Internship in Germany

Rutenfest: A German Experience

noreply@blogger.com (Kyung Jin Yoo) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 07:41:00 +0000

Ich war letzte Woche bei eine Familie in Ravensburg. Ich war von meinen Kollege eingeladen.Also wir sind am Frietag abend in Ravensburg angekommen. Dannach gerade sind wir zum Rutenfest gegangen. Also das Fest war echt toll. Viele Viele Leute, Essen, und Unterhaltung gab es dort. Ich kann erklären, aber es ist besser, wenn man darüber auf Wikipedia liest. Am Freitag und Samstag waren meinen Kollege und ich im Bierzelt. Vater von meinen Kollege arbeit bei einem Brauerei Leibinger. Also wir haben viele Massliterbieren kostenlos bekommen. Am Sonntag war ich in Markdorf für den Tag. Am Montag sind wir früh aufgestanden, um in Stadtmitte den Umzug zu sehen. Also bitte schau mal die Billder an!

The branches are called Ruten

Aerial View

Last week, I had the privilege to travel to Ravensburg to celebrate Rutenfest. Rutenfest has been celebrated for more than 600 years. Ruten is an old word for a type of tree. But like any festival in Germany, it is usually the three Bs:Bread, Bratwurst, Beer. So I arrived in Ravensburg late Friday with my friends. Right after we got home, we left for Rutenfest. The downtown Ravensburg was full with people, food stands, and rollercoasters. After we walked around for a bit, we then of course got in to a massive beer tent. Since friend's father worked in a brewery as a financial manager, he had tokens which got us a lot of beer. So after a festive evening/night with my friend and his friends, we went back home. Sunday, I was in markdorf for a day at my friend's house. Monday was very special. We got up early and went to downtown Ravensburg for the famous parade. I dont think I need to say anything other than please enjoy the pictures!

Few pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Kyung Jin Yoo) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:06:00 +0000

Mexican Music Festival (Part of Sommerfest in Stuttgart)

Pretty sure the train was a mile long all loaded with expensive Mercedes

A Tour of Stuttgart

noreply@blogger.com (Kyung Jin Yoo) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:44:00 +0000

So long story short, I met a nice friend from church and he turned out to be a famous local photographer.

Inside Buchhaus Wittwer in Stuttgart

As you can see...

So we met up near the Buchhaus Wittwer in the evening. Even though I have lived in Stuttgart for about 2 months, I have not toured the city. With the help of a stuttgart native, I was able to experience the immensley beautiful architectures of Stuttgart. I also found some really nice cafes like this one.

Un café, s’il vous plait!

I learned that the word Stuttgart comes from Stutte-Garten. Because as you can see above, this used to be a stable for female horses. And Stutte is a female horse in German. And Garten as you can guess means Garden. So Stuttgart is a 'female horse garden.' How strange! But it makes sense now!

The Beautiful Schlossplatz

Classical Music is All You Need...

noreply@blogger.com (Kyung Jin Yoo) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 17:47:00 +0000

After I got back from work, I was quite exhausted. It was a long 12 hour day. I really felt like playing some music. So I went down to the piano room and I started to play. The choir room has a beautiful Bösendorfer baby grand piano. It was a fairly big room and the acoustics were nice. I played Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms Sonatas and Yiruma, Schubert, Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, etc. About 10 minutes passed, people heard the music outside of the room; they came in and stood and watched me play. I thought, if i wanted to attract more people to listen to me, I should play something famous and German. So I started playing the Mondschein Sonata (Moonlight Sonata), Pathetique Sonata. Sure enough more people came in! After I had finished playing both Sonatas, there were at least 20 people. It was overwhelmed and in a exuberance. There were brave listeners sitting in the front, so I asked one of them of their favorite piano piece. One old lady answered the 1st Posthumous Nocturne by Chopin. Luckily, I knew that and I played it. After I had finished, she suggested the Prelude No. 15 "The Rain Drop" by Chopin. Then Clair de Lune, Mozart's Famous Variation. After everyone had enough, of course including me, as I was trying to leave, one of the old ladies came up and introduced herself and we talked for 5 minutes and all of a sudden she bluntly invited me for dinner. Of course as a poor student, I was not able to say no to a free meal.

Music is all you need for a free meal..... :)

Amsterdam

noreply@blogger.com (Kyung Jin Yoo) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:42:00 +0000

I had a week off from work, so I went to Amsterdam to visit my cousins and my brother. I used mitfahrgelegenheit again to go from Stuttgart to Amsterdam. It took about 9 hours, but it only cost me 40 Euros compared to 150 Euros going by train. I met my brother at my cousin’s house on Wibaustraat. We had a nice dinner at my cousins house soon after. On Monday, we went to Zanvoort with my other Cousin. After we completed the beautiful trail through the forest, the beach and the plains, we headed home and took a nice tour of Amsterdam.

