I hope you feel really guilty for googling me and finding a blog from my junior year of college.
What does that say about you? :P
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Monday, September 7, 2009
Off to Köln/Altenberg...
Ok... so I haven't been posting. So as Kevin Reiman's license plate once read:
Whooopps. Or something to that extent which referred to the high school girls basketball team. (Mom will remember.)
Anyway... Fulbright conference in Köln...
I'll be there until the evening of the 10th, something like that, and will arrive later in the evening in Berlin that same day. I probably won't have an internet connection for a while but I'll be sure to log some typing time (i.e. save some entries that I can readily post once I'm connected again).
Briefly, things are going about as I expected they would.
More about everything next week.
Whooopps. Or something to that extent which referred to the high school girls basketball team. (Mom will remember.)
Anyway... Fulbright conference in Köln...
I'll be there until the evening of the 10th, something like that, and will arrive later in the evening in Berlin that same day. I probably won't have an internet connection for a while but I'll be sure to log some typing time (i.e. save some entries that I can readily post once I'm connected again).
Briefly, things are going about as I expected they would.
More about everything next week.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Brace Yourself, I'm Going To Be Dramatic...
My computer broke fifteen minutes ago but luckily I know just enough Finnish (swear words) that I was able to use Vilppu's laptop to get online and blog about this...
To add to the situation I can't seem to get the sound to turn on on this darned thing which means I can't even call anyone to complain. Ugh.
To add to the situation I can't seem to get the sound to turn on on this darned thing which means I can't even call anyone to complain. Ugh.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Placement: Richard Grundschule, Neukölln - Berlin, Germany
About two months ago I received my teaching placement and today I'm finally going to post it. (Clearly I'm running a little behind schedule).
Richard Grundschule is an elementary school that, as per their Pädagogisch-inhaltliches Profil, focuses on the development of language.
Since I haven't actually been there yet there's not a whole lot else I can tell you. The following is the address to the school webiste:
http://www.richard-grundschule.cidsnet.de/
Richard Grundschule is an elementary school that, as per their Pädagogisch-inhaltliches Profil, focuses on the development of language.
Since I haven't actually been there yet there's not a whole lot else I can tell you. The following is the address to the school webiste:
http://www.richard-grundschule.cidsnet.de/
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Updates: Germany and Otherwise
Germany:
I'm still waiting to find out which school I'll be teaching in which means that I'm still waiting to find an apartment. Hopefully I'll find out something within the next three weeks.
Here:
I started a new job. I work in "risk mitigation" for an insurance company. It's really boring but I'm learning a lot about mortgages and various types of insurance which I assume will be helpful in the future.
I moved... like ya do...
Tammy, a friend from Iowa whom I met in Germany, came to visit last weekend and Chelsea, a friend from Wesleyan who is soon leaving us for the über selective writing program in Iowa City, was also in town all last week. Good times...
Lauren (from Jersey), my future Berlin roommate, is in Izmir, Turkey right now and I'm extremely jealous because I'm in Lincoln, Nebraska talking about escrow accounts and whether or not a fire policy covers a tree falling onto your house. (It does.)
I'm still waiting to find out which school I'll be teaching in which means that I'm still waiting to find an apartment. Hopefully I'll find out something within the next three weeks.
Here:
I started a new job. I work in "risk mitigation" for an insurance company. It's really boring but I'm learning a lot about mortgages and various types of insurance which I assume will be helpful in the future.
I moved... like ya do...
Tammy, a friend from Iowa whom I met in Germany, came to visit last weekend and Chelsea, a friend from Wesleyan who is soon leaving us for the über selective writing program in Iowa City, was also in town all last week. Good times...
Lauren (from Jersey), my future Berlin roommate, is in Izmir, Turkey right now and I'm extremely jealous because I'm in Lincoln, Nebraska talking about escrow accounts and whether or not a fire policy covers a tree falling onto your house. (It does.)
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Departure Date
I booked my tickets to Germany today.
