Herr Mike in Deutschland

The Keller Bar (Cellar Bar) at the Wohnheim is situated, surprisingly, in the cellar. Open Tuesdays and Thursdays it is a brilliant place to meet people and chill out, and with huge bottles of beer for €1 a bottle there are usually quite a few people around.
It is a bit dingy but a couple of years ago some art students got creative on it and turned it into a proper cave using paper mache and chicken wire, it actually looks really cool. Markus is the main bar keeper, he's really cool, if a little eccentric (See pic). He used to have a massive beard and as he is vertically challenged he bore a remarkable resemblance to Gimli the Dwarf from Lord of the Rings.
It's a really cool place and it's good just to have somewhere to go just get out of your room.

Had another cool weekend here. Friday was Nell's leaving do at Ciro's, an Italian restaraunt. It was really cool, there were people from work, from the Wohnheim, everywhere. It was a good night, Nell was really sad to be leaving, I hope I feel like that a year from now, if that makes sense.

Saturday (last night) was kind of Matt, John and Beci's leaving do in the Keller bar here. A Slovakian guy we know, Joci, was celebrating his birthday too so there were lots of people and it was a really good laugh. As is customary here in Germany Matt and Joci, the hosts of the party, paid for all the drinks. Absolutely nuts, but I wont complain!

Can't believe another weekend has come and gone, kinda looking forward to work on monday, really looking forward to the visit from Mum Dad and Ian on Thurs, they're bringing me some creature comforts lol. Bit sad because this is the last weekend with all the british crew that I've met. We've had some really good nights, gonna miss them being around to show me stuff and take me place, they've all been brilliant. Now looking forward to their successors arriving for another excuse to partay!

Thank god it's Friday!

Had a busy week this week, it's good to get a break. Been interesting though and the time has gone quickly as I am busy. Well, I have survived a month here now, it really has flown by. I feel pretty settled now and my German has improved remarkably in a short time.

Looking forward to seeing my mum, dad and Ian when they come over next week, I have missed not being able to see them over Summer like I normally do. Going to Nell's leaving party tonight, should be a good laugh. Will let you know how it is tomorrow. Bis dann! (Until then!) mike

Things I miss most:

• Friends, Family, May (the obvious)
• Baked Beans
• Bacon
• Bread that is soft
• A breeze
• A hairdresser that doesn't make me look like I come from the Eastern Bloc
• The Times
  
• Gordon Burns
• Sky Sports News
• In fact, TV that I can understand!
• Proper Nightclubs
• Good tea
• A tumble drier
• Milk that isn't UHT
• Corner Shops
• One bin I can put everything in instead of a having to weigh up what type of card my yoghurt pot is.
• England!!
  

Germany is famous for it's beer, and rightly so! Beer here is pretty cheap and tastes really good. It seems to be a bit lighter and easier to drink than english beer. This may be due to the 'Reinheitsgebot'. This law, sometimes called the Bavarian purity law in English, is a regulation that originated in the city of Ingolstadt in the duchy of Bavaria in 1516 concerning standards for the sale and composition of beer.
In the original text, the only ingredients that could be used in the production of beer were water, barley and hops. The Reinheitsgebot is no longer part of German law: it has been replaced by the Provisional German Beer Law, which allows constituent components prohibited in the Reinheitsgebot, such as wheat, malt and cane sugar, but which no longer allows unmalted barley.
You can also get 'Weizen' here, a beer made from wheat which is a bit more like bitter and very popular. They sometimes mix it with cola to make 'Cola Weizen' which is really nice, if a little sweet. Germans like mixing weird things, for example, a common soft drink here is 'Spezi' which is a mixture of orange fanta and coke and is surprisingly delicious!.
I would say the most popular drink for the Summer here is 'Apfelschorle' which is apple just mixed with fizzy water. It's really refreshing.
Pretty much every town here has it's own beer, Erlangen has the Kitzmann brewery (see pic). Kitzmann does not actually have a very good reputation among the locals. I think it is ok though I do prefer 'Leikheim' which is brewed in a town nearby. It is definately beer country here, especially in Bavaria where beer is considered a basic food stuff, I can get it in the vending machines at work! Well, when in Rome eh?

