Rhode Island

The thing about RI is that you take it for granted if you live there. It seems that people who grow up in RI are excited to leave for college or for a job in a big city, basicaly looking to move onto bigger and better things. I spent the better part of 22 years in RI before moving out. Now that I am on the outside looking in, I realize what was normal for me is not normal for the world. First of all, the beaches. Some of them were crappy but at least RI has beaches and a wide variety of choice so you do not need to spend your days in the crappy beaches. Then there is Block Island. I didn't take my first trip to BI until college but it really is a little bit of Paridise in your own back yard. It is a summer vacation hotspot that RIers have the benefit of visiting on a day's notice and w/o the need of an overpriced hotel becasue you can drive to the ferry from anywhere in RI in under an hour. On top of beaches, there's Providence. Okay it is not a big city from most perspectives but it is compatible with many different audiences. V once learned in her city planning class at URI, who knew you could major in city planning?!?, that Providence is a very well planned city. Since I'm guessing most of you, like m, have never taken a city planning class, I'll explain. It all comes down to the city functioning during the day and at night in the same districts/location. A good example of this is the area near the Biltmore, there are offices but also night party spots in the same block. Provicence has the businesses and some pretty nice office buildings, the Providence Place mall, a favorite of locals and tourists alike, the skating rink in the winter (maybe it is a cafe in the summer), all your typical food chains, and above all parking and driving in Providence are generaly not disasterous. For the inner tourist, Providence has the Statehouse with the 2nd (or 3rd, i forget) largest unsupported dome in the country, the RISD museum which attracts some pretty decent exhibits, historical landmarks and a great view of the city from Prospect park. Additionaly, if you're more into the funky college crowd there's always Thayer St. with cute restaurants and odd shops in addition to normal stores such as CVS and the stupid semi-new sporting goods store. On top of it all Providence has a shore line where summer concerts are often held (more of the kind that attract high school and college students as they are free) but also other outdoor summer events such as Water Fire provide free outdoor entertainment. If it is entertainment you are looking for there's Lupo's where you can catch decent bands while they are still playing in venues small enough that you really can stand anywhere and get a great view. The convention and civic centers cater to larger audiences. The best part of Providence is that since RI is so small, if you get bored with its offerings, you can just find something to do in a nearby city or cross the boarder to MA, you can even hop on a train and be in Boston in one hour! I should also mention Dunkin Donuts, since RIers hate driving long distances it makes sense that DD has positioned themselves on almost every major intersection, this may also have something to do with the company being from the area. Either way it is nice in the summer when you are craving that french vanilla iced coffee. I really wanted an iced coffee yesterday, of any variety really, the only option was McDonald's McCafe but it did not live up. If it is the ocean you are into, there's Narragansett but there is also Newport, famous for its Mansions, Newport was once the playground of the rich. It is still a bit more uppity than most of the state but not unwelcoming. Whatever the season, there's always a reason to appriciate Newport. In the summer the tourists are in town and there is lots of entertainment, the outdoor variety with various festivals and shows most with a nautical focus (i.e. Boat Show, Tall Ships Festival). As the fall comes around the Oktoberfest is the one last hoorah before the island calms for the winter but this is also when the bars pick up as Salve students are back and a good deal of URI students make their way scross the bridge. What better way to pack out a bar than to attract college students. There is always the Brick Marketplace and the Warf for great restaurants, cute shops and amazing views. I really think I am in love with RI. I realize things seem more ieal when you step away from them and there are downsides like the fact that I would need a car to enjoy RI and I'm sure I would soon miss Germany but right now, I really appriciate my home state. I eally miss the beaches, esp. Narragansett and Newport and the summer weather they are experiencing as we have cold, rainy days. The biggest downer, I haven't been in the ocean or a pool yet this summer :( I also miss shopping at the mall and nearby Wrentham and I miss RI restaurants like Spummoin's and Cheese Cake Factory and good Sushi!

