(I started to write this last night before receiving awful news from back home. I'll elaborate later.)
This past weekend I traveled to Munich. I had been wanting to go since I've been here, so I was pretty well set on going. This eventually turned into me traveling there alone after the other three guys that planned on going backed out a couple of days before. Oh well.
After staying up late the night before figuring out my plans for the weekend/studying, I decided to catch the noon train to Munich. The day ended up being a good one as I'm pretty sure that I rocked my thermo test in the morning and the weather was beautiful in Munich. I first checked into my "hostel".
I say "hostel" because the name of it was "The Tent" which was a perfect description of the place. I slept in a huge tent on a bed that was more like a mat and bent into the shape of a U upon lying on it. This and the loudness of 50+ twenty-somethings on Friday and Saturday nights didn't exactly lead to the best nights of sleep, but considering that it was the only place not booked on Friday and only cost 10 euros a night, it wasn't too bad.
After checking in, I decided to head to downtown Munich. I bought an all-day public transport pass, so I could go all around. I started at city hall and just missed the moving of the clock at 5 by about 10 minutes. Luckily for me, I've heard from several people that watching the clock is about the second most overrated thing to do in Europe. I then ate at KFC before heading out to Olympic Village. I walked around there looking at the stadium and the other various sites. It was really nice out there.
The English Garden was the next place I went. It's effectively the Central Park of Munich. I walked past the Chinese Tower where there was a biergarten and a watch party for the France-Uruguay World Cup game. This was my first glimpse of World Cup Fever in Germany. Feeling my inner soccer fan calling, I tried to head out to AllianzArena, the home of FC Bayern Munich. The side of the stadium is covered in LED lights. I was hoping to see them lit, but as luck would have it, the lights weren't on when I got there. I went back to the hostel, talked a few people there, and hit the hay.
Saturday started off early as I woke up around 6. An hour-long train ride at 7:30 a.m. later, I was in Garmisch in the foothills of the Alps. I then caught a train up to Zugspitze, Germany's highest point. The air was clear and cool, and the ground was covered in snow. It was a relatively clear day, so the view was vast and beautiful. The cost of the train/cable car was a bit pricey (~50 euro), though.
After taking the cable car down, I caught a train to Fuessen to see Neuschwanstein, the castle that inspired the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland. However, I just missed the bus up to the castle and had to wait about 45 minutes. Since I wanted to be back in Munich to watch the US-England game, I only had about 20 minutes around the castle. I was able to take a few pictures of it, another castle, and a lake but didn't have time to hike up the hill to the actual castle. Dag. I did get back to watch the game, though, and thanks to the English keeper, the US pulled off a draw.
I slept in a bit Sunday, checked out, and then headed to the Deutsches Museum, the largest technical museum in the world. I really liked the museum, though I spent way too much time at the beginning of it and ran out of time to enjoy other sections. If you ever go and really enjoy science and engineering, I'd suggest staying there for more than 4.5 hours. You could really spend a few days in there.
I arrived back in Karlsruhe shortly before the Germany-Australia game. A large group of the ID students watched the game in the basement and ventured out onto the streets afterwards. The amount of passion of German fans was pretty amazing with people driving around and hitting their horns and others singing in the streets. I fully intend to go to a large watch party somewhere for one of Germany's games. It should be a good time.
I think I shall be going now. Until next time, Alles Gute.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Toe-may-toe or toe-mah-toe
I have a thermodynamics II quiz on Friday. We have four quizzes throughout the semester on which to earn a total of 15 points (out of 40 total) in order to qualify for the final exam. I received four on the first. That means that if I average that score on the three following quizzes, I will qualify by a single point. With this set of circumstances, I should be studying...
...but I'm not.
Herein lies the difference between KIT's educational method of only having final exams (and a design project) and Purdue's non-stop homework/exam marathon. I figure it was time that I detail the fundamental differences between the two systems.
Purdue
Those of you that I've kept in close contact with over the years know that while at Purdue, I usually have a pretty full plate. On top of my studies, I try to be at least somewhat involved in Pi Tau Sigma, ASME, and Purdue Solar Racing (maybe not so much on the last one) and try to actually enjoy my college years with friends.
Purdue University's School of Mechanical Engineering is pretty well-known for its meat grinder-esque approach. Sure, it can suck, but I know it's preparing me to be a good engineer. That's why a lot of companies hire from Purdue. The constant homework, quizzes, labs, and midterms help to reinforce material learned in lecture. Purdue's coursework juggles both theory and practicality with general concepts being taught first with their applications discussed secondly.
