My talk with the head of EG-5 with the other Praktikanten.
Abend auf Gunters Terasse mit seine freunde. Canasta.
My week of reading Frau Garth's book on Kunststoff.
Praktikante Veranstaltungen - Wasserstoff treibstoffzellen
Betriebssammlung
Besuch von Peggy
Sommernachtstraum
Brotzeit
Hair cut
Tour of the plant testing facility
Samstag, 12. Dezember 2009
Montag, 30. November 2009
Letzte Woche bei BMW
So, my last week at BMW...
On Monday, I spent a fair amount of time explaining why I was gone the week before and why I was running in a graveyard. At this point, I started preparing my presentation for Frau Garth at the Department meeting. Also on Monday, I visited the ID office to get a new ID having lost the one that I had originallyDue to a bit of mis-communication, I was supposed to present on Wednesday, but wound up presenting on Thursday because I was not quite prepared yet. On Wednesday, Ramsey presented his material for the second time because there were some people who wanted to see it but didn't get the chance to the first time. Cassidy delivered her presentation on Wednesday as well. Thursday I left work after my presentation so as to be able to meet up with my Dad at the Ambassador Park Hotel and wander around a bit. Friday I left BMW about an hour earlier than usual because it was my last day. Ramsey, Cassidy and I sat and talked together for about an hour before we all had to leave. Before leaving, I gave my ID to the security counter in FIZ.
On Monday, I spent a fair amount of time explaining why I was gone the week before and why I was running in a graveyard. At this point, I started preparing my presentation for Frau Garth at the Department meeting. Also on Monday, I visited the ID office to get a new ID having lost the one that I had originallyDue to a bit of mis-communication, I was supposed to present on Wednesday, but wound up presenting on Thursday because I was not quite prepared yet. On Wednesday, Ramsey presented his material for the second time because there were some people who wanted to see it but didn't get the chance to the first time. Cassidy delivered her presentation on Wednesday as well. Thursday I left work after my presentation so as to be able to meet up with my Dad at the Ambassador Park Hotel and wander around a bit. Friday I left BMW about an hour earlier than usual because it was my last day. Ramsey, Cassidy and I sat and talked together for about an hour before we all had to leave. Before leaving, I gave my ID to the security counter in FIZ.
Samstag, 8. August 2009
Post ?? Second to last week at BMW
Monday started at BMW. I got to talk with Luis about music some more because of Bayreuth. It was nice. Otherwise, it was a fairly uneventful day at BMW.
Then the fun stuff begins.
Monday night I plotted a 3 mile running route using GoogleMaps Distance Calculator (very useful tool) through the Waldfriedhof at the end of Heiglhofstraße. It was a nice run, but then I came across the locked gates. They had locked the friedhof for the night. Me, in my.....wisdom, decided it would be feasible to jump over the gate. (The entire set up consisted of (from left to right) fence with barbed wire, a stone column with a flat top, the metal gates with the cemetary-spiky things on top, then another column with a flat top, and more fence.) There was a metal bar that connected the second column with the middle of the gates to keep them from being forced open from the outside. This provided an easy way to get up on top of the column from whence, it would be a matter of a jump down on the other side no problem. The plan worked great until it came to the jumping down on the other side bit. For some unknown reason, I decided to steady myself on the metal gate with my hands between the metal things. At the point that I jumped, I think my right hand slipped a bit and as result, I sliced my right index finger pretty badly on the gate. After realizing what happened, I quickly applied pressure with my other hand and refused to move my hands until I had help nearby.
Luckily, it was about a 7-8 minute walk from there to my apartment door, and as I arrived Ramsey was coming down the sidewalk from the other direction. After soliciting his help, we went in and rinsed the blood off from my hands, then released the pressure from the wound. Fortunately, it wasn't actually bleeding all that much, but enough that I think it fairly well washed itself out. At this point, I took some toilet paper, wrapped the wound and laid down on the floor with my hand proped up above my head to get the wound to stop bleeding enough to move safely. The entire time, Ramsey was there talking with me to make sure that I stayed conscious. On my descriptions, he'd already pulled my cell phone, keys, and wallet with insureance information out of my room.
After putting a second (wet) wrap on the cut we decided it would be best to head off to the Klinikum, only about 10 minutes away. Yay Klinikum Großhadern. We arrived, and walked into the Nothilfe part of the hospital where we sat for 15 minutes while the guy behind the desk filled out paperwork based on insureance info etc. Here, I was told that since I wasn't insured in
Germany, I'd need to pay 200€ in cash. Not having the cash on me, he said I could pay it later, then he asked me to sign something, which I also couldn't do with my writing hand all wrapped up in toilet paper. After this, I was taken back to their Operating Area where two nurses (student and teacher) assessed the wound, cleaned it a little, and re-wrapped it for me, then told me that the doctor would be available in about 25 minutes.
So, I went and waited outside for the doctor. At this point, I told Ramsey that if he needed to, he should go back home. The doctor took me back to the same room and had me lay down on the table with an extension for my arm. After asking me if I could feel this and that and if I could bend my finger this way and that, they preped for "surgery" and gave me anesthetic, which, me and anesthetic don't go well together. It was a local anesthetic just for the finger, but I started shivering quite a lot, such that there were a few moments where my right hand started shivering and the doctor had to stop prep for a second. Then after a few moments of nausea, the nurse put a stool on the end of the table for my feet. After a minute or so with my feet in the air, everything went much better.
The doctor proceeded to fully clean the wound and pinched my nerve with his tweezers for some unknown reason. Then he proceeded to put in the stitches. I could still kinda feel it, but it wasn't all that bad. He wound up putting 9 stitches in my finger. Throughout the whole thing the nurse was looking over me and making sure that I didn't close my eyes for too long.
After the doctor was finished with the 9 stitches he wrapped it up again. After that, they rolled me in a wheelchair to another part of the office where they made a brace for me. After the brace, they sent me to the X-ray rooms for 2 X-ray pictures. All travel via wheelchair. Once done there, around 1:30, they sent me home.
Upon arriving home, I sent an e-mail to Frau Garth, Herr Leistner, and Herr Schröter explaining that I would be arrivng later than expected and have an appointment at 12. I went to BMW to see if I could find them in person, but none of them were there, so I talked with Herr Glas and Severin Mayer. I gave them the Arbeitsunfähigkeitbescheinigung that explained that I can't work until after the 7th of August. They explained that because of the bescheinigung, I was not insured and therefore not allowed to go into work. At the appointment, they removed the bandages, at which point, I almost became unmächtig. So once there was a new bandage on the wound, the nurse had me lay down with my feet up for a while. At which point, he asked when the last time was that I'd eaten something (about 24 hours before). So he walked me to the hospital cafeteria, where I had a pretty good lunch and the cashier behind the counter saw my hand and had another employee carry my tray to the table for me because she didn't think I could with only one hand. From here, I went home and slept for a while.
On Wednesday, I got up late, and took the U-bahn to Marienplatz. From there I walked North for about an hour and a half, then realized that I should try to fix the issue with the StudentenWerk. I rushed back as quick as I could, but arrived about 10 minutes too late. Once I got home, I tried practicing trombone a little, but it didn't work out all that well because the quick change in directions kept hurting my finger.
On Thursday, I had another appointment at 10 where they took off my brace and gave me a sock type thing that is tied to my wrist. They also gave me the x-ray pictures and told me that if I wanted, I could go into work. After calling work, they said that I would still be uninsured, so it wouldn't work. So, I went to the Studentenwerk to fix the issue. What happened was, they wound up not taking my rent for July, so I tried to figure out why. They didn't know why it didn't work, so they told me to go to my bank and transfer the money that way.
On Friday, I went to the music part of the Staatsbibliothek and since they weren't too nice, I didn't stay. So I took the U6 to Frötmanning and to my suprise, the train went above ground. So, I saw the Allianz Arena, and the StadtWerk München Technische Basis. On the route back, I stopped at the Nordfriedhof to walk around a bit. It was a nice friedhof. From here, I went back to the apartment.
All in all, an interesting time.
