World Cup 2010 - Rock the German brewhouse!

Another match for the German team was on schedule and of course we had to support them! We all knew of the existence of a German 'Brauhaus' in Philly, even though not many of us have ever been there. But for us this an option to check it out while watching the soccer game. During the week, we heard that a lot of Germans who live in and around Philly are going to be there for the game. So I got up at 6 in the morning that Sunday, as I was in Chestertown again and the game started about 9.30 in the morning our time. We met the other interns about 1 hour before the brewhouse opened and we were not even the first in line! There were already a lot of people who had the same idea.

Even though we were about 20 people we got a great table in front of a huge TV screen and some interns started the day with a white sausage breakfast. I have to admit that somehow even the beer tasted very well that morning. I was in heaven when I found out that they even served Kölsch, the beer from my area!!!

While the German team was continuing their successful performance and scored 4 times, a real party got started and with each additional goal, the atmosphere turned more and more into hysteria. I think the images tell more than 1000 words!

Be part of our soccer party and watch the images here:

http://gerryg.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album51

Summer activities...

This weekend was a weekend at home which doesn't mean that I stayed in the house all day. One of my co-workers just got married 4 weeks ago in Italy. As she only had her closest family with her in Italy, they decided to have a garden party at home with all co-workers and friends here in the US. Mona and I offered our help that she could really enjoy the party and didn't need to worry about all the little things that happen when you are the host. It was a sunny summer day and we all had a wonderful time.

Since a long time, I wanted to take a bike and riding the Schuylkill River trail. My landlords Betty and Bill had offered me to use the bikes several times before. As we had this beautiful weather going on, my roomie Svenja and I decided to take action and try it out. Unfortunately, to reach the trail, we had to drive on the street first which is really frightening with the Americans driving in their cars. They are not used to have cyclists around, so this was quite an experience, I can tell you. To finally reach the trail, we had to cross the Schuylkill river on a very narrow bridge.

Svenja and I were scared to death when we crossed it as the ground of the bridge was made of wooden blankets which didn’t look very promising…but we made it. Once we reached the trail were riding our bikes, it felt so good! The trail has a lot of green surroundings and sometimes it looked so familiar to home that we thought we are back in Germany.

The trail is going all the way to Philadelphia but we turned around after a while as it was too late to go all the way to Philly and back.

Mona and Tim live on our way back home, so we stopped by and stayed for BBQ. There is no better ending for a weekend like this as sitting together with some really great friends and enjoy your BBQ!

Here are more pictures from our adventure:

http://gerryg.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album48

Soccer World Cup 2010: Bring it on!

The last weekends, I spent my days in Washington with Tyra hanging out with her at her pool and went to a Mexican Party with Ryan. The other weekend was also beachtime but this time in Chestertown, MD. But the most important event was the soccer game of the German national team on Sunday. We played our first game against Australia. Believe me, if we wouldn’t have so many Germans around and having our bets going on, we would have probably missed it. There are almost no commercials about it, they don’t play the soccer songs in the radio, not even the official song. In addition, the entire excitement and atmosphere about it is missing, as this just not so popular here. But among the interns, we were enough people who wanted to watch the games and get a little bit of that feeling. We were able to rent a clubhouse for that afternoon and could watch it on the projector. Everyone tried to show up with a German jersey or at least a German flag or some threads in our colors. So at least we got a taste of the great soccer world cup feeling. And having the German team winning made it even better!

Roadtrip to the 'Windy City' - Chicago

Another public holiday in the US!!! Memorial Day on May 31^st! This meant another travel weekend for the interns!!

During my internship, I got so many recommendations about the Chicago, not only from the interns who have been there already, also from my co-workers. So another spot on my “Wanna-see-and-have-to-do-list” was a trip to the “windy city” as Chicago is also called.