Have been really busy this week, the time has just flown by! I have been given some good projects, the best being helping to arrange an advertising plan for a new global campaign. I have spoken to people all over the world including Singapore, Brazil, China and Mexico. It is very cool though you have to be careful of the time difference.
We had a leaving party for Nell today, it's gonna be weird working without her, she has been a real help. Hopefull I will cope. Got a trip to a warehouse lined up for tomorrow. Viel Spass! (Much Fun).

German weather in Summer is pretty cool. It is mostly really hot, around 34 degrees C at the mo! It is humid too which makes it a bit uncomfortable, though this has given us a couple of amazing storms, the lighting forks here are amazing, they light up the whole sky, it's awesome. On Saturday Christian, Matt and I were walking back from town in the sun. Before we had finished the 20 minute or so trek, however, the heavens had opened and the place was almost flooded (see pic). We got soaked!

Had a little trouble with the server so I apologise to my dedicated blog followers for the late post.

Well, another weekend has passed, I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. I will have been here for a month next week but it seems like only yesterday that I arrived. Had a good weekend I suppose, went for a Chinese meal with everyone on Friday before having a few pints in Wheelers. Saturday was fairly chilled; Christian’s friend came to visit on the afternoon so we headed into town for an iced coffee in the town square, very continental indeed. Christian's friend, also called Christian, left to continue his journey to Munich mid-afternoon so Matt took Christian and I to The Berg (Literally translated 'The Mountain/Hill).

The Berg is the site of the Erlangen Beer festival, the second largest in Europe, bettered only by the Oktoberfest, it attracts a million people to Erlangen each June. This time of year only one of the breweries is open though you can see the doors in the hillside which lead to the old beer storage halls underground. We got a beer each in a ceramic 'Mass' (pronounced Maars) which is the proper German beer mug (see pic). They are huge! They cost 15 euros per beer, but you get 10 back if you return your Mass, you can of course, opt to keep it which is cool, bit heavy for my suitcase though.

Headed back to the Wohnheim where Christian made a big pot of spaghetti bolognese which about 8 of us ate, it was awesome. We then watched Monty Python's Life of Brian....in German!
It got most of it but that was probably because I have seen it so many times before in English. Had a lie in on Sunday before heading to Wheelers once more with my fellow Brits.

Oh, and thanks to everyone for your e-mails, its good to here from you all, and happy 21st to Bry, gutted I wasn't there to celebrate; we'll make up for it when you come visit!

Today I am further besmirched! As mentioned in my previous post there has been a crack down on tidyness in the office and the boss has taken it upon herself to put the stuff from the undtidiest desks in a bin bag. It was today mentioned in the departmental meeting and yours truly was singled out for criticism! Though it was said in German, the comments made by the boss lady were roughly as follows:

'My boss, the head of Siemens I&S considers that the office is not tidy enough and reflects badly on the work we do, we seem unprofessional to visitors. Most of you are ok though some desks are incredibly messy. The new intern has only been here three weeks and his desk is covered in papers and brochures! It is not acceptable!'

I was positivley dumbstruck. I was annoyed that she did not address me directly, she probably thought that my german was not good enough to understand her. This is crazy management! All she needed to do was aske me to tidy it up, not throw my stuff in a bag!! And I wouldn't mind that much but I inherited most of the stuff anyway, it wasn't even mine!! GRR

Anyway, the weekend is here again, time for a bit of relaxation, heading into Erlangen with a few of the guys tonight, probably grab a bite to eat and few beers. I'll let you know how I get on!

