Belgium

This is one of the last shots of Munich I took before I left for Belgium. I’d often walk down this street in this direction to head to school near the center of town.

This will be my last entry from Germany. I just got back from Belgium. As I stated before, I went to catch up with a friend, Marc, who was an exchange student at my High School my senior year. When we graduated, I told him I’d visit him some day – I’m glad I had the chance to do so. It was great to see him again.

He had broken his leg several weeks ago (while chasing a cat), so his mobility was limited. Still, I met him and his father’s girlfriend in the train station in Aachen, Germany. I was sorta excited to go to Aachen, as it is the city that Charlemagne spent most of his time in. Marc ended up using the wheelchair for this portion of the trip - most of the time, he used his crutches. We eventually reached the cathedral in Aachen. Marc gave me a tour of the place.

From what I remember, the central parts of the church are still original (or, at least, the original site of the church. The church has been expanded over the past 1200 years, and various pieces of artwork and installations have been added and repaired).

Later, right before I caught my train back to Munich, I ended up taking a german-language tour throughout the cathedral. I did because the tour gets to enter places in the cathedral closed off to the public, and the English language tour started too late in the day. Anyway, you can see Jesus at the top. The Chandelier was installed by Barbarossa in the… 1100s, I think?

A suspended Mary and Jesus, surrounded by stained glass.

A shot from behind the Mary and Jesus.

The organ in the Cathedral.

A shot from the lecturn.

Close up of the stained glass. In the middle panel, you can clearly see part of Genesis: specifically, Adam and Eve. My german tour guide told me, in English, about how this cathedral somehow escaped much of the destruction visited upon Aachen in the world wars. Only the stained glass was destroyed from the shock of nearby explosions, and had to be replaced after the WW2.

After going around Aachen and having some Asian for dinner (him sushi, me Pad Thai), and narrowly escaping a downpour, we headed back to his apartment Eupen. Along the way, he took a small detour into the Netherlands just for fun (so, I can say I visited four countries on this trip). Eupen and Aachen are very close to the border of three countries.

I think it’d be fair to say that Eupen is a small town. I like seeing small towns in different countries –cities are often very tourist orients / uniform across cultures. I mean, the intersection the diner we had breakfast at could’ve fit into the area of ohio I’m from – there was a gas station on one corner, a greasy spoon on the other, with some fields fields and in the distance. However, on an amusing note, while we were having breakfast in a diner, apparently the people in the next table commented on our English conversation by remarking how international the area was becoming.

It turns out that Eupen was once a major pottery center in Europe. So, he took me to visit their pottery museum the next morning. The museum was neat – you could clearly see the evolution in the types of stoneware from uniform brown color to white with blue glazing. Afterward, he drove me around he town the pottery museum was in. Again, I marveled at how similar it is to rural Ohio: green hills and fields filled with cows as far as you could see. The houses were few and far between. Actually, there were often little clusters of houses. These clusters used to be the original hamlets that people settled in hundreds of years ago. The town essentially consisted of small groups of houses surrounded by acres of fields, and the former hamlets now connected by winding roads.

One of the small towns he took me to was Limburg. Marc hadn’t seen it, but had heard that the church on top of the hill was nice, and had watched some amusing 5-minute travel video created by a Chinese company that extolled the virtues of Limburg (it’s even funnier after you’ve seen the place).

It was a charming enough town once we found the road up the hill (though, it was difficult for him to get around on crutches). There was little more than a cobbled main street / square surrounded by houses.

The church we sought was closed. This was a slight disappointment, as it was the main objective of our visit. Here is a pic of one of the stained glass windows, taken from outside.

There was a single restaurant open (though, I thought I saw another that was currently closed). We had a couple of drinks, and relaxed for an hour.

On the way back to his town, he stopped at a dam. Marc told me how the reservoir provided much of the water for the region.

A shot of the dam from the bottom.

The next day, I chose to travel to Bruges. I had heard much about it from several of my friends, and wanted to see it more than any other city in Belgium. Marc was still recuperating, so I was on my own. Getting there took about 3 hours by train, which wasn't bad - I had a chance to read a book and relax a bit.

After I entered Bruges, I turned down a path adjacent to a canal.

A bridge over one of the canals in Bruges.

Shot along a canal in Bruges.

Another shot along a canal in Bruges. You can see one of the churches in the distance.

Geese in Bruges.

A street in Bruges.

Bruges has a lot of canals.

Cathedral in Bruges.

Simon Stevin square.

Belfry in the main square.

The town square in bruges. Once Bruges used to be a main center of commerce. Nowadays, it is very much a tourist city, and it shows. Every third shop is selling tourist trinkets of some sort, and the prices for things are much higher than in Belgium. One of those diners had a lunch meal that was at least 25 euros.