3 other interns wanted to join me: Alvaro, the crazy Spanish man who also went to New Orleans with me a few months ago, then Benny, my CT co-intern and Dan, one of our American interns who wanted to discover another part of his home country. As I really liked the road trip to New Orleans, I suggested taking the car to Chicago instead of flying. The boys agreed and so we started with a bit delay on Friday evening after work. The estimated length of travelling was 12 hours. We decided to change drivers every few hours. Dan was volunteering as the first driver. We took the highway through Pennsylvania and it was very relaxed to drive with empty roads ahead. After 1,5 hours of driving, we suddenly saw the party lights of a police car behind us. We all knew the meaning and Dan confirmed it: We are going to get a ticket for speedingL The police officer was friendly enough only to charge fees but no points to Dan’s drivers record. Of course, this situation calmed us down for a while.

I was the last driver and thus the one who drove into the city. The weather was promising to be sunny and just beautiful. Our plan was to leave our luggage at the hotel and then park the car outside the city to avoid extreme parking fees. One of my co-workers lives in Chicago and he gave us information about some safe parking spots. We left the car in Irving Park and took the blue Metra line to the city centre. Our desire was to see the lake, so this was our first destination. Before we reached the waterfront, we turned right into Millenium Park to have a glance at the Buckingham fountain, for some better known as the fountain in the trailer of the TV show “Married…with Children”(“Eine schrecklich nette Familie). From there, we strolled along the boardwalk, enjoying the sun and our lifes. Chicago has huge pier with a lot of entertainment, restaurants, shops and boat trips. This was a perfect location to have lunch.

After that, we walked towards the city centre to get to the main shopping street ‘Michigan Avenue’, also called the magnificent mile. We were not really into shopping but at least a stop at the Apple Store was interesting enough for the boys. I was playing with the iPad and lost sight with them. After 10 min, the came running towards me, totally excited: The soccer player Ronaldinho and 3 other players of were in the shop as well and Alvaro got a picture with them. The shop was so crowded anyway, that’s why I didn’t pay attention to the bulk in the back of the shop.

We became tired from walking around and from that long drive during the night and headed to the hotel. After checking in, we took a nap as we wanted to go out that night. I got tickets for “Howl at the Moon”, a pretty entertaining live music bar. As we were all refreshed after the nap, we partied all night long.

The next day, we slept in and Alvaro and I wanted to go to the beach and catch some sun. Unfortunately, Dan and Ben got bad sunburn from the day before and were not able to stay in the sun.

We had a snack for breakfast and then Alvaro and I went to the beach while the others were working out in the hotels gym. Later that afternoon we wanted to check out one of Chicago’s specialties: Deep Dish Pizza. So we went to Gino’s which is supposed a good spot to eat that kind of pizza. Too bad that this was a tourist place and we had to wait for a while to get a table. I have to admit that this wasn’t my type of pizza. It was very rich and stuffed but I prefer traditional Italian pizza.

Our next stop at that night was “The Bean”. It is a public sculpture, made up of 168 stainless steel plates welded together. Its highly polished exterior has no visible seams. The original name is “Cloud Gate” but because of its form, it is called “The Bean” in common.

As we needed to check out the next day, we decided to have the car around the corner and so we took the Metra line back to Irving Park to get it. Later that night we went to a few bars around the corner and also met with Alex, Benny’s former boss in Germany who started to live and work in Chicago a month ago.

Getting up the next morning was hard but we headed home with a lot of nice memories and impressions after a wonderful weekend.

To see get more impressions of our Chicago weekend, check out my photo album:

http://gerryg.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album47

Wild, wild west - Farewell for Jackie and Lalo

Some of you who read my blog from time to time might have recognized that there was no farewell party for a long time. But unfortunately the end of the internship of my dear roomie Lalo was approaching. Another intern, Jackie who just moved into my house got a job offer from Siemens Germany and had to say goodbye as well. The party took place Saturday night. Along the tradition they also had a theme party at the intern party house. This time, we had to dress up in the Wild West style. This was a very funny party theme for all the Cowgirls and Cowboys, playing around with their colts and hats.