Then the fun stuff begins.
Monday night I plotted a 3 mile running route using GoogleMaps Distance Calculator (very useful tool) through the Waldfriedhof at the end of Heiglhofstraße. It was a nice run, but then I came across the locked gates. They had locked the friedhof for the night. Me, in my.....wisdom, decided it would be feasible to jump over the gate. (The entire set up consisted of (from left to right) fence with barbed wire, a stone column with a flat top, the metal gates with the cemetary-spiky things on top, then another column with a flat top, and more fence.) There was a metal bar that connected the second column with the middle of the gates to keep them from being forced open from the outside. This provided an easy way to get up on top of the column from whence, it would be a matter of a jump down on the other side no problem. The plan worked great until it came to the jumping down on the other side bit. For some unknown reason, I decided to steady myself on the metal gate with my hands between the metal things. At the point that I jumped, I think my right hand slipped a bit and as result, I sliced my right index finger pretty badly on the gate. After realizing what happened, I quickly applied pressure with my other hand and refused to move my hands until I had help nearby.
Luckily, it was about a 7-8 minute walk from there to my apartment door, and as I arrived Ramsey was coming down the sidewalk from the other direction. After soliciting his help, we went in and rinsed the blood off from my hands, then released the pressure from the wound. Fortunately, it wasn't actually bleeding all that much, but enough that I think it fairly well washed itself out. At this point, I took some toilet paper, wrapped the wound and laid down on the floor with my hand proped up above my head to get the wound to stop bleeding enough to move safely. The entire time, Ramsey was there talking with me to make sure that I stayed conscious. On my descriptions, he'd already pulled my cell phone, keys, and wallet with insureance information out of my room.
After putting a second (wet) wrap on the cut we decided it would be best to head off to the Klinikum, only about 10 minutes away. Yay Klinikum Großhadern. We arrived, and walked into the Nothilfe part of the hospital where we sat for 15 minutes while the guy behind the desk filled out paperwork based on insureance info etc. Here, I was told that since I wasn't insured in
Germany, I'd need to pay 200€ in cash. Not having the cash on me, he said I could pay it later, then he asked me to sign something, which I also couldn't do with my writing hand all wrapped up in toilet paper. After this, I was taken back to their Operating Area where two nurses (student and teacher) assessed the wound, cleaned it a little, and re-wrapped it for me, then told me that the doctor would be available in about 25 minutes.
So, I went and waited outside for the doctor. At this point, I told Ramsey that if he needed to, he should go back home. The doctor took me back to the same room and had me lay down on the table with an extension for my arm. After asking me if I could feel this and that and if I could bend my finger this way and that, they preped for "surgery" and gave me anesthetic, which, me and anesthetic don't go well together. It was a local anesthetic just for the finger, but I started shivering quite a lot, such that there were a few moments where my right hand started shivering and the doctor had to stop prep for a second. Then after a few moments of nausea, the nurse put a stool on the end of the table for my feet. After a minute or so with my feet in the air, everything went much better.
The doctor proceeded to fully clean the wound and pinched my nerve with his tweezers for some unknown reason. Then he proceeded to put in the stitches. I could still kinda feel it, but it wasn't all that bad. He wound up putting 9 stitches in my finger. Throughout the whole thing the nurse was looking over me and making sure that I didn't close my eyes for too long.
After the doctor was finished with the 9 stitches he wrapped it up again. After that, they rolled me in a wheelchair to another part of the office where they made a brace for me. After the brace, they sent me to the X-ray rooms for 2 X-ray pictures. All travel via wheelchair. Once done there, around 1:30, they sent me home.
Upon arriving home, I sent an e-mail to Frau Garth, Herr Leistner, and Herr Schröter explaining that I would be arrivng later than expected and have an appointment at 12. I went to BMW to see if I could find them in person, but none of them were there, so I talked with Herr Glas and Severin Mayer. I gave them the Arbeitsunfähigkeitbescheinigung that explained that I can't work until after the 7th of August. They explained that because of the bescheinigung, I was not insured and therefore not allowed to go into work. At the appointment, they removed the bandages, at which point, I almost became unmächtig. So once there was a new bandage on the wound, the nurse had me lay down with my feet up for a while. At which point, he asked when the last time was that I'd eaten something (about 24 hours before). So he walked me to the hospital cafeteria, where I had a pretty good lunch and the cashier behind the counter saw my hand and had another employee carry my tray to the table for me because she didn't think I could with only one hand. From here, I went home and slept for a while.
On Wednesday, I got up late, and took the U-bahn to Marienplatz. From there I walked North for about an hour and a half, then realized that I should try to fix the issue with the StudentenWerk. I rushed back as quick as I could, but arrived about 10 minutes too late. Once I got home, I tried practicing trombone a little, but it didn't work out all that well because the quick change in directions kept hurting my finger.
On Thursday, I had another appointment at 10 where they took off my brace and gave me a sock type thing that is tied to my wrist. They also gave me the x-ray pictures and told me that if I wanted, I could go into work. After calling work, they said that I would still be uninsured, so it wouldn't work. So, I went to the Studentenwerk to fix the issue. What happened was, they wound up not taking my rent for July, so I tried to figure out why. They didn't know why it didn't work, so they told me to go to my bank and transfer the money that way.
On Friday, I went to the music part of the Staatsbibliothek and since they weren't too nice, I didn't stay. So I took the U6 to Frötmanning and to my suprise, the train went above ground. So, I saw the Allianz Arena, and the StadtWerk München Technische Basis. On the route back, I stopped at the Nordfriedhof to walk around a bit. It was a nice friedhof. From here, I went back to the apartment.
All in all, an interesting time.
Montag, 3. August 2009
Post ?? Woche Nr. 10 bei BMW
Monday
Proben ausgeschickt
"Urlaub Gunter Schröter"
Klebstoffrunde fällt aus
Tuesday
Anruf von Anton Paar und proRheo
Wednesday
Lukawitz, Bukovina mit Herr Djuga
Besondere Aufgabe von Herr Djuga
Thursday
Klebstoff Versuchen
Friday
Übersetzung
Lebewohl Herr Djuga
Gruppenrunde
FIZ
Busfährt
Hochhaus
Sonntag, 2. August 2009
Post #?? Wochenende in Bayreuth
Well, woke up at 11:30pm on Friday, to catch the 2am train from the Hauptbahnhof to Augsburg. From Augsburg to Nürnberg to Bayreuth, arriving at 7am. Immediately after getting off the train, looking North, I saw, for the first time, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus about a mile entfernt. It was half concealed behind the trees, but the over-stage equipment house, was clearly visible. I walked to the Festspielhaus, and found the Ticket office so I knew where I needed to go to try to get a ticket. I was the only person there. The crew had not even yet arrived to clear the stage from Siegfried, and prepare for Götterdämmerung. That all started around 8am. At the back of the building is a giant door that opens out to the street. Across the street is an equally large door opening to one of the rehearsal stages (the space between covered by an extension of the rooves) Around 8:30, they opened the doors and started moving scenery around. It was quite a production. (The sets are HUGE!) After wandering around for a bit, I sat down at the ticket office about 9am. The second person in line arrived at 10:00. If only it had been a different person. (as I found out later, this person was the most annoying person imaginable to sit next to during an opera.) Shortly thereafter, an elderly man arrived. He noticed my MMB t-shirt and asked about it. I told him that I was here for an internship for BMW from the University of Michigan. He asked if that was my first time in Bayreuth. (yes) He then wished me the best of luck in getting a ticket as a student on my first day in Bayreuth. After that, he asked where I had learned to speak German so well. I found that to be quite a compliment. At this point, person-in-line #2 returned, and proceeded to monopolize the conversation btween myself and this elderly man. (gr)
Anyway, about 11:00, a couple came by and told us that they couldn't make it to the performance tonight, so the first two people in line could have their tickets. After handing over more € than I care to admit and having the name on the ticket switched from their name to mine, I had my ticket to see the first performance of the season of Götterdämmerung at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.
