TOEFL Scores

Apparently, by some sleight-of-life, the little jaunt to Duesseldorf resulted in a fair enough score to meet the requirements at my school. This should clear the way, paradoxical as it may be, for me to go to Paris. In fact, if I am very lucky, then I might even get to the school of schools, the ominous HEC. I'm scared of this already... when will all my hochstaplerei come tumbling down? Or will I just be free to go, only to have angry Parisienne People dump my flaccid body into the turbid Seine?

The Impromptu Dinner

The Poser WG.


Zdenek; Niki; Claudia; Berti.


Zdenek and Claudia philosophize over the temporary nature of friendship in the internet age.

Moving along these Weeks

Well, Let me just give you all a few impressions of what I have been up to the last few weeks....

The AIESEC Christmas dinner. I actually got an award! Thanx guys!


Then a Quicktrip to do the TOEFL to Düsseldorf and Munich with my main men Leo (l.), Hendrik (r.), Akin (not pictured). Leo is a crazy guy from Moscow, just the sort of person whos usually really missing at the university.


Then it all went very quickly: the next night we had to leave for the Orchestra trip (somewhere in Austria). To my right, speeding through this town, Raphael.


And the less beautiful inside. At least I got every girl's sympathy the next day...

Do-IT: The beautiful Melancholy outside...


A Hungarian Dinner. Alot of new faces; I was happy to greet Claudia (Neuweiler), Tibor, Zoli (always a pleasure), Márton...

A Very Noble Xmas To You!

...from Willi, Berti and Nik!

TOEFL weekend

Guys,

because:

• I'm way back on my blog,

• this weekend was really whacked and Ive got pix

Ill post again soon.

Long Weekend

I Had such a long, whacky weekend. Will post some stuff, as soon as Al Gore reinvents the internet in a way that it doesnt crash every 5 minutes at our flat.

MCHSG meeting no.1

Where the MCHSG stands for massive case of hugging in St. Gallen. This took place at the Limette. Some of us look rather wasted, im afraid. But after all that Shisha, we really were ready for group therapy.

Graduation Day

In Da Club. Of graduates, that is.

Ah, cheer up guys! I just graduated!...



Where I get a beautiful green diploma. (From left to right: my brother; me; my mom.)

MCSG

This just in! The first photo of the Hungarian Club St. Gallen.

Tenereefer Pix

I hit Teneriffa with my main man Dominic, here seen posing near Playa des Americas.



This was the typical Tenerifa pose. Dominic and I agreed on the tiring effects of sunbathing and excessive daytime sleep.



It is an irony of fate that the Player's Guide I printed for the trip was later imprinted on my foot.



What morally questionable young westerners do when they get bored: rent a Wrangler and hit the road.



Not that it wasn't worth it: view of the sole vulcano of the island...



Approaching the end of the world. Somewhere near Candas del Teide, the winds picked up...



Bliss at thousandsomething meters. We Wranglered our way up the road you see on the picture, then proceeded onwards...



To the top of the world...



Only to plunge all the deeper next day.




And so the days passed, and made way to night... until one day, it was time to return... to Swissilization.

Baby one more time...

yes, vienna pix coming soon, teneriffa pix coming afterwards.

All Along the Bahnhofstrasse

Well yes, I admit it, the last few days I've mostly been hanging around Zürich, being shamed by all of you flying off to India, Hong Kong, Russia, and China... well, apart from my planned little stint to a yet unnamed island in less than a month's time, I plan to go to Vienna & Hungary if I feel my current too acarpous...

Yesterday, there was a planned rehersal with Dominic's band. However, as the other members had cancelled, we were forced to go to plan B: drinking beer & chatting at the Zürisee.

Here a few pictures that I took on my way back, all along the midnight Bahnhofstrasse.

Reminiscing Regensburg

Alright guys! I have finally gotten my act together & posted some impressions of my Regensburg trip, to give you an idea where Ive been sticking the last 6 months. Please start reading at the bottom and scroll upwards, unless you prefer reverse chronology. See you at the bottom of this post!



