Its just that simple

I decide that I would join the ranks of good, law-abiding Germans today and pay the controversial "TV, Radio and Other Random Forms of Media Entertainment" Tax. The common belief here is that public radio and tv should be well-funded and provide good, quality programming. And that is true here. The quality of TV and Radio is well enjoyed by the public and the quality seems to be good. You can, of course supplement your television needs with satellite and cable however that is not necessary. Just by plugging your tv in, you can get something like ten channels. The downside is that the German government, or rather its independent entity the (and I'm not making this up) "Gebühreneinzugszentrale" (I have no idea what this means, I just call it GEZ) collects a whopping €17,95 per tv and €5,00 per Radio and even computers that can download the webcasts! I mean, bah! Thats quite expensive. I guess they can do things like randomly check your house to see if you are lying on your little census like form. Somehow they got my name (my landlord no doubt, bah!) and have sent me two letters requesting that I send them the information. Even though my landlord owns the tv, I pay the tax on it. Tell me how this works.

I have become quite the pro at parallel parking. I have one of the company cars this week because half of the English department has left already. So I get to keep it and drive all over creation this week. Its nice. Tomorrow...laundry! The street that I live on is rather busy so parking is a pain but I have learned how to fit that little Twingo in to some seriously tight spots. Pretty soon you´ll see me whipping around in a mini. Ugh, I miss my Corolla!

I am going home in just a few days!

Me Talk Pretty One Day, too.

Although I had three years of university German as well as a summer semester learning the language in Dresden, sometimes I feel lost. I was talking to my friend Jacqueline who lives in Taiwan as an English teacher and she told me that my recent unhappiness is, culture shock. For a long time I figured that why I would be experiencing culture shock in some ways, that I'd be above any major problems. That turned out to not be true I guess. I've really begun to miss American traditions, holidays and just regular kindness as of late. I'm quite excited to be going home next weekend though. However, the language doesn't help. I understand the majority of conversations around me but sometimes I get quite nervous as I'm checking out at the grocery store or when I need to talk to someone at the pharmacy or something like this. David Sedaris in his book Me Talk Pretty One Day describes his life and language training while moving to France from New York. And so he writes:

My fear and discomfort crept beyond the borders of the classroom and accompanied me out onto the wide boulevards. Stopping for a coffee, asking directions, depositing money in my bank account: these things were out of the question, as they involved having to speak. Before beginning school, there'd been no shutting me up, but now I was convinced that everything I said was wrong. When the phone rang, I ignored it. If someone asked me a question, I pretended to be deaf. I knew my fear was getting the best of me when I started wondering why they don't sell cuts of meat in vending machines.

My only comfort was the knowledge that I was not alone. Huddled in the hallways and making the most of our pathetic French, my fellow students and I engaged in the sort of conversation commonly overheard in refugee camps.
"Sometime me cry alone at night."
"That be common for I, also but be more strong, you. Much work and someday you talk pretty. People start love you soon. Maybe tomorrow, okay."
Unlike the French class I had taken in New York, here there was no sense of competition. When the teacher poked a shy Korean in the eyelid with a freshly sharpened pencil, we took no comfort in the fact that, unlike Hyeyoon Cho, we all knew the irregular past tense of the verb to defeat. In all fairness, the teacher hadn't meant to stab the girl, but neither did she spend much time apologizing, saying only, "Well, you should have been kl;ja;dfkj more afkjakjf."

So I have more confidence than that, but I still couldn't tell you the irregular past tense of to defeat.

Pechvogelkeit

Bloody hell.

Bah. I should be in bed. Its almost one am and I'm exhausted. But I need to update. I had a good weekend, The Christine from Dresden came and visited me and it was a bit like FSU only we were in Germany. I miss her. It was so nice to have a friend of mine here. Christine and I are great friends, we just get each other. It was hard to say goodbye. I mean, we live in the same country but our schedules + finances don't allow for constant traveling of the great distances between Aachen and Dresden. However, I take solace knowing that I'll be seeing her and a few great friends of mine in a few weeks for New Years Eve in Berlin. We found a cheap holiday apartment and hoping that things work out. I'm excited.

Its been a really rough few months and I'm looking forward to the very badly needed break.

The weather sucks. Thats all on that front.

I can't say that I'm totally happy right now. I'm missing something. My expectations have disappointed me. I need to just jump into 2008 and start anew. And December 11th marks the four year anniversary of my Father's death.

I need some change.

simplicity

This past weekend I saddled up and did a little trip to the center of Germany. My former co-worker from Eglin, Danyel, came to Aachen, picked me up and we then spent the weekend at her place. Danyel has a little girl, Serenity, and we met her friend at Bitburg Air Base and from there went to the city of Trier. Trier is a city of about 80k, and although I was there at night could tell how beautiful it was. Wikipedia tells me that it was founded around the time of Christ. However, the best part of Trier was the amazing sushi restaurant that we went to. An all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant which sends sushi around on this small little conveyor belt and you just pick off the tantalizingnesses that is! It was great.

I went to the Air Base at Ramstein and I had another slight identity crisis. Next month marks the end of my 22 year career as a military child. I have mix feelings about this. As it is, I haven't really been a military kid since 2003 and after my dad died I became even less of one. Mom moved to Ohio, I was at Florida State and for the longest time the only thing I did with the military was get my insurance renewed and talk to other military kids. So why now am I having this slight panic? I think its part of my childhood identity and being an Air Force brat certainly shaped part of who I am as a person. My first job, first friends, my entire childhood and mostly my Father's identity was also intertwined with his career in the Air Force. This is part of growing up I suppose, freaking out about getting older, being more independent and saying goodbye to that part of our lives that we know the most.

While at the base, I also realized how different I am now and how different my life has become. I don't share that military lifestyle, etc. It was so strange, I was in Germany, paying in dollars, speaking in English and watching poorly dressed American's shop. The BX alone was strange as I have been in Germany long enough to get used to not having one central place to shop. As much I would like to be associated with this little slice of America, I just don't think its for me anymore. I guess to some extent it will always be part of me, but I'm not sure. I think this is just part of the greater problem of growing up, changing friends, life, end of my university life and not sure what to expect next. I guess I'm good though for the next two years as I got my work and residence visas yesterday.

On the way home from the base, I rented a car. The class above the cheapest class of car (the cheapest one with GPS-which I need here) was a Mercedes A class. It was beautiful. I was the first person to drive this puppy. It had 3km on it when I started the car. I will never buy a car that is not in a similar class again. So easy to drive and the gas mileage was great. I took the Benz on the autobahn and cruised around at 130mph. It was fantastic.

Life is progressing here. I am excited though to go home for the Christmas break. It will be nice to see my family and my baby niece. And, I just miss my family. I miss my friends too and that is mostly natural. Unfortunately I feel that in the two years that I'll be in Germany I will have lost a few of them, even those that I've been friends with for several years. I am not the type of person who can go a year without talking to you and then just magically catch up ( I mean, I can but I don't like to do that). I need from time to time an email, a phone call. I live in Germany, not Rwanda. Its not hard to get a hold of me. I'm tired of investing into people and not getting any investment in return. Its disheartening. Still trying to meet people in Aachen (esp outside of the office) and thats kind of at a slow down right now, but I'm working on it. Otherwise my colleagues are great, we get along splendidly, often having lunch and chatting. However, at the end of the day, I'm still lonely. Which is not a feeling I particularly enjoy.

