Hi people, as you saw I didnt write anything in the Blog for a longer period. I will close the Blog - I just was not brave enough to write the last post. It was fun, but it is just too much work!
As you perhaps noticed, I have put a lot of effort in it. But I have too many projects running at the moment, and I have to kill or finally end up some of them to protect myself. But it was a cool experience to see the number of clicks on the page grow!
Hope to see you soon!
So again something to Opel: Because I am a diligent online reader, I stumbled across another thing that was really embarrassing: Here is an article about a new car of Opel, where to want to start a new era: An Opel Insignia "Ecoflex". They sell it as a great step in the field of sustainable driving, as the wagon needs only 5,2 litres. Really a nice car.
Not bad I thought, but the scandalous thing is another: The responsible says that the driving fun should not suffer under the energy saving. What does that mean? This car has 160 PS (!) and they could have chosen a smaller motor with 110 PS for the eco-version of the car, but they didnt(?). Then I have to read that the gasoline-saving advantage of the eco-model is only 0,6 litres per 100 km. WHAT??? Are you kidding me?
Dont know but perhaps my view is just wrong, but this so called "ecology" car is just a joke and a marketing gag to give the people the feeling that they have done something to save the world. But obviously they did not everything to turn down the consumption and to sell this as the eco-leader in its segment is just schizophrenic green-washing.
The other schizophrenic thing is that If I would have to pay taxes in Germany I would pay also with my money for the salvation of this bullshit-company, if I want or not. What a shame.
Nach all dem Bohei um Opel und deren nicht gerade professionelle Rettung durch den Staat haben sich unsere Wirtschaftsweisen zu Wort gemeldet. Sie haben eine offizielle Erklärung zu den Vorgängen abgegeben - Quintessenz: Die Sache mit Opel war Scheisse und soll nicht mit anderen Unternehmen wiederholt werden. Danke dass es mal jemand sagt! Und die Erklärungen warum dass so ist hätte man nicht nachvollziehbarer schreiben können.
Dankedankedanke!!! Sehr lesenswert für jeden der sich ein bisschen in die Richtung interessiert.
Today I was almost the whole day in the mountains, with some very good friends climbing/hiking on the Laugenspitze(2.434m) near Merano. We started at 10 and came back at 17:30... The Laugenspitze is known for the wonderful turn-around panoramic view over all mountains around. Unfortunately, the weather was nice but the higher we came the more fog and wind there was. So nothing with the panorama(See the photos, lol!). Going back, it started also to rain slightly.
Writing down our names in the book at the cross at the summit, I catched a good idea: Climbing on this mountain by night and then watch the sun rise in all the colours... Must be great. This is something I really have to do in summer. Who wants to come with me?
This is the panorama from the summit hehe. You can not see the wind which was almost blowing us away. Nevertheless a really cool day!
During the last event in the inner courtyard of our University("Wasserhof" -> "water courtyard") to be seen in the last posts, something catched my attention. There was something like a fountain which I have never seen before:
There was always this strange rock with a metal stick standing next to it, but I really had to look twice. There was now all of a sudden during this event water coming out of the metal stick which was falling on the rock. Looks quite cool, only with one snag to it: there is no real circulation of water, this means that all the water that comes out of this "fountain" is forever lost. Really really strange. Who had the idea to construct this "thing"? Who is responsible for the installation of this example of usefulness? Who signed the cheque for it? How big was the cheque? No surprise that they turned it off directly after the event. What a shame.
Some of you might know that some days ago, Chrsitian Nerlinger was appointed as the new sports director of the FC Bayern Munich. He was an ex-player of Bayern and was also playing for Dortmund and Glasgow. Many of the so-called experts were surprised to see him already in this position, as he is quite young (end of thirty).
Ok, nothing new you might say, but the stunning thing is that this guy was last year student at the Free University of Bolzano. He was studying at a private business school in Munich and was doing an Erasmus semester here in Alto Adige. Although I was not yet inscribed at that time, I met him once in the university: I was taking a look at the university because I was interested in applying, and then he came out of the library when I was going in.