I'll fly out of Omaha on August 26th and arrive bright and early on the morning of the 27th in Düsseldorf. From Düsseldorf I'll head 37 kilometers northwest to Essen to see Vilppu (Finland), who is working at the university there for the summer, and hopefully Francois (France). Francois came to Dortmund to study abroad in the fall of 2007 (the same time I did) and liked it so much he never left. It's really not all that bad, Fran graduated at the end of the year and got an engineering job in Dortmund. Shortly, he'll be moving to the United States (Virgina, I think?) to work for a firm here for a few years so I'm hoping I catch him while he's still in Dortmund.
After my mini-Dortmunder reunion I was supposed to go to Frankfurt to see Julain, the orphaned German exchange student that I found cold and alone on Wesleyan's campus last fall (by orphaned I mean he didn't have an I-Pal/campus guide and I "adopted" him. See the original post.) Unfortunately, Julian will be knee deep in exams so I probably won't see him until October at the earliest. On the brighter side, it'll give me more time to visit with Marcel, "my German son" who studied abroad at Wesleyan this past school year and studied at the same university that I did when I was in Germany the first time around.
Next on the agenda is a four day conference in Köln from September 7th - 10th. After that lets out I'll get on a train and head across the country to Berlin, my soon to be home.
Speaking of my future home, dwelling... box... I'm hoping I can find something as nice as this lovely piece of real estate that I found in the Portland, Oregon area:
I think my roommate and I will have to take turns being home though...
I'll fly out of Omaha on August 26th and arrive bright and early on the morning of the 27th in Düsseldorf. From Düsseldorf I'll head 37 kilometers northwest to Essen to see Vilppu (Finland), who is working at the university there for the summer, and hopefully Francois (France). Francois came to Dortmund to study abroad in the fall of 2007 (the same time I did) and liked it so much he never left. It's really not all that bad, Fran graduated at the end of the year and got an engineering job in Dortmund. Shortly, he'll be moving to the United States (Virgina, I think?) to work for a firm here for a few years so I'm hoping I catch him while he's still in Dortmund.
After my mini-Dortmunder reunion I was supposed to go to Frankfurt to see Julain, the orphaned German exchange student that I found cold and alone on Wesleyan's campus last fall (by orphaned I mean he didn't have an I-Pal/campus guide and I "adopted" him. See the original post.) Unfortunately, Julian will be knee deep in exams so I probably won't see him until October at the earliest. On the brighter side, it'll give me more time to visit with Marcel, "my German son" who studied abroad at Wesleyan this past school year and studied at the same university that I did when I was in Germany the first time around.
Next on the agenda is a four day conference in Köln from September 7th - 10th. After that lets out I'll get on a train and head across the country to Berlin, my soon to be home.
Speaking of my future home, dwelling... box... I'm hoping I can find something as nice as this lovely piece of real estate that I found in the Portland, Oregon area:
I think my roommate and I will have to take turns being home though...
Monday, May 25, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Fulbright Placement
So maybe you know, maybe you don't, but I'm going back to Germany for another year.
Last time I lived in Dortmund. (See handy-dandy map below.)
Today I received a notification from the Fulbright Kommision that I've been placed in Berlin.
Now because this is a blog and you can't see my face or hear my tone I'm going to use HTML text blah-blah-blah-something or other and a picture or two in order to express myself properly.
I'm going to Berlin!
BERLIN!
Last time I lived in Dortmund. (See handy-dandy map below.)
Today I received a notification from the Fulbright Kommision that I've been placed in Berlin.Now because this is a blog and you can't see my face or hear my tone I'm going to use HTML text blah-blah-blah-something or other and a picture or two in order to express myself properly.
I'm going to Berlin!
BERLIN!
The Last 6 Months in Review
November, I've decided, is my second least favorite month of the year, February prevailing. Fall begins to fade into winter, Christmas season forces itself upon us, and it get's cold.
December was a busy month but I had a lot of fun, too. All of the exchange students from first semester were still here and my finals weren't too horrible (at least not in comparison to the current situation).
