Frisco Peoples, Good Show To Go To

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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6th

YOU GUYS ASKED FOR IT SO ONCE AGAIN WE'RE BRINGING IT BACK! THIS TIME ON A SATURDAY NIGHT!!

Come dressed in your Old School Hip Hop gear or dress fashionably casual! We're taking it back to the Old School! A night of 80's and 90's Old School Hip Hop and R&B Classics!

RISQUE LOUNGE

45 Maiden Lane, San Francisco

(Next to Otis Lounge)

FREE COVER w/GUESTLIST BEFORE 10:30PM

$5.00 COVER UNTIL 11PM

FREE GUEST LIST ACCESS: SOFRESH@SOCIALITEPRO.COM

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Germany, week 2, Monday 1/25/2010

I enter my second week in Germany, and quite frankly, I'm ready to put week one behind me and move on! To say it was a rough week is a bit of an understatement.

I want to say though that I like Germany, I like the people, and I like it here. There are no problems with me and Germany, or me and my lady (never that!). I had a great time on Friday night and Saturday night, hanging out with Kathi and then partying with her friends. But there was some crap that happened this week that just really put a sour note on my first week.

I made a huge mistake about my personal belongings. Turns out I can't ship ANY of it because there was a requirement that I didn't look into that I should have (it was on the PDF that was sent to me, but I didn't read it thoroughly, yeah, hella stupid, I know). Before you can ship personal belonging into Germany, you have to provide proof to customs that you've been in residency for 12 months. Since I obviously moved here only last week, I can't prove this and had to cancel my shipment. Thankfully the company, Safepack, was totally cool about it and didn't charge me a dime for holding my stuff for a week, and they let my buddy come and pick it all up for me. That was really awesome of them. While this was a bit of a setback, because I really wanted my desktop computer and my personal nicknacks and stuff, none of that stuff is crucial to my getting by. I brought my main hard drive with me on the plane, which has all my stuff on it, and that was as close to something I HAD to have as anything else. Everything else was on the "I want it" list not the "I have to have it" list. Still sucks, but hey, no worries. I accept that I made a mistake and I'll move on!

Also had something else go down that I don't really want to get into, but it put a real drain on me. Funny how much other people can bring you down, you know? I'm just glad that I know how to fight back from letting it drag me under. Everyone gets upset and can feel sad\depressed, especially when arguments happen, but what I tell myself when this happens, or anything bad really, I learned from a movie (some of you will know it :-)... "why do we fall down? So we can learn to pick ourselves back up". You can choose to stay on the ground and cry... or you can stand up, brush off the dirt, clean your wounds, and move on... and most importantly, learn to never let that incident knock you down again. Life is pain and pain is life, so learn how to deal with pain so that you can deal with MORE pain. You'll only be more stronger for it.

Coming to Germany has only solidified in my mind the things I've been trying to be better at. Don't run from challenges, face them. Continue to learn and grow and become better every day. Face the mountain and win because I refuse to give up, to lose. And I tell you that meeting these demands I've placed on myself is so much easier with Kathi by my side. She is such a source of inspiration for me. The old saying "behind every good man is a good woman" is so true, since I can now see it and believe it for myself. Kathi, I love you baby!

OK, enough blogging and on to some of those things I need to be better at :-)

Tschüss!

Germany, Friday, 1/22/2010

I'm coming close to the end of my first week in Germany. So far, I've just been getting myself settled, getting over my jet lag (2 nights of waking up at 2:30am, wide awake, that's kind of rough), and in general, getting a feel for the place... buses, stores, ect. It's interesting how similar, yet how different, everything really is. I mean, we're all people, we all get up in the morning, drink our coffee, go to work, come home and relax. Yet, there are so many things that are just different in the way we do those things! I'm not going to go into the details, but suffice it to say, it's interesting to compare and contrast!