First, I didnt know who he was, and while I was strolling around in the library, I was thinking... Fuck! You know this guy! But from where? And of course, as an old Bayern-fan I remembered him. Probably many students at that time didnt know who he was, as he was not really a star, but at least he was playing also for the german national team.
I also heard that there was an interview with him in the student magazine flyer, but unfortunately it was not possible for me to take a look at it. Nevertheless I wrote an email to the responsible of the press office of the university that an ex-student is now one of the most important persons in the biggest club in Germany, and I am curious if they will do something out of it or not... ;-)
Hehe, now it is getting analytic... If you read the Sueddeutsche Magazin, you might know the section "Die Gewissensfrage" where people can ask a philosophy professor difficult morale questions. This time someone candidates himself for a position at a University and has to fill in in the application form if he is member of an extremist organization. Now the catholic qestioner asks himself if he should now mention the church or not... Read here the outcome.
And dont forget to also take a look at the comments... it was clear that people react like this. Lol!
Some of might know this signboard:
This sign states "South Tyrol is not Italy" and it can be seen when you drive the Brennero-highway from Austria to Italy, it is still on the austrian side. So it was for a long time and is still visible to every car driver who passes by, especially the german students and tourists know it already. It was stationed by south-tyrolean activists supported by a local party here which wants the separation of the Province Alto Adige from Italy. As it is seen as a provocation towards the italian-speaking people in the region, italian activists destroyed or smeared it several times.
Two weeks ago, the provocation of the sign was answered by another provocation as I got to know scarcely: some guys took this board, transported it to Bolzano and threw it in front of the Siegestor, which is known as the symbol for italian suppression towards the german-speaking minority. I dont want to comment this, I think as a foreigner I am not qualified for this. But I notice that these processes mirror also the intensification of the dispute on the political level.
How the italians felt embarrassed, shows this story: they were asking over the foreign ministry the austrians if they could remove it. And they are ok with it, so now the board (or the new board) must be removed till the end of may, so it must be gone already today. For sure there will come up some new ideas for the south-tyrolean activists to get their message in the right place.
When I arrived in Bolzano as a fresh student, many people told me that Bolzano is a boring city. Till now I did not have this impression, and another thing even strenghtens this: I didnt know that there are these events called "Eurac Science Cafè". Seems to be very interesting. Quite cool. In relaxing atmosphere. Well I will definitely show up at least once, which one would you choose? But look up the topics yourself.
Through my AIESEC work I got to know Alice from Japan, which is currently the president of AIESEC in Trento. She posted once in Facebook some songs of a japanese band called Asian Kung-Fu Generation. And I really like them! We think sometimes that the world ends after Europe and America, but this is really great music. Try it out:
I dont understand anything, but anyway ;-)
So, nochmal auf deutsch. Die aktuelle Diskussion um Opel verfolge ich momentan mit Bauchweh. Irgendwie sehe ich nicht so ganz ein, warum ein Autokonzern mit vielleicht 20.000 Angestellten gleich vier deutsche Ministerpräsidenten und einen Wirtschaftsminister so auf Trab hält. Gibts da nicht einen Mitarbeiter im Wirtschaftsministerium, der sich darum kümmern kann?
Die Wirtschaftskrise ist ja nicht nur da in der Autobranche. Da spricht mir ein Kommentar den ich erst gelesen habe, aus dem Herzen. Das Auto ist des Deutschen liebstes Kind... anscheinend auch die dazugehörende Branche, sonst würde aus dem Fall Opel jetzt nicht gerade ein Wahlkampfthema werden.
Man muss auch aufpassen was da gerade in den Medien für Infos rumschwirren, da sie teilweise gar nicht richtig sind. Generell finde ich, dass die Verantwortlichen in Berlin und den Bundesländern sich eher der gesamten deutschen Wirtschaft widmen sollten, und nicht einigen wenigen großen Betrieben die sich teilweise selbst ins Aus manövriert haben. Siehe Schaeffler, Opel und Karstadt.
