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A Deutsch Birthday

1 Month in Germany!

So I've been in Germany for exactly one month. Boy how time flies.

I've used up less than half a bottle of laundry detergent, burned though my Macbook power adaptor, drunk quite a lot of water, drove 200 km/h on the Autobahn...

The list just goes on and on! The great thing is I still have 10 more months. Ten months! I've been to three different cities already and haven't even been out of Germany. I am really looking forward to my stay here. I feel like I've only scratched the surface. My job is okay too, the people are great as well.

I'm rather sleepy at the moment, hence my loss for words. From Germany...I'm off.  

Go Karting in Germany!

Go Karting in Germany!
So today was my biggest day in Germany so far. It was for this reason that I brought my racing gloves from Canada. I was going to tear up the racetrack in Deutschland, the heart of motorsport and the birthplace of Michael Schumacher.

For weeks ahead of this day, it was always imbedded in my mind. 10 days left...9 days left...we're only a week away! Today, I could not stop thinking about the Kart race. I got up early in the morning to get to work and from the point I woke up, I knew it was going to be a special day.

On my breaks, I searched for Go-Kart driving tips and how to get a fast lap. You have to keep in mind that the last time I went Go Karting was about 5-6 years ago, in Canada, in go karts that were really quite slow. All my real racing skill has been derived form none other than...Gran Turismo 4.

In the game, I would always come out on top against my brother and friends. It is only recently that my brother has been able to beat me in an equal race. It's because he's starting to make less mistakes. Usually, I would handicap myself by either driving a slower car or using slower tires. Nowadays, I have to use the same car, same tires, but I try to keep Traction Control off to keep challenging myself to drive better.

A few years back, Rogers Video celebrated the release of Gran Turismo 4 with a city-wide competition. At the time, I didn't have a PS2 and so my main game racing skills were from Gran Turismo 2. I stepped in the store and picked up the controller to see how fast I could go.

I had never played the game before and it was a new racetrack for the game. With my Gran Turismo 2 skills, I beat the competition and actually came out first place with the fastest lap and fastest total lap time! It was really a good feeling to get a phone call fro Rogers Video about my win. Apparently, there was a kid that practiced in the store everyday for a week before the competition. I remember always thinking about one corner that everyone messed up on because they didn't brake early enough. Though, I thought the competition was a bit unfair. They let you choose your own car, and your own tires. Obviously, I chose the fastest car I knew, the Yellow Pennzoil JGTC Nissan Skyline. After 4 years, I still remember all the details...

So here I am, finally on level footing with people who have proven their speed around the racetrack. Adam, who I call the Michael Schumacher among the Praktikants (or interns) beat all his other colleagues in qualifying, set fastest lap and won the race. I had a defined benchmark, in an equal real racing machine.

We had booked the racetrack for a half hour among 10 of us. Right before we got on, there was a whole group of little kids on the track. the fastest lap was 45 seconds. The average lap is about 30 seconds! In no time at all, the kids were off and with our helmets strapped on, we were in.

I strapped on a visor'd helmet and pulled on my Trusty Alpinestars racing gloves given to me by my brother for my Birthday. Previously, they had only been used winter drifting sessions and 'fun' driving. Now, they were being used to race. I had also brought along my VW 'GTI' shirt in hopes of it gaining me 1 HP. Not seriously of course...

I took Kart number 10, fourth from the front. There was a 12 lap Qualifying session followed by a 32 lap race. My friend Adam went ahead, followed by Graham (the other Veteran) then  Haidar, then me. I was raring to go.

Once the track marshall started up the engine, I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my hands and feet. I was racing! I was a little cautious to start, as anyone would be when driving a go kart after 5 or 6 years. I had been reading a lot about how to drive a Kart fast, such as braking only in a straight line or else you'll spin the kart. I kept that in mind but after just a few laps, that memory had been relegated to trash.

This kart was fast! I could hear and feel the little engine burning up the fuel and propelling me into my dream. The steering was pretty light and the car was surprisingly easy to control. I found out that if you brake while turning, you really won't spin the car unless you really stamp on the brakes. I started feeling the rhythm, the flow...it was familiar.

