The Avett Brothers in Munich – My Final Full Week

The title explains well the highlight of this week, but let me begin with a moment of silence…

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…my dear Fahrrad (bicycle) is gone. He served me well. He got me from my apartment to the main station, grocery store, and wash salon on more occasions than I can recount. Rain and shine (Note: It is difficult to hold an umbrella on a bike in a storm.). I only encountered one flat tire, but he held up. I have now sold him. It is time he moves to help the next poor student intern in Germany. After an intense haggling session, I sold my advertised 65 Euro bike for 60 Euro… lock and chain… Wiedersehen… perhaps our paths may cross again.

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Ok, now that we’ve got that out of the way… THE AVETT BROTHERS! For a few weeks now, Ben Zeigler (a fellow ICPer working in Kitzingen) and I have been planning on seeing the Avett Brothers in concert in Munich. I don’t do too many concerts, but this one was great. After grabbing dinner at a Biergarten, Ben and I headed to the Muffatwerk to see them on Tuesday evening. Ben had already just experienced a rather extensive weekend up in Amsterdam and had even attended the Brother’s concert in Cologne the night before on his way to Munich. I’d call that dedication. We were excited to see the hall was quite… Gemütlich. Very small. We showed up a half hour before the opening band began and we grabbed spots about two meters from the stage. Not too shabby.

It was great seeing a majority of the crowd was Germans enjoying a uniquely American band. Not too many banjos in Germany… Needless to say, it was a very enjoyable evening.

This was my last “full” week of work at BMW. As a Bavarian worker, I was given Monday off as a state holiday, but Tuesday through Friday, I basically was recalling all I have learned in the modal analysis laboratory since April. After compiling a presentation, I realized I have really learned quite a bit. Considering this is the longest stretch of months I have ever worked full time for a company, it shouldn’t be such a surprise that I was able to gain so much knowledge. Thanks to getting a grip on the German language and some really great mentors at work, this was possible.

Today was a bit sad being my last Friday at BMW. I enjoyed my very last Weisswurt, Brezen, und Bier for breakfast and said goodbye to a large portion of the department. Most of them are taking next week off for vacation since their children are currently on summer holiday. Time to make those family trips to Italy!

This weekend I will be working on compiling some of my university reports and portfolios... in addition to cleaning out all of the stuff I have accumulated in my apartment since moving here in April. On Monday I deregister as a Munich citizen. We’re in the homestretch now. I’ll be in Mercer County again one week from today.

Dinner with the Manager

We’re in the home stretch, so that means some time to sort out a few logistics on my end. Item of interest number one with only 14 days left is to sell my bike. It’s been loyal. It’s been faithful… sans my flat-tire incident. BUT it is time for it to go. I put up a flyer on Monday and published an ad on the BMW intranet to sell the thing at a reasonable price. Time to brush up on my German bargaining skills! On Tuesday, I already had a response from a guy wanting to buy it! Unfortunately, my hopes faded quickly when he emailed back saying it would be a wedding present. 1) Who buys a couple a bicycle for a wedding present? 2) I knew when he saw the bike in real life, the rust, stickers, and bald tires might drain his ambition to buy the wheeled machine. On Friday I met with the guy and he met my bike. It was not love at first sight. I feel bad for the newlyweds… they won’t get to experience my awesome bike. SO… the sales offer continues! If you know anyone over here who wants a bike, let me know!

Outside of the chore related “exit” logistics, other fun items included Sommerfest on Wednesday and a trip to Peissenberg on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Micah invited me to go along with him and his new roommate to a summer festival called “Theatron” in Olympia Park. Outside of the typical masses of pretzels and beer being sold, there was also paragliding on the small lake and live bands playing in the amphitheater. This particular summer festival lasts about a month and features nearly three new bands each night… free of charge! Even without the bands, I always enjoy Olympia Park in the evening. Between the lights and the park-scape, it always has a great view. On my way home, I was even able to sneak a peek inside the Olympic swimming hall for the first time. It was huge! I have a couple of really big swimming friends back at home, and I know that if they lived in Munich, they would likely be here every day! Biggest swimming pool I’ve ever seen.

Thursday was also a great evening. I regret not bringing my camera, but I didn’t have time to grab it after work. Our manager has wanted to take us out for a while now, but between weather and weekend plans, our “date” kept falling through. We finally were able to steal away to his humble abode on Thursday evening for a visit dinner. He drove us down to Peissenberg, which is an old mining community about an hour’s drive south of Munich. Lots of fields and farms mostly, but the landscape was gorgeous. It lies halfway between Munich and the Alps, so basically your backyard has a giant mountain scene in the far distance. Don’t get your hopes up too high though… a house out here will cost you just about one million Euros!

We met him, his wife, and his son in a biergarten just outside of Peissenberg in Polling. Polling used to house a very large monastery that once had the largest library in Europe. Since then, that library has been long gone, but the monastery is still in operation. After enjoying our meal, our manager showed us a small workshop around the corner where the old monastery there used to be. This workshop was AMAZING. It was a hidden gem in this small village and it was a car shop dedicated solely to restoring Mercedes-Benz 300SL models. The company is called HK-Engineering. I think I found the company I’d like to work for someday! You’ll have to check out the website for pics. All I know is that if my dad and I had a shop like this when we restored our Triumph Spitfire, we’d have been gold.

After dinner, we drove to Hohenpeissenberg, which is a giant hill just outside of town. There we had one of our best views of Bavaria yet. One could easily see both Munich to the north and the Alps to the south! It was an amazing view, so thank God for a clear day! After taking in the sights, we headed back to our manager’s house where we relaxed and enjoyed a few refreshments before parting for the evening. It was a very generous evening and I am especially thankful that I had a manager thoughtful enough to take some of his interns out to dinner for a nice evening.

That is the week’s update! I’ll be making my final “Big Trip” this weekend, so stay posted for an update on the holiday. Bavarians do not work on Assumption Day, so I’ll be chillin’ on Monday before my last full week at work for BMW. Bis bald!