First days in Munich

Munchen...
Munich is beautiful! It's clean and modern but with all the charm of old buildings. The cobblestone streets are lined with farmers market stands and the p
arks are green and lush with rivers running right through the middle of town.


I stopped at the Airbrau brewery in the airport to have a beer in honor of my uncle Chris and then jumped on the S-bahn and headed to the city center where our hotel/serviced apartments are. A few months previous I attempted to arrange my own housing as it is much cheaper and I do not find it necessary to have maid service once a week, but securing such things from a far is next to impossible. It was extremely hot the day I arrived but I went to look at a studio apartment in the Studentenstadt (student housing) and could not bring myself to stay there despite it costing a fraction of the hotel. There are 14 students in the summer program, 8 of which are staying at the hotel, the remainder arranged their own housing through a service for a hefty fee. Several of them brought their families for the summer... what a fun experience!


The class has been spectacular! We have two sessions each day from 9am- 1pm. The vast majority of the classes are taught by local professors and practicing attorneys covering a range of topics from the structure of the European Union to the nitty gritty of claim drafting restrictions for each member country. My brain may explode soon, but I am giddy with the intricacies. Eleven of the 14 students will stay for internships and I will be working for the IP firm, Zimmermann & Partner with one of the other students. We met with one of the attorneys last week and I learned quickly that heels and cobblestone streets make for an interesting game of extreme hopscotch! We will start work tomorrow after class and put in a few hours each day until the class ends in two weeks and then start going full time to get our paws dirty with German and European patent law.

Chimesee...
We took a field trip to Chiemesee a gorgeous lake in southern Bavaria near the border of Austria. King Ludwig II built one of his castles, Herrenchiemsee, on an island in the middle of the lake. He was slightly obsessed with the King of France and the place of Versailles, and this castle was a not so subtle display of it. Spending nearly 125 million dollars, only 20 of the 70 rooms were actually finished, which he enjoyed for the whole 10 days he spent there before he died. The best part was his bathtub that took the vast majority of the day to fill and was the size of my pool! Ah the things we do for fun when we have too much money on our hands. :)


I saved a 'little' friend I found crossing the path of death... do you see him? I think his cammo outfit is quite dangerous.



Back in the grounds of safety...



A few days later we took a field trip to the European Patent Office to hear an opposition proceeding. I'll refrain from nerding out, but it was really cool. If the new US Patent Act ever makes it through Congress and the US begins to allow opposition proceedings, I think we're going to have some serious patenting delays, but that means plenty of work for aspiring young attorneys!

A few nights ago was a free "Opera" in Munich's five courtyards.



Less of opera and more just general music festival, Claudine and I wandered the streets for a few hours listening to great opera, rock, jazz and a sax quartet at the stages around town. Armed with a box of sangria and my favorite cookies... it was a great time!