One thing that I knew before I came to Germany is that I'd be facing an uphill battle to get myself established and legal. The one thing I didn't know was how big the hill (mountain!) was until I was standing at the foot of it! But no one ever climbed the mountain without first starting at the bottom and slowly working their way up. And it's just as easy to fall down and have to start again. Edmund Percival Hillary, the first man to reach the top of Mt. Everest (along with his partner, Tensing Norgay) had tried and failed the year before he actually made it. To beat the mountain, he had to try again, and his persistence paid off.

Admittedly, not speaking German puts me in a tough position. Yes, there are lots of American companies here in Germany, and there are lots of German companies that want English speakers, but obviously, knowing the native language is very important to being successful. This limits my opportunities... but it doesn't stop them. I have to try harder than the next person if I'm going to pull this off. So, lots of resumes that get turned down... lots of "facetime" at companies and recruiter sites that are likely to tell me "go apply on our website and go away"... and, should I actually get one :-P interviews with people who may not speak very good English and will turn me down because we don't communicate well.

Attending the Goethe Institut for language will be a big advantage for me, especially WHEN I pass and get my certification, but it still only means that I will have the most rudimentary understanding of the language. But my hopes are that this shows my commitment to doing things right and that it will "impress" whoever I interview with. Also, once I do get a job and start to earn income again, I'll start immediately saving to attend a second semester at Goethe (the classes are WAY expensive, but basically officially recognized by official agencies, including the government, so they are worth the money). I slacked off big time on my personal study with Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur, but I'm recommitting myself to using them every day going forward (sucks though, I packed my headset for Rosetta, so until I can get another one, I can't use it... but Pimsleur is still good!).

On a more personal note, I have my first date in Germany tonight with my lovely girlfriend... we're going to go see Avatar, which I didn't get a chance to see when I was still in the states, and yes, it'll be in English, at a theater that only plays movies in English! And tomorrow is my Welcome to Germany party, where I'll get to see a lot of Kathi's friends, some of who I have already met a few times and some that I have not! Most of them speak English and will actually look forward to a chance to practice with me, though obviously, most conversation will be in German :-)

This Road to Germany (no Family Guy jokes please :-) is definitely a tough road to face, with plenty of challenges and obstacles to overcome. But can you imagine how much stronger, how much more successful I will be when I overcome all of that? In my mind, I don't fail... period. I set out on my path and I get there... whether I have to climb over, go under, go around, or go right through the wall that is blocking my path. Difficult doesn't mean it can't be done. Hard doesn't mean that I can't do it. My name is Atlas and I put the world on my shoulders, and instead of bowing my back, I dig deeper and stand up straight, and I take that first step forward, becoming stronger with each step.

More to come... stay tuned!

Germany - Day 2

I have officially started my second day in Germany, though day 1 was a wash as it was partially taken with travel and lost hours by moving ahead 9 hours. We came home, went to dinner, then to bed, so day 1 was not so exciting :-)

The first thing I have to say is, Mom, you were so right about the weather! I doubted a bit since you and Michelle are always cold :) but it is legitimately colder than a witches tittie out here! Long johns are going to be a must for this California boy!

Today is going to be my first "real" day in Germany... unpacking my bags, unfolding my clothes, arranging my little room, and tonight it's Kathi's fathers birthday and we'll be going out to dinner. I'm sure I'm going to be sitting there not understanding a word since they'll definitely be speaking German 99% of the time (except when they talk to me :-), so I'll just sit and enjoy the company!

For another day or so, I'm just going to adjust to the country and not do much else. Take walks, go to the store, play around with TV (or what I can understand anyways!), and just chill. But later this week, it's going to be time for business.

First item of business... immigration office. I want to get my residence papers going and get established so that I don't get myself booted from the country! I have every intention of doing this properly and getting myself legal. Since I still need to get a job, getting residence status will be a huge plus to getting a work permit. Truth be told, I'm not really sure if they are even tied together at all, but I still consider residence priority #1.

That's enough blogging for one day. I'm going to be doing my best to keep a running journal of my stay for a while... at least until I'm fairly well established and everyone stops giving a shit, lol. So, stay tuned folks!