Last Entry

Hi Everyone.

I should probably let everyone know that I am no longer in Munich, and therefore this will be my last entry on this blog. I will keep you updated about my other blogs, as soon as I create them.

The reason I am no longer in Munich is because 1) my Fulbright grant ended in July, 2) I had to come home to be the Maid of Honor in my best friend's wedding, and 3) I have no money to return... yet.

I'll get back there someday.

But as a closing, I thought I would share a list of things I learned, things I missed and things that I think are better suited for Germany.

Things I love about Germany:

1) Transportation

• a) U-Bahn, trains, Mitfahrgelegenheit
• b) Accessibility
• c) No DUIs
  

2) Language

• a) Kids speaking it so clearly
• b) The feeling I got when I traveled to foreign countries where I didn’t speak the language and then coming back and hearing German again; feeling like I was home
• c) Just certain expressions — Naseduschen
  

3) Grocery stores (mixed feelings)

• a) Very accessible but hard to find what you need

4) Everything in one place

• a) Sushi, movie theaters, Thai, ice skating rinks; you name it, Munich had it

5) Always something going on

• a) Festivals, plays, Toytown gatherings, farmers markets, concerts

6) Concerned about the environment

• a) Everyone rides bikes or walks
• b) They recycle EVERYTHING
• c) Solar/wind energy
• d) Water, electricity, gas conservation
• e) No plastic bags for shopping, or you pay for them
  

7) Tons of open space

• a) Gardens everywhere, park benches, river areas, surrounding lakes

8) Balance between work and play

• a) Germans word hard and they play hard
• b) Really utilize and enjoy their free time
  

9) No TV

• a) They watch television but mostly news
• b) Isn’t as much of an obsession with TV/movies/celebrity gossip
  

10) Music (mixed feelings)

• a) I have found great new music from there
• b) But sometimes I still feel like I am stuck in the 80s
  

11) Education

• a) Germans are very educated
• b) They often know more about America than Americans do (and the world)
• c) They read the news (especially NEWSPAPERS)
  

12) Food (mixed feelings)

• a) I love Bratwurst, Schnitzel, Brotzeit, beer, Spätzle, etc.
• b) But the “German” diet is not healthy, and I gained lots o’ weight
  

13) German directness vs. American politeness

• a) They are very blunt, to the point of being rude, but yet you always know where you stand with a German

14) Obsession with soccer instead of football

15) More cultural opportunities

• a) More chances to go to the theater, the cinema, or get-togethers with people of different nationalities
• b) You are always meeting new people who have a different perspective on life than you do
• c) So international
  

16) There is more history

• a) Germany is SO old compared to the U.S., so there is more history, more important architecture, more people that were a part of the world and how it came to be

17) Fashion/shopping

• a) There are so many high-end shops compared to where I am from
• b) People look so high class there, compared to America where a lot of people are fat and look frumpy
• c) All kinds of stores are very accessible
  

18) “German” efficiency

• a) All things in Germany are very efficient, from the trains to the paperwork
• b) Things work together very well
  

19) Health

• a) Germans take better care of themselves (statt rauchen)
• b) Exercise on a very greater scale
• c) They do eat healthier, even though they have the option of eating unhealthy
  

20) Health/employee benefits

• a) Mothers get money for their children and their employers are required to hold their jobs for three years after going on maternity leave
• b) So many public holidays (Catholicism) where people don’t have to work
  

21) Scenery/central location/safe

22) Dogs

• a) Dogs are allowed everywhere
• b) Sometimes treated better than children
• c) Always so well trained
  

Munich compared to Vienna

Munich:

1) Cleanliness

• a. One of the cleanest cities in Europe, perhaps that’s why I love it so much

2) Bavarian culture

• a. Beer, Brats, and Tracht

3) Schicki-Miki
4) English Garden
5) Festivals/holidays

• a. Oktoberfest
• b. Fasching
• c. Tollwood
• d. Starkbierfest
• e. Mai(baum)
  

6) Dogs go everywhere

7) SO SAFE

Vienna:

1) Heurigen
2) Trains come faster
3) More touristy? (Both good and bad)
4) Very artistically cultured
a. More art museums, classical music
5) Not so far to the airport
6) Better weather?
7) Not so many dogs (good and bad)
8) But I basically loved it because of the group of people I was with when I was there (I spent my last semester of college on an exchange to Vienna in 2007)

What growing up in an American/NM/MT atmosphere caused me to miss (a.k.a. things I don’t like about Germany):

1) Water, water everywhere and not a drop that’s free
2) Free refills
3) Ice and real ice tea
4) Customer service
5) New Mexican scenery and good New Mexican food
6) Green chile
7) Driving (but only sometimes) and road trips
8) Density of city — small quarters in which to live
9) Backyards
10) I miss that need for entertainment, even though I wish I didn’t
11) Ziplocs
12) All-in-1 stores like Target and Costco, which make it very easy to eat healthy too
13) The German diet
14) Things in their original language, I hate dubbing; what’s wrong with subtitles?
15) German superiority
16) American politeness
17) Mounds and mounds of paperwork and having to get absolutely everything right or else no deal making/no leeway
18) Modern houses with real showers, microwaves, coffee machines, toasters, fast heaters
19) 24 hour stores/things staying open past 8 and on Sundays

Things I missed that had nothing to do with where I was:

1) My family/my dogs
2) Close friends
3) The modern look of the U.S. — no wires, poles, not so much construction all the time (this does have to do with Germany)
4) A routine

And from this experience, I now think some of the most important things in life are:

To surround yourself with your favorite people — people who are your true friends and want as much happiness for you as you want for yourself.

To be able to hold on to every memory you’ve ever experienced, good or bad, to relive them again or even just to learn from them.

To keep meeting new people to see if they can contribute to the happiness of your life or bring in something fulfilling that you don’t already have in your life — they don’t complete you, but you are a better version of yourself because of them.

Always be grateful and love life.

Live life to a fitting soundtrack.
:0 )

Thank you so much, Munich, Fulbright, Focus, The Interview People, and all of my friends and colleagues for making those ten months some of the best in my life.

Ich werde nie vergessen.

The Value of Time

I recently wrote an article for the Fulbright Alumni newsletter, called FRANKly, and it was fairly last minute because I was having such a problem deciding what to write about, but I actually am kind of fond of what came out.

The theme for the issue is "time," and that was really all the direction we were given. I find it's often harder for me to write things when I don't have a clear instructions on what the receiving party is looking for.

That's something I'm really going to have to work on, hey?

Anyway, here it is:

The Value of Time

When I first arrived in Munich at the beginning of September, I remember a time where I was waiting for the S-Bahn along with a myriad of other travelers—locals as well as tourists—and I remember that the S-Bahn was late.

The sign suspended above the platform informed the awaiting passengers that their train would be arriving in 2 minutes, now 1 minute, now 0 minutes. Still no train.

Anyone standing in that underground station as this particular S-Bahn turned out to be tardy could have immediately identified the German locals from the temporary visitors. As an American who is accustomed to changes in schedules, system breakdowns and lapses in punctuality, I just stood patiently for the few extra minutes it took for the train to arrive. But my patient silence stood out in the crowd of exasperated Germans, who could be heard sighing with impatience and tapping their feet on the ground and could be seen checking their watches every few seconds, as if calculating just how late this error was going to cause them to be.

This type of situation is rarely seen in Germany. One thing I have come to adore about this country is its remarkably efficient and, with the exception of a few instances, punctual transit system. In fact, I have become so used to the train schedule that I have my watch set to the exact second I know my train will arrive at the Lehel U-Bahn stop. And, if my train is late, you would now find me amongst the crowd of toe-tappers and watch-checkers.

