Andrew's Breakfast

Please Excuse the Mess

2009-10-15T00:22:00.003-04:00

It has been a while since I have posted a new post on here. I appreciate all of the comments. I checked in on the site today, and found that my backgrounds, and such are missing.

Please excuse the mess while I work on getting this updated, and will be posting some new material soon!

UPDATE!

I have applied a new template to clean things up a bit. Unfortunately, it is generic, and boring. I have lost several key features to my blog for the time being--

1. Several Widgets
2. Analytic Tracking
3. Several customizations and links
4. DO FOLLOW-- That's right. The blog is momentarily a no-follow blog for comments, so take a break you link loving hounds!

Keeping a Photo Diary

2009-02-24T01:19:00.006-05:00

A lot of people try and find ways of documenting their lives, most seem to write in their diaries or journals. I have chosen a different approach which I have found to be very satisfying-- I take a photo of myself every day doing whatever it is that I am doing.

I started doing this on January 1, 2007, and stopped after a while only to have just recently picked this back up. There are some days in my photo diary that have a photo of me doing something really cool, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity sort of stuff, but my absolute favorites are the ones of me doing the everyday sort of things.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind while keeping a photo diary:
1. Keep camera batteries charged.
2. Don't wait until the end of the day. Otherwise you will end up with lots of pictures of you brushing your teeth!
3. Learn not to be embarrassed taking your own picture doing normal things.
4. Include your friends. One day it will be great to see all the people in your life.
5. Give your photos names to help you remember locations, etc.

As a tip, I got a a Joby GorillaPod tripod for my digital camera. These little things are great, as they are very small, and can be wrapped around almost anything to have a picture taken for you on a timer.

What I have found to be really great about this as well is that I always seem to have a camera handy. We have all had moments where we said that we wished we had a camera with us for when something incredible happens. For example, the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile pulls up next to you! :)

Funny Craigslist Ad: Sometimes They Really Make My Day . . .

2009-01-27T21:33:00.010-05:00

Even if I don't need to buy something or find a job, browsing around on Craigslist can really be an entertaining time-killer. I have found really good deals on there when I need it-- I bought a killer surf board for $75, and I also bought a Red Bull style bar table for $40 that I turned around for $400. Craigslist really is a win/win situation in my experiences. Sometimes, however, I come across a post on there that just makes me wonder . . .

WANTED recent college grad or retired school teacher
We are looking for dedicated, passionate individual to assist with homeschooling four middle school students. Homeschool loacation is in a seperate building away from the home. Transportation for outings and field trips provided. This would be an ideal job for a college grad who wants to teach but prefers to start fresh in the Fall. We are looking for someone who would be able to committ until June. Serious canidates please email me. References Required.

Ok, so let's recap this little lump of joy . . .

---You want to hire a recent grad or retired teacher.
---You want them to homeschool your kids . . .
---In a building that is not in your home.

Sorry, Craigslist poster, but there is a system that already does this, and the best news is that your tax money already pays for it. It is called the public school system. I realize they probably have a very good reason for this post, but I couldn't help but share in this delightful little piece.

Kölsch in North Carolina!

2009-01-06T15:44:00.006-05:00

I have posted before about Kölsch in my blog, but I will give a quick synopsis for the new readers. Kölsch is a type of beer brewed exclusively in Cologne, Germany. There are several popular breweries in Cologne (Köln), including Reissdorf, Früh, Gaffel, Dom, Sion, and more. There are other places in the world that market a beer called Kölsch, however to be officially named a Kölsch it must be brewed in Cologne in accordance with the Kölsch Convention of 1986. In addition Kölsch beers outside of Germany may not be in standards with the Provisional German Beer Law, which sets a high standard for quality and purity.

Needless to say, Germans are serious about their beer. In accordance with the German Beer Law, all beers in Germany must show all ingredients on the bottle. When have you seen ingredients listed on your American beers? The purity law, originally established in Bavaria in 1516 only allows for the ingredients of water, barley, hops, and cane sugar in beer production.
Outside of Cologne, one is probably very unlikely to come across a Kölsch. Germans are very proud of their local brews. For example . . . ordering a Kölsch in a pub in Bonn which is only a short 20 minute train ride from Cologne, would result in a very angry bartender, and possible expulsion from the establishment . . . or so I have been told. Luckily, in the United States, we are very welcoming to testing out the world's finest brews. In two seperate places, I have found real-life Kölsch, and I do not mean some sort of American version of it, but the real thing imported from Cologne.

At the Flying Saucer in Raleigh, North Carolina you can find on the menu of over 200 beers, Reissdorf Kölsch. They also have two others listed there, including Flying Dog Tire Bite, which I would ignore if you are looking for a true Kölsch. Reissdorf Kölsch is arguably the favorite beer out of Cologne, and is a definite favorite of my own. In a close second is Gaffel Kölsch which I have also found in the area.

At Tyler's Taproom found in Beaver Creek Commons in Apex, North Carolina. Tyler's is host to over 80 beers, and although the prices are a bit steep, there is a lot to say about the selection and the food. The food is delicious, and I recommend an order of the pretzels as a appetizer. Each menu item even has a beer recommendation for pairing. All of the beers are also served in their own specialty beer glass. So when I order my Gaffel Kölsch at Tyler's, it is served up in an official Gaffel Kölsch glass. All Kölsch is served in a distinct tall cylinder shaped glass, that is not common for the rest of Germany. Typical Kölsch glasses are 0.2 liters, which is not a lot of beer, but at Tyler's customers are served their Kölsch in a more commercial 0.4 Liter glass as pictured.

A special thanks to my brother who had his iPhone handy to snap a picture of my Kölsch and Pretzel at Tyler's. Check these places out if you are looking to try a Kölsch in the Raleigh, North Carolina area. However, be ready to pay for them, ranging from 5-6 bucks for a pint. Also, don't settle for imitators . . . make sure it comes from Cologne if you ever find yourself ordering a Kölsch.
Prost!

Going Away Party, Gridlock Traffic, and Frog Legs

2008-12-26T20:18:00.003-05:00

Well it has been a little bit too busy for a new blog post recently, not to mention not much has been going on of very big importance, so I would hate to bore any readers that I do have! A few interesting things have been happening recently, and one of them is the Holidays. Happy Holidays to all of you around the world, whether you are finished celebrating, or still celebrating, and a Happy New Year as well!

After about seven months of living in Cologne, Germany, I am finally back in the US. Leaving was very bittersweet, as I have made many wonderful friends in my time there, and I would have liked to have more time to be with those people. On the other hand, there was a lot that I had left behind back in the US, so it was good to get back to all of that as well. Before leaving Cologne, I had one last "shabang" in my apartment for a going away party. About 30 folks showed up, and we drank some Kölsch, and had a great time. This is also a photo from the party, and me sporting my awesome 1. FC Köln jersey that was a gift from my co-workers.

After cleaning up from the going away my good friend, Miriam, drove to her family's house in Aschaffenburg. She showed me around her town, and on Sunday, we went to a local castle for a traditional Weihnachtsmarkt in the Medieval tradition. It was a great time, and a great visit. Sadly, on Monday morning, Miriam took me to the airport, and I made the hop over the big pond back to the US.

Now I am visiting some family in good ol' Indiana. It is very cold here, or a lot colder than what I am used to! On the way up here, while trying to cross a bridge over the Ohio River, we got stopped on the highway due to ice over the bridge. We were stopped on the road without moving an inch for over six hours. The highway turned into a solid sheet of ice, and we just waited for the salt trucks to come through. Finally, what should have been a 12 hour drive, turned into a 21 hour drive, but we made it to Indiana. Christmas time has been great here, and it has been good too visit with relatives, but there is no greater Christmas dinner than my Grandmother's famous . . . . . frog legs. It may not be a typical meal for any day of the year, but they sure are good. Fried up, and dipped in hot butter, it is always our request when visiting.

I appreciate all of the comments recently, and the support for the blog. Just because I am back in the US does not mean that I am done posting here, so stay tuned! Happy New Year!

General Rules For an American Living in Germany:

2008-12-05T16:31:00.009-05:00

I have lived in Germany for over six months now, and in that time I have come up with several rules, or guidelines to follow for any other Americans considering a move, or a long visit to Germany.

1. Don't ask someone where the Autobahn is. There is not just one Autobahn. Autobahn just means highway, and yes, Germany has lots of them just like any other developed country. In addition, yes it is true that there are many parts on the Autobahn without speed limits (only about 30%), but not always.

2. Be sure to become a regular at the many bakeries in Germany. There is always something for everyone at a German bakery. After you leave, you will probably miss the bread more than the beer.

3. Have a clue about what is going on in the world, especially US politics. Germans don't care if you don't know who Angela Merckel is, but don't be surprised if 75% of the Germans you meet know more about US politics than you do, so be ready to be quizzed on it, and have an opinion.

4. Know that Germany is not just Munich. Munich is a city in the state of Bayern. Germany has many other states. Lederhosen, Oktoberfest, and huge mugs of beer (known as a "Mass") are associated with Bayern, which is the most conservative state in Germany. People from other states may find it offensive if you ask why people aren't wearing Lederhosen.

5. Oktoberfest usually takes place in September. Get over it, and plan accordingly. Also, don't bother asking why it's not in October, because most Germans don't seem to care enough to question it, or much less answer it . . . they probably haven't even thought about it.

6. If anyone mentions ANYTHING about Obama, the proper response is "Yes we can!" Germans love Obama whether you do or not. Saying "Yes we can!" will probably make their day, and you might even see a German smile.

7. Don't be an American stereotype. Know your geography, reassure Germans that the US is NOT a hollywood movie, remind them that America doesn't like Bush either, expect a smirk when you walk into McDonald's, Pizza Hut, or Burger King, and don't forget to turn lights off and other electronics you aren't using.

That's all that I have! I hope you have enjoyed reading. As always, comments are welcome, and appreciated!

