http://blogs.news.com.au/cubefarmer/index.php/news/comments/finding_time_to_think/
Looks like i'm still not used to stopping an thinking - I found this article while I was meant to concentrating on one thing...bugger
I watched Food Inc earlier today; another kick in the guts of capitalism
Oh boy....
Merry Christmas
I'm currently on the plane flying to London. It sounds great - flying Zurich to London! But I can assure that the circus continues with delayed planes, stressed people and crying babies everywhere!
As we cross the channel, I look out to snow covered field; the white plains puncuated only by trees and delineated by fences. It's my second time to the UK and again it's going to be freezing. Lucky i'm prepared this time...
If I look back to what has happened in the last 12 months, it was quite an up-rooting from the past few years. Finishing at Palmerston - meant a loss of income, finishing my time at the boatshed meant a loss of connection to a sporting community and preparing for an MBA in a foreign country have all meant a change in mentality and perspective; hopefully for the better! In many respects my ambition and energies have reduced in favour of finding something to focus on. This reads strangely but it has not been easy to try to convert energy to focus! While doing a general business degree might not seem like a focusing mechansim it serves as an interuption to the past when I was 'generally doing stuff' - whatever came up over the past 10 years. The intention being, now, to lock in a career direction. As it stands today that direction could be anything. Not helpful! I do feel confident that by September I will have some more clarity on the situation. With new friends, hopefully still a strong connection with old friends(!), further insight into business, an ability to communicate in German and new perspectives on my place in the world 2010 is going to be a great year. I feel a bit of a leech at the moment relying heavily on family and friends but take the view that in the long run I can give back much more than I take - if I focus!
I am very lucky to be able to spend Christmas with friends. Christmas is always a hectic time finishing a year, rushing to have a break and then catching up with everyone. Other than transit on Christmas eve I get to enjoy being in one spot for a white Christmas. The plans for the coming week is to see a bit of Oxford and the area as well as try to meet up with friends in London. I fly home (Mannheim home) on the 2nd to get ready for an big second term (i'll be under no disillisions about the workload ahead!
With all of the stories from my end I conclude with wishing each of you a marvellous, enjoyable and restful Christmas and look forward to speaking, emailing and or Skyping with you when will be a prosperous New Year! ~ Oest
As we cross the channel, I look out to snow covered field; the white plains puncuated only by trees and delineated by fences. It's my second time to the UK and again it's going to be freezing. Lucky i'm prepared this time...
If I look back to what has happened in the last 12 months, it was quite an up-rooting from the past few years. Finishing at Palmerston - meant a loss of income, finishing my time at the boatshed meant a loss of connection to a sporting community and preparing for an MBA in a foreign country have all meant a change in mentality and perspective; hopefully for the better! In many respects my ambition and energies have reduced in favour of finding something to focus on. This reads strangely but it has not been easy to try to convert energy to focus! While doing a general business degree might not seem like a focusing mechansim it serves as an interuption to the past when I was 'generally doing stuff' - whatever came up over the past 10 years. The intention being, now, to lock in a career direction. As it stands today that direction could be anything. Not helpful! I do feel confident that by September I will have some more clarity on the situation. With new friends, hopefully still a strong connection with old friends(!), further insight into business, an ability to communicate in German and new perspectives on my place in the world 2010 is going to be a great year. I feel a bit of a leech at the moment relying heavily on family and friends but take the view that in the long run I can give back much more than I take - if I focus!
I am very lucky to be able to spend Christmas with friends. Christmas is always a hectic time finishing a year, rushing to have a break and then catching up with everyone. Other than transit on Christmas eve I get to enjoy being in one spot for a white Christmas. The plans for the coming week is to see a bit of Oxford and the area as well as try to meet up with friends in London. I fly home (Mannheim home) on the 2nd to get ready for an big second term (i'll be under no disillisions about the workload ahead!
With all of the stories from my end I conclude with wishing each of you a marvellous, enjoyable and restful Christmas and look forward to speaking, emailing and or Skyping with you when will be a prosperous New Year! ~ Oest
Spiez
The train to Spiez (near Thun / Interlaken in Switzerland) seemed to take for ages. As we got further and further delayed our connections in Zurich and Bern became later and later. While delays are not the end of the world it only made it more unfair on people to pick up at the train station. Patrick's sister and his step mother Lilliane had gone to bed understandably and we agreed to catch a cab upon arrival to Spiez. It was our second experience breaking Swiss stereotypes. The first was their puncuality and the second was the cab driver who had no idea where things were in the her city. Spiez is not very big but still she had no idea where the Maddern's place was. It was painful to see the meter tick over in super expensive Swiss Francs. We finally arrived having had to wake everyone up anyway to ask further directions...money not well spent on the cab.
