We set off for the Green Hell

Wednesday

I worked a half day so we could pick up the rental car (BMW 118d) and headed off to Kaufering to pick up all the camping gear. We packed full, bought groceries and hit the road (a bit later than scheduled). There was an unbelievable sense of freedom driving on the autobahn. Not so much because of unrestricted speed limits in some areas, but the visual scenery that one cannot get by simply sitting on the train. I experienced some of the most beautiful sunsets I have seen in Germany, driving into the horizon. It has left a great impression in my mind of the German country side and only strengthens the appreciation and beauty this country has to offer. By the way, the 118d is restricted to 220km/h, but it was still a great drive.

We arrived at the Nürburgring around 1am. The first two camping grounds, Brünnchen and Planzgarten, were completely full. Imagine Woodstock with a lot of tents, scaffolding, campers, bond fires, a lot of loud music, small fireworks and people wandering about this is after midnight btw. We end up at Schwalbenschwanz which was just as festive, but they had some open spots. We searched around for a while until we finally found a small plot. We ask three gentlemen nearby if it’s available. Jokingly they asked, “Are you guys going to be loud?” We said no and they welcomed us to park. Welcome is an understatement. As soon as we got out of the car, they handed each of us a beer, and then proceeded to help us setup camp. We talked and joked around with them until 4am. This was not your stereotypical camping. This was a festival.

In the realm of fanatics and sports enthusiasts, one can imagine riots by both angry and celebratory fans. This was something else. The atmosphere was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Here were thousands of people, united under a common interest regardless of who won or lost. While everyone had their brand loyalties, this was a festival to celebrate the love of Motorsport. We met so many people out of random, and the dispensing/offer of beer was more common than a handshake.

This past week has been a blur. A lot of planning and work was done. I am now waiting for some student colleagues to arrive in München and then we are picking up our rental car (BMW 1er diesel, naturally). Tonight we will be camping at the Nürburgring and preparing for the festivities, races, and other events at the "Grüne Hölle."


My boss is racing in the MINI Challenge series, and is also racing a 135d for the 24hr Rennen Nürburgring. I can't wait to go, this is any motorsports enthusiasts goal; to visit the Nürburgring at least once in their lifetime. I will be back in August however for RingTaxi (a lap around the Nürburgring itself, driven by my boss), and the DTM race on the following day.


So excited!!!!  


Ill try to post after Sunday, but there will be a LOT of pictures to sort through. Stay tuned  :)

Tonight I am going to go to the  Bayerische Volkssternwarte München (an Observatory). Hopefully the clouds will stay away and I can view the Total Lunar Eclipse  :) 


I cannot believe it's already Wednesday; I suppose it was made possible by the holiday on Monday. This weekend a friend from our International Partner Project - Braunschweig is visiting. There are many planned festivities this weekend as it's Munich's birthday! (Stadtgründungsfest)


Looking forward to the pictures to come.




edit:

The moon was fairly low on the horizon and was covered by haze and alps. It poked through the clouds as it was filling back out and I was able to grab the picture above (using my new lens and cropping to 100%). The observatory was a lot of fun. They set up one of the large telescopes fixed on Saturn. It looked so small in the viewfinder, but all the rings were clearly visible. It was definitely humbling looking at the cosmos, and realizing just how small we are. The International Space Station streaked overhead, and we also saw an Iridium Flare (communications satelites whose panels reflect sunlight as they pass).

I love stargazing.

Saturday:
Anthony arrived safely and Nick came over so we all had dinner at my place. We talked and talked and finally we called it a night at 2am. We weren't going to wake up in time for the train to Salzburg.... but it's alright.

Sunday:
Anthony was only in for a day and half, so we walked all around München. Marienplatz, Englischer Garten, then headed to BMW Museum and Welt. We checked pricing on the Olympiaturm and it's only 4,50euro to go up. Open most days until 11:30pm! We didn't go this time around because we were really hungry and it was quite busy (there were many people in Olympiaplatz for the Bon Jovi concert). We had PizzaHut which was better than I was expecting.... then WALKED all the way back to Marienplatz to go to Hofbräuhaus. It was a long day.

