In the Midst of Munich

Vienna and Munich

2009-06-14T22:20:00.000-07:00

Lightning in the distance, seen from the Isar River

I'm sitting inside watching the 5th or 6th flash thunderstorm we've had in Munich this month. They're pretty cool: first the wind picks up mysteriously, then the heavy clouds quickly and suddenly roll in, the sky often turns a funny almost greenish color (tonight it's actually stayed pretty normal grey though), then it sprinkles for a minute or two before begging to drop massive torrents of rain. The thunder and lightning pick up and continue for about 20 to 30 minutes, then the whole thing blows away and the weather is fine again, often even sunny. I think it's really cool, but I also haven't been caught outside in one yet.

I got back from Vienna almost two weeks ago, and in the few days I was there I had a blast. Some photos...

The Melk Abbey, or Stift Melk, located along the Donau just over an hour west of Vienna.

An UNESCO World Heritage site, and home to one of the most beautiful libraries I've ever seen.

Hundertwasserhaus, still a low-income housing block despite being one of the most visited buildings in Austria.

And a stairwell of the Kunst Haus Wien...a Museum of all of the works of Friedensreich Hundertwasser, plus they had a great Picasso exhibition.

A view of part of the Hofburg Imperial Palace, which along with the rest of the inner city is also an UNESCO World Heritage site.

Side view showing the beautiful tile roof of the St. Stephen's Cathedral in the center of the Old town.

A snapshot of Viennese coffehouse culture. My plum strudel and melange, the typical Viennese coffee prepared with hot foamed milk, and always accompanied by a glass of water.

My friend Nico looking appalled at the sight of a 18 euro liter of water at an upscale supermarket in Downtown Vienna.

We did buy one thing at the supermarket though: Marzipan in the shape of an apple, a mushroom, and a black fig. Only 2 euros a pop, and delicious!

We ate them after a great meal at this traditional Viennese wine cellar restaurant.

Viennese Opera House. A highlight of our trip was getting to watch a ballet, Romeo & Juliet, here and feeling mighty hoity toity.

A cool piece of modern architecture located just across from St. Stephen's cathedral at the very center of the city.

Cool looking record shop. What I love about Vienna--the mixture of old, grandiose and new, hip, modern. This is an image that is sadly lacking in Munich.

Vienna was an awesome city, and even though I was there only a few short days, it may have overtaken Berlin as my favorite German-speaking city. Perhaps this isn't so surprising, considering that Vienna is now the city with the highest quality of life in the world (or so some fancy consulting firm has absurdly determined). Anyway, Vienna has so much going on it makes Munich feel provincial, and the old town is full of beautiful, monumental buildings. Real Wiener Schnitzel is also really, really tasty--and much better than the stuff I've ever been served anywhere else.

Real Wiener Schnitzel. The portions are also massive.

After getting back from Vienna, I almost started to list off the reasons why I don't like Munich, and why I found Vienna so much better. However, as usually happens, just as I was getting down about Munich, it went and surprised me with something cool and different...

This Thursday we had another public holiday (one of Bavaria's charms is the ridiculous amount of holidays the workers here get....I believe 12 per year), and I went with a friend to a street festival near downtown, and it was awesome! Food and drinks and lots of music, including a live band, and the atmosphere was just great, with a nice mix of people. As it turns out, this is just the beginning of what could be called "street festival season" (i.e. summer), and there's tons of festivals coming up all over the city--fish markets, beer garden festivals, the music fest put on by my university, and more. I'm so glad that summer is just getting started, and that I'll be here to enjoy it in Munich.

Keeping busy

2009-05-27T14:19:00.001-07:00

Well I suppose it's about time I cleaned the dust off this thing again. I have actually been quite busy since the start of the semester, traveling and trying to keep up with all my classes.

I spent a cloudy, but fun weekend in Paris while my brother was there, and then he came to visit Munich. I also spent a beautiful birthday weekend in the beach resort of Rimini, Italy with 6 friends after I found dirt cheap round trip airfare back in February. It was still off-season, but we lucked out on weather and therefore had the beaches all to ourselves...couldn't ask for a better way to celebrate turning 21.