After finding out that the opera will go until about 22:35, I realized that I needed to look at the train schedule for that evening, so I knew how I was getting home. (there was a train that was leaving at 21:16, then the next that connected to München was leaving at 5:03am).
After finding that out, I went back to the festspielhaus in the hopes of possibly exchanging my ticket for a cheaper one (didn't work), so after talking with the folks at the counter, I wound up laying down on a bench across the street behind a row of hedges, and (inadvertently) fell asleep a few times over the course of the next 2 hours. After that, I went back over to the line. About at same time, the 2nd Norn came rushing up asking if somebody needed a ticket, I said that I already had one and was looking for a cheaper one (mistake). Another woman was standing there, and said that she needed a ticket. So she got it from the Norn. Completely free. If only I'd thought better on my feet!!!!!!
In any case, I then wandered around the Richard Wagner Park until 3:30 when the doors opened. At 3:45 the inner doors opened and I was allowed to find my seat. Also at 3:45, the brass section steped out onto the balcony of the Königsbau (the front part of the theater) and played the Curse theme to announce that it was almost time. I found my seat and we all sat down. I felt horribly underdressed. Most everybody there was either in a suit, tuxedo, or a fancy dress. I was the only person there in cargo pants, and a t-shirt. But I think I was much more comfortable than everybody else (there is no air conditioning of any sort inside the Haus, so the air moved only slightly and gradually got warmer over the course of the next 6 hours). The person on my left (person #2 in line) was the most annoying person to sit next to during an opera. Every minute or so, he would clear his throat. Every two minutes, cough. Every three minutes, he would click his teeth together by twitching his head to one side forcefully. About every 2 minutes he would say "Hmm" really short and at the absolute most inoppurtune moments. It was unbelievably annoying. I felt like turning and smacking him or something.
At the end of the first act, the person one row behind us and behind this other person, looked at me, met my glance, and gestured to the other person and rolled his eyes. So I wasn't the only person annoyed at him. After the internmission, the person behind me saw my t-shirt and asked if I was in a Jugendorchester (youth orchestra) which led to an explanation of why I was there. He said that the person sitting next to me should have brought Bon-Bons to that he didn't have to keep clearing his throat. He also said that, for that being my first day in Bayreuth, I was extremely lucky to get a ticket. (most people wait 7-10 years). Course, as the person sitting next to me pointed out (as he walked in on our conversation), he managed to secure 6 tickets for himself that morning from the ticket counter (for the 4th or 5th time that day, that I heard). The guy behind me asked how I was liking the opera thus far. I said it was amazing. The performers were amazing, the orchestra was amazing, the accoustics were amazing, the set design was extremely well done (not extremely modern/crazy, but actually fit with the opera), the atmosphere was truly the only one like it in the world. At the second intermission (yes, two intermissions, each lasting 1 hour) I got to talking with the person on my other side, a nice middle aged Frau who was there with her husband. She mentioned that she had the chance to see Götterdämmerung at the previous Inszenierung (I know what it means, but not sure of a proper translation) and was much more impressed with this one. (Every 7 years or so, they change cast/scenery/costumes etc. and apparently, the last one wasn't all that great).
The Festspielhaus Zuschauerraum (auditorium) is completely built from wood. The floor underneath the seats is wood, the walls, the columns, the roof, everything. There is very minimal fabric. I believe that the only fabric in the room was the small amount on the seat part of the seats, and the curtain. Nowhere else could fabric be found: not the backs of the seats, not even the painted-on fabric that "draped" over the edge of the boxes in the back. The orchestra pit cover seemed to be made out of one large piece of Kunststoff. The columns and architecture of the building, drew your eyes to the stage and was simple enough that you couldn't get distracted from the action on stage. When the orchestra played, you could hear it really well; every single instrument not matter how loud they played. I think that the Orchestra pit cover was connected very well to the floor under the seats, because when the orchestra played (basses, brass, strings, percussion, everybody) you could feel it through your feet in the floorboard. Even from the 26th row (almost in the back). The performers did very, very well. The balance between the orchestra at full power and the Bass that played Hagen was amazing. Even with full power orchestra, you could still hear him over the orchestra. The only person that seemed to have issues with the singer/orchestra balance was, unfortunately,......Brünhilde. Yes, Brünhilde, the person that two operas ago had the Hajatoho's of the Ride of the Valkyries against the orchestra. She did an amazing job, but there were two points in the opera, where she was singing, but you couldn't hear her. Multiple times that all you could here were the notes (not really the vowels and no consonants whatsoever). But when the orchestra was a bit more subdued, you could hear her very well.
After the Opera was over I was suprised at how short the applause was at the end. They only made 4 curtain calls. For Die Piraten von Penzance, they made 7 or 8. Granted by this time it was 10:45 and the opera had started at 4:00. From there, I was suprised to see how quickly the place cleared out. After stopping for a night time picture of the Festspielhaus before I left, I went directly to the Hauptbahnhof (from which in the morning, I had a very clear view of the festspielhaus) and when I got there, I looked back, but all the lights around the Haus had been turned off already. Meaning that in that 10-15 minutes, all 1974 people in the Zuschauerraum had cleared off of the premises. Quite impressive. Also impressive was the line of taxis that had lined up outside the Haus (using their own specially made drive that during the rest of the day had been blocked off).
So, now I was at the Hauptbahnhof and it was just after 11:00. The next train that I needed wasn't going to be leaving until 5:03. So, given that I hadn't eaten anything that entire day except for a ham and cheese pretzle at 7am, I had a small meal at McDonald's. (the only place that was still open and didn't cost an arm and a leg). The food at the Festspielhaus was unbelievably expensive (2 € for one scoop of ice cream, 2 € for a breze, 3,50€ for 0,3L of bier as opposed to elsewhere: 1€ for scoop, 0,59 for Bretze, 3,50 for 0,5L bier). By this point, I was quite hungry. I'd walked between the festspielhaus and the Hauptbahnhof a grand total of 6 times. I managed to stay in the lounge at a hotel in the area of the Hauptbahnhof for a few hours. At that point, I started listening to the Harry Potter German audiobook for the next hour and a half until the train was there and ready for people to get on. I listened through 3 chapters, I think.
Anyway, I wound up sleeping quite a bit on the train to Nürnberg, and again to München.
All in all, depite the fact that it was a very expensive day, I am glad that I did it. Now I have experienced a little bit of Wagner as Wagner intended it. (except for the annoying person next to me....that was not all that great).
Today (Sunday) I took a 4,5 hour nap and otherwise haven't done a whole lot (arrived back at the apartment around 10:00, checked e-mail, then went to sleep until 3. I'd been up the majority of two nights in a row, as well as siting through a 6 hour opera.
Like I said though. It was an amazing experience.
Oh, I just remembered one of the conversation topics that I had with the elderly man in line. He asked how it was that a student like me from the United States was interested in Wagner enough to make the trek to Bayreuth, sit in line for 5 hours (until the office opened. this was before I had gotten the ticket, so I was expecting to still be waiting until the office opened to get one.) and the sit through Wagner's second longest Opera. I answered that I had always loved Wagner's music, being introduced to it through waking up to Ride of the Valkyries on many a Saturday morning. From there, once I got to University, I had the opportunity to go through the entire Ring Cycle thanks to the Music Library. So Dad, if you are reading this, even though at the time I wasn't too pleased about it, thank you so very much for those Saturday morning wake-up songs.
Anyway, about 11:00, a couple came by and told us that they couldn't make it to the performance tonight, so the first two people in line could have their tickets. After handing over more € than I care to admit and having the name on the ticket switched from their name to mine, I had my ticket to see the first performance of the season of Götterdämmerung at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.
After finding out that the opera will go until about 22:35, I realized that I needed to look at the train schedule for that evening, so I knew how I was getting home. (there was a train that was leaving at 21:16, then the next that connected to München was leaving at 5:03am).