Flying

So today is day one without my boss. I technically still have a lot of bosses in the sense that there are people above me within the organization but I don't have a bossin Europe right now. I am working with a consultant hired to keep things running in the intirm and I have been reporting more directly to the top two bosses at HQ who both hapen to be out of the office right now as one is on vacation and the other recovering from surgery. It's weird not to have a boss and even weirder when I think about the fact that this is my first real job, I live in a foreign country and am responsible for the presence of the organization in several foreign countries and I've only been on the job for 4 months and I don't even have colleagues as I work from home. It is so weird but at the same time, I'm surviving and that makes me realize how much I've learned over the last four months. It also confirmed what I believed about my personality; I am capable of accomplishing more when I am given the authority. When I am working as a second to someone, I become good at waiting for their lead and following their suggestions. I do not suggest things on my own if they already have idea. Now that I have the authority and it is necessary for me to step up, I feel like I have. I've taken on so much more and have greater ambitions and have been coming up with my own ideas and suggestions. The latter being slightly influanced by previously mentioned consultant who has pitched so many ideas, I actualy shut her off last week on Wednesday as I was overwhelmed. I do still realize I have the problem of not being able to say no. I was really excited by the idea of writing articles in travel magazines so when the person who was asked to write one turned it down due to lack of time with the offer of making suggestions for someone else to write, I of course volunteered. I am now realizing I do not have enough knowledge of the industry to write a good article. I can handle the welcome letter and the letter talking about upcoming events but I do not know that I can write an industry article of substance. I think I may have to rethink this and find a strategy that involves using the PR guy. Either way, I'm still really excited to write something for a magazine even if it is a travel industry magazine. I've also taken on more English lessons lately, again I chalk this up to not being able to turn down a job, so now I teach Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and starting next week, I will be teaching double Monday lessons which will bring my total working hours on Mondays to 12. It is just short term and I'm working on saving money and paying off my stupid student loan so I feel like it is worth it for now. I'll only have the double Monday lessons for the next 5 weeks. I am actualy proud of myself for turning down a Thursday lesson which was quite appealing but would have been too much of a time commitment. Anyway, I feel like I am on a bit of andrenaline rush these days, however, I've been too exhausted to wake up for the 7am runs in the park I recently started with Patrick and Ihab. I need to find a way to fit excercise and outdoors into this new, crazy schedule. Well, one last exciting but stressful thing in my life, I have a Press deadline of August 8th to get my first letter in :)

Food

Hey is that a giant clam cake? Clam cakes outside of New England - can't be. I soon learn my eyes have decieved me. What looked like a clam cake, that funny brown shape of fried slopp that could be nothing else in RI is actualy fried colliflower in Germany. That's right, they deep fry vegetables in batter and eat as a side dish. It's pretty common. For some reasons Americans have a bad reputation for deep frying things like Oreos and twinkies and even ice cream. I somehow think it makes more sense to deep fry a dessert, which is already bad for you, than to take a perfectly good vegetable and turn it into a fatty greesy dish. However, Germans are not as obsese as Americans as a society. I believe since Germans actualy walk places or ride bicycles as modes of transportation they can eat fatty things and still stay slim. I'm off to eat dinner which consists of no fried vegetables.

In case you forgot what I look like...

The first photo is in Heikendorf watching the parade of Tall Ships, oddly enough the 4 or 5 masted local ship was not involved as it was at the TAll Ships festival in Newport, RI.

Next photo is a group at the new bier garten near the University from the begining of July.

Then Patrick and I in Wolfenbuettel (sp?) when I convinced him we should go to a festival but it was actualy in Wolfsberg. Who puts wolf in the name of two neighboring towns?!?!

The next photo is me in the airport on the way to Madrid. I believe that's in the Munich airport but I was exhausted either way becasue I had to wake up at 4am to begin my journey!

Finaly, I made it to the Eifel tower. I think the flash didn't work becasue the batteries were dying but at least the photo came out. I still love the Eifel tower even if I don't know why.