The German transportation system and how Germans relate to it is not the only lesson in time with which I will leave this country. From the moment I arrived, and the realization that I was going to be a resident of this country for 10 months settled in, I started to observe vast differences in the way that Germans value their time.

It’s not a groundbreaking observation that people in America are living in a kind of fast-forward mode. Everything is centered on doing things faster, getting there faster, always rushing toward the next task. Funnily enough, people in a rush are also often late.

The American “fashionably late” concept is something that will never be a German custom. They find lateness rude and unnecessary. Needless to say, I learned this the hard way. As one who was always ten or fifteen minutes late for everything, I quickly learned that this was unacceptable in this country, and I’m glad I did. I hate waiting for people, so why make people wait for me? Still, although I have conquered punctuality, I can’t seem to achieve it without being in a hurry.

Even 4,000 miles away from the country in which I grew up, I can’t seem to rid my routine of this incessant need to rush, to cram everything I can into a day, or into an hour even. It seems as though I measure my success on how many things I can accomplish in one day.

The people I have met during my time in Munich seem to have noticed this. “It seems like you are always worrying about something. Do you ever truly relax?” they have said. And they’re right. I make to-do lists probably as often as I brush my teeth.

Not to say that Germans do not have goals to accomplish, they just accomplish them with an entirely different approach. The German couple I live with wakes up early in the morning, eats a nice breakfast together, reads the newspaper, and then heads off to work. In the morning, you can catch me scrambling out of bed, hastily getting ready for the day and then grabbing a granola bar as I dash out the door. It’s not even 9 a.m., and the way we have spent our morning differs greatly. Even on the commute to work, Germans use their time well. On my 50-minute train ride to work, I never seem to miss the sign onboard that reads “Endlich Zeit zum Lesen” (finally time to read). To me, this is just another way the German people really take advantage of the free time they are given, and it seems like they don’t waste one second. Similarly, when my host parents return home from work, they sit down for a dinner that almost always lasts longer than an hour, and then they relax by reading or watching their favorite television show, while I can usually be found in my room, sending E-mails or updating my blog.

It’s been said to me more than once here that Germans work hard, but they also play hard. While interning for Focus Magazin, it became apparent to me that while at work, Germans use their time to really work. They don’t dilly-dally on the Internet, they don’t take personal calls, they don’t chat incessantly to coworkers. And, they don’t bring their work home with them either. It seems as if they have figured out the ideal way to balance their professional life with their personal life, and this is an achievement I am eager to employ.

So many lessons have been learned during my time here that will stay with me forever. Even as I sit and write this article, I somehow cannot fathom how it is almost the end of my grant period, and that I will be leaving this wonderful country in one month. No matter how tightly one tries to hold on to something, the passing of time brings all things to an end. Yet if there is one overall lesson I have learned during my Fulbright year, it is to spend time like a German would: cherish every second of each opportunity, indulge in your free time and use your time wisely, not taking one moment for granted.

If I can’t bring all of Germany back with me, at least I can bring back a part of it within myself.

Social networking—the end of journalism?

So while reading The New York Times, I stumbled upon an extremely interesting and well-written (of course) story about the effect of social networking tools on countries with repressed mass media.

Here's the story.

While reading this I was hit with two major thoughts: One, it is amazing how far our technological innovations and new social networking tools have allowed for the free flow of information, even in countries where the government strives to limit information or even misinform their public. It's like the story says:

"... An Internet blogging service that did not exist four years ago has the potential to change history in an ancient Islamic country."

That hit me hard. These tools; Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, have changed the way information is shared all over the globe, forever. It can only grow from here. And it always astounds me how fast things progress. I mean, it took man millennia to perfect the wheel, and the Internet hasn't even been around for half a century! It boggles my mind... I can't even imagine what we'll be able to do in five, ten years. One, even.

Which brings me to the second thought I had while reading this article.

Are these social networking tools making journalism obsolete? I mean, if people worldwide can instantly share something with anyone and everyone with the click of a button, then what is the use of my job? It even stated in the article that "journalists were told on Tuesday that they could not cover protests without permission. The restrictions 'effectively confine journalists to their offices,' a spokesman for the BBC said."

So if people are in the middle of the action getting the story while a journalist is restricted to the bleachers... then what?

Oh me oh my... it really causes a journalist to break out in a bit of a sweat.

Well, to conclude, while I think this flow of information is ground-breaking and no-doubt critical for Iran, what's a journalist to do?

Thoughts?

Fishing Poles and Irish Spring

Today, when I stepped off the ALEX train at the Freising train station, a liter of Big Apple Apfelschorle in one hand and my black H & M jacket slung over the other, the blast of cool air in my face caused me to stop in my tracks. Just for a moment. I immediately thought to myself, “It smells like Grandpa.” And it did, exactly as if I had opened the back of his blue SUV—a mixture of fishing poles, Irish Spring and the Minot, North Dakotan air.

I think that is one of my favorite smells ever. I could have stood there for hours, just breathing in the breeze, letting all the people coming from the S-Bahns and the regional trains to sidetrack around me, almost certainly giving me a disapproving glare as they passed.

But I wouldn’t care—I had found the scent of my grandfather hiding in a place 4,670 miles away from the last place I had breathed it in.

And it was mine again.

Der Regen

I love the rain.

I love when you can feel it coming—when you just stand on your porch or your balcony or on the sidewalk and turn your face to the breeze, sensing the electricity in the air as you realize you are holding your breath in anticipation for the first drop to fall.

I love how it feels on your skin—how each following drop seems to be a different temperature than the last as they splatter on your forearms and give you the chills as they splash on the back of your neck. I love how the pavement’s breath seems to reach up toward the sky, as if begging it to again quench its thirst.


And of course, I love the smell of rain. It is no surprise that the rain here in Munich has a different scent than the rain of New Mexico. Here, the rain smells of the grit that you can feel and hear crunch under your feet as you walk atop the cobblestones; it smells of the flowers that beckon to the passersby from their shelves in front of the Blumen shops, and the earthy tones of soil and old wood, as if someone succeeded in bottling the essence of log cabin and added a drop or two to the mix.
The scent of New Mexican rain is one you can taste. The rain hangs heavy in the air, weighed down by the desert sand. Here, the drizzle is warm—the kind of rain shower that makes you take off your shoes, peel off your socks, roll up your jeans and bound outside to let the mini river that is swiftly coursing by the curb flow up and around your bare feet as it finds the fastest route downward. This rain causes waterfalls that last only for a few minutes, but if you are lucky enough to know where to go, you can be a witness to the cascading streams’ sporadic moments of fame.

It is not only my plan to compare the rains of Munich and New Mexico, but I intend to compare many things about the two vastly different places in my upcoming blogs. I think this will paint a better picture of my time over here and how my life in one location contrasts my life in another.

So please stay tuned…

May oder Mai (and April) in Munich oder München

Hello, hello...

Die Gedanken kreisen immer im Kopf, aber...

Recently I have been obsessed with rehashing every day I have spent here and figuring out EXACTLY what I did that day. And making as detailed a list as I can. Hmmm... I am not going to do that here, obviously, but it's odd... when I studied in Vienna during my last semester of college, I went home every night and documented the day's events; every single detail. And I did it without fail.

Now I have been trying to figure out why this studious day-documenting has for some reason not carried over to this year abroad in Munich. Perhaps it's because I feel like I am living here; I think I subconsiously feel like it's not temporary, that this is my life and therefore there is no real reason to remember every single detail. And maybe that's true. But the fact that I am mad at myself remains... I am mad at myself for several reasons.

