Monday, February 28, 2011

More Training Abroad

This week I'm writing from Indiana. I am here for programming training for work. It is a training class so it is a little less exciting than the hands on training I have done the last two weeks. I guess you have to take the good with the bad. One plus is the rooms they have put us in. We are at a Cambria Suites and it is NICE. I think is the first room I've ever had that has a living room in it!


The soaps are Bath and Body Works. That's unusual

The Living Room


From the Bedroom

Check out this sink.

Having a nice room to sleep in is all well and good, but it sure is lonely without someone to share it with!

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Frankfurt pics from HOME!

 I finally made it home and I am so glad. We had a rough flight home and the landing was the worst part. We landed in Charlotte with winds gusting 30 mph. It is amazing how a 30 mph wind can push around a huge Airbus 330! On our final decent, the wind would push the plane to the right, making it bank 20 or 30°. The pilot would then have to correct by banking 20 or 30° to the left. This rocking back and forth while falling through the air was enough to put even the seasoned fliers on edge. And then there were the drops. They say the wind can actually pull the air from beneath the wings and cause the plane to free fall straight down. This usually happens and you only drop a short distance. The problem is, if you are only a short distance from the ground, that means you land sooner and harder than planned. We dropped like this twice in the last minute of flight. The guy sitting beside me was a military guy with 23 years of flying experience. He "talked us down", meaning the whole time we were landing he was saying stuff like, "the pilot is doing a good job", "he's got this", "we are almost on the ground", ect, ect.  But the real shake up came after we touched down. The back 2 wheels touched and then the front wheel come down. About the time the front wheel touched, a gust of wind picked up the back right wheel off the ground! We were literally going down the runway on the front and back left wheel and the whole plane felt like it was sliding sideways a little. After what seemed like forever -probably 5 seconds- it set down and straightened up. During this wild twist to our landing, the guy beside me went completely silent. After it settled down and we caught our breath he said "I don't think he meant to do that!" If I don't have to ever fly again, that would be fine by me. The only problem is, I'm back on a plane tomorrow morning for Indiana. I've already checked the weather and we are supposed to have thunderstorms in both places. Ya'll keep me in your prayers!

 I wanted to post a few pics from our final day in Germany. We drove Thursday afternoon to Frankfurt to be close to the airport. Frankfurt is huge, like Charlotte or Atlanta. Everyone had always told me to stay out of Frankfurt, it was crazy. Well, being the smart young man I am, I talked Larry into going to Frankfurt to do some last minute shopping. Lets just say that all the stories I had heard of Frankfurt were understated! The place is beautiful and huge, but driving downtown is like being in a rat race and not being able to tell where you can and can not go. I managed to get us through the streets and to a parking garage. It was in the 30's and misting rain, so I did not take my camera. I took a few shots with my cell phone. That place was awesome. Any woman who loves to shop could easily spend a week there. The main drag was 6 and 7 story shopping malls as far as you can see. Seriously! I would love to carry Andrea and give her a day to play, but I have a feeling it would probably cost me dearly.

This is only a small sample of the whole place.

No cars in this area. It was HUGE!

On top of the main strip, you had side roads every few 100 yards. They were also lined with shops!
It was a cool experience, but I'm still so glad to be home.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Ready to come home!

I would like to start off by sending my condolences to the Walters family. Words can't express the loss we feel. You are in our thoughts and prayers!

Man, it is COLD over here! The high today was about 24°. The temp tonight is supposed to be 17° with a wind chill close to single digits. We are freezing to death and most people here act like it is no big deal. Today after work, we walked across the street to the big shopping area here. It was in the low 20's with a pretty good breeze blowing. I wanted to get a few pics of the area before we left. They are calling for snow tomorrow so I figured we better do it today. I expected it to be a ghost town but there was people everywhere, like it was 70° or something. I saw mothers pushing little babies in strollers. People riding bikes, from teenagers to men that looked to be in there 70's. Women walking around in shorts or mini skirts. It was just unbelievable! I don't like my kids going outside in 50° weather without a coat with a hood. I saw school kids walking around with no gloves or hats. Anyway, I did get a few pics of the area. I'm kind of glad Andrea wasn't here in this town. We are about a 2 minute walk from 100's of stores. I'm talking clothing stores that are 4 and 5 stories. It would have been ugly for real.

This is the main street for the shopping area here. And yes, cars do drive on it at times.

Same place, opposite direction
 This is just a shot of the main street. It was like city blocks with roads turning off every few 100 yards. These streets were also lined with shops. And everything has 3+ floors! We probably didn't get to see half of it this week.
A church at the end of the street

Notice the bicycles. It was 20°!!!

Look closely and you can find 2 mothers with strollers.

A parking area at one end of the main street



On the way back from our photo op, Larry and I stopped to try something he has been wanting since he got here. Fresh donuts/pastries. There are fresh bakery shops all over the place here. I guess there are 5 or more within a 2 minute walk from our hotel, and that is just in one direction.  Here is what I got.
Looks tasty. Let see whats inside,


The chocolate covered donut kind of caught me off guard. I was expecting a plain donut but it had a custard like filling. Pretty good. The long strudel looking deal was a crispy pastry with a banana slice and chocolate on the inside. Also good. The powder sugared donut had a fruity filling that I can't put my finger on. It was kind of like a really sweet raspberry, but not exactly.

