Olympics in Olympiadorf

Location: MUNICH, GERMAY

Every morning since my arrival I have woken up in the 1972 Munich Olympic Village. I sit in my living room and see the Olympic Stadium, home of the Schwimmhalle, Radstadion, Boxhalle, Volleyballhalle, Hockeyanlage, and the Sporthalle. I take beautiful black and white photos of the now defunct OlympiaStadion train station. But, the site that I see while I drink my coffee is 31 Connollystraße. 

At the Munich Olympics, American swimmer Mark Spitz won seven Gold Medals. The Olympic Officials took the Olympic Oath for the first time at these Games. The U.S. lost to the U.S.S.R. in basketball, a game the U.S. still considers the “most controversial game in international basketball history” and their silver medals are yet to be claimed. 

But the 1972 Munich Olympics were only remembered for the massacre of 11 members of the Israeli team by members of the terrorist group, Black September. And every morning that I wake up in my apartment, I am reminded of the killings in the apartment, just adjacent to my own. A little historical reminder with a side of caffeine. 

Although the site is a bit depressing, I was looking forward to celebrating an Olympics while living in Olympiadorf. I had been in Beijing for the five weeks leading up to the 2008 Summer Olympics, studying abroad and watching the Chinese meticulously “edit” their country: closing down factories to halt the smog production, cleaning up streets, indoctrinating their countrymen on etiquette and producing positive articles through Xinhua, the government-run news outlet. However, the opening ceremonies were disrupted by the South Ossetia War between Georgia and Russia, though unlike the 1916, 1940 and 1944 Games, the Olympics were not cancelled. But only a few days following, the parents of former American volleyball Olympian, Elisabeth Bachman, who is also married to the coach for the U.S. Men’s Indoor Volleyball team, were attacked in Tiananmen Square’s Drum Tower. Her father was murdered and her mother was injured during a knife attack. The attacker jumped to his death moments after the attack, with seemingly no reason. 

Now, in recent events at the Vancouver Games, another somber shadow was cast, this time on the luge practice course, where Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili crashed and subsequently died of his injuries. His death, unfortunately, marks the fifth death at a Winter Olympics. And it seems like many Olympics in recent memory are plagued with these horrible accidents, while others with horrible atrocities.
As with the Munich, Atlanta and Beijing Olympics, the show in Vancouver must also go on. It is a horrible tragedy and will likely dampen some of the Games. But I’ll continue to drink my coffee and look out my front window every morning. This time I will be watching the rest of the Vancouver Olympics. A little history in the making with a side of caffeine.

Munich Security Conference 2010

Location: MUNICH, GERMANY


DISCLAIMER: I am excited to announce I have been given permission (more like strongly encouraged) to talk about my internship and the “company” for whom I work. Therefore, I am the Political and Economic Diplomacy Intern at the U.S. Consulate in Munich (my roommate is my German counterpart) and I took the internship to determine whether I wanted to pursue this career. As I said in an earlier entry, I really wanted to be involved in foreign policy decision making, travel the world, help end human trafficking, and speak foreign languages. Also, my father was a 28 year career Air Force officer, so serving my country is inherent in my genes. I also moved a lot during my childhood and therefore I have a knack for making friends quickly. Like my father told me, the State Department seems to be the best fit. And after this last weekend, I am prepared to enter the service.

The CODEL press conference on the second day

Last weekend, Munich hosted the 2010 Munich Security Conference (München Sicherheitskonferenz). From the moment I knew about my internship in August, my boss had been stressing the importance of the Conference and the experience I would garner from just this one weekend. Last year, Vice President Biden attended the Conference and this year the Consulate was the staging ground for the U.S. Congressional Delegation (CODEL), including Senators McCain, Lieberman, Graham, Kyl, Kerry, and Chambliss and Representatives Harman, Sanchez and Flake. In addition, numerous other high-profile Americans joined the delegation including Madeline Albright and Henry Kissinger, both former Secretaries of State; James Jones, National Security Advisor; James Stavridis, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander of Europe; and Ivo Daalder, U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO, Brussels. Our delegation joined foreign ministers, prime ministers, defense ministers and other representatives from nearly 60 different countries, including Saudi Arabia, Germany, Israel, Afghanistan and Spain, to discuss “Peace in the Middle East”, “Resource Security and Shifting Global Power”, and “The Future of European and Global Security” among other topics. This namedropping gives you a little understanding of the backdrop of my weekend.