I miss academia, Target and spontaneous lunches with friends. Oh, and Bullwinkle's too.

Dates of vacation

For those of you keeping track, and I know you're out there...here are my official dates of vacation and break. This is FYI so you can plan your life around coming to visit me or vacationing with me. :)

I've not included the weekends before and after the dates.

Christmas Holidays: 24. December through January 5th (so in reality 21 December through 7th of January)

Carnival!: February 4th and 5th (include 2nd and 3rd)

Easter Break: March 20th through March 26th

So, now, who wants to party?

I could learn to love you

A great weekend was spoiled by a week of work. The weather has reached top bottom. This bone chilling type of mist covers the Northern German landscape and in the middle of it, Aachen.

Toto, we're not in Florida anymore.

It's November 15 and the low for tonight is expected to be 26 degrees. My apartment is freezing. My room thermometer says 68F but it feels much colder. I took a nap and woke up shivering from the chill. I'm now wearing long sleeves, a sweater vest and a sweater on top. I'll be wearing it to work tonight too. Its just really cold and windy. The Taxi driver that picks me up every Tues and Wednesday tells me though while it is colder in December, the weather is dryer. That is something to look forward to.

Germany is famous for their Christmas Markets and Aachen is no exception. Monday workers began assembling wooden houses in the middle of the square. Its rather quite odd. Next Saturday thousands of people will descend on Aachen from all over to visit the Markt. Glühwein (mulled wine) will be served hot with ginger cookies. This part of German culture I'm looking forward to celebrating. Having thousands of people daily in front of my office being loud no doubt something I'm not looking forward to.

I've been drinking coffee as if it was the essence of life. At least two cups in the morning before I leave the house followed by coffee at lunch often. In the evening, Starbucks might get a little visit. I've discovered this amazing chocolatier in Aachen (from The Netherlands) who makes their own hot chocolate. They bring you a cup of steamed milk, then you go to the counter, pick a flavor of chocolate (its chunked onto a spoon) and then you dip the spoon into the milk and stir. Bam! Amazing hot chocolate. I'm going to take back the states lots of these little amazing chocolate spoons. Then you get a slice of cake or brownie or amazing apple strudel for €5.00! So cheap! Its so tasty too. :) Their website can be seen here. While it has no information, you can look at cool pictures of it, chocolate company.

Speaking of Dutch companies, its amazing really how much Dutch I am able to read and understand. I've watched a Dutch movie before and was able to understand about 65% of the script. Dutch is a mix of German, English and I believe a dash of French. For example, the word for chocolate milk in Dutch is chocomelk. Especially when I see something in context its really amazing my level of understanding.

Thanksgiving is next week and its so hard to believe that I'm doing nothing for one of my favorite holidays this year. :( It is certainly something that I will miss. In other news, to get my German drivers license, it turns out I don't have to take any exams at all. Only get a translation of my current license, which inlingua offers, take an eye exam at a local optician and go wait in line. Nice.

And now i have to teach.

Three Countries, One Day

I often think fondly of my blog and the desire and need to update it on a more regular basis. I've let this slip recently and I personally feel as though that is not acceptable. I'm going to make a more conscious effort to update it more regularly.

The past week was fine. The Russian woman who is the bane of my existence at inlingua has finished her lessons this past week. Thank the Lord. I mean, honestly, there is only so much I can take. But now its over. I lied, this week has been really great actually, I've grown much closer to a few of my colleagues and I've been able to go out and do things.

The weather has turned to sheisse. Rains everyday, most of the day this slight, mist type of constant sprinkle. Windy yesterday and this morning.Still hunting for a trench coat. Monday morning I'll be teaching a class at a firm which requires giving me one of the school's vehicles. Do you know what that means when you get it on a Saturday through Monday?

Joy riding. And by Joy Riding, I mean going to Holland.



After class this morning (Saturday) Faye, and my colleague Ace and I packed ourselves up and headed to The Netherlands. That's right. Just like that I got in the car and drove off to the Dutch city of Maastricht. Only about 35 minutes away by car it was a very nice visit. Would have been better if you could see the city without the gray and rain but we had a great time none the less. On our way back we HAPPENED upon Belgium.



We decided that we should eventually turn the car around and go back home.



Whoops.The good news is, I can now mark off my list of things to do "accidentally drive into a foreign country." It was a great day and I had an excellent time.
Tomorrow I've got a lot of lesson planning to do but not before I go to the local "Thermen" or Sauna/Spa water for a couple hours of relaxing, etc. Its much deserved. I'm going to miss Thanksgiving this year, which makes me sad too.

Nation Building : Like it Or Not

Back in January, I posted some points of a lecture I attended at Florida State. I had lunch with Peter Romero, former Ambassador and Depurty Head of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the State Department. It was a fantastic lecture and a fantastic lunch. Romero is an extremely intelligent diplomat, in my opinion. Like I do, I realized recently that Florida State posted the video of the lecture. i recommend you taking a quick look at it for some insight into what the US should be doing in Iraq.

The video can be found here.

Think It Over

I realized last night that its been a week since my last update. In blogging terms, thats like ten years. I was too tired last night (as I passed out while taking my bath, safe) to update then.

Today in Deutschland, well at least in the state of Nord-Rhein Westphalen, where I call home, it is a holiday. NRW being both a Catholic and Protestant state, we usually celebrate both holidays. :) Today is All Saints Day. So nobody is working really.I beg and pleaded to have tomorrow and Saturday off. Well, its not that hard seeing as my Saturday morning class was canceled for this week anyway and I normally on Fridays only teach one to two classes. However, I got the day off. I originally going to take the day off and go to the Consulate in Frankfurt to take care of some personal matters, however upon calling them learned that any German notary will do. Already having the days off, I booked a last minute flight to Dresden to visit my friends. Its a much needed release. This is my first weekend off since I've been here. Its going to be fantastic. I'm flying from Düsseldorf to Dresden and come back Sunday evening.

Besides that, the weather has gotten a bit worse. Now we are lucky if the daily hi's kiss around 48 or so. Some days are absolutely gorgeous and other days are absolutely miserable (ie Monday). My skin is so dry over here. I don't understand why because there is no lack of moisture in the air. I wake up and I have scratches all over my legs from where in my sleep I've been scratching my legs. Nichts kosher.

Work is fine. Sometimes I have some students who I'm convinced will never grasp the basic concepts of the English language. I have two in particular. An older Vietnamese woman who allegedly had four years English schooling 20 years ago (no, I do not believe this ever happened). She slaughters the entire language in a way I wasn't sure was possible. In this basic English class, I have students from Belarus, Turkey, Khazakistan and Germany and all of them seem to be doing just fine. This woman though kills me. Every time she opens her mouth to speak, I cringe. I left my class last night with a headache. Now, I'm a patient person and I appreciate the difficulty of learning a foreign language, but this, this takes it to a new low. I correct her and she can't seem to fix it. I have a Russian woman who is also a bit older. While she knows the basic grammar structure, etc she can't speak. She taught herself basic English so there are many mistakes that I have to correct. She's nice enough (and creepy too). She keeps paying me compliments in a way as to make me slightly uncomfortable. "You're voice is so beautiful Christopher." "Umm....thanks." Nobody has ever accused me of having a beautiful voice before, ever.