My new thing is, however, that I will try my hardest not to dwell on things. That I will let things go. That I will not try to control the uncontrollable.

But. Blah blah blah. Yadda yadda ya. Wow, I really use this blog as my own diagnosis for my inner psychological workings, don't I?

Anyway... there is much to write. Another long blog entry ahead, kein apologies for not writing, it obviously does no good to even say I'm sorry for not writing, so why do it anymore. (P.S. I have been in the on-going process of writing this ONE entry since May 10. Yeah.)

First! An update...

So my last update told of my March wanderings, and now I will try my best to remember what I did in April.

The first weekend in April was celebrated by going out for my friend Hillary's birthday. It was a weekend filled with old friends meeting new friends that happen to live near Die Bank, followed by fun at the Hofbräuhaus and of course a Sunday trip to the English Gardens for a picnic. I love it because everytime we head to the gardens for a picnic, I think, "I need to get some mustard!!!" (Essential) So I buy a new tube of mustard every time, and thus have accumulated about four tubes... all somewhat used. Awesome.

The legendary trip to Nice took place over Easter weekend, and the "crew" (Me, Joshua, Tim, Michael, Viv and Hillary) rented a van (yesssss) and drove the so-called 8 hours to Nice, France. Well... we had a rough (or scratchy) start to say the least. :0 ) And it actually took us about 11 hours to get there, which none of us anticipated. BUT the trip was beyond awesome. Hillary drove all of us down there, bless her, and she also booked us the six-person apartment that had an ocean view. It took almost all of Friday to drive there (seriously Hillary is awesome), Saturday was spent wandering around Nice and checking out the night-time scene, and then on Sunday we took a train to Monoco to check out Monte Carlo. It is a very interesting city, to say the least, über clean and very strict about what you can and cannot do. (Even more so than Deutschland!) None of us did any gambling, but our eyes did glimpse many extremely nice cars and women who have had so much plastic surgery they seem to not walk correctly but there was nary a piece of trash in sight.

We stayed in Monte Carlo for dinner, and then we had a relaxing last night at the hotel, playing cards and such. Monday, Hillary drove us all back. This time, she was able to squeeze into the parking garage jusssssst perfectly. Hee hee. It's a fact though... their European garages are definitely not built for large van types. Ha ha ho ho.

The next weekend I made a SUPER spontaneous decision to go with one of my friends to Maastricht, Holland. The trip was all right; the town was very pretty. But there wasn't much to do. Although I had an ok time there, everything was ruined when on the way back to Munich on Tuesday, all of the trains to Köln were either late arriving to their destinations, or they didn't come at all. So I missed my flight. And in Germany, they won't just happily put you on to the next flight out. Nope. You have to buy a WHOLE new ticket. Gahhhhhh. I see red all over again just thinking about it. Basically, most expensive trip ever... and I really should not have gone...

But all was forgotten the next weekend, when I headed to Krakow, Poland to see my friend Anita, whom I had met at the Brussels conference. That trip was a blast! Our friend, Nikki, also from the seminar but who is stationed in Barcelona on her Fulbright, came for that weekend as well. She didn't want to do super touristy-stuff, so Saturday, Sunday and Monday were spent wandering around Krakow, enjoying the sites and laughing our heads off. Krakow was also super cheap. I think it was something like 4 or 5 zloty to 1 Euro. Aweeeesome!!!


Nikki had to leave super early on Tuesday morning, and then Anita and I went to see Auschwitz. What can one really say about that... it hits you hard, and I definitely left the infamous concentration camp with low spirits, a sick stomach and the baffled thoughts of how something like that could have happened weighing down my mind.

Then, I had to leave at 4:30 in the morning in order to make it to my flight on time, but it actually wasn't too bad... except for the whole no sleep thing. And THEN, wouldn't you know it, I arrived back in Munich and only had a 5 euro bill with me, decided I really didn't want to go to the Geldautomat for more, and ended up buying the Außenraum ticket instead of the Gesamtnetz ticket that one needs to get back into town from the airport. It was the ONLY time I rode without the exact ticket I needed. So I had to outer region ticket, PLUS my monthly card which included the inner three rings, and I was only missing one ring. The fourth ring. Never had I been checked before and GUESS which ring they decide to check me in. Yup. Boom. 40 euro fine.

I hate Murphy's law. I really do.

Boooo so that REALLY was lame. Seems the universe always tries to put a damper on my trips... Well, the next weekend in Munich was one of the worst I have had. The ʺcrewʺ had invited me on a trip to the Schwarzwald, but because I was sleeping all day that day (hadn't slept a wink the night before I left Krakow... 4 a.m., are you kidding me?), I didn't get the invite until that night. Which apparently was too late, as the car they were renting had filled up. So the five of them went to Freiburg without me, and instead I was left to a) be abandoned by my friends at a birthday party and left with a guy who made me fall on an escalator, b) be called a really-not-nice-name by a girl who I thought was my friend and c) wallow in my stupid attitude. (It's really wasn't that bad looking back on it, but still not a great weekend.)

BUT, I did get an e-mail from a guy at The Interview People, which is a press agency is Freising, while I was in Krakow. And I had an interview with them on May 6, and began an internship with them on Monday the 11th. So far, it's been a really great experience. They are mainly an entertainment-focused press agency, so they have a huge pool of clients that come to them for specialized content. So what I do is translate interviews from German to English (so far I have done ones with Jarvis Cocker, Miley Cyrus, Audrey Tautou and I have transcribed audio interviews with Jim Carrey, Willem Dafoe, Quentin Tarantino, etc.) My job is also to read through interviews and write synopses for the Web site, as well as picking out quotes to highlight the main idea of the interview. I like it, it's pretty cool. And because I am a big fan of music and movies, it also alerts me to new stuff that is being released, which is always a plus.

www.theinterviewpeople.com

So I have a regular work schedule again. Well, I did.

I have had this cough thing ever since I went to Holland, and have not gone to the doctor... because I am not a very big fan of the doctors here, and I thought it would clear up on its own, but alas, it turned into something not good over the weekend of the 22nd. I called in sick from work on Friday and again on Monday, and when I went back to work Tuesday, feeling fine but still showing remnants of my cough and a stuffy nose, I was sent home. And also told not to come until I was 100 percent healthy.

Never before have I had a job where they got mad at me for coming into work when I wasn't completely healthy. I explained it was due to the American work-work-work mentality, but Matthias, my boss, explained to ME that Germany was different. And that I was no good to them sick. I see his point, but it is still very odd...

SO I am starting work back up tomorrow. I tried to go in yet again today, but Matthias thought it best to give me one more day to be completely sure. It is so foreign to me I find it kind of funny.


Ok wrapping up; this is pretty much a novel. Before I got sick, Leanne (my college roomie) and her boyfriend Jon came to visit me for four days over the May 15th weekend. It was TOLL and we did all the major touristy stuff, including Neuschwanstein. I loved seeing her! I hadn't seen her since November, when I went to London to visit.

It is awesome when people come to Munich and I get to show off this magnigicent city.

My sister and my uncle Mike are coming for ten days soon!!! So I will be sure to write about that.

BUT, I am honestly, seriously, totally going to try and write SOMETHING every day. Even if it is just a paragraph. I will do it!!!! I will!!!!

So dann, bis Morgen!

The Discovery

Once there was a girl who loved to write. She loved to relate stories about her life to others. And although this was her passion, she lately found herself unable to find the time she needed to devote herself to what she loved.

