Cologne is cool

I posted my last post at the end of August and promised to write something new when I go traveling again. I've been living in Cologne, my new home, for about that long. Logically, I'm not just spending a few days here or just passing through, but I just felt like writing something again. And my blog - my rules ;). I feel very comfortable in Cologne. The FSJ definitely helped you to quickly become independent and adapt to all sorts of new situations - studying, partying, drinking a lot of coffee, meeting new people and all the fun things like cleaning, shopping, cooking, hanging up the laundry and clearing out the drying rack. when the new machine is ready. I get along very well on my own, but every now and then I also get visits from friends and family, which is really cool too. Plus, it's always a great excuse to tidy up the entire apartment, because some things don't change - I'm messy. My living situation couldn't have been better, and I'm very grateful for it. I live in a cute two-room apartment on probably the most beautiful street in Cologne. At Christmas it was really great everywhere lit up and one of my neighbors not only had one Christmas tree in the driveway, but three with fairy lights. They fit perfectly with his fake Dobermans that flank the entrance. They make me smile every time I jog past them. If they were real, I would probably be afraid of them. There is also a park near me that includes a petting zoo. The donkeys there are just super cute. Unfortunately, you're not allowed to pet or feed them because they're already too fat, which the zookeeper there kindly explained to me after I asked if they were pregnant.

What I particularly like about Cologne is the openness of the people (apart from Kölsch, the only beer I like). No matter whether in a café or at the train stop, you will be chatted up very quickly and it usually leads to really nice conversations. Well, the Neumarkt stop is really not the nicest and I'm glad I don't get spoken to when I'm waiting for the train in the dark after work. Speaking of work, after being kept busy by small children in Spain for €5 a day, I made a real career leap. I'm not just studying something related to media, I'm working at WDR. I'm a student temporary worker or cable helper, as they call us there. But I've had less to do with cables so far. In the local time studio I have to test all the microphones, get the studio ready for the broadcast and wire up the presenters and guests. Afterwards I can watch the local time live, it couldn't be any closer. Funnily enough, one of the presenters is also called Julia. Like everyone else, she practices her lines beforehand and always begins with: Hello from Köllefornia. All the presenters are really nice and I'm slowly getting to know all the tricks of television. I know how to make sure you speak more clearly and terms like Japanese, belly band or long weather are no longer foreign words to me.

I have other tasks, I've been live twice now. The first time in the snowstorm on a motorway bridge and in Bonn on the Rheinaue. We were on the road for 6.5 hours and it was good that I had my Dr. Martens and thermal tights. I froze my ass off a bit. But that wasn't a bad thing, I had a very nice team and the time went by quickly. The camerawoman even had thermal insoles for everyone and I felt pretty cool and warm in the WDR jacket, which I put on over my winter jacket. You wouldn't think that there's so much effort behind going live for 1.5 minutes, but it actually does. I had to do the lighting and the timing for the moderator. A BeReal was even made with it afterwards. Overall it was very educational and cool in the truest sense of the word.

Yesterday it became clear that unforeseen things can happen during a live broadcast. We actually wanted to go to a choir rehearsal, but the traffic in Cologne completely collapsed for some inexplicable reason. We got 500 meters away from WDR within an hour and were then allowed to drive back because the editorial team decided that we should report on the traffic chaos in the city center. We parked the car in the no-parking zone in front of WDR and the camera and sound man got everything ready for the broadcast in a flash. I was allowed to play a light model and the presenter arrived shortly afterwards on her green bike; she also had to leave her car behind. What followed was three minutes of exciting live broadcast. I had to stand right next to the cameraman to show the presenters the time with a stopwatch. The challenge was that we moved around a lot and if the sound man hadn't gently pulled me behind the cameraman every now and then, I would definitely have accidentally ended up in the picture. But the switch was a complete success, everything went well and everyone was very satisfied and in a good mood. I took the positive energy home with me. The presenter was truly born for her job, she beamed with energy and was really nice and communicative. I really enjoy working at WDR and the position is a perfect fit. I'm excited to see what else I'll experience. I'm working on a carnival one day and we'll probably ride on the first carnival float - how cool is that?

What's not so cool right now is the pickle learning time. The cliché that media studies is just an extended license to drive a taxi should not be confirmed. Some things never change, like the fact that I'm an absolute night owl and can easily sleep until 12, but unfortunately the university library has other plans for me. I will also get up early tomorrow to stand in line with the other poor students for a place in the library. At least it's well heated there and because I'm there so early, I always get a place to plug in. I can also concentrate extremely well, alone at home (who doesn't know that??) there's no chance, I do pretty much everything except study. Our business professor said that we are all managers of our own lives and that people sometimes want to achieve something. I can confirm both, I just need a little pressure and a different atmosphere to learn. But nothing feels as good as being productive and then eating something nice and watching YouTube in the evening. In fact, I'm on my cell phone a lot less right now and I'm even pursuing my hobbies more than usual. But the fun isn't neglected either, this week I was at the poetry slam, drinking coffee, with friends in the cafeteria and next week on Weiberfastnacht there will be a bit of partying. I deserve that too, even if the business administration exam on February 20th hangs over me like the sword of Damocles. Okay, okay, a bit dramatic, but I also have something to do with theater and culture. Ironically, I like business administration the least as a module, but the professor the most, he is just funny and engaging. Without him, my assessment of business administration would probably be entirely negative. In general, all of my professors are very nice and fair, I can't complain. I'm also very excited about my first carnival in Cologne and everything that comes after that. From Spain I not only took the music and the beautiful memories with me, but also the motto: poco a poco (one thing at a time, everything will be fine in small steps, no stress, completely calm... choose a translation ; )) in Catalan, by the way, “poc a poc”. And everything can only be good anyway, because Cologne is cool!