Zur Entlastung: Das Krisenmanagement der Regierung ist an sich gar nicht so schlecht, zumindest brechen sie nicht in Panik aus...
Jetzt ist es soweit: der italienische Rechnungshof hat wieder zugeschlagen! Vertreter der Universität Bozen wurden nun verurteilt, über eine Million Euro privat wieder zurückzuzahlen... Alleine unser Presidente, der Egger Hanns, muss anscheinend 173.100 Euro berappen, während Frau Gabriella Kusstatscher(Vize) und Frau Generaldirektorin 51.800 Euro abdrücken sollen. Um was gehts? Hier stehts.
Auch interessant: Dass der Herr Landeshauptmann (der Luis) schon vor längerer Zeit klar gemacht hat, dass er damit nicht einverstanden ist, wie man hier auf der Seite der Provinz nachlesen kann. Jetzt rauscht der Blätterwald wieder, und dieses ganze peinliche Treiben wird nun abermals dazu führen dass in der Universitätsleitung auch in Zukunft ein übertriebenes Sicherheitsdenken herrschen wird. Zum Schaden der Studenten wie ich meine....
Hehe, today I will introduce a new category of my blog: It is called paparazzo. Whenever I am in a building where I wasn´t before and it is most unsure if i ever come back, I make a photo when there is something interesting to see and I have the time to make one.
I start with the building of the Sparkasse Südtirol at Piazza Walther, where I spoke to the director there because of AIESEC reasons. Why did I take a photo? Because this building is really really freaky, like a palace I would say. But take a look yourself :-) And: It is not even the headquarter! These buildings must be worth millions. Would also be worth to know if they really belong to them.
On thursday there was an event called "Jahrgangsbaumübergabe" in the Wasshof of the University. It was planned since years that every vintage of graduates donates a tree to the University, which finds its place then in this courtyard. During this process, some design students had the idea that they could combine this with something else, namely do something to make this courtyard more beautiful, which was before only a concrete desert. What came out: some yellow, wooden multifunctional furnitures. But take a look at it yourselves:
As far as I understood nobody gave them an order to do it, they were just pro-active. Thank you, really cool! I also want to thank Andreas and Johannes who made after the event a small guitar-unplugged-concert.
Sorry guys, that I didn´t write something for some days. But now I want to write something about a topic which is very important for me. It is about the question if a student should involve himself in other activities in the University besides the studies or not.
For me, the institution University means much more than going to lectures, learning in the library and writing some exams. Due to the high academical requirements at our university I have the impression that the students think exactly that. In my daily work as president of a student organization I recognize on and on again that also high motivated students who really want to do something besides studies and are interested in the activities that we are running, do not involve themselves as they could because of a irrational fear of losing track of their studies(sorry for the long sentence).
For me, a university, or better, the time as a student is a period in which somebody should try himself out. A student should be creative, open-minded, proactive, committed, critally-thinking, curious. The student time should be used to learn how to work, how to think, how to be self-responsible, how to deal with problems and how to work, deal and communicate with other individuals. A campus should be a place full of initiatives and with a certain spirit. Of course I know that this is a kind of ideal imagination, but I think that we should at least follow to fulfill it.
Haha sounds nice but how can we follow these goals that I mentioned before? Certainly not in consuming only the content of lectures, bring the stuff on paper in an exam for which we learned hours and hours in the library and then we go all home. No! For sure this is what the studies are about. This is why we are here and we need all this theoretical background to develop ourselves and our careers. What I want to express is that this can´t be all. And it is not what I am searching in an university and its young students who should be willing to turn around the world. This is not what I left my homecountry for.
I tell you one thing: I have high respect towards every person at UniBZ who is really getting his ass ripped to bring some life in our so-nice university. They are a hurting-small minority who are putting up a program and opportunities to the majority who is often not even recognizing it. There are plenty of opportunities for the students to get involved in student life. AIESEC, Kikero, Scub, Uniparty, Unichoir, student representative, Flyer, Alumniclub, and sorry for all that I not mentioned now. And they have always problems to find succssors or remain the critical mass for the work that they are doing.