It all dates back to my days of Super Nintendo. I would spend hours playing Super Mario Kart, trying to get the fastest lap around the track. Some way or another, I'd always end up beating my brother.

Things changed quite a bit with the arrival of Gran Turismo into our family. It was in Malaysia and my enthusiastic dad had just showed me a car game that had really realistic graphics, physics, and a large selection of cars. Minutes later, he bought the game, followed by buying the actual console. Yes...we bought the game before the Playstation.

I remember tuning up my Toyota GTO to over 900 hp, and having fun beating the computer into submission. We later bought Gran Turismo 2 and had our first experience with the Dual Shock controller. I spent loads of credits buying and tuning cars. My favorite car of the game was certainly the Suzuki Escudo Rally car. Despite having only a V6 engine, it made close to 1000 hp and could beat any car in the game. It was especially fun when I could pass the computer on the shoulder.

We basically skipped GT3 for the lack of a PS2. And then it all changed with Gran Turismo 4. I think however, my improved racing skills came with the purchase of one of my most expensive toys, the Logitech G25.

For those of you who don't know, the G25 is Logitech's finest force feedback steering wheel. With a leather steering wheel, a clutch, and a gated 6-speed shifter, it was as close as you can get to a real car, without the car. I really enjoyed racing the monster horsepower cars with traction control off, trying to wrangle the car to make a fast lap. The steering wheel would writhe in my hands, following every groove in the racetrack, and punishing me for every mistake I made.

My favorite track was none other than the Nurburgring. I would always want to drive the car as smooth as possible, synchronizing my steering inputs with that of my feet. Braking light, accelerating without too much haste, and making quick laps. I never thought in my life that I would live in a city only three hours away from the famous racetrack. But here I was...

It was my Gran Turismo driving that was coming back to me. I was back in the game, but in a real car, a Go-Kart; this track was just another digital rendition. After a few familiarization laps, I started braking late into the corners, diving into the turns and more than once, clipping the barriers. I was a bit ragged at the beginning, but nonetheless, it was fast enough to put me third on the grid, behind the veterans.

All I really wanted to do was to stick with them, and see what I could really do. The coolest thing about this go-kart track is the way everything is done. The start is just like a Formula 1 race. Once the five lights go out, its show time.

The first corner was rather undramatic. A simple left hander, followed by an S-turn. I followed the veterans into the turn and just tried to do my best and follow them. Boy were they fast! I was always thinking in my mind, how fast could you really be? Even though I was driving my kart off its wheels, I was falling behind. I wasn't that slow was I?

Thanks to a few yellow lights from spinning Praktikants, I was able to close up the gap and rethink my strategy. I started to examine how the veterans were driving. In actuality, they weren't doing much things different from me. So I did what I normally would in Gran Turismo and stopped trying to mimic my friends.

I was going faster, keeping up with the two and making some real progress. In the thick of it, it was us three, dicing for position, with the rest trailing rather far behind. I was quite surprised at myself actually... the rookie was keeping touch with the veterans!

"If you're trying to go fast, you're only going to end up going slow"

That was the words from 'Schumacher' Adam. It ran through my head, and that's how I needed to drive. On certain laps, I ran too fast into the corner, sliding, losing grip, and coming out slow. I could feel my laps were getting better and I knew where I needed to improve. My hands felt every little twitch of the front wheels and my right foot was the pulse of the car. It started beating to my rhythm.
 

Around lap 22-23, there was a bunch of back markers, racers that we were about to lap. This was really the only time for me to pass and pass I did. It was totally awesome! I had secured second place.

What came up next was both exhilarating and slightly scary. After running a close second to Graham, he slowed slightly, and I immediately passed him. I didn't quite know what think. On one hand, I was happy, but on the other, it was weird...and I soon knew why.

In my flurry of racing I totally missed the flashing yellow lights and yellow flags being waved. I must have scared the living daylights out of the track marshall on the track who, expecting slow karts, saw me and my other friend speeding right down at him. If he ever reads this blog...I am really sorry!!!

Not wanting to win while passing on a yellow flag, I tried to let Graham pass me, only for 'Schumacher' Adam to make a quick dive and pass both of us. Slightly stunned, I closed the door on my original place taker, and pulled out all the stops to try to win the race. I could feel it! On lap 31, I set my fastest lap of 28.882. Not only was it my fastest lap, I was the only racer to dip into the 28 second range. The asian rookie has got some speed!