After finding that out, I went back to the festspielhaus in the hopes of possibly exchanging my ticket for a cheaper one (didn't work), so after talking with the folks at the counter, I wound up laying down on a bench across the street behind a row of hedges, and (inadvertently) fell asleep a few times over the course of the next 2 hours. After that, I went back over to the line. About at same time, the 2nd Norn came rushing up asking if somebody needed a ticket, I said that I already had one and was looking for a cheaper one (mistake). Another woman was standing there, and said that she needed a ticket. So she got it from the Norn. Completely free. If only I'd thought better on my feet!!!!!!
In any case, I then wandered around the Richard Wagner Park until 3:30 when the doors opened. At 3:45 the inner doors opened and I was allowed to find my seat. Also at 3:45, the brass section steped out onto the balcony of the Königsbau (the front part of the theater) and played the Curse theme to announce that it was almost time. I found my seat and we all sat down. I felt horribly underdressed. Most everybody there was either in a suit, tuxedo, or a fancy dress. I was the only person there in cargo pants, and a t-shirt. But I think I was much more comfortable than everybody else (there is no air conditioning of any sort inside the Haus, so the air moved only slightly and gradually got warmer over the course of the next 6 hours). The person on my left (person #2 in line) was the most annoying person to sit next to during an opera. Every minute or so, he would clear his throat. Every two minutes, cough. Every three minutes, he would click his teeth together by twitching his head to one side forcefully. About every 2 minutes he would say "Hmm" really short and at the absolute most inoppurtune moments. It was unbelievably annoying. I felt like turning and smacking him or something.
At the end of the first act, the person one row behind us and behind this other person, looked at me, met my glance, and gestured to the other person and rolled his eyes. So I wasn't the only person annoyed at him. After the internmission, the person behind me saw my t-shirt and asked if I was in a Jugendorchester (youth orchestra) which led to an explanation of why I was there. He said that the person sitting next to me should have brought Bon-Bons to that he didn't have to keep clearing his throat. He also said that, for that being my first day in Bayreuth, I was extremely lucky to get a ticket. (most people wait 7-10 years). Course, as the person sitting next to me pointed out (as he walked in on our conversation), he managed to secure 6 tickets for himself that morning from the ticket counter (for the 4th or 5th time that day, that I heard). The guy behind me asked how I was liking the opera thus far. I said it was amazing. The performers were amazing, the orchestra was amazing, the accoustics were amazing, the set design was extremely well done (not extremely modern/crazy, but actually fit with the opera), the atmosphere was truly the only one like it in the world. At the second intermission (yes, two intermissions, each lasting 1 hour) I got to talking with the person on my other side, a nice middle aged Frau who was there with her husband. She mentioned that she had the chance to see Götterdämmerung at the previous Inszenierung (I know what it means, but not sure of a proper translation) and was much more impressed with this one. (Every 7 years or so, they change cast/scenery/costumes etc. and apparently, the last one wasn't all that great).
The Festspielhaus Zuschauerraum (auditorium) is completely built from wood. The floor underneath the seats is wood, the walls, the columns, the roof, everything. There is very minimal fabric. I believe that the only fabric in the room was the small amount on the seat part of the seats, and the curtain. Nowhere else could fabric be found: not the backs of the seats, not even the painted-on fabric that "draped" over the edge of the boxes in the back. The orchestra pit cover seemed to be made out of one large piece of Kunststoff. The columns and architecture of the building, drew your eyes to the stage and was simple enough that you couldn't get distracted from the action on stage. When the orchestra played, you could hear it really well; every single instrument not matter how loud they played. I think that the Orchestra pit cover was connected very well to the floor under the seats, because when the orchestra played (basses, brass, strings, percussion, everybody) you could feel it through your feet in the floorboard. Even from the 26th row (almost in the back). The performers did very, very well. The balance between the orchestra at full power and the Bass that played Hagen was amazing. Even with full power orchestra, you could still hear him over the orchestra. The only person that seemed to have issues with the singer/orchestra balance was, unfortunately,......Brünhilde. Yes, Brünhilde, the person that two operas ago had the Hajatoho's of the Ride of the Valkyries against the orchestra. She did an amazing job, but there were two points in the opera, where she was singing, but you couldn't hear her. Multiple times that all you could here were the notes (not really the vowels and no consonants whatsoever). But when the orchestra was a bit more subdued, you could hear her very well.
After the Opera was over I was suprised at how short the applause was at the end. They only made 4 curtain calls. For Die Piraten von Penzance, they made 7 or 8. Granted by this time it was 10:45 and the opera had started at 4:00. From there, I was suprised to see how quickly the place cleared out. After stopping for a night time picture of the Festspielhaus before I left, I went directly to the Hauptbahnhof (from which in the morning, I had a very clear view of the festspielhaus) and when I got there, I looked back, but all the lights around the Haus had been turned off already. Meaning that in that 10-15 minutes, all 1974 people in the Zuschauerraum had cleared off of the premises. Quite impressive. Also impressive was the line of taxis that had lined up outside the Haus (using their own specially made drive that during the rest of the day had been blocked off).
So, now I was at the Hauptbahnhof and it was just after 11:00. The next train that I needed wasn't going to be leaving until 5:03. So, given that I hadn't eaten anything that entire day except for a ham and cheese pretzle at 7am, I had a small meal at McDonald's. (the only place that was still open and didn't cost an arm and a leg). The food at the Festspielhaus was unbelievably expensive (2 € for one scoop of ice cream, 2 € for a breze, 3,50€ for 0,3L of bier as opposed to elsewhere: 1€ for scoop, 0,59 for Bretze, 3,50 for 0,5L bier). By this point, I was quite hungry. I'd walked between the festspielhaus and the Hauptbahnhof a grand total of 6 times. I managed to stay in the lounge at a hotel in the area of the Hauptbahnhof for a few hours. At that point, I started listening to the Harry Potter German audiobook for the next hour and a half until the train was there and ready for people to get on. I listened through 3 chapters, I think.
Anyway, I wound up sleeping quite a bit on the train to Nürnberg, and again to München.
All in all, depite the fact that it was a very expensive day, I am glad that I did it. Now I have experienced a little bit of Wagner as Wagner intended it. (except for the annoying person next to me....that was not all that great).
Today (Sunday) I took a 4,5 hour nap and otherwise haven't done a whole lot (arrived back at the apartment around 10:00, checked e-mail, then went to sleep until 3. I'd been up the majority of two nights in a row, as well as siting through a 6 hour opera.
Like I said though. It was an amazing experience.
Oh, I just remembered one of the conversation topics that I had with the elderly man in line. He asked how it was that a student like me from the United States was interested in Wagner enough to make the trek to Bayreuth, sit in line for 5 hours (until the office opened. this was before I had gotten the ticket, so I was expecting to still be waiting until the office opened to get one.) and the sit through Wagner's second longest Opera. I answered that I had always loved Wagner's music, being introduced to it through waking up to Ride of the Valkyries on many a Saturday morning. From there, once I got to University, I had the opportunity to go through the entire Ring Cycle thanks to the Music Library. So Dad, if you are reading this, even though at the time I wasn't too pleased about it, thank you so very much for those Saturday morning wake-up songs.
Freitag, 17. Juli 2009
Post# ?? Wochenende Nr. 8
This was a somewhat relaxing weekend.
At first, I had plans to visit Dorian Hall in Berlin, but in the end the ticket would have been 220€, so I decided against it. But in order to find that out, I was up at 3 in the morning, ready to catch the train from Klinikum Großhadern at 4:13, but at 4:12 I couldn't exactly remember if I'd locked my door, so I had to run back, and wound up needing to catch the train at 5:03. I wound up wandering the Hauptbahnhof until 6:30 gathering information about train schedules and possible other destinations that Dorian and I could meet up at. So, hopefully, we can meet up in Bayreuth on the weekend of August 1.
After I got back from this excursion, I slept for a few hours, and got up in time to be on Marienplatz at 12 Mittag. I didn't realize it until then, but at 12 that day was the official start of the Christopher Street Day Parade from Marienplatz to Müllerstraße. After watching this for a while, I went to the Westfriedhof and switched my iPod to Mahler's 2nd Symphony. It was a nice almost 2 hours. The Westfriedhof is very big, but not as old as the Alte Südfriedhof. (By the way, a Friedhof is a graveyard). But despite the depressing sounding nature of an excursion of this type, it actually isn't. The Friedhöfe here are very well kept, and with the amount of flowers that are placed around on the graves, it would be hard to feel depressed while there.
