Skiing in Gaschurn, Austria

One of my favorite things about skiing in the Alps is the phenomenal view.  The Alps have amazing jagged peaks and rock faces.  A friend mentioned that they're very rugged because they're (relatively) young mountains which haven't dulled with age yet. 

 The Alps skiing experience is unique (compared to mainstream US skiing) for a couple reasons. 

1. Off-piste skiing is more common than skiing on slopes.  The ropes roping off certain areas are more like "guidelines" concerning where not to ski.  The entire mountain is open to skiing, as far as Europeans are concerned.

2. The ski towns are cute, Euopean ski towns... not some tourist version made by Vail Resorts to imitate a European ski chalet. 

3. Everyone does the sauna after a day on the slopes.  A European sauna trip is very complicated.  There are many levels, stages, pools, rooms, and showers (hot, cold, wet, dry).  And there is a specific order and timing to doing them all.  Sauna is taken very seriously... there is no skimping on any of the steps.  

4. People go on ski trips - not to ski - but to partake in the apres-ski (after ski) party.  Many people spend the day relaxing, then at 3pm, they put on ski gear (coat, helmet, ski boots) and head to the apres-ski party.  The apres-ski can last all night.  The participants then sleep throught the next day and repeat the apres-ski party.  This is completely baffling to me.  If I'm in a ski location, then I want to ski! 

5. Lines to get on lifts are non-existant.  It's all about every person for themselves, and shoving to ensure that you have a spot.  This takes some getting used to for people who usually have well-structured lines with automatice gates that time when to let you through.

6. The food served by ski chalets is weird. The pic below shows a traditional dish served to skiers at the mountain chalets.

Europeans do sledding the right way

 
At night, the ski resorts groom some of the ski runs (usually the cat walks), close them off for 1-2 hours to enable them to freeze, and then open the slopes for night-time sledding. 

Instead of using safety-aproved plastic sleds, Europeans use the old fashioned sleds with metal bottoms (seen in the US in the 1950's) with minor improvements.  This sleds are designed to go fast, and with a little wax, will go even faster.  This makes for entertaining sledding as there are ony rudimentary steering mechanisms to control them (i.e. if you want to turn right, put your right foot out).

In March, a group of colleagues and I went skiing in Gaschurn, Austria during on our annual ski trip. My sledding experience went something like this:

6:00pm - arrive at the mtn. base, rent the sled, have a drink with friends at the bar at the mtn. base
7:00pm - take chairlift to the top of the slope
7:15pm - walk to a small, cozy, wooden chalet at the top of the mountain
7:30pm - have another drink at the chalet, join in on a round of singing, play some hammer game where you try to hammer a nail into a piece of wood using the pointy side of the hammer (mandatory game in Europe)
8:00pm - THE RACE START! (there was a group of 20 friends racing)
8:01pm - fall hard while practicing turning
8:02pm - master the art of turning
8:03pm - get passed by 2 friends sharing a sled (1 of them smiled and yelled "we are the champions" while passing me)
8:05pm - realize that I'm dripping wet (due to copious amounts of snow flying onto me whenever I put my foot down to turn and also because the snow was very slushy)
8:10pm - pass the 2 friends on the sled who have just wiped out
8:15pm - get my pic taken by another friend (I haven't seen the pic yet, but I imagine that in the pic there is a full-on shower of water/snow streaming into my face and I have a look of "trying to smile/trying to turn/trying not to fall/trying to keep my eyes open with all the slush going in them")
8:20pm - CRASH! (the friend in front of me wipes out on his sled, takes my sled out, takes out the 2 friends sharing a sled, and another friend)  I skidded a good 10 ft. face-first in slush.  There was definitely a need for a hair dryer and clothes dryer after this.
8:30pm - THE FINISH!  I got 3rd place out of 20. :)

European travel + volcano eruption = chaos

With all the technology we have to prevent or minimze the impacts of "force majeurs," it's amazing the amount of extent of disruption a volcano can cause without a solution.

