The break
 |
| Christmas break 2009 |
Mittwoch, 27. Januar 2010
My old term
The last term went by so fast that I hardly had begun writing for my blog, before it was over. Well, I guess true is that it was a busy term, but that should not serve as an excuse. After coming back from my awesome road trip with Sören, I had three weeks of leisure time, before my so far craziest term in this MBA started. Next to finishing up 13 credits of core classes, I had the insanity to choose an elective. Everything went well, however, and I had some interesting classes such as business strategy, organizational management and new product management. As a proof though that I was not only studying the whole time, I attached pictures of some fun activities that I did during the fall. Most importantly, of course, I moved into my new home. Since September I have been living in a big house on the East side of Portland owned by Max and Vanessa. Max is a classmate of mine. Apart from Max and Vanessa, another roommate, Nate, is living in the house. And of course I should not forget the coolest cat in town ‘Vino’ (see pictures). The house is very pretty as you can see in the pictures and it is located right in the middle of a lovely neighbourhood. I just love the East side. It is very unique and there are a lot of really good bars, restaurants and cafes. We have a $3 movie theatre a couple of blocks away and a local bar that shows German soccer. What do you want more? Another highlight was my attendance of the 2009 Net Impact Conference in Ithaca, New York. Net Impact, I should probably explain to those who don’t know, is an international non-profit organization whose goal is to use the power of businesses to create a more socially and environmentally sustainable world. The membership is made up of student and professional chapters. I’m a member of our Net Impact student chapter at PSU. As a member of this chapter I got a stipend to attend the conference with the overall subject “Advancing Sustainable Global Enterprises”. Not only that I got the chance to travel to the East Coast of which I have only seen New York so far, there were also a lot of really interesting speakers. I spear you with details, but the most prominent was probably the CEO of General Electrics, Jeffrey Immelt, although he was definitely not the most impressive one. So far so good, here are some pictures from my fall 2009 in Portland.
The last term went by so fast that I hardly had begun writing for my blog, before it was over. Well, I guess true is that it was a busy term, but that should not serve as an excuse. After coming back from my awesome road trip with Sören, I had three weeks of leisure time, before my so far craziest term in this MBA started. Next to finishing up 13 credits of core classes, I had the insanity to choose an elective. Everything went well, however, and I had some interesting classes such as business strategy, organizational management and new product management. As a proof though that I was not only studying the whole time, I attached pictures of some fun activities that I did during the fall. Most importantly, of course, I moved into my new home. Since September I have been living in a big house on the East side of Portland owned by Max and Vanessa. Max is a classmate of mine. Apart from Max and Vanessa, another roommate, Nate, is living in the house. And of course I should not forget the coolest cat in town ‘Vino’ (see pictures). The house is very pretty as you can see in the pictures and it is located right in the middle of a lovely neighbourhood. I just love the East side. It is very unique and there are a lot of really good bars, restaurants and cafes. We have a $3 movie theatre a couple of blocks away and a local bar that shows German soccer. What do you want more? Another highlight was my attendance of the 2009 Net Impact Conference in Ithaca, New York. Net Impact, I should probably explain to those who don’t know, is an international non-profit organization whose goal is to use the power of businesses to create a more socially and environmentally sustainable world. The membership is made up of student and professional chapters. I’m a member of our Net Impact student chapter at PSU. As a member of this chapter I got a stipend to attend the conference with the overall subject “Advancing Sustainable Global Enterprises”. Not only that I got the chance to travel to the East Coast of which I have only seen New York so far, there were also a lot of really interesting speakers. I spear you with details, but the most prominent was probably the CEO of General Electrics, Jeffrey Immelt, although he was definitely not the most impressive one. So far so good, here are some pictures from my fall 2009 in Portland.
 |
| Fall Term |
Freitag, 18. September 2009
After I spent most of my summer back in Germany spending time with Sören, family and friends and doing an internship with Ashoka, I went back to the US and on a three week roadtrip with Sören. To give you a better idea of our tour, I uploaded the map with our stops.