The German Weihnachtsmarkt

2008-12-01T17:52:00.005-05:00

So I still have a couple of weeks here while I am in Germany. Luckily, before I go back the USA, I am getting to experience something very special, and something very unique to Germany-- and that is the Weihnachtsmarkt.

The Weihnachtsmarkt, or Christmas Market, is an outdoor event that happens in various places all over Germany. Here in Cologne we have about four or five different markets throughout the city. They are made up of little houses that sit next to each other containing different vendors of food and crafts, and the whole place is decorated with lights. There is music, lots of happy people, and of course Glühwein.

Glühwein, or in english "glowing wine", is a sweet red dessert wine served hot. Often times it is cooked with fruits such as oranges, and other spices to give it a very unique flavor. Two euros at the Weihnachtsmarkt will buy you a steaming cup of fresh Glühwein served in a special mug. Every market in the city has a different mug that is in general very fancy, and if you are a visitor, like me, it also makes a great souvenir. Every time that you order a "glowing wine" you pay for the drink and you pay extra for the cup. After you have finished, you return the cup to get your money back for it. In German they call this the "pfand", and this is the same rule that applies in biergartens, and also from bottled drinks from the grocery store. When you return the bottle, glass, or mug, your pfand is then returned to you.

The Weihnachtsmarkt is a great place to go in the evening just with friends or co-workers. It gets dark at about 4:30pm here, so it is still a nice atmosphere in the early evening. I am glad that there is something more to experience even in my last couple of weeks before I return home.

Convert Your Pictures to Text at Text-Image.com

2008-11-27T17:10:00.003-05:00

I have another random post, but I feel that this website I have found deserves some credibiiity. Today I have come across the website called Text-Image.com. It is a very simple concept, but very fun to use. Basically all you have to do is upload your picture to their website, and choose which text format you want to use; HTML, ASCII, or Matrix. HTML can produce color images by changing the color of the text, ASCII can create very simple text images, and Matrix creates very fun pictures that look very much like the Matrix film. After converting your image, you have what looks like your image, except it is all text. You can copy and paste it and put it in an email, a word document, whatever you want. I used it today to write a Happy Thanksgiving email by converting an image of a turkey into text.
This also saves the hassle of large picture files in an email if it is something simple like just a cartoon turkey! Text-Image.com even allows you to choose what characters you want to use- for example I could use my favorite song lyrics to make up a picture, or if it is a picture of a Turkey I can use the letters found in the word "turkey". As an example, I have a picture of me swimming. I used blue text and converted into ASCII format. Have fun with it, and go check it out at text-image.com!

Whale Wars: Sea Shepherd Fights For Our Oceans

2008-11-13T18:12:00.008-05:00

Writing about a television show or something else in the entertainment realm, is not something that I have ever done before. However, when I watched this show yesterday, I was really excited by the pilot episode and I am really excited to watch more of it as it airs on television. The show airs in the United States on Animal Planet, and until this coming Tuesday, it is currently a free download in the iTunes US Store. The show is called Whale Riders and is a documentary type show that follows the organization the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society on their boat, the Steve Irwin, in the Antarctic Ocean fighting to stop Japanese commercial whaling.

Under international law a certain amount of Whales are allowed to be killed every year to be used in research purposes, but it is the belief that Japanese whaling ships are in the Antarctic hunting whales for commercial gain and hiding behind the veil of research. In Japan, whale meat is legally allowed to be sold in markets, and in restaurants, and does appear there. The fleet of Japanese ships in the Antarctic including a hunting ship, a processing ship, and more, are killing more than a thousand whales each year, an already endangered species.

The ship's captain, Cpt. Paul Watson, was an original founder of the organization Greenpeace. He was voted out of the organization because of his aggressive tactics towards saving the environment. He then founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, where he could make his own rules to try and save sea wildlife in danger from hunters, poachers, and extinction.

You don't beg criminals to stop doing what they are doing. You intervene, and you physically, and aggressively shut them down.
-Captain Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Cpt. Watson and his crew consider themselves modern day pirates aboard their black ship called the Steve Irwin. The team's mission is to sabotage, postpone, and stop commercial whaling every year in the Antarctic. They do so by throwing "stink bombs" on board the Japanese ships that make it unlivable, and the whale meat unusable, and even attempt to board the other ships. Each crew member pledges to be willing to give up their own life to save a whale"s life.

The show provides some breathtaking scenery, and an insight to a small war that is going on that could have big consequences. They are volunteers fighting a battle that goes unnoticed, and they work to show people what is going on. I highly recommend taking a look at the pilot episode, as it is very exciting and even controversial. Get it free on iTunes, or watch it on Animal Planet. You can also visit the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society website for more information on the show, and on the organization.

"Kölle Alaaf!" Karneval Has Begun!!!

2008-11-12T14:17:00.010-05:00

"What is Karneval?"
Cologne is a very peculiar city, with a rich history, and a rich sense of tradition. One tradition that the city harnesses is what is known here as the "fifth season" or Karneval season. I was lucky enough to be here, yesterday, on the 11th of November which marks the beginning of Karneval at 11:11am every year. The season takes a break during Lent and Christmas, and continues until Ash Wednesday in a large week-long celebration. November 11th is the first taste of what Karneval is all about, and sadly for me, at least for this year, is the only taste of Karneval I will get since I will be leaving in December.
I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from the celebration, but I knew that it was a big deal. Even as I rode my bike to work I saw people on the streets drinking beer, blowing whistles, and wearing costumes ranging from cowboys, to tigers, and traditional Kölsch garb. When I arrived at work, anticipation was high for those of us that decided to take a half day in order to celebrate the festival.

"Mom, I swear, it's just culture!"
Since the official festival began at 11:11am, I was still in the office, and worked up until 12:00 where I then proceeded into the break room. There, several of my colleagues and bosses were wearing their costumes, drinking Kölsch (Cologne's Beer), and eating a large breakfast.
Directions got a little bit mixed up on our way out, and I lost our group for a little bit before calling someone to meet up shortly after, however while I was lost, I was caught in huge amounts of people gathered in the old part of the city (city center), singing, drinking, and dancing all in costume. A girl dressed up as a nurse came up to me and was trying to check my heartbeat, and tried to give me her phone number when a camera crew for a big TV station here came up to me asking why we were exchanging numbers and such, which only added to the chaos that was around me. I am sure that my German was hardly understandable as I was dealing with the shock of a tv crew in my face while getting my heartbeat checked by a nurse (no, she wasn't a real nurse!).
Anyways, I finally met up with my group in the south part of the city, and we were in a traditional Cologne bar that was packed full of celebrators. We were there for hours dancing to the typical Köln Karneval music, drinking Kölsch, and having a good time. At 6:00pm we left and grabbed some Turkisch food, and I headed back to my apartment and fell asleep not to wake up again for hours. I swear, Mother, it is all part of the culture! It wasn't just young people celebrating Karneval, it was all ages, young to old, men and women, celebrating a tradition hundreds of years old.

Karneval was a great experience, and I had a great time out with all of my colleagues. Even though I won't be here in Cologne for the end of the celebration in February, hopefully it will not be my last time here to celebrate Karneval.

Obamamania in Deutschland!

2008-11-05T14:52:00.011-05:00

Credit: United States Senate
Copyright: Public Domain
Ok, so we aren't slaughtering our best bulls for Obama like they are in Kenya, but there was a feeling of relief here in Germany today. Anyone who has been paying attention to the election knows that Obama was very much favored by the world population, and that is very much true here in germany. Polls conducted in Germany stated that over 80 percent of Germans would have voted for Senator Barack Obama if they were able to. Everyone I speak to is a supporter of Obama here, except for one friend who said (before the election) "I hope that McCain wins, because Heidi Klum said she would go back to Germany if he does!"

I stayed up a lot of the night watching the election, and even here there has been a lot of talk building up about it the past few weeks. It was obvious to me that this election meant a lot more to a lot more people than the election did four years ago. Germans, who feel very betrayed by Bush's actions, especially in Iraq, are ready for change, just as the world seems to see this change in Obama.

I went into work this morning wearing my red white and blue, and throughout the day many people congratulated me as if I had won personally myself. My coworkers helped me by being witnesses on my absentee ballot, so they knew that I was closely following the election. I think that many people here want to have a positive picture of America again, and Obama, and the odds that were against him, are a beacon of hope to the world.

Get My Photo in Cosmo!!!

2008-11-04T19:36:00.012-05:00

OK, so I posted a few days ago about it, but I took some photos for my roommate and her friends for a contest about the TV show Sex and the City for a TV station here in Germany. One of the photos that I took landed a top 15 spot in the contest. I am not a sex and the city watcher, nor do I read cosmo, but I am still pretty excited!

Please vote for our photo!!!!

The winning photograph gets 4000 euros for shopping and an article published in Cosmopolitan Magazine in Germany. The girls get the shopping, and I get a sweatshirt and my photo published.

The site is in German but directions are easy!!!!!!

1. Follow the link (opens in a new window):
CLICK HERE TO GO TO VOTING PAGE

2. Click on the button for picture #4. The text says "Bild Nr. 4" If you click on "Lupe" the image will zoom in.

3. Once the button has been selected, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "absenden".

That's it!!!! Voting will go through the month of November!

Thank you, and it would be great if you have a friend who can do the same!!!!

Germany: Land of Open Windows and Closed Doors

2008-11-04T15:43:00.003-05:00

Every once in a while, it is good to post about some cultural differences. As an American living in Germany, there are lots of things that I notice that are different. Some things I didn't notice at first, and other things were more apparent when I first arrived, however one thing that I have learned during my time here is the way that Germans use windows and doors.

It doesn't seem like it would be that big of a deal really. I mean, what could be so different? People go in and out through doors, and windows let the light in. Well, the differences between Europeans and Americans when it comes to windows and doors is HUGE.