"Why is this happening?" she would wonder. She could think of several things to blame for the departure from her duties. First of all, she had been traveling a lot these past few months, and because it was too much of a hassle, she had decided not to bring her trusty laptop along. Secondly, when she did find the time to settle down in front of her luminescent computer screen, completing other tedious tasks, like balancing financial accounts, applying for jobs and keeping up with Facebook (shameful, but true) would take precedent. Finally, Bavarian weather (despite today) had been gorgeous the past couple of weeks. And she had a bike. And an iPod. And she lived approximately two minutes away from Munich's English Garden. This particular girl also loved to be outside... almost as much as she loved to write.

"This has to stop!" she said to herself. "If I am going to be a writer, which is what I know I want to do, then I have to concentrate on bettering myself and I must stay focused!"

The girl paced back and forth in her room, pondering her situation much harder than she had before. The realization that it was almost May, and that she only had about THREE months left in this beloved city, had really started to sink in... and this weighed on her more than anything. She couldn't see a solution on how she could stay. It was hard enough for a German citizen to find a job in the current economic climate, so an American (who is technically near the bottom of the job-finding food chain, following all of the EU citizens who didn't have to find a job that would also sponsor a visa), would have even tougher luck. And she had been trying. Conflicted between acquiring a job just to stay in Germany or finding one that would help her career back home, the girl was utterly confused. What did she really want. And how was she going to get it.

That night, whilst asleep in her bed, the girl found her answer. Eyelids fluttering and breath slowing, her mind started to churn out the answers for which she was looking.

"You are the kind of person that can be happy in a number of places," the voice inside her mind said. "Your life has been blessed and it will continue to be."

"You can only do what you can do," it continued. "You will always have regrets. You will always make mistakes. But this is how you learn. This is how you grow. There is nothing else you can do but keep trying and see where life will take you next."

When she woke up, the girl realized that this was the attitude she had lost. Instead of counting the days before getting on a plane and departing this city she loves, not knowing when or if she'll come back, she should just be grateful for every single day that she got to experience this. How many people get to live in Germany for a year, on a Fulbright grant, basically just being able to discover themselves and find out what they want out of life?

"You're not quite there yet..." she thought.

But she was on her way...

She had so many things to be thankful for already in this life: her family, her friends, her mother's calm advice and words of wisdom, the opportunities given to her, all of the things she'd been able to experience.

The time she had spent in Munich thus far had been absolutely wonderful, albeit nothing like she thought it would be. This city had given her a new outlook on international culture, new understanding to how and why people in other countries lived their lives and it had acted as a gateway to exploring other new and exciting places. It had also introduced her to people she knows will be life-long friends, and helped her make what she knows will be very useful contacts in the future.

No, she probably won't be leaving Munich with a job offer to return a few months later and work for a German newspaper/magazine. She probably won't stay and teach English at a school. She probably won't be able to come back to this magical city for quite some time.

But hey, life hasn't really led me astray as of yet, and I have faith in where it will take me this time. And I can't wait to see what it has in store.

Everything happens for a reason.

Frühling!!!

OK. So Spring is FINALLY here. YAHHH!!! I am super-duper happy about that fact.

I have been feeling pretty down-in-the-dumps lately, and even just the change of weather lifts my spirits some. I am not going to complain or rant though; I feel like I have been doing that too much lately.

Earlier this month, I attended an EU/NATO seminar that was held in Luxembourg as well as Brussels. There were about 40 of us; more German Fulbrighters than any other country, but that's because Germany gives out the most Fulbright scholarships. There were, however, representatives from every other EU country, and it was UNBELIEVABLE to meet all of them and hear about their experiences.


We got to meet the US Ambassador to Luxembourg, visit the European Court of Justice, the European Commission, the Council of Ministers, the College of Europe in Bruges (a town I LOVE), the European Parliament, SHAPE Headquarters and NATO Headquarters. It was pretty awesome if I do say so myself. But what I liked best was meeting all of the other people. That is always my most favorite thing. OH, plus the food. Our hotel's breakfast was awesome, and for lunch we always had three-course meals, and some really, really nice dinners as well. Yum yum.

Well that seminar lasted about a week, and then I was back in Munich for two days before I was leaving again for Berlin. (My train left at 5:16 AM... ugh) This time it was for the Berlin Seminar, which had something like 500 participants at the beginning because they also had all of the German Fulbright grantees who are departing for the States this fall attend. (One girl was going to The University of Montana!!!! I almost freaked out.) But... needless to say I didn't enjoy it quite as much as Brussels, because it was harder to get to know people. But it was still interesting, and my most favorite talk was the one entitled "How to be a Fulbrighter for Life;" it had a lot of extremely useful information. The Berlin Seminar was only four days, and again I was home for two days before flying out to France to meet my sister.



Erin was in Avignon with her students during their two-week visit to France, and I came to meet her during the time her students were staying with their host families. It was WAYYYY fun. We had a nice, cute little hotel room, and Avignon is such an awesome city. It's small but still has a lot of things to do. We went to the Sur le Pont d' Avignon, and sang the song while we were there, we ate a TON of super good food (extremely important you know), and then we took day trips to Marseille and Arles. Every town we were in was SO windy, especially Marseille, because of the Mistral. Oh my GOD was it windy. I really only had two full days with her, so it was too short, but it was really fun anyway. I rode back with Erin and her students to Lyon, and then I waited about 6 hours until my flight left. Oh well.

So March was my traveling month. I loved it. But now it's APRIL. And that makes me very, very sad. I do not want to leave Munich. Again, my life is totally up in the air and I have no idea what I will be doing come August.

But, I guess that's what's so exciting about life isn't it...

I am now looking into taking some classes, as well as trying to get another internship. (Hopefully with Condé Nast!!!) so everyone keep their fingers crossed.

Oh, and did I mention Spring is finally here???

Tut Mir Leid

I apologize in advance for not updating. I am apparently really bad at this. Which is really not good.

Anyway, to apologize further, I have much to say about both conferences I have recently been to, the EU/NATO Seminar in Brussels and the Berlin Seminar in, well, Berlin. Hopefully I will get time to write about it before I leave for France on Sunday.

I will try, ok??? Don't hate me.

The Wheels in My Head Keep on Turning

Ok so this is quite late. But I promised to put up the final product of my published article in Focus. This way, you can see how it looked on the page and such.

You can also find it online here.


Although it was a good experience, and I am glad I was finally published, recent events have really caused me to take a deep look into what I need to accomplish before leaving here.

It’s going to take a lot of work. And I have too many ideas. So I have to pick a few and really concentrate on setting things in motion.

I don’t want to explain too much about where I am heading, (you know that whole copyright thing, I don’t want people stealing my ideas…) But I will surely keep you updated. And Brenna Moore might have more than just one blog in the very near future…

Never wake up one morning and realize you have become stagnant. And if you do, fix it immediately.

If not sooner.

First Yikes But Not Really, Then A Revisit of Things Previously Mentioned

It's Friday the 13th.

I just realized that just now.

There actually isn't much significance in this for me, just felt like mentioning it.

SO, during my lunch break just now, as I ate Spaghetti and Schnitzel at the Casino (our cafeteria here at Burda), good ole' Stephen King was addressing things in his book, The Stand, that I was JUST talking about. It kinda freaked me out. BUT that brings me around to make another point. I have been reading this book, hmmm for maybe on the heavier side of 2 months, and I am JUST NOW about to finish it. Granted, it is 1150 pages, but 2 months??? What is wrong with me? And I REALLY like this book so I am just baffled at how long it is taking me to finish reading it... Hmmm... might have something to do with MY COMPUTER.

Dah.