.png)
We rented a car and started from Portland. I tried to keep the description short as I'm sure you are mostly interested in the pictures at the end of this post. :)
Destination 1: Hell’s Canyon (B)
Things to see: deepest canyon in the US (deeper than Grand Canyon)
Things to do: Jetboat Tour along the Snake river over several big rapids
Destination 2: Craters of the Moon (C)
Things to see: old lava flows, cones and lava tube caves
Things to do: drive the 7 mile loop road, walk up the cones and master the caves
Destination 3: Yellowstone National Park (D)
Things to see: the most incredible and surreal landscape full of geysers, hot springs, a beautiful canyon, wide open valleys with wildlife feeding of the grass next to the river
Things to do: drive around the park and check out all the incredible natural wonders what nearly feels like visiting a museum (probably that’s because of the numerous tourists here); have a wonderful picnic at the Yellowstone lake; camp in the park and try to endure the constant Sulphur smell; wildlife viewing at Lamar Valley (our highlights were: two bison herds, two Grizzly bears – one of them feeding of a bison carcass, deers, Pronghorns, Bighorn sheeps)
Destination 4: Glacier National Park (E)
Things to see: beautiful alpine landscape with spectacular lakes, glaciers and of course wildlife
Things to do: driving the Going-to-the-sun road and doing beautiful hikes to “remote” lakes (remote is relative as we were definitely not the only people hiking there); watch mountain sheeps, mountain goats, marmots and many squirrels on your way; enjoy a picnic at one of the lakes; do a full day hike in Waterton Park (the Canadian part)
Destination 5: Banff National Park & Yoho National Park (F)
Things to see: the town Banff itself, even more mountain scenery, amazingly blue colored lakes and glaciers
Things to do: ride up the gondola in Banff to enjoy a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains and Bow River; see the Fairmont chateau in Banff; hike Johnston Canyon on the way to Lake Louis; have a short walk along Moraine Lake; enjoy the crowd at Lake Louise; do a day hike in Yoho National Park along glaciers, small mountain lakes and several waterfalls (longest hike of the trip about 20km (!)); on the drive towards the Columbia Icefield Parkway stop at Bow Lake and view the amazingly blue Peyto Lake from a lookout
Destination 6: Jasper National Park (G)
Things to see: Columbia Icefield with its numerous glaciers, and yet again beautiful lakes and waterfalls
Things to do: drive along the Columbia Icefield Parkway and take a walk to the foot of the Athabasca Glacier; visit the Athabasca Falls; do a short hike at Mount Edith Cavell to see the Angel Glacier and a lake filled with icebergs; finally do a hike to a lookout above Maligne Lake & meet a bear on your way back to the car (seriously I thought this would not happen, but there he was, the small black bear just meters away from us)
Destination 7: Vancouver (H)
Things to see & do: take the Aqua bus to Granville Island and stroll around the different market stands; rent a bike and cycle around Stanley Park; meet up with my good friend Laura (who by chance happened to visit Vancouver from Australia at the same time) and do the Grouse grind up Grouse Mountain; have lots of good and cheap Sushi
Destination 8: San Juan Island (I)
Things to see: group of islands in the northwest of the state of Washington
Things to do: spent two nights in a fantastic guesthouse where you can enjoy a nice breakfast in the morning sun on the patio of your room; drive around the island to enjoy the nice views on the other islands, soak in the sun and see Orcas feeding on salmon just off the coast; do a kayaking trip to meet Harbor seals and enjoy the spectacular sunset; watch some more Orcas very close from the whale watching boat
Destination 9: Seattle (J)
Things to see & do: stroll around Pike Place market; walk along the waterfront (although not that recommendable); have a nice dinner in Belltown; go up the Space Needle and enjoy the view on Seattle (they have a lot of cool interactive gadgets up there); spend some time in the sun watching the International Fountain
Destination 10: Portland (K)
Things to see & do: moving into a new place on the East Side of which I will post some pictures in my next post
And here are the pictures from our trip. I tried to limit them and ended up with 276 pictures – probably still too many, but I hope you enjoy them nevertheless.