At first, I had plans to visit Dorian Hall in Berlin, but in the end the ticket would have been 220€, so I decided against it. But in order to find that out, I was up at 3 in the morning, ready to catch the train from Klinikum Großhadern at 4:13, but at 4:12 I couldn't exactly remember if I'd locked my door, so I had to run back, and wound up needing to catch the train at 5:03. I wound up wandering the Hauptbahnhof until 6:30 gathering information about train schedules and possible other destinations that Dorian and I could meet up at. So, hopefully, we can meet up in Bayreuth on the weekend of August 1.
After I got back from this excursion, I slept for a few hours, and got up in time to be on Marienplatz at 12 Mittag. I didn't realize it until then, but at 12 that day was the official start of the Christopher Street Day Parade from Marienplatz to Müllerstraße. After watching this for a while, I went to the Westfriedhof and switched my iPod to Mahler's 2nd Symphony. It was a nice almost 2 hours. The Westfriedhof is very big, but not as old as the Alte Südfriedhof. (By the way, a Friedhof is a graveyard). But despite the depressing sounding nature of an excursion of this type, it actually isn't. The Friedhöfe here are very well kept, and with the amount of flowers that are placed around on the graves, it would be hard to feel depressed while there.
Post#?? BMW Woche Nr. 8
Montag
Dienstag
Mittwoch
Donnerstag
Mittagessen: Wurstlasagna mit Mozzarrella und Gemüse. Es schmeckt sehr gut.
Ich habe mit einen total Fremde Person über einen Handy gesprochen. Es ist ziemlich gut gegangen.
Freitag
Sonntag, 5. Juli 2009
Post #?? Weekend in München
Well, yesterday was spent traveling with my Ansprechspartner Gunter to Motorrad Days in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on his motorcycle. It was a fun day; 2 hours there and 2 hours back. I have come to the conclusion that riding on the back of a motorcycle is like riding a horse. In order to keep steady, you have to use your legs to lower the center of gravity below the level of the spine(of the horse) or the seat(of the motorcycle). It was definitely interesting going at 150 km/h on a motorbike for the first time. Motorrad Days was a fun event. It was held at the base of the Zugspitze in Garmisch and there were a lot of motorräder there. For lunch, we went up the ski-lift and had a meal of bier, semmelknodel, sauerkraut, and the back of a baby pig. On the way back from this event, we made a stop in Trudering for ice cream. Unfortunately, a woman backed into Gunter's parked Motorrad and it tipped over onto the sidewalk. No major damage, just paint and a new side box.
Today, after going to church at Sankt Peter, it rained pretty heavily, so, since I had my trombone with me, I took it and practiced under the umbrellas on Marienplatz during the rain. It was pretty cool. It didn't last a very long time though.
Now, I'm just waiting for a little while before heading down to the free showing of Lohengrin at the Staatstheater.
Today, after going to church at Sankt Peter, it rained pretty heavily, so, since I had my trombone with me, I took it and practiced under the umbrellas on Marienplatz during the rain. It was pretty cool. It didn't last a very long time though.
Now, I'm just waiting for a little while before heading down to the free showing of Lohengrin at the Staatstheater.
Montag, 29. Juni 2009
Week # 5 bei BMW
Montag: Neue Praktikant: Cassidy DeSchryver
Freitag: Nach den Gruppenrunde, bin nach Hause gegangen um 13:45.
Discussion mit Herr Guitarrez-Sanchez über Musik.
Dienstag: 6:20 bis 17:30
Donnerstag: Gilbert und Sullivan "Die Piraten von Penzance"; Generalmajor.
Food Options at BMW FIZ München
For lunch everyday, there is a wide variety of options to choose from in the area of my desk.
1) there is a store across from Herr Leistner's office where you could buy a sandwich, drink, usw.
2) there is the Betriebsgastronomie (company restaurant) at the Formel Eins Werk where they have two stations that serve different things
3) there is the Betriebsgastronomie on the other side of the railroad tracks where they have 4 different stations
or
4) there is the Betriebsgastronomie in FIZ where they have 14 different stations, each with a theme and a selection of different foods.
- Sandwiches
- Asien - asian food
- Mediterran/Gyro/Gratins - mediterenian cuisine
- Terrinen/Süßes - sweet foods
- Mare - seafood
- Pasta - anything that has to do with pasta
- Bavaria & Co. - Leberkäse, and other bavarian speicalties
- Pizza/Gemüse/Salat - Pizza, veggies, and really big salads
- Schnitzel - schnitzel of all types
- Wurstl - anything that has to do with Wurst. (One day they had wurstlasagna)
- Steaks
1) there is a store across from Herr Leistner's office where you could buy a sandwich, drink, usw.
2) there is the Betriebsgastronomie (company restaurant) at the Formel Eins Werk where they have two stations that serve different things
3) there is the Betriebsgastronomie on the other side of the railroad tracks where they have 4 different stations
or
4) there is the Betriebsgastronomie in FIZ where they have 14 different stations, each with a theme and a selection of different foods.
- Sandwiches
- Asien - asian food
- Mediterran/Gyro/Gratins - mediterenian cuisine
- Terrinen/Süßes - sweet foods
- Mare - seafood
- Pasta - anything that has to do with pasta
- Bavaria & Co. - Leberkäse, and other bavarian speicalties
- Pizza/Gemüse/Salat - Pizza, veggies, and really big salads
- Schnitzel - schnitzel of all types
- Wurstl - anything that has to do with Wurst. (One day they had wurstlasagna)
- Steaks
Montag, 22. Juni 2009
Post #14 Weekend
This weekend was somewhat busy.
Gunter had secured a ticket for me for the Patentorchester Konzert in the Herkülensaal in the Residenz. This concert was pretty cool; it was all American composers and american music.
On Sunday, I went to the Heilige Geist Kirche for Mass. It is a very pink church. two concerts. Heilige Geist Kirche. Lunch with Joe at Chinesicher Turm. Band.
Donnerstag, 18. Juni 2009
Post # 13 Week at BMW
This was an interesting week.
On Monday, I went was told that for the rest of the week, I would be working on my own for the rest of the week because Herr Schröter would be in Ulm for the rest of the week. As part of their new employee training procedures, we had to attend what they called the "Erstinformationsveranstaltung" which is a big fancy word for "a presentation where they tell us about what to do in an emergency in these buildings, and what the different signs mean". It was interesting. I got a piece of paper, where I am supposed to collect signatures every time I get a safety discussion. (So later that day, I got the safety clearance to use the Rheometer). But immediately after the Erstinformationsveranstaltung we had our first Technikumsrunde, which is a meeting between our Chefin and all the people who work at the Technikum. As I've since learned, there is a meeting before this meeting (usually) for the people who work with Adhesives (Klebstoffrunde), and then every Friday, we have a Gruppenrunde in which all the people who work for BMW in the department get together and exchange information. (Most of the people who work in the Technikum are actually employees of P+Z Engineering).
After work, I went to a store called Münchner Blech. This is where I rented a trombone for the summer. All together it will cost me about 25€, so I'm pleased to have it for the summer. (despite the fact that I left the bulk of my music at home). I had a nice discussion with a very helpful employee there about renting a trombone, ( completely different attitude from the previous music store that I went to).
On Monday, I went was told that for the rest of the week, I would be working on my own for the rest of the week because Herr Schröter would be in Ulm for the rest of the week. As part of their new employee training procedures, we had to attend what they called the "Erstinformationsveranstaltung" which is a big fancy word for "a presentation where they tell us about what to do in an emergency in these buildings, and what the different signs mean". It was interesting. I got a piece of paper, where I am supposed to collect signatures every time I get a safety discussion. (So later that day, I got the safety clearance to use the Rheometer). But immediately after the Erstinformationsveranstaltung we had our first Technikumsrunde, which is a meeting between our Chefin and all the people who work at the Technikum. As I've since learned, there is a meeting before this meeting (usually) for the people who work with Adhesives (Klebstoffrunde), and then every Friday, we have a Gruppenrunde in which all the people who work for BMW in the department get together and exchange information. (Most of the people who work in the Technikum are actually employees of P+Z Engineering).
