settling in...

Spent today in the office, continuing my battle with photoshop. Around 5 or so I left and went down to the main drag to get some bed linens and things for my place. My landlords are returning from their trip this weekend and my room is now vacant. So I am going to move my things in there and call it home for the next few months. Its good to finally get my clothes out of bags and set my stuff up. I'll need to discover a sofa or something and some lamps to fill out the room a bit.

I also ventured down to the laundromat and did a couple loads of laundry. It was pretty easy and didnt waste any money. I met an architecture student while there. He had recently met someone doing the same thing I am with Behnisch. He couldnt remember who though. Not many people from the states here though... very strange coincidence.

I also cooked here for the first time (i'm not calling the pizza I made cooking). It wasnt a bad experience. I made some chicken and pesto pasta. It was good and didnt take me long. Will be nice to get settled into a routine of sorts and start to get my wits about me at least in where I call home. off to bed....

wettbewerbe

it seems like its one step forward, fourteen steps back at work with the project. I'll spend all day working on something only to find out that its outdated by the time I'm done. I'm sure its just a certain amount of how projects like this go and getting on board with the whole process. But its difficult to not feel like I'm accomplishing anything. I know I am, in terms of developing the ideas and moving the project forward but the bits and pieces that are taken from each idea make it hard to see that the effort put into something really was taken all the way... I've started to work on drawings and stuff for the boards though so hopefully this type of work will at least let me leave the office at the end of the day with something concrete done that will be used/taken forward tomorrow.
The time for the project to be due is coming up really fast so I think this weekend is going to be a long one between work and getting settled into my place for good. I'm also trying to figure out how to spend my Christmas break. The office here gets a week off and I'm not sure if will take it and travel here or fly home (which they would pick up). I think I will have it figured out by the weekend.... maybe

I also need to figure out my time at the end. I have my place to the end of Jan and it seems silly not to stay and use it as long as I can. So I think I might discuss staying at the office a bit longer and then taking a week or so at the end and traveling then as well....

Greetings.... today continued the trend of being a killer day. Guess I just need to settle in for the long haul with that. I spent all day working on a study model for the museum competition. A large part of this project has to to with the path that one takes through the space and how this path then informs the building. So the model I was working on tried to show the facade of the building and how that path is shown through the roof lines and how expressive the facade becomes.

With any project I have worked on I seem to go through bursts discovery followed by long periods where I'm just stuck. I haven't quite gotten my head around my role in the team and I think its frustrating me a bit. I think this stems from not being in the project from its inception and kinda jumping on board. Its nice that the project has already gotten going someplace but Its just a lot of catch up to figure out how we arrived at this point. Plus its every day is a new set of experiences and I'm not quite sure about the office dynamic yet. I need to try and relax and just work on the task at hand.

I had made plans to run with Tim, one of my flatmates friends today. However I wasn't able to get out of the office soon enough and didnt make it. I had tried to alert him to this but I think i took down the wrong cell number. I hope he doesnt form a bad impression of me. However Johannes has said he will pass along my regret if he sees or talks to him before I get a chance.

ok.. off to bed or some thesis work

oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HANNAH!!!

office stuff

not much happened today.. slept in a bit, only to discover that today was the changing of daylight savings here in Germany. So I was able to gain an hour of sleep which was nice. After clowning around a bit at my place I went over to the office to get some work done on my thesis book as well as maybe some work for the project we are working on.

I thought I'd share a little bit about it..

I am part of a group of people working on a competition for a new museum in Canada. The current museum is expanding and our firm along with around 15 others are submitting proposals for the project. I joined the project a little late so its been hard to get into the swing of things and get my head around the whole thing. We are designing a space that will hold part of their permanent collection as well as temporary spaces. My role varies but most of my time thus far has been exploring the various ideas that have been suggested by the other team members. I'll do this through drawings, making a study model, etc. Exploring how our idea can work with the program they require as well as various other constraints. Its a nice project to get my feet wet with but even after only a few days I already know I've got a lot to learn and my time here in germany will be well spent.