First, windows. In the US, we have windows, and lots of them. There is no difference there. We also have screens on virtually every window. If there is no screen, it probably doesn't get open. We have got to keep the bugs out, and the screen is the only way to do that. We also don't really open windows much. We open them if we need to let the carpet dry out, or to get the fish smell out of the kitchen. If we want to be outside, we will just go outside. Now, in Germany, and from what I have seen also in other places in Europe, it is quite the opposite. Fresh air is highly valued, and the fresh air is not indoors. As the weather is getting colder outside, I thought I would start to see windows closing. i was wrong. As I sit at my desk at work, someone will get up, open the large window in the middle of the room, and sit back down as the what-was-once-toasty temperature drops about 20 degrees. After about five minutes, when everyone is cold, the window will get shut again. As soon as things start to feel nice again, and I am all warmed up . . . "Hey, can you open the window?" "What? Why? Why would you want to open the window?" Well, it is just culture. There is a value of fresh air. And if anyone from work is reading this, don't worry, I have found it to be a good thing, just very different.

Now, for doors. It is just simply amazing how many doors there are in Germany. Every room has a door. That may sound a bit silly, but it seems like in the US, we like large open spaces, so we have a kitchen, a dining room, and living room all in one large open space. Here, it would all be seperate rooms, each with a closing door. There may even be a door in the hallway that just goes into the other half of the hallway. When you enter the room, you close the door. It is as simple as that. I could try to explain this difference to a European, but it is just too normal for them. There is nothing wrong with it, it is what it is, just a difference.

I know that that seems like small things, but it is these small things that really make you feel like you are in a different country. I find it weird sometimes how we can be so much alike in two different worlds, but it is the small cultural differences that can make the world of a difference to a foreigner.

Contest Entry Photoshoot

2008-11-01T19:58:00.003-04:00

A few days ago, my roommate, Agathe, had asked me if I could help her and her friends with a contest that they were entering. The contest requirements were to make a photo that depicts themselves in the television series Sex and the City. I was very willing to help since almost all of my photography here has revolved around my travels, and taking pictures in very touristy situations. My roommate and her friends got dressed up and did all of their own makeup and hair, and we went out to the train station to get some photos. I do not have hardly any experience in photographing people, so it was good for me to apply direction. I told them where to walk, how to hold themselves, etc. Even though we ran out of time due to the sunlight fading down, I was really pleased with the way that some of the photos turned out. It is not abnormal, but I took almost 100 photos in 10 minutes, and have come out with about five photos that I am pleased with.
As we were out at the train station, there were many people that were stopped to watch us. My roommate told me that because I was speaking English to them and taking pictures, people probably thought that there was something important going on. Even though I am not a watcher of the show, I still had fun taking the pictures, and was glad to help out, and get some practice in. I am wishing them luck in the contest!

A Great Visit from Slovenia!

2008-10-31T21:51:00.004-04:00

One of the best parts of being over here in Europe is knowing that I always have someone that I can count on somewhere close by me. I have had the pleasure, of course, of making new friends here, but in addition I have friends here from before I arrived this summer. I have my friend Michael in Baden-Wuerttemberg that I have visited a couple of times (and still will more), I have Anna a few hours away in Poland, my German roommates from the US are now back here, and many other wonderful people, like my friend Brigita who lives in Ljubliana, Slovenia.
A couple of weekends ago (sorry for the late post), Brigita drove about eleven hours to get from Ljubliana to Cologne, to come visit for a weekend. It was not her first time in Germany, as we had studied together in Bremen in 2006, but it was her first time in Cologne. I was thrilled to see her again, and had the opportunity to show her around the city.
We saw pretty much all of the major sites in the city, including the world famous Dom Cathedral, the bank of the Rhine River, the Altstadt (old city), and some good shopping. We ate Turkish food, ice cream, and sampled a couple of German beers. Most importantly though, we spent a lot of time just hanging out all weekend and catching up.
It is a wonderful feeling to know that even when so far away from home, there are still plenty of people that care about you, just like great friends like Brigita. Just thought I could give a small post to share in my excitement, even though it was a couple of weeks ago!

"Sorry, Officer. I Don't Speak German!"

2008-10-28T16:08:00.006-04:00

Every day I ride my bike to and from work. I am usually in a rush, and in general pretty careless of things such as pedestrians, stop signs, other vehicles, etc. Well, today it finally caught up to me, and I was stopped by the German police, or "Polizei". I was crossing the street at a green cross walk on my bicycle, and on the other side of the street there is a bicycle path next to the road. I usually go over it and onto the sidewalk to pass the other bikers who are always incredibly slow. Well, I saw some police there, but didn't think anything of it, and I was planning to just ride right around them. A policewoman stepped right in front of me and held her hand up to stop, and I stopped my bike right in front of her. She started to tell me (in German) that I am not supposed to be on the sidewalk, and that there is a reason for the bike path. I replied with a very convincing "Uhhh, I am sorry, mein Deutsch ist nicht so gut." She asked what I speak, and I replied "English". Then, very politely, she explained that it is illegal for me to ride my bike on the sidewalk, and that I should proceed to the bike path. I knew it was illegal, but I had no idea that they actually enforce a rule like that, especially since the bike path was out of my way for the direction that I was going. Anyways, I spoke to my colleagues at work, and apparantly those police were there for the sole purpose of enforcing bike laws. They were also supposed to give me a 20 euro fine, which I managed to get out of. Sometimes it pays (or saves in this case) to be a foreigner!

A Trip With Two of My Roommates to Bonn

2008-10-27T16:14:00.003-04:00

Well, there is a lot of catching up to do in this post! I have been working so hard on getting the new blog up and running that I have neglected to actually write anything new in it! If this is your first time on the new blog, and you are familiar with my Cologne blog, I think you will find this one to be much cleaner, and functional. I am much happier with the design, and I am not going to have it specific to Cologne, so I can keep this one when I finally arrive back home in the US . . . hopefully with Obama as the new President. Otherwise I might be trying to find a ticket back!
First things first, a couple of weekends ago, two of my roommates and I took a trip to Bonn. Bonn is only about 20 minutes south of Cologne by train, and is a wonderful place to visit. It is a big city, but it feels more like a small town then Cologne does. We got there at about noon, and did a little bit of walking around. Our first stop was at the Museum of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany, located in an area of Bonn that has a road that consists of a mile long stretch of varying museums. It was an enormous museum that detailed the history from the end of World War II, until modern times. It was a good educational experience for me, especially since most of the history lessons we have in the United States on Germany involves war-time history.
Next, we found our way to a farmer's market, where we bought some fresh veggies, and the girls then found a couple of shops to browse through. We grabbed a quick bite to eat of some bratwurst (typical, I know), and then saw some other sites including the Beethoven house. Beethoven was actually born in Bonn, and his house still exists that he was born in. It is now a museum, and located in the city center. We didn't go in, but you can see the picture of the house.
Before dinner time we headed back on the train home. It was a good deal that day, as we only had to pay about seven euros each for the train tickets. My bratwurst cost two euro as well, and the museum was absolutely free. So nine euros to see a new German city wasn't too bad of a deal!

New Blog, New Blogger Template, and a Li'l Dust

2008-10-24T19:51:00.002-04:00

I have finally moved to my new blog! I am currently living in Cologne, and have a blog for my time here, but since I will be moving back the the US very soon, then I will need a blog that is more broad than just my time in Cologne. So I have been getting this blog ready to launch for when I return back to the US.
One advantage to having this new blog is I have done a little bit of extra work to create a better template, and also to remove the 'nofollow' tag on the comments. For info on the dofollow movement read my last post. It will explain what 'nofollow' is. I have removed the tag in hopes of getting more visitors to the site, and also more comments here.

Since the new blog is still pretty new, please expect to see a little bit of dust on here. I am still working on features, and coding, however I think it is coming along nice, and a lot more how I would like it to look.

People that are familiar with my Cologne Blog might notice that I also imported all of my posts from that blog into here including any comments. I did this because I will soon be abandoning that blog, and the posts are still relevant to this one.

Let me know what you think! Comments are always appreciated, and for those looking for a link, enjoy some link love with your quality message!

Widget for Blogger Brings in More Visitors and Comments

2008-10-24T19:26:00.003-04:00

Working in the field of internet marketing has brought me all sorts of insights into the business than I had ever known before. There are so many tips and tricks that can be used, and so many variables that effect the number and quality of the visitors on your site. Content is absolutely crucial to bringing in visitors to a blog. If you don't have the proper content, get out, because you do not have anything to offer your visitors! Content drives the search engines, and it is also what keeps visitors to coming back to your site.

Now there is not widget installed here that brings visitors to this blog, however, as has been experimented on several other sites, having the keywords in the title of this post will be the right keywords in to bring in more visitors. Perhaps you are one of them? Again, content is key to any high ranking, high traffic site.

A recommendation that I have for blogs as well is to join in on the dofollow movement. Dofollow refers to removing the 'nofollow' tag in the code of the comments section of a blog. The 'nofollow' tag makes it impossible for search engines to pull out link information that a commenter has left on a blog, and therefore taking away the reward of the commenter. On this blog, you will see that the 'nofollow' tag has been removed, and yon the top of the page you can see the badge that reads "U comment I follow" letting readers know that the tag has been removed. This should help reward visitors with a link for visiting and commenting on the site.

A Short Trip Back to Baden-Württemberg

2008-10-06T16:52:00.000-04:00

A few months ago, while on the phone with a friend of mine's mother, she and the family had invited me down for a visit to celebrate Michael's father's 50th birthday. A large party was planned, and of course I said I would definitely be there. As time got closer, and the birthday nearing, I started to look for a way to get back down to Berlichingen again. The last time that I went, I found a ride on a ride sharing website called mitfahrgelegenheit. The guy driving me, Dennis, was very friendly, and the cost of gas was quite cheap, however, this time I had no luck finding a ride that way. My next option was to look at trains. Most train tickets were pretty expensive going that way, but the Deutsche Bahn does offer a “Schönes Wochenende” ticket, or “Have a Nice Weekend” ticket. Honestly, they should be more careful with what they call this ticket, because even though it is relatively cheap, it is only good for one day, and only good on the slowest possible trains that stop at every known train station along the way to your destination, and even some stops not so along the way. Anyways, I bought two schönes wochenende tickets, one for Saturday, and one for the return journey on Sunday. Michael had arranged for me to meet up with his cousin, and her boyfriend in Frankfurt, and after I took a train there, got on a city tram, I met up with them, and they drove me the rest of the way to Berlichingen.

