The Intended Jet Ski

Today I had the pleasure of trying out a kind of Jet Ski, but without motor. The machine functions with a rechargeable battery. The battery life lasts 30 minutes. I was trying it out at the Mondsee and from my experience I can recommend it to everyone who hasn’t had the chance to ride a Jet Ski. The racer can reach a speed of 40 km/h and it's really fun!

Always In Search Of New Trends!

As a journalist you need to be curious. Fortunately, that is exactly what I am! My friends all agree, and it's a very good skill for my job. During my traineeship at Red Bull I worked on a pilot project, trying out new, fun and trendy sports. At the moment I am researching new products, getting in touch with all the retailers and ordering prototypes. Today I got my first package, the Eaglider, which is a kind of skate product, produced and developed in Japan. It's a very good workout for your
balance and difficult to use as a beginner. Usually you are supposed to use it with sport shoes, which I didn’t have with me, so it was pretty hard. Have a look at the picture!

First Wakeboard Lesson

The weather in Austria is damn hot! This is why I decided to try out new water sports. I went to the lovely lake of Mondsee to have my first try at wakeboarding. The beginning was pretty difficult, but as soon as I got to know how to stay on the board I really had a blast! Wakeboarding really worked my thigh muscles hard. Everyone told me that I was good for my first time! I will definitely do it again
this summer and can recommend it to everyone :)!

Back home With A Lot Of Souvenirs

Goodbye America! I had a great time! I enjoyed it a lot and I met a lot of interesting people. The flight back to Munich was pretty good. In Munich I stayed for a couple of hours in my brothers apartment and at around 10 p.m. I drove back home, to Mondsee in Austria. Tomorrow will be the first day of work after my holidays in the US. It will be pretty hard to work with a jetlag, but let's see. The next stop will be Tokyo and then Seoul. Can't wait to see Asia in July!

Sightseeing Marathon In New York City

At 9 a.m. the alarm woke us up. We had a lot of things to do today. We started our sightseeing tour with the Statue of Liberty. We got there using the ferry. Next stop was Wall Street, then Ground Zero. A store with pictures, videos and souvenirs of 9/11 was next to the area. Then we decided to go for shopping in the 21 Century. I found a lot of nice clothes there. We continued to Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Center. I next went to China Town to get my money changed, but it was not as easy as it seemed. Most of the Exchange offices were closed and the banks wanted a passport which I didn’t have with me. I asked a Chinese man around the corner for help. He was so friendly that we ended up at a Chinese dinner with his daughter. She changed my Euros to Dollars. I enjoyed the conversation with them both and hopefully I will see them again one day. It was getting pretty late and I had to hurry up to get to the Greenhouse club at midnight. I told Joey to meet there. The club had two dance floors with mainly hip-hop and house music. I met a lot of interesting people.

Shopping Mania In New York

I met my friend, Julius, today for lunch and we spent some time together. He lived in New York and got his singing education here. He was a really good guide. Later on we decided that I shop ‘til I drop! I found lovely shoes, accessories and dresses. At midnight I called a friend of one of the guys I met in Miami and he told me that he could get me in a club for free. We went to the Juliet Supper Club. There was a swim wear show and a lot of models were there. Joey welcomed us and offered us to party with his friends. It was overall a very nice club with nice people and good music!

Hair Show On Broadway

We finally reached the hotel in New York. The Broadway hotel is nothing special. You share the restrooms and the internet is sooooo slow! My friend and I decided to get something to eat. I ate a typical American burger and then we walked down the whole Broadway to Times Square. I convinced my friend to go to a musical this evening. We went to the musical "Hair" which was a really good performance. I was so excited after the show, I wanted to go to another one, but with only 2 days to go, I had to prioritise.