I chose to climb the Belfry, all 300 steps of it. This chest was located in the first landing. The chest contained important documents for the town, such as the town charter. It was locked behind nine (i think) doors. Any changes to the rules or regulations for the town had to be agreed to nine representatives, each of which had one key. All needed to be in agreement to amended the documents.

The cylinder drum at the top of the belfry caused the bells to play music.

View of bruges from the top of the belfry.

Bells in the belfry.

Basilica of the Holy Blood, in Bruges. This basilica holds a peculiar relic – a vial encased in gold, containing blood purported to have belonged to Jesus Christ.

I had a dinner at a place Marc recommended – Cambrinus. The place is named after the mythical “King of Beers.” I had a beef stew and a Westmalle beer. Both were quite good, and went well together.

...

So, this trip comes to a close. I want to add some succinct coda or summary, but I'm tired. I suppose it feels like its time to go back - many of the people I met in the past four weeks have already returned to their homes. The city feels empty without them.

This was a good program, though. I'm glad I did it. I learned a bit more about intellectual property, got to meet interesting people, and was able to spend a month away from the routine I have created for myself over the past couple of years. I increasingly think that it is important for a person to get away for an extended break every once in a while. Even though I am tired, I feel rested for the first time since last summer. I like to think that going on this trip has given me perspective in what I am doing with my life (though, admittedly, I think that is likely to happen whenever one breaks away from one's routine for a period of time). Whether this impetus to act and achieve will remain, I do not know; it's easy to fall back into comfortable monotony.

Anyway! I return, and am glad I am doing so. I will miss Munich, but there are plenty of people back home who I miss more and need to catch up with. And, once again, thanks for reading the blog! Hopefully I'll update it again, sooner rather than later, from another corner of the globe.

German Patent Office, EPO, Salzburg, Munich, and me posing with fake cows

I've been very busy in the past week, and haven't had much time to update. There is so little time remaining here that I've wanted to spend it with my friends in the program. Since this is from most of the last week, this is sorta three entries in one.

Before I had left, I gave my boss the link to my journal. She laughed, and said that this way she could make sure I was actually doing something for law school, rather than just having a vacation in Europe. Last Friday, the program I'm in visited the German Patent Office and the European Patent Office in Munich with Chief Judge Rader. A point that may be of interest to Examiners: at the DPMA (roughly, Deutsches Patent and Trademark Office), Examiners aren't on a production system. Clarification: the production of individual Examiners is measured. However, instead of being measured against a quota based on the number of hours worked, the DPMA measures an individual Examiner's production against the average production in their (art unit / work group / TC? It wasn't clear) every two months. If the Examiner is below average, they receive a warning of sorts and are told to produce more. If they are above average, they are congratulated. So, while it's a bit more lenient than the US system, it also lacks the incentives for high production (they award no bonuses, from my understanding), and the disincentives for low production (such as losing one's job).

As far as substantive issues from the open discussion - I remember the discussion focused on the direction patent law was taking. The DPMA faces a growing backlog similar to the US. There was a lot of talk about work sharing and international convergence regarding IP protection schemes. As far as work sharing goes, I don't think they meant full faith and credit (though, thinking about some of the comments I heard afterward, I'm not certain of this). I think the use of the term was more directed towards making office actions and resources regarding an application in one office immediately available in another office examining a related application. So, to allay my boss's fear, in addition to class, I am doing things that are relevant to our profession. I'll have a more detailed report upon my return :-P

Jen and I at the EPO! We definitely need to have some patent examiner exchanges with the EPO and the DPMA! We were really excited to be there.

Talk at the German Patent and Trademark Office with Chief Justice Randall Rader, Dean of IP at GW John Whealen, and Dr. Dieter Schneider, one of the heads of the Patent division at the DPMA. Apologies for the crappy picture.



The next day, Jen, Alex, Nick, and I went souvenir shopping. This ended up being a failure on my part - I like quality goods. Quality goods in Germany are very expensive. Cheap souvenirs in germany are still expensive. Argh. In the end, we went to a Milka chocolate store near Viktualien Market.

Jen buying pounds of chocolate at the Milka store.

Me with a purple Milka cow.

Afterward, Ezgi, Alex, Nick, and I went to the hard rock cafe. Ezki had drunk a "Lovely Rita" at the Hard Rock Cafe in Amsterdam many years ago, and still cherished the memory of it. I warned her that revisiting places and things that you fell in love with when you were younger is dangerous - often, reality will fail to compare with a memory tinged in gold. I am a pessimist (realist) in some things. Sadly, in this case, I was correct. While I found the "Lovely Rita" pleasant enough, for Ezgi, it failed to compare to the nectar she quaffed in her youth. Also, the food was overpriced and of subpar quality.