But, this is what I was reading at lunch and I was so awestruck that I muttered a loud "Huh!" (Like I always do when stumbling upon something I find interesting in a book), and quite a few people in the cafeteria turned to look at me. Red-faced now, I just held the book higher up so I could disappear behind it. Worked pretty well. Anyway, it is a part of the book (hmmm crap I really don't want to reveal too much for people who haven't yet but might read it), well let's just say there is a group of people who are making quite a long journey somewhere, without materials of any kind, and they begin discussing, in a sense, what the purpose of this journey is. King writes, and I quote:

"You think (we were sent) out here to have visions?" Ralph asked. (Didn't want to mention a name there.)
"Maybe to gain strength and holiness by a purging process," Glen said. "The casting away of things is symbolic, you know. Talismanic. When you cast away things, you're also casting away the self-related others that are symbolically related to those things. You start a cleaning-out process. You begin to empty the vessel."
Larry shook his head slowly. "I don't follow that."
"Well, take an intelligent pre-plague man. Break his TV, and what does he do at night?"
"Reads a book," Ralph said.
"Goes to see his friends," Stu said.
"Plays the stereo," Larry said, grinning.
"Sure, all those things," Glen said. "But he's also missing that TV. There's a hole in his life where that TV used to be. In the back of his mind he's still thinking, At nine o'clock I'm going to pull a few beers and watch the Sox on the tube. And when he goes in there and sees that empty cabinet, he feels as disappointed as hell. A part of his accustomed life has been poured out, is it not so?"
"Yeah," Ralph said. "Our TV went on the fritz once for two weeks and I didn't feel right until it was back."
"It makes a bigger hole in his life if he watched a lot of TV, a smaller hole if he only used it a little bit. But something is gone. Now take away all his books, all his friends, and his stereo. Also remove all sustenance except what he can glean along the way. It's an emptying-out process and also a diminishing of the ego. Your selves, gentlemen-they are turning into a window-glass. Or better yet, empty tumblers...
"When you empty out the vessel, you also empty out all the crap floating around in there," Glen said. "The additives. The impurities. Sure it feels good. It's a whole-body, whole-mind enema."

Ok, now. Isn't that INSANE that I read that RIGHT after I had written my last entry??? Wow it boggles the mind. That's what I am talking about!!!!!!! It's not necessarily the fact that I watch American television shows over here, that is a (sad) staple of the American society, or that I read books, or listen to music, or hang out with friends; it's the fact that I almost ALWAYS have this feeling that I am not doing things right, that I am not living the way I am meant to, that I am missing something. It's REALLY hard to explain, even to myself. It's like I am seriously mad at myself but can't remember what I am fighting about. Sometimes I feel like in coming to Munich—and this year abroad—was going to help me find myself, find out what it is I really want. And, I hate to say it, but sometimes I feel like the me I know and I love, is drifting further and further away. And the harder I try and stop it, the smaller it becomes, appearing like a dot on the vast oceanic surface of my innerself.

Honestly I have no clue what kind of answer—if there even is one—I am searching for. And if I do, I don't know how to find it.

I think it's going to take something big (I pray to God that it's nothing near a government-created biological plague that wipes out most of mankind) to shake me out of this weirdness and instill the change I am craving.

I'm confused.

Aktualisierung (For lack of a better title)

Hello, hello.

So I have noticed that a few things have gone awry with my photos below, and I just caught this now. (It didn't look like this when I posted it), but I will have it corrected as soon as I get home. My computer at work does not seem to like blogger very much, and I can't fix things here because the page doesn't load correctly and what not. I also can't post links or photos here, or spellcheck. So pretty much all I can do at work is write my thoughts down and then wait 'til I get home to post.

Laaa dee daaa.

Don't know why I am explaining this really. I apologize.

However, I do plan to scan (rhymes!) and post my article about Lady GaGa, so that I have the finished product on here, and then I have also been working on translations from interviews done with Noam Chomsky, (I translated them from German into English), and I will post those on here as well. Got to keep up on the work side. Immer.

But now, a talk about life. My plans (as I have said over and over), have been to write every day. I am so horribly bad at this, hey? I don't know what it's going to take for me to stick to my goals. I get really frustrated with myself because I have so many plans in bettering myself as a person and therefore having a more worthwhile experience over here in Munich, but I am still stuck in this awful Americanized-habit of having to be constantly entertained, mostly by broadcast mediums. What I am trying to say is, I am living in this wonderful city, that I will only be in until July (most likely) and I still can't wait to see what is going to happen on the next episode of Lost.

Booooo, who cares (well, I do)... but why??? ARGH why can't I get out of that stupid rut. What is it going to take? I know exactly what is going to happen. I am going to keep living like I have been, and when the time comes to leave Munich I will never stop feeling like I wasted my time. How do I get myself REALLY motivated to accomplish the goals I have set for myself? I think I should shut down my computer and never turn it back on. The Internet, and everything that comes with it, is a wonderful thing, but it's also HORRIBLE at the same time. I remember being young and in elementary school and we had the GIANT computers with the floopy disks that you had to carry oh-so-carefully over the carpet so as not to trigger a jolt of static electricity that would wipe your disk clean of data. The Internet wasn't even around then. And alas: the world still functioned.

Blah blah blah, you've heard it all before, but see that's just the thing. What good is all of this technology doing us, really? Sure we can listen to any song at any given time, contact old friends with the click of a button, order any little thing our hearts desire, but what is all of that doing to us, as humans? (So not trying to sound Kaczynski-ish, I swear...)

When I was young, I never sat still. I was the little girl who was always in her own world, wanting to wear my nice sun dresses and black dress shoes just so I could look nice while climbing up trees. If someone had told me then to sit in front of a computer or a television set for a few hours each day, I would have thought I was being punished. I ached to go outside. To see the world. To experience everything. And yes, that is in a child's nature. Isn't it? Or has their "nature" now become which level they can get to in a video game?

Ugh I hate that! I really hate that. That is what is happening too. The unseen dangers of technology... and I can't really say anything against it (too late) because I am a participant in it all. I check Facebook and Gmail religiously, I know all the best Websites for streaming television shows online in addtion to all of the ones that find the best music.

When will I wake up and have that uncontrollable urge to go climb a tree?

That's the thing. I am afraid I will never get that feeling back again; scared to death that (some of, it's not like I lock myself in my room all day and never go outside, go to a museum or meet with friends, I'm just saying that should be how I spend all of my free time, not some) my happiness now comes from the fake realities of the characters within the "magic box."

No no no, I will not let this happen. Oh and how CLICHE it is, but we have this one life, and I am currently wasting mine. How trite and hypocritical it is... but isn't it funny that in writing on my blog ONLINE, I come to realize what is going on in my mind and thus I am better equipped to discovering what I want and how to get there?

Yes. But I say these things to myself daily. How to get that determination, that movitation, that child-like wonder back? Hmmm...

It's snowing outside.

I think I will go for a walk...

Oh, the Art Museum

I am in love with the Neue Pinakothek.

That is one of the art museums here in Munich; part of the trio along with the Alte Pinakothek and the Pinakothek der Moderne. I ventured there last Sunday (museum entry only costs 1 Euro on Sundays) and became infatuated. I just wanted to share a few of my favorite paintings, and will post more as I keep going back! May this also inspire people to go to art musuems and experience similar culturally-related things instead of watching a television program. It is much more intellectually stimulating.

The first painting I really liked was Im Moor (On the Moor) by Fritz Overbeck.

The next was Die Sünde (The Sin) by Franz von Stuck. Very eerie but so engrossing.

Next was The Bathing Place by William Stott.

And The Hard Path by Fritz von Uhde.