I was looking forward to waking up in the morning to see where we were. Not only had there been a huge amount of snow fall, I gathered we were positioned overlooking Lake Thun. The wake up was a little more abrupt than I had hoped. Patrick had warned me about the kids in the house. Patrick's sister has a child, Oliver, who is 2 years old. Patrick's step brothers are 5yo and 7yo respectively. As all the kids were sleeping in the same room, as soon as one woke the circus began. Oliver found it necessary to shout 'Mummy' as the top of his voice for at least first few house of the morning while the other two would communicate in Swiss German at all noise levels. Patrick and I took the tactic of pretending to sleep for as long as possible using every energy to ignore the symphony of shouting! Finally it was time to get up. Our job for the day was to help Lilliane move out of her apartment in Fribourg. I had offered to help so it was good to do some physical work and also see other parts of Switzerland. We moved much of her apartment up the road by hand. After a couple of hours we had moved everything, cleaned all the windows, window sils and patch-painted the walls. A job well done! I slept back to Spiez as I was exhausted. It's very confusing in Switzerland with so many languages. I'm never sure whether to speak German or English. We got by fine in the end.
We spent a day in Bern. Again a real annoyance that I didn't have a camera. The price to pay for being an idiot and losing it. Bern is a great little city high on a spur with the River "Something" winding it's way around the city centre. We saw where Einstein did some of his best work as well as the bear park - where they house bears. Bears are the national animal of Switzerland I think so are shown much respect with a huge enclosure overlooking the river. We climbed the Muenster and got a great view of Bern. Patrick did a great job carrying Oliver up the 350 stairs! Upon returning to Spiez, we thought we'd wander down to the little harbour and the Spiez Schloss. I can imagine how amazing it is in Winter. Seeing the boats moored with the boat covers covered in snow was very nice. We were expecting some sort of activity at a bar or something but nothing. The only sign of life was some workers scuba diving! That evening, Patrick's father Guy and his other sister Georgina arrived. That brought the total performers in the circus to 9. That house is amazing but not quite setup for 9 people. With english, swiss german and baby languages flying around it was quite difficult to even hear yourself think! Fondue was the perfect dinner to slow everyone down. There's something about sitting around a pot of cheese!
Patick and I thought we'd check out Zurich before I had to fly out so rather than endure another day at the circus we took off to Zurich. Another offensively expensive train ticket got us to Zurich. Earlier we had had an argument with Lillian saying how expensive switzerland was. She would not agree at all saying it was all relative to what they earn and the things they received (free education etc). Unfortunately we were dealing in money we earnt and relative perception of money from Australia and Germany (not withstanding the student budget) so it really did feel like an incredibly expensive place!
Patrick's other step brother, Remigi, has been working at the Dolder Grande, one of the finest hotels in Zurich and probably the world. He took us on an extensive tour of the hotel showing us the most expensive suites and the inner workings of the hotel. The Dolder was refurbished and completed this year for a total of 580m Francs. Considering the current occupancy this year between 20% and 50% it's hard to see how this money will ever be recouped. People like Pink happily pay 6000Fr per night in one of the suites designed by the Rolling Stones, while Tina Turner celebrated her 80th birthday in the 16,000Fr Maestro suite (their best) and each year celebrates new years on the third floor of the same suite. It is ridiculous. There is nothing normal about spending such incredible amounts of money. Remigi told us of a US tyre salesman spending 6 weeks in the 6,000Fr per night suite. The Price of Dubai came over for a weekend. He brought with him three semi-trailers of luggage for him and his 60 servants. Oh, and he brought with him 32 ferraris because he wasn't sure which one he wanted to drive around Zurich for the weekend. It borders on uncomprehensionable - only you have to comprehend it because you're standing in the room overlooking Zurich where it all happens, weekly!
Patty and continued our visit of Zurich wandering the streets. It is a cool city but it's just hard to get your head around the money. It's just engrained in the culture. Zurich is a huge city with 4m people and spreads out as far as the eye can see meaning there are plenty of people who must live 'normally' and i've read that some of the areas outside the city are very arty and cultural. I guess every city has it's advantages and disadvantages. Maybe coming back in Summer after winning the lotto is the go!