As soon as we arrived in Berlichingen, we went directly to find the party. After some directions from some villages folks, and after a humorous parking spot search we finally walked down the steps into the cellar of what is the village community hall. The cellar was actually what appeared to be a converted wine cellar, well over a hundred years old. I spent time with Michael, his family, and all of their friends (about 50 people were there). They had a great dinner of schnitzel, spätzle (soft, thick noodles popular in Baden Wuerttemberg), and a plethora of cakes made for dessert. I ate a piece of Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (black forest cherry torte) cake made by Michael’s grandmother, and was rather delicious.

The night went on until about five the next morning. It was a night full of old German singing, eating, drinking, and happy people- an experience that I am sure is not typical for a foreigner.

The following day, Sunday, I woke up a little bit late since we were awake for so long. We ate breakfast, and before I knew it, after spending some time with the Haak family, it was already time for me to leave back to Cologne. This time I would take a train from the nearby town of Möckmühl all the way back to Cologne. The car ride from Michael’s place to Cologne is generally only about three to four hours long depending on traffic, however, it took me about seven hours to get there by train, and I had to switch to different trains four times! Oh well, the important thing is that I was able to be there for the party, and have some relaxation time outside of the big city with Michael and his family.

Fußball Brötchen mit Nutella!

2008-09-28T09:28:00.000-04:00

Sometimes it really is the small things that excite me about being in a different country. I went to the grocery store yesterday, a store called Real that is really great, because it is huge, and they have everything that you could imagine. I was there with my roommate Melli, and we were getting our usual shopping done, when I went to the bakery section, because baked goods in Germany are absolutely the best, and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw bread called Fußball Brötchen! Now, I know that most people are aware that outside of the US, the rest of the world is soccer crazy, but this was bread that was shaped like a soccer ball, which pretty much amazed me, and of course I bought a pack of 3 freshly baked "soccer breads".

My favorite bread here in Germany is of course Pretzels . . . the big soft kind. The fußball brötchen was great because it is the same kind of bread that a pretzel is made out of but just a big fluffy piece of it. What makes it even better is a bit of Nutella. If you don't know what Nutella is, it is a nutty chocolate spread. It is pretty expensive in the US, but here in Germany it is the staple for any snack. Nutella on waffles, on apples, and of course on my fußball brötchen. As you can tell, I am having an exciting week, and I just wanted to share my good find!

Warszawa, Part 3: Day Two and the Departure

2008-09-24T18:10:00.000-04:00

Saturday was a much more relaxing day in Poland. After the late night out in downtown Warsaw, I slept comfortably on my huge air mattress so wonderfully provided by Anna and her sister. I had slept in until almost 11:00, and was greatly needed. Between an uncomfortable night on the train, walking around Warsaw the day before, and dancing in the cellar of who knows where, I needed the extra hours of sleep. Anna again played the role of the good host, and made a delicious breakfast of breads, cheeses, meats, and jellies. We then got ready to go out to do some more sightseeing.

Our main event for the day was a visit to the Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego, or the Warsaw Uprising Museum. The museum is a tribute to the uprising that took place in 1944 of the civilians and military in Warsaw defending their town against the Nazi invasion. At the heart of the museum was a large wall that emanated a loud heartbeat and sounds of the uprising as a tribute to those involved. The museum also contained several moving exhibits that gave lots of information on all aspects of the Uprising. It was a really good experience, as in the US, Polish history is not generally taught in normal studies. It was a good opportunity for me to learn more about the place that I was visiting.

After the museum, Anna and I went off to a restaurant, one of her favorites, called the Greenway. It was actually a vegetarian restaurant, and even though she is not a vegetarian, she is quite the health nut. The food was a lot to eat, not too expensive, and my vegetarian enchilada was actually quite tasty. I didn’t know what to order, but that is what the cook said that most people from “England” order. Anna did me the favor of correcting him, but I ordered the enchilada anyways!

Our next stop for our sightseeing was the Łazienki Park, which is said to be Warsaw’s most beautiful, and I am definitely not one to argue. Although Łazienki actually means “bathroom” making it the “Bathroom Park”, it was one of the most odd, yet pleasing parks I have ever been in. It was established in the 17th century and lies in the middle of the city. The park is absolutely huge with winding trails, old trees, and several old fashioned, beautiful buildings nestled into green corners. We walked through the park, and actually got a little bit lost because it is so ginormous (not a real word, I know), and then went home because it was raining, and a bit chilly.

Speaking of the weather- I suppose it is a stereotype of Poland to imagine it as a constantly cold place. Summers are apparently quite nice there, but I brought the cold weather with me, or actually Hanna did. That’s right, what was left from Hurricane Hanna in the US, had floated it’s way across the ocean, and brought with it cold weather and rain. The weather in Germany and Poland was surprisingly abnormal, and not so pleasant. Although the weather was not perfect during my trip, it didn’t keep us from having fun.

After taking a rest back again at Anna’s apartment, we went out with some of her friends again to a restaurant called Tam Tam in the Old Town for a drink and talking. After that, we went early back home once more, to wake up for my departure home.
Although the night train seemed quick because I could sleep the whole way, the train back was twelve hours of absolutely nothing special. It was just a long trip home, and took up the entire day.

It was definitely a great trip to Poland, and I am really glad that I got to see Anna again, which was the most important part of my trip. Even though I hadn’t seen her in over two years, it was just like our friendship had never parted. I am really looking forward to the next time that I can visit again.

Thanks for reading! That is the end of my Warsaw posts, and I hope that it wasn’t too long. As always, comments are appreciated, and welcome! More posts coming soon!

Warszawa, Part 2: Day One

2008-09-19T13:05:00.000-04:00

Like all train stations in Europe, the Warsaw train station is no exception. After walking out of the train station you find yourself thrust into the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city. Even here in Cologne, the main train station is situated directly next to the famous Dom Cathedral, and is in the middle of everything. It is also more than just a train station as there is shopping and restaurants inside where non-travelers might have an interest as well. So, this is also how the Warsaw train station was.

My first impression of Warsaw was amazement at how big the city was. After chugging along hours of endless fields and crops through Poland, one may not expect to find such a big development out so far from everything else. The next thing that hit me was the language. Very seldom is it that I have found myself in a situation where I do not know a single word of the local language, and hearing Polish all around me was very strange. Polish sounds very much like Russian, and does not stem from Latin, so every word sounds extremely unfamiliar to me.

Before I talk about what I did, I would like to give a little bit of history of Warsaw and Poland. The city’s history dates back all the way to the 9th century, but what is most important when visiting Warsaw today is in some of it’s most recent history. Poland became an independent country in 1918, and later in 1920 defeated the Russian Red Army defending Warsaw. During World War II, Poland suffered the most casualties of any country involved at over six million Poles, half of whom were Jewish. After World War II, Poland fell off of the map and was then controlled by the Soviets. Poland remained Communist, and still not independent from Russia until 1990, when Communism fell and Poland elected it’s first parliamentary president. Much of what I saw in Warsaw greatly reflected it’s rich and dark history.

I am extremely lucky that I was there visiting with Anna, because for one thing, she is the best tour guide one could ask for. Before my arrival she had prepared herself with several books, and pamphlets all about Warsaw, and the different sites to see. After visiting her very nice apartment, she took me out into the city by way of the underground metro to take some pictures, and see some of the important sites of the city. We walked throughout the old town that had been carefully reconstructed since WWII. We saw the President’s Palace, saw ate a real Polish lunch, and she showed me some of her favorite places to visit. We ended our sightseeing with a climb up to the top of the Palace of Culture and Science, which is a huge skyscraper, constructed as a government building from the Russians, and now has been turned into a museum. At the top, one can look out and get a beautiful view of the city.

After all of our sightseeing, we made it back to Anna’s apartment, and at dinner with her sister, and a friend of theirs. After that was one hectic night on the town. First we went to a friend of Anna’s apartment, and had a few drinks. I think I should have known that the Polish drink of choice is plain old vodka. After that, we went back out into the city where we found ourselves in a club for a short time before heading back, getting some rest, and getting ready for another day of full activities. All of that will be in part three of my trip to Warsaw.

Warszawa, Part 1: The Night Train

2008-09-15T18:30:00.000-04:00

Because I have a lot to say about my trip to Poland, I have decided to split it up into three different parts. This is just the first part describing my peculiar Journey this past weekend:

During my stay here in Germany, I have been given a wonderful opportunity to visit a good friend of mine, Anna, in her home country of Poland. There is a lot that I want to write about it, so because of that, I will write it in three parts, and this first part is about my exciting adventure to Warsaw from Cologne, by means of the night train.

Because it takes so long to get to Poland, especially Warsaw, which lies on the far East side of the country, I decided that I would take the night train there so that I would be able to get the most time out of my trip. I had asked my boss off of work for Friday, September 12, and I booked my train to depart on that same Thursday night.

I arrived at the train station rather early, and my train left the Cologne Hauptbahnhoff at a punctual 10:28pm. I found my way to my cabin, where four beds were made ready complete with pillows and blankets. There was a khaki jacket that had been left sitting on one of the beds, but other than that, nobody else came and I moved the jacket to the upper storage area and made myself comfortable.

After about twenty minutes from leaving the station, a Deutsche Bahn employee arrived to collect tickets. What was really strange, and had me a bit scared was that he took both my ticket for Poland, and my Eurail pass that would permit me to travel within Germany. He claimed that he would keep them, and give them back to me at a later time. After telling me that I should lock my cabin door to prevent from being robbed in the night, he wished me goodnight.

