The trend of late is to take a 5minute cruise on my bike down to the train station, jump on a quick 20 minute train ride, and get to a little place I like to call: The City of Gold. Nuremberg!
Nuremberg is the biggest city in the near vicinity to my little residing student town, and is a place that provides much entertainment. Many of the people that I have met at my job reside here, and it is fact the place is quite a vibe. The problem I have when I go here though, is that I have no idea where I am when I go out, how to get home, the reoccurring language barrier problem is a major factor, and I continue to follow my life long trend of `let´s just go with it and see what happens, it will work out`.
This has all been quite a problem.
It has led to me finding myself lost at student parties, forgetting bicycles in places we can´t remember, crashing into bushes on said bicycles while lifting mates after prematches, torn clothes that the local Stitching company frowns upon me for, and all in all, those dreadful Facebook photos that you just don´t remember being taken!
It is different though, and German people really do party hard. With local night clubs closing at 5.30am on regular occasion, prematches lasting till past 12am, Mexicans passing out from South African kings before even making it out, and a large abundance of eager to party interns, Nuremberg is an awesome adventure!
Wednesday 6 July 2011
Steven and His Adventures
Steven is the name of my bike. My German bike. my German bike that cost me 20 Euros. The bike that I have used ever since I bought it to get practically everywhere I go.
The story about this bad boy though, is he is old school. He has a rack, he has mudguards, wide tires, weights about 20kg´s, and is purple and black. But shit son, he is rad!!!
Everyday I do a commute of 30 minutes from my home in Erlangen(a small university town just outside Nuremberg, very similar to Stellenbosch). This commute brings me to work in Herzogenaurach(which is pronounced no where NEAR how it is spelt) which is a small town in the middle of nowhere that has two of the biggest sporting names in the worlds headquarters in it! Adidas and Puma where both born in this town, and to this day, over 60 years later, their head offices are still kept here. With both companies just building new buildings, this looks set to stay this way, which is nice really as too often you see companies forget where they have come from.
With at least an hour a day together, me and Steven have become good friends. He has payed himself off a long time ago in relation to the bus fairs I would have incurred, and quite frankly, the cycle to work each day is awesome. Germany has some amazing country side, and each day my journey takes in 2 cycle paths, a river crossing, 3 small German towns, 1 one car width tunnel, a couple horses, many bakeries, the Adidas headquarters, and finally, a cresting of a hill that opens up to the view of a beautifully branded building that is the Puma headquarters. My work.
Its funny though, no matter the weather, rain, shine, cold, boiling, every day I do this hour commute on Steven, mainly because it is just so fun. Fresh air, and clear the mind. With my orange headphones pumping the beats, my sunnies on, and my bag strapped to my rack, it really is quite a vibe!
Winter may be a different story however, with many people talking of SNOW from November time. Jeepers.
For now though, when you are sitting in your car, in traffic, swearing, getting frustrated, think of me, out in the country side, beats pumping, on my way to another awesome day at the Puma headquarters!
The story about this bad boy though, is he is old school. He has a rack, he has mudguards, wide tires, weights about 20kg´s, and is purple and black. But shit son, he is rad!!!
Everyday I do a commute of 30 minutes from my home in Erlangen(a small university town just outside Nuremberg, very similar to Stellenbosch). This commute brings me to work in Herzogenaurach(which is pronounced no where NEAR how it is spelt) which is a small town in the middle of nowhere that has two of the biggest sporting names in the worlds headquarters in it! Adidas and Puma where both born in this town, and to this day, over 60 years later, their head offices are still kept here. With both companies just building new buildings, this looks set to stay this way, which is nice really as too often you see companies forget where they have come from.
With at least an hour a day together, me and Steven have become good friends. He has payed himself off a long time ago in relation to the bus fairs I would have incurred, and quite frankly, the cycle to work each day is awesome. Germany has some amazing country side, and each day my journey takes in 2 cycle paths, a river crossing, 3 small German towns, 1 one car width tunnel, a couple horses, many bakeries, the Adidas headquarters, and finally, a cresting of a hill that opens up to the view of a beautifully branded building that is the Puma headquarters. My work.
Its funny though, no matter the weather, rain, shine, cold, boiling, every day I do this hour commute on Steven, mainly because it is just so fun. Fresh air, and clear the mind. With my orange headphones pumping the beats, my sunnies on, and my bag strapped to my rack, it really is quite a vibe!
Winter may be a different story however, with many people talking of SNOW from November time. Jeepers.
For now though, when you are sitting in your car, in traffic, swearing, getting frustrated, think of me, out in the country side, beats pumping, on my way to another awesome day at the Puma headquarters!
The Accomodation Hunt
Looking for a place to live, in a country you don´t know, in a language you can´t speak, to people who don´t understand what you are saying, in a town you not quite sure where the better parts are, and on sites you can´t read, is really not a fun job.
When I arrived in Germany I decided I will stay in a little hotel for a few nights till I get settled. Boy o boy was this fun. i didn´t to leave actually. I maaaay of even had a moment where I tried to sell the feasibility of them renting a room to me on a monthly basis for a greatly reduced rate, to curve the loss of unbooked rooms. No Luck.
As my days in my hotel ran out, so did my options for a place to move into. At the end of the day my hand was twisted, and I was heading to hell. Otherwise known as a 35 man hostel kind of vibe in the old part of town. In a bed that sang you a creaky tune every time you dared move, with toilets that constantly smelt like some one was doing the dirty on them, and in a shower where, to this day, I am convinced the hairiest men in the world showered. No common decency in this place! The kitchen was a whole other story really, haha, you have to laugh. 35 people, 8square meters, 3 cooker tops. Enjoy...
