The Mid-Year Seminar, and a Trip to the Thames

This blog is coming to you a few days late, but for good reason. This past week I have been on the move  a lot. I had the Mid-Year Seminar Monday to early Friday and then took off from there To England for the weekend. I have no Idea how long this blog will be but I feel it will be a long one.

Monday Morning I caught a train to Frankfurt, Josh and Michael Douglas had caught the same train out of Bremen. It was nice to have company for the 5 hour ride to the seminar. Our conversations ranged from relationships, gay rights, religion, religious perspectives on sin, fashion, business ideas, and so much more. When we finally made it into Frankfurt we found our bus and thought we where headed to the Hostel, except we got on the bus going the wrong way.  When we made it back to the Hbf we found some other PPP'lers headed the same way. 20 minutes I walked into a huge reunion, 70 other Americans most of who I hadn't seen since the opening seminar. We had a quick settling in and then the seminar got under way.

 









The Opening day was very short and to the point, no need to put to much on us before we even got going. After a dinner in our hostel a group of us headed out to the get a beer. We found a bar lose by and got what they called the Meter. it worked out great there where 11 of us in the group and the meter was a 11 glasses of beer served in a rack. so for a euro a beer we did really nicely. I had some good conversation with Cort and Kyle about hunting and hunting clubs and traditions.

Tuesday was a little more structured, we had a session that morning critiquing the GIZ and the way they run the program. I can't say I really am impressed y the GIZ and the way they do things. I have had several problems with them and it seems that other people have had the same issues across the board. I feel that the Giz has operated this Program for over 5 years and should have a better handle on things than they do.

Anyway after our venting session we headed out to lunch. It was a really nice restaurant and the food was great. Lunch was fallowed by a few private update interviews. I had to make one of these and it was short, basic update. I feel like I could have skipped that interview I mean I had talked to the lady over lunch and told her the same thing. I mean there where people who actually wanted that time to get advice and help or just vent to them.

That evening brought about yet another new experience for me; the Opera. I was defiantly glad that I thought to bring my casual dress jacket and tie with me.  They national Philharmonics played Beethoven 9th, so I was told. It was an experience, not saying i would ever do it again but it was worth the time.  Only thing that seemed odd was that 9 of us ended up with seats in the balcony while the rest of the group had floor seats. It didn't bug me at the time I liked being up higher away from the stage with a better view and the possibility to tape some of the show. Even if it was Verboten. After the show it all clicked tho the reason we where up there is that the GIZ forgot to count themselves when they ordered the tickets and had to buy 9 extra and then just mixed them in with the rest.

Wednesday we headed out to Point Alpha. This was a spot on the border of E/W Germany in the cold war and is now a memorial site showing the evolution of the border. It was interesting nothing much to actually tell but here are pictures of the camp and border.

Double Fence With Mine Field Between

Basic Barb Wire Fence

Soviet Watch Tower

Mine Field and 2 Meter Fence. 

After lunch in the old Mess Hall we headed to the Academy and I fell asleep through that. It was very unfortunate because I was in the front row but the whole group agreed that this guy had a very boring voice. Imagine those old dental videos with the monotone voice and you have our guy. I tried to stay awake translating but ended up basically asleep through the whole thing. 

That evening the group went out to Karaoke and we had a blast. If you haven't seen the video I posted on Facebook of the group Bohemian Rhapsody, it's definitely worth a look. 

Thursday was our most formal day with a visit to the GIZ HQ and a visit from The american Chamber of Commerce, Factory manager of John Deer Germany, and the US General Consulate Deputy Principal Officer. 

Charisse M. Phillips Deputy Principal Officer
Foreign Service US Consulate

  Then there where some Presentations by Participants that where interesting/entertaining, but I don't think you guys want to here about their community service and such. 

Friday the seminar ended and I was off with Josh for another adventure.

OFF TO LONDON

When we got to London we hadn't had time (or internet) to find out how to get to our hostel. Luckily with the help of the train services we figured it out, and made it there relatively quick. We hit the hay early so we could get up and explore the next morning. Over Breakfast we planned our route for the most part. A long 9 hours later and we had covered 17- 18 miles of city. And saw 26 major sights..... The pictures can tell the tale.

Victoria and Albert Museum

Natural History Museum 

Brampton Oratory

Wellington arch(top) Gate (Left)
 and the Horse guard Passing (below)

Some war Memorials

 

BUCKINGHAM PALACE

POLICE MEMORIAL

HORSE GUARDS PARADE

BIG BEN, HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT

WESTMINSTER ABBY AND ST. MARGRET'S

Unfortunately my camera died here. But fortunately Josh shared His photo's

LONDON EYE

SHAKESPEARS GLOBAL THEATER

H.M.S BELFAST

TOWER BRIDGE

TOWER OF LONDON 

ALL HALLOWS 

(not pictured)

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL

That was pretty well Saturday... a long day/walk. My feet were ridiculously sore afterwards. There was a lot more that we took pictures of as well; random memorials and buildings of interest. those who can see my FB album will see them shortly when I finish the full upload. 

Sunday we went to a couple museums, the top of them being Ripley's Believe it or not. our adventure took us another 14-15 miles. Here is a brief look at Ripley's....

There where so many exhibits including a hall of mirrors and a laser obstacle course.

That was basically the weekend, we also saw some really interesting mosaics....

 Monday was all travel home and a pass down Baker street by the Sherlock Holmes Museum.

Whew.... that was almost as tiring as it was to actually do it......

Hope y'all enjoyed my Picture blog,

Cody A. Glick