I had no problem falling asleep-- it had been a long week, and I was exhausted. I slept virtually the whole night, waking up about every hour, or hour and a half, only because of normal train noises, and trying to make myself comfortable. I woke up at about 8:00am, and started to put myself together in my empty cabin. I then proceeded to the doorway, and pulled the curtains open to find a very strange man staring back at me through the window. He had very short brown hair, and was not so tall himself. He was skinny, with a pointy nose, and looked about 30 years old. I opened up the door for him, and he just walked right into my cabin, grabbed the jacket that I had stored above in the storage space, and sat down on one of the beds mumbling in what I assume was Polish. Assuming that the jacket was his, I can only guess that I had locked him out of the cabin the entire night, but luckily so.

He sat on the bed with his head in his hands continuously shaking. After a while of sitting, he tried several times to jump to the top bunk before finding the ladder. When he finally made it up to the top bunk, which I was sure he would fall out of, he didn’t lay down in the bed, but instead laid down in the storage area that hangs over the aisle outside of the cabin. After he laid there for a while, he then moved over to one of the beds where he reached for a big red knob on the wall, and proceeded to pull the emergency brake. The train came to a complete stop in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of Poland. I immediately left the cabin and pointed out who had pulled the brake to the train employees running down the aisle. The man was arrested outside, and was not allowed back on the train. Luckily, I had my cabin back to myself, but unluckily, I arrived in Warsaw about an hour later because of this man.

I later found out that the train had actually started in Amsterdam, and this man had been causing trouble all night since the train was in Amsterdam. I am glad that there are locks on the doors, otherwise I would have had one long night on the night train. With all of that said, I arrived in Warsaw in one piece, and I was greeted by my good friend Anna on the train platform. We haven’t seen each other since we met two years ago in Bremen, so it was a fantastic reunion in Eastern Europe, with a peculiar start to my journey.

I will have more about my trip posted shortly in two other installments, and hopefully with some more pictures. Comments are always welcome!

Neue WG und der Kölner Zoo

2008-09-07T18:23:00.000-04:00

So I suppose I have a habit of not updating sometimes, but really I have been waiting for something really exciting to happen, and the past couple of weeks have been pretty mundane for the most part, or at least not worth writing about on here. So now, I wanted to put up a post on my new apartment, and about my trip to the zoo today!

About three weeks ago, I moved into my new apartment. I had to move because both of my other roommates were leaving, and it was easier for us to find three people to take the apartment than it was for us to find two people and have me stay. My reason for leaving wasn't because it wasn't working out, because everything in the old apartment was great. In the long run I am glad that I moved, because I am in a really great place! My rent is cheaper, the building is nicer, and I have great roommates again. The apartment is student housing right by the university, and it is very roomy inside. I have posted a link at the bottom of this post with the pictures I just took of my bedroom and some of the rest of the apartment. There are five of us living here, and we all get along very well. Most days after work, we are all cooking food together, and chatting for a few hours. It is very much like a family atmosphere, and enjoy spending time together.

Another thing about my apartment that I am thrilled about is having my flags on the walls of my bedroom! Whenever I go to a new country or city, I always like to buy a flag from there. Anyone that has ever walked into my bedroom in the past few years will know what I am talking about, because my bedroom walls used to be covered in giant flags from the world. Now, I have about eight flags from my time here so far this trip, and have put them up on the walls. They are great reminders of my travels, and they also remind a bit of home, because it feels like my old bedroom. Check out the pics to see them on the walls!

Today was a fun Sunday, as two of my roommates, a friend from Scotland, and I all took a trip to the Cologne Zoo. It was great fun, and was pretty much like any zoo, even though maybe not as great as the NC Zoo (for all of y'all back home!). I got to take lots of pictures, since I haven't really gotten a chance to use my camera in a while, and got some good shots of some of the animals who were actually quite active. Another benefit of going to the zoo, was that it really helped my vocabulary with learning how to say some of the animals' names in German. We had a lot of fun, and came back to the apartment to cook dinner this evening.

That's about all that I have for this post. I am looking forward to writing my next one, because this coming weekend I will be visiting my friend Anna who lives in Warsaw, Poland. She says she is going to show me around Warsaw, and Krakow, and possibly her hometown. It's a lot to fit in in a weekend, but I am taking the night train on Thursday evening, and will arrive Friday morning. I guess I will have more on that later!

I like reading comments! Let me know that you're reading!

New Apartment Pics

Ein Herde von Schafen in der Stadt . . .

2008-08-16T11:13:00.000-04:00

So I really ought to keep my camera with me when I am out and about in Cologne. Today I had a small errand to run on the complete opposite part of town, and my route to get there involved riding my bike along the Rhine River. There is a path that runs along the whole river, and there are lots of bikers, runners, rollerbladers, and weekend strollers scattered along the whole way. The really strange part was that I was riding along and there is a bit of grass in between the path and the grass, and in this grass I heard a simple "baaaa" coming from behind some bushes. I investigated further down another little path towards the water, and there was a whole entire heard of sheep grazing in the grass and in the bushes! This is in the city mind you, with the Dom Cathedral only a few hundred meters away. I asked some folks who were also checking out the curious critters, and they told me that it is completely normal. The sheep graze along the river from a neighboring town, and they are seen quite often apparently.
Sorry I don't have any photos. It would have been cool to show the sheep with the city in the background. If I see them again, I hope I will have my camera. That's all for this post, I just wanted to share!

EDIT: Thank you to Stephan for finding a great link to the photo that I didn't get! Click Here!

Amsterdam and Brussels . . .

2008-08-15T18:07:00.000-04:00

Well I've been meaning to post about my weekend trip to Amsterdam and Brussels all week now. It has been a crazy few days with trying to work some extra hours, and also moving to a new apartment here in Koeln. Now, I am all settled in, and it's the weekend, so I have a moment to finally crack down on this.
To start things off, this was the second weekend that Kelly and Matt were here, and we planned out a trip for the weekend to see some new sites. We originally wanted to include Paris in our plans, but France, being the way that French people are, require reservations on their trains, which were all full. For the other countries, even if the train is full, you can still spread out on the floor somewhere and get to your destination. Anyways, so we had decided to take an afternoon on Friday and go to Amsterdam, and then spend the rest of the weekend in Brussels.
Since we were only in Amsterdam for a few hours, we didn't see a lot of it, and I am sure that there were many things that we had missed. We went there without any kind of plan, and after leaving the train station we found ourselves in the red light district by complete accident. It was different (that's all I will say on the red light district, because everyone already knows what is there). After finding our way out of there, we found ourselves pleasantly strolling along canals and over bridges since Amsterdam is made up of about 900 islands, much like Venice. The one thing that we did in Amsterdam that was really worthwhile was we visited the Anne Frank House. It was really fascinating to walk through the hidden rooms of the house, and be in the same place that Anne Frank wrote her famous diary. It was definitely moving, and before long we were also moving along our way to Brussels, Belgium, not really knowing what to expect!
Brussels is a very odd city to say the least. It is the seat of the European Union and so therefore, a very international city. Belgium has two official languages; French, and Dutch, and in Brussels, French was most prominent. People were very friendly and helpful, and the city was a blast to explore. Our first stop was in the Delirium Cafe after we arrived in our hostel. The Delirium Cafe is a world famous bar due to the fact that it houses the most beers in the world in one place. With a menu the size of an encyclopedia, the Delirium Cafe boasts almost 3000 different brews from around the world. We tried a few, and had a great time mingling with locals and other foreigners alike. The rest of the time we spent wandering around the city. Brussels is a beautiful city, but none of it's architecture seems to fit each other. A beautiful building would have an ugly building just added directly onto it, and that sort of thing. However, as in order not to disappoint anyone, I did buy some German chocolate, and I did eat a Belgian Waffle for breakfast. Both were delicious!
I had a great weekend, and after a long week, I have finally moved into my new apartment. I am living in student housing here by the University. It is a large suite for 5 people, and I seem to have great roommates. My room is bigger than before, I have a larger kitchen, and all in all better place for cheaper rent. It should be a good few months!
I'll be giving more updates soon! I am going to try and post in here more often. I also have some more trips up my sleeve within the next couple of months.
I hope all of you readers are well, and everyone from back home, I am thinking of you. Oh, and in case you thought I was avoiding the subject, the answer is "No, I didn't try any of the wacky weed in Amsterdam!" Y'all know me better than that!
I look forward to reading comments!
Leibe Gruesse aus Koeln!

Amsterdam Photos
Brussels Photos

Visitors, Interlaken, and Munich . . .

2008-08-05T17:38:00.000-04:00

Well, as usual here in Deutschland, I have been busy doing this and that. I have been working hard at work, and in addition I have some visitors here from the United States for a couple of weeks! Kelly and Matt arrived here this past Thursday, and things have been quite busy since.
Thursday night we did a little bit of celebrating in the park nearby, and also at a party hosted by my new roommates. We then got up early on Friday morning to get going on our big trip to Interlaken, Switzerland!
Interlaken is nestled in the Alps in a valley between two lakes. It is in the middle of the country, so the spoken language is German with an extremely heavy dialect. The German there was definitely a bit hard to understand. I realized before going to Interlaken that there would probably be a lot of tourists there, and the one only disappointing part about it was that it seemed like it was virtually all tourists. Sometimes it felt a bit like a college frat party even. All in all though, people were friendly, and we enjoyed our activities there.
Our one major activity in Interlaken was going canyoning nearby in the alps. It was a really cool experience that I wish I had some pictures to prove what we did. The purpose of canyoning is basically making your way through a small mountain canyon by rappelling, walking, sliding, and of course, jumping. The best part about the adventure was a seven meter jump down into a narrow canyon into a shallow bit of water. I'm not really sure how I did it, but there was no hesitation for me jumping off, and I wish that I could do it again!
Besides the canyoning, we did a lot of exploring of the town. Everything, and I mean everything is really expensive there. The Swiss Franc and the US Dollar exchange is almost equal however, the average meal at McDonald"s was about 11 Francs (yes I looked at their menu, and no I did not eat there). For our sleeping arrangements, we actually slept outside in tents, and had tentmates from both South Korea, and India, so it was a fun international experience. Before going to bed I asked my roommate how to say "Goodnight" in Hindi, and he looked a bit puzzled and replied "well we just say goodnight." Then in the morning, I heard him say goodmorning to his buddy among the garbled foreign words. Of all the words I could have asked him to translate, I sure picked the wrong one!
We arrived in Interlaken by way of train. We had bough Eurail tickets, which allow you to pick different countries and a set amount of traveling days, and they basically give you unlimited access to trains. This is good because, last minute traveling decisions are made very easy. With virtually no security in train stations, and a Eurail pass, one can literally just walk onto a train and head off wherever you want within a few moments of deciding where it is you want to go.