This weekend I drove to Paris with a colleague of mine.  This was a last-minute decision which resulted from the colleague being stranded in Heidelberg with access to a company car and free gas.  In Paris, we were amongst the lucky who got to enjoy the weekend. Many people we encountered were stranded there with no idea when or how they would get home.  The planes won't run again until Thursday at the earliest (according to authorities).  All buses and trains out of Paris are full through next weekend.  Car rental agencies are out of cars.  And hotels are all full.  People are sleeping in train stations. 

A friend of a friend was in Paris for a 1-day business meeting which turned into a 4-day trip (due to the volcano).  As they needed to get home to Finland for business, they were contemplating driving with us to Frankfurt (5 hours), taking the train from Frankfurt to Hamburg (4 hours), then catching a ferry from Hamburg to Finland (20 hours).  Leaving Paris (via car), we encountered numerous people waiting at the freeway entrance with signs saying asking for rides to Copenhagen, Turkey, Italy, Russia, Egypt (all not exactly day drives from Paris).   As it was clear that we were travellers, many other travellers approached us asking if we heard of any new chances to get to [fill in a city name].  Many of these travellers fly to a city for 1 day only (for a business meeting) without any luggage and are now stuck there with only a laptop bag.

10 of my friends are stranded throughout cities in Europe or the US (many got stuck at lay-over cities).   Many more of my work colleagues are stranded and not ableto get to their next business meeting.  The travellers stranded in Germany and France are much better off than other stranded passengers as they are in the center of Europe and have the best chance of getting to their next destination.  The silver lining of the volcano means has lead to cheaper than normal airfare prices for the next months.

Generation gap moment: the car window handle

Today, I had my 1st "generation gap" moment...  This morning I drove 2 friends + their 2 kids to the train station.  The 5 yr. old son was sitting in the back seat next to the window.  Half-way through the ride he asked what the window handle did. 

This is definitely the moment when I realized that I'm grown up. Not only that, but I learned that the younger generation is now old enough to articulate that they have no clue of things that I grew up with (quite a generation gap). 

This has never happened to me before.  I don't have kids or spend enough time around kids to experience this.  All of my friends are about my age, so no generation gap there.  At work, I'm usually the youngest person by 5-10 years so I am usually the person making the generation gaps comments. 

The best part of this generation gap was seeing the 5 yr old understand what the handle did and trying it... it was an "ah ha" moment for him.  He thought it was so cool.  Meanwhile, all of us adults were remembering how impressed we were when power windows were invented.

Teenagers growing up in Europe... what's next for them?

On St. Patty's Day, my friends and I went to the local Irish pub for Irish dancing and green beer.  It seems that we were not the only ones with this idea. Many of the the teenagers from the US base also went to the Irish pub. This is legal as the drinking age in German is 14.

Seeing the teenagers on St. Patty's day made me wonder what life is like for them growing up in Germany.  I was even more curious after I ran into one group of students near the toilet - this group was wearing green Guiness hats, making an especially loud scene (a difficult feat in an already loud Irish pub on St. Patty's day), acting like the rulers of the bar, and already drunk from drinking lots of green beer.  They were all 15-16 years old.  This is common behaviour amongst the US base teenagers.  In a small town* like Heidelberg, it is quite frequent to see teenagers who you know drinking in restaurants, bars , etc. on any given night.  A friend of mine who works with the high schoolers mentioned that she's overheard many of the students discuss how often they drink (frequently) and the best places to sleep when they're drunk and can't go home (to avoid being caught drunk by their parents).  These teenagers are living in an almost surreal world of their making where the options are limitless. 

Typically this type is seen at the beginning of the 1st year college.  Then it tapers off.  If these teenagers are drinking heavily at 15 yrs old, what is next for them?  Do they drink less as they grow older or do they try to top this? What happens to them when they return to the US or when they start college? 


*From the US perspective, Heidelberg is a village.  Locals prefer to call it a city.  Small town is a good compromise.  It's qute frequent to see people you know, or people with whom you work, while out in town.

Peeps Racing in High Heels

This pic above shows the perfect Easter - "Peeps" racing in high heels.  I would love these Peeps wearing the new Christian Louboutin stilettos designed for Barbie. 