Now, I’ve always heard people say, “It can all change that quickly” or “It just happened so fast.” For instance, with this internship, I found out about the interview on Monday, on Tuesday I had the interview and on Wednesday I had the internship. While the semester leading up to my move was anything but short, I felt like suddenly “here, I am living in Munich”. And at the conclusion of this weekend working the Munich Security Conference and on the eve of returning to a regular work schedule, I realized how quickly the three days truly “happened so fast”. I find myself rethinking all the amazing moments, and how even though they are now permanent memories, they were fleeting moments. In fact, the moments that made the experience and work worthwhile, were seemingly all grouped into about a 5-6 hour window on Saturday afternoon.

Senator McCain and myself

Friday evening, my colleague (also my roommate) and I were site officers for a dinner hosted by the Mayor of Munich. In my own biased thoughts, it was an epic success. We had worked so hard for the weeks leading up to the event and it was great to see our work pay off in the positives. In those weeks leading up, I had to laugh because my boss would introduce my colleague as the Consulate’s “German Masters student”. Then he would say, “This is Heather, our American intern. You know what, she is getting her Masters in Aviation Accident Investigation and Reconstruction, so she will be able to handle anything that goes awry.” I would just smile and think “This is not an aviation accident. This is a train wreck”.

Train wreck avoided, I found myself bored on Saturday morning. After a few hours of unnecessary moping and failed attempts at helping out any of my busy colleagues, I took Kit’s advice of “Don’t take no for an answer” and applied it to my “make the most of your time” philosophy. So, with my hybrid philosophy, and hoping for some political celebrity watching, I sat in the hotel’s lounge and watched the speeches on television. I had only barely finished my first cappuccino when a tall man sat down next to me. We got to talking about the speeches and about our jobs, with me at the Consulate and him at NATO. “Oh, so you know the area? Can you suggest a restaurant with good, authentic Bavarian food, but edible food because I don’t want that offal stuff and without lederhosen,” he asked. I haven’t been in Munich long enough to give restaurant suggestions, but I told him I would find someone from the Consulate who knew of a good place. He scribbled down his email and headed off for a meeting.

Before the Conference began, I had noticed one of my father’s friends on the guest list. I had hoped to catch him before the end of the Conference, but had had no success. I had someone save my seat and headed over to the Congressional Delegation (CODEL) control room. This room is strictly guarded and only those with a certain mark are allowed in. I had gotten a special mark to get in on Friday, but even then, I wasn’t supposed to be in there. I knew the CODEL was in the plenary session so I went in to ask if anyone had seen my father’s friend. While chatting with one of the military escorts, he asked me where I was attending college. “Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University”, being sure to say the whole name since no one ever knows where that is. Not a second later, another military escort came up to me and said, “It is great to meet another alum”. A bit surprised to find each other, we chatted for a bit longer and he invited me to dinner later that night with the rest of the CODEL military escorts. I told him I would meet him back in the CODEL area after I was done.

By this point I was getting hungry and remembered the “good Bavarian food” request. I asked a fellow Consulate colleague where he would suggest and took those suggestions to write an email. I opened the slip of paper that the NATO guy had written his name on and it was almost illegible. I Googled the information I could read, hoping to get something. Instead, a few letters into the name, Google finished his name and sent me to a page full of his photos and Wikipedia page. I opened the page and found out that he was the spokesman for NATO! I sent him the information and headed downstairs to catch the CODEL press conference. While taking pictures, my phone rang. It was “NATO” calling and asking me to dinner. I told him drinks would be better, since I already had plans with the military escorts. We agreed on a time and I took off to meet with the military escorts.

I reiterate again: For weeks, all of the Consluate was told that the CODEL room was off-limits to EVERYONE. The only way to be allowed in was to be personally invited by one of the Congressional members. As I tip-toed to the front of the entrance, one of the escorts asked me if I had my camera. I said yes, a bit confused though, and handed it to him. I turned just in time to realize that he was leading me to my political hero, John McCain.

At this point, I literally had to remind myself to breathe. In the weeks leading up to the Conference, my mother, in her infinite wisdom, had told me to prepare for this moment because she knew how I would react. I had settled on “It is an honor to meet you”, which I hope actually came out my mouth. We took a picture together and talked, along with fellow Arizona Senator Jon Kyl (R). As the conversation began to wind down, I leaned in to both of their ears and said, “I’m a Republican”. That was not part of the planned talk, but they both laughed and John McCain said, “Well, that seems to be your Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.