The next day, Ezgi, Alex, Nick and I traveled to Salzburg. Unlike many at the MIPLC, we chose to travel on our own without a tour. We also went on a Sunday. I don't really question the wisdom of either of these decisions, however, they did affect our trip. We arrived at 11 without a plan. There was a general desire to see the Lake District. However, first we figured we would see some of the main sites in Salzburg and wander the town. After visiting the tourist information center a second time, we were given a list of busses and directed to the busy stop. We got in, and the driver collected our money - "single direction only." He spoke english quite well. Several stops in, the woman sitting in front of me turned around and helpfully explained that the bus was going out of town. However, the final stop was not far away, and all we would need to do is stay on the bus and it would take us to where we wanted to go, eventually. We followed her advice.

After the bus stopped for several minutes at its terminus, and every other passenger filed out, I began to wonder if the bus driver would have a complaint with our remaining on board. Soon, he left his seat and approached us. He explained how this was the end of the line, and how we had only purchased single-direction tickets. He mentioned how he had told us single-direction when we purchased the tickets. I explained how we didn't know this - we were told to take bus 3 at the tourist info office. We were not told which terminus name to look for on the bus. I asked if he wanted us to purchase new tickets for the way back (I mean, we did admittedly break the rules. Ignorance, is, unfortunately, not valid defense). He paused and considered our group. He asked where we were from. America, I said. She's from Turkey, I added, pointing to Ezgi. He nodded and smiled, and said that he would not require us to pay an additional fare. He gave us a tourist map and some advice for navigating the city. So, go Austria. Your bus drivers are sympathetic, at least, when it comes to the mistakes of ignorant tourists.

Upon reaching the city center, we wandered the streets for a bit. This is a typical view for the streets of Salzburg.

Another picture of me posing with a fake cow.

Another street in Salzburg. Eventually, I got to practice my german by asking several youths "Wo ist hier?" while holding a map.

Tunnel underneath the fortress in Salzburg.

Approaching the fortress.

There is a square underneath the fortress. Here is a family playing chess with the oversized pieces and board at the square.

A battalion made of armor, in the fortress in Salzburg.

Salzburg from the fortress.

Cannon over Salzburg. That cathedral is in danger.

Me in the fortress overlooking Salzburg.

We eventually wandered to one of the churches nearby.

Church in Salzburg.

The inside of the Dom in Salzburg. This is the inside of the cathedral that the canon was pointing at.

On our way back to the center of town, we walked along a market near the river.

Ezgi had a travel guide. She had read the praises of the "world famous" Original Sachertorte. It was quite good - better than an average piece of cake. However, I wouldn't say that it was transcendent. At best, I would say that it was a really good piece of cake.


While souvenir hunting, I took up a quest of sorts. Jen had seen a shirt that said "I (picture of a pretzel) München," where the pretzel is shaped like a heart. She had searched on her own, in vain. So, while shopping, we kept an eye out for the shirt. We asked about them in several shops - usually we were told 'no.' One shopkeeper sent us to another shop, which then sent us to a third shop, which did have one shirt... in extra-small. Jen despaired; I refused to give up. When I got home, I googled them, and found a rumor that the shirts were sold in a shop at the foot of the Olympic tower. So, one day after class, I headed back to the Olympic village. Since I was there, I decided to go up the tower as well - I enjoy seeing cities from high places.

View of Munich from the Olympic Tower.

The top of the tower has an indoors level, a lower outside level, and an upper outside level. This is the lower outside level of the Olympic Tower.

You could take stairs up to a highest level.

BMW plant from the Olympic Tower in Munich.

View of a park from the Olympic Tower.

Take a right at the Rohr Abbey, cross the rainbow bridge Bifröst, and you'll be at Valhalla. Much like Munich, the beer never stops flowing in the halls of Valhalla (though, technically, I suppose the Norse gods and heroes would drink mead).

Me at the Olympic tower. It was very windy - I have many shots where my hair floats freely around my head like this.

And the quest? Well... We are nerds, but awesome nerds. Others were totally jealous of our shirts. At least, this is what I will choose to believe.

As for here on out? I have finals tomorrow, and there'll probably be some final, bittersweet outing with my friends from the program. I think we're planning to watch the opening ceremony of the olympics. On Saturday, I'm heading to Belgium to visit an old friend, Marc (the Belgian). He was an exchange student my senior year of highschool. I'll spend Saturday-Tuesday in Belgium. After that, I'll rush back to Munich to catch my flight back to the states on Wednesday. I'll write up at least one more entry (probably on the train to or from Belgium).