But, it's not just all fun and games; I am taking 4 engineering classes in German, instead of just the 2 I did last semester, plus my German review course and a Portuguese course, which I decided to start taking.

As my time in Germany begins to count down however, I'm becoming quite a bit more reflective on my experience thus far, and I thought I might use this blog as at least one place to share and/or save some of my thoughts and observations.

Where to begin...

Well, everyone here is convinced that global warming is really starting to set in because spring has just been way too nice and sunny, apparently. I'm just wondering what all the northern Europeans complain about so much...take a trip to Chicago my friends. Anyhow, the coming summer should be interesting for me, seeing as how this is the first time in about 15 years that I've seen much of anything but a dry Mediterranean version of the season. So far we've already had a few intense flash thunderstorms, which is certainly not what I'm used to. I've had a taste of such things early or late in the school year at Northwestern, but I think I end up spending more time outside here, making it all the more apparent.

One nice thing about the good weather is how many more bikers and people walking around there are...it makes quiet little Munich feel more alive, which is a big plus. I have also had a chance to really, completely fall in love with the English Garden, which begins only about 2 minutes from my dorm and is simply fantastic. Not full of sports fields or museums or zoos or any of that junk that a lot of big urban parks in the U.S. cram in, but rather just a few biergartens, bounded by seemingly endless trees, meadows, streams, a lake, and a river. And when the weather is nice, everyone in Munich flocks there to tan, grill, run around, drink, and just generally let their (normally carefully restrained) proverbial hair down. It's really amazing to have such a place right next door, and I can even bike through it on my way to the university.

My view in the English Garden while spending an April spring day laying in the sun

Now, I have to get back to preparing for a presentation in my German class tomorrow. On Friday, I head off for a long weekend in Vienna with my program, and that will probably be the end of any major traveling until the semester is over at the end of July.

Back in time for Spring

2009-04-03T03:31:00.000-07:00

Well, the snow is long gone, and today is about the fourth day of what feels like Spring here in Munich.

The people of Munich have reemerged en masse from their houses , on foot, bicycle, roller blades, and even surf boards.

Springtime activity in the English Garden.

A view of Karlsplatz in downtown Munich looking towards the Justizpalast (Palace of Justice).

The winter has been long yet eventful, and my 2 month winter semester break is slowly drawing to a close. The summer semester begins on April 20th, and will continue until near the end of July. I will stick around here in Germany until September, to allow me to take all my exams, which will occur during still to be finalized dates during the summer semester break.

What that all means, is that with about another 5 or so months ahead of me I'm only about halfway done with my time here in Munich, and the lovely weather has (somewhat ironically) inspired me to spend more time inside on the computer and try and update this blog, seeing as how I have fallen oh so far behind with it.

Tomorrow morning I head to Switzerland on a four day field trip of sorts organized by the the Environmental Engineering department at the TUM. We will be touring environmentally friendly construction methods for tunnels and highways, as well as visiting some engineering firms. Look for an upcoming post chronicling some of my travels and such from winter.

Snow & Nuremburg

2008-11-24T12:19:00.000-08:00

This past weekend it finally snowed here. The snow reminds me so much of being in Chicago, but it also just makes me really happy in general. It made for a really pretty (albeit cold) trip to Nuremburg, which I went on this weekend with the rest of my study abroad program.

Here's some pictures of the trip.

Our group of Americans standing in front of the "Hand crafts center" of Old Nuremberg--one of the ways in which the city has tried to reinvent itself as something more than just an important part of Nazi Germany.

Beautiful view overlooking the frosted medieval center of Nuremburg.

The Emperor's Castle of Nuremburg. Residence of the Holy Roman Emperor starting in the 11th century. Nuremburg's prominent imperial status in the older German Empires is what led to Hitler's use of the city as a major rallying point in his "Third Empire."

One of the buildings remaining from the Nazi Party Parade Grounds

And, me contemplating a quick dip in the river.