.png)
We rented a car and started from Portland. I tried to keep the description short as I'm sure you are mostly interested in the pictures at the end of this post. :)
Destination 1: Hell’s Canyon (B)
Things to see: deepest canyon in the US (deeper than Grand Canyon)
Things to do: Jetboat Tour along the Snake river over several big rapids
Destination 2: Craters of the Moon (C)
Things to see: old lava flows, cones and lava tube caves
Things to do: drive the 7 mile loop road, walk up the cones and master the caves
Destination 3: Yellowstone National Park (D)
Things to see: the most incredible and surreal landscape full of geysers, hot springs, a beautiful canyon, wide open valleys with wildlife feeding of the grass next to the river
Things to do: drive around the park and check out all the incredible natural wonders what nearly feels like visiting a museum (probably that’s because of the numerous tourists here); have a wonderful picnic at the Yellowstone lake; camp in the park and try to endure the constant Sulphur smell; wildlife viewing at Lamar Valley (our highlights were: two bison herds, two Grizzly bears – one of them feeding of a bison carcass, deers, Pronghorns, Bighorn sheeps)
Destination 4: Glacier National Park (E)
Things to see: beautiful alpine landscape with spectacular lakes, glaciers and of course wildlife
Things to do: driving the Going-to-the-sun road and doing beautiful hikes to “remote” lakes (remote is relative as we were definitely not the only people hiking there); watch mountain sheeps, mountain goats, marmots and many squirrels on your way; enjoy a picnic at one of the lakes; do a full day hike in Waterton Park (the Canadian part)
Destination 5: Banff National Park & Yoho National Park (F)
Things to see: the town Banff itself, even more mountain scenery, amazingly blue colored lakes and glaciers
Things to do: ride up the gondola in Banff to enjoy a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains and Bow River; see the Fairmont chateau in Banff; hike Johnston Canyon on the way to Lake Louis; have a short walk along Moraine Lake; enjoy the crowd at Lake Louise; do a day hike in Yoho National Park along glaciers, small mountain lakes and several waterfalls (longest hike of the trip about 20km (!)); on the drive towards the Columbia Icefield Parkway stop at Bow Lake and view the amazingly blue Peyto Lake from a lookout
Destination 6: Jasper National Park (G)
Things to see: Columbia Icefield with its numerous glaciers, and yet again beautiful lakes and waterfalls
Things to do: drive along the Columbia Icefield Parkway and take a walk to the foot of the Athabasca Glacier; visit the Athabasca Falls; do a short hike at Mount Edith Cavell to see the Angel Glacier and a lake filled with icebergs; finally do a hike to a lookout above Maligne Lake & meet a bear on your way back to the car (seriously I thought this would not happen, but there he was, the small black bear just meters away from us)
Destination 7: Vancouver (H)
Things to see & do: take the Aqua bus to Granville Island and stroll around the different market stands; rent a bike and cycle around Stanley Park; meet up with my good friend Laura (who by chance happened to visit Vancouver from Australia at the same time) and do the Grouse grind up Grouse Mountain; have lots of good and cheap Sushi
Destination 8: San Juan Island (I)
Things to see: group of islands in the northwest of the state of Washington
Things to do: spent two nights in a fantastic guesthouse where you can enjoy a nice breakfast in the morning sun on the patio of your room; drive around the island to enjoy the nice views on the other islands, soak in the sun and see Orcas feeding on salmon just off the coast; do a kayaking trip to meet Harbor seals and enjoy the spectacular sunset; watch some more Orcas very close from the whale watching boat
Destination 9: Seattle (J)
Things to see & do: stroll around Pike Place market; walk along the waterfront (although not that recommendable); have a nice dinner in Belltown; go up the Space Needle and enjoy the view on Seattle (they have a lot of cool interactive gadgets up there); spend some time in the sun watching the International Fountain
Destination 10: Portland (K)
Things to see & do: moving into a new place on the East Side of which I will post some pictures in my next post
And here are the pictures from our trip. I tried to limit them and ended up with 276 pictures – probably still too many, but I hope you enjoy them nevertheless.
