Goass- 1/2 dark beer, 1/2 coke, 1 shot cherry liquor.
BEST EVER

Sorry for the Time Off

So obviously I have not posted anything in a loooonng time.. this is due to multiple reasons. 1) When that last week in Norway hit, I was busy day and night getting things ready for the conference we were putting on. Then the conference came and went and was a big success. Then, when I got to Germany on the night of the 17th nothing pretty much went right. All the members of my flight from Amsterdam to Munich had lost their luggage including me. KLM did not put anyone luggage on the plane for some God forsaken reason.. still dont know why. So in other words I didn't have my luggage for about 3 or 4 days and had some bigger fish to fry than posting a blog.. Then once I did get some things figured out, I have come to realize the internet at the hotel im staying is AWFUL! I couldn't post a full blog in 24 hrs if I wanted to. So now here I sit in the office at work, typing some thought about my stay so far in Munich. I apologize again for the sabbatical I took from posting updates. So here is what I have done so far.. Week  1: I have joined a gym here in Germering for only a month and I have gone pretty close to everyday trying to stay in shape. Bc here Beer is food. they call is Mittlesessen which is like the necessary food, like bread and water haha I have never had so much beer in my life. Yes it is amazing and makes American beer taste like water, but I can't have it everyday. ha Plus every meal consists of meat meat meat more meat and bread, and of course BEER. haha This past weekend I went Dachau Concentration Camp and experienced the horrific acts that went on there. It was truly a bone chilling and eye opening experience to stand in the same places where so many were tortured and murdered. Then after that, I was picked up by the people who had so graciously allowed me to stay the weekend with them, and we went to Kloster Andechts. Andechts is a church and monastery in the mountains west of Munich. At Andechts there is a beautiful old church, but the main attraction is the Beer Garden where they serve great food an of course, their own beer that is brewed on site. I had a liter also called a Masskrug, of Doppleback, which is a double dark beer that was delicious! Then I finished it off with a half liter Radler which is an amazing combination of beer and lemonade that is light and delicious. Finally my weekend ended and now Im back on the grind at work.. but Ill do my best to update this more frequently, I guess while I'm at work.

The End of My First Week

TGIF! Very happy that it is finally the weekend. I thought I was over my jet lag but that is not the case. In order to get through the work day me and the espresso machine have become great friends. The first couple of days were slow, but now I have found some work making excel spreadsheets and helping to renovate some of their web pages. But outside of work I have stayed very active and enjoyed my stay as well. Usually Ill go on a walk or run or go visit the city. Now, that I know my way around the city a little bit I have had the presence of mind to take some pictures. In my earlier posts I talked about the horrible ride back from work, well I have taken some pictures so yall can know just how steep  these hills are and that it I am just so lucky to hit head winds going up them too. 

I cant be the only one who thinks this is funny ha I wonder if this is how they do phishing scams in Mexico? haha

the beginning of the last hill from the top

the middle

and a little further down

city..

a lake in the middle of the city with a little park by it

some streets in town. btw 400 krones for a haircut at the shop with the black sign.

very very windy! the phone almost fell out my hand. that boat was being tossed like a toy in a bathtub.

the bars.. aka the cotton district haha

how would you like to do drivers ed in this? i had a minivan

another hill we bike.. at the bottom

looking down..

a little further up

Vaaland Tornet

My First Day of Work

I woke up around 6:30 and proceeded with my daily routine such as I do in the United States. After Ellen, Espen (Ellen's husband), and I had breakfast I got dressed and Ellen and I hopped on our bikes and raced the down the hills of Stavanger to work. I can honestly say that is the fastest I have ever been on a bike and it was the most exilerating feeling in the world. And my mom thought motorcycles were dangerous. ha At these speeds a fall would do some damage. But when we arrived to work, she then passed me off to Bjorn. He is my main contact here and has been very kind in getting me acclimated with in the office. After Bjorn took me on the tour of the whole office he introduced me to pretty much everyone from production to marketing, research and design, and admin, he assigned me to go to the storage/warehouse and open all of the Pocket Masks and assemble packages so that they could be handed out at the conference that is coming up. Yes, after a while it became somewhat mindless, but it has to be done and I was happy to do some work that was needed. After assembling roughly some 615 Pocket Mask packages.