Then I found my most favorite one, but I didn't have a piece of paper with me or a pen, so I couldn't write down the very complicated name. I thought that it had the words "Hyppolite" and "Morgenstern" in it, and I think it was by Arnold Böcklin. But I've Googled every combination I can think of and can't find the painting I saw. I will just have to go back and take my own picture of it.

But here is another one of my favorites from Böcklin, titled the Villa By the Sea.

As you can probably tell, I like pretty paintings. And ones that tell a story. But man, do I love this art museum.

Come to Munich just to go to it.

One Insane Week

So this is an update on last week's events; more specifically Monday's events, well and through Friday I suppose. So yes, most of the week.

Monday was when I had my interview with GaGa, which went relatively well. I was at Munich's Sofitel at 6:30 p.m., and met up with the people from Focus Online, who were doing a separate interview after mine. We were scheduled from 7:00 to 7:20, but didn't end up sticking up to that constraint. First, when we arrived we were taken up to her room, and I saw her leaving one room and going into another. But then her publicist from Universal told us we had to wait a bit so that she could get ready for the next interview.

So the people from Focus Online and I went down the hall a bit and chatted a while until we were called into the room. Then, Online set up all their equipment and I just sat and listened to people's conversations.

Finally, Lady GaGa entered and I sat opposite her with my tape recorder and notebook of questions. It was pretty cool to see her in person, but she definitely looks like she does in every picture of her. She was wearing a black shirt and black pants (that she made herself), black sparkled and bowed gloves, black sunglasses and bright pink heels. Also in her hair was her infamous "hair bow." (Photo by docjohnboy)

She has a very nice voice, kind of gravely and but also sexy. It's true. And I am saving my interview with her just because I can. My interview lasted ten minutes, and I asked her actually pretty basic questions, which later I was upset at myself for because I am sure she answered all of those a million times. It is hard to get her to say something out of the ordinary though because she is famous and has publicist. So, you know. Anyway, I think this is something that I will continuously have to work on, and I really need to concentrate on it because this was one of my biggest problems when I was in J-School. Dahhhhh. I've got to focus on what's NEWs, and not be content with all the same information everyone has heard before.

One of my favorite things she said was that she did so many shows while on tour with the New Kids on the Block so that she could pay for her extravagant stage performances. "Because I don't care about the money, I care only about the art," she said. Me too.

She also said " I really am Lady GaGa you know, it’s not like a made-up cartoon character that I put on every morning." Interesting.

But I found her to be a a bit different than I would expect a Pop star to be, and nice too. She knows a ton about music. She taught herself to play the piano by ear at the age of four, was singing at age 11 and was composing music at 13. She was also one of the 20 people in the world to get early acceptance into the Tisch School of the Arts. So she knows her stuff.


I also saw her perform at the DLD (Digital, Life, Design) Starnight. I thought she was really good. I thought it was a shame she didn't have an actual stage to perform on; she was level with the floor so not many people could see what was going on. I had to stand on a table. And I was one of the only people that knew the words to her songs, so I was singing my heart out. Haha. But her props are really cool, including her glowing disco stick, digital-screened metallic sunglasses and luminous disco glove. Also, her songs are broken up by short films, that star her but are very modern and artsy. I thought it was really good; I only wish I could have seen her and her dancers better.

Ok here is the story I wrote, not the original one with the whole interview but what I made it into after that:

American singer/songwriter Lady GaGa showed up to last week's DLD Starnight wearing a glittering electric glove not to fit in with the theme of DLD, but because the prop is fundamental to her "theatrical Pop" music style.
22-year-old Lady GaGa, referred to as "the future of Pop" by The New York Post, is known for her visual mulitmedia stage performances and multifaceted talent. Her debut album, "The Fame" has sold one million copies, with her single "Just Dance" topping the charts in the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
"I worked really hard. I played two shows a night for months and months, sometimes three shows, press all day and no sleep, and late nights, and designing all the clothes and the show... I actually did that many shows so that I could pay for the extravagant stage performances that I wanted to put on," Lady GaGa said.
Her name originates from the Queen classic "Radio Ga Ga." Lady GaGa's producer, Rob Fusari, used to call her Ga Ga in the studio, because "I have these very theatrical stage performances, very dramatic presence," she said.
Born in New York as Joanne Stefani Germanotta, GaGa started out learning the basics of music and has since worked her way up the music industry ladder.
"I've been a classically trained pianist since I was 4. I began to sing when I was around 11 and started to compose my own music when I was 13," GaGa said. She has written songs for Britney Spears as well as thePussycat Dolls, and is currently touring with the latter as part of their Doll Domination World Tour 2009.

This is what the story turned into after translation, thanks to Kerstin:

Um auf der begehrten „Starnight" des Innovations-Events DLD zu performen, bedarf es nichts weniger als der „Zukunft des Pop". So preist die „New York Post" Lady GaGa, die im Münchener Haus der Kunst mit elektronischem Glitzer-Handschuh und Disco-Zepter eine Multimeldia-Show hinlegte, dass dem Avantgarde-erfahrenen Publikum die Spucke wegblieb. „Theatralischen Pop" nennt die 22-jährige Newcomerin, mit der Single „Just Dance" Spitzenreiterin der Charts in den USA und England, ihre innovative Tour, für deren Songs, Texte und Kostüme sie verantwortlich zeichnet. So gaga die Lady sich gerne gibt, als Künstlerin wählte sie den klassisch braven Weg. Klavierstunden mit vier, Gesangsstudium mit 11 Jahren: ganz schön „old school"! bcm

There was a problem though, and I didn't realize it until it was brought to my attention by the Dokumention department, who checks every story for factual accuracy. They reported to me that she did not have Klavierstunden (piano lessons) but learned piano by ear. I did know this. Why did I not catch it. I should have asked Kerstin what this word meant, but if I had thought about it, I would have caught it. It's my fault. I wasn't paying enough attention to make sure that everything was right. On a similar note, Gesangsstudium (studying singing) is incorrect too, because in the beginning she was self-taught. I knew that too.

DAMMIT.

I was so mad at myself. Because I didn't really know the schedule of production day-to-day, I was told I would get a call from Doku but I never did. So during the Friday meeting, Stephan told me to go see them. And then I found out that those things were wrong. So then I had to go to the department that finalizes each page and tell them I needed to make corrections. I felt really bad because they had already sent in the page and now they had to get it back to fix it. I could tell that this was happening at a pretty late point in production, and I was stressing out quite a bit. Because those things were wrong, the ending didn't make sense. So Peter had to come and rewrite the ending. He did it extremely fast, but I felt like a dunce because I just stood there, because I couldn't rewrite it myself. I just kept saying "Sie hat sich alles selbst gemacht. Sie ist eine Autodidaktin." Yah, I think they got it.

But it's ok. It was my first article, so of course mistakes can happen. And I always learn something.

1. Ask better and unique questions to get better and unique answers.
   
2. Write for the GERMAN audience!
   
3. Pay attention during every step and make sure everything makes sense!

I am still mad at myself. Because that's me. I always want things to be perfect, and they almost never are.

But I am still excited that something with my name (well, bcm) is coming out in Focus tomorrow. Hazzah!



FURTHERMORE (yeow this is a long one), I attended the last day of the DLD Conference, and I found it to be very interesting. There I met Dr. Hubert Burda (who is the head of Hubert Burda Media, durrr), Marissa Mayer, vice president of Search Product and User Experience at Google, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO and creator of Facebook. I also met the lovely Julia Allison, who is a weekly columnist in Time Out New York and co-founder of nonsociety.com. She's written for TONS of magazines, was the Editor-at-Large of Star Magazine and has made more than 350 on-air appearances for shows like CNN, MSNBC, Vh1, Fox, E!, CBS and NBC.