Tonight, I also ate Thanksgiving dinner with the rest of the Americans here, and we had a great time. Afterwards, I spent some time video chatting with my family back in California as they prepared for dinner. Meanwhile, I was packing, since I'm heading to London tomorrow for the weekend and for a second Thanksgiving feast with a recently graduated friend from Northwestern. I'm really excited, being that I've never been there before, and I hope to see as much as I can in the few short days that I will be there. Happy Thanksgiving!

-TG-

Settling in

2008-11-16T07:18:00.000-08:00

Having been in Munich for over two months now, I'm beginning to feel more comfortable here. The newness of living in Germany has worn off a bit and German is even starting to come more easily than English sometimes (so don't be surprised if I accidentally capitalize my nouns, or type sch instead of sh).

However at the same time, I've actually been feeling more homesick for the U.S. I think that part of that is wishing that I could have been in Chicago/Evanston for the election and that it's still kind of hard being without my good friends from school and still struggling a bit to meet more people here. But, overall I'm happy so far, and I'm really glad that I still have another 9 months to spend here.

Speaking of the election, pretty much everyone in Germany spent the week following it asking me about how I felt about the result. They also spent the entire week beforehand asking me if I had voted and for whom. In the end though, in addition to having an exciting new president, it's also nice knowing that Europeans' general level of respect for my country has increased.

Last week was actually a little crazy, though, because I had to give what's called a Referat, essentially an oral in-class presentation, on Friday for my History of the Consumer Society class. The topic was geography of the consumer society, and more specifically I presented on the book Nature's Metropolis, an environmental history of the development of Chicago and its hinterland during the 1800s. It was quite a lot of work considering my German is still nowhere near college level. It was just bad luck that I had to give my Referat so early in the course (being only the second student to do so), but fortunately it is over with, and I won't have to do as much work for the class later in the semester.

Overall classes are going alright--it is still hard to understand in-class discussion and all of what the teachers say, but my course load is rather light, and so I have time to try and figure things out at home. Tomorrow, I'm actually doing a try-out day to see if I can get a job at a trendy salad and juice bar near the universities.

Of course I'm also having fun doing other stuff outside of class. Yesterday I went to the Deutsches Museum, a famous museum in Munich dedicated to science and technology--like our National Air and Space Museum and National Museum of American History rolled into one. On Friday I went on a pub crawl with other international students at the TUM. And last weekend, some of the other Americans and I tried...and more or less failed to bake Hello Kitty sugar cookies--incidentally though, baking cookies seems to be something only American youths revel in, as we've found out from our foreign housemates. However, our cookies were gladly eaten up by the Spanish students whose party we later brought them to. For next weekend, I'm looking forward to a visit from my friend Niki, another Northwestern student who is currently studying abroad in Barcelona.

Pictures from the Deutsches Museum:

Machines & Engineering--pride and joy of the Germans.

Ships & planes

And of course space.

Looking down from the 7th floor. The Deustches Museum is one of the biggest, and the densest, museums I've ever been to. I actually didn't even get to see all of the different rooms and collections in the 5 hours that I was there, so I'll have to go back.

-TG-

Halloween and the Election

2008-11-03T15:38:00.001-08:00

Friday was Halloween, and it's important to note that, while everyone in Germany is familiar with the way that Halloween is celebrated in the USA, it is still very new to them, and they don't quite have the hang of it. While there are many "Halloween" parties--it's getting more popular every year--there are still relatively few people who feel the urge to dress up. Fortunately, all of us American kids on the study abroad program put together a party for ourselves and some of the Germans we know so far.

Getting the party started...with a pair of depressed American business people ruined by the financial crisis, a pair from the movie Cabaret, "the Universe," and James Bond. The setting was an appropriately creepy basement.

Some of the other Americans dressed up as Ugly Betty, a librarian, and mouse.

Now some of the Germans, such as this pair of "aliens," were able to pick up the idea of a proper Halloween costume relatively easily.

But some of the other Germans, such as these three, were less cooperative, and emergency back-up costumes had to be issued.

Now, it's not just that Germans are party poopers, though. One of the reasons that Halloween hasn't really caught on, especially in Bavaria, is that the following day is an important Catholic holiday, All Hallows/All Saints' Day, on which many people visit the graves of their deceased family members. Fortunately, that doesn't really mean much to me, and so we threw a successful party, and it was great to be able to celebrate an American-style Halloween.