 |
| USA & Canada Trip |
Donnerstag, 7. Mai 2009
Spring Break
Yes, I'm still alive and doing fine. :) That happens when you take on a New Year's resolution about writing posts on your blog on a regular basis. It just does not works out. As a consequence it is over a month ago since you last heard of me. In the meantime I enjoyed a very nice holiday with Sören who came over to visit me for about three weeks. As I had Spring break, we were able to go on a week long road trip along the Californian and Oregon coast. Our travel itinerary arranged for a flight from Portland to Oakland as our first stop would be in San Francisco. After two nights in SF we would pick up our car to drive south along Big Sur. This seemed like a great plan, except for the problem that our airline had different plans for us. As the flight was overbooked, there was only one spot left on the plane. After long discussions with the airline, we decided that I would take the spot that would at least guarantee me and both of our luggage to arrive in Oakland as planned. Sören was rescheduled on a flight to Seattle where he supposedly could have catched the next flight to Oakland (arrival time 10pm). Well, of course the plane going to Seattle was delayed. At the end our holiday started with Sören staying in Seattle overnight and me enjoying our hotel room in SF alone.
After such a bumpy start we deserved a beautiful roadtrip with nice weather and no other incidents which turned out to be true for us. Over the next week we spent a great week traveling through California and Oregon as you can assure yourself of in the following pictures:
After returning from our roadtrip I had to split my schedule between university and spending my time with Sören. The prioritization of tasks in this case was pretty simple. We spent as much time as we could together and amongst others went on a long weekend skiing trip to Mount Hood (see pictures). After Sören left, the "boring" life of a MBA student started again and I'm right in the middle of the term trying to keep up with the deadlines for our assignments.
Yes, I'm still alive and doing fine. :) That happens when you take on a New Year's resolution about writing posts on your blog on a regular basis. It just does not works out. As a consequence it is over a month ago since you last heard of me. In the meantime I enjoyed a very nice holiday with Sören who came over to visit me for about three weeks. As I had Spring break, we were able to go on a week long road trip along the Californian and Oregon coast. Our travel itinerary arranged for a flight from Portland to Oakland as our first stop would be in San Francisco. After two nights in SF we would pick up our car to drive south along Big Sur. This seemed like a great plan, except for the problem that our airline had different plans for us. As the flight was overbooked, there was only one spot left on the plane. After long discussions with the airline, we decided that I would take the spot that would at least guarantee me and both of our luggage to arrive in Oakland as planned. Sören was rescheduled on a flight to Seattle where he supposedly could have catched the next flight to Oakland (arrival time 10pm). Well, of course the plane going to Seattle was delayed. At the end our holiday started with Sören staying in Seattle overnight and me enjoying our hotel room in SF alone.
After such a bumpy start we deserved a beautiful roadtrip with nice weather and no other incidents which turned out to be true for us. Over the next week we spent a great week traveling through California and Oregon as you can assure yourself of in the following pictures:
 |
| Spring Break & Ski Trip Mount Hood Meadows |
After returning from our roadtrip I had to split my schedule between university and spending my time with Sören. The prioritization of tasks in this case was pretty simple. We spent as much time as we could together and amongst others went on a long weekend skiing trip to Mount Hood (see pictures). After Sören left, the "boring" life of a MBA student started again and I'm right in the middle of the term trying to keep up with the deadlines for our assignments.