I liked meeting all of these people, but it also depresses me a little bit because they are my age (or YOUNGER) and have already done so much with their lives. I keep telling myself if I can just find that niche, it will happen.

Easier said then done.

But Julia told me something very useful: never take "no" for an answer, and always, ALWAYS portray confidence, even when you're not sure of yourself.

Two things I definitely have to work on... and I need to get crackin'...

Lady GaGa and Starnight

I am interviewing Lady GaGa today.

For those of you not familiar with this blonde, fashion-loving, theatrical performance artist, her hit single is "Just Dance."

YouTube it.

Her up-and-coming singles include "Poker Face" and "Paparazzi." (Both songs I was previously unaware of but will admit to playing more than a dozen times in the last few days... they have made it onto my Top 25 Played playlist already...)

So I am beyond excited. It is my first big-time interview, and with that realization comes nervousness and a little self-doubt. I am actually two years older than she is, so I will try to keep that in mind while I ask her my questions. Although, it still is really hard for me to fathom what her life must be like right now. I can't even imagine having that kind of life at 22 years old. Wahnsinn.

I am also trying to figure out how to balance my professional side with the side that likes her music. I would feel so odd bringing my camera and asking for an autograph, because I, like most people, think celebrities are cool and want to prove that I have indeed met them. Or interviewed them. Writing an interview is one thing—an enormous clip that will be great for my career—but how to balance that other side? Should I act like a fan in the least bit, or just do my job?

I think I will just play it by ear. I will only have 10 minutes with her anyway, and of course I am going to concentrate on getting the information I need first and foremost. Then we will just see... of course it wouldn't harm anything to at least mention that I am a fan of her music.

Furthermore, there is an event taking place in Munich at the moment, called the DLD Conference. (Digital, Life, Design) It's a big deal. Many people important to the media, online especially, will be speaking, including people from Google, Facebook, The Economist, UPS, The Guardian, etc. will be there. Arianna Huffington was scheduled to come, and I was really, really looking forward to meeting her (she is one of my favorite columnists) but she unfortunately had to cancel her trip, due to personal reasons.

Tonight, following my interview, I am cordially invited to attend the DLD Starnight, during which Lady GaGa will perform. I am stokedddddd, and I hope I will (actually I know I will) meet a lot of interesting people there, and I know it will be a blast.

DAHHHHH it's so wonderfully excellent that I have been given this kind of opportunity. I am young, a budding journalist if you will, and even though those in careers similar to mine have had an abundance of experiences like this, some getting to speak with presidents, world leaders, inventors, actors, musicians, the list goes on and on; this is the first time I will be speaking with someone who is known world-wide. My more experienced colleagues' skills are chiseled to perfection; they are no longer nervous, perhaps it's just like breathing to them at this point.

But one must start somewhere.

My stomach clenches when I think of walking into that hotel lobby and meeting the popstar who is said to be "the next Madonna," but I will put my best effort forward, all the while keeping in mind that at this moment, I am doing exactly what it is I set out to do.

I don't know if there is anything greater than just to be given the chance.

A Day for the History Books

I am going to post the first story I wrote for Focus (Online actually), that sadly, didn't get published. But Stephan looked at it, made great suggestions that will really help me in my career already actually. I wanted to rewrite it and have him critique the revised one as well, but he said "Don't work for the trash can." Ha! Right again. So tomorrow, we're going to brainstorm to come up with subjects that I can write about for the Boulevard section... aber die nächstes muss auf Deutsch sein. Schauen wir mal!

Here you go:

Beverly McNeely-Feuss never thought she would see this day would come.
“This is a historical event,” said McNeely-Feuss, a U.S. citizen and Munich resident. “As you can see, I’m an African-American, and I never would have believed that America would vote for an African-American… Miracles do happen.”
More than 400 guests joined McNeely-Feuss at the Munich Inaugural Ball yesterday to welcome Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States.
In a display of true bipartisanship, American Democrats and American Republicans came together as one during the event to celebrate the country’s democracy, said the president of the Republicans Abroad Munich chapter Michael Ricks.
“I think the entire world is committed to change … now is the time to think about the future,” he said.
The world has come to a point in time that rarely happens, said Democrats Abroad Munich chapter president Randy Caldwell.
“Eight years of disappointment are met with the hope of the next four years,” he said. “It’s a crash, and people are ready for a new beginning.”
Yet this year’s inauguration was not just a momentous occasion for Americans, but rather for citizens of countries worldwide. They, too, showed up to offer their support.
“I was actually quite involved, actually I think everyone was involved in this election,” said Tetyana Druzhynina, a citizen of the Ukraine and resident of Munich.
Held at the Arabella Sheraton Grand Hotel Ballroom, the Munich event boasted to be “the only formal inaugural ball being held in Germany and one of the largest inaugural events outside the United States,” said Dave Dowdy, president of the California Association of Germany, the organization that hosted the event along with the Munich International Ski Club.
But the event was one of many. Hundreds of other inaugural events were taking place all around the world as millions tuned in to witness what was likely to be the most watched event in television history, according to AOL news.
“It’s amazing what is happening tonight around the world,” Caldwell said.
Beginning at 16:30, the guests—clad in elegant gowns and sharp tuxedos—began trickling in through the doors and made their way to the main ballroom, where they settled in to watch the events taking place in Washington D.C. on a movie theater-sized screen.
With a registration fee of 75 Euros, guests enjoyed welcome drinks, a fancy dinner and extravagant dessert buffet, dancing until midnight and a front-row seat in which to observe the festivities.
As Obama took his oath of office, the crowd was brimming with emotion and excitement.
A second after Obama was announced America’s next president, shouts of glee could be heard over the applause and smatterings of miniature American flags were seen dancing above the assembly.
Obama’s speech called for “a new era of responsibility,” a time in which every American citizen must put forth the effort in order to solve the challenges that presently face our country.
And effort he will get.
“This is an all-hands-on-deck call to get us going back in the right direction,” Ricks said. “Americans are used to public service and this is the time to jump on board.”
Obama has warned time and time again that change will not happen overnight, and it seems as though the world is more than prepared to give the 44th president the time to start accomplishing his goals.
“People are understanding of the problems and people have patience and are willing to give Obama the time he needs,” Caldwell said.
“I don’t envy him at all,” McNeely-Feuss said, “but I’ll give him my 100 percent support.”


So there you are. Mainly what Stephan said was that there is nothing really in this story that Germans don't know already or that they find interesting. He is completely right. He says as a Fulbright scholar from New Mexico, he knows I can do better and find things to write about that the German auidence will really be interested in reading. Aber es ist ganz schwierig für mich. I told him this was because I think Germans, as a whole, know a lot about a lot. It's hard to surprise them, you know? But that now, is my goal.

And I will succeed, oh yes, I will succeed...

Today's the DAY

It's finally here.

The day has come when our country will finally be rid of it's most disasterous president in history. And today our hope will be restored in the intelligent, poised, moral, articulate, strong, empathetic as well as logical; the one and only, Barack Obama.

I can't believe it has been 8 long, chaotic, hopeless and frustrating years, but Bush will at last be gone.

Finally.

What I love most is now we have a president that when he speaks, I really want to listen. It seems as if my ears perk up to that voice, like he could be whispering in a crowd of hundreds, and I could still tune in, because I know his message is worth it.

Before, when Bush was ever on television or on the radio, I would almost always change the channel. I can't stand to hear that man speak... it's like listening to nails on a chalkboard, only with several grammatical errors and a few made-up words tossed in there as well. Bush's speeches and Obama's speeches couldn't be further from one another on the articulatory spectrum. One side inflicts cringes, frustration, anger and shame, while the other inspires, gives hope and restores faith in America.

