Herr Mike in Deutschland

After almost 6 months away from the motherland Mike is preparing to come home, and he can't wait.
It's not that Im anxious to get away from Germany, I just really want to see my family and friends again! And I'm not afraid to admit, for the first time in my life I'm a little homesick.

It's been a brilliant but challenging experience so far and I am looking forward to returning in January now that I'm settled in.


It's been quite an eventful 6 months, during which I have:

• Made friends with people from France, Germany, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Belgium, Italy and all over the world.
• Learnt a load of marketing/PR stuff working with people from across the globe
• Improved my German ten fold
• Drank copious amounts of quality beer, several pints of which were at Oktoberfest in Munich
  
• Got appendicitis though avoided an operation
  
• Somehow hurt my knee again and spent many hours and Euros on acupuncture and vicious massage. Seems to be getting better though!
  
• Been to Zurich and Prague, both amazing
  
• Celebrated an awesome 21st with new mates and old
• Eated a major amount of sausage
• Become a hardcore FC Nuernberg fan
• Declared it my mission to introduce Pie to central Europe

So all in all it's been pretty legendary.
I hope to see you all in person over the Xmas hols to bore you with my tales in person, but just in case I don't: Frohe Weihnachten! (Happy Christmas!)

Herr Mike and The blog will return in 2007 x

I must apologise for the lack of blog updates in the past week, it's just been mad busy as I get ready to come home for Xmas, I promise to catch up asap!

Your beloved Mikester had a superb time in Prague. He will tell you all about it properly as soon as he gets a chance, for now have a couple of pics, it's a breathtaking place:

I have just got the pics from my mate Norman ze German's trip to the UK, where he recently visited a girl who did a placement in Erlangen last year. Not only did he visit the wonderful north of England, he visited places that are close to my heart: my second home of Preston and my spiritual home of Ewood Park. Have a look at the pics; there is even a photo of Norm outside the restaurant where I work to fund my lavish student lifestyle.

Meanwhile, I am looking forward to my weekend in Prague after a pretty long weekend. I have had none stop meetings this week which gets a bit stressful. Whilst in meetings I can't do any of the work I already have and during meetings I get loads more tasks. The result is an in-tray resembling the Matterhorn.
Anyway, have a half day tomorrow to catch my train to the Czech Rep, will throw some pics up when I get back.

The world famous Nuremberg Christmas Market opened last week and we were there to soak up the festive spirit. As it was opening night the place was rammed with people there to see 'Das Christkind' recite her opening verses. It was too busy to see anything really so we'll definitely be going back to have a look when it is a bit quieter.

My french friend Marie has already headed home for xmas and so has left me a bike to ride. At this point I would like to re-iterate that it is a boy's bike which she was left by a french dude.

So I got up pretty early this morning and headed out for a cycle in an attempt to get on the road to fitness, no mean feat after six months of knee problems and German beer.

With stupidly cold temperatures it was invigorating to say the least though after a while the pain became numbness and I enjoyed my ride through old Erlangen and across some farmer's fields: I learnt the word for trespassing only when I got home and checked what I had seen on the signs (unbefugter Zutritt verboten).

Back in the warmth I have some work to do for uni before I meet the boys for lunch and head to Nuremberg for FCN vs Schalke. It's a huge game with Schalke topping the table at the moment.

Schalke are actually FC Nuremberg's friendship club (Football and friendship?? I don't understand!) so there should be a full house. I am assured however that the friendship is confined to the stands and there should be a heated battle on the pitch.

Unfortunatley looks like the FCN star striker Marek Mintal will not be available as doctors recently discovered the broken foot he sustained last season (and from which we thought he had recovered) is still broken. This has shaken my faith in the German medical system a little, maybe I should get a second opinion on my knee x-rays.

On Wednesday and Thursday of last week I headed with Andy and Katrin to Zurich, Switzerland for a business trip to learn about the new virtual reality technologies which our Siemens colleagues there are using as marketing tools. It was really interesting, very hi-tec.

Andy picked me up early on Wednesday in a rented Mercedes E-class (Not too shabby) and we set off on the 4 hour drive, guided by the German sat-nav lady whose viciously barked instructions stopped me nodding off. We actually went through Austria briefly on the way, three countries in one day is a personal record I think!

On arrival at the Siemens office there we were greeted by our host Peter and his colleague Gabriela who were brilliant hosts. We grabbed a bite to eat and met some of the other guys who had come to learn about this revolutionary new technology.

After an afternoon of meetings we headed briefly to our hotel opposite the Zurich Opera House which was pretty suave. 4 stars and €185 a night (Zurich is ridiculously expensive) it was satisfactory, even for a high flying businessman like myself haha.
Peter picked us up and gave us a brief tour of Zurich centre which was very posh, with tall historic buildings and incredible, modern Christmas decorations.
The whole place was like something you would see in a Bond film, I would not have been surprised to see Agent 007 to fly past in an Aston Martin at any point (I'm still refusing to accept he drives a Ford).

We then went to an uber posh restaraunt which was ridiculously expensive but as Uncle von Siemens was paying price was not an issue. I had pumpkin and prawn soup (surprsingly delicious combination) then Veal Fillet 'Zurich style' which was divine, rounded off with creme brulee and accompanied by copious amounts of fine red wine. I could could get used to this.

After our incredible meal we had a little walk around the quaint 'old town' area of the city and whilst the ladies headed to bed me and the gaffer headed to a bar for a few beers. It was an excellent night, I think it is great to get to know people outside of the office, it really helps the working relationships as well.

The next day arrived with a ridiculously early start (making me regret the last bottle of swiss 'Hammer Bier' : slogan translates as "The right tool for proper blokes") and after a quick breakfast we headed back to the Siemens office for more presentations before heading home.

It was an awesome experienced and I was really grateful to be involved, it will be challenging developing the projects we discussed and of course it was cool to respond to emails asking where I was with 'I was in Zurich on business'. I feel quite the dapper businessman. (pics to follow shortly)