So we can ask ourselves where are the reasons for it? Well, I admit there are plenty: 1. The University is small. 2. Many students have to work. 3. The students prefer to study because they want to finish in regular study time. 4. The parents of the students wouldn´t allow it. 5. They have already interests which are also time-demanding. 6. The students in BZ are special, they don´t care.
So let´s see if my idealism can pick up with this:
1. Yes, our University is small. That´s also the reason why we dont have that many student associations. When you look at other Universities, there are instead dozens of associations. Nevertheless I see much more potential in our alma mater for students to involve themselves.
2. Yes, many students have to work. And I have some students in my AIESEC committee who are combining the stuff very good. Yes, they are complaining about the workload, but I think deep in their heart they like doing it. If I would have to work on a regular basis besides studies, I would probably not have this position with that much responsability I have now, but I am sicurissimo that it would not disturb me in taking over small commitments, e.g. being normal member in one of the associations or being student representative.
3.+4. I want to put this together because these statements follow the same false assumption. I truly believe that when the majority of companies has the choice between an alumno who has excellent grades and a short study or a guy who has good marks and one semester more but was very active at University and has taken over responsibility, they would definitely not decide alone depending on the academic figures. Again a long sentence, I make it short: companies look at the whole person, not only on academic records. When I was at this conference at Torino, we were able to talk to the recruitment responsible of L´Oreal Italia and she said that they are searching for talent and character. She prompted us to not only stick to learn, but do something on top. This is what I personally experienced also at my previous work opportunities. This is never-ending, but I guess I will follow this topic in another post someday. Grr.
5. That´s a good reason.
6. The students in BZ are not special, they are like all the others. There are males, females and they come from all from different realities and different social backgrounds. They are all students. They are not more uninterested than in any other university on this earthball.
So, now I invested 1 hour in this post (some might say I "wasted" it). But thats what it is about. I could have learned economics in this hour, but ok, I will do it directly after I have finished. Thats ok for me, because it is fun and I see the benefits for me. I hope that also other students will somehow finally realize it... Let´s see it as my contribution for students life in BZ.
Ok... always when I am going by car over the Brenner Pass, the weather is like sh*t. It was till now always raining and/or snowing. Of course also the temperature goes down significantly. Never one sunbeam was detected by me in this part of the Alps. It always makes me a little bit depressive... How can someone live there? Even the mountains there dont look very pretty(See above, photo out of my car). Obviously I need also to take into account that the pass is quite high, 1374 m to be exact.
Other thoughts which are also coming through my mind when I drive over this highway: How horrible it must have been for past generations to get over this hump to come to Italy. In the middle ages it must have been quite dangerous, regarding the weather and all these castles here around. Also when we come back to the modern times, it is by no means obvious that there is a highway. Some decades ago everybody had to pass all the small villages on the way, as the highway as we know it was opended in 1963. How did they do it during WW1 and WW2? Nowadays it is one of the most important passes in the Alps for any kind of transit.
Here a video which I like quite a lot: Due to the song, the girl and the cool techniches that are used in it. It must have been a whole lot of work.
Here you can look up that the ropeway up to the Renon/Ritten(a mountain next to Bolzano) will finally be reopened the next days. This is actually really cool. But why?- because it took more than one year longer to build it up new than promised
- because all the guys who are living up the mountain (there are really a lot)will save over 30 minutes by car
- because when you see the ground station of the railway you would think that they just started the works
- because it was built in a public private partnership (PPP)in cooperation between the Province and Leitner ropeways in Vitipeno
- because the whole technology is very new and high-performance. It is very long and can transport 550 people per hour
- it is not far from University and you can see it almost from every point from the old town center.
I personally will for sure check it out and perhaps combine it with a nice march up to the Rittner Horn. Who wants to come with me?