Check out more party pictures here:

http://gerryg.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album46

Lets have "Spätzle"!

Even though it is always interesting to explore other cultures and different food, it is still wonderful to have some traditional German food. Among the interns, we have a lot of people from Swabia who know how to prepare home made "Spätzle". Spätzle are a type of egg noodle of soft texture found in the cuisine of Germany and of Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Alsace and of Bolzano-Bozen.

Spätzle dough typically consists of few ingredients, principally eggs, flour, and salt. Often, water is added to produce a thinner dough.

Traditionally, Spätzle are made by scraping dough off a wooden chopping board ("Spätzlebrett") into boiling salt water where they cook until they rise to the surface. They are then skimmed and put aside.

Since this can be a cumbersome way to prepare spätzle, several devices were invented to facilitate cooking that resemble a strainer, (or colander), a potato ricer ("Spätzlespresse"), a food mill or coarse grater ("Spätzlehobel"). Like with scraped Spätzle, the dough drops into the boiling water.

Lucky enough, Mona has a special ricer for Spätzle and so we had a lot a fun to make them. Mona gave instructions and I was happy to press my first "Spätzle":-)

They tasted soooo delicious and we were all so happy having original, handmade German food:)

To see more pics from that funny evening, check my digital photoalbum:

http://gerryg.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album49

Weekend in Washington, D.C.

Last weekend was Mother's day in the US, so after a weekend at the beach in Chestertown with Ryan's mum, we had Mother's day lunch with his mum, his Sister and his grandparents at the Chesapeake Bay.

This Saturday, Katrin, one of the interns, was joining me on my way to Washington, as she wanted to visit her former host family where she was an Au pair.
I met with Ryan and we went to his dad's house. His friend Rayl was there and also Ryan's nieces. We spent a while in the garden with them, before we drove to Georgetown.
Georgetown is a neighboorhood located in the Northwest quadrant of Washington D.C., along the Potomac River waterfront. It is a very nice shopping area with high-end shops, bars, and restaurants.

In the afternoon, we met with Mona and Tim who also spent their weekend in Washington. We decided to visit the Museum of National History. Almost all of the musuems in Washington are free of entre. They also have a 3D cinema where they show nature movies. After the movie, we explored some sections of the museum.
It was dinnertime and we decided to look for a place to eat at the Verizon Center. An Irish looked very inviting and served delicious food.

That night, Ryan and I were invited to concert. A few years ago, he lived together with some friends in Florida. Some of them started a band. They had a concert that night in a bar in Baltimore.
The band was really good and during the breaks, I got to know them and had a chance to talk to them. I was trying to find them on Youtube but with no success, probably because they are a local band. They are called "Mandown" and the latest CD has the title "Somewhere down in Florida".

Ocean City, Maryland

The weather forecast for this weekend was promising: Lots of sunshine and pretty warm. Perfect beach weather!!! On Friday evening, I drove to Ocean City, Maryland to meet Ryan and his friend Rayl there.

Ocean City, sometimes known as OC, is widely known in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is a frequent destination for vacationers in that area.

After 3 hours of driving, I arrived shortly after midnight. Ryan was waiting for me and we went to a beach bar across the street. It was pretty cool bar, called "Fish Tales", with an open padio, a beach section with umbrella-shaded tables, beach seats and also hammocks to hang out.

The next day, Chris, a good friend of Ryan who spent the weekend with his family on Ocean City as well, joined us for a walk at the boardwalk. We strolled down the pretty long boardwalk, enjoying the sun.

On our way back, we decided to have lunch at Fish Tales again. I learned that the bar belongs to the parents of Chris's wife, Era-Beth. We had lunch at the bar and took a few refreshing drinks.