Senator Kyl and myself

 I talked a little longer to Senator Kyl about NASCAR, humidity in Florida and Arizona’s beauty. At one point he said to me with a grin, “Let me get this straight. You are a Republican and you like NASCAR. You are just not cut out for the Foreign Service.”

After the talks and fearing retribution for being in the “off-limits” room, I tried to slink out, but was quickly brought back in my staffers, handed a glass of wine and sat down in front of a big screen TV. It was turned to CNN International, but more importantly to the CODEL press conference. It was truly surreal to hear the voices discussing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” on TV, now discussing in person where to get drinks for the night. On a side note, apparently I was on CNN International a little later, but I haven’t been able to find the footage.

After some time, we all made it to the Hofbrauhaus for drinks. “NATO” and his friend also joined. I had to laugh because we ended up at the most touristy, Bavarian restaurant listening to a polka band who were all dressed in lederhosen.

“NATO” invited me the following day to watch his boss, the Secretary General of NATO, deliver a speech, which “NATO” had written. After watching the speech, I was able to stay in the plenary and watch speeches by Madeline Albright and Afghanistan’s President, Hamid Karzai. Later, as I stood at a table in the coffee lounge reading the day’s press clips, I thought about how quickly everything had happened in just those few hours on Saturday: met the NATO spokesman, met a fellow ERAU alum, saw the CODEL press conference up-close, took a photo with John McCain, had a glass of wine with some of the CODEL members and drank beer at the Hofbrauhaus with my new acquaintances. I was relishing in my experience when suddenly I had coffee splatter all over the papers. I looked up to see what inconsiderate individual had done the deed and looked square at the German Minister of Defense. Suddenly it wasn’t such an offense by the Defense. After all, it was a quick cleanup and became another fleeting memory.

From FRIENDS to Lobsters

Phoebe: Hang in there. It's gonna happen!

Ross: Okay, now, how do you know that?
Phoebe: Because she's your lobster!
[At a loss, Ross looks at Chandler.]
Chandler: Oh, she's going somewhere.
Phoebe: Come on, you guys, it's a known fact that lobsters fall in love for life.You know what, you can actually see old lobster couples walking around their tank,you know, holding claws…


-FRIENDS

     My Lobster is a five-foot-nothing, blonde with blue eyes and paint-stained shoes. She wears stylish glasses, has a great laugh, dreams of baking for a living and adores Georgia O’Keefe. She is the only reason I actually know Georgia O’Keefe and how to bake! She was the first girl I met at cheer camp in 2002 and in the following seven years we would go from teammates, to camp mates, to Best Friends, to Lobsters. And from the very formation, our relationship has been one big competition.

For instance, I was the first one to get my driver’s license and a car. The first day I got to drive to school, I had “Swing Swing” keyed up for when we started the car and sped out of the parking lot; It was our first “song”. I was also kind enough to let her drive one evening, until she put my car in drive instead of reverse while facing a brick wall. Thank goodness for speed bumps. It was the last time she drove for a while. Yet, despite my modes of transportation, she was the first to have a “big girl” job to finance her car. She was also the first one with a credit card because she was the first one who was mature and independent enough to use it.

I was the first to graduate both high school and college; she followed the year after for high school graduation and I have no doubt she’ll graduate college in the near future. In fact, she was the first person I took a road-trip with when we drove to Savannah, Georgia for her first college visit.  I was also the first one to get my first kiss, while her's came nearly a full year later and was just as "forgettable" as one should be. 
She was the first one to convince me to go to church camp and I was the first one to convince her that secular music wasn’t a ticket to hell. I was the first to get Facebook and the first she “friended” when she finally got it.While I was busy becoming the first to get drunk, she became the first (and only) to get a tattoo. A big, black dove on her shoulder blade that means “Peace”. One night, after waking me up from a deep sleep, she became the first (and only again) to dye her hair. By default she also became the first to become a blonde, brunette and a redhead consecutively. I was the first one to pick a fight with her while cheering at a basketball game one night and she was the first one to draw blood when she hit me with a water bottle. So much for the dove of “Peace”.

Though I am currently nearly 4740 miles (or 7630 km for those Europeans) away from Daytona Beach, Kristen was the first one to move away from home. Now, technically I was the first one to move out of my parent’s house, but when she moved to Kansas in 2008, she was the first one to move away from home.

And a few nights ago, she became the first to be engaged. And that rock on her finger concretes the possibility that she will be the first to get married. The first to have kids. The first to buy a house. Thankfully she is engaged to a man that I know is her best male match; someone who loves her as much as I do and also understands that there will be some points in this triangle-relationship where he will be the third-wheel. But I will share. After all, she does have two claws.