So Sunday morning, we decided we had seen enough of Interlaken, and we decided to hop on the next train to Munich that morning. About 6 hours later we arrived and had probably the most rushed travel experience ever. We saw Munich in under three hours! We saw lots of buildings, biergartens, etc. and snapped some pictures and moved on. It was a lot of fun, and we are definitely glad that we got a small taste of this famous, beautiful city. One of the rules with our Eurail pass is that we have to be back by midnight, so we hit the next train ride back to Cologne exhausted, and wondering what just happened!

This coming weekend we are headed off to Paris, Brussels, and Luxembourg. I'll have info on that later!

Here are some links to photo albums from both Interlaken and Munich. Enjoy!

Interlaken Photos
Munich Photos

Mein Geburtstag und Sommerfest!

2008-07-26T12:32:00.000-04:00

So this week has pretty much been a week of celebration. This week I turned 23 years old, and to answer the big question, no, I do not feel any older! The first notion of my birthday was on Tuesday night, before going to sleep I heard a few whispers outside of my bedroom door, and in came my roommates and some friends singing Happy Birthday to me (yes, they sing the english happy birthday song here) with a candy bar on a plate with a candle in it! They wished me a happy birthday, and we all drank some wine together to celebrate.

On Wednesday, I still had to go into work on my birthday. When I walked in I opened my mouth to say my usual "Morgen!" when everyone in the office began to sing to me again! Everyone, even from the other offices of the company came in to shake my hand, and wish me "Alles Gute zum Geburtstag". They also had on my desk a HUGE muffin and candy for me to enjoy. In addition, a good friend of mine, Georgia, at work, who is an intern from England, had also placed an awesomely creative card on my desk. You can see this cool birthday card (Outside and Inside) in the picture to the right. Click to make it bigger! Sorry, Georgia, to make your card so public! It was great how everyone at work helped to make it a more enjoyable day . . .

That night, I also went with some friends in the park, and we played a nice civilized game of beer pong. It is not a common game in Germany, so we of course got many looks, and even quite a few people who wanted to try to throw the ping pong ball into the cups! It was a lot of fun and a relaxing way to spend my evening. Don't worry, Mom, we didn't drink much. We needed to keep our energy up for the next day . . . Sommerfest!

The atmosphere at work is definitely a work hard, play hard one. I gave an example earlier of the Internet Marketing Conference that was really just a great party, but to top it off, on Thursday evening after work, all of us at Hitflip geared up to enjoy the annual Sommerfest party.

We all left the office together and walked a few meters down the street to find the "Party Bus" waiting for us. We all boarded this big blue remodeled school bus which had a bathroom, dance floor, and of course a keg of Koelsch. The bus also had roll up windows, so we could cruise down the road with the breeze rolling in. We were probably on the bus for about an hour, and made it to our first destination, a typical Koelsch (the word that describes the Cologne culture, the beer in Cologne, and also the dialect, but in this case, I am talking about the culture) restaurant. It was a beautiful restaurant with open ceilings, and even a tree growing out of the middle. It had typical German, and Cologne items on the menu, and the company picked up the tab.

After the restaurant, we took a short walk over to an asian themed Karaoke bar. The bar was completely empty until the 30 or so of us waltzed in, and we made it a party. Co-workers sang everything from good ol' American classics to traditional German tunes. We also had plenty of beverages to go around!

The last stop of the evening was at a club called the Cent Club. The club is located on Zulpicher Strasse, the street that I wrote about before, and is a typical young dance club. There really isn't a lot to say about this stop of the night, but that it was a blast. Lots of dancing, socializing, and again, the company picked up the tab. I left the club at about 3am, with only about a five minute walk home, but from what I heard some co-workers were there until almost 6am. And, yes, I had to be at work the next morning. Yes, I made it in. No, some people did not.

That's about all I've got for this one! I look forward to hearing from all of you readers!

Also, check out the music player that I added at the bottom of this post. I am going to keep updating it with popular songs from here in Germany, and also here in Cologne so you can get a taste of the music here! Enjoy!

An Old City, Rebuilt . . .

2008-07-21T14:35:00.000-04:00

I wanted to write a blog post not so much about what I am doing, but with a little bit of the history of Cologne. One thing that is exciting about Europe is the immense amount of history that is within it. Talking about an old house in the United States might mean that it is fourty to eighty years old. Talking about an old house here in Germany, may mean that the house is a hundred to three hundred years old, or possibly more. I wish that the same could be said for Cologne, but the truth is I can't. Most buildings here are no older than forty to sixty years maximum.

During World War II, along with much of Germany, Cologne took a serious hit by the American military. Virtually the entire city was completely leveled to the ground, leaving only the cathedral standing in the middle still intact. That is one thing that is strange about this city, is that so much here is new, but in the middle is a humongous piece of architecture that is extremely old. Although the cathedral was finished in 1890, the construction actually began in 1248. The office that I work is about a 2 minute walk to the Cathedral (known here as the "Dom"), and can be seen from most parts of the city.

Here I have posted a video that I have found on youtube showing tanks in WWII moving throughout the city. You can see the immense amount of destruction that took place. The video is slightly graphic, so you are warned. This is actual wartime footage taken by American troops.

In the video, the tanks are moving through right where I work here. Now this area is full of trendy shops and restaurants, and definitely not the buildings of old. You can also see a couple of other structures that still exist here. There are pictures of another church that still stands here, and you can also see a castle-like structure that is still here in the city, also embedded within all of the new cityscape.

More posts coming soon! Thanks for reading, I enjoy reading the comments!

Kölner Lichter und Besucher . . .

2008-07-13T18:40:00.000-04:00

Well, I would have to say that I have never seen a firework display quite like it. The Kölner Lichter (Cologne Lights) takes place annually in July along the Rhein River which runs through the city. People from all over Germany line the shores of the river to see the large fireworks that it is famous for. I can say that it was definitely not a disappointment!
We arrived at about 8pm even though the fireworks were not scheduled to begin until around 11:30. We got there so early because once the area fills up, security people block off all entrances to the river area because of the large crowd of about 800,000 people on either side. There are also many restaurants and bars along this ancient part of the town, and they had also brought in many festival-like beer and food kiosks. We sat on the lawn relaxing until it got dark.
I wasn't exactly sure what to expect besides fireworks, but as it got dark outside I realized the magnitude with which they celebrate the Kölner Lichter.

At 10:30pm (it gets dark here much later in the summer) a boat parade began, with all of the huge ships decorated in lights. As the boats passed, very loud "new age" sort of music was playing. (You can see this in the beginning of the video), and sparklers were handed out to everyone. As far as the eye could see on both banks of the river, people were holding their sparklers in the air, and cheering the boats passing by. When the sparklers all died, and the boats had all passed, we waited for the fireworks to begin. The show began with a barge silently slipping into the center of the river, and a very narrative voice scripting the theme of the show, that spoke during transitions throughout the display. You can hear the voice speaking at the beginning of the fireworks in the video. The fireworks lasted for about a half an hour, and every second seemed like the grand finale. The show was accompanied by music from highlander music, asian music, rock 'n' roll, to opera. Fireworks were launched off of the barge up into the sky. Fireworks even drifted by in the water, as they fountained up, and some even launched up to the sky from the water as well. Even the bridge next to the display had a cascade of fireworks coming off of it like a waterfall. It was unlike any fireworks I had seen before. The show ended with great applause from the audience . . . and called for a night out on the town.

We were front and center for the fireworks, but sadly, as you can see in the video, there is a couple of trees in front of us that kept us from having a perfect view of the higher up fireworks. You can actually go on youtube and find the full show posted, but this is just my video. Oh, and all the videos that I make while I'm here, you'll have to forgive me for the bad quality. All I have to shoot video with is my photo camera, which only takes 60 second clips, and is about 6 years old. However, I think having the video helps describe the event, even though it doesn't do it any justice!

To add to the excitement, friends of mine who live in Baden-Wuerttemberg (who I posted about visiting before) came up to Cologne for the weekend, and we had a great time around the city, and watching the fireworks.

Why yes, I work in Europe . . .

2008-07-09T17:25:00.000-04:00

It's actually been a bit long since my last post, which is too long than I wanted. I've finally got myself feeling a bit settled in here in Cologne after my first month of living here. It's actually a bit hard to believe that more than a month has gone by, and my time here is already shortening. It's really been great knowing that a lot of people have been reading, and the blog has actually started to see some worldwide traffic, which is also really great! Please keep commenting, as I enjoy reading the comments. It's a good way for me to hear from you, and it's always a pleasent surprise to know who is reading!

A lot of people have already asked me how work is going, and I have been hesitant to post on here about it until I had really spent some time there and felt comfortable there. Working at Hitflip Media Trading, has just been great. The people are all young, and friendly, it's in the center of the city, and everything is going smoothly. I don't know exactly how much detail I can go into about what I am doing, but I will try not to be too vague.