January escapes me. I don't really remember January... I believe it sucked. Julian (aus Deutschland) had went home, Tara was getting deported (not really but kind of) back to Ireland, and the Estonians were long gone. Second semester started with a crash instead of the traditional "bang" and...
Boom, that brings us to February, my least favorite month. February is a cramped, sad little month. The weather sucks, no one actually like Valentines Day, Groundhogs Day (once my favorite holiday) is a joke (which is why it was my favorite), and most people seem to be suffering from some sort of post-holiday depression. I find this especially true among university student populations who had a nice five to six week break from living in shared 10 x 10 box, ate something other than cafeteria/fast food, and now find themselves back in the box with the same shitty food working long hours and late nights.
There may have been a dance in March. I think there was. I believe March is when Wesleyan holds their "Formal" (i.e. a prom with booze). This year was the first time I elected to go... and one time was enough.
April was a marathon. No, a triathlon. I ran, I swam, I biked... not really. April was really intense though. You know when you're waiting in line to board a roller coaster and you stand there in the hot sun for what feels like hours next to two screaming kids barely tall enough to meet the height requirement and a big fat smelly guy who sweats a lot and keeps bumping into you and thereby branding you with his oder? And you know how when you finally get up to the shaded portion of the line right before you board that you're always like one person away from actually getting on the darn thing? And you know how then you realize you really need to pee but you've already been waiting in line for the better part of your natrual life and suddenly you're consumed with indecision? And then you know how when you finally say, "screw it, I'm getting on this roller coaster!" and you start to buckle yourself in and the cars lurch forward and start to make what seems like a completely ridiculous set of unsafe noises in thier asent and you realize this was really bad idea? And then when your car finally starts to break at the peak you're given two options: throw your hands up and scream or simultaneaously pee and puke. That was April for me. I'm not sure what I did, but it seems to be working out ok...
December was a busy month but I had a lot of fun, too. All of the exchange students from first semester were still here and my finals weren't too horrible (at least not in comparison to the current situation).
January escapes me. I don't really remember January... I believe it sucked. Julian (aus Deutschland) had went home, Tara was getting deported (not really but kind of) back to Ireland, and the Estonians were long gone. Second semester started with a crash instead of the traditional "bang" and...
Boom, that brings us to February, my least favorite month. February is a cramped, sad little month. The weather sucks, no one actually like Valentines Day, Groundhogs Day (once my favorite holiday) is a joke (which is why it was my favorite), and most people seem to be suffering from some sort of post-holiday depression. I find this especially true among university student populations who had a nice five to six week break from living in shared 10 x 10 box, ate something other than cafeteria/fast food, and now find themselves back in the box with the same shitty food working long hours and late nights.
There may have been a dance in March. I think there was. I believe March is when Wesleyan holds their "Formal" (i.e. a prom with booze). This year was the first time I elected to go... and one time was enough.
April was a marathon. No, a triathlon. I ran, I swam, I biked... not really. April was really intense though. You know when you're waiting in line to board a roller coaster and you stand there in the hot sun for what feels like hours next to two screaming kids barely tall enough to meet the height requirement and a big fat smelly guy who sweats a lot and keeps bumping into you and thereby branding you with his oder? And you know how when you finally get up to the shaded portion of the line right before you board that you're always like one person away from actually getting on the darn thing? And you know how then you realize you really need to pee but you've already been waiting in line for the better part of your natrual life and suddenly you're consumed with indecision? And then you know how when you finally say, "screw it, I'm getting on this roller coaster!" and you start to buckle yourself in and the cars lurch forward and start to make what seems like a completely ridiculous set of unsafe noises in thier asent and you realize this was really bad idea? And then when your car finally starts to break at the peak you're given two options: throw your hands up and scream or simultaneaously pee and puke. That was April for me. I'm not sure what I did, but it seems to be working out ok...
Monday, October 20, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
And we're off..
School has officially begun which means that I have fifteen other things to do that take priority over blogging about it so here's a real quick update:
- I start my new job on September 5th.
- Jack just had his three month check-up and is 17.5 lbs.
- I'm taking twelve credit hours this semester and attempting to get some work done on my senior thesis.
