So I went out looking for a Philly cheesesteak tonight, and found that according to the Philidelphia magazine, the best Philly Cheesesteak for 2008 was just around the corner from me at PIe in the Sky.

I’ve only had a few cheesesteaks in my time, and I guess after getting a bad one at Texadelphia, I’ve yet really want one again… but when in Rome.  So I went driving tonight into the town of Wayne, for what is considered the best in the Philly area.  While the picture is far from appetizing, it was the best cheesesteak I could ever dream of.

<if I can ever get enough bandwidth to download a picture from the hotel, I’ll post it>

I brought dinner back to the hotel in hopes of using my “high speed internet” in the hotel to watch my slingbox and catch up on tv back at home, while answering email and doing some work.  Much to my chagrin, I can barely stay connected to chat and write this blog… much less try anything high speed.

Le-sigh… I guess I’ll have to flip channels like the olden days.  HOw did I ever survive and watch TV before DVR and SlingBox?

-30-

Well, today is my last day onsite in Walldorf… We’ll go for about half a day in class, and I will wrap up the room and return my badge.

I’ll miss my stay over here… the cold weather, the excitement of exploring and the beauitful colors of fall – not to mention all the hot guys!

Tonight it’s packing and trying to stuff everything into my suitecase… we’ll see how well that goes!  Then it’s up at 5:30a local to leave for the airport by 6:00a.  My goal is to arrive in Frankfurt at 7:00a and get my car turned in within an hour… we’ll see how well that goes.  Then it’s back to Texas to arrive tomorrow night.

See you all then!

Well, unfortunatley for you dedicated reader (yes, the one), I don’t really have anything exciting to share this go around… I have been exhausted with work and teaching a much larger class this go around.  On top of it, I’ve been working against a few technical challenges at night, and had a conference call at local 2:00a this morning.  Luckily, given my time restraints from the time I get off work till the time I can make it somewhere, evening activities are rather limited by default.  I am quite satisfied with what I have been able to do and see in the area and feel I’ve made the most of my time.

I did have an interesting conversation with my students the other day, in regards to work laws, etc.  It’s most interesting to know that you effectivley cannot fire anyone in your company if you have more than five people employed.  There are German laws instituted to protect employees to the degree that once hired, you cannot be fired, unless you blatantly commit a crime against the company, such as stealing.  Low performance?  Deal with it.  According to my students, some companies go through a staffing agency for the hires, since they can release the workers back to the staffing agency through that loophole.

On a side note, the smoking lounges inside the building are killing me… you walk down the hall and it’s like you’ve been in a San Antonio club for 4 hours.

My time is winding down, with tomorrow my last full day.  I have lots of packing to do, and I am in no way up for that challenge!

So while traveling in Germany, there are many things I have found interesting and I started to compile a list of them… here is what I have so far:

Even driving 100mph, someone will always be driving faster than you.

Europeans use their knife as much as any other utensil, and not just for cutting… they use it to guide food on to their forks.

Every restaurant, regardless of the atmosphere, is seat yourself.

Meals are events. Your waitstaff will take care of you, but will not interrupt your meal, so you better ask for the check or end up spending the night.

All drinks, except beer, are served in .2litre amounts – with no refills.

Glasses are marked with .2l lines, so you know you’re getting what little you paid for. haha.

Everything still comes in glass bottles here – plastic is not the standard.

Everyone recycles – they drive their recycling to centers, there is no central pick up.

Various places, including my hotel, have electrical outlets to charge electrical vehicles.

You cannot drive a large car here, parking will not hold it.

Always drive in the right lane, unless your passing someone – then move back into the right lane immediately.

All radio stations have multiple signals they broadcast on.  Your car will adjust to the best frequency as you drive.

Germany does not discriminate, Gay Marriage is legal.

Your cell phone is called your “Handy Number”

Profanity in music is allowed on the radio.

Rap is not popular here – but Pink is

It’s never too early to drink – and no one gets carded.

Most people would rather take the bus or train than drive.

A 20 minute commute is looked at as an eternity – and you’ll be moving closer to work eventually.

Ikea is as big a deal here as it is at home.

Ice is not a commonality – you have to ask for it.

Cyclist, not pedestrians, have the right a way.

Smoking is allowed in some buildings.

Tipping is not customary.

Not everyone accepts Visa / Debit cards so you better have cash.

A 40 mile tollway in France was only 3.00

Everything is closed on Sunday.

Today it was back to the classroom, and boy was it awesome.

You see, this is the third time I have taught this class – ever.  And while each class has been well received and well executed, if you know me well you know I am my own worst critic.  Well, I guess after getting two executions of the course under my belt, I am into the groove of the course, and it feels so nice.  It’s that personal comfort level where your confidence goes from 95 – 100%, and that extra 5% makes a world of difference.