Sonntag, 15. März 2009
Nashville Fulbright Seminar
From the 26th February till 1st March I spent four days in Nashville for a Fulbright seminar. Each year Fulbright is offering these seminars to first-years scholars that came to study in the US. We were more than 150 students from 70 different countries! Throughout the four days we had different panels, presentations and workshops related to Social Entrepreneurship. However, most importantly we had the chance to party for four days in a city known for country music. No, I didn't buy a cowboy hat after all and I didn't meet Dolly Parton, but we heard some good live music and not only country music. ;)
Here are some pictures from the four days
From the 26th February till 1st March I spent four days in Nashville for a Fulbright seminar. Each year Fulbright is offering these seminars to first-years scholars that came to study in the US. We were more than 150 students from 70 different countries! Throughout the four days we had different panels, presentations and workshops related to Social Entrepreneurship. However, most importantly we had the chance to party for four days in a city known for country music. No, I didn't buy a cowboy hat after all and I didn't meet Dolly Parton, but we heard some good live music and not only country music. ;)
Here are some pictures from the four days
 |
| Nashville Fulbright Seminar |
Mittwoch, 28. Januar 2009
NBA
Last Saturday I went to watch my first NBA basketball game ever. The Portland Trailblazers were playing against the Washington Wizards. From what I heard this was not a topnotch game, so I was able to concentrate more on the shows during the breaks. :) I uploaded some pictures to give you an impression. The game was fun and I definitely would love to watch another (more important) match of the Trailblazers. However, I have to say that I missed a bit of the "fan culture" which is celebrated in the German soccer league. Where was all the "Shalalalalalahlalah"? And honestly I would be irritated as a basketball player if my fans are shouting "Chalupa" (which refers to some dish from Taco Bell) when the team gets close to scoring 100. ;)
Last Saturday I went to watch my first NBA basketball game ever. The Portland Trailblazers were playing against the Washington Wizards. From what I heard this was not a topnotch game, so I was able to concentrate more on the shows during the breaks. :) I uploaded some pictures to give you an impression. The game was fun and I definitely would love to watch another (more important) match of the Trailblazers. However, I have to say that I missed a bit of the "fan culture" which is celebrated in the German soccer league. Where was all the "Shalalalalalahlalah"? And honestly I would be irritated as a basketball player if my fans are shouting "Chalupa" (which refers to some dish from Taco Bell) when the team gets close to scoring 100. ;)
 |
| NBA Portland Trailblaser vs Washington Wizards |
Mittwoch, 21. Januar 2009
Inauguration
I’m sure everybody of you had the chance to see at least some parts of the Inauguration yesterday. For my part I only watched the oath and maybe 5 minutes of Obama’s speech due to technical problems with my internet connection. And the little piece I saw was through a German website and they directly translated it into German. I have to say that I favour Obama’s voice over the translator’s one. It was a big day and my impression was that everybody around me was relieved and happy that Bush is finally gone. My landlord even invited everybody to join in for an Inauguration party with Democrats cupcakes and Presidential punch. Maybe I should take into consideration to organize a party in September and offer some Chancellor punch. ;) To end this little post I would like to share my favourite picture of the day with you.
I’m sure everybody of you had the chance to see at least some parts of the Inauguration yesterday. For my part I only watched the oath and maybe 5 minutes of Obama’s speech due to technical problems with my internet connection. And the little piece I saw was through a German website and they directly translated it into German. I have to say that I favour Obama’s voice over the translator’s one. It was a big day and my impression was that everybody around me was relieved and happy that Bush is finally gone. My landlord even invited everybody to join in for an Inauguration party with Democrats cupcakes and Presidential punch. Maybe I should take into consideration to organize a party in September and offer some Chancellor punch. ;) To end this little post I would like to share my favourite picture of the day with you.
Source: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/01/20/article-1124043-031F41BF000005DC-321_468x550.jpg
Abonnieren
Posts (Atom)
Posts