- The two Germans boys I adopted (one's my I-pal, the other was a stray we found on campus) are readily adjusting to Lincoln. Lately my spare time has consisted of helping them read aerosol deodorant labels so they actually buy deodorant and not just body spray.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Cupcake
Oh yes, and I got a new car a few weeks ago... her name is Cupcake.
Kylee, my six-year-old niece, helped me pick it out. It's cute, it's little, and twelve years newer than my last car.
I <3 Cupcake.
Kylee, my six-year-old niece, helped me pick it out. It's cute, it's little, and twelve years newer than my last car.
I <3 Cupcake.
A new year begins...
... academically speaking this coming Monday.
This is, if all goes according to plan, my last year at Wesleyan and I'm currently in the process of trying to make some huge, potentially life altering decisions. It's not fun. It's kind of exciting, but mainly, it's terrifying.
In other news.... my I-Pal got here yesterday. His name is Marcel Wolke and he's from Dortmund Germany. We met while I was still there and he's at Wesleyan for the fall semester. My job is to show him around Lincoln and Wesleyan, help him get through classes and general abroad adjustments that he'll need to make. Yesterday and today we got a lot accomplished... cell phone, dorm room, groceries, housing contract, visa stuff, and a bunch of other administrative type things. In addition to Marcel I've temporarily adopted another German exchange student (his I-pal was away last week and unable to join us today) named Julian. Basically I'm doing my best to ensure that their transition to Wesleyan and the necessary paperwork that accompanies it all is easier than mine was to Dortmund.
I'll write again soon!
(I'm hoping it'll be a bit easier now that I'll be getting on an actual schedule again.)
This is, if all goes according to plan, my last year at Wesleyan and I'm currently in the process of trying to make some huge, potentially life altering decisions. It's not fun. It's kind of exciting, but mainly, it's terrifying.
In other news.... my I-Pal got here yesterday. His name is Marcel Wolke and he's from Dortmund Germany. We met while I was still there and he's at Wesleyan for the fall semester. My job is to show him around Lincoln and Wesleyan, help him get through classes and general abroad adjustments that he'll need to make. Yesterday and today we got a lot accomplished... cell phone, dorm room, groceries, housing contract, visa stuff, and a bunch of other administrative type things. In addition to Marcel I've temporarily adopted another German exchange student (his I-pal was away last week and unable to join us today) named Julian. Basically I'm doing my best to ensure that their transition to Wesleyan and the necessary paperwork that accompanies it all is easier than mine was to Dortmund.
I'll write again soon!
(I'm hoping it'll be a bit easier now that I'll be getting on an actual schedule again.)
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Jack
Jack is the new puppy.
He's a 9 week old Weimaraner with a silver coat and blue eyes. His likes are pooping, eating, tennis balls, things that squeak, napping on me or with my favorite blanket, and attacking house plants and door springs (you know, those things that go "bong" that keep the door/doorknob from putting a hole in the wall behind it). His dislikes include kennel time, being told no, and stairs.
Pictures are coming soon.
He's a 9 week old Weimaraner with a silver coat and blue eyes. His likes are pooping, eating, tennis balls, things that squeak, napping on me or with my favorite blanket, and attacking house plants and door springs (you know, those things that go "bong" that keep the door/doorknob from putting a hole in the wall behind it). His dislikes include kennel time, being told no, and stairs.
Pictures are coming soon.
Friday, July 25, 2008
I'm home!
... and I'm exhausted. Still.
Instead of jet lag I just got kinda sick. The A's (asthma and allergies) again so I'm drinking alka seltzer like it's going out of style. Anyway... I am home... I still have the same cell phone number and e-mail so give me a call if you're in Lincoln or simply if you feel like chatting. I'm not doing any paid work right now (i.e. I'm unemployed) but I am working. I have a lot of paperwork/administrative things that I have to do before school starts up again. In addition I'm looking at grad schools and options I may or may not have after graduation and trying to get my transcripts from Germany... which would expedite half of what I have to do.