I'm really getting to know some of my colleagues and they're all pretty fantastic on a level I've not seen before. Of course, Faye and I have really taken off. We mesh real well together and I appreciate her because she's really showed me some of the inside loops here in Aachen (like where to find the best grocery store that closest to American) and what I have to do to get a German drivers license. However, I'm waiting with baited breathe for Holly to arrive. It'll be a glorious day when she arrives and we can enjoy the DE together! The FSU Colony has really taken off at full-force and for that, I'm thankful. I'm going home at Christmas and I"m looking forward to it. Only a week though. I thought about staying loner, but I needed to get back here. I have a life here and I'm going to be using this time to get ready for Holly to arrive and I'll be looking at some apartments if anybody will let me.

Gotta run. I need to get ready to leave for Dresden!

On Self-Identification

There are several reasons why I moved to Europe. Among them to travel, get a different perspective and of course, to improve my German. As a perk to my job, I get to attend language courses of my choice. So having the evening free (and the day really) I decided I would drop in on a German course (book 3) that my colleague teaches. In my class I had (I'm assuming nationalities now) two Russians, a Polish girl, another American that came later, a girl from, SE Asia and a Turk. All there to improve our German. Turns out my conversation skills are a bit higher than the class but since I'm not enrolling in it full-time, its quite acceptable for me to sit on this class from time to time. Anyway, my German grammar can use a fresher. I hadn't been in a class since April.

I don't know if I'm in that "find myself" period of my life. Should I be? Should I have already "found myself" by now? Sometimes I think I'm stupid for moving to Aachen, sight unseen, to accept a job that pays moderately at best (my saving grace being the poor exchange rate to the dollar). My colleague and all around fantastic guy,Bruce drove me home last night. He moved here in 2006 for his girlfriend. We were talking and told me that I was brave. Brave? Me? I'm the type of person who dashes through dark basements to get to the door and finds the light quickly. I don't swim in dark water either. And here I am being called brave. He told me it takes a lot of guts to do what I did. And I stopped for a moment and thought about it. I guess it does. I moved to a foreign country, didn't know anybody, accepted a job sight unseen, found my own apartment, and did the things that one has problems doing in his/her own country and I did it here. I don't really think about it too much, I just do it. Sure, I ask for help when I need it but mostly I'm living as an independent person in a foreign country and that is a strange thought.

Faye (who moved here with her boyfriend) and I were discussing being a foreign national. Living and working like a German in Germany, but Americans. Not always understanding customs and beliefs or ways of life or, the language. I had to go to H&M to pick up some socks and we couldn't figure out what the German word for "tag" or "label" is. Faye said I should ask and I told her that in general my rule in foreign countries was to blend in as much as possible and asking what a label is called would disqualify me and make me known as a foreigner. And then she told me:

Yes, but then you're not being true to yourself.

And that kind of hit me.She's right. I'm not a German (nor do I really want to be, although an EU Passport wouldn't hurt) I'm an American living in Germany. While I should assimilate as much as possible, I feel as though there eventually comes a limit. My accent will never be 100%, I'll have a slight American twang for the rest of my life I'm sure. I'll never really warm up to grocery shopping in Germany or Sunday's of doing nothing. But I appreciate many things as well. It's a strange feeling to not quite fit in.

I wonder how my self-perception will change over the next few years.

Rain drops are falling on my head

Since I woke up this morning, I've decided today is one of those stay-in-bed/doors days. The weather today has been in a general malaise. Yesterday was nice but today the weather hi is 49 degrees Fahrenheit and its been gray all day. I'm okay with this. It can't be sunny and beautiful all the time or one forgets the beauty of sunny days. So today I'm appreciating it from indoors. I might actually go out for a walk. Its now drizzling/sprinkling outside. However, I've just brewed some good German coffee and am about to sit down to lesson plan for the next week.

I just woke up though from one of those naps that almost paralyzes you. Are you familiar with it? When you nap and you're decently tired, you might be awake but find it impossible to actually move or get out of bed, a feeling of unbelievable sleepiness clouds your mind. Having no reason to really fight it, I lost the battle and slept for an hour I'm sure.

Last night I finally got to go out and experience a bit of Aachen's night scene. Well, nothing ridiculous. A fellow English speaking expatriate from Australia, Meri, an au pair, was also interested in meeting people. So through a website for expats, we met and has some drinks last night. It was quite a bit of fun actually. It was a nice opportunity for me to get out of the house and not spend another Saturday night watching tv.

I spent the entirety of today by myself. No cafes, no colleagues. Just me, the TV, my lesson plan book and several phone calls. The farthest I got to today was my cleaning closet. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I had thought about going out for a walk, even out in the rain, but its too cold and wet to do that. I feel a bit lame for having not moved out of my apartment, but I figure from time to time, its okay to spend your entire day alone. Although this bothers me if it becomes a regular occurrence.

I've decided that the more I teach the English language, the more my language capabilities digress. I am often second guessing myself, misspelling common words (like synopsis) and drawing a blank. Dissecting your own language all day long is tiring on the brain too. I didn't do anything at all today except grade papers, why am I so tired?

Colonization

I just had the stark revelation that I graduated from Florida State six months ago.

That is absolutely insane. I don't feel six months older or wiser. I'm definitely not six months richer. When did this happen? Yesterday I was sitting my classroom and then today BAM six months hits me in the face. It seems so clear still. I remember walking to German class and wishing to myself that graduation would happen "only a month left." While reading articles on Statecraft I would curse the lofty academics who had nothing but time to write things about the way the world operates. Now, I aspire to be like them. I've said it before but I'm pretty sure I want a career that somehow mixes academia and real life applications of foreign affairs into one. Go forth and find it for me.

About eight months ago, a group of us from the German department were waiting for class to begin. And in that way of college seniors were discussing our "plans" (truth is none of us really had plans) for our lives after Florida State. In 90% of the cases it somehow involved moving to Germany. I'm not sure how serious we were at the time, we joked about the "FSU Colony in Germany." A bunch of FSU students now living and working in the Bundesrepublik. And now the majority of us have made it over here. We are a colony and more are soon to follow. My good friend Holly, from the German department has decided that she wants to make the big jump too. Therefore she's decided to move to Aachen (which this absolutely thrills me) and we're going to be roomies. Between the two of us, we'll be able to afford to live in a nice, modern flat conveniently located in the "Innenstadt" or downtown area. It will be great to have a slice of home here, someone that I know from my previously life at a student and someone to do things like cook dinner with. I hate nights in my apartment because I'm a social person and enjoy the company of people that I like. So January she makes the big move and I couldn't be more excited.

Photos!

By popular request, I'm providing a link to my photo album on facebook here.

A picture says a thousand words.....Living Among the Germans

Think about the day

I just finished my Saturday evening dinner. Steak with pasta and a glass of wine. I must say it was rather appetizing. I would have preferred to have cooked it on the grill, but my apartment doesn't come equipped with one sadly. It was good. I only wish I was out and about socializing among Aachen's youth, listening to music, having some cocktails. However I'm house ridden.

You see, it appears as though on Thursday I developed, dare I say, a foot aliment. I believe its a corn. Its actually rather quite embarrassing. When I hear of the word corn, I automatically think of old women in pumps telling someone to rub them. Gross. Nobody will come near my corn. I had to go to the pharmacy yesterday and tell the pharmacist that I had, now get this a "chicken eye" on my foot. The German word for corn is Hühneraugen. Am I the only person who thinks this is a bit silly? Where do they get this from? I got some medicine for it and its beginning to be bearable. Perhaps in the morning it will be down to normal. I've not been quite mobile because of this and haven't done much the past few days because I need to stay off my foot.