After class I made my way back to Heidelberg and visited one of the most prominent sights in the town – the Heidelberg Castle.  Built by Prince Elector Ruprecht III in the early years of 1400, the castle has been burned and destroyed many times over, but restored as often as possible.  The sights from the castle are amazing, and my photos do no justice.  It was awe-inspiring to see the sunset over the town I called home for the past week.

From there, I traveled back into town for dinner and had quiet possibly the best dinner of my life.  I approrached a resteraunt called Cafe Rossi which, unlike other reseraunts, did not post their menu out doors.  I took a chance and went in, and it was the best resteraunt related chance I could have made.  The interior was quaint and cozy, the staff was amazing and the food was out of this world.  Crab stuffed raviloi in a lobster sauce and a nice chardonnay followed by warm apple struddel in a vanilla sauce and an Irish coffee – I was in Heaven.

Once I was able to tear myself away from there, I headed back to the hotel for some light evening work and email, and now it’s off to bed.

Good night!

So I went to another big party called Suestoff, which was kind of neat… lots of people, lots of dancing and I ended up making a few friends.  One friend, Benjamin, ended up meeting me for coffee later, but spoke very little English.  Thanks to the modern technology of my laptop, wifi at the hotel coffee shop and http://translate.google.com we were able to have a conversation, each taking turns writing in our native English or German and letting Google do the translation. It was quite funny.

 I ended up going to be at 6:30a Sunday morning after my late morning with Benjamin.  I slept until about noon, so yeah, I was pretty tired.

Yesterday, Alex informed me that I was only about an hour away from Alces-Loraine, which is the province in France where my great-great grandmother Mimi was from.  For those of you who have not heard the story, Mimi is my Nana’s grandmother and was sent to America by her family when she was only 14.  She died in 1989, and I never got to meet her, but I remember hearing she had passed and thinking WOW – my great great grandmother who was FRENCH was ALIVE this whole time!

So knowing I was only 2 hours from my family’s roots, I hopped in the car and headed to Metz, Alces-Loraine, France!  The drive was kind of long on the way over because it was raining and foggy, but I passed some amazing sites.  Acres upon acres of German vineyards.  It was such an an awesome view.  A light mist falling on the country side, the bursting colors of fall and millions and millions of grapevines growing in the fields.

I arrived in Metz with no idea of what I was looking for or where I was going.  I parked and just started walking.  The buildings and sights were beautiful, however everything was closed.  You see, in Europe, everyone is off on Sunday so it’s simple sightseeing, which was well worth it.

I hit the road back to Heidelberg after about an hour or so.  Between the cold and rain and everything being closed, I was pretty limited with what I could, but so grateful for the opportunity to see my family’s roots.  I am the first person in my family since Mimi left to return to Metz, and it was an amazing feeling!

I returned back to the hotel where I met Benjamin for dinner – sans the help of Google and a translator.  We managed to hold a nice conversation, albeit a challenge at times.

As I finish preparing for my next day at work, I am so thankful for an amazing weekend in Germany, and the new friends I made.

Good night!

So I went to another big party called Suestoff, which was kind of neat… lots of people, lots of dancing and I ended up making a few friends.  One friend, Benjamin, ended up meeting me for coffee later, but spoke very little English.  Thanks to the modern technology of my laptop, wifi at the hotel coffee shop and http://translate.google.com we were able to have a conversation, each taking turns writing in our native English or German and letting Google do the translation. It was quite funny.

 I ended up going to be at 6:30a Sunday morning after my late morning with Benjamin.  I slept until about noon, so yeah, I was pretty tired.

Yesterday, Alex informed me that I was only about an hour away from Alces-Loraine, which is the province in France where my great-great grandmother Mimi was from.  For those of you who have not heard the story, Mimi is my Nana’s grandmother and was sent to America by her family when she was only 14.  She died in 1989, and I never got to meet her, but I remember hearing she had passed and thinking WOW – my great great grandmother who was FRENCH was ALIVE this whole time!

So knowing I was only 2 hours from my family’s roots, I hopped in the car and headed to Metz, Alces-Loraine, France!  The drive was kind of long on the way over because it was raining and foggy, but I passed some amazing sites.  Acres upon acres of German vineyards.  It was such an an awesome view.  A light mist falling on the country side, the bursting colors of fall and millions and millions of grapevines growing in the fields.

I arrived in Metz with no idea of what I was looking for or where I was going.  I parked and just started walking.  The buildings and sights were beautiful, however everything was closed.  You see, in Europe, everyone is off on Sunday so it’s simple sightseeing, which was well worth it.

I hit the road back to Heidelberg after about an hour or so.  Between the cold and rain and everything being closed, I was pretty limited with what I could, but so grateful for the opportunity to see my family’s roots.  I am the first person in my family since Mimi left to return to Metz, and it was an amazing feeling!