Purdue ME also focuses a bit more on gaining general knowledge of various engineering topics from management to thermodynamics to mechanics early on with design classes towards the end of the program. Everything culminates with a senior design project where students design and build a new product from scratch.
KIT
KIT's ME program is a bit different. The most glaring difference is the way courses are graded. Instead of having numerous parts (tests, homework, etc.) that go towards your final grade like Purdue, your final grade at KIT is solely dependent on the final exam. One exam, one grade. Rough. Sure, some classes (i.e. thermo) require a certain competency for qualification to take the final, but the final is still your entire grade. Also, class isn't really mandatory like it is at Purdue.
Lectures at KIT are supported by tutorials that either cover specific subjects or illustrate problems that can be solved with the concepts learned in lecture. My tutorials in thermo, for instance, involve a tutor working through two large problems that relate to what we've learned in previous lectures.
One big positive of KIT's curriculum is the focus on design from the very beginning. For the first four semesters, students take a four semester-long design course that is paralleled by a design project. This class is useful because you learn very practical things like bearing arrangements and shaft dimensioning. This is stuff that Purdue doesn't really cover, at least not until very late. The design project is also a great teaching tool. One learns the basic design of clutches, transmissions, drives, etc. There's also the sense of accomplishment in designing your own transmission. KIT also requires that students have both an internship and do a bachelor's thesis before getting their degree. Undergrad research and job experience are strongly recommended at Purdue but not mandatory.
How it affects me
I'm more so built for the Purdue model. I like having to do problems throughout the semester to reinforce what I've learned. I just don't have the motivation to study for an exam that is over a month away. I'm the stereotypical cram studier. To compare my study habits to track, I would run the 200 m on the exam track. I sure as hell wouldn't be running the 3200 m.
This has led me to not work as hard as usual. Sure, the allure of traveling around Europe and experiencing another culture is another detriment to my studies, but it's more so ingrained study habits. I'm hoping to begin studying for the exams soon, but we'll see if I can make this change.
But don't worry, Mom. I'll still try to pull out good grades in the end. It is study abroad and not a four-month vacation (though I wish it was). Anywho, back to studying.
Until next time, Alles Gute.
...but I'm not.
Herein lies the difference between KIT's educational method of only having final exams (and a design project) and Purdue's non-stop homework/exam marathon. I figure it was time that I detail the fundamental differences between the two systems.
Purdue
Those of you that I've kept in close contact with over the years know that while at Purdue, I usually have a pretty full plate. On top of my studies, I try to be at least somewhat involved in Pi Tau Sigma, ASME, and Purdue Solar Racing (maybe not so much on the last one) and try to actually enjoy my college years with friends.
Purdue University's School of Mechanical Engineering is pretty well-known for its meat grinder-esque approach. Sure, it can suck, but I know it's preparing me to be a good engineer. That's why a lot of companies hire from Purdue. The constant homework, quizzes, labs, and midterms help to reinforce material learned in lecture. Purdue's coursework juggles both theory and practicality with general concepts being taught first with their applications discussed secondly.
Purdue ME also focuses a bit more on gaining general knowledge of various engineering topics from management to thermodynamics to mechanics early on with design classes towards the end of the program. Everything culminates with a senior design project where students design and build a new product from scratch.
KIT
KIT's ME program is a bit different. The most glaring difference is the way courses are graded. Instead of having numerous parts (tests, homework, etc.) that go towards your final grade like Purdue, your final grade at KIT is solely dependent on the final exam. One exam, one grade. Rough. Sure, some classes (i.e. thermo) require a certain competency for qualification to take the final, but the final is still your entire grade. Also, class isn't really mandatory like it is at Purdue.
Lectures at KIT are supported by tutorials that either cover specific subjects or illustrate problems that can be solved with the concepts learned in lecture. My tutorials in thermo, for instance, involve a tutor working through two large problems that relate to what we've learned in previous lectures.
One big positive of KIT's curriculum is the focus on design from the very beginning. For the first four semesters, students take a four semester-long design course that is paralleled by a design project. This class is useful because you learn very practical things like bearing arrangements and shaft dimensioning. This is stuff that Purdue doesn't really cover, at least not until very late. The design project is also a great teaching tool. One learns the basic design of clutches, transmissions, drives, etc. There's also the sense of accomplishment in designing your own transmission. KIT also requires that students have both an internship and do a bachelor's thesis before getting their degree. Undergrad research and job experience are strongly recommended at Purdue but not mandatory.
How it affects me
I'm more so built for the Purdue model. I like having to do problems throughout the semester to reinforce what I've learned. I just don't have the motivation to study for an exam that is over a month away. I'm the stereotypical cram studier. To compare my study habits to track, I would run the 200 m on the exam track. I sure as hell wouldn't be running the 3200 m.