In Germany one is required to separate his/her trash into several categories. Plastics (gelbesäcke) including wrappers, saran wrap etc. Paper, regular trash and then bio- müll (food scraps). At first I thought that this was an absolutely ridiculous requirement. Sans recycling I've never separated my food scraps or put saran wrap in a separate container. However, I've noticed now how much these random, recyclable items actually do take up in our trash. The food scraps alone are rather serious. Then the plastic ware, which I suppose is all recycled again is another huge amount. I'm impressed with the Germans. I've only had to take my trash out once since I've been in the house because everything has been divided. Its rather surprising.

Tomorrow will be lesson planning day. I'll shleck my books to a cafe, drink a cappucino or eight and lesson plan for the next week. I'm taking on a new student and a new Intensive Business English class. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Well, I'm not sure how I feel about any of it. I also really have to be more creative with my Dover, basic English class. I'm afraid I'm not the best teacher at that level. Sadly it appears as though I will not be having any Saturday's off in the near future. This upsets me. I'm going to try and get the weekend of November 1st off. The first is a holiday here in Germany and if I could I would like to go to Dresden if I can work it out.

Oooh! Politics!

Today is one of those big days for international relations. I figure that this blog, which was originally created to discuss said issues, is a good place for me to update the world on my views on such important topics. Several things took place today of relevant importance. First, Laura Bush wrote an editorial in the Wall Street Journal which condemned the military Junta in Burma/Myanmar. Taking a role not common of this First Lady, Mrs. Bush delivered a strong condemnation of the regime even going so far as to say "The time for a free Burma is now."

Surprisingly enough, the United States has actually been among the influential powers to vehemently speak out against the regime. Usually, this type of opposition to a government takes months, if not years. I'm actually impressed. The UN as always has continued to drag their feet but along with a few European allies and Japan, the US has done a good job in calling for change.

Closer to my heart, the House Foreign Relations Committee narrowly passed a resolution which would recognise the Armenian Genocide of World War I. While I support the US government recognizing the murder of over a million Ottomans by the "Young Turks" regime, it will strain US-Turkey relations. Potentially making US military missions in Iraq more difficult if Turkey respons to the resolution by not renewing US rights to military bases in Turkey. The US Air Base at Incilirk is one of the most important military strategic points for US/NATO armed forces in the Middle East. During World War I, while the rest of the world was focused on the war in Europe, the abusive "Young Turks" regime (ironically, a bunch of old Turks) committed genocide against approximately 1.5 million Armenians. The Turkish government strongly denies claims that it ever occurred. Western scholars see this as one of the first genocides to actually take place. To understand this you must understand the definition of genocide, the history of the region and much more. As someone who studied state sponsored killing and genocide as a theme at Florida State under Dr. Robert Gellately (foremost expert on the field) I have strong feelings on this. I am glad the West has decided it is now time to acknowledge this, just bad timing. If you want to learn more about the Armenian Genocide check out the Wikipedia article here.

/endpoliticalrant/

Work is busy and I am busy. Other than that, things are going well. I might go to Frankfurt again this weekend. Time will tell.

Fauxnets

I've rather avoided updating my blog for the past few days for reasons that are even unknown to me. Mostly though because I've been terribly busy. I'm a bit peeved honestly. When interviewing for the job, I was told that most employees do not work more than two Saturday's a month.

I've worked three already and am working on the fourth this weekend. Last Saturday I worked for six hours.

This left me with Sunday off. However, my friend who lives in Frankfurt had to have her appendix removed as well (my FSU friends fear I've started a tradition in Germany). So I woke up at the crack up dawn on Sunday, caught a train to Frankfurt and stayed with her for the day then came back. I'm glad I could visit her. I know what its like to sit in a hospital room alone and in pain and in a foreign country. I was on Saturday, however, able to complete a load of laundry like a person who is living in the 21st century, complete with washing and drying the clothes. The experience was less than kosher but I live to tell the story another day.

I've also procured the internets in my home. This of course is what I like to call the "fauxnets." My internet connection is le ghetto. That's french for ghetto in case you were wondering. My connection is based on a city wide wireless signal. I have a G router pick up the signal and its plugged into my computer. The impending result: I must stick the router outside my window or right up against the window to even receive the slightest hint of a signal and when I am with signal, its about the slowest thing ever. It reminds me of my AOL days and makes me want to cry. Proof of this madness can be viewed here.I am happy though that I can at least do the simplest of internet tasks now. I don't know how long this will last. I might just scrap it all together and keep using internet cafe's etc, as much as that idea pains me.

The weather has been chilly here but rather nice. This evening though some clouds were moving in and it looked like it might rain. I need to decide what I am doing for New Years Eve. Suggestions are as always greatly accepted.

And so it is

I am still without regular access to the internets. Something I hate. The past five years of my life I have been connected to the world via a small fiber optic cable or wireless signal. Because of this severe travesty, I have been forced to do things like watch CNN and bad german tv or worse, read a book. Psh! Who does that?

Yesterday was a holiday here in The Fatherland. October 3rd is "Tages des Deutsches Einheit" or day of German Unity. Celebration of the day when East and West Germany combined into one country again. More of a holiday in the East than the West as many people on this side see the East as different people completely and an economic burden. Forty years of stiff communist oppression will do this to you. Having lived in Dresden, I'm inclined to disagree with the fact that they are still an economic burden. Dresden has a booming economy and unemployment is falling, in some cases faster than here in the west. However, one thing that has increased is the rise of Neo-Nazi groups again. This is no good. Rural parts of the former East where unemployment is at its highest and education at its lowest suffer the most. Let's hope this gets nipped in the bud.

For my holiday, I traveled to Bonn to meet up with fellow German club member Eric. He just flew in from the States so was feeling a bit rough. We had a walk throughout the former capital of West Germany and dinner. At first I was not impressed with Bonn, but further investigation into the city proved to be more delightful. Much to our surprise their was a free light/water show taking place. Imagine a wall of water with different lights shining through. It was pretty awesome. I found the English site for this show, so if you want to learn more you can read here.

I am determined to get internet in my home soon. Now I have to away to this company 45 minutes outside of Aachen.

The Audacity of Mother Nature

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day here in Aachen. Then today it was mostly cloudy and about an hour ago the rain started. Much like you are, I am not shocked. This is becoming an usual phenomenon this rain stuff. Although I am mad at CNN International for lying to me, they said that it wasn't going to rain. Its strange to hear an American newscaster tell you the temperature in Celsius.

My friend Becca came here from Frankfurt this weekend. We had a great time. We went to one of Aachen's spas/natural pools Carolus Thermen. For €10 each we spent 2.5 hours bathing in the warm mineral waters of Northern Germany. Charlemagne used to send his soldiers to these locations throughout the city to rejuvenate themselves after battle. Afterwards we felt very refreshed. We were unable to unfortunately to book a massage that evening. I will be going this weekend sans any other plans. I got paid today. Not very much but either way, it was my first professional pay check. Strangely, I received an actual check. You go the bank its drawn on (because if you deposit it in your account, it takes SEVEN DAYS for it to clear, not acceptable)
and then take the cash to your accounts, etc. I can have the money transferred to my account later once my accounts are established and in good standing a bit later. For now, this is probably the best option, considering I don't know my PIN yet to access my funds.