So Close To The Stars

We had a bus and boat trip today where we went to Fisher Island and little Havana. Fisher Island is an island where many stars have an apartment. One flat costs around 14,000 Euros per month. You can only reach it via private helicopter or ferry. The houses were so huge, I got really jealous. Next we saw the little Havana city where you really feel like you are in Cuba with all the Cuban music. I bought two cigars for a unique price of 10 dollars. When we arrived at our hotel I finally bought a new suitcase with a very fancy design.
No time to waste. The program for today is to meet the German guys, I met at the ferry, at the Cleveland bar and go after that to the Louis Club. At 5 a.m. the cab will pick us up to go to the airport, heading to New York, finally.

Karate Kid in Miami

We walked down Lincoln Avenue. The end of the street seemed to be very crowded. A lot of people were standing around and the media were there. A woman explained to me that it was a promotion event for the new film, Karate Kid, and that the son of Will Smith, Jaden, and Jackie Chan were there to give some autographs. I took some very nice photos and some close ups. Afterwards the Italian guys from our hotel cooked some pasta and offered us to eat with them. Tonight we will go to the Mangos.

Burning Down The Beach

I am burning! Help! The sunburn made me suffer the whole day. We went to the beach for two hours and decided to go for some ice cream in the Ghirardelli. The ice cream was hand made and tasted pretty good.

Bienvenido A Miami!

6.45 a.m. was the time of our flight from Indianapolis to Detroit and then to Miami. We already felt the humidity and warmth of the city when we got out of the plane. At 1 p.m. we finally arrived at the hotel Tropics in Miami South Beach. It's a small, sweet hotel with a lot of young guests. After getting in our bikinis we went to the beach. On our way to the beach we saw a lot of flash cars and palm trees. The sea wasn’t very clean, it was full of algae, but the temperature was very enjoyable. What I also recognized was that most of the population spoke Spanish. The restaurants were mainly owned by Italians, Mexicans and Spaniards.
We got back from the beach and made plans for the evening.Saturday night we went first to the Mynt Lounge and then to the Shore Club. The entrance was free at both clubs, but the ambiance wasn't great, so we decided to go to another bar. On Sunday we met with another colleague, Thomas and went to the beach. I got really brown and my skin started peeling. In the evening we went to the Sobe Club and then to the Nikki Beach Club.

Results Day

We had two weeks to prepare a case within our groups. Today was the day of our presentation. Each group has twenty minutes to talk and ten minutes to answer the teacher's questions. We did a pretty good job and were the best group of them all. Our group got a bottle of champagne and a university t-shirt. The farewell party was that evening. At three o'clock we caught a limousine and drove to the airport for our next destinations, Detroit and then Miami.

Chicago At Night

We travelled for the whole day. We went to the Navy Pier, Millenium Park, Willis Tower and Michigan Avenue. Chicago is a really lovely city, and I wanted to stay longer than just a weekend. For dinner I met with my friend Natalie and her boyfriend. We spent the rest of the night together. It was a super interesting evening and I enjoyed it! Finally we arrived in the Le Passage club where I met a couple of PHD students.

Chicago In The Daytime

Eleven of our students rented a car to drive to Chicago. After four hours we arrived at our Holiday Inn hotel. It was an amazingly nice hotel in the centre of the city. We went out for dinner and had a drink in a bar. Our first impressions were "Oh my God, it's awesome!"

Drink Competition

Today we went to one of Kelly School’s graduation parties. It was just a simple bar with all drinks only $2. The music and the people were nice. I met a lot of nice students and talked with them about their student life. I saw one fight between two students in the club. At 3 a.m. all the clubs in Bloomington closed. Some students went to a nearby fountain to take off their clothes and swim, but unfortunately I had to leave with my colleagues.

A Campus Like A Paradise

The university in Bloomington is one of the five most beautiful universities in America. It is a public research university with a lot of green space and historic buildings. Compared to my first university in Germany this was amazing with an own science building, different, huge libraries, an art museum, a theatre and drama center and athletic complex. I was proud to have intensive tutorials in the Kelly Business School for two weeks in accounting, Management and Entrepreneurship and Marketing.