This has led me to not work as hard as usual. Sure, the allure of traveling around Europe and experiencing another culture is another detriment to my studies, but it's more so ingrained study habits. I'm hoping to begin studying for the exams soon, but we'll see if I can make this change.
But don't worry, Mom. I'll still try to pull out good grades in the end. It is study abroad and not a four-month vacation (though I wish it was). Anywho, back to studying.
Until next time, Alles Gute.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Costanza
Wait, that isn't right.
Lake Constance
That's more like it.
Yesterday, Zach, Steve, Jason, and I went to Konstanz, Germany on the German-Swiss border to see Lake Constance, or Bodensee auf Deutsch.
We missed our original train there but were able to catch one an hour later. I slept most of the three-hour train ride. The countryside I was awake to see, though, was very nice.
Our day trip to Konstanz basically involved us walking along the lakefront the majority of the time. It was nice to chill on the "beach". There wasn't really a sandy beach area, just a bunch of small rocky beaches. One beach had numerous rock sculptures where people had stacked stones into pillars. They were neat, though we all had to fight the urge to knock several of them down. I also climbed a tree.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!
The walk along the lake was nice and relaxing, though it did lead to an odd moment when we, apparently, walked past a section of nude beach.
Yea...
Other than that, though, the day was a good one. One high point in particular was my first Slush Puppy since Little League (or at least high school). Damn, that was delicious.
We've begun thinking of future trips with Paris possibly this weekend, Munich (and Salzburg/Vienna?) the next weekend, Barcelona the first weekend of July, and Berlin/Hamburg the second weekend of July.
So many places, so little time.
Until next time, Alles Gute.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
When in Rome...
Sorry that I've put off this update for a while. I got back on Saturday and about two hours later had to start working on my design project. The project meeting went fairly well even though I was kind of slow after going to bed at 5 in the morning the night before.
And here we go...
Our journey to Rome began with Adam, David, Andreu, Dev, and I heading to the airport at around 6ish the day before our flight. We were flying out of Frankfurt Hahn Airport which, contrary to what the name suggests, is no-frickin'-where close to Frankfurt. We first took the train to the main airport of Frankfurt, switched to a train to the main train station, then caught a shuttle bus to the airport. The shuttle took about 2 hours. While waiting for the shuttle, we met this Australian guy whose name slips my mind that is studying in Genoa. He hung out with us until both of our respective flights were boarding.
After a fairly difficult night of sleep on the floor of Frankfurt Hahn, we caught our 6 a.m. flight to Rome. Andreu wasn't really prepared for the rough landing that seemingly always happens on a Ryanair flight as he was asleep and woke up quite startled. I'm beginning to think that Ryanair planes don't have suspension systems on their landing gear.
After surviving the rough landing, we caught yet another shuttle. This time it was to Rome city center. It was here that I found out that Roman drivers are bat---- crazy. The lines on the road didn't even seem to be suggestions, merely decoration.
We arrived at the city center, bought Roma passes, checked in to our hostel, and went to see the sights of Rome. At the Pantheon, we got the first glimpse that, apparently, all of Italy is under construction since the entire front of the building (and many other landmarks later in our trip) was covered in scaffolding. From the Pantheon, we wandered around some more, ate, and then went to the Coliseum. Our Roma Pass was good for two museum entries and all public transport in Rome. We used our first entry to walk into the Coliseum and the Roman Forum. Being a bit of a history geek, I enjoyed looking at the ruins and reading the different facts, though seeing so many ruins was a bit much. We were seemingly on Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum for forever before it began to rain. We scurried back to our hostel, showered, made one last venture at night to get pics of the Coliseum at night and the Circus Maximus (aka valley in the ground with gravel at the bottom), and called it a night.
Day Two in Rome consisted of going to the Vatican, waiting in long lines for the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica, and turning down countless people trying to sell tours for the different landmarks. I actually began to get pretty good at completely ignoring other people and brushing them aside. Thanks, Rome!
The museum at the Vatican was incredibly long with art collections from ancient Greece and Rome, the Dark Ages, the Renaissance, and modern times. The designers of the museum, of course, put the main reason for going, the Sistine Chapel, at the very end of the tour. It was beautiful, though I struggled to sort out all of the roughly ninety bajillion scenes on the ceiling. Dev attempted to take pictures of the ceiling (which isn't allowed) and was kindly (or maybe not so kindly) asked to leave the Chapel. After the museum, we saw the Basilica which was pretty awe-inspiring. I really liked the Vatican as a whole, even though I didn't fulfill my goal of fist-bumping the Pope. Maybe next time. The night ended with David, Adam, two girls from Penn State that were in our hostel, and I going to a pub crawl. Knowing I had to wake up before 8 to catch a train to Pisa the next day, we came back fairly early. I did get a sweet t-shirt out of it, though.