My entire face aches. I've got a cold or sinus thing going on. I went to the apotheke (pharmacy) today and got some medicine for it. In Germany you cannot simply pick out something that you want, you have to talk to the pharmacist and tell them what you want. I chickened out and used English, well a severe mix of English and German. I'd rather not have a confused look on my pharmacists face when dealing with my aliments. Today I drove for the first time in Germany. Nowhere near as intimidating as Puerto Rico. I am however, afraid, that I'm going to get lost. It was very much like driving in the States only faster. We have three company cars, I test drove on some very European car from 1993. It had over 175000 KM on it. Apparently, I "James Bonded" it according to my fellow passengers. Thats because when you know how to drive a stick correctly, you can get that baby up to speed fast. Mike drove for a bit and almost gave me a heart attack on several occasions.

I have class in a few minutes. But at my Grandfather's inspriation, I leave you with this:

Today absence of humor renders life impossible. - Collette.

Sometimes you just gotta laugh at yourself.

Yuck...

I think I am getting a head cold. My throat no longer hurts but now I have the stereotypical signs of a cold. This is no good. When I get a cold it really tends to knock me out. This is not what I need right now.

Becca came to visit this weekend. Its great. More on this later.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I am logged into my blog from an seedy internet cafe near the bsu station here in Aachen. My usual internet fix, Starbucks closes at 8pm daily so if I don't get to the internet before then, I am forced to come here. When I logged in, my blog was automatically in German, even after logging in. I think its strange how even though I am logged into the system, it still puts everything in German. Good times.

It rained today, non-stop the entire day. Which usually, rain doesn't bother me and chilly, rainy days don't bother me either. However, I only had one lesson today since my firm class cancelled, I was going to take this opportunity to get some much needed shopping done. With good intentions, I went to the shopping area and tried to shop to my hearts content. Sadly, a trench coat I want is still just one size too small. Roar being a heifer. Boo hiss on small Europeans. I went online and looked for a trench coat and I couldn't find one either. Lame. I did manage to buy some new shoes today which were badly needed. The rain kind of forced me out of the shopping and sent me packing home with my shoes and slippers. I am still looking for a self-service laundromat. The one I went to today wants to charge €30 to wash and dry via a dryer two loads worth of clothes. Nichts kosher. Maybe I will break down and do it anyway because I do need to some clothes.

I have decided that I am earning enough money where my next apartment is going to be nice enough. I will own both a washer and dryer if it breaks the bank. I will also live on the first or second floor. I am also going to pull the modern card and not live in a home older than 1950ish. While my altbau is nice to look at, it creeks alot and the floors are not very solid.

My water heater, which also powers my air heating, is still broken so I am SOL on warm water, going on five days. If my landlord doesn't return tomorrow, then I am calling for someone to come and fix it and having them invoice her. Blah. Germans and their fall vacations. Otherwise, school is keeping me busy, a bit more than I had hoped actually. While this is good for my piggybank, its not really good for my stress levles. I wish I had more time to explore Aachen and go to Dresden, even if I could just have Saturday's off. Unfortunately, I got assigned a Friday night class from 5pm-8pm and Saturday's from 9am-1pm. That is no good. Its hard to prepare for three and four hour lessons.

And its still raining.

Progress

I'm now half way into Wednesday which pleases me greatly. My heavies working days are MTW, these are the days I spend most of my time teaching or preparing to teach. Thursdays and Fridays I have more time to explore Aachen, shop, etc.

Yesterday and today I've been tutoring this little boy named Achim. A ten year old German whose parents are forcing him to take English lessons. Of course, Germans learn English here at a young age, but its a slow, structured growth. Like most kids his age, he is having trouble grasping the concept of grammar and pronunciation. So his parents, who are way too ambitious for this sweet kid, are forcing him to use his fall break in school. Myself and two other Americans are his teachers. The parents are constantly asking us if we sent him home with vocabulary and homework. They want him to learn all of the sentence structures too...my boss came to our rescue. This is nearly impossible considering his level of English and the time we have with him (just a week). She defended our teaching methods, which are working. Just because your ten year old doesn't have two hours worth of English homework doesn't mean he isn't learning. Thankfully, most of my students are adults or university students, so don't have to deal with parents so much.

My water heater broke on Monday so I've been without hot water for a few days now. I think the pilot light burned out but I have no idea how to light a German water heater and I'm not so keen on exploring the many possibilities. My landlord is out of town. So today I'm going to become rather cozy with my neighbors and see if they can assist me even though we've never met before. Awkward? Probably.

I'm beginning to learn more and more of Aachen. Its actually a nice city. Hopefully this weekend I can spend getting to know it a bit more. Next Wednesday a German holiday. I might take a train to the Netherlands to Maastricht to see whats up there. It's not even an hour ride from what I understand. My friends in Dresden and elsewhere in Germany haven't been able to arrange our rendezvous yet because we're all frightfully busy. I work most Saturday mornings which prohibits me from traveling more than two hours away (like Dresden) for the weekend. Either way, I am meeting people here and getting more and more accustomed to the city and its weather, which is today quite chilly.

The art of being "angemeldet"

Invariably, life in Germany is somewhat anders or different than that in the States. And it should be, its a foreign country. Having moved into my apartment this week, I am now eligible to register or "anmelden" which allows me to then apply for the appropriate residence and working permits. Ah yes, I love the smell of German bureaucracy in the morning.

After my first lesson this morning, at the instruction of my boss went to the "Bürgerservice" or Citizens Services office and registered as a foreign national living in Aachen. Apparently, my 35 minute wait to register wasn't in vain. As a citizen of Aachen I'm entitled to a coupon book. Having briefly looked at the coupon book, there are coupons for reduced massages at the local spas (Aachen is a spa town). Woot, being legal has its privileges.

No internet in the house and my house is old and I'm already tiring of carrying my crap up four flights of stairs on a two or three times a day basis. At least I'll have legs of steel when this is done. I'm only there until December. With that in mind, I finally took some pictures and have uploaded them onto my facebook account. If you want to see my photos, click here.

Sometimes I feel like Jane Goodall and I'm going into the mist.

With that, I leave you with this thought from Dave Barry:

"Americans who travel abroad for the first time are shocked to discover that, despite all the progress that has been made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign language"

Eine Kugel Eis bitte...

I'm not sure, but perhaps the four most important words in the German language are:

Eine kugel eis bitte.

Translation: one scoop of (enter flavor here) ice cream, please.

Today is/was Saturday. Which is the German shopping day since stores here are closed by law on Sunday (which is really annoying). So after class this morning, I had lunch with some fellow English teachers, which was great because I was dying for some companionship, even if the company and I don't match personalities 100%. Oh well, it was good. So I went shopping afterwards for things that I needed for my flat. And like the Hebrews cramming through the Red Sea, a billion Germans have crammed onto Aachen's central shopping district, Adalbertsteinweg. It was utter chaos. People stopping you to try and get you to donate funds for something or get you to buy something, etc. You can't move there are so many of them. Note to self: no more shopping on Saturday's if I can avoid it. Anyway, I would say 5 out of 10 Germans was carrying an ice cream cone. That famous German Eis is eaten probably a day by even the most health conscious German. And at 60 Euro cents a scoop, why yes, I'll have an ice cream too. Something about German ice cream, its just better. Mostly inspired by Italian Gelato I presume. My personal favorite: Straciatella.