Meanwhile, yesterday I saw Swan Lake performed by the Russian National Ballet Company. Having not seen a ballet in probably a decade, it was really something impressive. However, I'm convinced that ballet is centered mostly on doing things that must be incredibly painful for the performers. But, I guess that's part of why it's so beautiful.

And in other, most important news, the U.S. presidential election is taking place tomorrow! Of course, the one time that Chicago will (hopefully) be the center of the universe, myself and the other Northwestern students here won't be there to be a part of it. Nonetheless, we are going to have an election-watching party here in Germany, and it will last into the wee hours of the morning--as long as it takes to find out who the next president will be!

-TG-

Fall in Munich

2008-10-26T03:39:00.000-07:00

It's now the end of my 8th week in Munich, and I couldn't be happier. I woke up today to the pleasant surprise of having an extra hour, as Europe switches over to "Winter Time."

My second week of classes just came to an end. The classes I'm taking here in Germany are as follows:

-German Language Course, taken with the Lewis & Clark Institute (which runs my study abroad program)
-Basic Course in Transportation Engineering and Planning, taken at the TUM (technical univeristy)
-Technical Thermodynamics, taken at the TUM
-Globalizing the American Way of Life, History of the Consumer Society, taken at the LMU (liberal arts university)

So far it has been somewhat difficult to understand everything going on in class, but I've been more or less following along nonetheless. I finished my first engineering homework assignment and have already done some readings in German. Both definitely took quite a bit of time due to the language barrier. However, I think it will probably get much easier over the next month or two. It will be nice once I can contribute to the class, rather than just survive it.

Meanwhile, I've been enjoying some great weather. In the last few days it has started to get a bit cold, but we've only had a handful of rainy days in October, and it has generally been sunny and mild. When my parents and I traveled through Austria two weeks ago, it was particularly nice,and we enjoyed some breathtaking views of the Alps.

Here are some recent pictures from Munich and from the trip through Austria

Fall in the museum park across the street from the Technische Universität, where I am taking most of my classes.

Perlacher Forst, Munich's own little forest on the south side of the city.

The gate to Dachau concentration camp on the outskirts of Munich. I visited the camp turned monument with my parents while they were visiting Munich. The sign reads "Work sets you free"--a twisted statement of sarcasm aimed at the camp prisoners.

The Austrian Alps in the setting sun viewed from the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, self-proclaimed most-beautiful road in the Alps.

A few small boats lined up in the morning lake fog near Zell am See, a picturesque mountain lakeside town that we stayed in.

Nonstop amazing views from the Austrian Autobahn.

The town of Salzburg. The Fortress Hohensalzburg lies in the upper right hand corner.

My parents walking through an arbor featured in the Sound of Music film.

A beautiful tree takes over the scene of another Sound of Music film location.

My mom enjoying dessert in Salzburg--a local delicasy, the Salzburger Nockerl, looks reminiscent of the snow-covered Alps that surround the city.

The awesome view looking out beyond Hitler's Eagle Nest headquarters, built for his 50th birthday.

-TG-

End of Oktoberfest

2008-10-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

I didn't manage to post before heading off to Berlin, so I will take the chance now to share a little bit more about Oktoberfest, which ended this past Sunday.

I realized that I left out some of the background information on Oktoberfest, so I'd like to fill everyone in. Oktoberfest started in 1810 as a wedding ceremony for the Bavarian prince Ludwig. The original festival included horse races and such, but it has since evolved/degraded into its current form, which roughly resembles a hybrid combination of theme park, state fair, and--of course--Munich's famous beer houses. In recent years the festival has been visited by more than 6 million people across its two weeks. Munich itself has a population of only 1.2 million.

My last trip to the Oktoberfest was during the second/middle weekend, or the so-called "Italian Weekend"--when hordes of Italians drive up to Germany hoping to have a good time. There's usually one of two practices: 1) they leave at 3am to drive over the Alps into Bavaria, spend the whole day drinking, and try to drive back the same night--thus, to the dismay of Munich residents, the police have been forced to set up traffic-jam inducing checkpoints around the city during the festival, in order to cut down on drunk driving; 2) they drive up in campers and try to park all over the city, which has lead police to ban camping vehicles in the city and try to contain them in vast parking areas on the outskirts of town.

