Hi everyone,
I apologize for not posting during my last week in Munich, but here's what I can tell you about my last couple weeks.
I gave my final presentation once on Friday August 7th, and it received critical acclaim, so I got to give the presentation again the next week so that more people could see it. That was a good feeling. My colleagues Cassidy and Ryan also gave their presentations that week and they did very well.
On my last day I handed in my final report and my supervisor, Wolfgang said "super!" I gave it some thought and realized that that was the first and only time he gave me praise. I guess it's just a part of the German culture. At the end of my last day I went to the Englischer Garten and had a beer and took the mug home with me as a souvenir.
On my last weekend I went to a lake with a couple of my friends, which was interesting, and by interesting I mean really naked. On Sunday August 16th, I did a lot of cleaning at my apartment, and then boarded the train to Frankfurt, where I would be flying out from. I had to stay up pretty much all night, but that was okay. My flight for Philadelphia left at 11am and went very smoothly. My flight from Philadelphia to St. Louis was a little late, but it was okay. I saw my mom as soon as I got my bags, which was great.
I had some adjusting to do when I got back to the U.S. but it wasn't too bad. It was a really good feeling to have internet again and to be able to use my Ipod again. I went for a run at dawn of the day after I arrived home, to re-familiarize myself with my usual running route. It was terrific. And now I am in San Francisco visiting my brother, which has been a good trip so far.
Well that's about it. I am happy that I did the internship in Germany. It was tough at times, there were times when I wanted to give up, but in the end I was happy to have done it.
Peace,
Ramsey H
Friday, August 28, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
End of July
Hey everyone,
So July is almost over, and I am in wind-down stages of this internship. I am beginning my 10th of 12 weeks, and I am about midway through my final report. I have just a couple more mechanical tests to do on the material that I pressed a few weeks ago, and then I am going to go into some hardcore analysis. I am a little concerned that my results will not show a significant trend one way or another, but my supervisor said at the beginning, "even no result is a result."
I have been playing a lot of basketball recently. There is a small court right by my apartment complex, and I also play on the full court at Olympia park every once in a while. To give you an idea of the competition at these two places, I have yet to lose a game at the place by my apartment, and I have yet to win a game at Olympia park. The people who play there are serious.
I have been checking out different parts of the city. Last weekend I got to a night club for the first time since I've been here. I think that scene is a little young for me. Most of the people at the club were 17 or 18 years old. I got lost in the city after that, which was more of an adventure than a scary feeling. I left the club at 3am, and walked around for about 3 hours, before I finally figured out where I was. I finally got back to my apartment at about 7am. I slept well the next day.
I got a phone card, with which I can get a lot of minutes for a low price. I have found it very helpful talking to my brother during difficult times. He seems to have a lot of insight and analysis for problems that I am having, particularly male pattern hair loss.
I am in email contact with a few of my friends from back home, and they are keeping me updated on the things that are going on there. I am currently working on applying to grad school at the University of Missouri, which I think would be really fun, because a few of my old friends are doing grad school there, and it would be like a big reunion.
I enjoyed the Englischer Garten this last weekend. I just chilled there for about 6 hours while doing some journaling. I used to never write in a journal, because I was always afraid someone would find it and read it. That's why I invented a secret code language last week. It took me about 20 minutes to master this language, and now I do pretty much all writing of any kind in this code. It's pretty cool.
Well, that's about it for now. I'll have another post in about two weeks, when I am near the end.
Ramsey
So July is almost over, and I am in wind-down stages of this internship. I am beginning my 10th of 12 weeks, and I am about midway through my final report. I have just a couple more mechanical tests to do on the material that I pressed a few weeks ago, and then I am going to go into some hardcore analysis. I am a little concerned that my results will not show a significant trend one way or another, but my supervisor said at the beginning, "even no result is a result."
I have been playing a lot of basketball recently. There is a small court right by my apartment complex, and I also play on the full court at Olympia park every once in a while. To give you an idea of the competition at these two places, I have yet to lose a game at the place by my apartment, and I have yet to win a game at Olympia park. The people who play there are serious.
I have been checking out different parts of the city. Last weekend I got to a night club for the first time since I've been here. I think that scene is a little young for me. Most of the people at the club were 17 or 18 years old. I got lost in the city after that, which was more of an adventure than a scary feeling. I left the club at 3am, and walked around for about 3 hours, before I finally figured out where I was. I finally got back to my apartment at about 7am. I slept well the next day.
I got a phone card, with which I can get a lot of minutes for a low price. I have found it very helpful talking to my brother during difficult times. He seems to have a lot of insight and analysis for problems that I am having, particularly male pattern hair loss.
I am in email contact with a few of my friends from back home, and they are keeping me updated on the things that are going on there. I am currently working on applying to grad school at the University of Missouri, which I think would be really fun, because a few of my old friends are doing grad school there, and it would be like a big reunion.
I enjoyed the Englischer Garten this last weekend. I just chilled there for about 6 hours while doing some journaling. I used to never write in a journal, because I was always afraid someone would find it and read it. That's why I invented a secret code language last week. It took me about 20 minutes to master this language, and now I do pretty much all writing of any kind in this code. It's pretty cool.
Well, that's about it for now. I'll have another post in about two weeks, when I am near the end.
Ramsey
Friday, July 10, 2009
On July 10th
Hey everyone,
I am officially past the midway point of my internship, and the job itself is not bad. I got to use a band saw yesterday to cut up the car parts that I am going to be testing, and I usually have plenty of time at the end of the day to surf the internet. I can't get over how cool the Olympia park is. I go there and relax by the lake nearly every weekend.