She was the first one to contrive our terms of endearment “Lobster” for each other. She is also the first person I have truly considered a “best friend” and wanted to “hold claws with while we grow old”. And through our years of competitiveness, we have discovered strengths and weaknesses; weaknesses that are often carried by the other’s strengths. She is the girl who grew into a woman; the kind of woman that represents everything I aim to accomplish. A mature, caring, honest, independent, happiness in the face of struggle, clear and level headed-strong woman. Most of all, I have found my Lobster. And that is no competition.

Rosetta Stone Rescue

Location: MUNICH, GERMANY


I am currently in the process of reading the entire Bible in a year. Two weeks behind, I decided to do some speed reading last night. I was in the first six chapters of John where he details Jesus’ miracles. It was almost midnight and I was bored with the miracles. I had heard them all before, watched them recreated at every Easter play and wanted to skip ahead to Psalms. So, I read Psalms instead and went to bed.

The following morning, right after I arrived at work, the economics specialist at work called me. He told my colleague and me to decide between ourselves who would go with our boss to meet with the CEO and CFO of a major German corporation. Since I was dressed up, I went. On the ride there, I was informed that the entire meeting would be conducted auf Deutsch. Well, I can write and read German at about a high school level and can speak German at about a 6 year-old's level. However, when it comes to hearing German, I might as well be a newborn whose mother has decided to start speaking gibberish to them. I hear “blah blah insert a word I know blah blah two more words understood blah blah blah blah. Danke”. Oh and to make the challenge more difficult, it was my job to write a review of the meeting following the meeting. I squeezed my eyes closed tightly and pleaded with God “to grant me the Rosetta Stone, even if it is only for 20 minutes. That is all I need to make sure I still have my job tomorrow morning”. We arrived at the meeting and were quickly escorted into the room. Let the German begin. And let the Miracle Meeting commence.

We all sat at a large oak table overlooking a beautiful skyline. I whispered another short prayer as the CEO and CFO started to speak. And I understood. I took notes as quickly as my brain could process and soon filled up an entire notepad page. This continued on for another ten minutes as they kept talking and I kept writing. Now, I didn’t fully understand every word; that would be a lie. However, I suddenly remembered all the vocabulary words from my three years of high school German. Feeling pretty impressed with myself, I started to laugh at their jokes and even attempted to comment on one such point. I assume God felt that it was his time to shine and not mine because the next time the CFO said something funny, I was the only one to laugh out loud. Now, this was no LOL. This was a roaring laugh. I’m sure I turned the color of crimson and slumped back into my chair. The meeting ended a few minutes later and we said goodbye. Once we were in the car, the driver started speaking in German. I turned to answer him and realized I didn’t understand what he had said. And just as quickly as I had understood, it was gone and I was once again hearing “blah”.

But what I did understand: God’s miracles are never boring. The Bible should be read earnestly. I need to pray more often. And prayers are answered. Just sometimes they are in a foreign language.

"Crystal-Clear Ball" - Day Four

Location: MUNICH, GERMANY

This morning was like Christmas in my own Winter Wonderland. I woke up at 5 a.m. and laid patiently under my covers until I heard my roommate showering in the bathroom. That was my cue. I jumped out of bed, bounding for my hallway closet. I searched through the piles of neatly folded and newly laundered clothing trying to find that special combination. I had to look the part because today was the first day of my internship.

I had slept a little more than 5 hours and the sun was hiding somewhere, anywhere, besides the Munich skies. I walked bundled up in my winter coat through the gray and black, or sometimes yellow, but never white, snow. Yet, I had a cheery disposition and about eight hours of work ahead of me.

At the risk of violating my previous statement that I would avoid the J-O-B topic, I will say that today is the day I realized that I am right where I am meant to be. Three years ago, I was sitting with my father in a small cafe in Daytona Beach commiserating about my upcoming graduation. At this point, I still had a year left in college, but it was nearing the end of my studies and I had still not answered the age-old "what to do when I grow up" question. Dad had me write out what I thought were some characteristics or topics that interested me:

I want to travel.

I want to speak languages (German primarily).

I want to write

I want to study foreign relations.

Dad said, "Why don't you consider ______? I think it would be a company that would offer great opportunities and one where you could grow upon your current skill sets." People, parents and teachers alike had been asking me for years about my future plans. And here it was. Written on a napkin! Now, a lot has happened since that day, including the addition of two specialized minors onto my major, another internship, some chance meetings, a supportive family and friend base and of course, graduation from college.