I returned back to the hotel where I met Benjamin for dinner – sans the help of Google and a translator.  We managed to hold a nice conversation, albeit a challenge at times.

As I finish preparing for my next day at work, I am so thankful for an amazing weekend in Germany, and the new friends I made.

Good night!

Well, day 5 and 6 kinda run together as one awesome day!

Friday was the wrap up to my first week of training.  Our VP of International Operations came in and held a discussion, which was quite interesting.  He is such an awesome guy and very smart.

We wrapped class up about 3:00p and I headed back to Heidelberg.  I went walking down the HauptstraBe, which is the main shopping district.  I bought all kinds of souvenirs for home, grabbed a hot pretzel and a coffee with bourbon and just people watched for a while.

People are so passionate here… holding hands, stealing kisses, it’s so awesome… maybe one day

From there, it was back to the hotel to get ready for a party.  I went to the K-Klub where a big gay party was going on.  It was an interesting experience…

First off, with every drink you order, you get a small paper chip, which is your deposit on the glass or bottle. At the end of the night, you turn your chip in and get your 1 Euro per drink back.  Very odd… Then I met a midget with her group of friends who thought I was the coolest thing ever.  She was running around the club telling everyone I was from Texas and getting guys to introduce themselves to me.  While doing that, she told me that her friend from Spain wanted me to take her and “teach her English” which I swear is code for hook up.  So I had fun dancing, and then got the courage up to go introduce myself to a guy… his name is Alex.  He’s my German boyfriend. 

We talked and danced and stayed out late…

The next day he offered to take me sight seeing around Mannheim, which is about 30 minutes away.  We first walked around the water tower square and saw the sights.  It’s interesting that many of the towns still rely on water towers here.  We then stopped for coffee atop this high rise building which offered great views of Mannheim.  The coffee came with a small heart shaped waffle with powered sugar… it was so good.  We sat and talked for a while about our lives and our travels and our countries.

From there, we went to the HerbstMarket which is the Fall Market full of food and shops.  We had a regional cake called Zwiebelkuchen, which means Onion Cake.  It was really really good, and is served with Neuer Wein, which is translated as “new wine”.  It’s a wine not fully fermented and served in a red and a white.  They are oddly enough made from the same grapes, however the white are not squeezed as hard as the red wine and the taste is actually different!

We also had a regional french pizza with onions and bacon which was really really good.  The food is amazing.  From there, we went to the regional castle which is now home to the Mannheim University.  The castle was partially destroyed by fire, but later rebuilt and turned into the university.  We grabbed another cup of coffee and conversation, then parted ways, but agreed to email each other.

From there, I headed to Speyer, which is an amazing town.  In the middle is Speyer Cathedral, which was built in 1061 and remains largest Romanesque church in the world, and home to the tombs of  8 German emperors, many kings as well as some of their wives and a number of bishops.

After a stroll around Speyer, I headed back to Heidelberg and went to visit the old bridge, which is really neat.

These have been the most amazing days thus far.  Finding a friend who offers to tour me around, seeing amazing historical sites - and waking up this morning to an email confirming my trip to Australia, departing Thanksgiving weekend.

I don’t usually get all religious that often, but today in the church, I stopped and gave thanks for everything happening in my life.  I am traveling to places I only dreamed going to, am successful in my job, and surrounded by family and friends who love me.  For that I am ever so thankful.

Much love to everyone,

Choos!

Brian

Well kids – it’s 11:15p on Thursday night, despite what time MySpace says I posted this.  My trip to Germany is half way over – and I am kinda sad.

It’s been a great experience so far – the people are wonderful, the sights are beautiful, and I am beginning to feel “at home” here.  Granted I miss all of you back at HOME, but you know, when your comfort level rises and you no longer rely on the GPS to get around.

We had a lot of laughs in class today, just talking about our countries and how they are different.  I have someone from: Germany, the US, Finland, Norway and Italy in my class this week, so we are a melting pot for sure.

For my friends working at Austin’s Devil Palace, the company I am working with over here is truly an EMPLOYER of CHOICE.  They give you a gourmet lunch daily for free, and after three years, they give you a CAR!

So we worked till about 6p tonight and then called it a day.  Me and our Vice President of International Operations went to dinner tonight – he is an awesome guy and has more travel dates on the horizon for me. I won’t get into them, because as soon as I do, they’ll fall through, but I’ll be busy. 

We had dinner at this really cool German pub establish in 1358.  It was so surreal – everyone sitting around, drinking, toasting and enjoying good food and company, looking out over the main street, lined with shops and cafes.  It was picturesque as I had a bottle of wine and some local food.

Back to the hotel I came to finish up prep work for tomorrow.  My travels have been so amazing thus far – I must say, I am truly blessed to have this amazing job.

Choos! (Lates Ninjas!)