Every Easter, the Washington Post holds a contest where contestants create a diarama using Peeps (the Easter marshmellows shaped like chicks, bunnies, etc.).  This diorama(seen above) was one of the semi-finalists from the Washington Post's Peep competition.  Click here to vote for your favorite Peep diorama.

Women are over 50% of the US workforce... What happens in other countries?

As a member of a younger generation entering the US workforce, I reaped the rewards that females fought for over the last 50 years. When I entered the US workforce, the glass ceiling had been chipped beyond repair. It was a given that men and women were equal and deserved the same treatment and rewards. It was my right to work and be judged as an equal to all.

Upon joining the German workforce, I was shocked to learn that the state and treatment of women in the workforce was the equivalent to US in the 1960’s and 1970’s. In Germany, women still have to fight for the right to work and the right to be taken seriously. To put it into perspective: I’ve explained to multiple male colleagues the inappropriateness of calling a female colleague “gorgeous” and “beautiful” or in asking her why she isn’t married and at home taking care of her husband and kids (as all women apparantely should be). Additionally, some female colleagues need pep talks around dreaming big and not sticking to what they've been labeled. This is not representative of the entire German population – many males treat females respectfully and as equals and many females are strong and are achieving their dreams (whether this includes being a stay-at-home mom, working in an office, or something else). However, the naysayers still exist. It a shocking experience for a female, who never had to fight for her right to work or be treated equally, to suddenly be in the situation where this was necessary.

It was interesting to read the cover story of the Dec. 30, 2009 Economist (click here for: article 1 and article 2). The two articles discuss details around statistics of women workers in multiple countries. Having only worked (in an office) in the US and Germany, I had formed my own opinion on what was helping and hindering the empowerment of females in Germany & the US.  It was interestng to hear what was happening in other countires.


In my opinion, the factors delaying empowerment of women in the German workforce are:

1. All Mom’s are guaranteed a 1.5 year (per kid) maternity leave, during which they receive 80% pay and are guaranteed their job back after the leave. Employers are reluctant to hire females because if the female has a baby (or multiple babies) – the employer must pay salary for the Mom and the temporary replacement. Employers are also reluctant to promote females to management positions because during a maternity leave, only a contractor can be hired. Enticing a good manager to work as a contractor (without benefits, less pay, etc.) is challenging.

2. Legally, employers must allow parents, who request it, to permanently reduce their work days to less than 100%. A parent working 3 or 4 days/week might not be able to complete all the work that the job requires. If the work is not done, they can’t be replaced or fired due to laws. It is an option to hire another person to do the remaining 1-2 days of work, but finding a person to work such a limited amount of time is difficult.

3. All errands must be done on Mon-Fri (9am-5pm) and Saturday (9am-12pm) when stores are open. Doing the errands takes a lot of time as it involves going to many small stores (one-stop shops are rare). For couples with kids (and therefore more errands), 1 parent needs to be available during work hours to do them (typically the female’s role).

4. There are few childcare providers; the providers that exist are very expensive. Also, babysitting doesn’t exist. If a couple has children, then financially it makes more for 1 parent to stay home with the kids (typically the female’s role).

5. Birth control is not easy to get. So many couples are having unplanned kids. This necessitates that the female stays home (see 3 & 4 above) and doesn’t have a chance to demonstrate their skills at an office.

6. The attitude of many males is very sexist. Many males believe that a female is only capable of being a stay-at-home Mom or a coffee fetcher. Thus, fewer are hired. The females hired in operational positions are often subjected to sexist comments and behavior.

Ironically, some of these factors were put in place to promote women in the workforce. While not very beneficial in their current form, some of them could be beneficial if revised. Example: the reduction in the work days could be set to a standard 50%.  Then two people could be teamed together to deliver 1 full-time job.  This would ensure all work relevant to the job is done, and still allow for part-time work.

In my opinion, the US doesn’t have the perfect model for working females. Many things also hinder empowerment in the US.  However in comparison to Germany - females in the US have much better opportunities to succeed and accomplish their dreams. For that, I truly appreciate what females (and males too) have fought for and accomplished. I hope this trend continues.