After work, I went to a store called Münchner Blech. This is where I rented a trombone for the summer. All together it will cost me about 25€, so I'm pleased to have it for the summer. (despite the fact that I left the bulk of my music at home). I had a nice discussion with a very helpful employee there about renting a trombone, ( completely different attitude from the previous music store that I went to).
On Tuesday, I sat down with Herr Hermann Schwippl and went through a PowerPoint presentation about the safety procedures specificly for the Technikum. After that, I needed to return to my apartment to pick up my Passport because I'd forgotten it that day and needed it for my appointment at the Hypovereinsbank on Frankfurter Ring. I sat down with the representative at HVB and set up a bank account so that my earnings from BMW could be delivered to me, the payment for the Studentenwerk paid, and (as I found out later) the payment for the trombone paid.
After this appointment, I went back to Münchner Blech and finalized the transaction with the Trombone (which included giving them my bank account information so they could charge the rent directly). Like I said before, the people here were much more helpful than the other store.
After this appointment, I went back to Münchner Blech and finalized the transaction with the Trombone (which included giving them my bank account information so they could charge the rent directly). Like I said before, the people here were much more helpful than the other store.
On Wednesday, we had a Gruppenrunde in the Technikum conference room. This one was, in addition to other information exchange, specifically to get to know Ramsey and myself. So we got to announce to the entire Technikum who we were. It was interesting. This day, I was the last person still working at the Technikum. Due to the safety protocol for that work space, nobody is allowed to work there alone, so, as the second to last person working there, Herr Severin Mayer waited an extra 5 minutes for me to finish what I was working on and walked out with me. It was a nice chance to talk a bit with him. (Interesting fellow. Eventually, I'll write a bit about everybody that I've met).
On Thursday, I got to talking with another intern from Germany, Christoph Schmid. He was a very nice person, but then his internship was supposed to end the next Wednesday. He told me that he would almost believe me if I told him that German was my Muttersprache (original language). That was nice. Later that day, I went to the Personal Direkt and dropped off my Bank Konto information and then found out that I still needed to square away my insureance information, so I went directly over to BKK BMW; BMW's internal insurance agency. This went very easily. The lady at the desk filled out all of the paperwork for me.
Friday was fairly uneventful, except for the Computer crashing twice during the same test that I was running. It wasn't especially fun.
Voller Liste Von Leute die ich kennengelernt habe:
Frau Garth, Herr Leistner, Herr Gunter Schröter, Herr Vladimir Djuga, Herr Robert Landman, Christoph Schmid, Stefan Hartmann, Herr Schwippl, Herr Marcus Müllerhoffer, Herr Valentin Guldean, Herr Severin Meyer, Sandro Cifaldi, Herr Luis Guitarrez-Sanchez, Frau Christiane Scheffler, Herr Prof. Dr. Stauber, Herr Wolfgang Schmitz, Herr Helmut Glas,
Mittwoch, 10. Juni 2009
Post #11 Week #3 at BMW
Well, this "week" is now officially over for employees of BMW in Munich. Tomorrow is Fronleichnam, so we get the day off, and because the company decided it wouldn't be worth it to come in for one day at the end of the week, we all get Friday off.
So, on Monday, we started the day at the Ausweisstelle. Here, I got my official BMW ID. It is nice. Now, I don't have to make a visit every morning and afternoon to the security desk at the gate. Following this, we had the Departmental weekly make-sure-we-are-all-on-the-same-page meeting. This was an interesting 2 hour meeting. It never really struck me just how different Bayrisch can be from Deutsch. Several people were almost completely non-understandable. At this meeting, I found out that I would be working with Herr Schröter and on a project that involves Rheology. It should be interesting. We covered this a little bit in the Fluid Mechanics course, but only a little bit and not this in-depth.
Tuesday and Wednesday were spent running two tests under the subject of Rheology. I don't believe that I am at liberty to discuss what they are more, but it has been interesting, and I am learning quite a bit in this field.
Also, I think it has started. I'm learning Bayrisch. "Nein" has become (pron.) "neh". "Gut" (pron. "goo-t") has become "goo-ut"). It aught to be interesting to see how far it gets.
I just saw the requirements for my German 351 class this next semester. It looks like it will be a lot of work, but I should be able to handle it; especially if I get started on in now.
Anyway, I think that it would be pretty cool at some point to go to the hill at the Olympiazentrum and watch the sunrise over München. Or sunset. Just a thought.
Bis später.
So, on Monday, we started the day at the Ausweisstelle. Here, I got my official BMW ID. It is nice. Now, I don't have to make a visit every morning and afternoon to the security desk at the gate. Following this, we had the Departmental weekly make-sure-we-are-all-on-the-same-page meeting. This was an interesting 2 hour meeting. It never really struck me just how different Bayrisch can be from Deutsch. Several people were almost completely non-understandable. At this meeting, I found out that I would be working with Herr Schröter and on a project that involves Rheology. It should be interesting. We covered this a little bit in the Fluid Mechanics course, but only a little bit and not this in-depth.
Tuesday and Wednesday were spent running two tests under the subject of Rheology. I don't believe that I am at liberty to discuss what they are more, but it has been interesting, and I am learning quite a bit in this field.
Also, I think it has started. I'm learning Bayrisch. "Nein" has become (pron.) "neh". "Gut" (pron. "goo-t") has become "goo-ut"). It aught to be interesting to see how far it gets.
I just saw the requirements for my German 351 class this next semester. It looks like it will be a lot of work, but I should be able to handle it; especially if I get started on in now.
Anyway, I think that it would be pretty cool at some point to go to the hill at the Olympiazentrum and watch the sunrise over München. Or sunset. Just a thought.
Bis später.
Sonntag, 7. Juni 2009
Post #10: 3rd Weekend Adventures
07.06.09 at 18:27
Yesterday was a rather lazy day. It rained a fair amount of the day. Around 6, Ramsey knocked on my door to tell me that there was going to be a group going out at night, and asked if I cared to join. So, I met Simon, Dominic, and another student from Italy. We headed out because one of Dominic's friends had news of a group that would be getting together "near the Isar. Look for people juggling fire." Odd instructions. So we walked along the Isar until I noticed under one of the bridges, there were a bunch of people juggling fire. We went down there and found the group "Buschfeuer". Apparently, a group of people who get together once a month for an evening of fire twirling, juggling, etc. to the beat of bongos. It was an interesting evening.
Today started with Mass at the Frauenkirche. The Organ sounded amazing. It is a very full sounding organ. After this, I went to the Isar and wandered up and down a lot. Saw the outside of the Deutsche Museum, and saw that they had a BMW Polo for €23. I visited the Friedensdenkmal, and Lukaskirche; both were pretty cool. I proceeded to the Englischer Garten and had a Bratwurst in der Semmel and a Maß Helles Bier and a große Bretzel. It was good. Later tonight, I'll be talking with my parents via GoogleTalk. Eventually, I'll be updating everything between last post and this one. Apparently, they have Horseback riding in the Englischer Garten, so perhaps that would be a good thing for my dad and I to do.
Tomorrow, my first day of actual work (hopefully).
Yesterday was a rather lazy day. It rained a fair amount of the day. Around 6, Ramsey knocked on my door to tell me that there was going to be a group going out at night, and asked if I cared to join. So, I met Simon, Dominic, and another student from Italy. We headed out because one of Dominic's friends had news of a group that would be getting together "near the Isar. Look for people juggling fire." Odd instructions. So we walked along the Isar until I noticed under one of the bridges, there were a bunch of people juggling fire. We went down there and found the group "Buschfeuer". Apparently, a group of people who get together once a month for an evening of fire twirling, juggling, etc. to the beat of bongos. It was an interesting evening.