Getting the visa was a real hassle. I went to the municipal office with Ryan McKown, a fellow CDS intern at BMW. I don't know where I'd be without him. He always seems to know where he's going, while I aimlessly wander around. Anyway, there was a glitch in the computer system, so even after being there for four hours, I had to come back the next day to get the visa. It turned out okay though. I ended up getting a sizable discount. The normal visa fee is 50 Euros, and I only had to pay 15. At first, I thought they were just being nice, because I had struggled so much the day before, but I was told later that's not really the German way. So now I think they might have just messed up. Either way, I was happy to have that over with.
I have been reading a lot of novels over the past few weeks. Before coming here, I had not read a novel in about a year, and I've read maybe 5 here. If there is anything good to come out of the fact that my voltage converter messed up my laptop and my Ipod, that's it.
I have been studying Sheet Molding Compound, which is the material that the hatches of cars are made of. I have learned plenty, and I can see the experience being useful.
I've made a few friends among the others in my living complex, so that's good. I play soccer on Sundays. Even though I'm not very good, it's fun to go out there and make an effort. Last weekend there were a bunch of ten-year-olds playing, and we joined in their game. I was almost as good as the ten-year-olds.
One of these weekends, I will be going to a city called Wels, Austria. I think I'll probably do that on my last weekend here. I was an exchange student there when I was a junior in high school, and I'd like to visit my host family again.
I'm going to go to a guitar shop this weekend. Not to buy of course, but to try out every guitar there and then say, "hmm, I'm not sure which one I want, I'll have to come back later." I played about 3 hours a day during the first few weeks of this summer, so I've kind of been having a withdrawal effect.
Anyway, that's good for now. Expect another post in a week or two.
Ramsey
I am officially past the midway point of my internship, and the job itself is not bad. I got to use a band saw yesterday to cut up the car parts that I am going to be testing, and I usually have plenty of time at the end of the day to surf the internet. I can't get over how cool the Olympia park is. I go there and relax by the lake nearly every weekend.
Getting the visa was a real hassle. I went to the municipal office with Ryan McKown, a fellow CDS intern at BMW. I don't know where I'd be without him. He always seems to know where he's going, while I aimlessly wander around. Anyway, there was a glitch in the computer system, so even after being there for four hours, I had to come back the next day to get the visa. It turned out okay though. I ended up getting a sizable discount. The normal visa fee is 50 Euros, and I only had to pay 15. At first, I thought they were just being nice, because I had struggled so much the day before, but I was told later that's not really the German way. So now I think they might have just messed up. Either way, I was happy to have that over with.
I have been reading a lot of novels over the past few weeks. Before coming here, I had not read a novel in about a year, and I've read maybe 5 here. If there is anything good to come out of the fact that my voltage converter messed up my laptop and my Ipod, that's it.
I have been studying Sheet Molding Compound, which is the material that the hatches of cars are made of. I have learned plenty, and I can see the experience being useful.
I've made a few friends among the others in my living complex, so that's good. I play soccer on Sundays. Even though I'm not very good, it's fun to go out there and make an effort. Last weekend there were a bunch of ten-year-olds playing, and we joined in their game. I was almost as good as the ten-year-olds.
One of these weekends, I will be going to a city called Wels, Austria. I think I'll probably do that on my last weekend here. I was an exchange student there when I was a junior in high school, and I'd like to visit my host family again.
I'm going to go to a guitar shop this weekend. Not to buy of course, but to try out every guitar there and then say, "hmm, I'm not sure which one I want, I'll have to come back later." I played about 3 hours a day during the first few weeks of this summer, so I've kind of been having a withdrawal effect.
Anyway, that's good for now. Expect another post in a week or two.
Ramsey
Sunday, June 21, 2009
One month in
Hey everyone,
The first few weeks were a very turbulent time. There was a big problem with my work permit for the first two weeks, and I couldn’t work during that time, so I spent the whole time staring at my desk. My laptop went down on the second day I was here, which also happened to be my birthday. Getting the visas and all the contracts signed took about three times as long as it was supposed to, but I feel like I am just starting to get into my rhythm. I’ve been hanging out at Olympia Park a lot, which is where the Olympics were in 1972. I think the beginning of the film, ‘Munich’ takes place there. So look for me to post more frequently, now that I finally have a stable internet connection.
The first few weeks were a very turbulent time. There was a big problem with my work permit for the first two weeks, and I couldn’t work during that time, so I spent the whole time staring at my desk. My laptop went down on the second day I was here, which also happened to be my birthday. Getting the visas and all the contracts signed took about three times as long as it was supposed to, but I feel like I am just starting to get into my rhythm. I’ve been hanging out at Olympia Park a lot, which is where the Olympics were in 1972. I think the beginning of the film, ‘Munich’ takes place there. So look for me to post more frequently, now that I finally have a stable internet connection.
Friday, May 22, 2009
In the Tryp Hotel in Frankfurt, Germany
Hi Everyone,
I just arrived in Germany this morning, (about six hours behind schedule). I am looking forward to a summer working with BMW in Munich. I am currently on the clock at €4 per hour, so forgive me for being brief. I will write a much more in-depth post as soon as I get settled into my living arrangement, which should be in just a couple days. Til then,
Ramsey
I just arrived in Germany this morning, (about six hours behind schedule). I am looking forward to a summer working with BMW in Munich. I am currently on the clock at €4 per hour, so forgive me for being brief. I will write a much more in-depth post as soon as I get settled into my living arrangement, which should be in just a couple days. Til then,
Ramsey
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