I became a professional at sourcing the best value for money take aways in town!!
Since things have turned around though. Staying in a new place now, I have two fellow house mates, both very cool women. One from Romania, the other from the Philippines. Last night was in fact Tequila night, a wonderful night of the week where my Romanian house mate and her friend have shots of tequila till they finish an entire bottle!! Needless to say this was EXTREMELY funny to watch sober!
But I love my new house, even though it is just for one month. It is extremely affordable, centrally located, awesome peeps, CLEAN, and it rally is nice to be able to shower without slops again..
At the end of the month I have found a permanent place for the remainder of my stay. The key word about it would be budget, but that would soon be followed by an awesome vibe, rad student house mates, and something different. I never stayed in a digs during my study days, and that is exactly what my new place is all about. A room in a student dorm, with a huge lounge for socializing and games. Hell, they have already invited me to jam and I am still a month away from moving in! ha-ha.
It is coming up to my first month in Germany already being complete, and the amount I have already experienced is insane. i have seen ALOT, and met tons of people. It really has been a great adventure so far, and now it my accommodation story finally being sorted in a satisfactory way, all I have to do is sit back, and enjoy the ride...
When I arrived in Germany I decided I will stay in a little hotel for a few nights till I get settled. Boy o boy was this fun. i didn´t to leave actually. I maaaay of even had a moment where I tried to sell the feasibility of them renting a room to me on a monthly basis for a greatly reduced rate, to curve the loss of unbooked rooms. No Luck.
As my days in my hotel ran out, so did my options for a place to move into. At the end of the day my hand was twisted, and I was heading to hell. Otherwise known as a 35 man hostel kind of vibe in the old part of town. In a bed that sang you a creaky tune every time you dared move, with toilets that constantly smelt like some one was doing the dirty on them, and in a shower where, to this day, I am convinced the hairiest men in the world showered. No common decency in this place! The kitchen was a whole other story really, haha, you have to laugh. 35 people, 8square meters, 3 cooker tops. Enjoy...
I became a professional at sourcing the best value for money take aways in town!!
Since things have turned around though. Staying in a new place now, I have two fellow house mates, both very cool women. One from Romania, the other from the Philippines. Last night was in fact Tequila night, a wonderful night of the week where my Romanian house mate and her friend have shots of tequila till they finish an entire bottle!! Needless to say this was EXTREMELY funny to watch sober!
But I love my new house, even though it is just for one month. It is extremely affordable, centrally located, awesome peeps, CLEAN, and it rally is nice to be able to shower without slops again..
At the end of the month I have found a permanent place for the remainder of my stay. The key word about it would be budget, but that would soon be followed by an awesome vibe, rad student house mates, and something different. I never stayed in a digs during my study days, and that is exactly what my new place is all about. A room in a student dorm, with a huge lounge for socializing and games. Hell, they have already invited me to jam and I am still a month away from moving in! ha-ha.
It is coming up to my first month in Germany already being complete, and the amount I have already experienced is insane. i have seen ALOT, and met tons of people. It really has been a great adventure so far, and now it my accommodation story finally being sorted in a satisfactory way, all I have to do is sit back, and enjoy the ride...
Settling In
So I won´t lie, it was not easy settling in to this Germany place. It's rather bloody different in many aspects. Going to the shops and having to decipher what you are buying from the picture displayed on the product. Asking shop attendants where something is and getting a blank look like English is a language that has jsut landed on earth from a far off distant place was not a rare occurrence during my first few days(it still isn´t). The first few days where lonely though, not knowing a single person within a 500 km radius I think can often be underestimated. To make matters worse, when meeting new people, they don´t understand what you are saying and it all often ends in a failed situation of separating of paths.
BUT, my dear little English speaking friends, the coin has turned. I started work a few days after I arrived, and since then things have really turned around. With employees from all parts of the world (except Africa really) the opportunities to meet new peeps are endless. And meet new peeps I have, lots. There is really alot of like minded individuals here, and I’ve made alot of really good friends. Each Monday we play social soccer, and thank the lord it is social, because I seem to have taken a note from our national football team and am pretty dam useless. Luckily I scored a fluke of a goal on my first outing so have been saved from a raging a bit!
On the first summers day of summer (it does not seem to happen often), we all headed down the communal pool after work. We swam and played volleyball. Yes, volleyball. Another sport that I am absolutely no good at. But it was really cool none the less!
The accomodation part of my journey is a whole other story, and really need to be told in a whole other blog. Let´s just say, it has been a hectic roller coaster so far...
BUT, my dear little English speaking friends, the coin has turned. I started work a few days after I arrived, and since then things have really turned around. With employees from all parts of the world (except Africa really) the opportunities to meet new peeps are endless. And meet new peeps I have, lots. There is really alot of like minded individuals here, and I’ve made alot of really good friends. Each Monday we play social soccer, and thank the lord it is social, because I seem to have taken a note from our national football team and am pretty dam useless. Luckily I scored a fluke of a goal on my first outing so have been saved from a raging a bit!
On the first summers day of summer (it does not seem to happen often), we all headed down the communal pool after work. We swam and played volleyball. Yes, volleyball. Another sport that I am absolutely no good at. But it was really cool none the less!
The accomodation part of my journey is a whole other story, and really need to be told in a whole other blog. Let´s just say, it has been a hectic roller coaster so far...
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