With that in mind, this afternoon I also began the move in process to my flat. Pictures to come tomorrow. I had planned on posting photos today, but I left my camera in my briefcase and not my backpack so I couldn't take photos of my apartment. I'm in the hotel tonight for the last night (with internets) and then my apartment doesn't have any so i'm going to fall off the face of the earth for a while, well that is of course when I'm not in Starbucks. I do have SAT TV which is supple.

On Thursday I have to drive to a firm to give my lesson. This is beginning to to give me some angst because German's drive as if they have just dropped a pot of scalding coffee on their laps. At least my experience in Taxi cabs have been so. I took a taxis with some of my bags to my apartment today and the taxi drive reached at least 65 mph on some of those little back streets with lots of parked cards only inches from the moving vehicle. Needless to say, I'm a bit nervous. I have to get a German drivers license in a few weeks. That'll be fun too. Turns out I probably have to travel to Frankfurt in the next month to the consulate there. My grandfather left me a sizable estate and the investment firm wants me to go to the consulate to sign paperwork, etc. Which is lame because when do I have time to just jump on over to the consulate to sign some papers.

Tomorrow another English teacher and I are getting together for Starbucks! Yes! Socialization!

Katastrophe

If you don't want to read, what I consider to be truly traumatic news, then go no further.

My Sonicare toothbrush, that I love more than most people, won't recharge!!!! :(

I fear that when I plugged it into the wall (without a converter, it doesn't produce heat, shouldn't need one) here that I burned the circuitry for the charger. This absolutely devastates me. Never have my teeth felt so clean as when that toothbrush is gracing the enamel of my pearly whites. I'm going to have to buy a German one or something, if such a thing exists. I don't really think many Germans are concerned about electric toothbrushes. Le sigh. :(

Another catastrophe is the fact that many Germans feel like it is appropriate to wear denim jackets often. No.

Its much warmer today than it has been the past few days so I'm not dressed like an Inuit. It's actually a rather nice day. I have a lesson in thirty minutes with this woman who is improving her English in hopes of finding a job (unemployment in Germany is around 10%). Later today I have to take a bus to some suburb to teach for an hour and a half then take it back. I haven't driven the company car's yet and I haven't practiced so it would be rather bad for me to get behind the wheel of a German car, drive for 30 minutes when I haven't practiced yet.

I'm much more stressed than I thought I was. I don't necessarily feel stressed the way you usually do.Last night it kind of hit me, the weight of everything. The flight from the states, moving over here for two years, starting a new job, speaking German constantly, not having any friends (although more on this in a bit) and then on top of that, my grandfather passing away and my sister giving birth, all within the past week. My fingers and eye lids began twitching yesterday, which is my body's sign of stress. Like a good WASP I've kept my feeling suppressed regarding the death of my grandfather. Really, it sucks because that was the last connection I had to my Father besides my brothers and Mom. I will, as is my style, push on without event. And today is definitely the funeral for my Grandfather.

Last night I got to talk for about 15 minutes with some of the other English teachers. A girl from Australia ( I cannot remember her name to save my life) who actually studies in the Netherlands but works here, were having a good conversation and she was giving me some general tips on being here and such. I've also joined an online expat group in hopes of meeting people in a similar situation. Many of the English teachers here aren't here just to work, but rather they're students as well or in some cases here because their boyfriend/husband got a job in Aachen. I haven't met another male English teacher yet, but I know tomorrow a guy name Mike, an American who's been living in Germany for some time will arrive here. I hope he's young enough to where we hit it off easily.

Tomorrow is move in day for my apartment and over the weekend I'll be getting a cell phone and hopefully get DSL/Internet service installed in my apartment so I won't have to schlep up to the Starbucks for everything. Any recommendations for explaining tenses? I couldn't tell you what they are in English, I'm going to have to study that. Oy veh.

Nach Hause

Late this evening, I made a decision regarding my short-term accommodations here in Aachen. I chose an apartment I had viewed yesterday, respectively large, good price, location wasn't the best but wasn't bad either and the woman who is renting seemed to be rather friendly. Friendliness among landlords in Germany is of the most importance because Germans are not necessarily known for being understanding, especially to those who do not follow the status quo, which I'm sure will be me.

Either way, the flat is about a 15 minute walk from where I work and during bad weather, I could take the bus pretty easily. Parking, well there really isn't any so I guess its good that I have no car. I think I'll be signing a lease for three months at first, which is great. Either way, I'm glad to finally be in my own place rather quickly.

Last night I left the older womans house and moved into a very modern, nice Guest House of sorts only ten minutes or so from work. I love it here and tried to actually stay here for the next three months but its too expensive. On the same day my Grandfather passed away, my sister had her baby. Circle of life, go figure.

That famous German weather

I've always maintained that German weather was just as crazy as the people that live here. I continue to be right in this matter. Over the weekend and yesterday wasn't too bad. Mostly sunny with some clouds and no rain until today. The high for today was 10 degrees (C) (50F). Windy and rainy. I'm not quite prepared for this. By the way, it's only the middle of September. This my dears, is normal apparently. Thankfully, my Mother loves me enough to have sent me here with plenty of warm clothes, albeit not quite warm enough. Nor was I prepared for the rain. I'm in the process of looking for a trench coat which seems to be quite popular and practical here. Now, ladies and gentlemen, I don't wear extremely fancy clothing and I often shop off of the clearance rack because,well thats just the way it is. However, as I've gotten older and graduated, etc I've become familiar with some nicer lines of clothing and spending a little bit more is okay. With this in mind, I went into a store (and I'm not kidding) called Lust for Life (Lust in German is hard to define, something along the lines of, does it please you...etc). Anyway, this is apparently an uppity store which specializes in some more of the designer brands. Fair enough. I'm looking for a trench coat because I'm freezing in just my sweater and I'm tired of being wet. I figure, a trench coat would cost me around 100-150 Euros like it would back in the States. Nothing too fancy, just a tie around the middle, water proof, etc. Lo and behold I came across this amazing trench coat that I was prepared to drop a reasonable amount on because I will CLEARLY be getting a lot of use out of it.

The price tag read: 399,00 Euros. That's $554

Are you kidding me?

I almost died. I mean seriously, who can afford that stuff? I learned later on that Lust for Life carries only the designer stuff, etc. So, I'm going to take it down a notch. Live like a pauper I shall.
After I leave here I'm going to go shopping among the common folk for a coat and scarf and all that one needs to not catch pneumonia here. I've been drinking a lot of coffee which is going to bankrupt me. I'm sitting in the Starbucks (convenience + internet as it is I think five feet from my office) and I just paid EUR 3,50 for a tall mocha. That's the same as the states, but different currency so its really $4.50. Ridiculous.

First day of class went ok. I only have three students right now and more to come on the 1 of October. These students really have no knowledge of English or have very, very basic knowledge. Its hard to find people who've never been exposed to English because of the advent of globalization, etc. The first 30 minutes I was trying to get a feel for them, deciding on what to talk about, etc. I finally broke them down and the class ended on a good note. Tonight I have a private lesson and training. Woot.