Today started with Mass at the Frauenkirche. The Organ sounded amazing. It is a very full sounding organ. After this, I went to the Isar and wandered up and down a lot. Saw the outside of the Deutsche Museum, and saw that they had a BMW Polo for €23. I visited the Friedensdenkmal, and Lukaskirche; both were pretty cool. I proceeded to the Englischer Garten and had a Bratwurst in der Semmel and a Maß Helles Bier and a große Bretzel. It was good. Later tonight, I'll be talking with my parents via GoogleTalk. Eventually, I'll be updating everything between last post and this one. Apparently, they have Horseback riding in the Englischer Garten, so perhaps that would be a good thing for my dad and I to do.
Tomorrow, my first day of actual work (hopefully).
Mittwoch, 27. Mai 2009
Post #9: Week #2 at BMW
This last work week, starting on June 1, had a lot of interesting activity with BMW. On June 1, we didn't have to go into work because it was Pfingstmontag, or as it is known elsewhere, Pentecost Monday. On Tuesday, since Herr Leistner was on vacation, I went in and reported to Frau Garth in the department's space in FIZ (Forschungs und Innovations Zentrum: Research and Innovation Center). I spent most of this day reading technical literature; starting with an article on Klebstoff (stuff used to stick two things together), and moving on to a book about Faserverstärktewerkstoffe (Fiber re-inforced materials).
Due to an e-mail received over the weekend, we (Frau Garth, Ramsey, and I) that we would have our paperwork in order by the end of the day Tuesday. Unfortunately, this was not the case, so Frau Garth sent us home a little early.
On Wednesday we actually got word that our paperwork had come through from the ZAV. This meant that we were then allowed to take the paperwork sent to Frau Garth to the Kreisverwaltungsreferat (not sure of an appropriate translation. If you find one, let me know) to register and to get the Aufenthaltsgenehmigung that would allow us to get our Praktikumsvertrag which was the piece of paper that was holding us back from actually being allowed to do work. Frau Garth was nice enough to show us how to get to the Kreisverwaltungsreferat and explain a few insider tips about it.
Thursday morning, we left for the U6 and got off at Poccistraße for the Kreisverwaltungsreferat. We went in, and were confronted with multiple waiting rooms, each labeled with different parts of the alphabet. The first thing that we needed to accomplish was to register, so Ramsey went to the "H" waiting room, while I went to the "M" waiting room. After waiting for about 30 minutes, I went in and was registered in about 5 minutes. And, as the person explained to me, the German system ignores the "Mc" part of "McKown", and as such, my family name is technically "Kown", so I went through the rest of the daygoing to the "K" waiting rooms. After this, we went to the floor above, where we would actually get the Aufenthaltsgenehmigung. After waiting for about 45 minutes, I went in, gave the person my paperwork, and was told that I needed to get a Passbild (passport quality picture), so we went back to the U-bahn station and got the pictures taken in the booth, brought them back and gave them to her. During this time, she had completed all of the necessary paperwork, and sent me off to the Kasse (counter/cashier). Come to find out though, Ramsey's registration didn't work correctly in the computer system, so he couldn't get his done at that point. So he had to go back on Friday morning to get his part finished. After giving €50 and my passport to the Cashier, we waited in their waiting room for an hour before they called my number to pick up my passport. So now I have a set of stickers in my passport that explain why I am here for this summer.
After this, we went back to BMW to explain how everything went. As we walked in they were getting ready to go to lunch. Frau Garth told the others to go ahead and that she'd meet them downstairs after talking a little with us to see how it all went. After telling all of this to her, she invited us to have lunch with the rest of the department. So we proceeded to the Cantina and enjoyed a lunch and informal conversation with a few of our co-workers. We then spent the rest of the day at BMW doing what we'd done the previous two days: read technical literature. Toward the end of the day, Frau Garth explained to us where we needed to go to get the Praktikumsvertrag from the Personal Direkt.
On Friday, we started the day at 8 at the Personal Direkt (in a little unassuming building in the shadow of the four cylinder headquarters). Ramsey had left to be at the Kriesverwaltungsreferat at 7 and had somehow beat me to the Personal Direkt. As it turned out, they didn't open until 9:30, so we took the opportunity to pay our June rent at the Studentwerk; which meant a trip to Haderner Stern. We got there just as they opened at 9, paid, and got back to headquarters about 10. We walked in and they handed both of us a folder full of various documents that had to be signed. I didn't notice until after I'd signed the first copy of the Praktikumsvertrag that every single page of everything in my paket had me listed as "Herrn Ryan KcKown". I mentioned this to the person working there, and they went and "fixed" it in the system. After spending 45 minutes or so going through everything, we finished and headed back to FIZ. We talked with Frau Garth and explained that all was going well thus far. We then proceeded, on her recommendation, to the Finanzamt to work out the Lohnsteuerkarte (salary-tax-card). Or rather, the Ersatzbescheinigung ( ...?...). (It took a bit to find the place because the directions weren't the greatest). We finished all of this up and headed back to BMW around 1. Around 3, Frau Garth sat down with us and started to go through and set up our Ausweistermin (ID-getting-appointment), set up our access to the company computer network, etc. We got most of the way, but given that the system updates at night, we could only get so far having only that same day registered on the network. It took a while to figure it out, too, that I was still in the system as "Ryan KcKown". Oh well.
So on Monday, we get our official ID's, our e-mail accounts with BMW, and then after work, set up a bank account and eventually get all of the remaining paperwork in order.
Due to an e-mail received over the weekend, we (Frau Garth, Ramsey, and I) that we would have our paperwork in order by the end of the day Tuesday. Unfortunately, this was not the case, so Frau Garth sent us home a little early.
On Wednesday we actually got word that our paperwork had come through from the ZAV. This meant that we were then allowed to take the paperwork sent to Frau Garth to the Kreisverwaltungsreferat (not sure of an appropriate translation. If you find one, let me know) to register and to get the Aufenthaltsgenehmigung that would allow us to get our Praktikumsvertrag which was the piece of paper that was holding us back from actually being allowed to do work. Frau Garth was nice enough to show us how to get to the Kreisverwaltungsreferat and explain a few insider tips about it.
Thursday morning, we left for the U6 and got off at Poccistraße for the Kreisverwaltungsreferat. We went in, and were confronted with multiple waiting rooms, each labeled with different parts of the alphabet. The first thing that we needed to accomplish was to register, so Ramsey went to the "H" waiting room, while I went to the "M" waiting room. After waiting for about 30 minutes, I went in and was registered in about 5 minutes. And, as the person explained to me, the German system ignores the "Mc" part of "McKown", and as such, my family name is technically "Kown", so I went through the rest of the daygoing to the "K" waiting rooms. After this, we went to the floor above, where we would actually get the Aufenthaltsgenehmigung. After waiting for about 45 minutes, I went in, gave the person my paperwork, and was told that I needed to get a Passbild (passport quality picture), so we went back to the U-bahn station and got the pictures taken in the booth, brought them back and gave them to her. During this time, she had completed all of the necessary paperwork, and sent me off to the Kasse (counter/cashier). Come to find out though, Ramsey's registration didn't work correctly in the computer system, so he couldn't get his done at that point. So he had to go back on Friday morning to get his part finished. After giving €50 and my passport to the Cashier, we waited in their waiting room for an hour before they called my number to pick up my passport. So now I have a set of stickers in my passport that explain why I am here for this summer.
After this, we went back to BMW to explain how everything went. As we walked in they were getting ready to go to lunch. Frau Garth told the others to go ahead and that she'd meet them downstairs after talking a little with us to see how it all went. After telling all of this to her, she invited us to have lunch with the rest of the department. So we proceeded to the Cantina and enjoyed a lunch and informal conversation with a few of our co-workers. We then spent the rest of the day at BMW doing what we'd done the previous two days: read technical literature. Toward the end of the day, Frau Garth explained to us where we needed to go to get the Praktikumsvertrag from the Personal Direkt.
