Lok Man in Germany

After procrastinating for six months after the memorable trip to India in November 2008, I have finally decided to write a few words about it. The dust has settled, the small incidental details have faded away, but many memories of this remarkable city still remain. Mumbai is truly an assault on the senses, especially for somebody who has gotten used to living in the quiet isolation of a German country town. Arriving in the wee hours of a warm Indian morning, we were taken to our hotel in a squeaky Tata-built taxi, with seat belts that had more slack than one's pants after a Jenny Craig weight loss program. We were greeted by trucks and autorickshaws on the highway that were strangely quiet - I was to never again experience traffic without constant tooting of horns again. We slept from 6 to 10 a.m., waking up for the last serving of breakfast. It was different to the usual fare of museli, fried eggs, or ham and Semmel (South German for bread rolls) - it was quiet authentic Indian. ...

The Nordschleife at the Nürburgring racetrack in Germany, also known as the Green Hell, is one of the most famous racetracks in the world. With 20.832 km of winding and undulating roads through some breathtaking scenery in the Eifel area of Germany, the course with 73 turns is also where many vehicle manufacturers turn to in order to test and prove the handling of their vehicles. It is also the scene of a 24 hour sport car race. The reverence for this location comes from the twisty nature of the circuit, which also contains enormous variations in altitude with some exhilarating steep sections, with almost no run-off areas on the corners. As the guide said, it is closer to a drive on a closed, one-way country road than a modern race track. For an Australian car fan living in Germany, it would be inexcusable to miss an excursion to this gem. It has taken me 3 years to take my BMW here to unleash its full potential around this circuit. Ok, perhaps more like gingerly tip-toeing around the ...

Euros 2008. The term conjures up memories of the final on 29.6.2008 where an in-form Spain defeated the German team, with Fernando Torres scoring the all important goal to win one goal to zero. But for the players in the German touch rugby national team, the performance of the German football side merely served as motivation for their own European Championship which was to take place 2 weeks later. Our Euros took place just outside Paris in Massey. While the touch rugby Euros are not at a standard comparable to the top national games in the world cup, where Australia and New Zealand dominate, the teams nevertheless take this event very seriously. The German squad consisted of three teams, playing in the open mens, open womens and the open mixed competitions respectively. This is still a relatively new novelty sport in Germany, and with the exception of the womens team, most of the players are non-Germans who have been living in Germany for long enough to qualify to play under the speci...

We managed to fly from Rome to Oslo with no problems, but at that point we found that due to an airport strike, our plane to Bergen has been canceled. We then booked a flight to Stavinger, a city 180 km or so south of Bergen, a distance that we would then cover by bus. There was a quicker ferry option, but as it was late in the day, the last one had already left by the time we arrived. At the information counter at the airport, the lady told us "hurry and get the taxi to the city, you might be able to catch the last bus". From that point we found the Norwegians to be very helpful people. The taxi driver took us to the bus depot and helped us with the luggage and bus selection. As it turned out, the bus ride was to take some 4 hours (or perhaps even more). The roads were wonderfully picturesque, but at the same time they were windy one-laned highways connecting little islands, which meant that the speed was restricted. There were also 2 ferry crossings on the way, and it becam...

In May 2008 I went on a 2 week holiday with my family. It was split into two distinct parts. The first was a short cruise in a luxury vessel, while the second part was a visit to Norway. The cruise was a 6 day long affair on the Crystal Serenity, starting in Lisbon and ending in Civitavecchia, a port near Rome. Being on a cruise ship was a new sensation for me. Unlike ferries or hydro-foils or other commuter vessels that I have been on, the ship is very stable. At the port it barely moves, and even when moving the movements can barely be felt. However, there is always a sensation that I am not quite still - and when I disembark the ship I have the funny feeling that the ground is floating. Perhaps for the other seasoned travelers on the ship, this was not a problem. Having a sea view out the window and the sound of crashing waves on demand is actually very soothing, as was the a buffet breakfast at the bow. As Dad paid for the trip, we were treated to top-notch luxury and service. Cavi...

In April 2008 I was sent to Iasi, Romania for one week, in order to work more closely together with our colleagues at that site. There is also offices of Continental there, although it is very much a developing location and as such the scale is completely different to what we had in Germany. As you can see, the office block is basically a 3 storey portable. Most of the workers are recent graduates out of the univerity in Iasi. Actually, I believe that is one of the attractions of setting up an office in Iasi - a company like Continental would attract a lot of interest from the uni graduates there, as it would be one of the few options to stay at home and have a technical engineering career. Iasi is actually quite a small city, but it appears much smaller if you only consider the airport. It is an international airport because it has ONE daily flight back to Vienna. Work aside, we had a little time on some of the weeknights to look around the city and experience a bit of Romanian cultu...