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Published: February 7th 2008
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View from our Condo in Valmeinier. not bad eh?Well hello my long lost readers! Im so sorry for my absence lately, things have been quite crazy here as some of you may or may not know. I thought i'd try and update you on the happenings of the last month, quite quickly, and attach some pictures. I am in full working mode now as a Praktikantin (Intern) for Accenture on a project down in Karlsruhe. I am working full time during the week, and am already off on my first business trip to Stockholm next week! I am loving my new apartment in Karlsruhe and my new roomate is very nice!
I have spent the last month, since NYE traveling around quite a bit. I got a little bored back in December and decided it would be a fabulous idea to plan a bunch of trips about Europe, but didn't take into consideration the possibility that I might be moving. After I was in Prague with Rachel, I quickly bounded off to Garmisch-Partenkirchen for 2 days to interview for an Internship position with the Zugspitzbahn (Ski Resort). I lucked out enough to find a last minute couch to surf with a nice guy who works for the Military
Resort down there. Unbenounced to me, there happened to be hundreds of Americans in this compound down in this tiny town on the border of Austria, who would have known! They were all very nice, and even though I was quite ill the whole time, I had the chance to go out with them, see the town, and even get a ski day in before taking my 8 hr train back to Hamburg!
I had barely one day to turn around and I was off again to Dresden for our program's Mid Year Seminar. This was a 5 day seminar intended to catch up on the first HALF (Yes, we're halfway done) of the year and talk about what was to come. It was nice to get back to East Germany near Weimar where I spent the two summers in '03 and '04. We spent some time touring the town as well as attending a concert at the Semperoper...one of the most famous Opera Houses in Europe which we studied during my Music History courses with SMU in Weimar. We also spent a day to go over to Leipzig where we had a lecture from the head of the
American Consulate. It was very interesting and we made sure to ask lots of questions about the Foreign Service. All in all it was a fabulous week and it was SO nice to catch up with some people that I hadn't seen since I left Cologne in early October.
Once again, it was time to unpack and pack quickly as I had accepted the internship offer with Accenture which meant that I would now need to find a place to live in Karlsruhe. I had also planned a week long trip to France to go skiing (to kill my boredom that I was supposed to have), so off I was. I spent 2 days in Karlsruhe, and really lucked out that the first apartment that I looked at was absolutely perfect! I spent the rest of time walking around town, checking out Karl Frederich's Castle in the middle of the city which is fabulous, and then heading over to Stuttgart to spend the night with some friends before the bus was to pick me up at 1:30 am. After catching up with the Stuttgart kids, I quickly headed up to Mannheim and hopped on our bus that would take
WHITEOUT
This might give you an idea of what we were up against! us down to Vallmeinier, France!
David, Sannie, and I spent a most fabulous week down in Vallmeinier, France in the Alps, skiing, skiing, and skiing. We got some fresh snow in the week and had a great condo right on the slopes near all the apres ski. We cooked in most of the week and hung out, watching movies. It really was nice to get a little sun, some exercise and most of all some much needed sleep! We were very sad that our week passed so quickly, but we made sure to enjoy some French cuisine of Raclette and Fondue, not to mention some Creme Brule before we headed back to 'meat and potatoes' Germany. We did have one crazy day on the slopes where it snowed and the clouds rolled in, enough to whiteout the mountain. It was definitely an adventure not being able to see more than 5 ft in front of you and only knowing where the run was if you could find a pole on the outside of it marking it. Its definitely not skiing like the states where the trees line every side of the road. Very wide open. Anyways, fabulous skiing, great
company, and we were all refreshed and ready to head back to Germany and start the new half of the program, working.
I headed back to Hamburg for only 4 days, in order to say goodbye to some wonderful friends and pack up my stuff. I made it to one last Sneak Preview Movie with my friends on Monday, hosted a tasty Enchilada party on Tuesday, and then spent Wednesday with Megan in Bremen for her birthday before enjoying a wonderful dinner. Im really glad I got to see Bremen before I left northern Germany. It was really a nice town, I could see the appeal. Lots of very old buildings to see and beautiful churches, not really sure how they survived the war as it is a big important Port. We made sure to hit all the important sites before heading back to Hamburg. I moved to Karlsruhe on Thursday and was around long enough to grab my luggage on Friday from the service I sent it with before heading off to Cologne for Karneval!!
I hitched a ride with three Couch Surfers up to Cologne to see some old friends and experiences this incredibly insane celebration.
Raclette
Big block of cheese that melts and then you scrape the cheese off and eat it. Fabulous I had heard about Karneval from my friends since August when I arrived where they grabbed my calendar and penciled it in for me just so I wouldn't forget. On the way up it was 4 non-Germans, all speaking German together and enjoying music, quite a scene im sure. Two americans, one italian, and one spaniard. Good times. When we arrived, we ran into some couch surfers from Italy and then headed out in cabs to meet our friends downtown. What can I really say about the weekend, it involved really fantastic costumes, really awful German songs that just seem to be catchy enough to sing along for weeks afterwards. Plus the place where I stayed was like a 40 person gigantic slumber-party with a bunch of people you dont know. Waking up is always an experience. We spent Saturday at the public baths/swimming pool, and then I took a few new CouchSurfers to meet up with some kids from my program in town. I checked out some old favorite spots and then met up again with the Couch Surfing party that night. Sunday was a rough drive home, but I rode home with some new friends I made from
Creme Brulee
Burned Cream...sounds good right?? Karlsruhe.
And here I am, just finishing up my first week of work. I think I plan on staying around the area for a while as I am utterly exhausted and having a hard time getting back on a normal work schedule. I really like my job though and find the project very interesting. I have put my deposit down at Vanderbilt for their MBA Class of 2010!! So expect to visit me in Nashville next year, I will be living there with Rachel Ross, many good times ahead I think.
I promise to keep more up to date. I plan to visit some local stuff like Baden Baden(old roman spas-and new ones too), Heidelberg (beautiful city, one of my favs), Freiburg, Tubingen, and of course heading over to Stuttgart some to see my cousin Jason and his family as well as some friends!! I hope all is well back in the states, please do keep in touch, can't believe im already over half-way done and on the descent back to the States.
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Susie
non-member comment
too tired
You make me tired!!!!! I can't believe the pace of your life. It sounds like you are on one party trip after another. What a wonderful experience. Love you Aunt Susie Mama