I would like to invite all of you to an event in Bolzano where I can be seen playing the trumpet ;-). It is on Saturday, the 16th of May in the Haydn Auditorium in Via Dante. The event is called "ein kleines Lied geht um die Welt" and is composed of different groups of my music school who play one song each which comes from different countries. Our group will represent the USA. Hehe. What will we play? That will remain a secret which you have to relieve yourselves. You are very welcome!
To set the expectations: This is a small event (60-70 minutes) where we will play one song which takes about 5-7 minutes.You can expect these groups to be well prepared for this afternoon. The entrance is free.
So, I am back from the AIESEC conference I mentioned the post before. It was again an amazing experience with a lot of new input. This monday I had then to take care of something else, in particular apply for a place in a student dorm here in Bolzano. Actually I am living in the dorm Deutschhaus Marianum, which is quite cool but without the right to have guests. Now I decided to apply for a place in the St.Benedikt, also due to the fact that this dorm lies next to the music school I also visit, where I will go twice the from the next semester on.
I knew from the last year that it would be a good idea to show up at the office of the province where we have to apply for the places, because they are distributed in chronologically order of showing up. Arriving together with my dude Corrado already at six o´clock in the morning(the office opens at nine) we were not the only ones who had the same idea... We were number 16 and 17. This reduces my chances to come into St.Benedikt, as it is known that not many people move out.
Then I also indicated my availability at the new dorm called "Univercity", which is in the italian part of Bolzano at the end of Viale Druso. This means I will have for sure a place in this one, as it offers 148 places which are not covered so far. The same counts for all the other over 130 students who showed up at the office this morning. It is really cool with a lot of community rooms and twelve floors. Hopefully there is the chance to have the room in the highest story ;-). Lets see what comes out, we will get the results in the mid of July.
Hi, this is a fast post from the CN2 in Bardonecchia. I have about ten minutes to write it. So I do it quick. The hotel of the conference(organized by the committee in Torino) is in Bardonecchia near the french border. It is the one where the Olympia athletes were living during the olympic winter games in 2006, so you can expect it is really cool and comfortable ;-).
Yesterday we were in Torino in the University for the AIESEC Italy Connection Day, where we came into quite close contact with Pricewaterhousecoopers, Vodafone, L´Oreal and Telecom Italia. There was a conference about financial crisis and the impact on the labour market as well as on the education of students. There was also involved the Confindustria and Azimut. Normally I dont like these kind of big companies, but this event was really quite cool.
Now we are running really nice sessions about the planning of the year, which is actually not easy. Not to forget: meeting all the known AIESECers and get a lot of input for the work in my own committee. Well invested time!
The next days I will be at one of these famous AIESEC conferences. This time it is called "Congresso Nazionale Due" and will take place in the near of Torino till sunday. The members of the executive boards of the 20 local committees will come together to plan together with their successors the next term which starts in July. It will be really marvellous - to see all the old friends from all over Italy and share the experiences made in the own local committee. There will be also important news and decisions, as well as formation sessions. Of course also partying ;-)
Well the quinessence is that I wont be able to post sth. until sunday, unless the unlikely case appears that I find some minutes time to use the gratis wireless network at the hotel there. When I look at the clicks on this blog, I guess that not many people will miss me ;-)
Anyway watch out, I have a lot of interesting posts in the pipeline, if you believe it or not.
As some readers might know, on Friday, the 1st may there was my birthday party at the student dorm Capitol in Bolzano. Really cool party, nice atmosphere, alcohol, karaoke, everything good. The only thing that was not so nice was that someone called the police. They were checking the situation, but were not coming into the house and then disappeared quite quick. Puh!
Then Mike, the guy with whom I was doing the party and lives in this student dorm, told me today that a woman reported an offence against us... (Anzeige erstatten). I can not believe it! He said that the woman contacted the administration of the dorm and told them that they will go to the police. We called her today and apologized. She was very unfriendly and inmovable but said in the end that it was ok. So we hope that there wont be a consequence.