 I met up with Bjorn and we went to the Cafeteria for lunch. Lunch was amazing! I had a salad with tomatoes, carrots, and thousand island dressing, and for the main course a huge helping of thai chicken curry! mmmmm.... honestly the best chicken curry I have ever had! I ate every bit of what I got.. the last thing I wanna do is be the "American" that wastes food. So after lunch I was passed off to Jerrod who is a young guy mid twenties-ish and is from Indiana. Great guy and I enjoyed talking to him. After going over some power points Jerrod sent me, I learning some of the products. After that Jerrod assigned me to a project that I will probably be doing for the next week or so, and Im very thankful to have something that will challenge me. Finally, the day came to and end around 16:30 and Ellen and I headed back to her house. Now, I said earlier that the ride was very fast in the morning down the hills, well it was just as slow going up the hills! I survived and got back but it was not an easy task, at all! Then, we had another great dinner of chicken breasts with seaseme seed covered  green beans and a side of potatoes sauted with rosemary, garlic, thyme, and salt. Very good! Next, after dinner Espen and I went for about a 4 mile walk around the Marina and east side with the dog Vee-go, after the walk we went to the grocery store and got some groceries then came home. Now, I am done, and VERY TIRED! ha

Monday May 28th

Today I slowly but surely reset my sleep clock. I woke up around noon and had some breakfast, pretty much the same thing I do on weekends or days I don't work. ha Then after a shower and some searching on the internet I set out on an adventure into town. The walk from Ellen's house to town is about 20 mins, but not the way I took. Of course, without any direction I just started walking, no clue where I was going or what I was looking for, just exploring. actually, my goal was to find an ATM that accepted my Mastercard so I could get some money out. Finally after taking the long route and talking to a painter that spoke little to no English I finally found the outskirts of the city. The city is very pretty and just like what you would expect from a Norwegian city, tight between buildings, Dutch-ish architecture, and beautiful views. I knew I was in the spot where I wanted to be for groceries and shopping  because I saw a cruise ship docked in the harbor. So as I walked around the city taking in everything from clothing stores, bakeries, and food stores alike I finally found an ATM (Minibank) that accepted Mastercards. So I withdrew some money and started to look for something like a small snack to tide me over until dinner that night. After sometime of walking around every little nook an cranny I found a small convenience store called Deli de Luca, I know very Norwegian right? But they had food and the prices weren't awful, so I went in and look around and saw a Keba Panini  and coke for 59 Krones. So I did some quick math in my head $1=about 7 Krones so roughly $8.50ish. I decided that wasn't too bad and got my panini and coke and sat on the harbor and enjoyed the beautiful weather After eating the Panini, I meandered my way back to Ellen's house where we had a nice spaghetti dinner, then sat and chatted. Sadly, I was very hungry and in explorer mode so there aren't any pictures of the food or the view. But I will make many more trip to town and will remember this time to take pictures so my words will come to life. 

My First Day

My first day went very well. I arrived in Stavanger, Norway around 10:00 and I met Ellen outside of baggage claim. When we went outside to walk to her car, I was greeted with beautiful sunshine, warm weather, and a slight cooling breeze; it was a beautiful day! So we hopped into Ellen's Porsche convertible and drove down the smooth winding roads of Stavanger to her house. When we arrived to her house in order for her to park the car in her car port, she had to very carefully back the car down an alleyway that did not give her much room for error because of the stone wall on the passenger side of the car. In other words, I doubt 85% of the readers of this blog could have completed the task, including me. Then we got out of the car and proceeded down to the guest room where I was to be staying.

 After I dropped off my luggage in my room, Ellen and I went on a walk. Accompanying us on this walk was her dog, pronounced Vee-go. I have no clue how they spell it in Norwegian. Haha I personally like this name because every time I say his name it reminds me of the Bud Light commercial with the dog named “We-go” haha So, as Vee-go, Ellen, and I walked around the house, up hills, around lakes and back. We talked about our different cultures, languages, and names for places in the city. When we got back from that, we had some lunch. I had four small slices of bread with a slice of either ham or salami on it topped with Norwegian cheese and cucumber. To drink, I had a nice glass of water and honestly probably the best water I have ever had. With no ice or anything it comes from the faucet pretty dang cold and crystal clear. After that, I laid down for about an hr power nap.. I couldn’t take the sleep deprivation anymore at that point I had been up for about 22 to 23 solid hours. When I woke up, I walked back to Våland Tårn, which is a tower close to her house where there is a beautiful view of the city and fjords.

When I came back from a nice walk, I got online and talk to my girlfriend and parents on Skype for a while until the internet timed out and was gone. The internet here is just like Starkville, where it decides when it wants to work or not. Finally, that night Ellen made a great dinner of chicken and vegetable stew with a side salad and to drink fresh squeezed apple juice. This juice was amazing, fresh apple juice with no sugar, no concentrate, nothing. PURE. 

When we finished dinner, I helped her clean up then I retired to my quarters where I fooled around on the internet unpacked then went to sleep around 21:00. Of course with the sun still up.