Wednesday brought about Dev, Andreu, and I checking out of the hostel and heading to Pisa then Florence with the other two heading to Barcelona for the rest of the week. I fell asleep on the way to Pisa (though I did get to see some of the time the train was right on the coast--awesome), woke up when we got to Pisa, and, apparently in my sleepy state, left my jacket on the train. I didn't realize this until the next day when we were leaving our hostel in Florence. Trenitalia doesn't have a lost and found service anymore (discontinued last year), so it looks like I won't have a waterproof jacket the rest of this trip. Dag.
We spent about two or three hours in Pisa to see the Tower and a couple of other places before heading to Florence. I got the obligatory and cheesy "holding the up Tower" photo.
Once in Florence, we checked into our awesome hostel (it's too bad we were there for only one night) and began walking around Florence. The city was beautiful and had this unique charm to it. It was small enough that we were able to walk around all of it seeing the Duomo and Bell Tower then the city from Piazzale Michelangelo at sunset. We had a cheap, full Italian meal at an actual restaurant (I was getting tired of always eating pizza) and then ended our night.
The next day we attempted to head to Venice at around 9 or so only for every train to Venice until 12:30 to be sold out. We wandered around Florence and ate until our late train, caught the train, and finally arrived in Venice around 3. Venice was great even though we walked into dead ends countless times on the narrow "streets" (read: alleys) of Venice. It was neat walking through a completely pedestrian city as there are no cars or scooters or anything in Venice. The only transport are boats and the soles of your feet. We kept walking around until sunset, ate on the waterfront, and caught a vaporetto back to our hostel. Or well, we thought it was heading back to our hostel, but the line ended on a separate island, Lido. This led to us waiting around for about 45 minutes until a night line boat came to take us back. The entire ride I was paranoid because we didn't buy tickets and I didn't want to be fined an absurd amount.
The next day we stayed in Venice until about noon, so we could see Venetian glass-making on Murano before heading to Milan. My view of Milan was a bit sour at first since it didn't have the charm of Florence or Venice and I was tired. After resting a bit, my spirits and view of the city lifted. We looked in various stores of clothes and accessories that I'll never be able to afford from Armani to the Ferrari fan shop. To give you an idea about the ridiculous prices in the Ferrari store, they sold a pair of sunglasses with gold that cost about 20,000 euros.
Our Italy trip ended with us, once again, attempting to sleep on an airport floor. It didn't work out to well for me as I attempted to fight the cold of the floor (if only I had a jacket...), and a security guard yelled at us in Italian to move (I think that's what he said) since they had to clean the floor. These events resulted in about three hours of sleep and exhaustion the rest of the weekend. Maybe we need to rethink this sleeping in airports thing...
Some of us are going over to a German friend of ours place to have a barbecue later today. It should be a good time. We're throwing around the idea of going somewhere this weekend (perhaps Amsterdam?), but we'll see if that happens.
Until next time, Alles Gute.
And here we go...
Our journey to Rome began with Adam, David, Andreu, Dev, and I heading to the airport at around 6ish the day before our flight. We were flying out of Frankfurt Hahn Airport which, contrary to what the name suggests, is no-frickin'-where close to Frankfurt. We first took the train to the main airport of Frankfurt, switched to a train to the main train station, then caught a shuttle bus to the airport. The shuttle took about 2 hours. While waiting for the shuttle, we met this Australian guy whose name slips my mind that is studying in Genoa. He hung out with us until both of our respective flights were boarding.
After a fairly difficult night of sleep on the floor of Frankfurt Hahn, we caught our 6 a.m. flight to Rome. Andreu wasn't really prepared for the rough landing that seemingly always happens on a Ryanair flight as he was asleep and woke up quite startled. I'm beginning to think that Ryanair planes don't have suspension systems on their landing gear.
After surviving the rough landing, we caught yet another shuttle. This time it was to Rome city center. It was here that I found out that Roman drivers are bat---- crazy. The lines on the road didn't even seem to be suggestions, merely decoration.