And finally, the fruit of all the six month's labor: my report card, which I am so proud of that I will post it here!
And last but not least: karaoke! Too bad Lenas nose is obstructed by a lens flare... Here it is, along with the signatories: from left to right, top row: Orkan, Fabian, Simone, Tamara, Steffi, Fabian Bottom: Joanna, Maria, Berti, Michi, Ida, Lena. Little Oezden had already moved off to Berlin.
Fabian, Brigitte & I as we wait for the goodbye-present...
And so time flew, and soon, sooner than I gambled for, we were already celebrating the official goodbye-party. I made sure to come all in white, so we could karaoke "Like a Virgin"... Yes, they have these pussycats in Munich too now. .. I mean the one the girls and I are sitting on.

The topic here was the Swiss legal system, which explains my wild gesticulation.
Well, time flew and flew; here you see me with Joanna and her Polish mates at the Odeonsplatz, guess where again.

The parliament

Impressions of Beautapest: The Chain Bridge comissioned by da man Széchenyi;


Well, time flew and flew. Soon, it was time to buzz off to Budapest for a few days, with my boss. I went to the Gellert-bath (pictured above), which was an absolute highlight; first, the 36 C pool, then the 38er, then the steambath, then the wave pool... Im definitely taking whoever I show Budapest to, next time.

By the time we got back to Munich, it was dark. To my dissappointment, the Romanians did not turn into vampires; too bad: without a coffin to creep into, the trip back took 5 hours and 5 changes of train; I excercised my sense of humor.

Cooling off a bit...

We were yet to suffer for Marius' bizzarre habit of sitting on other people's motorcycles. I refused to make engine noises for him while photographing tho.

Witness what we thought was the biggest barrel in the world. We: "thats a pretty big barrel" Then we saw the sign reading "kleines Fass". We then went on to find the bigger one (not pictured, as did not fit into viewfinder). We: "thats a pretty damn big barrel".

Ah, do you really need text here telling you beautiful?

The castle.

Heidelberg was shortlisted for UNESCO world heritage bliss.

Back from Prague, life went on as usual a few days... With our coffee breaks getting lengthier and lengthier. Soon, I had an urge to go on another trip, this time with my Romanian crew. Enter Marius (l.) Andy, Sherban. Heidelberg could come.

"Alázatosan jelentem, kapitány: jó-a-bor!"

A last check of our supplies before a go-go.



If you want to see more beautiful pictures of the city, I suggest you Google "Prague". We were at the Castle, learnt new vocab words like "defenestration" (look it up!) visited the old Synagogue, the Cemetery & da Ghetto, the Cathedral. Then, miraculously, even the Germans joined in that evening. Above: preparations.




Hung over in Prague. "The Pretty little streets..." I wrote in my journal, "are pretty yellow... in Prague.."



Above: Note I wrote to the Germans (with Geoffroy dictating) after coming home in the morning. I would need another course in hermeneutics to interpret.

Night falls over golden Prague... And who are the only ones ready to brave the 5-floor disco'd, absynth-drenched, effete nightlife? Obviously, only the interns: Joanna, Geoffrey, Berti.



From ontop of the prague castle. Sorry I couldnt get them to spell out your name.



obligatory head-scratching after arrival.



Nomen est omen



Back to civilization. Time was flying, so were the hard days at the office. By that time, Joanna, the Polish intern had arrived and proceeded to pep up the rabót at work. Right after she arrived, the hard core of AIESEC people took a trip to Prague. Above: Joanna sleeping on the train.


Berti surveys damage done, preferring to leave the second position for the masters of the art. All alcohol consumed was in accordance with German purity laws, including above bottles for 25 cents a bottle.


Geoffroy assumes second position as Berti prepares to assume first position;


Ah, those special moments of youth. Witness homo ludens at bongus beerus (0.5l in 5 s). Shown here: Geoffroy assumes First Position.


Geffroy in full dress.


The Walhalla


No, we did not go to Athens for these pictures. All it took was a day-long bike trip to the Walhalla. Above: Nora and I at the (W)acropolis.




Here is part of the crew... I wont go into names. Lets just say that luckily, German girls are quite the drinkers, which is why the trip back did not pass without incident.
Obviously, this king has had a jug too many in his life; never mind, he was dressed better than most people at our company...