Today I looked at two apartments. The first one was small, a bit far from the central part of the town and the tenant now is a smoker. Perhaps what bothered me the most was that the bed, came out of the closet and was tres small. No sir. Not really feeling that, plus it was managed by this Frau who I think was rather picky. The second one was on a much busier street, closer to the central and was much bigger. Came with this cool kitchen and table, a gigantic bathroom (hint-no shower, just a tub) and a large bedroom. Fully furnished. With all costs around EUR400. So not too bad, and she'll let me stay for say, three months. Then I could get a bigger place, etc. I have an appointment tomorrow to see another flat. This one is supposed to be realllllllly close, so thats exciting. Aachen is beginning to scare me because there is so much that I don't know about it. When I went to Dresden to study, I knew the basics to the city. No Beyond Borders friends here to help me get settled. Anyway, I hope to be in a new place, soon. I'm leaving the Frau's house tonight and moving into a "Guest House" or a hotel much closer to work. I can't keep going back to the suburbs like I have been.

And of course, now the sun is shining.

Another day....

Mom called me around 4am EST today, my Grandfather finally passed away after being ill for so long. Thankfully, all of us had our closure with him this past week. I feel like I got everything off of my chest that needed to be said, my family too. This has been a long time coming so he's no longer ill which to me is better. Nothing worse than not being the person you were before. Thanks to you who've sent me well wishes, etc.

So moving on from that. Its just shy of three o'clock in the afternoon and I haven't taught yet. My 'class' of one person isn't until tonight. I'm teaching the true beginners class. My student is from the Middle East. There is getting to be less and less people who are truly beginners in English. Almost everyone has exposure and that is why the class is the way it is. Apparently, as the course will move on it will grow they told me. It's a eight week course, so we'll see. I want more than one person in my class.

I also received my, what I like to call, dossiers, on my private lesson clients. Another English teacher and I, a nice girl from Iowa named Faye (freelancer), are sharing a client. So we have to have meetings often enough to discuss what she's learned, what we've covered, etc. Things in the office seem to be kind of crazy, new teacher coming in, myself, etc. I've still not quite learned the city yet. The advantage of studying in Dresden was that I already knew most of the city. I don't have that advantage here in Aachen. There is so much for me to learn about this city. Once I get a flat, I can do some exploring. I really need to meet some people my age and hang out. Many of the other English teachers I've met thus far are young 20'sish. Of course, most of which I've only shook hands with and said hello briefly. None have offered to hang out or get adjusted, whatever but of course, I just started today really. I'm sure that will change.

I have an appointment tomorrow (no German would let me come today to see a flat, go figure ) to see a flat not very far from the center. Furnished apartment, relatively good size wise. Price is also not too bad. We'll see how that goes. My boss was going to continue calling people to set up appointments for me to see them. I'm supposed to do a practice run tomorrow also of driving the car. Puedo ayudas. Already? Ugh, Germans and their driving scare me. Apparently I've been assured to not worry about that it comes easily after a while. I'm more concerned with getting lost. I got off the bus one bus stop too soon this morning and spent over an hour looking for my office. My feet hurt like a mo. the shoes I'm wearing are not conducive to getting lost in.

Aachen

As many of you have read already (via email I assume) my arrival here in Aachen has gone relatively smooth with no problems as of yet. If I can only go 13 days with nothing bad happening, I surpass my previous record. Last year I was here twelve days when I had my appendix removed.

It's Sunday in Germany, which means no shopping. However, the city is still a buzzing. They have been having this festival called "September Special" or something along those lines. I am content for now to sit in my Starbucks. Once I have a flat, I will feel more comfortable. I just hate staying at this ladies place for so long. Maybe tomorrow my dream flat will be available (ab sofort) and I can move in and sleep tomorrow in my German bed (ugh). I plan on spending two to three months in a smaller, temporary apartment and eventually moving into a bigger place. This way I can just get settled, get a layout of the city then save up some geld and move and go to Ikea! :)

I start teaching tomorrow. I'm only teaching the basic class on Monday for an hour. These are people who have never spoken a word of English before in their life. Should be good that I get to destroy that for them. Tuesday I start "privat unterrichten" or private lessons with this guy who is in the Lumber industry. He's an older gentleman apparently who scored about 24% on his language placement test. I hope he doesn't have any bad habits.

Bad news today from the home front. My grandfather is quite ill. He is suffering from pulmonary fibrosis for quite some time now. Mom called at 2:30 this morning to tell me that Hospice care has told them the less than two weeks theory. They're keeping him heavily sedated at this point which is the best. He's in a lot of pain. He told my Mom and the nurses that the past week has been the worst week of his life. He told me last week that if he should die before I come back (which was a given) that I am not to return home, its his dying decree I guess. So, follow it I shall.

Now, I've got to create some lesson plans, any suggestions?

New job, oh my

In a strange, twisted turn of events, I've accepted a job in Aachen, Germany.

I had originally applied for a job in Jacob's University. I received an email today from them informing that although I was an excellent candidate, they did not select me for the position. Oh well because I'm going to be English teacher in Aachen.

Crazy.

My flight leaves in twelve hours.

Interview

I had a job interview this morning. Well, it was a phone interview. I applied last week with Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC to be their new International Studies Advisor. Its a job that I want, just not necessarily in the location that I was hoping for. I mean I'll take the job if its offered to me but I was hoping for someplace more Metropolitan. I'm tired of small town living.

The interview went well, but was short (only 17 minutes). I answered their questions fairly well and only used "um" I believe three times, which is of course three times too many. Its the first interview that I've had. It bothers me that I'm sitting here in my Mom's house alone on a Wednesday afternoon. I'm bored, I need something. My self-confidence has been shot although it did receive a small booster when they called me for the interview appointment yesterday. Now having done the interview, I feel like I did a crap job after a friend of mine pointed out how short the interview was. This is of course, just the pre-interview and any final decisions will require the applicant to go to Wake Forest before they make their selections. Either way, its bothersome. It's been four months since graduation, I"m half-way past the seven month rule.

Still no word from the local employers that I've applied with. It's annoying. I feel as though even if i can't get a job and I'm forced to apply at say Starbucks or Borders (nothing wrong working there in itself at all) that they won't take me. There is such a thing as being over qualified. Employers can usually snif it out when an employee will bounce for the next best thing, which I would.

Job hunting sucks.

The Joys of Unemployment

It's been said that it takes the average university graduate six months to find their first first career job. I'm already half way there.

This has by far been the most devastating three months ever. Not knowing where or if I was going to find employment and how I would go about it. Well the end of the summer came and I was forced to move out of my home in Tallahasse. So I had to have movers come and take all of my stuff to a storage unit in Ohio. Presently I'm on what my Mother refers to as "vacation." The two weeks after Tallahassee and before I move into my Mother's house. I'm spending most of my time in with my friends in Ft. Walton Beach and Destin (my hometown) not doing much of anything except for kicking it back and hanging out. I've not spent much money at all since I've been here. On Friday I"m driving to Nashville to visit my friend Sarah whom I haven't seen in four years. We've been friends since the dawn of time and I'm excited to see her.

Of course my ENTIRE family is down my back like a pair of screeching tobacco monkeys. Apparently if my physical presence is in Ohio (unlike my family) then a job will magically appear. Only they are disillusioned if they think so. Yesterday I called my grandfather to say hi (he's ill and has pulmonary fibrosis and is all sorts of sick) and he told me to get my fat ass up to Ohio and I could work as a trucker. I almost vomited into the phone. I mean, seriously? I've applied for jobs with the University of Dayton, Lexis Nexis, NCR, AT&T and much more. I"m sorry, I'm not taking a job in food service as I'd make an awful server, not enough patience. I'm already fighting with my mother via the telephone and I'm tired of it already. I don't want to fight I just want to get people off my back. Allow me some space, please. Considering nobody in my family has been in the job market for at least 15 years, I would think they would realize that they have no idea what they are talking about. Of course, they're all friggin experts in their opinion. Tis why my living in Ohio is only a momentary pitstop. By January I will have hopefully saved up enough financial assets to move overseas or to Washington or somewhere else where the jobs actually are.