 And you know what else? I told my girlfriend that if I won the race, it would be for her. Since I didn't win the race, I dedicate my fastest lap to her. Yeah!

I finished second, set the fastest lap, and set the fastest speed trap time of 45 km/h. That figure shows you how late I tried braking into the corners!  To show how fast the veterans were, our fastest laps were separated by a mere .3 sec. The fourth place runner was a further .4 sec. behind.

Being my first time on this track and my first time in a real Go-kart, I think I did pretty well! So what do you say...lets tackle the 500 lap challenge!

Life in Germany

What an exciting week!!
This week marks my third week in Herzogenaurach, Germany and boy has it been a good one. As many of you know, or have figured out from my previous blog posts, I am now in Germany doing a 1 year Internship with INA Schaeffler KG. Its pretty awesome what they do to make us fit into German life.

At the airport, they got one of the current interns to pick me up at the airport. After dropping me off and getting me acquainted with my immediate surroundings (the autobahn was all I was interested in) I was driven to the local Rathaus (city hall) and given my residence permit. My first meal in Germany was a Turkish Döner. Its basically a whole bunch of meat and veggies stuffed inside a Pita bread. Yummy, but not German.

First impressions of my home for a year:
1. There's no A/C
2. Its on the fourth and highest floor, with no elevator
3. It's HUGE!

And you know what else? I've always thought that living in a room with a sloping ceiling would be cool, and this is no exception. Though, the cathedral ceiling is not what you might expect. About a meter from the wall is when my head starts to hit the ceiling. So essentially, a third of my room is rendered useless. No worries though, my bed takes up that not-so-useful space so that's quite nice.

The Bathroom is also just as huge but the one place which should be big, the kitchen, is tiny. Its no bigger than a single cupboard to fit two heating elements and a sink with a fridge stuffed underneath.

I've already filled my closet and all my drawers of my things. Compared to some of my other friends, I got quite lucky with this room. Not only is it cool to live on top floor, but I share my washroom and kitchen with only one other guy. Best of all, he doesn't leave dishes in the sink and doesn't make a mess in the bathroom. In the morning, my room is filled with the very pleasant sun poking out through the sky.

The sky...
Compared to Beijing, well, I guess its not comparable. WIth only 20,000 people in this town, pollution is almost nonexistent, lending to a clear sky everyday. I was walking around one night and when I looked up, I had never seen so many stars in my life. Maybe it my location on earth but...wow. I could have stared up at the night sky all day.

The guy who had this room last was  a very nice guy. I never met him but he left behind lots of nice stuff for me. First was the desk lamp, second was the fan in the room, and third was the umbrella. I haven't needed to use the umbrella yet, but I am sure the time will come.

So what have I been doing these past three weeks?

Protesting against Tibet
My floor mate had invited me to take part in an event with a chinese group in Nuremberg. I had no idea what I was going to do except that it was some political speech for chinese people. I wanted to meet some chinese people in Germany so hey, why not?

Nuremberg was a short bus ride and a train hop away. less than an hour and we were there.

You can imagine my surprise when I was promptly given a sign to hold up; I was protesting against Tibet.

Apparently, the Dalai Lama was making a speech in the Stadium we were protesting outside of. All I needed to do was faithfully hold up my sign and don't say a word. Actually, I quite agree with protesting against Tibet because they make themselves look like the innocent minnow being attack by the big Chinese dragon when in actuality, they do a little bit more. Plus, the Western media is WAY too pro-Tibet, causing everyone to believe otherwise.

When I was holding up my protesting sign, sometimes I couldn't stop laughing. It was really bad because this was a serious matter! My friend constantly reminded me not to laugh...

We then started to chant slogans like,
"One China, One Family"
"Dalai Lama, Stop Lying!"

This was also my first encounter with the German Polizei. They were there just in case our peaceful protest got out of hand. Thank goodness they were there or else we might have been mauled by some crazy Tibetans! Things started to get intense when the speech finished and the Tibetans started to come out. Us protesters were just being peaceful, changing our slogans and holding our signs. The Tibetans however started yelling at us and wanted to pick a fight, requiring the police to step in and create a human barrier of Germans between the Chinese and Tibetans. Call it the Great wall of Germany.