Divine Steak

After having spend too much calories in shopping three hours in the College Mall, we entered the longhorn steak house and I ate such a delicious steak that I'm sure to eat there twice. One of the best steak houses in America is definitely the Little Zagreb in Bloomington where is always a huge line.

Aéropostale Pauperized Me

After a very interesting lesson of Strategy I went with a couple of students to the Whitehall Crossing Shopping Center in Bloomington. It wasn't huge at all, but I made it to spend too much money. Luckily I was accompagnied by some guys who helped me to carry my bags.

America As You Know It From Films

I'm not kidding, but the first impression I got when I arrived in Bloomington is this feeling of knowing why it's the country of liberty. Huge houses on huge lands, big pimped cars and big burgers, fast food. What bothered me the most was the air-conditioning inside a room, in the shuttle or university. They turned it so much up that you feel as if you are entering a fridge. As expected people are very friendly, extroverted and like to chat with anybody.

Discovering Bloomington

1 p.m. on Sunday. We had a welcome-lunch at the university in Bloomington with some wraps and salad. The campus is huge and gorgeous with all its green area. Unfortunately there aren't many students in the city, because they already got their graduations and left mostly for vacations. After getting fulled up, we had two lessons: One which introduced the case which we have to prepare in groups until next Friday and we had a music course, explaining the role of creativity in management. Closing off the day was a dinner in a pub where we got tons of pizza and beer.

The Boiling Vulcano

Saturday morning, Munich airport. This is my first flight to the US, I am so excited about that. It was always my wish to fly once in my life to New York. The first challenge of the day was of course the security check. The security team did their job pretty good. They asked us questions like "Did you pack your bag on your own?" or "Do you have stuff in your luggage which could be dangerous for the flight?".
Second challenge: After having passed all this process, I met the pilot who explained me that we'll have a long flight to Philadelphia, because of the vulcano and its ash cloud. So we flew through the nord, across Greenland. He was very friendly and allowed me to enter the cockpit for taking a picture and at the same time he showed me the map of the flying route.
Waiting for permission. 30 minutes before landing the pilot announced that we cannot land and that's why he always turned and turned and with all the turbulences it didn't get better. My stomach didn't feel well. There have been a lot of air pipes and finally I made it to the barf bag!
One night in Philadelphia. We couldn't catch our next flight to Indianapolis, that's why we got a hotel room in the Hilton Airport Hotel and had to fly the next morning at 6 a.m.! After a stop in Washington we finally arrived in Bloomington with all the other students and got already to know that the university has planned a program for Sunday, on Mother's Day!

I'm going on a trip and I'm taking...

One day before my huge journey to the US, I'm still asking myself what I should pack in my luggage. The reason for this problem is simple. One luggage allowed for each person, including 23 kg. And I can assure that I will even have like 20 kg before I'll get there. So I tried to have a healthy mix of summer and autumnal apparel. Let's see if that is the right decision!

Jönköping And Stockholm

Two weeks of my studies took place in Jönköping, a small city in Sweden. The business school was really nice, but the lectures had been less interesting. During the week nothing much happened in the small city, that's why I decided to visit some friends in Stockholm. It was a 4 hours drive by train. My friend just picked me up and we went to a Swedish lunch. In the evening we went out close to the train station. The Swedish people start partying really early, even at 8 pm and finish early. I recognized that girls are more flirty than the guys, but all in all it's very difficult to get in touch with Swedish people, they don't seem to be very open for new people. The alcohol consumption is in general very high. The clothing style is like in France, guys love tight jeans and a more feminine style. A big advantage is that Swedish people can talk very good english because they watch movies in English, but Swedish subtitle. This makes the communication really easy.

Snus is dry tabac and very popular in Sweden. You place it under the lip and let it sink in. 

The Bull's Are Calling

This is my new working place. It's situated in a place in the middle of nowhere, called Fuschl am See. I spent 18 months at this company, working for the Communications Department, helping out with the events: Red Bull Crashed Ice, Red Bull Thre3Style, Red Bull Air Race and Red Bull Trendspy.