One thing that is really difficult for a lot of online companies to deal with, is that the reliability on Google is just so huge. Especially for a company whose business is solely run online, Google controls the market, and if you are not appearing on search results, or in Google advertisements, your business will surely take a hit for the worse. So a lot of what I am doing is maintaining and improving the company's services showing up on Google searches. Besides that, I am also doing some customer service work for Hitflip's UK site, and doing some translations that are still remaining there. As of now I am the only American working there, and the only other native English speaker is a co-worker from England. Everyone else in the office is German, but all really helpful with my German, and understanding that I can't speak perfectly.

Last Thursday was an exciting day for work, as we were hosting Cologne's Internet Marketing Conference 2008. It was held in a VIP section at the local soccer stadium. There were a couple hundred people that showed up, and plenty of fun. I think the idea was for a networking event, but I think that the German idea of networking is mostly just an open bar, and a lot of young people. I left the stadium at 3am. It was great fun! There is a link at the bottom of the post where there are some photos.

There are also links already added to the side column of the blog. There you will find the three projects that we have at Hitflip. I am currently doing work for Hitflip UK, and Hitmeister. Check the pages out to see a bit of what I am doing.

Sorry I don't have any pics or anything for this post. I hope to add some to it shortly. Maybe a shot of my desk or something, we'll see.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave comments!

See Pictures from Internet Marketing Koeln 2008

Zulpicher Strasse . . .

2008-06-22T07:49:00.000-04:00

I wanted to show a little bit about what it's like here with the European Championship going on here in Germany. Here is a video that I found on YouTube from Zulpicherstrasse here in Cologne. This is a street with a lot of bars and clubs, and is famous here in Cologne for where you go for nightlife. Oh, and it's about a one minute walk from my apartment. I am somewhere nearby in this video, but don't think I'm in it. Oh and don't forget, the Euro Cup is taking place in Switzerland and Austria, but this is just Germans celebrating here . . . .

Eine Wochenende in Baden-Wuerttemberg . . .

2008-06-18T17:04:00.000-04:00

So I am going to try and keep this post a bit shorter than some of the other ones. I am going to try to cover several topics but in several posts, instead of many topics in one post. Yes, I have finally begun to work here in Cologne now that I have received my visa, but I am going to cover that later, when I finish out my first week.

Over the weekend I had a really great time in Baden-Wuerttemberg. I went there to visit my friend Michael who lives in Berlichingen, a very small village there. If you are not aware, Germany is made up of several "states" or "Bundeslaender" just like in the United States. Cologne is in the Mid-West of Germany and is in the state Nordrhein Westfalia. There are other states such as Bayern, famous for Munich and the "Black Forest", Hessen, Saxony, and also Baden-Wuerttemberg. All together there are 16 different Bundeslaender.

Michael is a really good friend of mine who was an exchange student in the US for a year, and since then I have seen three other times; in Rome, Germany in 2006, and also again when he visited the US for a second time. It was great to go down to his village again, and spend time with him and his family, who are all extremely welcoming.

It was a three hour drive to get there, and once you are outside of Cologne, Germany is completely different. Cologne is very much a large city with big streets, big buildings, and it's fair share of graffiti. Once you travel a bit south of Cologne, the cities become much smaller, and you can experience much more of the German culture.

I think that every American who has not been to Germany has an idea in their minds of what it is like, but they don't actually believe it exists. I know myself, before I came here, I thought about biergartens, burly men playing accordions, sausages, people drinking and singing songs, and of course lederhosen. Well, let me tell you, in Baden-Wuerttemberg it really does exist!

Michael's village and surrounding villages only have a couple hundred people in them, and they are far out in the countryside. There are rolling green hills, streets with no middle line, and little clusters scattered about where people live. In the villages, the streets are all cobblestone, houses can be as old as the 1600's, and some villages even have a great big wall that surrounds them, from medieval times. It is truly an incredible experience to see, and believe me, they don't have many tourists here.

One thing that was cool, was that during the summer time, all of these villages hold small festivals. The area is known for it's vineyards, so the wine season is typically a reason to have a party in the streets. I went to two of these festivals, and it was really incredible to see. The main road was turned into a biergarten, there were all kinds of vendors selling sausages (wurste) and beer. There was a traditional German band playing, and the whole village was attending.

I tried to capture some of my weekend, but didn't take too many pictures. I did however take a couple of videos with my camera, even though they are not the best quality. I have linked up a video I made to the blog post for you to see, and just combined all of the video I took, and some of the pictures within it. The video is taken while riding a bike into Michael's village, Berlichingen.

I better end here, as it's time to get to bed so I can get up for work in the morning! There's another blog post coming very shortly!

Keep the comments coming!

Tschuess!

Neu Fahrrad Und Deutschland Gegen Polen . . .

2008-06-09T07:34:00.000-04:00

Saturday morning I woke up at about 7:30am Cologne time, and I hopped on Deutschland's premiere public transportation (no really, it's great!) and made my way to a part of town I'd never been to before. I was going there to try my luck at the city bicycle market that apparently occurs once a month or so. After getting off of the bus I took the first street that seemed like it would lead me in the right direction, or in other words other people were walking that way too which is a very good indicator of how I get around here in Cologne. Walking a couple hundred yards down the street, I eventually, and very luckily, made it to the market. There were about a 100 bicycles lined up from different vendors and I began to parooze through them all. I was actually amazed at how expensive second hand bikes were going for. Most decent bikes were up around 100 to 150 euros, which is way out of my budget for a bike that I'm only riding for six months. Right before I was about to leave I saw a few bikes that one man had brought in, and saw a silver mountain bike among them. I asked him how much, and he told me only 40 euros! "Nur 40 euro?" I asked. "Nur 40 euro. Alles ist in ordung" "Only 40 euros. Everything is in order." He let me try the bike out, and before selling it to me, he of course asked "where are you from?" I told him I am from the US, and just like every German here, when I say that I am from the US, they ask me about one of three things; Obama, Hillary, or Bush. That brings me to another topic that I will divulge into in a moment. Anyways, he was very nice, and he sold me the bike, and I rode my new bike all the way home. Everything was great!

The next day, I was riding my bike when much to my surprise the left pedal just fell right off. It fell off right on the street as I was riding, and my bike had hardly lasted 24 hours before it was out of order. I don't know if the man knew that it was going to break or not, but what can I do. Today I took the bike into a bike shop to be fixed, and luckily the repair will only cost 15 euros. Still not a bad deal for a bike!

I can already tell that I am getting a bit lengthy with this, and I still have so much to tell. On the topic of politics; like I said, when someone finds out I am from the US, they immediately probe me for my thoughts on Obama, Hillary, or Bush. "Are you a democrat, or republican?" "Who do you want to win the election?" The questions get much more complicated. I would take a gander to say that most Germans know more about US politics than 80% of Americans do. Not just Germans, but other Europeans as well: A guy I met from Ireland told me "It matters to me more who is running the US, than who is running Ireland." I can even turn on the TV here and see two different TV channels covering the election news, and see no other channels covering European politics. Luckily, I have set my homepage to CNN.com so that I can stay up to date on what is going on, and prepare myself for any bombardment of political questioning.

The last and most important part of this lengthy blog post: The European Championship. If you aren't watching at home, you probably need to! I have never been to a place that lives a sport like here in Germany. The current Fuessball (soccer) tournament is the UEFA European Cup, and it's a big deal. It is similar to the World Cup, but just for Europe. Last night was the first game that Germany played, and it was against Poland. Germany won 2:0. I watched the game in a park within the city, with about 50 or so others. During a game day, you can walk down the streets, and you can hear all of the TV's that are on in all of the restaurants, and peoples' homes. You can hear drums banging from fans a mile away. Faces are painted, everyone is wearing their team's colors, and it seems as though the whole town has stopped. This was just for their first match in the tournament. Hopefully, Germany will continue to do well! After the match, my roommate said we were going to stay out, so I went with her around to where our apartment is, and I was amazed again. It was about midnight, and the streets were just filled with thousands of Germany fans. Everyone is singing songs, and drinking beer. There were a group of fans kicking a soccer ball into an open window a couple of stories up. When they finally got it in, everyone on the street cheered . . . "GOOOOOOOOOOLLLLL!!!" The picture above is from this street party. I wanted my picture with the police car. And yes, I have an open container outside. It was a wild time, and the games are a lot of fun to watch. From what I hear, you can also watch it in the US.

That's about enough for this long post. Next time I will be a bit more brief. Feel free to leave comments, because I have no idea if anyone is reading this unless you let me know! I of course miss everyone back home, and can't wait to get a Flaming Amy's burrito, or order a Hungry Howie's Pizza.

Oh, I think I may have joined an Aussie Rules Football club. . . . training for that is tomorrow. We'll see how that goes . . . .

Bis Bald!

Meine Reise Nach Koeln, Und Lebe Hier . . .

2008-06-03T12:10:00.000-04:00

So I have been in Cologne for a few days now. I have been getting myself adjusted on the six hour time difference, and just adjusted to daily life here. With the visa problems that I had I am truly lucky to even be here.

Less than a week ago, I was still in the United States, and thinking that I wasn't going to get to leave for Cologne for another three weeks. The problem was that the German powers-that-be were being slow with processing my working visa that I had applied for at the beginning of March. They said that it would take an extra three weeks to process it and get it sent to me. They were also holding my passport since your visa has to be issued with your actual passport. So the day before my flight was supposed to leave I was in Charlotte and got a phone call from the German Consulate in Atlanta that they would send me my passport overnight and I could fly the next day. (To change my flight was going to be over $800.) Apparantly my friend's father (a german with some political presence) had asked for a favor, and I would be allowed to enter the country. So the good news is, I saved $800, made it to Deutschland, and alles ist klar! The bad news is that I still don't have my visa, and have to wait a couple of more weeks without being able to work. Ok, so I am in Germany and can't work, doesn't sound so bad, but keeping myself from spending money while I am waiting for my visa is hard to do, and I have a negative income! But that is the story of how I was able to get into the country. My flight was alright, and my roommate's boyfriend was kind enough to pick me up at the airport. I feel really lucky that everything fell into place like it did!