Monday:
We went on a historic Steam Train ride around München. It was so much fun! The smoke of coals burning, the whistles and the chugging along the tracks. Definitely a fun hour spent on a holiday.

Trials and tribulations of failure - A valuable lesson in Time Management

Today I have failed. I took on more than I could accomplish. I had to prepare two cars for testing which involved fetching parts, checkovers/inspections, and getting fluids changed. I had to speak to someone whom I have never met before, in an area I wasn't familiar with. When I couldn't reach him over the phone, I moved onto the next task. I hadn't even taken lunch but I accomplished all other things that needed to be done, and finally tackled the last task from earlier (brake fluid change) I went over to the department, the contact wasn't there, and I asked the co-workers if it was possible. They said there was no time left, and it would have to wait till next Tuesday (the cars will underway by then).

I feel pretty disappointed and my boss assured me it wasn't to big of a deal. He said that he will have the brake fluid changed at the testing area. I still feel as though I let people down. I don't want to be seen as unreliable and this could have been easily avoided. It was a very hard lesson of learning how to manage time and prioritize. If I can offer ANY advice from this experience it is one word:

ASK


If you aren't sure, ask
If you need help, ask
If you are in over your head, ask (to delegate)
If you don't know who your contact is, ask

Even if everyone is slammed with work, extremely busy, it is better to ask for clarification than to do your work incorrectly (or not at all).  You aren't going to annoy anyone, you aren't going to be frowned upon for not knowing how to accomplish something. The purpose of the internship is to gain knowledge in the field/industry and sometimes you can only do so by asking for clarification. I took on more than I could accomplish and I don't know if it was a matter of pride/over enthusiasm/willingness to take on new tasks....but I should have asked for assistance early on. Lesson learned.

...it also doesn't help that it was the Friday before a holiday so people were leaving early anyhow. This may have contributed to the shorter time frame of available assistance, but it shouldn't have been a problem if I contacted my co-workers ahead of time.



This weekend a friend is visiting from Braunschweig; We may be going to Salzburg tomorrow for some sight seeing. It's also his first time in München so I'm sure there will be some city sights to be seen.

Today I had to pick someone up from München- Flughafen (airport). To my surprise it was the Claudia Hürtgen! She is the race driver for BMW Motorsports Z4 GT3. She was super friendly and I practiced my German the entire drive while she practiced her [already awesome] English. I hope I am able to get an Autograph later. She will also be competing in the coming weeks at 24hr Rennen Nürburgring so maybe I can remind her then.She recognized me before I spotted her out, she said she has seen me at Messegelände Aschheim; this made me feel happy as she was already aware of my existence somehow  :D
I have ordered a new telephoto lens and I hope to take some better pictures this event.


BMW Motorsport Z4 GT3

Goodbye Braunschweig

Last week there was a holiday on thursday, i used my flex-time (Gleitzeit) to take friday off so I could go back to Braunschweig and pick up my last piece of luggage. I had to leave some stuff behind because when I initially moved to München, I had to live out of a hostel for a week or so.

Thursday I had left immediately from work, packed a small bag and got a ticket to Braunschweig. Because it was spontanious, there were NO RESERVATION for seats. Thats right, I had to sit 4.5 hours on the floor of an ICE3. Wasn't as bad as you might think, as long as you stake your claim for a spot to sit. (or just sit on top of your luggage).

 It was great catching up with friends and classmates. I wish I could have at least stopped by to see if I could help with Lions Racing, but things haven't been going so well from what I've heard. Lots of changes.

We went to Okercabana, the Heidberg See (twice, second time to BBQ out by the water) and some bars throughout the weekend. I met up with many fellow IEP'ers and some International Students from TUBS-Sommerkurs which was great.