Anyway, we showed up at 8am so that we could be among the first let into the tents. I met up with a German friend of mine, along with his family and friends visiting from Heidelberg. We chose the Armbrustschützen-Paulaner tent, since one of the friends was actually competing in the German crossbow shooting championship in an attached area. There are 14 major beer tents in all, each seating between 1,000 and 8,500 guests inside, plus additional outdoor seating.

The Armbrustschützen-Paulaner tent, in the early morning.

A view of the Tent from the front balcony. The balconies contain mostly reserved seating, which you have to get 6 or more months ahead of time. In the middle of the tent, you can see the band stage. They play traditional music all day, and starting around 6pm in the evening, they are allowed to play popular songs, such as well known anthems and soccer cheers, which tend to make the crowd a bit rowdier.

Our group near the middle of the day.

My German friend Sascha, myself, and an Italian woman who couldn't speak German or English--so I got to practice my limited Italian (i.e. Spanish) skills with her.

Two of the other American students who practiced the best strategy for Italian weekend--they found a group of wealthy Italian men with a reserved table and managed to get them to buy all of their drinks and food. I met up with them to mooch some chicken.

A waitress carrying 9 liters of beer. The most talented ones can carry more like 12 to 15.

After we got out of the tent around 8pm, we decided to go for a ride on the "Freefall Tower." Fortunately, nobody threw up, and I managed to get some great night shots of the festival from above!

The view along the major row of beer tents.

The view in the direction of the roller coasters and one of the entrances.

The beer tent of the famous Hofbräuhaus. All Germans know to avoid it, due to the massive throngs of clueless tourists.

That about raps up Oktoberfest. In other news, my parents are visiting Germany and Austria this week. They spent the last couple of days with me in Munich, and now I'm travelling with them for a few days through the Austrian Alps. Once I get back to Munich, classes at the University will start on Monday, and meanwhile I'll try to share more from my travels. Bis dann!

-TG-

Switching gears

2008-09-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

Today was the final test for the intensive language course that the other program participants and myself have been taking for the past four weeks. It's quite satisfying to finally be done with it. I'm really looking forward to things from here on out. Having class for 5 to 6 hours a day every day of the week and a significant amount of homework most night has been somewhat disappointing, partly because it is all time spent hanging out with other Americans and not being able to explore Munich on my own as much as I would like to.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to get in one more visit to Oktoberfest because on Monday, we are heading to the Hauptstadt (Berlin, that is), for a five day trip. I'm a little worried that the trip might be too packed with organized activities, but I'm excited nonetheless because Berlin is just plain cool, and I had such a great time when I visited it last summer.

Meanwhile, classes at the university here start 2 weeks from Monday, and I've been busy trying to figure out what classes I'm going to take and how one needs to sign up for them (it's different for every class and every department). I'm excited to begin taking classes with other Germans though.

Schöne Wochenende!

-TG-

Anfang des Oktoberfests

2008-09-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

So, the first day of Oktoberfest has come and gone, and it was quite an adventure. Here's the day in pictures...

Our group looking somewhat determined to make it into the tents at around 9am.

Our view of the Bavaria Statue as we entered the Theresienwiese.

Part of the Löwenbräu tent.

The Hacker Festzelt, and the parade leading up to the 12pm tapping of the first barrel, or Fass, by the mayor of Munich.

A video showing the Entry of the Oktoberfest Staff and Brewers in front of the Augustiner tent.

Me enjoying eine Maß!

Unfortunately, we weren't able to get inside the tents, but we still had quite a bit of fun and drank a whole lot of beer! We were glad that we got to see some of the big opening ceremonies and all make it home safely.

I'll probably have more to report from Oktoberfest later, as I'm going back tomorrow with some Germans that I met through a friend last year in Evanston.

Prosit!

