I am sitting on the plane right now, about 9 hours out of Minneapolis, and I have plenty of time to really give a good summation of my journey. For starters: WOW . . . I have been (From west to east) to: The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, The Czech Republic and Latvia. That is 6 countries!
This has been a truly amazing experience. Both through work and my travels I have managed to learn a significant amount European (specifically German) culture. I learnt that German like to shake hands, girls from Latvia are ridiculously good-looking, that there is a giant toilet in Wolfach and how much I enjoy German beer.
Coming away from this experience I would say my biggest realization is not that I learnt so much about the world but the fact that there is so much to see, do and learn. I will be returning to Germany at some point in the future, albeit with more German skilz, to explore some more of this great country.
My last week in Germany produced a few interesting anecdotes. I got back to my desk after an extended period of building things in the factory last Friday to see a note on my desk. It turns out that my boss was heading out to Turkey on Monday! This meant that I did not have a chance to fill out all the end-of-term paperwork that I needed to! I also could not ask any questions to him while I was finishing my big report.
I managed to get all my work finished on Wendsday, my final day of work, and pleasantly my day ended with a hour and a half conversation with Martin, one of the engineers, about German vs. Canadian engineering. Martin is an extremely proud German; he took his time to tell me why the German industrial machine is so much better then the rest of the world’s. My favorite part was when he was telling me about the guy at Porsche whose only job is to ensure that the cars smell right. He goes from car to car and ensures that the smell meets spec. I also learned how real engineering is designing things and “anyone can just pull stuff out of the ground.” He meant that is the best of ways but I still laughed at it.
Anyway, I can genuinely say that the past four months has been challenging, rewarding and full of stories. My favorite few adventures were partying in Prague with the two British girls, the flute player, the DJ and a hard-core guy rapping at light speed in Czech; hiking up a mountain with my American/German couchsurfing host Bradley and walking along the Baltic sea 200km west of Riga in Latvia. I have been out of what I have been used to for long enough and I am prepared to take some time in my familiar island home.
This summer is going to be great! I am excited to be choosing my own courses at school and excited to be running the UVic Caving Club during prime caving season. This summer looks like it might also be the last four months that I live in “The Castle” which means really the end of an era. I need to work hard, cave hard, climb harder, swim (I do not swim hard but my new Speedo will help), bike and truly savor the every drop of what will be a great summer. This entry marks the end of my (almost) daily reporting but I will be sure to toss up some trip reports and pictures from my various adventures.
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