As I strolled bleary eyed to my desk this morning I was in for a little shock. All of my notes, broshures and papers, in fact, everything on my desk had been placed in large blue bin bag which sat next to my chair. It is not often I am flummoxed but this was odd. Had I been fired? Why on earth would someone do that without asking. Thankfully, on seeing the besmirched look on my face my colleague Katrin explained to me that I had been a victim of 'Der Ordnungsdienst', which means tidying service. There is a drive to make the office tidier in which any really messy desk gets cleared in the hope that you will sift through the bag and finally discard stuff which you dont need. Some warning would have been nice though methinks! (It wasn't messy anyway, it was just organised in way in which the Germans are obviously not familiar).

The weirdest thing is that this is not carried out by a cleaning lady or someone whose job it is to ensure order, it is done by the head of our entire department: my boss's boss! She must earn around €100,000 a year and yet she is putting my stuff in a bin bag after hours. To put it into context she is the only person in the office whom I am not allowed to address by their first name, I must call her Frau Geisler. Germany is backwards sometimes.

Have a look at the washing line I have fashioned from the rope my mum sent me, I am most proud. Now I know how the Wright brothers must have felt when they achieved flight! I'm afraid I don't have anything very exciting to tell you about: Saturday was very chilled out, just sat in a cafe in town for a while and played some pool in the evening with John. I had a bite to eat in Wheelers (The English Pub) on Sunday afternoon and then had a drink with a german dude called Christian. He lives here at the Wohnheim and has just finished a year at Edinburgh University so he speaks awesome English though we have a deal that we only speak German. We had a good chat auf Deutsch actually, and he gave me some pointers when I made mistakes.

I have discovered that the Wohnheim is to undergo some renovation which is much needed as it is no palace (see pic). I think the new bathrooms and kitchens will be worth the disturbance! Work has been a bit dull, it won't really get going until Nell leaves which is a week today! Then I'm on my own! I think would rather be stressed than bored; bring it on I say!

Normally the weekend is not a big deal for me, the past few years I have always spent Saturdays working in a cafe (and sometimes Sundays as well). I now understand why grown ups appreciate the weekend, after a week sat in the office I just want to let my hair down a bit and chill out. On Friday night I went into town with some of the English folk including the new girl Helen. She seems really nice, it's good that there is someone here who isn't leaving in a couple of weeks like everyone else I've got to know. She is second from the left in the pic. The guy in the stripey top and the girl in the white t-shirt are both German, we met them when we were out as some of the other guys knew them. The guy was called Flo and was absolutely nuts. The guy next to me is Matt, he goes to Lancaster Uni.
It was a good night, got a little tour of a couple of local bars including an Irish pub. There was a guy singing traditional Irish folk songs in a German accent which was very weird.
I wasn't too impressed with the Guinness, it was bitter, not smooth and creamy like the stuff me and may had in Dublin, mmm...
I digress! Spent yesterday chilling in the pavement cafes of Erlangen in the glorious weather, it's so hot here it's almost unbearable at times. After that John and I went for a kebab before heading to the pool hall for a bit. The kebabs here are made by proper turkish people and are awesome. There are loads of turks in Germany, I believe they were brought in as cheap labour to help rebuild after the second world war. There is a little bit of animosity between the turks and the Germans though John said he has never seen any trouble. Anyway, The kebabs are not like that rubbish they peel of the lump of 'meat' in take-aways back home, I cant eat that stuff! These are like nice chunks of turkey, twas delicious.
Not sure what my plan for today is, there is talk of visiting a brewery. I'm gonna get such a gut!!

Traffic in Germany is a bit weird. The motorways have no speed limit! This is probably ok because everyone here uses a bicycle. It is like Amsterdam, I am forever dodging irate peddlers! I guess it’s because it is quite flat where I am and also because the Germans are uber-concious when it comes to the environment (die Umwelt). Don’t get me started on the recycling! (That is for another time).