-TG-

Castles & more

2008-09-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

I thought I should at least offer a quick update. Neuschwanstein was pretty cool, although I think it looks better from the outside than inside. We also saw a few other famous churches and palaces as well. Here are some of them:

Neuschwanstein

The view from behind Neuschwanstein...including the freezing mountain lake in which we went swimming!

Wiesnkirche, a famous Baroque church--really unique and interesting

Myself, and the view of the Alpen foothills from Wiesnkirche

Another palace built by the same king as Neuschwanstein...and the only one that he finished

In other news, the weather has plummeted Chicago-style from around 25 C on average to around 12 C (or 77 F to 53 F). What happened to the nice range of temperature in between!? Anyway, I'm glad I managed to take advantage of the nice weather while it was around. It also rained for a number of days, but it seems to be drying up just in time for Oktoberfest!

Yes, the famed Oktoberfest is indeed coming up tomorrow, when the two weeks of festivities will begin. A group of the other American students and myself are all waking up early to find seats in the beer tents. Wish us luck, as we head out in Tracht.

-TG-

Die erste Woche

2008-09-09T23:06:00.000-07:00

As I head into my second week in Munich, I'm still having a blast. We have a bit more homework from the language course, which I find unfortunate, but I still can't help but go outside and enjoy Munich as much as possible, as the weather has been great.

For my first Saturday in Munich, I got a group of my fellow students to come with me to a nearby lake, Ammersee, to enjoy the especially warm weather. It took a little over an hour to get there with the regional/commuter rail (not including having to work out the rather complex manner in which to pay for the trip), but it was well worth it.

This is the awesome little spot we found along the lake. Beautiful, clear water? Check. Dock for jumping off? Check.

Nice grass for sunbathing? Check. Beach volleyball court and beer stand? Check check.

And this was a beautiful old house that was part of a small tennis club or something that we walked by.

And we enjoyed a small picnic on our fun little day trip.

Tomorrow, instead of having our language course, we're going to visit the King Ludwig castles, including the ever famous Neuschwanstein. I can only hope it's as cool as it looks in pictures.

-TG-

Ich bin schon da!

2008-09-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

So, nearly 24 hours of travelling and one lost bag later, I made it to Munich and finally found a helpful German to set up the internet on my computer, since it seems to take quite a bit of careful negotiation.

This is my fourth day in Munich, after having arrived around 2pm on Monday. Yesterday, I finally got my second checked bag back from the airlines, who originally left it in Frankfurt. (note to self: avoid US Airways in the future)

Unlike most of the other 20 or so students in the study abroad program, I didn't arrive early in the weekend, so I still haven't had much time to explore the city. Our language course began on Tuesday morning. Mostly, I've only had time to unpack, buy various things to furnish my dorm room, and try and catch up on the sleep I lost to traveling. So far, everything has gone pretty well--even the lost bag hasn't really dampened my spirits, as I am incredibly excited to be back in Germany.

Most of what I have seen of the city is from the bicycle tour that we went on Tuesday afternoon. We left from the Hauptbahnhof, and went past several of Munich's landmarks.

After leaving the Hauptbahnhof, we stopped to learn some historical context in the Königsplatz.

Karolinenplatz--Hitler gave "private" speeches in the houses here after being banned from speaking in public.

A fusion of old and new architecture at the home of the Bavarian Chancellor.

The Englischer Garten, one of the largest urban parks in the world. It runs all the way from the Stadtzentrum (city center) to the Studentenstadt (where I live), and beyond. It has something for everyone, from lakes, to grassy fields, to rivers, to biergartens.

There's even a spot where one can practice some version of surfing (though it's officially "verboten").

Half of the group of students went on the tour with me, and the other half will go on Friday.

The bike tour was also a great chance to see the amazing biking facilities in Munich, which make it incredibly easy to get around town by bike. I can't wait to find a second-hand bike, which I can add to the thousands and thousands of others that crowd the sidewalks throughout the city.

And, one final thing worth mentioning--last night, I went to my first biergarten, a beautiful spot on Kleinhesselohersee (a small lake) in the Englischer Garten. So, I'll end with a photo of the Seehaus Biergarten.

-TG-