But, today, as I was sitting in my first conference, doodling on a notepad, I looked up at the snow falling outside in the courtyard. A few flakes landed on the window and began to melt. As, I watched the drops slide down the window, I knew soon they would be grey, black or even yellow snow again. But for now, it was all clear.

Oasis in a Frozen Tundra - Day Three

Location: MUNICH, GERMANY


Jet lag is like a long night out partying: The following day is bad and sometimes it can last for days. The morning following my arrival I found myself wide awake at 4 a.m., but passed out asleep again at noon. The sky was so overcast and the weather was so biting cold that I woke up and thought it was still pre-dawn. Today was no better and I slept until 2 p.m. Munich Time. However, I woke up just in time for a shower and a mad dash towards the U-Bahn for church.

Before I left for Munich, Dad had suggested an English-speaking church for me to attend. Thankfully, I took his advice and attended Munich International Community Church. Church has always been a part of my weekend routine, but today it was like an oasis of English and recognition. It also helped that the congregation is mostly comprised of ex-pats, travelers and transplants.

The pastor talked about Joseph in Genesis and how Joseph left his home (though against his will) and went to Egypt, where he had to learn the language and the customs. According to the pastor, this passage suits the congregation because, like Joseph, we are new in this linguistic and customary environment. Though none of us were sold into slavery by our siblings (although I am sure Jordan feels delighted that I am thousands of miles away), we can learn from Joseph's devotion to God and use it to guide our own paths in Munich. I know I don't do the service justice, but I look forward to next weekend.

As for the new week, tomorrow is my first real day of work....Guten Nacht, alles!

Munich Mayhem - Days One and Two

Location: MUNICH, GERMANY

We interrupt the traditional writing topics to bring you a hybrid blog of my life in Germany. For my family and friends, I have created this so you can keep up with my happenings without the expense of a telephone call, but with the ease of a text message.

I am currently residing in Munich, Germany and working as an intern with a "company". I choose not to disclose much regarding my posting because, while my job is the reason I am transplanted, it should not be the star of my blog nor should I discuss it. After all, there is only so much 9-5 chatter that my family and friends want to hear. Instead, I’ll focus on my assimilation into a culture that I am rather comfortable with, but that is not “home”.

My adventure started really when I got the internship. As the months started to count down and I learned the German rental system, I found a roommate (also my colleague) and an apartment. Now, I have moved a lot thanks to my military upbringing, but this is the first time I am moving a fair distance away as well as the first time living abroad. I don’t know my roommate. I have only seen pictures of my apartment. I speak and read the language, but I have a difficult time understanding when someone speaks to me. And the weather is eiskalt.

Basically, everything is out of my comfort zone, but just at the edge. And to the edge of a nervous breakdown and into an episode of “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” it did take me on my travels to Munich.

Originally, I was supposed to leave on the 6th, but snowy weather kept me from leaving. Then, in an effort to still get me to Munich on time, my travel agent booked me a flight leaving the next morning. Problem being, she booked me into Frankfurt instead of Munich. Frankfurt is about a 4 hour train ride (which I learned quickly) and Munich has multiple train stations, which I also learned traumatically.

Although it was stressful, I was reminded how friendly and generous Germans really are as numerous German strangers helped ferry my three rolling bags (extremely heavy, I might add though it is probably obvious since I was packing for three months and I am a girl) between different stations and on and off of busy trains. One rather charming German asked me “Darf ich helfen?” and proceeded to help me find the Frankfurt Airport train station, after I nodded my head and fought back some tears. Another woman, following my unintentional debarkation onto the München-Passing station terminal instead of the München-Hauptbahnhof station, helped wheel one of my bags from the train into the station. Many others, including a few gentlemen, helped lug my bags up and down staircases after I realized I was in the wrong areas. After today, I learned that vielen dank and danke schön really are universally appreciatated. And how appreciative I am that my parents answered the phone at 4 a.m. their time.

Sure, I have cried some tears, thrown some things and yelled swear words in both English and German (thanks Gwen for the “Dirty German” handbook), but I am here now and transitioning quite comfortably. I have met my German roommate and first impressions are positive. I moved into my apartment and it is wonderfully large, even by American standards (although my sheet rock-hard bed is not up to my normal bedding standards). The wintry and icy weather will be a challenge and I think I will need to find a gym in order to work out and not get frostbite. Then again, I hear it is snowing for the first time in like five years in my hometown. I hope everyone enjoys my little “snowy present”. It is sent with nothing but love! Guten Nacht!