So a little bit about what life here is like . . . I am living in an apartment just outside of the city center, with two others. My roommates are very very nice and very helpful with getting me adjusted to everything here. My first day here, I spent the majority of the day sleeping since I had not slept the entire flight. It's safe to say I was exhausted. The next day was the start of a good few days. Several of my roommates' friends came to the apartment to make a house party before going out to a kneipe (club). They taught me a little bit about German drinking culture, and more specifically Cologne drinking culture. In the picture, you can see the typical and popular beer here in Cologne, Reissdorf Koelsch. Koelsch is the type of beer that is specific to this region, and Reissdorf is one of several brands sold here. Those of you in Raleigh, if you go to the Flying Saucer downtown, they have Reissdorf Koelsch on tap, but I believe it is a good six dollars for a pint, and it is probably not served in the traditional Koelsch glass as seen in the picture. After having a drink or two, I also learned that it is NOT illegal to just carry your beer with you on the street. Upon leaving for the club, I left my unfinished beer in the apartment only to find everyone else just casually drinking theirs on the way to the "Purple Club" just a short one minute trek from our front door (yikes). When we got to the club, they had 200 liters of free Koelsch. I am going to stop the commentary here for that night.

It is important for me to mention that while I have been here, the commodity of speaking English has been refused to me. One of my roommates does not speak English, and the other roommate refuses to for my own good, and so do the rest of their friends. It is exactly what I need, and has been good so far. A lot of times I have to ask for someone to repeat to me, and hopefully communicating with me has not been too frustrating, but it has been a great learning experience, and I feel like every minute of the day I am learning something new and my German is improving. I never realized, however, how mentally tiring it is. All day long to comprehend, and try to communicate back, it takes a lot of energy, and I've never felt my thoughts feeling so tired before. Fluently speaking in language is a gift that we probably take for granted.

Well, I am already writing too much for one post, so I am going to stop here and continue with more later. I miss everyone at home, however, I am having a great time here as well. The first week is almost over, and I can tell that these six months are going to go very fast.

Bis Bald!

Praktikum in Köln

2008-04-04T13:35:00.000-04:00

I still have not left for Germany, but some folks have been asking me as to what in particular I will be doing for my internship there in Cologne. So I thought that I would give a little bit more information on that, and also some information on my current situation.

Just to be accurate, I will post up some pieces of the job description that I applied to to help explain my internship:
"Do you love the internet? Then we would love to meet you! We are looking for an intern in our headquarters in Cologne to help placing Hitflip in the United Kingdom. You should be available for at least three months.
Help to develop the UK market.
Build up and maintain relationships with media partners and webmasters in the UK.
Advertise Hitflip through various marketing activities and channels.
With your help we want swapping on Hitflip to become even more popular in the UK!"
Hopefully that is more clear than I was on my previous post!

Here is another tidbit coming from bizreport.com:
"Hitflip's swap exchange is the largest in Europe, offering consumers a vast database of DVDs, CDs, games and books from other consumers. More than 300,000 users have created accounts. Each year 125,000 DVDs, 20,000 audio books or plays, 40,000 games, 65,000 books and 85,000 CDs are exchanged by users."

As far as my living goes, I am still searching for a place to live. I have been keeping in contact with an intern currently at Hitflip, and she said that most interns do not find a place until they arrive, and usually stay in a hostel nearby until they can find something. She also mentioned that they have a couch and a shower in the office. . . . the adventure begins! I am still e-mailing lots of people who seem to have openings in their apartments, but most of them don't like to rent without meeting the renter first which poses a problem for me. With some luck, I will hopefully find a place before I leave, but if not, I feel confident I can find something when I arrive.

Right now I am working on classes and still swimming a lot. I have a swim meet coming up next weekend at UNC, and I am currently working on a joint video project with a team from Virginia Tech. Filming for that began on Wednesday, and we'll be filming and doing post-production throughout the rest of the semester.

That's all I've got. Feel free to leave comments! I cannot wait to get back to Deutschland!!!

Bis Spaeter!

The First Blog Post! - Herzlich Wilkommen!

2008-03-25T01:24:00.000-04:00

So if you are reading this, I probably gave you my blog address so that you know more about my life in Germany. There's also a slight chance I suppose that people may stumble upon this blog from google, in which case, if you find this interesting, go nuts! I know that there are a lot of people who will want to see pictures, or hear about what I am doing, including friends, relatives, and probably even my parents' co-workers. All are welcome!

The title of my blog is "Andrew Gegen Koeln" which translates to Andrew versus Cologne, and even though I do not consider myself against Cologne, it sounded like a fun name for the blog!

One thing that I am really sad about is that I will be leaving all of my friends, and family behind for the next six months. I am currently still at UNCW, and the thought of finishing and not coming back in the fall is really hard to deal with. I have had so many experiences here at school, and have met so many wonderful people. There is still so much at UNCW that I would like to do! However, one cannot stay too comfortable for too long, so I am moving on to other things.

A couple months ago, I accepted an internship in Cologne with a company called Hitflip Media Trading. You can visit their website at http://www.hitflip.de/ or at http://www.hitflip.co.uk/ for more information on what they do. I will be living and working in the city center of Cologne and marketing the company's services in the United Kingdom. I have signed my contract, and I begin work on June 2, and my last day is November 28.

Luckily, I am not too unfamiliar with the city. I have spent a couple of days there before during my travels in 2006 while studying abroad in Bremen, Germany. The city is absolutely beautiful, with lots and lots going on! The picture attached to this post is a picture I took in 2006, and is taken from a bridge on the Rhine River looking at the city center, where I will be working, and living.

I will have plenty of time to experience a different place, with a different culture, improve my German, see old friends, and make new ones! Most importantly, however, I want to be able to keep in contact with all of you. This is my communication to you, and I hope that it will open up an opportunity for you to communicate back to me. Please feel free to leave comments on the blog, send me an e-mail, message me on facebook, or catch me on Skype while I am gone!

Thanks For Reading!

Milk Out My Eye

2008-01-22T19:43:00.000-05:00

So this post is a little bit different than what I would normally write about, but this is to serve as a supplement to my YouTube video that tends to get me a lot of email, and a LOT of questions. I am going to answer all of these questions and provide as much information that I can.

My video on YouTube titled "Milk Out My Eye" was posted a while ago, and has reached almost 20,000 views. It has caused a flood of mail to my YouTube account, and the video was even shown on the British BBC talk-show, Lilly Allen and Friends. My hidden talent is not necessarily for the squeamish, and can also be dangerous if done by the wrong person. Most importantly before I go on anymore DO NOT TRY TO DO THIS YOURSELF. Not everyone in the world can do this, and those that can only can due to their unique anatomy. It is like having attached or hanging earlobes, it is the way we are built. If you haven't seen the video here it is below.

How did you learn how to make milk come out of your eye?
This is probably the second most asked question to me by viewers. I did not just decide to put milk in my nose one day and squirt it from my eye. It actually came from a SCUBA diving trip a long time ago. Anyone who has put their head in the water before knows that you have to equalize the pressure in your ears in order go deeper in water. I was doing this while SCUBA diving, and noticed that often times while equalizing, I would sometimes have air and fluid from my eye squirt onto my dive mask meaning I would have to wash it out while under the water. This is gross, I know, but it happens. Soon after that, I learned that if I hold my nose, and try to push air out, air actually comes out of the corner of my eye. It wasn't long before I tried water, and eventually milk.

How do you make milk come out of your eye?
This is caused by a connection between our eyes and our nasal cavity. If you have ever cried, and noticed having a runny nose, this is for the same reason. Our eyes, ears, and nose are all connected, and tears from our tear ducts travel into our nasal cavity causing a runny nose. Now this does NOT mean that if you get a runny nose when you cry you can make milk come out of your eye. Some people just have a passage between the nasal cavity and the eye duct that is large enough to push liquid through without using significant force.

Can you teach me how to make milk come out of my eye?
No, I can't. I would actually suggest that you don't try this at all! A good friend of mine attempted this and actually found herself in the emergency room and in pain for weeks after puncturing both of her eardrums. Putting pressure on your nasal cavity also means putting pressure on your ear canals and ear drums, because they are all connected. If you have ever punctured an ear drum before (I have) than you know that it is one of the most surprisingly painful things you could have happen to you. So if you do attempt this and you start to feel pain, stop immediately.

There is also a risk of getting sick trying this. Milk, as most people know, spoils. Having milk in in your nasal cavity or tear duct for a long period of time could lead to meningitis, which can very realistically lead to death. The smart thing to do would be to avoid this trick all-together, because there are very few people who can do this, and it is dangerous to attempt. I know this all sounds a bit paranoid, but I think it is important to tell all of the risks.

If you have any other questions, you can email me at the contact information at the bottom of the site, or message me on my youtube account. I hope that this works as a good supplement to the YouTube video!

About

2007-10-24T20:10:00.002-04:00

About The Author: I am originally from North Carolina, where I studied Business Administration and Communications. Currently though, I am living and working in Cologne Germany. I am loving the experience, but will soon go back to the US to look for my "next step".

Here is a short list of some of my likes and hobbies:

Travel
Competitive Swimming
Photography
Film
Growing Hot Peppers
Being Social

If you would like to contact me for information regarding this site, or any other reason, you can contact me at the following email address:

andrewsbreakfast (at) googlemail.com

Travel

2007-10-24T20:01:00.001-04:00

Traveling is a huge hobby of mine, and I will begin to accumulate all of my travel related stuff here. For now, here is a list of all the countries I have been to:

United States of America
Canada
Mexico
Norway
Italy
Denmark
Germany
Sweden
Switzerland
France
Poland
Belgium
Netherlands
Czech Republic

My Music Playlist

2007-10-24T18:56:00.001-04:00

Below is a playlist that I will edit from time to time. I will put some of the music on here that I am currently listening to. Enjoy listening, and be sure to have a look around at some of the posts on the blog! Thanks for visiting!