MUC

At the airport, the only time I have to reflect these days. This is from a couple of weeks ago but I've been "totally consumed" and forgot to put it up. From the outside, I somehow look American. I’m wearing a non descriptive solid white polo with the collar popped when it wants to cooperate and my standard, non-marked Lucky Brand jeans rolled up twice. Flip flops on the bottom, a brown leather belt in the middle and sun glasses on the top. Topped off with silver studs, my silver anchor necklace and a silver bracelet. As I did not see any business colleagues this morning, I took the liberty of dressing casual. I think I look like your standard traveler but still shop workers speak to me in English, even when I sprechen Deutsch. I carry a Longchamp bag which is European in origin (although I bought mine in the Miami airport). I had a black rolling suitcase which I was forced to check in Madrid, but that airport is a whole other story. I opened my bag to take out my lap top and realized just how sophisticated the inside of my bag looks. I’m carrying a lap top, a planner, a leather airline ticket holder, my purse, a book and the Europe edition of the Financial Times. I smiled and then realized I was sitting in front of the wrong gate so I had to pause and get that sorted. My ticket says gate G24 so when I was let off at gate G16, I walked to the left a few gates, stopping at a few shops along the way and then waited patiently as the flight before mine boarded. Once that flight left, the marquee changed to Egypt and that’s not where I want to be. There was a notice scrolling under of a Berlin flight that moved, also not mine so I went to the counter, the first woman directed me to her colleague who sent me to Gate 3 after reprimanding me for not using the electronic monitor – sorry I trusted the gate printed on my ticket to be correct! Anyway, I just completed a journey of 11 gates which is actually quite a distance. My first gate was in the center of the airport, surrounded by small cafes and fancy shops. As I walked I noticed the smokers area was a glass box complete with a roof and several smoke eating devices inside, very impressive. As I walked further away from the shops to my new gate, I started smelling smoke. I soon realized my nose was not lying the next smoking area was literally open space with a few ashtrays and a large yellow sign depicting a cigarette hanging from the ceiling. This reminded me that I am still in Europe. As I sit now, about 50 yards from that last smoking area I can still smell smoke. Why bother? Time for boarding. Will finish later…

Havve You Seen My Bier?

We had a 4th of July BBQ here. It was super last minute as I decided in the morning that I wanted a BBQ since I was missing all of the festivities (including a day off) that were taking place stateside. Patrick organized an impromptu phone tree to get the word out, we bought some groceries, made some salad and dips and had a BBQ at 8pm. It rained at least 4 times during the day but only once during our BBQ and about a dozen people showed up on such short notice so I think it was a success. I had fun at least. Anyway, as a result of the BBQ, we had two half cases of beer (bier since it is German) left over. We live on the second floor and had a lot of stuff to carry so we left them in the Hallway Wednesday night. This seemed like a great idea and outher people in the house have left their beer in the hallway at times. Yesterday, Patrick came home from the movies to notice one of the cases missing. Who would take 1/2 a case of Beck's? and on top of that, who knew it was there. Our door is in the back of the house so for someone to be walking by and decide to steal the beer it not likely, Three out of our 6 neighbors were at the BBQ so I'm pretty sure they wouldn't steal the beer as they know its origin and why would our other neighbors steal beer from inside the house? That is not a way to make friends! Anyway, Patrick posted a sign to day, let's see if it gets any response. The value is not high, 1/2 case of beer + about 5 EUR in deposits but the point is no one should take things from the apartment. I hope we find out what happened mostly out of curiousity but I don't think anyone will come foward and say hi I stole your beer, here it is.

Incubated Weekend

It's only just after 4pm on Sunday and I'm exhausted from the weekend. So much for a relaxing weekend, but it was a really good weekend. Yesterday started with a lot of apartment cleaning which was way over due and planned to happen and then we found out a friend was going ot be ini town and he needed a place to stay so we had extra motivation to clean the place. I finaly got my office into proper order, which is super exciting. Too bad my computer has now locked me out :( Anyway, we started yesterday with happy hour at this Mexican restaurant downtown called Sausilitos, they have great cocktails and the best salsa I've had in all of Germany. Naturaly I had nachos for dinner too. It worked out that three friends from Germany/US who have sinced moved out of Braunschweig were in town this weekend so it was really great to see eveyone. I always enjoy hanging out with other Americans. Anyway, following Happy Hour we all went back to one guy's apartment, with a balcony to hang out befor going to the Jazz fest in town but we never made it to the Jazz fest. On the way to his apt, I got to know this the new roomate of a friendwho has an interesting story. He is Mexican, studied in Sweeden and then got a job in Sweeden which sent himti germany. We instantly got along as our German language skills are about he same but he speeak great English and I like new friends, especialy of the English speaking variety. The night was filled with good people, good conversation, local beer and flips, what more do you need. We all agreed to reconviene in the morning for brunch which was followed by a trip to a new beer garten located actoss the street from the university, a short trip to our apartment, and another gathering at an eis cafe and then a trip to the train station to say good bye to our guest. Now, I'm finaly home and may have evening plans for a board game night so I must nap. ciao!