I realized couple things about Amsterdam……

1. People are really fit. (biking everywhere)

2. People are ridiculously good at English (no dubbing movies, TV shows)

3. I thought the people really resembled some of my friends at Calvin. aka ‘Dutch connection.’

4. So many tourists

5. Cuyp markt has the best Stroopwafels

Some pictures!

Pay Check

noreply@blogger.com (Kyung Jin Yoo) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 10:24:00 +0000

So I received my first pay check at Porsche. It was nice. However, after reviewing through all the deduction in my payment due to all different kinds of taxes, I was quite disappointed. Roughly 28% of my earnings went to insurance. I am glad I didn't have to pay tax. Because If I did it would be almost 50%. If I compare this with the US, I should be in the 2^nd bracket, but I am in the 4^th bracket. 4^th bracket makes about $83,600 - $174,400 a year. And in all honesty, I do not make this much. So what this tax consist of? Medical insurance, education funds, retirement funds. I remember my German friend’s dad cursing the German government due to high taxation.

This is why Germany has a huge middle class. It is heaven for workers. Because of these high taxes, there are many benefits for the public. Free schooling, basically free university education, medical insurance, money for children (Kindergeld), people can live well without ever having to work. So even though I pay large amounts for tax, I believe in the end it will be worth it...

Soccer Tournament

noreply@blogger.com (Kyung Jin Yoo) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 09:54:00 +0000

I was back in Marburg and I was enjoying another public holiday vacation. On Friday, I went down to Gießen to play in soccer tournament. I have always wanted to play soccer with Germans. Before I arrived in Gießen, I expected the tournament to be a decently small, unofficial local tournament. I was wrong. There were 20 teams from all over Hessen. They all had their jerseys and staff. The game was on.

As in any sporting events in Germany, beer, bratwurst and bread was present. It was quite funny, because about 10 teams used beer to hydrate themselves and bratwurst as energybars during the game. It wasn’t surprising the players were falling over and exhausted first 10 minutes of the game. The other 10 teams however were very good, but we were better. In the end, our team got 3^rd place and as one expects our prize was 2 cases of good German beer. It was a good night.

I war wieder in Marburg. I hatte noch mal ein Feiertag. Ich war wieder mit meiner coolster deutscher Familie, Die Weimers. Am Freitag bin ich nach Gießen gefahren, um dort in einem Fußballturnier zu spielen. Ich wünschte immer Fußball mit der Deutschen spielen, Ich war ziemlich spannend darauf. vor meiner Ankunft in Gießen habe ich gedacht, dass dieser turnier ein klein, informell turnier wäre. Aber ich habe mich geirrt. Es gab 20 Teams mit Trikos und Trainer.

Wie immer gab es die drei B’s. Bier, Bratwurst, und Brot. Wegen dieser drei B’s war fast 10 teams während des Spiels getrunken und erschöpft. Aber meines Team hat sehr gut gemacht. Wir hatten dritte Platz. Wir wurden ironish mit zwei kasten Bier als Preis belohnt!

Germans and Nature

noreply@blogger.com (Kyung Jin Yoo) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:27:00 +0000

During Interim of this year, I had the chance to go to Germany and travel around with fellow classmates. I recall a particular experience in Husum. Husum is located right on the North See. So on this occasion, our group and the German host-families were lead by a tour guide through the city at night.

Husum

Suddenly, the rain poured and thundered. If this was America, I think the tour would have been canceled due to complaining of the tourists. However, even though some of us did complain, the tour went on. It was January, right on the North See, raining, and thundering, and the tour went on. As I was shivering from the coldness and rain, I realized that Germans have a love for nature. They embrace the natural way. Just by looking at any auto magazine, one can determine that the Germans care for nature. Every car advertisement or report has an indication of how much the car emits carbon dioxide. In Stuttgart, there is an ongoing intense battle over Stuttgart 21. Stuttgart 21 is a multi-billion euro project that will redesign the whole downtown area of Stuttgart and the main train station. For over 2 years, there has been conflict. Couple reasons why people are against Stuttgart 21. If the construction proceeds, many old trees (about 50) needs to be cut down. Second, Stuttgart sits on top of probably Germany's most abundant and biggest natural springs. By building the train station underground, there is a risk of draining the springs. Some believe that this will cause the whole city of Stuttgart to collapse or deform. So one can imagine the radical German nature lovers opposing this strongly. When one takes a walk in the downtown park, one can notice tens of tents and teepees set up. There are people even living on top of trees!

Stuttgart 21

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST STUTTGART 21!