Era-Beth joined us with the kid and she invited us for a trip with her parents' motorboat. So we went to her parents house to enter the boat. It took a while to get the motor running after the winter break but with the expertise of her dad and with the neighboor's help we left the bay. It was great cruise along the shore in the sunshine. After we returned, it was time for dinner. Before we made our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Fish Tales again. The next morning, we slept in. After a late, horrible breakfast, I decided to grab my book to lay at the beach. Rayl wanted to go to the shops at the boardwalk and Ryan was cruising down the boardwalk on his long-board. As I had a long drive home, I say good bye in the afternoon, after a wonderful weekend at the beach.

Blue & White Weekend at Penn State

Time was going by and the well known "Blue & White Weekend" at Penn State University was approaching. Already recommend by many other former inters and even from my boss and co-workers, this was another event on my "wanna-see-and-have-to-do-list". The Blue-White Game is one of the nation's most popular spring football contests.

It is called "Blue & White Weekend because the 2 football teams which are playing are wearing blue and white jerseys, the colors of the university. Present students, as well as young graduates and older graduates with their families have a big get-together at the Beaver Stadium at University Park, PA.

Many people arrive at Penn State on Friday evening. The game normaly takes place on Saturday afternoon. They talk about 100,000 people coming for that weekend to watch the game. Those who stay the entire weekend bring camping material, BBQ grills and outdoor games to hang around and spend time before and after the game. This is called "tailgating".

Klick below to get an idea about tailgating at Penn State:

Tailgating at the Blue & White Weekend at Penn State University

12 interns rented 2 RV's and left also Friday after work. For my part, I decided not to join them for the entire weekend. But I was still too curious to stay at home. Together with 3 other interns, I left early on Saturday morning. I was happy that Benny was driving. It took us 3,5 hours to get there. The closer we got to Penn State, the narrower the streets became and the more traffic we hit.
Once we arrived we saw a huge area full with cars and thousands of people in their PSU shirts and jumpers.

With such a crowd, it took us a while to find our people with their RV's. One hour and many hours later, we found them and all together we went towards the stadium to see the game.
I have to admit that I don't really understand the football rules and the game was not that exciting to watch. But still it was interesting to see what happens at such a game and to experience the atmosphere.

After the game we went back to the RV's. Some started playing beer pong with the neighboors, others decided to check out the action in the city. In the city, the bars and clubs were buzzing and overcrowded. At 5 in the afternoon....Nothing more to say.

We spent the rest of the evening with the other guys at Penn State. As we still had to drive back home that night, we left shortly after midnight. I was so grateful that I didn't have to drive and could lean back, napping on our way home.

To see more pics, check out my digital photoalbum:

http://gerryg.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album50

Weekends in Chestertown, Annapolis and Washington, D.C.

After such a weekend at the beach, I was longing for a more quiet weekend. On Friday afternoon, I drove to Chestertown, Maryland where I met with Ryan at his mom's place. After sleeping in on Saturday, we grabbed a coffee and made our way to Annapolis, Maryland. The capital city of Maryland is located at the Chesapeake Bay, south of Baltimore and about 29 miles (47 km) east of Washington, D.C.

It was a beautiful sunny day to walk around the city and with all the restaurants offering outside seating, it reminded me to a city in Belgium or in the Netherlands. Situated at the shore, this is a great spot to have fish or any other kind of seafood.

This was the first time of my life that I tasted oysters. For 28 years I managed to refuse these greasy things but Ryan just ordered them. Lucky enough, he ordered oyster shots and a baker's dozen with crackers. I have to admit, even though that it was a personal challenge for me,to swallow, I liked it.

One of Ryan's best friends was in town as well, so we meet with him and his wife. After a sushi dinner, we left the town and returned to Chestertown.

My destination for the following weekend was Washington. Ryan got some tickets for a icehockey game of the Washington Capitals.

The "Caps" were playing in the play-offs against the Montréal Canadiens. After the Flyers game in Philly, this was my second icehockey game and I have to admit that the atmosphere in the Verizon Center in Washington was much better than in the Wachovia Center in Philly. All the Caps fans were dressed in their red jerseys which was a great view.
We saw an extreme thrilling game and were rewarded with the victory with 6:5 after overtime. It was so much fun!