Here I am, indulging with my main man Michi.




Snap back to reality. Witness our trip to Bergkirchweih, which is a type of Octoberfest.



Ah Düsseldorf! I have a lot of pix, but the city wasn't really beautiful, so I'll spare you. Instead, an impression of the main street, at night.



Here I was at the fair... I don't remember much about anymore, except that there were a lot of machines that moved chocolate bars around.
Also, I got a lot of free beer, courtesy of a guy who insisted that he was a consultant for our company...



Bah! Do you feel it? All that culture is having your mouse cursor gyrate towards "close window!" We must therefore quickly escape from this land of rococo reliefs, porcelain statuettes, and bronze horses that shoot water through their noseholes. What better way than to ride along to a large industry fair with two cellular-totin businessmen? The relative calm on the picture is largely show - we were driving to Düsseldorf with over 200 km/h. At that speed, no one can see you phone...




Poor old Loodwig (sic)! Im not sure I share his adoration for Wagner (above, a set he designed for Parsifal), but he certainly had a flair for extravagant arhitecture!






But enough about work, and back to the TRIP (Trip Regensburg In Pictures). I went to Neuschwanstein with Kathrin. Naturally, we were greeted by sunshine.




Also of note at Krones AG was my boss Wolfgang, the quintessential German, who I became friends with; he showed me his home city of Frankfurt and also took me along to Hungary. Unfortunately, the Frankfurt pictures are all lost, courtesy of my CD burners moodyness.

Well, of course life couldn't just be fun and games all the time! After all - theoretically at least - I was in RB to work!!(?) Above, you see the building where I worked. Luckily, the lovely co-intern Nora helped pep up the otherwise terribly bleak landscape.


Above is the only picture I found of ma player Jatzek, a guy I often went partying with the first few months. Witnessing Jatzeks art was a lesson in suaveness (and cynisism). Here he is 'opening a set'.


Back to my dorm life, where I discovered that having a good time doesn't grow on trees... it has to be nurtured. Above a good example. Here I am with Aurelie at one of the famous Bar nights.


Yes, I admit it, I like photographing people even more than buildings. Will you forgive me if I tell you that this time, it is through a funky mirror at the Valentinsmuseum? Vamsi, Brigitte, Joseph.





Travel constituted much of my free time. Above you see Munich, a city I visited 7 times while in RB; at the end I became sort of a guide, even leading Germans around! Above a pic from the Frauenkirche and the very baroque Asamkirche; followed by yet another cultural highlight, Joseph and I smoking cigars and hopefully discussing jazz at a Vietnamese restaurant.



Well, let us step back and focus on the less high-percentage activities for now. One of the big scoops of the trip was the cultural part. Above you will see a detail of the Nürnberg castle, obscured by the company of the Columbian guy, lovely Lena from AIESEC RB, Vamsi the Indian eXchange dude, Kathrin (A-RB), and Ludovic "the gigolo with a conscience" de Marseille.


Regensburg. It supposedly has the biggest pub density of any city in the world; now this might or might not be a goshdang lie, but after having a few beers, does it really matter? Above a pic from Murphys Law, one of the first among many, many pub visits. From left to right: yours truly, Elisabeth, Fabian, Aurelie.


Speaking of landmarks, lo and behold, Regensburgs most prominent structure, the one that dwarfs all others & gracefully shames all the crummy modern architecture around it... Our lady the Dom. She not only captivates the denizens of the city with her beauty, she also spared many a bicycle-mounted tourist a wrong turn through the guidance of her high-high towers...

It was cold & snowy when I arrived, but my reception was nevertheless a warm one. Above, you can see one of the landmarks of Regensburg, the old stone bridge. In front, there is a Columbian from AIESEC Passau trying to hop of the way... The poor Columbians were certainly not used to this weather... neither was I, for that matter...

And so the story begins, sometime early 2005, in this brick building. It is where I lived for 6 months, first in the room with the left middle window... then in what could be called a windowless rathole in the same building, and finally in something civilized again, meaning a room resembling the first one.