On Friday, we started the day at 8 at the Personal Direkt (in a little unassuming building in the shadow of the four cylinder headquarters). Ramsey had left to be at the Kriesverwaltungsreferat at 7 and had somehow beat me to the Personal Direkt. As it turned out, they didn't open until 9:30, so we took the opportunity to pay our June rent at the Studentwerk; which meant a trip to Haderner Stern. We got there just as they opened at 9, paid, and got back to headquarters about 10. We walked in and they handed both of us a folder full of various documents that had to be signed. I didn't notice until after I'd signed the first copy of the Praktikumsvertrag that every single page of everything in my paket had me listed as "Herrn Ryan KcKown". I mentioned this to the person working there, and they went and "fixed" it in the system. After spending 45 minutes or so going through everything, we finished and headed back to FIZ. We talked with Frau Garth and explained that all was going well thus far. We then proceeded, on her recommendation, to the Finanzamt to work out the Lohnsteuerkarte (salary-tax-card). Or rather, the Ersatzbescheinigung ( ...?...). (It took a bit to find the place because the directions weren't the greatest). We finished all of this up and headed back to BMW around 1. Around 3, Frau Garth sat down with us and started to go through and set up our Ausweistermin (ID-getting-appointment), set up our access to the company computer network, etc. We got most of the way, but given that the system updates at night, we could only get so far having only that same day registered on the network. It took a while to figure it out, too, that I was still in the system as "Ryan KcKown". Oh well.
So on Monday, we get our official ID's, our e-mail accounts with BMW, and then after work, set up a bank account and eventually get all of the remaining paperwork in order.
Mittwoch, 20. Mai 2009
Post #8: Failure, Success, and Final Preparations
Well, this post is a little late in coming. Or a lot late in coming.
Anyway, I was not able to find a place on my own despite contacting two different people. Thanks to Peggy with CDS, I have a place to stay. So, Peggy, Vielen Dank!!!!
Tomorrow, at 1pm, I start my trip. 5:20, my plane takes off to arrive in Frankfurt at 7:40 Friday morning. It's exciting, but at the same time, I am a little nervous. I still have to get a Eurail pass. I think I'll be going for the 8 days over the course of 2 months, which should allow me 4 weekends of international traveling to Austria, Switzerland and Italy. The other weekends, I'll probably spend closer to "home".
As part of German 350, I need to come up with a list of goals for this summer. So, here is my list of goals for the summer. I'll be expanding on them later, but for now, I'm just wanting to get them written down.
1. Have an enjoyable experience.
2. Gain practical experience.
3. Learn how to work in a professional environment.
4. Learn more engineering/technical German
5. Become more fluent in daily German Usage
6. Be able to bring back what I learned from the internship to my studies at UM.
I'm sure that this list will change as the summer goes on, but for now, that is what it is.
For now though, I need to start moving things around. I've got to be completely packed and T-1 day ready for moving back to Ann Arbor at the point I leave tomorrow in addition to being ready for 3 months of international.....living/working/traveling/fun-having.
Bis dann.
Anyway, I was not able to find a place on my own despite contacting two different people. Thanks to Peggy with CDS, I have a place to stay. So, Peggy, Vielen Dank!!!!
Tomorrow, at 1pm, I start my trip. 5:20, my plane takes off to arrive in Frankfurt at 7:40 Friday morning. It's exciting, but at the same time, I am a little nervous. I still have to get a Eurail pass. I think I'll be going for the 8 days over the course of 2 months, which should allow me 4 weekends of international traveling to Austria, Switzerland and Italy. The other weekends, I'll probably spend closer to "home".
As part of German 350, I need to come up with a list of goals for this summer. So, here is my list of goals for the summer. I'll be expanding on them later, but for now, I'm just wanting to get them written down.
1. Have an enjoyable experience.
2. Gain practical experience.
3. Learn how to work in a professional environment.
4. Learn more engineering/technical German
5. Become more fluent in daily German Usage
6. Be able to bring back what I learned from the internship to my studies at UM.
I'm sure that this list will change as the summer goes on, but for now, that is what it is.
For now though, I need to start moving things around. I've got to be completely packed and T-1 day ready for moving back to Ann Arbor at the point I leave tomorrow in addition to being ready for 3 months of international.....living/working/traveling/fun-having.
Bis dann.
Dienstag, 12. Mai 2009
Post #7: More stuff
Well, I sent an e-mail to my supervisors today. Heard back from one of them already. It was a "I'm out of the office until May 27th" e-mail, but an e-mail nonetheless.
I'll be test packing soon to make sure that it will all fit.
9 days left......
I'll be test packing soon to make sure that it will all fit.
9 days left......
Sonntag, 10. Mai 2009
Post #6: Further Preparation
Not much new today. I'll be e-mailing my draft of a letter to Peggy tomorrow as well as writing a letter to my Grandpa. Then hopefully, I'll be sending a letter of sorts off to my supervisors, Frau Garth und Herr Leistner. Yay!
11 Days left....
11 Days left....
Freitag, 8. Mai 2009
Post #5: More details
Well, aside from the fact that I just saw the new Star Trek movie (which is amazing by the way!!!!), not much new. Come to find out, I'll be working with a fellow UM-ChE student, Ramsey Hilton, which should be fun. The internship will bring 880 Euro per month, which will be good.
For now, that is all.
12 Days remaining...
For now, that is all.
12 Days remaining...
Dienstag, 5. Mai 2009
Post #4: Rank Leader in the Marching Band
So, I just found out from the Marching Band, that I'm a candidate for the position of Rank Leader for the coming Band season. I bring this up, because it means that I will be going to Rank Leader Retreat starting on August 21st which means that I'll have August 20th to recuperate from returning Home on August 19th.
That will be fun.
Till later. 16 days and counting........
Steps taken today: Narrowed down from 10 possible apartments in Munich to 6 and sorted down stuff a little.
That will be fun.
Till later. 16 days and counting........
Steps taken today: Narrowed down from 10 possible apartments in Munich to 6 and sorted down stuff a little.
Montag, 4. Mai 2009
Post #3: Progress and Regress
Hallo,
As of now, I have found 10 different rooms in Munich around the central area. I don't know which one I should look into deeper because I don't yet know where my place of work will be.
I still haven't come up with a list of goals like I need to, but that will happen before I leave. Right now, I've got boxes and boxes of random stuff sitting around...I'll have to get to that.
I had been planning on taking my 80 GB harddrive to Germany with me, but I lost it on Friday at the CSE computer lab. I really regret having brought it to Ann Arbor in the first place.
Till later
As of now, I have found 10 different rooms in Munich around the central area. I don't know which one I should look into deeper because I don't yet know where my place of work will be.
I still haven't come up with a list of goals like I need to, but that will happen before I leave. Right now, I've got boxes and boxes of random stuff sitting around...I'll have to get to that.
I had been planning on taking my 80 GB harddrive to Germany with me, but I lost it on Friday at the CSE computer lab. I really regret having brought it to Ann Arbor in the first place.
Till later
Mittwoch, 29. April 2009
Post #2: Initial details
Well, I just moved home from Ann Arbor. This is the first time I've done this. It feels a little weird.
As of right now, I know that I will be working in the Kunststoffentwicklung Abteil "plastic development department" at BMW in Munich with Frau Garth. Unfortunately, I haven't found a place to stay for the summer, but I am searching.
For now, I'll be done.
As of right now, I know that I will be working in the Kunststoffentwicklung Abteil "plastic development department" at BMW in Munich with Frau Garth. Unfortunately, I haven't found a place to stay for the summer, but I am searching.
For now, I'll be done.
Mittwoch, 22. April 2009
Entry #1: Explanation of Blog
Ich habe nie ein Blog gehabt. Aber dieses ist für mein Praktikum mit BMW in München diesen Sommer.
Leider, kann ich nicht viel mehr jetzt schreiben weil ich für eine Prüfung lernen muss.
Also, bis später.
Leider, kann ich nicht viel mehr jetzt schreiben weil ich für eine Prüfung lernen muss.
Also, bis später.
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