The Food
The only food that I could imagine eating here was Schnitzel. Just plain Schnitzel. Oh, and Sausages too. And bread.

I thought I would have a hard time surviving on just a small selection. I had been reading though, that there was a selection of about 500 types of bread. The first time I ate a sandwich, my jaws nearly cramped up! The bread was so hard...

I had eaten hard bread before but this was different. Eating a whole sandwich was really though. I actually had to slowly bite my sandwich so I jaw muscles didn't yell at me so much.

The cafeteria in INA Schaeffler KG is really really good. Everyday, they have a selection of four different meals ranging from 2.50 EUR to 3.20 EUR. A bowl of soup  or a dessert is just .55 EUR. Everyday of the week, there's a different selection of food, even on a week to week basis there's different food. Through my three weeks here, I haven't needed to eat the same dish twice.

There's always a Geman style dish, an internaitonal dish (chinese, Indian etc.) and two others. One day, they served Kurrywurst (curry sausage) which was good, but not quite AMAZING as many of my colleagues had said it was. My boss even skipped his homemade lunch to eat Kurrywurst.

I have been cooking form myself in my little kitchen. My first meal was pasta and Basil Tomato sauce. Second was Curry and now...I'm still eating curry and rice that I cooked just yesterday. I haven't quite resorted to eating my instant noodles yet. I've only eaten two packs out of 12! I'm saving them for special occasions, read: My birthday.

Fundraising for the China Earthquake
The following week, I had joined my friend and the same chinese group to help raise money for the Chinese earthquake. I figured that it was the least I could do.

We went to Erlangen, about 30 minutes away and helped hand out flyers to people. In some ways, it reminded me how ignorant people can be. I mean, we were giving out little slips of paper telling people about the earthquake and I would say less than a quarter of all the people we asked actually took a piece. I guess I can understand a bit because most often, people with flyers in their hand are trying to sell something.

I was slightly saddened by the amount of people who didn't even care to listen to us. Oh well, that's life, and everyone has their own reason, be it legit or not.


Die Blau Nacht (The Blue night)
Along with a whole bunch of other interns, I went to the neighboring city of Nuremberg to enjoy a night of festivities. There's only a few things you really need to know. There's lots of beer, and there's lots of people awake late at night. Basically, the whole city and all the museums are open from about 6:00 to past midnight. Its pretty crazy how much stuff there is and we only managed to check out two museums.

There were street performances, beer, special lights on castle walls, beer, and lots of people, with beer.

There was a huge lineup of people outside one special store for beer, 1L bottles! I actually left before my friend returned with beer, which I guess was not so nice. Then again, it was getting really late already and I wanted to have a good sleep.

Oxygenating my room
I have always wanted to have plants in my house and imagine my surprise when I found a Bonsai! It was too god to pass up and so I bought it for 7.99 EUR. I have still yet to name it.

Two weeks later, I picked up a second plant. I call him Mr. Orange Pot. It was a deal I couldn't pass up. for only 1.99 EUR, it came with a pot and a collection of three different plants. I am still not sure what all the plants are though I am sure I will find out.

the cool thing about plants is that you can take care of them and watch them grow. Plus, you don't need to feed them any more than plain water. Mr. Orange Pot drank about a half bottle of water in his first meal.

My Garbage Find
Just a few days ago I started on my walk to work and along the way I saw a HUGE pile of garbage. There was shelves, a bed, a couch, toys and poking out from under all the trash was... a Playstation 2.

Now this isn't any normal PS2, this is a special edition Aqua-coloured PS2. Knowing an opportunity when I see it, I swiped it and brought it back to my room before heading to work. No cables, not controller, just a PS2.

 As I was walking by the pile of trash for a second time, I was really tempted to wake up my friend to help my bring back some shelves and couches. However, it was 6:00 in the morning and I didn't really want to wake him up.  I was hoping that there would still be a pile of junk when I came back from work but sadly, that same friend relayed the news that all was lost. The garbage men were clearing it as he walked to work.

