Author Archives: Matt

2012 Begins

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It has been a while since I felt like writing. I can not really explain to you why. Things come and go in life. Sometimes you feel like documenting them and at others you don’t. It is a strange cycle I guess. Since my last post many things have changed in my life, yet so much remains the same. It isn’t worth explaining at the moment. Just a statement of truth about everyday life.

New Years Eve 2012 fireworks

New Years Eve 2012 fireworks

New Year Celebration

I love watching and shooting fireworks, but it doesn’t have the same effect in December. Yet fireworks just go along with New Years in Germany. It is a pretty sight to see bright balls of color exploding above a city and reminds me of driving around the Missouri country side on the evening of July 4th, but without the same excitement I experienced back then.

Shooting photos of fireworks is something I wish I was better at. It took me several shots to get the exposure close to correct. Then I had problems with timing the picture to the maximum point of the burst. Maybe on my next trip to the US I should practice since shooting fireworks is not usually prohibited in Missouri.

A sunrise in Denmark

A sunrise in Denmark

North Sea coast in Denmark

North Sea coast in Denmark

A field in Denmark

A field in Denmark

Denmark

One of my desires for 2012 is to see a little more of Europe than northern Germany. In January we ventured to the Danish coast for a week to get away from everyday life. This was my first trip to another European country since moving here. Before leaving I wondered how being in another country might be. Physically traveling from one country to another is not much different than going from one Midwestern state to another one. There is a road sign welcoming you to another place and the road just continues on to where you want to go. Cultural steps into this situation though and every place is a little different. Even between German states you find differences you wouldn’t find going between Missouri and Iowa.

Speaking of the Midwest, Denmark reminds me a lot of Illinois. Even Anni thought so. During one of our visits to a nearby city Anni commented that if the houses were made of wood we could be driving through Illinois.

Something very unlike Illinois or even Germany was using Danish Krone. I thought most EU countries used the Euro and did not bother looking up a conversion rate before going to Denmark. After unloading the car our next stop was to an ATM for some cash before buying groceries. Seeing prices of 40, 50, or 60 Krone and up was a little unsettling at first. Even after discovering 1 Krone is worth around .13 cents Euro (.17 cents USD) it still seemed strange.

National Holiday (German Unity Day)

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Sailing ships on the Elbe river near Hamburg.

Sailing ships on the Elbe river near Hamburg.

One of these days I should count the number of national holidays in Germany.  I am pretty sure it surpasses the United States.  Germans seem to love a good vacation and every German state has its own additional holidays on top of the standard set of national ones.  Unfortunately for me Hamburg has fewer holidays than other states.  Areas with strong ties to the catholic church have a tendency to be a little more celebratory.

Today is German Unity Day which celebrates the reunification of Germany in 1990.  Kind of amazing that East and West Germany have only been reunited for 21 years.  I remember watching the fall of the Berlin wall on TV as a kid.  That seems so long ago, and now I live in a country that is divided no more.  I should spend some time this week asking people what reunification means to them.  I wonder how different a perspective people from the former Germany’s have.  I know that still today there are economic problems in the former East.  While it is better than in previous years, the effects are still felt.

What Unity Day means for me is my first work “holiday”.  I only realized the office was closed a couple weeks before.  I should put the national holidays on my calendar so I do not forget them.  My mind is still centered around American holidays.  I guess the next shared holiday is Christmas.  Since Germany does not celebrate Thanksgiving and Halloween does not include a free day from work.

Milestone Reached

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You might be wondering why I have not written here very often as of late.  Frankly, I have been wondering that too and how often I write is completely up to me!  And the answer would be I have found a job.  No, I have not started working yet, but I am excited about working again.

My first day is coming soon and I am a little bit nervous.  No, not about the technological aspects of the job I am a little unfamiliar with.  I have always picked up technology easily enough.  I am mostly nervous about working in an office with people who speak German natively.  While my German has greatly improved over the last couple of months I would say it is far from good.  Yes, everyday I follow conversation a little bit better.  And there are topics I can speak about relatively well in German, but there is still quite a few which perplex me.  I guess I am at that moment where German is starting to “click” and be awkward at the same time.  Something I hope will pass quickly once I start spending the majority of my time around native German speakers.  And a situation I hope everyone can overlook.

Even though I am nervous, I am also excited too.  This is a sign my life is returning to normal again.  That my decisions up until now were not just some passing fancy that I was to stubbron to recongize.  As Pinocchio might say, “I am a real boy”.  Meaning, what I was afraid was not true really is true.  That I was and am able to pick up my life in one culture and move myself into another.  Yes, I still have a long way to go, but that is just a part of life.  We never truly arrive at our final destionation.  We just create new goals and challenges for ourselves to overcome.  It is still good to reach those milestones along the way though.

Milestone (almost) reached…

P.S. I appologize for any potentional spelling mistakes/errors.  I am using a German computer which does not have an English spellchecker.  I will proof this entry once I am back at my own computer.

Website Update

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I updated my WordPress theme to the new Twenty Eleven theme by the WordPress team. Unfortunately, I was not very impressed with the theme and returned to my old theme. If an article looks strange our out of place to you please let me know.

Thanks, Matt

Public Transportation: Buses and Trains

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When you want to travel between cities in Germany your best option could be going by train.  Usually this is a great cost effective alternative to using the Autobahn.  Especially if you are heading to a large city where parking can be at a premium.  Although sometimes using the public transportation system does have its disadvantages.

Traveling by Train

Traveling by Train

Before coming to Europe I only used public transit once while visiting Washington D.C.  We used the subway and bus system to move around the city.  Every other city I have visited outside of Europe was just easier to see by car.

One of the first things I wanted to do in Europe was ride the train.  I am trying to recall why I was so excited about using the trains.  Just yesterday I ran into a group of Americans and I suggested they should ride the trains if they get a chance.  It is an exciting experience the first couple of times, but after the new wears off it just becomes another way of getting around.

Riding the train does not come without its problems though.  It seems like every third trip I take something happens which delays or postpones my trip.  Missing a connection is the common culprit. I am not sure how many times I have missed connecting trains forcing me to wait 20-60 minutes before the next connection.  Especially when riding the cheaper regional trains.

I was recently in Hamburg and the last thing I needed was to have problems with my trip.  Unfortunately, luck was not on my side.  On my way to Hamburg my regional train was delayed and I missed a connection by a couple minutes.  Forcing me to wait an hour for the next train to come along.  Then, when I made it to Hamburg I misunderstood my friends direction and ended up turning a 20 minute subway trip into a 60 minute tour of the city.  A pretty minor problem to have and is a lot better than being suck in a traffic jam on the Autobahn.  I just wish my return home had went at least that well.

Traveling by Bus

Traveling by Bus

When I tried to come home everything seemed to be going fine at first.  That is until I found out I would have to ride the bus because the tracks were being worked on.  The first bus trip was not that bad actually.  Everyone moved from the train to the bus relatively quickly and I did not have to wait very long before we were on our way again.  The problem came when we reached the next station.  I waited over 30 minutes for the regional train to get going.  I had already missed my next train and as the day progresses the fewer options there are for later connections.  Overall it took me an extra two hours to get home.  After riding five trains and two buses I was pretty tired of using the public rail system.

Fortunately my experience that day was a bit unusual.  Even though the “new” has worn off from riding the train I still enjoy it.  Especially the InterCity and InterCity Express connections.  Cursing down the tracks well in excess of 200 kph (125 mph) is a quick way of getting to where you want to go.