I was looking forward to waking up in the morning to see where we were. Not only had there been a huge amount of snow fall, I gathered we were positioned overlooking Lake Thun. The wake up was a little more abrupt than I had hoped. Patrick had warned me about the kids in the house. Patrick's sister has a child, Oliver, who is 2 years old. Patrick's step brothers are 5yo and 7yo respectively. As all the kids were sleeping in the same room, as soon as one woke the circus began. Oliver found it necessary to shout 'Mummy' as the top of his voice for at least first few house of the morning while the other two would communicate in Swiss German at all noise levels. Patrick and I took the tactic of pretending to sleep for as long as possible using every energy to ignore the symphony of shouting! Finally it was time to get up. Our job for the day was to help Lilliane move out of her apartment in Fribourg. I had offered to help so it was good to do some physical work and also see other parts of Switzerland. We moved much of her apartment up the road by hand. After a couple of hours we had moved everything, cleaned all the windows, window sils and patch-painted the walls. A job well done! I slept back to Spiez as I was exhausted. It's very confusing in Switzerland with so many languages. I'm never sure whether to speak German or English. We got by fine in the end.
We spent a day in Bern. Again a real annoyance that I didn't have a camera. The price to pay for being an idiot and losing it. Bern is a great little city high on a spur with the River "Something" winding it's way around the city centre. We saw where Einstein did some of his best work as well as the bear park - where they house bears. Bears are the national animal of Switzerland I think so are shown much respect with a huge enclosure overlooking the river. We climbed the Muenster and got a great view of Bern. Patrick did a great job carrying Oliver up the 350 stairs! Upon returning to Spiez, we thought we'd wander down to the little harbour and the Spiez Schloss. I can imagine how amazing it is in Winter. Seeing the boats moored with the boat covers covered in snow was very nice. We were expecting some sort of activity at a bar or something but nothing. The only sign of life was some workers scuba diving! That evening, Patrick's father Guy and his other sister Georgina arrived. That brought the total performers in the circus to 9. That house is amazing but not quite setup for 9 people. With english, swiss german and baby languages flying around it was quite difficult to even hear yourself think! Fondue was the perfect dinner to slow everyone down. There's something about sitting around a pot of cheese!
Patick and I thought we'd check out Zurich before I had to fly out so rather than endure another day at the circus we took off to Zurich. Another offensively expensive train ticket got us to Zurich. Earlier we had had an argument with Lillian saying how expensive switzerland was. She would not agree at all saying it was all relative to what they earn and the things they received (free education etc). Unfortunately we were dealing in money we earnt and relative perception of money from Australia and Germany (not withstanding the student budget) so it really did feel like an incredibly expensive place!
Patrick's other step brother, Remigi, has been working at the Dolder Grande, one of the finest hotels in Zurich and probably the world. He took us on an extensive tour of the hotel showing us the most expensive suites and the inner workings of the hotel. The Dolder was refurbished and completed this year for a total of 580m Francs. Considering the current occupancy this year between 20% and 50% it's hard to see how this money will ever be recouped. People like Pink happily pay 6000Fr per night in one of the suites designed by the Rolling Stones, while Tina Turner celebrated her 80th birthday in the 16,000Fr Maestro suite (their best) and each year celebrates new years on the third floor of the same suite. It is ridiculous. There is nothing normal about spending such incredible amounts of money. Remigi told us of a US tyre salesman spending 6 weeks in the 6,000Fr per night suite. The Price of Dubai came over for a weekend. He brought with him three semi-trailers of luggage for him and his 60 servants. Oh, and he brought with him 32 ferraris because he wasn't sure which one he wanted to drive around Zurich for the weekend. It borders on uncomprehensionable - only you have to comprehend it because you're standing in the room overlooking Zurich where it all happens, weekly!
Patty and continued our visit of Zurich wandering the streets. It is a cool city but it's just hard to get your head around the money. It's just engrained in the culture. Zurich is a huge city with 4m people and spreads out as far as the eye can see meaning there are plenty of people who must live 'normally' and i've read that some of the areas outside the city are very arty and cultural. I guess every city has it's advantages and disadvantages. Maybe coming back in Summer after winning the lotto is the go!
Munich
It had been snowing in Mannheim during exam prep and the day we left Mannheim for Munich, it started to snow heavily. For the entire train ride, Patrick and I watched snow fall on the fields and forests. Munich was freezing cold and a foot deep in snow! We went to the Tollwood festival (at the same location as the Oktoberfest is held) and tried Feuerzangenbowle to warm the throats. Like all markets there were a huge number of stalls with felt hats, different hand crafts and of course Wurst and Gluehwein!
