cacao from the South/Central America area. Thank goodness someone finally combined them! Once it became delicious, chocolate was originally a drink of the wealthy before it permeated to other classes in other forms. In order to get milk chocolate in solid form, they use dried/powdered milk so they can precisely control the moisture content of the product.

They had a couple of small machines running, one of which made the hollow things like bunnies, hearts, clowns and whatever. The machine looked a lot like a smaller version of what sugar crazed kids go crazy for when the fair comes to town. The cook (chef? machinist?) poured chocolate into a form, sealed it, and attached it to this multi-axis rotating machine that allowed the chocolate to distribute evenly before hardening into those bunnies we know and love.

Afterwards we made the obligatory trip to the museum gift shop where we purchased a myriad of blends to split and share. That picture above is a small example. African spices, tropical fruit, chili, mint, orange, dark, super dark, ect.

World Wide Classroom

The CDC (Carl Dusiburg Center) is a language school for international students. There are three main levels of courses with many subdivisions and probably a few hundred students. Each class has a maximum of 15 students. My course has representatives from China, Venezuela, France, Macedonia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, England, and the USA. It is interesting to see how the various accents translate through a mutual second language and I find it simply fantastic to talk with these other students in German. Our classes have a lot of conversation and speaking so I get to hear the viewpoints from a broader cultural spectrum than I’ve had before. Today I learned about the superstitions in half a dozen different countries from citizens of those countries! What an experience!

On a personal note, it is bittersweet (pun intended, of course) for me to report that Milka has switched to a convenient air-tight plastic wrapping for the wonderful chocolate bars. By most measures it is better. It is easier to open and the opening is more consistent. The airtight plastic seals in the freshness. Call me old fashioned, but there is some undeniable pleasure attained from ripping through paper and foil.

Some interesting things about der Dom: It is super old. The Allies were told not to bomb it during the war......because it served as a good marker to maintain one's bearings. Fourteen bombs punched through the ceiling on accident but they were all duds. Over the years, there have been many curators of the inner and outer decoration. Some took their responsibility to historical preservation a bit more seriously than others. There are several gargoyles that have been replaced with modern things including soccer players, a fire fighter, the Cologne soccer mascot, and one artists mother-in-law. I find it funny that the building has an address. "Yes, um where is this Dom? Domstrasse (Dom Street)? Ah yes, right, I know that street. But what is the address? Four? Okay, I'll keep an eye out for it." Ha ha ha. Have a nice day!

First Impressions

Apple and one hand and map in my pocket, I bravely bounced out the door on a crisp German morning amidst the sounds of small engines and light rail. It was my first day of school and as such, the sense of vacation was gone. Cities look different when you’re there on business. I commuted with the commuting crowd and I wasn’t swinging a camera around. I knew my stops so I wasn’t looking for a map. Aside from my Nikes and goofy smile, I might have been mistaken for a local.

My breakfasts are typical of German fare: several types of bread, cheese, and meat, müsli, milk, tea, and orange juice. It is a bit heavy but not in a sausage and eggs type of way. Germans are way into bread, cheese, and meat so it’s a little overwhelming to go the store to pick some out. So far, I’m 50/50 on bread selection and winning in the cheese department.

There are bike lanes on the sidewalks and I’d say more people commute by bike than both Portland and Eugene. Köln is similar to Eugene and Portland in that both have a lot of bridges that cross a city-splitting river that is lined with bike paths. I took advantage of the bridges yesterday on a nice run along the river, through a playground, and past a 700 year old building. Neat stuff.

It is easy to feel like a part of a city when doing the things you see people doing. Riding the subway, walking down the street, and groaning about traffic kind of give a surface level of belonging or relationship but it is the personal relationships that really tie folks into a city and society. Over n' out.

-H

Crayz Kezboard

The last few dazs have been fantastic but Iäll have to wait to write about themö I am using a German kezboard and some of the letters are in the wrong place. There are some new ones as well µßöäÜ€.

-H

Heimat

2. August. 2008

I have just spent the last few hours with my new host family. Annette and her son Philip Frielingsdorf live in a small apartment on the first floor of a building within a few minute’s walk of the Rhine. Philip is in 9th grade and preparing for a big English test but they both speak English and they are as excited as I am to get practice in a different language. Philip and I went on a short walk along the Rhine where we talked about the city, some rules and traditions we have in America and how the two countries differ. He just turned 16 so he can drink legally now but he still cannot drive.

The last few days have been spent mostly traveling. Lufthansa’s strike canceled our original flight plans so 2/3 of the group took a Virgin Atlantic flight to London then Frankfurt and the remaining people will arrive on Monday. In the face of adversity one can learn a lot about people and our program leaders, Will Maier and Anna Oberle, handled the situation very well. The participants have also formed a relatively cohesive bond, due in part to the hours spent waiting together but also the joint effort required to deal with the luggage and flight fiasco.

Throughout the day, I’ve been distracted by all of the different things I see. The auto tow hitches, door hinges, door handles, bridge supports, light switches, and highway center dividers, for example. I love seeing all of these alternate ways to solve problems! Exciting!

Deutschland is cool.

-H