Videoblog

This is the final project for our Multimedia Storytelling class. This video podcast is supposed to introduce the Mercyhurst Communication department and its majors.



Hope you enjoyed it!

Snow in November...

This morning, at 7am, I woke up and everything outside was white. Now, when I was younger I would have been ecstatic about that, because that usually means that school might be canceled. However, this morning I was in Westfield, NY (which is right in the middle of the snow belt) and I had to get back to Mercyhurst at 9am. Good thing my fiance and I had heard about the snow warning the night before and had set our alarms really early. Good thinking! We put some heavy clothes on, let the puppy play in the snow and ran the tractor through the yard. This whole ordeal (including getting ready) took about 50 minutes. I left right away and had a really scary ride through about 3 inches of snow still left on the streets after the plough trucks went through. Now, our house is in the middle of nowhere, so I was surprised that someone had actually ploughed that early in the morning. I made it to I-90 and then it took me about another 50 minutes to get to Mercyhurst.
On the way, I listened to the radio and kept shaking my head listening to people calling into the station, complaining that the streets in downtown Erie were stuffed and they would be late for work. When I got to Mercyhurst, I walked over to my meeting and was 15 minutes early. Everybody else who came from either the campus apartments or somewhere a few streets away from campus was late!
I just though to myself that it was good (and will always be good) to set my alarm at 2 hours before I have to be somewhere. You can always fall back asleep, it that is too early and you have nothing else to do, but I found out that it pays back to just open your eyes a little earlier and be prepared.

By the way, here is the weather forecast, better check it out before you go to bed tonight:
http://www.weather.com/weather/local/16546?whatprefs=&what=WeatherLocalUndeclared&lswe=16546&lswa=WeatherLocalUndeclared&from=searchbox_localwx&googleTypeSearch=on&where=16546&Search.x=27&Search.y=10&Search=Search

The new US President

This is of course a pretty broad topic, but here is what a German thinks about the fact that Barack Obama won the election:
When Obama visited Germany some months ago, a crowd of over 200,000 people went and listened to what he had to say. Here is a video to get a glimpse of what this looked like:



Most of the people in the crowd were young people; about College aged. After the speech I talked to my parents and asked them what they think of him. My dad knows quite a bit about German and US politics, because he used to work for the German government for many years and he said that he would vote for Obama if he could because he likes his ideas and he likes that Obama wants to pull the troops out of Afghanistan, which also affects many German solider and their families.
Many people asked me who I would vote for if I was allowed to and I actually found myself saying more and more that I wasn't sure who to vote for. I like some things that Obama wants to change in this country, but I also liked some of McCain's ideas.
I do like a change in the Health Care system in the US, because I have to admit, the German system truly is better. However, my roommate told me that a universal health care system for America would seriously endanger her father's job as well.
I do like that Obama is a little younger and that he is from a minority tho. This way he looks at problems more in a way that the younger generation looks at them. The current German chancellor is a woman (for the first time in history) and she is doing a great job. I didn't believe she would be a good choice when she got elected, but I certainly got convinced by her actions and I am glad that she is doing so great, even internationally.
So, although I am still a bit cautious about Obama, I do think he will be able to change some things in a good way in this country. Since I have been living here for the past 4 years and will be living maybe for the rest of my life, I really hope that he will bring the same success to the country as the German chancellor did and is still doing.

Common sense or required knowledge

I just took a test for a job at the local news station WJET TV. Of course I prepared for the test by reading the newspaper, watching the news, looking at the Erie City Council and so on, but what I saw in the test actually shocked me. Usually, I can handle tests really well and I never ever failed one, but this test made me really question my knowledge of current events and personalities. Some of the questions were actually easy, but some questions asked me about the names of the Presidential Cabinet of the US, or another question asked for the name of the Supreme Court Attorney General's name or other questions asked where important people like John McCain or Tony Blair are from. I would say the questions were a good mixture of current events, geography, history, politics and general knowledge. However, what I painfully realized was that the knowledge that you acquire from your college classes is by far not enough for such a test. I always use the excuse that I don't have time to watch the news or read the newspaper, but this test (and I should have known this before) showed me again how important it is to be informed.
I managed to pass the test with the little knowledge I could stir up in my brain (I also had to take a writing exam which most likely saved my butt) and I now work as a General Assignment editor for the Action News on the weekends and although today is my first day, I already (or again) realized how important it is to know what is going on around you; not only if you work in the news. I think I'll go back to reading the newspaper now...