Its not that I enjoy unemployment. I'm not a lazy person. I enjoy working a good job that I know how to do and I can use my brain and my degree. It absolutely kills me that I have to move in with my family.I'm sorry, trucking doesn't quite do that for me. And shame on my family for wanting me to lower my standards. I did not spend four years with my nose in a book learning a foreign language and the stupid theories of the loss of strength gradient to work for $10 an hour. Screw you if you think that is going to happen. Call me snooty or whatever but thats where I draw the line. I'm not a trucker. All I know is that I'm going to get a refill on Xanax and I'm going to strap in and hold on tight because the next six months are going to be a bitch.

I don't know anybody in Dayton. No people my age, nobody to chill with or vent too. I'm very close to taking out a craiglist ad! It'll read something like this:
Help! Recent college graduate forced to move back in with family seeks friendly 20 something face to sip coffee and have intellectual conversations.

I've been told that there is nothing wrong with me taking a couple weeks to visit old friends before leaving for Ohio from everyone except my family. Why is it that, the first person to get a college degree and break the cycle of lower middle class in my family is so intent on not supporting me. It really bothers me. All I asked for was a couple of weeks.

I've applied for this job in Germany at Jacob's University in Bremen. I'm really excited about it and I hope to be selected for the job. It's this amazing job that I want so bad! I hope they interview me. Getting that job would make me so happy.

Let's hope that something happens, soon.

Not enough

I've decided that I do not update my blog enough. I have lots of random thoughts on politics and law and the intricacies of life, now I should only channel them into productive, appropriate writings.

Last night, my former Genocide & International Law professor agreed to co-author an article with me. The topics is still left for discussions, but it will be something along the lines of state sponsored killing or international law. Ich freue mich.

I"m moving in two weeks. Lame. Moving is so overrated. I just want to take all of my crap and throw it away. I hate packing, purging, etc.

I miss school. I miss the world of academia. I also am going to miss intellectual discourse something awful . I need a job still. Any takers? I'll post my cv later.

Distorted Maps

A friend of mine, Katie, recently passed onto me a link created by the universities of Michigan in the US and Sheffield, UK. The maps measure how the world really measures up.

"Rather than defining each country by size, these computer-generated modified maps - or cartograms - redraw the globe with each country's size proportionate to its strengths, or weaknesses, in a whole series of categories."

Some of the categories include HIV Cases, Military Spending, Wealth History and more.

Its a very interesting series of maps which measures our sometimes distorted realities and puts them back in place for us.

The maps can be found here at the Daily Mail.

On a lighter note, I thought you may appreciate a more humorous take on conservative politics. Thus, I present to you, the World as according to Dubya. I typically try to stay away from blatantly political statements, but this was to good to let go. Enjoy.

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Fulbright

I learned last week that I was not selected to be a part of the 2007-2008 Fulbright Exchange program with Germany.

I was extremely disappointed, however, I know that over 6000 applications submit their credentials for review and there are only around 1300 slots available for selection. In the mean time, I shall continue my job hunt.

The Critical Factors of Nation Building

I apologize for my delayed updates. My computer at home crashed so I am forced to schleck up to the Computer lab for every little thing. Good news is that the new VAIO should be shipped out today :).

About three weeks ago I had the opportunity to lunch with former ambassador Peter F. Romero click here to read his official biography (not updated since 2001). Ambassador Romero is a graduate of Florida State's International Affairs program, of which I am presently enrolled. The lunch was hosted in part with the University's Broad Lecture Series which invites prominent figures and academics in International Affairs to speak to the university. Ambassador Romero spoke on the critical factors of Nation Building and I throughly enjoyed the lecture after lunch. Romero was critical yet respectful of the Bush administrations present policies governing US involvement and invasion in Iraq and warned of potential diplomatic backlash if we do not settle things in the Mid East.

Some key points that Romero espoused in his nation building talk includes the importance of multilateral ism among others:

1. Have all non-military means been exhausted? Before we can begin coercion through force, we have to ensure our diplomatic muscle has been flexed.
2. Is our information on the gravity of the threat reliable? This is key because it focuses on the massive failures of US and Allied intelligence with the WMD problem in 2003 pre-invasion.
3. Can we operate under International Law? The development of International Law since 1945 has led to the establishment of organizations dedicated to promoting global peace and growth. Any state, as a signatory to this organization should cooperate in full with the international audience.
4. Does a "critical mass" support the vision internally? That is, does the national government have wide spread support for the vision.
5. Is there a sense of nationalization inside the target country? Does the target country have widespread support and a feeling of nationalism?
   
6. To what extent do you bring the "old order" back? It is imperative to restore amongst the masses a sense of normalization, in turn this turns former government leaders into part of the solution rather than the problem. The United States quickly learned this after WWII in Germany. Since so many of the government leaders were in government during the Third Reich it would become almost impossible to instill a government without former leadership. Ignoring their demands may turn them into insurgents.
   
7. Achieve sustained economic development. Important to recognize the importance of self-investment, FDI, market economies and limiting remittances and exiles.
   
8. Do you have the support of the target country's neighbors? Extremely important factor that is often overlooked. These countries can be a part of fueling an insurgency for their own benefit later on, also produces problem of security, border control, refugee status, etc. I.e. Syria & Iraq.
9. Does a comprehensive plan exist for war and nation build ling phases? Are the goals set forth by the military realistic? Have you received varying opinions?
   
10. How long will it take? The longer an occupying power stays, the faster resentment and nationalism within that target country will grow.
    

These are extremely indicative factors of the success or failure of engaging in war and then nation building. I found Romero's lecture to be informative and insightful and most importantly, it made sense.

First Serious Job Application

Yesterday I sent in my first resume for review for an position as a Research Associate on U.S. Foreign Policy with The Council on Foreign Relations. The job is an entry-level research position with one of the leading foreign policy firms in the world. If I do not receive the Fulbright award, I wouldn't mind working for The CFR. A great company in the middle of U.S. Foreign Relations. We'll see how this works out.

More Dissapointment

Today I received a letter from CDS International which is the organization which administers the much coveted Congress-Bundestag Exchange. In true fashion, I was not selected for an interview, however they believe I demonstrate "much promise" in my field.

Their primary reasoning for my none selection was that I hadn't had enough experience in my field. However, I thought this program was for recent college graduates who were going to Germany to gain experience. On top of that, I participated in Florida State's Beyond Borders Cross-Cultural Exchange program in 2005 and in 2006 was the lead student coordinator for the program. I have significant strengths in cross-cultural competencies and I'm already versed in the language. Apparently however there were significant application in the field that I applied for in International Relations so it must have been slim pickings. Either way, I am dissapointed but that is life. I'm still awaiting to hear back from the Fulbright program. If that doesn't fall through, I'll be out of my academic options and will be forced to seriously look for a job.

So this week I'll make an appointment at my universities career center, refurbish the resume and start sending it out. I very much want a job in Europe but I know those are hard to come by which is why I was relying heavily on CBYX and now Fulbright.

This whole college-senior graduation business is tiresome, stressful and quite unpredictable. I'm afraid I'm going to end up living in my Mother's basement working at a grocery store for years on end. Let's hope that doesn't come true.