We arrived at the city center, bought Roma passes, checked in to our hostel, and went to see the sights of Rome. At the Pantheon, we got the first glimpse that, apparently, all of Italy is under construction since the entire front of the building (and many other landmarks later in our trip) was covered in scaffolding. From the Pantheon, we wandered around some more, ate, and then went to the Coliseum. Our Roma Pass was good for two museum entries and all public transport in Rome. We used our first entry to walk into the Coliseum and the Roman Forum. Being a bit of a history geek, I enjoyed looking at the ruins and reading the different facts, though seeing so many ruins was a bit much. We were seemingly on Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum for forever before it began to rain. We scurried back to our hostel, showered, made one last venture at night to get pics of the Coliseum at night and the Circus Maximus (aka valley in the ground with gravel at the bottom), and called it a night.
Day Two in Rome consisted of going to the Vatican, waiting in long lines for the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica, and turning down countless people trying to sell tours for the different landmarks. I actually began to get pretty good at completely ignoring other people and brushing them aside. Thanks, Rome!
The museum at the Vatican was incredibly long with art collections from ancient Greece and Rome, the Dark Ages, the Renaissance, and modern times. The designers of the museum, of course, put the main reason for going, the Sistine Chapel, at the very end of the tour. It was beautiful, though I struggled to sort out all of the roughly ninety bajillion scenes on the ceiling. Dev attempted to take pictures of the ceiling (which isn't allowed) and was kindly (or maybe not so kindly) asked to leave the Chapel. After the museum, we saw the Basilica which was pretty awe-inspiring. I really liked the Vatican as a whole, even though I didn't fulfill my goal of fist-bumping the Pope. Maybe next time. The night ended with David, Adam, two girls from Penn State that were in our hostel, and I going to a pub crawl. Knowing I had to wake up before 8 to catch a train to Pisa the next day, we came back fairly early. I did get a sweet t-shirt out of it, though.
Wednesday brought about Dev, Andreu, and I checking out of the hostel and heading to Pisa then Florence with the other two heading to Barcelona for the rest of the week. I fell asleep on the way to Pisa (though I did get to see some of the time the train was right on the coast--awesome), woke up when we got to Pisa, and, apparently in my sleepy state, left my jacket on the train. I didn't realize this until the next day when we were leaving our hostel in Florence. Trenitalia doesn't have a lost and found service anymore (discontinued last year), so it looks like I won't have a waterproof jacket the rest of this trip. Dag.
We spent about two or three hours in Pisa to see the Tower and a couple of other places before heading to Florence. I got the obligatory and cheesy "holding the up Tower" photo.
Once in Florence, we checked into our awesome hostel (it's too bad we were there for only one night) and began walking around Florence. The city was beautiful and had this unique charm to it. It was small enough that we were able to walk around all of it seeing the Duomo and Bell Tower then the city from Piazzale Michelangelo at sunset. We had a cheap, full Italian meal at an actual restaurant (I was getting tired of always eating pizza) and then ended our night.
The next day we attempted to head to Venice at around 9 or so only for every train to Venice until 12:30 to be sold out. We wandered around Florence and ate until our late train, caught the train, and finally arrived in Venice around 3. Venice was great even though we walked into dead ends countless times on the narrow "streets" (read: alleys) of Venice. It was neat walking through a completely pedestrian city as there are no cars or scooters or anything in Venice. The only transport are boats and the soles of your feet. We kept walking around until sunset, ate on the waterfront, and caught a vaporetto back to our hostel. Or well, we thought it was heading back to our hostel, but the line ended on a separate island, Lido. This led to us waiting around for about 45 minutes until a night line boat came to take us back. The entire ride I was paranoid because we didn't buy tickets and I didn't want to be fined an absurd amount.
The next day we stayed in Venice until about noon, so we could see Venetian glass-making on Murano before heading to Milan. My view of Milan was a bit sour at first since it didn't have the charm of Florence or Venice and I was tired. After resting a bit, my spirits and view of the city lifted. We looked in various stores of clothes and accessories that I'll never be able to afford from Armani to the Ferrari fan shop. To give you an idea about the ridiculous prices in the Ferrari store, they sold a pair of sunglasses with gold that cost about 20,000 euros.
Our Italy trip ended with us, once again, attempting to sleep on an airport floor. It didn't work out to well for me as I attempted to fight the cold of the floor (if only I had a jacket...), and a security guard yelled at us in Italian to move (I think that's what he said) since they had to clean the floor. These events resulted in about three hours of sleep and exhaustion the rest of the weekend. Maybe we need to rethink this sleeping in airports thing...
Some of us are going over to a German friend of ours place to have a barbecue later today. It should be a good time. We're throwing around the idea of going somewhere this weekend (perhaps Amsterdam?), but we'll see if that happens.
Until next time, Alles Gute.
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