Anyway, a phrase which Klaus at work instilled into me is that ‘Rot bedeutet Tot!’ (Pronounced Rote and Tote, it rhymes!), which mean ‘Red equals Dead!’ this refers to the red bricked part of every pavement which is reserved only for cyclists. It is so easy to wander across when one is absent mindedly strolling along. Usual the ‘ching ching’ of a bicycle bell saves me from a messy collision.

The Germans are also really anally retentive when it comes to crossing roads. In England we have the green man and the red man at crossings, it’s pretty useful because the green man stops traffic for us to cross, right? But, if nothing is coming we are allowed to cross without the help of the green man. Not so in Germany!! You have to wait until the light is green, regardless. I have waited for a good three minutes in the late evening with a clear view of the empty road because to cross the road on a red light in Germany is to become a leper of society! It’s ridiculous! My predecessor Nell was once cautioned by polic for crossing an empty road at night when there was a red light. I guess it might cut down on people getting run over but if the cars don’t get ya the bikes will so I fail to see the point of this nonsense!

I shall not bore you with the past few days events in work, though rest assured that I have been performing tasks of the utmost importance to Siemens' International Strategy.
Instead I will tell you a little bit about Erlangen. In the Frankonian part of Bavaria (the best part according to the Frankonians) it has a reputation as being chilled out, this dates back to the 17th century when the Hugenots came. I'm not sure who they were though it seems they were laid back dudes. It is most famous as home to the Friedrich-Alexander University, founder by Friedrich Alexander (surprise!) a statue of whom can be seen in the picture.
It is very quaint here with lots of cool street cafes and bars, so the nightlife is a little different to Preston or St.Helens (alas). It is famous for it's beer festival which takes place in June (book your tickets boys!) and as the German capital of health (I have a doctors appointment on Wednesday so we will see about that!).
Erlangen is know for good book shops which is a tad ironic as it was a site the nazis used to burn books back in the war (Which we won, hurrah!)
The pic shows the memorial which marks the spot where the bonfire blazed. A very sad reminder to we literati lol! Anyway that is what I have learnt so far, many thanks to the tourism office for giving me the leaflet from which I did my extensive research!

In my haste I totally forgot to mention the world cup final! Penalties is a crap way to decide a match of that magnitude and Trezeguet was so unlucky, centimetres away from scoring. Zindane, aka, the bull lol, should know better but that was awesome, he is hard as nails!! We watched the match in an italian restaraunt which was mental, there were fireworks and all kinds, the streets were packed with screaming fans and honking cars, you would have thought we were in Rome, it was crazy!!

I am soo tired. I helped to entertain one of the new big wigs from Siemens in America, sitting in meetings all day, making sure she was happy, it was tiring but I am the hostess with the most-ess!! Also had my first experience of a MOMO!!!

A momo is a monday morning meeting in which everyone in the office sits around a table and take turns to give a short speech about what they are doing. I gave a stilted german effort which people actually seemed to be impressed with, lol! I did say I was there to help everyone, words which I may live to regret as my e-mail inbox was suddenly flooded with tasks, I didnt get out of the office till after 6!! And I'm back in at 8.30 2morro! EEk to bed methinks, Gute Nacht!!

Phew, apologies for my lack of a post but I have had a very busy weekend! I've just been trying to meet as many people as possible to make some friends and I have met some really nice people. On Friday I went out with James from Manchester (Left in the pic with John, another Englishman). He has gone home now as this was his last weekend here but I was made up when he invited me along to his final night out. We had a few cheap drinks in the bar in our basement and then headed to the local english pub owned by two lads from essex. I met all of the other ex-pats there and had few jars before we went on to E-Werk the main nightspot in Erlangen. It was soo hot and pretty dingy (a bit like The Warehouse in Preston - the club, not the accomodation we used to live in) but I had a really good laugh which I needed after a week sat in the office.
I got up late on saturday and went back to the english pub with james for a proper english breakfast, the best hangover cure in the world!! We stayed there chatting with the owners and the other guys before we left for Nell's bday party at Bar Zen, a posh bar/restaraunt. There were lots of people there, inculding some of work colleagues. I managed to make small talk in German which actually seems easier after a few glasses of Kitzmann (The Erlangen Bier). Had a bit of a dance and rolled in pretty late again.