While it's clear that I was obviously not a fan of Bush, quite rather I despised our former president, I do not think it was all his fault. He had a horrible administration and advisors (a.k.a. Dick Cheney) and it seemed the deeper he dug himself, the more impossible it was for him to resurface.

I very much liked a quote from Adam McKay as spoken to The New York Times (he incidentally is the director of Will Ferrel's debut broadway play—"You're Welcome America"—which will run for a short time beginning inauguration day and ending March 15 at the Cort Theater). McKay said this to describe the main theme of the play, and thus America's previous position:

"It really gets to the question of how Americans covered their eyes and ears for the last eight years, how cowed the media was. I think America got caught at its fattest and laziest, and I say that as someone who is fat and can be lazy."

I agree. We were all at fault. Maybe not at the beginning, where Democracy went by the wayside and allowed Bush to be "elected" in the first place. (And AGAIN—outcomes I still cannot comprehend but only know that some shady business went on in both elections. That being said a fair amount of Germans I encounter here, who, when they find out I am American, ask "Why did you re-elect Bush?" and I say "I did not re-elect Bush, nor did I elect him in the first place. And that goes for most of America I think. Don't ask me how it happened, I also thought America was a Democracy.")

I digress.

Perhaps what grinds my gears most about these past years was the feeling of utter hopelessness and frustration for not being able to change the course of events unfolding before me. To quote Albert Einstein, who said: "The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing," to tackle the government by one's lonesome, or perhaps even in groups, is still a task of unbelievable enormity. People tried. People, for the most part, were unsuccessful.

Which brings me to the point of why I, myself, became a journalist. It's quite simple, really. I want to change the world. Don't laugh. I know it's far-fetched, but let me rephrase, and repeat my mantra for why I do the work I do, taken word-for-word from when I first created it the moment I began journalism school:

The day I realized my passion was the day I realized I could perhaps make one small difference in the world by writing about what I have seen and heard, that I might change someone somewhere by truthfully and professionally informing my community, that I could talk to whomever I wished and get the answers I wanted, that all I needed in life was a pen and a pad of paper and I could get by, that my job as an observer is a serious one that I will not compromise—for whenever there has been conflict and war, love and honor, grief and loss, there has been a journalist unnoticed in the background, waiting to tell the story.

But, I have learned a few things since that time. One, not a lot of people like journalists. This observation stands more true in the states than here in Germany. Here, journalists are respected. People WANT to talk to you when you say you are going to write a story about something. In America (now I am generalizing mind you), often I tell people I am a journalist and the most popular response is "Why?" Well, to keep the lines of communication in this world open and to keep people informed. "Yes, but journalism has gone so far down the hill nowadays..."

Ok, well let me ask you this: If journalists are working for media COMPANIES, and the only way to stay afloat is to make a PROFIT, and all the American people want to read about is Britney Spears' latest lapse or what a normal day is like in the lives of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, then why is it journalists' fault? We too, have to make a living.

(By the way I will apologize now for going off on this tangent when I initially intended to write my thoughts about Obama's inauguration and Bush's last day in office, but I am on a roll now and must continue...)

That is, however, not to say that I don't agree that the media has markedly lost some of its credibilty over the years (need I mention Jayson Blair?) but I do think some editors and publishers make decisions in order to please superiors. Lest we forget the massive take over by far-right partisan Rupert Murdoch, who no doubt uses his influence (a.k.a $) to pull several American newspapers and TV stations to favor his side of the political spectrum.

I, too, have been a victim of working with investors of a newspaper, who claim not to be responsible or have an influence on the content of the newspaper in which they are investing. The situation resulted in me being told I couldn't write about politics or the economy anymore because "I had no idea what I was talking about." Well, what I said was that our country was headed toward another Great Depression if people didn't start to change their habits, and I cited the declining employment rate and such. I was told I didn't use facts. I quoted Anna Roosevelt during a speech she made in Santa Fe when she said she also believed we were headed for a bleak future. Not factual enough. The one mistake I did make is when I said we were going to soon experience life as it was in the 20s and 30s, when what I should have said was, the LATE 20s and the 30s. My apologies. But, if I may say so myself, I believe that column was very spot-on. Anyone who has read the news recently would agree.

(If you want to read the column it can be found here: http://nmfreepress.com/2008.shtml. It's issue 15, June 11th.)

And yet, although I was proud of that column, the feedback I received for it didn't leave me aching to produce more like it. It even had me a little afraid to voice my opinion. But, the columnist who bashed Obama every chance he got was welcomed with open arms.

But really, investors don't control content... no way...

Well. there you have it. My little rant on modern journalistic integrity and conglomerate media control. I really hope that with Obama, the lines of communication between a community and its publications are thrown WIDE open, and that people will have the freedom to write whatever they wish.

I also somehow doubt that we will have as much to criticize about our new leader than we did about our old one...

But if, by chance, we do, something tells me that the "real" stories won't be covered up by pictures of Nicole Richie's newest haircut...

GO OBAMA!!! I wish you all the best of luck and am behind you 100 percent!!!

Already starting to become adjusted

OK, this has to be quick, while it's still fresh in my head. (Plus, I am writing this in my office at Focus, using a German keyboard and a different computer, which I REALLY don't happen to fancy as much as my own.)

So yay!!! It is my third day at Focus, and I am beginning to get the swing of things already. At first I was frustrated, because I wasn't used to the enormity of the company, and it felt to me like... well, I don't really know. Like they didn't really have a place for me here. But, I have realized, this opportunity is much more of a learning experience and will not really be like any job I have had before. And that is really all I wanted. So of course, as in the way of my natural tendencies, I was worrying over nothing. I guess it just takes me a bit to see something for what it really is.

Yesterday, most of the people from the Modernes Leben department weren't in the office. Some were working from home, and one went home sick. The highlight of the day was that Peter—the man who is in charge while Stephan is on holiday—showed me around the office and I got to see how the production of the paper works. That was really interesting for me. Of course, it's similar to any newspaper/magazine: the editorial department is assigned so many pages based on the advertising for the week, they write the stories, the photo department gets the pictures, data and graphics and the designers construct the layout. Of course, the editorial department always must tweak their copy in order to fit the design of the pages. This is what I find the hardest to do, and it was always a struggle for me back at NMFP to edit and re-edit my own stories until they fit into Ana's design. It's tough, and I like how my old Public Affairs professor used to describe it: Journalists are always having to "kill their babies." Morbid, yes. That's a journalism professor for you.

But I also liked the way in which they set up their dummy pages—just one sheet with small squares assigned to each individual department and color coded so that each department knows when their content deadline is. I like this much more than our full-page printouts at NMFP; it saves much more paper. The one thing I don't like is that the entire building smells of cigarettes. That's Germany for you.

Today, I finally met Stephan Paetow. He is the "big boss." I liked him very much. He seems very excited to have me here and told me that if I want to know anything, go anywhere or do anything, I just have to ask. He also gave me some things to work on, consisting of coming up with some news briefs for the weekly "Boulevard" section, as well as trying to come up with things in the news on which to comment on (with wit and humour of course) for the Tendenz-O-Meter section. He said if I can do this, in another language, then that will really be something. But it will be a challenge.

Stephan also said he will take me with him next Friday to meet the founder, editor and publisher of Focus Magazin—Helmut Markwort—and this is a huge deal. He is very famous here in Deutschland. That is beyond awesome.

So geht es doch viel besser. Und jetzt bin ich mehr glücklich.

The future looks bright...