A New Adventure Begins

I haven't written here for over a year, a fact that I am quite ashamed of. This blog details the travels and adventures that I'm lucky enough to enjoy. It forces me to reflect on what I've experienced.

The lack of a post does not mean I haven't had interesting travels. My whole second semester in Germany seems to have missed this blog. My return to the States, my quick jaunts to Chicago and Cincinnati, and my move back to Philadelphia all deserve posts just as much as Munich and Mongolia.

But for now, my energies are focused on a new chapter-- Alaska. Yes, I'm about to graduate and enter the work force in Anchorage, Alaska. As I learn more about this great section of our country, I hope to keep track of it here. Perhaps I'll even be able to recollect about Prague, the farm, and my final year in Philly, too.

Our Image Abroad

Why we need to be careful about what we (or those we give weapons to) do abroad...

Excuses, Excuses

Wow. Almost an entire month since my last post. So sorry.

Unfortunately for you plenty of exciting things have happened. Christmas markets came and went, I experienced real Alpine skiing, and my family even dropped in for a visit. But don't worry, over this weekend, I'm planning a quick recap of the biggest events and impressions.

Additionally, one of my New Year's resolutions is to be more creative with this blog. I've got a few ideas already, but if you have suggestions or advice, please e-mail me or leave a comment here. Thanks in advance and Happy 2009!

Rotes Haus Fest

Despite being more expensive than off-campus housing, Penn Housing doesn't offer all that much more in the way of services. When I lived there, I appreciated the extra security that my rent paid for, but the fellowships, endless, terrible movie-nights, and "Meet Your House Dean" dinners, make me all the more happy that I won't be living on-campus next year.

The Germans have a much better system. Although subsidized by the government, the facilities aren't the greatest. But the rent here for a normal student is rock-bottom. And how do the students fill their need for socializing without a "House Dean" to tell them how? Well, they do it themselves.

I just got back from working the Red House Festival, where we sold alcohol and made money. Now for the rest of the year, the inhabitants of Red House can have floor dinners and small outings. And we get to decide for ourselves what to do--no house dean to tell us otherwise.

While alcohol liscensing laws in the USA might prevent Penn from fully adopting this model, they should definitely look into something similar. Get rid of the house deans and dinners, lower rent, and let the students decide what they want.

Welche Finanzkrise?

Home to the European Central Bank, Germany's stock exchange, Deutsche Bank, and the more conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (newspaper), Frankfurt has become Germany's financial center. Thus, it's not surprising to read about the financial crisis on the front page of Frankfurt's influential newspaper.

The world financial crisis isn't hitting Germany as hard as some other countries. Germans don't do risky mortgages; in fact, 50% of the housing stock here are rentals. Whatever real estate bubbles other places experienced, Germany missed. Thus, nothing burst.

But BMW, Daimler, and Volkswagen are trying to lower wages and cut production. The German economy is officially in a recession. The government predicts that the unemployment rate will climb dramtically next year before Germany's economy corrects itself. Germany certainly is feeling the cost of globalization.

Frankfurt's newspaper wrote up a great piece about Munich and the "Finanzkrise" yesterday. But why pay attention to Munich now? Because, well, looking around Munich, you wouldn't guess anything was wrong with the world's economy. Despite being home to BMW, Siemens and other suffering multi-national firms, Munich is home base for Germany's super-rich.

Ritzy stores are still open across the fashionable downtown. The "Schickeria" sips on cappucinos in cool cafes. I'm in the process of looking for a job here, and I've got plenty of options. I could be a barista, work the supermarket checkout, or probably find an interesting, paid internship.

A Day Without Turkey

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and you wouldn't even know it. The best holiday America has to offer, and I was in class until 6:45 pm Thursday...

Since many of the Americans on the program are in Weimar on a class trip right now, we decided to have a Thanksgiving dinner last Friday when everyone was here. With many of us cooking on Thanksgiving for the first time, I'm surprised that everything turned out so well. Even the Butternut Squash I made tasted good!

Yesterday, a Spainish friend of mine invited me to a Thanksgiving dinner at a very American restuarant-- the Hard Rock Cafe. Unfortunately, once we got there, the dinner was over and we ended up at a very German restaurant-- the Hofbräuhaus. 

Prost und Happy Thanksgiving!

FC Bayern- Danke!

On Tuesday, I had the great opportunity to go to my first FC Bayern München game. FC Bayern is Munich's premier soccer team and could be considered the Yankees of Germany. They have a ton of money to lure the best players and coaches, year after year. So they win major championships, year after year.

The game on Tuesday was between FC Bayern and Steaua Bucharest as part of the Champions League, one of the three leagues in which FC Bayern competes. The Champions League is Europe-wide (hence why we were playing Bucharest); the Bundesliga is for German teams only; and the DFB-Pokal is the annual elimination tournament of the German Futball League.

We walked up to the stunning and sparkling new (built for the World Cup in 2006) Allianz Arena in Munich. When FC Bayern is playing, the stadium glows red (and apparently my friend's eyes do, too!). When TSV 1860 München (Munich's second team) is playing, the stadium glows blue. During the day, it looms over northern Munich in its natural white.

The fans charged the atmosphere, even before we made it through the securty screening. Fans of vastly differing sobreity levels crammed the subways and started singing when we made it to our stop. The 5 minute walk to the stadium filled itself with cheers.

Once inside, the soccer crazed Germans showed me their true colors. A whole section of the stadium jumped up and down constantly-- and not just because of the cold. Their voices carried praises of FC Bayern throughout the game, never once stopping. The most similar thing in the States would probably be a college basketball game where the student section is quite riled up.

For the other 95% of the fans though, the game was much more important than cheers and jumping. Unlike baseball games where conversations banter about among fans, interspersed with tense moments, these fans kept their eyes glued to the field, rarely taking a break to make a comment or take a sip of beer.

When Miro Klose of FC Bayern finally scored, the stadium erupted, standing up to salute the soccer heros. Once the initial celebration quited down, the annoucer started talking (in German, of course!):

Announcer: And in the 57th minute a goal for FC Bayern by Miro...

Crowd: Klose!

A: Miro...

C: Klose!!

A: MIRO...

C: KLOSE!!

A: The score now stands at FC Bayern

C: ONE

A: Steaua Bucharest

C: ZERO

A: Thank you!

C: You're Welcome!

After two more goals and 33 more minutes, the game came to an end, with FC Bayern victorious! They waved at the crowd as the crowd waved their red FC Bayern scarves at the team. But scarves quickly went back on as people began to stream outside and head home.