I have spent today (Sunday) just chillin, helped James move some of his stuff out and also managed to scavenge some of the stuff he didn't want. I was sad to see him go. He is studying in Liverpool so perhaps we might meet up back home. I then went to a restaraunt with Nell and two of her friends for lunch which was nice before we visited Andy and Meto (Meto is the bulgarian guy, andy is german) who were making France shirts from bin liners to pass the time until kick off later, not sure where I'm going to watch the final. It's been really good to socialise and be out and about, have to get an early night as I am sitting in on meetings all day tomorrow, Viel Spass!!! Bis gleich, Mike x

I am starting to get my first real tasks in my job, which is good because it means I am not so bored but it is now starting to feel like a job. I answered my first call today and the guy on the other end spoke super deutsch. Thankfully I managed to answer the phone in the correct way (gruss gott, literally meaning greet god, is used along with saying Siemens AG (Auf deutsch Ah, Gay - it means limited company) understood what he wanted and replied auf deutsch. I then patted myself on the back (metaphorically). I then took a call from an irate polish woman though she spoke english so the abuse was bearable. Not much else to report, just pleased to have survived my first week!!

In the last couple of days I have met two people who have much power over me. My landlord and my new boss.

My landlord is Mr Arnold Kreutzer. He is a large, pink man who is very softly spoken. He was very nice to me when I gave him my first rent payment, apparently 'though he is fond of the english, they never pay'. lol. He set up my postbox (so mail me) and my room buzzer (so stop by if you are passing).

My boss is english which is of great comfort as I understand no-one else (i'm getting better though). He is very tall and goes by the name of Andrew Walker. He was a 'praktikant' (placement student) like myself about 13 years ago and has come back to become head of global communications. He gets paid a lot more now!

'Wir weinen mit euch' was the headline on today's Bild Zeitung (The german equivalent of The Sun). It roughly translates as 'we cry with you' and was in reference to the picture of the tearful german football players on the front page following their last gasp defeat to Italy.
Though this made me snigger on my way into the office I must admit that I was upset that Germany went out. I'm heading to Nurnberg on Sunday to watch the final at the fan-festival and it would have been a better atmosphere if they had been playing. Also everyone was so upset and upset people make me sad.

What is this? I hear you cry! Is mike becoming a kraut lover?? Of course not you doubters! (how dare u) though I must admit the amount of german people who are really nice to me has made me re-evaluate my perception of our former adversarys.

I, along with most of the other wohn heim residents watched the match in the Keller Bar which is a bar....in our cellar!! Why was this not mentioned before, I could not believe it!!! That us a USP if I ever knew one!! And, even better a bottle of becks is 70 cents, that is like 50p!!! Iand you can get 500ml bottles of becks for€1!!! Thats half a litre of beer for like 70p!! I love Germany sometimes.

Thanks for your e-mails, it keeps the homesickness at bay, I promise some more pics soon xxx

Kunst is the german word for art. There is a lot of art in germany, I believe that Erlangen and Nuremberg exhibit fine examples of baroque and rococo style architecture. The only art I have seen in graffiti, though it is much more imaginative than the ' Skebbo was 'ere ' muck we see back home. Oh, and I saw a guy painting the floor. He is gonna be peeved when it rains!

I had a very good day at work today. I registered for my Ausweis card which allows me to get in an out of the buildings (very important) and was given a username and password. Which I changed. And then forgot! I was quite pleased however when I managed to ask the IT guy , Peter, to unlock my station in German. I think he was quite impressed also. Went to lunch with a few colleagues at a nearby Greek restaraunt, a bit more expensive than the canteen but much nicer. I just wish I could understand what they were talking about so I could join in the conversations! They talk so fast I can't ever imagine being able to understand them!
It is so hot here I'm roasting in my little cell. I made my first friend on this floor, he is chinese and his name is Chun Wei. He did not have an english name like some chinese people so James, the other english guy, made one for him: John Wayne. Awesome.