Next Stop: Salzburg

One day I got a call from Austria offering me a traineeship at Red Bull. I went to the interview in Fuschl am See and got an approval to start in October 2009.

I went a few weeks earlier to get used to the Austrian culture and to see a little bit more of the beautiful country. I loved Austria because all of its nature and mountains.
 One weekend I went to a salt mine with a friend. They told us the story about how salt was first found and why the city Salzburg (salt and castle) is actually named this.
If you live in Austria, you definitely can't avoid skiing, that's why I decided to buy me a complete outfit and went on the slope in Schladming which is one of the most popular ski areas.

I did pretty good for the first time!

Istanbul Is Magical

The city Istanbul is not without reason one of the most popular cities in the world. It's magical, busy, dynamic, spirited and beautiful, with the Asian and European sites and the Bosporus river, which you can cross by ferry while the sun is setting, enjoying the wind blowing across your face.

 People from all over the world are living there. In the evening the streets are always packed, restaurants crowded, but this is what makes the city special. People show that they are living and enjoying life.

Of course I did some classic sightseeing and visited all the mosques including the blue mosque, Süleymaniye, Sultan-Ahmed and went to the Beylerbeyi Palace, Taksim Square, Kapali Carsi (Grand Bazar), Gülhane Parc.

The nightlife is crazy. One of my favourite clubs is the bar 360. I decided to get more experience in journalism and did an internship at the Dogan Haber Ajans for two months and wrote daily articles.

A Hidden Reporter In Istanbul

A year without travelling is a year without adventure or new experiences. The first half of 2009 was a quiet year. I had a couple of jobs where I travelled around within Germany, but I needed a challenge. I decided to go to Istanbul and work as a producer and stool pigeon for a media company who delivers documentaries and interviews to German media. The owner is a friend of mine who helped me in getting used to the different working habits. One day we fulfilled a task with a hidden camera. I loved this particular task because it was combined with a lot of adrenalin and risk, but I was happy when the job was over and we could enjoy a nice apple flavoured tea!

One Weekend In Ankara

I decided to visit the capital of Turkey towards the end of December and to see my family and to get to know more about my roots. I went to the grave of the first President of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, in the Anitkabir. It’s a very big complex

with a lot of soldiers standing there guarding the monuments. The history is described in detail, and you feel very thankful to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk for what he has done for the country, and at the same time very saddened by his early death.

Next Stop: Turkish Riviera

During my stay in Barcelona I had planned my next trip. I arranged an internship at a German newspaper in Alanya, which is on the Southern Coast of Turkey. After one week at home, I started travelling again.
I stayed at my Aunt’s house in Turkey and wrote articles about Turkish topics, in German.
 After one week I already knew that this wasn’t the right internship for me. I tried to get an internship at a Turkish newspaper and TV broadcaster to get to know the Turkish way of working. I took Turkish lessons and a woman helped me get an internship at the newspaper “Alanya Postasi”. 

After four weeks writing articles in Turkish I switched to the TV Kanal A and worked there as reporter, interviewing tourists in their language.
My languages had been a big advantage.
I enjoyed the work because I love talking with international people and speaking in front of the camera. 2.5 months had gone so quickly, and in January 2009 I went back to Frankfurt, Germany.

Human Pyramid

One of the most famous Catalan traditions is the La Mercé where a lot of people build towers with their bodies. It is very exciting to look at and stunning how high they can get.
This event takes place at the end of summer and is taken very seriously by the Catalan people.

The MacBa museum of art is also a must see. Barcelona has a lot of parks, my favourite one is the Parce de Montjuic, where youngsters meet to make music or do some Capoeira.
The harbour is one of the nicest areas in Barcelona. Artists draw animations of tourists on the street, Las Ramblas, and more or less rob them!

My Adventurous Life In Barcelona

I called a friend of mine to tell them that I was coming to Barcelona. He helped me find a guesthouse for the weekend and a school to learn Spanish. I subscribed to one of the intensive courses and started learning immediately.
I was so excited because it had always been my dream to learn Spanish. Students from everywhere had been there, all for the same reason: Learning Spanish and having fun!

