Sports Viewing Abroad

Despite the sub-par year Mizzou football has had, they play Kansas today at Arrowhead, and a beatdown of the Jayhawks is always a joy to watch, no matter where you are watching.

I was worried how living in Germany, with a seven-hour time difference, would adversely affect my sports viewing experience. It hasn't really. Yeah, I had to stay up 'til 4-5am to watch the Cardinals' epic postseason run, but it was well worth it. These upcoming months are really going to test my loyalty though, especially with my teams playing so well. Mizzou basketball, SLU basketball, and Blues hockey are all keeping me up 'til 4am, but like they say, you can sleep when you are dead. Actually, if death is anything like sleeping, where do I sign up?

Anyway, here's to a Mizzou blowout today in KC, Mizzou basketball making a Final Four run, the Blues winning a playoff series, and SLU making their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2000. It is a good time to be a St Louis sports fan, even in Germany.

MIZ

Paris. Eh.

I lied. I said I wasn’t going to go into detail about any of my recent trips, but I couldn’t go on much longer without venting about Paris. I am sure you are thinking, “Paris? Really? Why Paris? I thought it was supposed to be the most beautiful, romantic place in the world?” Well, I hate to break it to you, but it isn’t.  I just got back to Germany from the so-called city of love and I have to admit, I didn’t love it. Yes, the Eiffel Tower is amazing, but after looking at it for an hour or so, you pretty much get the gist of it. I don’t know why everyone always raves so much about Paris. I guess they haven’t been there. The entire city is one big tourist trap. Wanna know why?

The People – The rumors are true. The Parisians are just about as rude as can be. They are always in a hurry, in your personal space, completely unwilling to help, and apparently physically unable to smile. If you want any service at a restaurant, you may want to pack a blow horn or fire up a flare, otherwise you will not be able to get anyone’s attention.  Example: Our hotel receptionist refused to call us a cab so we could catch our train to the airport. He claimed there was a taxi stand “just down the street.” There wasn’t. We missed our train, which in turn, led to us missing our flight. Brilliant customer service, sir.

Tourists – Yes, just by visiting you are only compounding the problem. If you have travelled much at all, you realize that Asians love them some travelling. It is not their fault, Asian countries get more vacation time than just about any other place in the world. If it weren’t for the tall triangular, iron pyramid soaring above you, you would think you were in South Korea. Combine that with the thousands of Americans in jean shorts and fanny packs wandering around aimlessly, and it impossible to get the “Paris Experience.”

Dirty/Unsafe – Not only is the city not gorgeous, breathtaking, or beautiful, I actually found it to be polluted and unsafe. If you enjoy getting pick-pocketed, scammed, or if you are a girl, felt up, then congrats! - Paris is the city for you. You cannot walk 50 feet without someone trying to give you a “complimentary” rose (which they request a 5 Euro donation for after your girlfriend takes it) or another dude badgering you to buy their cheap souvenirs off the street.

"The trains arent running? Lets start shit on fire."

Strikes - The only thing the French love more than smoking cigarettes is going on strike. Just a week before our trip to Paris, Air France went on strike, resulting in cancelled flights and delays. Strikes and public protest are an important part of the Parisian way of life.  Historically, it is the most strike-happy country in Europe, losing on average 132 days per 1,000 workers due to strikes between 2005 and 2009. The strike du-jour during our trip was that of the SNCF, the French Railway. Because of this, we got stuck in Normandy, resulting in missing our trip to Versailles and visiting the Louvre. Not only that, but the next day the strike caused us to miss our flight back to Germany because the amount of trains running to the airport was depleted.

My advice: Don’t spend more than two days in Paris, then head out to the countryside. Normandy is beautiful and you FEEL like you are in France, unlike the feeling you get in Paris.

Au revoir, bitches.

The World's Greatest Blog

Fine work, Brad. This blog has turned into a real life-changer for you, huh? Idiot. Well, it has been eight months since my last (second) post. Clearly, if this was to be a travel blog, I have failed miserably. It crosses my mind on a weekly basis to post something on my blog. I sure as hell have had enough free time and material to write about. It reminds me of my outlook on working out. Every few days I say to myself, “tomorrow is the day I start working out.” If you have seen my body, you know how well that has been going for me. I think I am on day 286 of the “tomorrow is the day I start working out” routine.

As far as my travels go, I have been near and far. Since my last entry in February, I have been to:

Valencia, Spain

Stockholm and Nykoping, Sweden

London, England

Cinque Terre, Milan, and Genova, Italy

Vienna, Austria

Budapest, Hungary

Oahu, Hawaii

Paris and Normandy, France

Munich for Oktoberfest

The Greek Islands of Santorini, Ios, and Naxos

It would be impossible to give a recap of each of these travels, so I wont even bother. Luckily, though, as of last week, I have had my contract extended, meaning that I will be staying in beautiful Garmisch-Partinkirchen, Germany for awhile longer. Why did I stay you ask? There is not one definitive reason, but here are a few:

1.       I have a job. If I moved back to the States, it would be likely that I would be unemployed temporarily. Obtaining some sort of income on a bi-weekly basis is a good thing, therefore I’d like to keep it that way.

2.       Healthcare. Being that I live my life like a moron and treat my body like an amusement park, it eases my mind knowing that I have health care. Of course, if I quit and moved home, I am sure within the first week I would get dared into doing something asinine by my friends and end up in the ER with a $30,000 tab. No thanks.

3.       Traveling the world > living in parents’ basement. Do I really need to expound on this?

Yes, moving home would probably be wise for many reasons as well, mostly in regards to the whole "starting a career" thing. My response to that: see my first post. It isn’t that difficult to find. Scroll down about 9 inches.

On that note, I am out. I hope to post again soon. Or again in eight months. Whatever.