When you arrive in a town in Germany, whether it be from another town of from a different coutry you must complete a registration or 'Anmeldung'. Nell and I had to go to the Rathaus (town hall) where we sat in queue for an hour and a half until I could hand in my form. There was a little confusion over my sex as I had misunderstood the form and put James, my middle name, as my maiden name. Oops. Anyhow, all was rectified and, with my masculinity restored I left the Rathaus with a piece of paper which certifies me as a bonafide 'Erlanger'.

Following the honour of becoming a 'burger' (citizen of the town, not Big Mac) I went across to the Sparkasse to open my german bank account. Banking is complex at the best of times so it was fortunate that Jeff, an American, works in the bank. I am now just waiting for my cashcard, muhahaha!

Nell and I headed to Siemens for my first day of work, time to put some money in my new konto! (account - see not only are you enjoying this blog for its entertaining narrative but you are learning german with me along the way!).
The offices are pretty impressive, with the Group Communications Dept where I will be working on the 6th floor. I had a relatively relaxed first day, I researched the department and its current activities on the intranet site and Nell introduced me to all of my colleagues on the floor. This left me a little perplexed as I realised how fast real germans speak in german though I was pleased to get the gist of some conversations. I will certainl have to improve my deutsch. It is encouraging that Nell says she was a similar level to me when she arrived as she speaks brilliant german now.
Came home and chilled, feeling a bit lonely, especially when speaking to people on messenger. I miss them, may in particular.

Stayed in bed for a while after a but too much guinness extra stout. Had some breakfast with nell and chilled out for the rest of the day. Went with Nell and her brazilian friend pam to a tapas bar for dinner which was awesome, dining on a little terrace in the evening sunshine. Had a nice tour of the neighbourhood around the Wohnheim while we strolled home. Off to get an early night now, got my first day 2morro and wanna look 'frisch'. Oh, and I've just decided I think I like Erlangen, lol.

02/07/2006

Nell took me on a little tour of Erlangen today; it seems really nice, pretty sleepy and very quaint. Against Nell’s advice I had Sauer Kraut and Wurst for lunch and it was awesome. We watched the football in Wheeler’s, an English pub. I cannot believe England lost on penalties AGAIN, I was devastated. I bought some Guinness extra Stout from the Supermarkt and Nell took me round to her mate’s flat where we drowned our sorrows. When he wasn't taking the piss out of our football team her German mate Andy was very cool and his Bulgarian friend Metto was hilarious. Eventually managed to stagger to the bushalterstelle where we got the nightliner bus home.

02/07/2006

Finally I have arrived in Deutschland! Got into Nuremberg at around 1am this morning as my flight was delayed by two hours grr. I’m convinced that this was so the pilots could watch Germany’s victory over Argentina lol. Met Nell at the airport (the girl who I am replacing at Siemens) and took a taxi to my new accommodation. When the lift opened to my floor I was greeted by the sight of an Indian guy waddling around in the tightest pair of speedos you have ever seen. It was too much for my tired eyes.
Basic is not the word, I don’t even have carpet! I’m sure I will get used to it. Have a look at the pics above. (Apologies for the mess, im missing a cupboard dont'ya know!)
I am on the 6th floor (there are 9 altogether) and each floor has about 20 people on it. Sharing a bathroom and shower room with 20 people is a bit weird; I am quite used to the luxury of my Warehouse en suite, but I will make do. My main complaint is that the toilet paper is proper rough, I think I will use it to sand down the sharp edges on my cupboards it is that stiff.
On a lighter note Nell is taking me into town to buy a few essentials soon and then we will go and watch England destroy Portugal!