I spent all my earnings on the course. I stayed for two weeks in a flat share with a Norwegian, Dutch and Swedish girl. Next I lived with two Chinese people in a flat and my last two weeks I lived in a guest house with three guys from Marseille and a concierge of Mexico. I met so many people from different countries and this made my time so exciting. It was so easy connecting to people and making new friends. Everyone had been so open-minded. I really enjoyed it. After almost one week I could communicate in Spanish and understand people, although in Barcelona they speak Catalan, which is different.

Like A Bird In A Cage

As the days passed I felt like a bird in a cage. The whole system was full of rules. There wasn’t any flexibility. As presenter I wasn’t even allowed to eat with the passengers and chat with them. On the other hand it was quite interesting to observe people living there for a minimum of half a year, without seeing their families or even sun light. Even though I loved my job, I couldn’t deal with the whole situation on the ship. I always got sea sick, my body didn’t feel good and I was constantly freezing because of the over acclimatisation. The lack of contact to passengers made me feel imprisoned and this is why I decided to leave the ship as soon as possible. No sooner said than done, I decided to leave the ship in Barcelona.

How Is Life On A Cruise Ship?

After one week of security preparation I flew to Palma de Mallorca to enter the ship AIDA DIVA. The ship toured Palma de Mallorca – Barcelona – Marseille – Civitavecchia – Naples. Everything went so fast I can’t remember everything.
My first impressions of the cruise ship were that it was massive and incredibly high. When I walked inside I started thinking about the sinking of the Titanic.
I got quite scared and didn’t feel well.
The first week I had to participate in security training so that in emergencies the crew knew what to do and how to react.
Every Saturday the security training involved the passengers too.

Unfortunately the passengers were predominantly German, so didn’t get a great chance to use the various languages I had learnt. My job was exciting; I was a show presenter, announcing all the shows that took place in the evenings.
I always was in close contact with the artists. I also moderated games and morning shows.
I loved my job, because I love being on stage and entertaining people, making them laugh.

Next Mission: Rostock

Rostock is in the North of Germany and is mostly visited by Germans on their holidays.

My reason for going there wasn't as a holiday, but as preparation for my new job on the Cruise Ship AIDA. We had one week of preparation including theoretical and practical exercises.

During this week we slept in a little ship to get used to the surroundings and the limited space in a ship. The theory part wasn't as exciting as the practical part.

 I loved the part where we had to get into fire fighters outfits and practice an emergency situation, in which we were locked in a room and had to extinguish a sudden outbreak of fire in different areas of the room.

The next task was to simulate a sinking ship. Everyone had to get into orange outfits, which allowed everyone to stay on the surface of the water.

I enjoyed the week with the whole team and was excited and well prepared to work on the big ship one week later!

Deauville American Film Festival

The next weekend my friend and I decided to go to Deauville which is also in the North of France, famous for the American Film Festivals taking place at one of the posh cities of France.

Deauville has a very nice yacht, casino and many many beautiful hotels (e.g. Le Normandy Barrière) and villa. At the beach are in front of every changing room names of Hollywood celebrities who have been already there.

The city airs so much harmony. Every corner is beautiful. If you'll be there one day, you should definitely enjoy one of the delicious seafoods!

One Day In Rouen

Rouen is a city with 108,569 inhabitants, situated in the North of France, close to the river Seine. I went by bus to Rouen with a friend, spending one day there. It was a long drive. Finally we arrived in Rouen. It was really cloudy, but didn't rain. The city is small, but beautiful. The cathedral of Rouen is one of the tourist features, as well as the L’aître Saint-Maclou and Rue du Gros Horloge with the famous watch. In the evening we went to a Mexican party with Mexican students. It was interesting to see how extrovert they are. A lot of self-made tapas and quesadillas had been waiting for us. In the night we went back to Evreux by bus, sleeping during the whole drive.