We have just returned from our supper. We went to a Mexican restaurant that our coworkers had been to before. I got a double bacon burger and it was HUGE. I only had my cell phone and it was low light, but I had to snap a shot. The pic don't do it justice. I ate 3/4s of it and stopped. I really think I could have finished it, but I would have been miserable tonight. It was the closest to true American food that I've had yet.
My guess would be that it was well over a pound of meat!
Last but not least, a few shots of my room here in Ingolstadt. This room really don't even compare to the other two hotels. This one is much more economical, to be "politically correct" about it. No fridge, so we have all been putting drinks on the window sills keep them cold. They put me on the 5th floor, aka "the penthouse". It is anything but that! For the first few nights, my heater wouldn't get warm enough to keep the room warm. It was okay during the day, but I would wake up to room about 60°. Monday morning I asked for them to look at the heater. I came back to find a space heater in my room running wide open. It was like 120°! I haven't checked, but I bet all my chocolate was melted. We will fix that American ;) So heat problem solved. Then this morning, I lose the hot water in the middle of my shower. No warning, just gone! 2 minutes later, its back. I still don't know what happened there. And the bathroom, now that is something. It is a 4'x8' all plastic room with only a shower curtain separating the shower from the rest of the room. It does step down about an inch in the shower area. I joked with the guys here and told them I have a stretched port-a-potty for a bathroom. Nice!

Welcome to the Hotel Anker penthouse!

I do have a double bed while some of the others have a single and a couch.
My stretched port-a-potty! After a hot shower, everything is wet. Walls, floors, door, everything!
It is hard to tell, but there is a very small step down where the curtain is hanging. Still, the floor gets soaked. Crazy design for sure.

Here is the view from my window.


But all in all, I have had a pretty good trip. Everyone has been helpful and I have learned a lot. I think the plans are for the next guys that come over to have a full time interpreter with them at work. That will be a big plus. But even with the language barrier -with pen & paper, hands, feet, and everything else- we have always managed to figure it out. And having to do all that crazy stuff to make a point just makes the guys like you more. As long as you don't over do it -by trying to talk too much- it is pretty comical.

But with all that being said....
I'm ready to go HOME!!!!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

2/17/11 in Bamburg

Here are a few pictures from our short walk through the beautiful, very old city of Bamberg. I'll try to fill in more details later. Right now, I need to get to bed!
The Bamburg Dom


This is the Pope's crest. It is one of 3 in the world.







Notice the leg on the bottom middle and the baby on the top.


Feeding the ducks. The little boy must have been hungry too!


Fresh market in the center of the old city.Very good looking produce for the winter.



This is a section connecting two 2 lane roads. Crazy stuff!







Wednesday, February 16, 2011

February 16, 2011

Today is my cousin Ethan's birthday. He turned four. This is my excuse for a version of Thomas the Train. I hope he and his class enjoyed it.

Happy Birthday Ethan!


ADP

2/16/11 in Hirschaid

  I need to start this one by saying I'm sorry. I was so tired last night that I was not able to post anything. We drove from Magdeburg to Bamberg yesterday afternoon which was about a 3.5 hour drive. The traffic here is just crazy. Imagine I-85 though Atlanta and that is just about every autobahn you get on. Not stop and go driving, but constant lane changes and trying to watch all 4 directions, all the time. Driving in the left lane too slow is just as dangerous as switching lanes without looking. I didn't do either of those, but just giving an example. Honestly! Because we done so much driving, there wasn't much picture taking going on. Once we got to the Villa Geyersworth, we did go out to try and find an electronics store and some supper. After 45 minutes, we ended up back at the hotel empty handed and hungry. The weird thing about hotels over here, almost every one of them has a nice restaurant on the ground floor. I'm not sure how they stay open with so much competition, but they always are. So we had a very good steak with fried potatoes and grilled tomatoes. I didn't care for the tomatoes, even those I love fresh tomatoes, but the steak was great. I snapped a few pics with my cell phone just so I would have something to show.
I think their medium is our medium rare, but it was still delicious. That is gravy on the plate!

Nice place settings
And the hotel is super nice. My pictures are a little rough, but were taken without flash to best show the real setting. The only problem I have with this place is where it is located. We have to drive through the middle of Bamberg to get in or out. While there are no trams like in Magdeburg, the buses, bicycles, and walkers are everywhere. And the roads are wild. We went down one street that was a 2 way road, but cars were parked all along the sides, so it is just a little over 1 lane wide. It still had 2 lanes of traffic so everyone is scrambling around pulling in holes and allowing people to pass. Or speeding around other cars to get though. After driving like this on high alert for 4 hours, there was no way I could handle a post last night! But anyway, here is the room.







Every place we have been, the people have all been very friendly and helpful. At work, everyone has went out of their way to make us feel accepted. We have eaten with others here joining us and covering our meal almost as much as we have eaten by ourselves. Tonight we are to go out to eat pizza with a colleague that we met today. It is nice to have people to help you out and take their time with you when you are so far from home. I am glad that I have been able to do this for others in the states and have decided that I should do it much more often, if I have the chance.

I've been asked several times about my training plan for my new job. The machines I will be working with have technology that we have no experience with in Cheraw. Everyone I have talked to that has experience are telling me I need to spend at least 3 months over here with the guys who are working on the machines now. I don't know how that will go over with my boss. If that is true and I do have to come back, Baby you better pack ya'lls bags cause I am not doing 3 months alone!