Gisa was a very kind host. Her house in Schwaginen was not only a very nice apartment but a great base to see Munich. We visited the German Technology Museum on the Saturday seeing a huge array of intricate models and technological advances in German history. From planes, mining models, bridge-building and even nano-technology the few hours that we spent there didn't cover the majority of what there was to see. The city is also very beautiful under snow. We didn't see all that much simply because visibility was low and so was the temperature of our fingers and toes however it was nice to wander the city. Being a city in Germany that didn't suffer from extensive bombing the old buidings do seem to reflect how live was back in time.
Saturday evening dinner was Fondue! Bavarian style. We were guests along with a few of Gisa's Munich friends. Not only was the Fondue great but so too the company. We headed out to a small bar called Pomp before finishing off the night catching a cab home driving through the snow.
A traditional sunday morning breakfast for German's is Weisswurst und Suesser Senf. So when in Rome: we took much amusement in easting the white sausage. The skin shouldn't be eaten to the eating technique is actually to cut the end off and suck the meat out. So many jokes could have been made but were witheld so as not to offend the cultures of the Bavarians! We walked off the Weisswurst with a wander through the Englischer Garten. It's a beautiful park where people take trips around in horse drawn carriages and predictably drink Gluehwein! Patrick and I had a very romantic walk through the snow...before getting our gear ready and heading off to the train station to Switzerland. The only thing wrong with our visit to Munich was that it was too short.
Gisa was a very kind host. Her house in Schwaginen was not only a very nice apartment but a great base to see Munich. We visited the German Technology Museum on the Saturday seeing a huge array of intricate models and technological advances in German history. From planes, mining models, bridge-building and even nano-technology the few hours that we spent there didn't cover the majority of what there was to see. The city is also very beautiful under snow. We didn't see all that much simply because visibility was low and so was the temperature of our fingers and toes however it was nice to wander the city. Being a city in Germany that didn't suffer from extensive bombing the old buidings do seem to reflect how live was back in time.
Saturday evening dinner was Fondue! Bavarian style. We were guests along with a few of Gisa's Munich friends. Not only was the Fondue great but so too the company. We headed out to a small bar called Pomp before finishing off the night catching a cab home driving through the snow.
A traditional sunday morning breakfast for German's is Weisswurst und Suesser Senf. So when in Rome: we took much amusement in easting the white sausage. The skin shouldn't be eaten to the eating technique is actually to cut the end off and suck the meat out. So many jokes could have been made but were witheld so as not to offend the cultures of the Bavarians! We walked off the Weisswurst with a wander through the Englischer Garten. It's a beautiful park where people take trips around in horse drawn carriages and predictably drink Gluehwein! Patrick and I had a very romantic walk through the snow...before getting our gear ready and heading off to the train station to Switzerland. The only thing wrong with our visit to Munich was that it was too short.
Heidelberg After Party
Patrick arrived in the afternoon after our exams. The evening was spent in Heidelberg starting with the Weihnachtsmarkt and the sweetest Gluehwein money could buy! I thought Patrick might enjoy some German culture but it seems that in the Euro countries he has travelled to he has found a Weihnachtsmarkt! This was a particularly sweet Gluehwein to start the evening. Dinner was a traditional Spaetzle dish which was duely inhaled after not eating a lot during studies and exams. Starting with a small beer, moving to a 0.5L and then to a Mass was all a novelty until later the Australians (Messers Maddern and Oest) were on the bar dancing. I'm glad the Eagle Rock didn't come on as i'm sure the pants would have come down purely due to College instinct. We visited a few cool bars in Heidelberg thanks to the locals pointing us in the right direction. The only downside from my point was misplacing my camera - presumably left in the cab. There is a great collection of photos and of course the camera in possession of someone who wasn't kind enough to report it 'lost'. Bummer...
It's not so easy to show people around Mannheim, for no other reason that once you've shown the Wasserturm and the city there isn't much more to see! The schloss is quite spectacular for visitors also but not for long! We bid our class mates a Merry Christmas with some quiet beers at various pubs in Mannheim. In fact it was cool to find some random bars off the beaten track! Some in Jungbusch were a lot nicer than the area's reputation portrays!
It's not so easy to show people around Mannheim, for no other reason that once you've shown the Wasserturm and the city there isn't much more to see! The schloss is quite spectacular for visitors also but not for long! We bid our class mates a Merry Christmas with some quiet beers at various pubs in Mannheim. In fact it was cool to find some random bars off the beaten track! Some in Jungbusch were a lot nicer than the area's reputation portrays!
New apartment:
Through a friend, Birte, I have found a new apartment. It's in the student area closer to the Schloss. Fully furnished it is a very comfortable apartment shared with a Portuguese neuroscientist! I haven't met her yet but am looking forward to it.
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