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!