Guten Tag aus München
Hello family and friends! I promise I will not annoy you with peppering in random German words too much but felt this was an appropriate way to start off. I have landed in Munich, registered with the Bürgerbüro Meldewesen and for all practical purposes settled into my life here. Instead of taking the easy road of posting pictures and comments on social media, this old-fashioned newsletter will be my way of keeping you up to speed with my life here in Germany. I was inspired to do this newsletter from my wonderful pastor from Visitation Catholic Church. I figured if he can bang out a solid reflection each week with his busy schedule, I can certainly do it once a month! Like his Little Visitation, this is going to be a stream of conscience. And speaking of Visitation, if any of you Catholics (or even non- Catholics) are looking for a little fresh religion, please go make a visit to our little parish on Main Street. I promise it will be good for the soul!
Enough religion for now and back to my life here. Let’s start with this picture from my hike in Tegernsee.
One of my dreams since this all began was to take an early morning train from Munich south to the mountains with a coffee and The Financial Times and go for a hike to enjoy the outdoors. I could not have picked a better day to do it. Tegernsee itself is more than a little lake town. It is bustling with cranes and commerce. I am excited for next summer to do the same thing and hit the water instead.
I have enjoyed exploring Munich as well. I am still awestruck each time I turn a corner and see a new part of the city and find another majestic building or plaza.
Weather has been hit and miss and I am prepared for a grey winter but the energy in this city is wonderful. It is crazy how orderly and clean things are considering the density. To give some perspective, the population within Kansas City, MO proper would have to multiply by 8.5 to hit a similar mark. Furthermore, NYC is over 19 times denser than KC so Munich seems like a nice balance.
It is also very interesting how calm and quiet the German people are during the rush hour in the packed U- Bahn stations and trains. Of course, you have some offenders and on a recent commute this fellow was talking on his cell and I cannot describe the look of death this proper older lady was giving this guy! Yikes! In general, if you are at all Type-A this city might be the place for you.
Living and Getting Settled In
I will admit the afternoon I landed I went to the grocery store and I said under my breath, “oh shit....what did I get myself into?...” The good news is I got a good night’s sleep and started the next day fresh and positive.
Not much to say about my new place other than it is small, relatively new and has everything I need. No dryer so I have a drying rack out half of the week, the fridge is small but only cooking for one and the fold out bed is just right. Location is good for access to the U & S-Bahns but I don’t love the neighborhood. Not giving up on it yet but I think I have found a couple areas that appeal to me much more. Let’s just say they are a bit more leafy and “Brooksidey”. Time for another photo.
Here is a gem from Oktoberfest. This was just a couple days after I landed and strolled through it by myself. It is pretty much everything you can expect. I liked the boxed in gurneys the most to escort the passed-out drunks. The only way to do Oktoberfest is with friends, so please come next year!
As a student at TUM I get access to all the facilities at the Olympic Park which includes the pool. As a swimmer I was excited to get the opportunity to swim in a real competition pool where history was made by Mark Spitz. The pool itself was just redone and the shell of the pool, along with the two others I have visited, are lined with metal. A little disappointed they do not keep the water at a competition temperature but my guess is they are wanting to serve all students and 77 degrees is a little too chilly. Wimps!
Back to School
As you know it is not all fun and games. I started back a couple weeks ago and took the obligatory first day of school picture for my mother. Hi mom!
First module was about innovation which I began with some reservation considering my skepticism around a lot of today’s technology. I don’t claim to be a Luddite but seriously this Facebook and Twitter thing must go! Regardless, it was a good class because it yanked my head out of doing real estate deals in Kansas City and got me to start thinking differently.
