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.