What is Schwäbisch??

noreply@blogger.com (Kyung Jin Yoo) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:07:00 +0000

Schwäbisch is a dialect in Germany. This dialect is ubiquitous in the southwestern parts of Baden-Württemberg. I heard that the 'standard schwäbisch' is spoken in Stuttgart.This dialect is even hard for the natives who speak standard German (Hochdeutsch) to understand. The people of Baden-Württemberg admit this fact, so the motto of this State is "wir können alles außer hochdeutsch"meaning "We can do everything except speak standard German."

"We can do everything except speak standard German."

You can imagine how hard it is for me sometimes at work, if German natives struggle to understand.
People who speak schwäbisch speaks generally really fast and they talk and talk without taking a break. I once was traveling to a friends house about 15 min of Stuttgart. I got lost and I made the mistake of asking an Old man for directions. Seriously, I am pretty sure he repeated his words at least 5 times. I just stood there with an awkward smile and 'acted' like I understood every word. In the end, I just called my friend.
Here is a very funny dubbed speech of President Obama in Schwäbisch.

Although one thing i understand in Schwäbisch is Spätzle.
Spätzle is delicious. I think Spätzle is for the Schwabens as rice is for Koreans. It is very simple to make and it is delicious. I usually eat it with Pork chops drizzled with Bratensoße.

Example of what i would say is a traditional Schwäbisch food

Schwäbisch ist ein Dialekt der deutsche Sprache. Der Dialekt ist allgegenwärtig in mitte Baden-Würrtemburg. Es ist bekannt, dass Stuttgart so zu sagen die "Hauptstadt" des Dialekts ist. Es gibt einen berühmte Sprichwort in Baden-Würrtemburg, "Wir können alles außer Hochdeutsch." Von meine Erfahrung ist es wirklich so, dass die Schwaben alles außer Hochdeutsch können. Bei der Arbeit, kann ich nicht meistens meinen Mitarbeiter verstehen, weil die so stark schwäbischen Dialekt haben. Aber einzige Dinge, die ich verstehe, ist das schwäbisches Essen. Maultaschen, Spätzle, Bubespitzle, Linsensuppe, und Rostbraten sind so Lecker!!

Back to my city, Marburg

noreply@blogger.com (Kyung Jin Yoo) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:38:00 +0000

Since Thursday was Himmelfahrt (Ascension Day) and Friday was the Brückentag (bridge-day to link thursday with the weekend), I decided to go to Marburg, where i used to live from 2009 -2010 studying German at a language school. I arrived in Marburg via 'mitfahrmitgelegenheit (Basically a systematized hitch hiking system, highly recommended). With this system, you get to meet great people usually and it is dirt cheap. I arrived Marburg late Wednesday. Thursday was a beautiful day. It was clear, cool, sunny all day. I called few friends to go to a local lake to play beach volleyball.

When we got to the beach, it was filled with people partying mid-day. I soon learned that heavy drinking was a tradition on Himmelfahrt ironically in Germany. After the intense volleyball, the day was concluded by a nice German barbecue at my friend's house.

Da Donnerstag Himmelsfahrt war und Freitag Brückentag war, habe ich glücklicherweise 4 Tage Wochenende. Also ich habe beschlossen, Marburg bei Familie Weimer zu fahren.Ich erreichte in Marburg via Mitfahrgelegenheit. Diese Fahrsystem ist spottbillig und schnell. Zuzüglich lernt man viele interssante leute kennen. Ich bin spät in Marburg angekommen und habe gerade geschlafen. Donnerstag war echt schön. Der war klar, kühl, und sonnig der ganze Tag. Ich habe paare Freunden angerufen, ein See zu gehen und dort Volleyball zu spielen. Als wir da waren, haben wir bemerkt, dass wegen des Himmelfahrtstags der Strand ganz voll war. Die Leute trinkte ganz viel, Himmelsfahrt zu "feiern." Ich dachte, es war eigentlich sehr ironisch. Nach wir viel Volleyball gespielt haben, habe ich bei meinen Freund ganz nett gegrillt...

First day in Germany

noreply@blogger.com (Kyung Jin Yoo) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 22:31:00 +0000

The weather is amazing here. Sun, blue sky, cool wind, and warm people make Stuttgart definitely my home for the next three months. I am living near Stadtmitte in a house called Kolpinghaus. At Kolpinghaus also known as a Jugendwohnheim is a place where young adults live while they do their internship or apprenticeship. My room is on the very top of this old building. When I open my window, I see a large courtyard and the city of Stuttgart. I realized that the people here come from the lower class. All of the young adults living are from Realschule. I talked to couple of them and they are nice and have interesting work. The food here is amazing. I love spaetzle and maultaschen and of course the local breweries here are quite exquisite. So i will see how my 100 days in Stuttgart will turn out.