This is from my standpoint very poor from the old lady, as she didnt tell us that she felt disturbed at that evening but directly called the police. I also think that we were not exceptionally loud. When I would have known that there is somebody who feels upset we would have done something. Poor was also the reaction of the administrator of the student dorm; after Mike, he said that he wants to have a list with participants of the party with their signatures(??) if there is a problem. My dear. Will I also become an asshole when I get older?
Auf meinem Streifzug durch die Unweiten des Internets bin ich wieder auf ein interessantes Interview gestossen. Es sollte meiner Meinung nach jeder lesen, der sich mit der aktuellen Systemdebatte Kapitalismus ja/nein und wenn ja wie auseinandersetzt. Martin Kannegiesser hält in seiner Position des Arbeitgeberverbands rhetorisch sehr gut entgegen und verteidigt den Unternehmerstand - und ich musste mit Überraschung feststellen, dass er bei fast allen Antworten mit meiner Meinung übereinstimmt. Nicht schlecht Herr Specht. Bin ich jetzt ein Turbokapitalist?
Update: Im Zuge der Diskussion möchte ich auch der anderen Seite das Wort geben. Hier einige Anmerkungen von Herrn Müntefering, Motto "Dieser Kapitalismus gehört in die Mülltonne". Hm, wahrscheinlich liegt die Wahrheit wie so oft irgendwo in der Mitte.
HA I love creative Marketing!!! This poster refers to a law where the Germans receive money when they wreck their old cars. You can see in front: Our lovely chancellor. Then from left to right: Frank-Walter Steinmeier(Minister of Foreign Affairs), Guido Westerwelle(leader liberal party), Horst Seehofer(Prime Minister of Bavaria), Gregor Gysi(from the left party), Ursula von der Leyen(Ministry of Family) and Cem Özdemir from the green party. LOL!
Yes, the notice of the day cant be unmentioned. Yesterday night there was the Global Village 2009, organised by my student association AIESEC. What can I say? It was a great success! There were a lot more people than expected. It was a lot of work and the work is still going on. But I am very satisfied. This was the first time that we were visible to the students and the responsibles of the University. This was the first time that there was any sign of recognition from others. Wow, now I have to work another 7 months for the next time?
Nah what I wanted to express is that from my standpoint the birth process of AIESEC Bozen-Bolzano is over now. There was a lot of disbelief and headwind and nobody trusted us. There were so many sacrifices. Some even believed we were a sect! Ha! I would be the very last one to join a sect. The ignorance of the people was and is really astonishing. But this challenge made us even stronger. I and I think my team learned so many things which cant be measured in credit points. In terms of working skills as well as personal development.
One of the next posts: The discussion about doing extracurricular stuff or not. This is a great topic which belongs to post. Watch out!
Hier habe ich eine etwas andere Lebensgeschichte gefunden. Eine von jemandem, der nicht die ausgetretenen Pfade beschritten hat sondern seinen eigenen Weg gegangen ist. Man kann hier zwei Weisheiten herauslesen: Dass eine Insolvenz kein Weltuntergang und Geld nicht alles im Leben ist...
Man kann sehen, dass für diesen Herrn Geld nie das Wichtigste war. Das spiegelt zum Teil auch meine eigene Meinung wider: Dass das Motiv für erfolgreiche und kreative Unternehmer nicht immer nur der große Reichtum ist. Ausnahmen bestätigen die Regel, siehe die Veranstaltung von Kikero mit dem Titel "Mit der eigenen Firma auf dem Weg zur ersten Million - das musst du tun".
Um noch weiter klugzuscheissen, glaube ich genausowenig dass es Generalrezepte für eine erfolgreiche Unternehmensgründung gibt. Aber das ist wieder ein anderes Thema :-)
Auch wenn ich mit den Herren von der SPD arg im Zwiespalt stehe, muss man Ihnen bzw. deren Werbeagentur doch Humor zugestehen.
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