So about this PS2. It was extremely dirty and was evidently used in a smokers house. When I gave the casing a wipe-down, the paper towel was yellow. SOOOOO Grose. If this is what smoking does to household stuff...imagine what it does to your body!

The fan in the back was also covered in a layer of thick brown dust. This PS2 was certainly abused. I was quite keen to pull the thing apart and see if anything was broken...it was in the trash after all. Apart from a few minor cosmetic scratches on the outside, it was almost in Perfect condition.

Prying open the casing showed huge amounts of dust. Everywhere. Not to mention that the PS2 and dust smelled really bad.  I borrowed a toolbox from my friend who is an avid biker. I think the most useful tool in the box was an old toothbrush, which I used to brush away as much dust as possible.

I still couldn't figure out why this PS2 was broken. Everything pointed to it being okay. All the parts were fine...that's until I looked at the laser lens.

The lens looked to be tarnished in a layer of smoke dirt. NOW i think I know why it didn't work. I cleaned it up very carefully with a paper tower and proceeded to put it all back together.

I plugged it in with the cable it came with and...Bam!
The little red light on the front came to life. I was so excited! I gingerly pressed the power button and leaped for joy hearing the whirring of the fan and the flashing of blue and green lights.

It was ALIVE!! The disc tray opened and closed and even spun up a disk that I put inside. It was amazing that this thing even turned on! Now I feel like opening and closing the disc tray all the time just because its so cool to see this Garbage PS2 work! Now if only I had AV cables and a controller to test this thing out.

Well, I am now off to cut my hair...by myself. Wish me luck so that I don't make myself a bald patch!

Driving at 200 km/h on the Autobahn!!
By far the highlight of my travels so far. My friend was had borrowed the company car for the weekend and asked if I wanted a ride back home. Imagine my surprise when I jokingly asked for the key...and he gave it to me!

You have no idea how much I wanted to drive in Germany. On the Autobahn. For Germans, its just an everyday occurence, the highway. For me, its a fantasy. The pinnacle of driving, on the German autobahn where speed limits are non-existent.

The car was an Opel Astra wagon, turbo Diesel. Why we don't have cars like this in North America, I have no idea. I was originally going to just drive back home but instead, we took a little detour.

"Do you want to drive on the Autobahn?"
tenatively and nervously, "Yeaa...yea, I do"
"Are you sure you want to?"
"Of course I do!! I'm nervous, but yea, I want to drive. Lets go!"

So off we went. I was still rusty with driving a manual and compounded with my nervousness of driving in Germany for the first time, I stalled the car a couple times before I had even hit the Autobahn. But when I got there...it was one hell of a ride.

Coming off the on-ramp, I was already doing 120, making sure that the way was clear and I wouldn't be rear-ended by a porsche traveling 200 km/h. After quickly making it into the flow of traffic I picked out my spot and went into the fast lane.

For a few minutes, I was stuck behind a bus traveling 100 km/h. In Germany, its illegal to  pass on the right side, so I sat tight and waited. There was about two other cars between me and the bus, but as the bus creeped into the slow lane, the cars in front accelerated and moved out of my way. I had nothing but a clear road ahead. Warp speed here I come!!

I stayed in 5th gear and planted my trigger foot to the floor. My senses sharpened, my muscles tensed and I gripped the steering wheel harder than I probably needed to. 130, 140, 150...that was already fast than I had ever driven, and there was a lot more open road! I kept going, scanning the horizon for any cars, listening to any words advice my friend might give me.

As I got close to a car in the slow lane, I lifted.

"You're fine! Just keep going!"

Alright then...

"Its nothing really, its just the same. You're going a little faster than usual, that's all"

Thanks.

I dared not take my eyes off the road, even to check the speedometer. I looked down for a second, 180 km/h.

I still had open road and a few seconds later there was only one number I could see, 200.

That was it. I had hit 200 km/h on the Autobahn! The only only other time I had gone that fast was in Gran Turismo 4. Thinking back, it really was not much different. The car felt the same, just that the world was spinning by a little bit faster.

I ceased my warp speed progression and eased back on the brakes, slowing down into the real world. Hey, that wasn't a dream...

Deutschland...Here I come!

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