Inyas Blog » Europe

Between Carnival and Northsea

bjoern — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:28:23 +0000

Before I join my new job on 1st of March in Botswana I am currently on preparation-courses in Eschborn (near Frankfurt/Main) with around 30 other GTZ co-workers, who will join projects all over the world. For the first time in my professional job I receive professional preparation with management-skills, financial-explainations and of course strategic elements and I am very happy to exchange with all these experienced people from German development cooperation and get introduced to the GTZ with its almost 15.000 co-workers. As some of them worked already in Southern Africa I gain a lot of new informations and impressions – what to do and what to avoid and can hardly await my start in Gaborone.

As Eschborn is more an industrial-park then an ancient and beautiful city I use my weekends for some get-aways, last weekend to carnival-celebrations to the “Kölsch-Fest” in Cologne and this weekend to Aalborg in Nothern Denmark to visit some friends, whom I haven´t seen for ages. The last two weekends are dedicated for my hometown and maybe Berlin and afterwards I join a friend in Romania, before my flight leaves from Berlin on 1st of March to Gaborone. And it´s great having a girlfriend, who is traveling even more crazy than me, as Susi is currently backpacking in Latin America. You can follow her crazy adventures in magnificient mountains with pinguins and lamas here. So I have to day, that it´s great to be back in wonderful snowy Germany and to feel home with friends in Europe – hope seeing you all in Gaborone once a day.

Back to Botswana/SADC in March

bjoern — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:14:03 +0000

After some waiting I received last week the final approval for my new challenge in Africa. From March on I will move back for at least one year to Gaborone (Botswana) and start working for the GTZ in their water-programme in the SADC region. As I wrote my thesis about this topic I am familiar with that topic and will be responsible for establishing a monitoring and evaluation system in close cooperation with the SADC secretariat. Working with that great team, for GTZ and in this challenging environment with fifteen African countries is really my dream-job and I cannot wait to start.

From 1st February until 1st March I will be in Eschborn, near Frankfurt (Main) for my preparation in the GTZ headquarter. Afterwards IÂ´ll leave icy Germany (currently minus 15 degrees in Berlin) for sunny Botswana. And I am very happy that also Susi, who is currently travelling for some months in Latin America, will join this adventure in June. So I have the noble task to find something to life in for us two: Maybe we can improve ourselves from our small fourteen square-meters room in Singapore – as a lot of guest already agree to visit. :)

Warm welcome back in snowy Germany

bjoern — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:12:43 +0000

After twelve months living in the tropical island Singapore it was quite a huge change arriving back in “good old Germany”. Snow covered Munich, which I landed and during the last two weeks I experienced temperature between -15 and -5 degrees each day with beautiful snow, frost patterns and many cold fingers. After some days in great Bavarian family-athmosphere I visited my home-town and my beloved Baltic Sea, Hamburg und welcomed the New Year with good friends in Cologne. Afterwards I went back to the Alpes and managed to learn the snowboarding so good, that I will come back this season to experience the blue sky, fresh air and great feeling while sliding down soon.

If everything goes right I will stay in “the greatest city of Europe: Berlin” until end of January and will leave after some preparations in March for Africa. I will keep you posted and hope to see good friends over the next weeks and invite them all for World Cup to South Africa. :) Looking back to Singapore I have to say it was an amazing year and I want to thank all friends to let me experience Asia in such a great and smooth way! I will be back!

Studies finally finished: Diplom-Politologe – Thesis published

bjoern — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:25:36 +0000

The last two weeks I had been back to Europe and enjoyed the starting summer and non-humid climate a lot. The reason for my trip were that I had to attend my last two oral exams and hold diverse meetings with the FES headquarter, German partners and ministries to get introduced to my new working sphere. But before I went for the exams to Berlin Hans and me took the car from Munich and went on an Italy-trip, which we enjoyed a lot: Verona, Appenin, Toscany, Siena, Lago di Garda and back to Germany. Coming from Singapore the differences could not been higher. With the amazing cultural heritage from Roman empire and thousand of years of history the artifical world of my home-island Singapore was not really able to compete. And the trip was exiting as well, as I managed to challenge the car in a field. But with the help of Italian farmers you can solve all problems – even at 7 oÂ´clock in the morning.

Afterwards I went back to Berlin and it felt really great meeting so many friends and feeling home again. I hold my oral exams with Prof. Grottian and Dr. Peters and received there also my note for my master-thesis: I was really amazed to get the best note – 1,0 (summa cum laude) from MP DÃ¤ubler-Gmelin, who is the former federal minister of justice and head of the commitee for human rights and humanitarian aid in the federal parliament. That seriously honoured me – now I proofed myselfes and the world of scientists, that I can also do scientific work! I am now a graduate – Diplom-Politologe and celebrated a lot in Germany. LetÂ´s see what the future brings but I am very happy to finally finish almost ten years of studies! :)

As I published my diploma-thesis also as book, please find here the opportunity to order if you are interested in the topic.