Everyone in my class is great but there is something to be said for diversity. Lots of dudes and engineers, which reminded me of a joke my dad told me before going to college that went something like – “If you don’t care about meeting girls in college, go to University of Missouri-Rolla.” Well I found my Rolla here in Germany! The main takeaway so far is I feel good about my direction and the lectures stressed that firms need to expand, innovate and gain deep resources either organically or through partnerships to succeed in today’s environment. Another interesting and repeated comment was if all you have is an idea, go to America and you will get millions. Not surprising, Germans are a bit tighter with their money, just ask the ECB!
This is a part-time program so I definitely will need a J-O-B while I study. I have a couple things cooking so stay tuned. I did sign up for a WeWork membership so I could have a place to land each day. I have found over the years working from home and bouncing around coffee shops is not a good fit.
Lastly, I did go to this massive commercial real estate conference called Expo Real. It is held in Munich each year and it was good to get some fresh perspectives and I met a couple of new folks in the CRE world.
Road Trip to Milan
A good friend was in Milan for a trade show and I could not pass up an opportunity to see him. I rented a car, drove on the Autobahn (hit 111 mph and said an explicative when an A8 roared past me) and we had a fun two days in Milan and Lake Como. No sightings of Clooney in Como but what a beautiful place.
We were dealt a crappy hand in weather but if you are into fashion and like to shop, this is the place for you. I must say, even though it was only two nights it was good to be back in Munich. Munich definitely suits me better and realized I still have lots to explore here. BUT if you are in Europe do not hesitate to let me know and would love to travel and see you.
Challenges
As with life, nothing is perfect so here are a couple of things that I find annoying. 1) Credit cards – for such an advanced nation I don’t get it why we cannot just swipe and go! 2) Water – I am not going to go broke ordering a bottle of water each time I eat out. Bring me water from the tap! 3) Procedures – I think this is a German thing but again for such an advanced nation, they sure make some routine things overly burdensome. 4) Language – I have a long way to go but of course no fault to my wonderful tutor back in KC. 5) Style – this is good and bad. I can say I have been to some of the most stylish cities in the world (Paris, London, NYC, Shell Knob MO, Monaco and now Milan) and this town has style. It is a little intimidating, but no frumpiness is allowed here. One thing that is not in style is wearing your team’s colors. Even with one of the most popular soccer, or I mean Fuβball, teams in the world, you hardly see Bayern München gear. Feedback I got from one German is that Munich is a little too stylish for such clothing but you will find it more in other parts of the country.
Otherwise no issues or big mishaps to report other than that speeding ticket in a tunnel in Switzerland! Clearly the Swiss have not followed America’s lead on the unconstitutionality of unmanned radars.
Reading List
Like any proper publication we need a Review section so here is a brief summary of what I am reading:
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. This was given to me by a good friend and have found it quite interesting. I have only read a couple of King’s books but he gives some helpful tips, which I am trying to apply to this newsletter. Two of his repeated themes to become a good writer is to read constantly and be honest.
My papers.... I do miss my daily hard copy of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. I am dealing with it ok via online but my plate is full with school and studying German so it is probably a good thing I am reading those less. The Saturday FT is not quite the Sunday NYT but it is very good and I do treat myself to a hard copy on the weekend.
About a month before I shipped off for Germany I visited Prospero’s on 39th Street to pick out a book. I wanted to grab a classic and somehow ended up getting Normal Mailer’s The Armies of the Night: History as a Novel/The Novel as History. I recognized Mailer’s name but didn’t know anything about him. The book is on a subject I have done little reading on (Vietnam era) and won the Pulitzer so I figured why not. I wouldn’t say it was bad, I learned about the march on the Pentagon in 1967 but after about 2/3 of the way I put it down. Life’s too short and I was not into it anymore.
Until Next Time
My new cell number is +49 XXX XXXXXX and I have kept the 816 number active but it is turned off. You fellow iPhoners can easily text but for that pesky green-texting Andriod, we are going to need WhatsApp.
I will leave you with a couple more pictures and a map to fill out this last page. Enjoy and don’t hesitate to say hello or editorialize anything I am chatting about.