Again... (or perhaps for the first time if I haven't seen you yet) I'm glad to be home.
Instead of jet lag I just got kinda sick. The A's (asthma and allergies) again so I'm drinking alka seltzer like it's going out of style. Anyway... I am home... I still have the same cell phone number and e-mail so give me a call if you're in Lincoln or simply if you feel like chatting. I'm not doing any paid work right now (i.e. I'm unemployed) but I am working. I have a lot of paperwork/administrative things that I have to do before school starts up again. In addition I'm looking at grad schools and options I may or may not have after graduation and trying to get my transcripts from Germany... which would expedite half of what I have to do.
Again... (or perhaps for the first time if I haven't seen you yet) I'm glad to be home.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Just a few tidbits...
- I come home in less than a week thereby proving Josh wrong. (He made some offhand comment to mom about the fact that I'd bought a one-way ticket and following it with , "You remember what happened to Uncle Bruce?"... I guess "Uncle Bruce?" took a trip to Europe to "look around" and came home 25 years later. Sounds like a cool guy.)
- I will have spent 329 days in Germany (or at least out of the U.S.)
- I've decided to keep my blog. I don't know how many of my close friends and family members actually read this, but what I do know is that without the blog Aunt Julie could not live through me vicariously. I don't want to take that away from her.
- Another reason I'd decided to keep updating this thing is because I'm seriously considering graduate school. The downside is that there really aren't any programs that interest me in the U.S. central time zone. Which is my ultra-nice way of saying TOO MUCH CORN! Kidding! You can never have enough corn... or cows... or tractors, silos, grain bins, barbed wire, men in overhauls, trucks with gun racks, or politically incorrect mascot names (Go Indians! I mean, Miners! Seriously people?). Anyway, I love the Midwest and it will always be "home"... but it probably won't always coincide with my address.
Monday, July 14, 2008
You should read this...
Here's another article about the "Rabbit Ripper"...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1033701/Rabbit-ripper-Ruhr-leaves-German-detectives-baffled-spate-beheaded-pet-bunnies.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1033701/Rabbit-ripper-Ruhr-leaves-German-detectives-baffled-spate-beheaded-pet-bunnies.html
Crunch Time
It's past midnight here, making it Monday, meaning that I have exactly a week left before I start the trek home. I was trying to make a list of all the things I have to do (administratively speaking) before I go... and it's overwhelming. For the last few years I've had to move immediately after finals were over, but this is the first time that I'll be moving to a different continent immediately after.
___________________
I've been here for close to a year now and am happy to report that I continue to learn new things. Yesterday I heard German rap for the first time. With lyrics like, "bring den Tune zuruck" and "spiel den Shit nochmal" I must say it's pretty similar to American rap... just goofier because it's sprinkled with English words. I also learned the word for goblet this morning (which is every bit as useful as hearing German rap... oh well).
Changing subjects...
___________________
I've been here for close to a year now and am happy to report that I continue to learn new things. Yesterday I heard German rap for the first time. With lyrics like, "bring den Tune zuruck" and "spiel den Shit nochmal" I must say it's pretty similar to American rap... just goofier because it's sprinkled with English words. I also learned the word for goblet this morning (which is every bit as useful as hearing German rap... oh well).
Changing subjects...
- Tammy and baked cookies today and then fed them to birds. You know, helping the hungry.
- One of my houseplants blew out of my window and into my apartment (my fluffy three that's a bout four feet tall) about two weeks ago. It's pot broke and my solution was just to sit it in another pot. So far I haven't replaced any of the dirt but I continue to water it... which of course just washes away whatever dirt was left sticking to the roots. Surprisingly, the thing's never looked better.
- There's a 2,500 Euro reward for anyone with information leading to the arrest of the "Rabbit Ripper." For the last year someone in my area has been killing pet rabbits in Dortmund and Witten by decapitation. Apparently this individual is also draining all of the blood from the rabbit taking it with them... at least they're not finding it at the scene. Check it out (the article, not the headless bunnies)... ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7494184.stm ) The article states 30, but I read forty from another source..
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