Exploring

So my first Saturday in Stuttgart was spent wandering around. I slept in a bit, which was nice, and went for a run up the hill behind out my apartment. It was good to run and get some exercise. After the run I went down into the city, I had some goals in things I wanted to see but ended up just wandering around and not really seeing much of anything. I did go over to the Stirling museum, but by the time I made it over there they were closing. I need to make a list of things I'd like to do/see in Stuttgart and in other places around Europe so I can begin to think about some trips and plan my days off a little better. Though it was nice to have a day to just kinda see the city and not do much of anything. As I was walking back home I ran into my apartment mate who informed me that he and some friends were heading out for some drinks. Of course I went along... we first went to a Spanish restaurant that had a decent happy hour. We stayed there for a little while and then went off in search of some other digs. Settled on a bar where we stayed for a while. My apartment mate and his friends are all finishing up their degree's in a type of engineering and doing various internships in Stuttgart. They are all very nice and are excited to practice their english. Hopefully I will be able to practice German as well. I've downloaded a tone of german podcasts and applications to my phone to help me get into the language. And I hope socializing and getting out into the city more will also help bridge the gap.

Apartment

Another day in the books. Growing more concerned with my lack of German. I'm hoping to start picking up more and want to engage with it a bit more. My new flat mates seem very nice and I think socializing with them as well as possibly with people from the office I hope to start to pick more up. Everyone in the office seems quite surprised/glad that I found a place to quickly. They say that prices range and 400 euro's a month isnt bad, certainly could find cheaper places but doing so would prob take a lot more time. As I really havent hear back from anyone else I'm glad I jumped on this one when I had the chance, even if I am over paying slightly. Though for that price a decent sized room, nice kitchen, bathroom and good roommate and landlord seems a small price to pay. They are very hospitable, allowing me to stay in their sons room (who lives in the apartment) while the current tenant is vacating his space. I think this will be a nice place to spend my time. The landlords seem very nice, speak English and seem very down to earth and want to help make sure I am ok while here.
Work today was even a little better still.. I am trying to shake the rust off as I jump head first into this competition. Its hard to get my head around it as the project has already been going on for a bit and the others working on it know the program and conditions a lot better than I do. I dont want to waste time by pursing ideas that are in the past or proposing ideas that clearly dont fit. I think I'll prob spend some time this weekend in the office trying to catch up and bit and attempt to get on the same page. I think we will have a review on the project early next week. Hopefully I can have an idea or two picked up. Means I need to flush my scheme out and bring up to to speed with the current options they are looking at.
I will also be working on my book for the next few days. I need to get a rough draft of that done and submitted so I can take some time refining it. I think the rough drat will be wrong (in format and such) no matter how I submit it, so I might as well just get it out of the way. Plus I need to get feedback on possible formats and layout ideas. Might also sleep in, will be nice to do that for a bit rather than have to wake up so early.... maybe I will go for a run too. Nice that I dont have to worry about moving my shit again for a while. I think I might look into a taxi to the airport when I fly home... or taking a bunch home over christmas...

Stuttgart

Hello from stuttgart. Arrived here on Tuesday and have been staying in a hostel for the first few days. Not too bad, pretty basic but get the job done. First couple days at the office were interesting, trying to get a flow going and figure out what is going on. The office and the people are very laid back which is good, but deffinitly crank out the work. I've been there for no less than 10 hours each day so far. Working on a submission for a museum in Canada, pretty interesting and really good to get my feet wet again. I signed the paperwork for an apartment not too far from work and will move over there tomorrow (friday). Its a nice place and the people I am renting from seem very nice as well. Should be a very quiet place to spend my few months here. I've been delinquent in posting pictures and such as I have no solid internet connection and well.. havent had the time to take any either. Maybe this weekend once I begin to get settled in my place they will begin to emerge. I think most of my free time will be spend completing my book and getting that done for school and being rid of that project.. at least for a little while. The two people who know me the best right now are the nice girl who sold me a telephone with my repeat vists for tech support and the guy who runs the kebab place near my hotel. They will surely be missed when I move to Stuttgart-West.