(R) VfB Stuttgart Thread 08/09

[stonesean]

Thanks! I've been lucky over the years. I've had some crappy duty stations too....Bosnia springs to mind....so does the middle of the North Atlantic....but I'll take Stuttgart and I'll keep extending until they have to throw me in a duffle bag and throw me out of the country....

I plan on alternating matches wearing my old Bobic shirt, my Soldo shirt, and my USA Ben Olsen shirt....

Of the three, I figure the Bobic shirt is the one that is most likely to get me beaten up....lol....

[panicfc]

I think you should invest in a Hitzelberger jersey instead ;)

[benztown]

I think you should invest in a Hitzelberger jersey instead ;)

No, they're all fine. The only reason would be to get the new jersey, which is pretty good looking...

[panicfc]

No, they're all fine. The only reason would be to get the new jersey, which is pretty good looking...

I thought that went without saying. Puma does the biz - best looking shirts in the league.

[stonesean]

Well, my Soldo is his last season with a UEFA Cup patch, so it's pretty good looking.

My Bobic shirt is a bright yellow atrocity the Gottinger Gruppe sponsor...a real relic....

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Great news man!

Are you gonna be stationed at Patch, Kelly or Panzer Barracks?

Obviously with all the military bases around the corner I've got tons of American friends back in Stuttgart, should be a great time for you!

Also, don't be too excited about the renewals in the stadium, the big ones are gonna come up in 2-3 years time ;)

And Bobic is still a popular guy here in Stuggi, no worries if you're wearing his shirt!

Although I may add Soldo is by far the coolest ;)

Zvonimir!!!!

[benztown]

Obviously with all the military bases around the corner I've got tons of American friends back in Stuttgart, should be a great time for you!

Interesting, because when I still lived in Stuttgart, I hardly ever met any Americans - only when I went to see American movies in their original language, without being dubbed.

Now I live in a former British zone and there are Brits everywhere...of course the town is also a lot smaller, so they're less likely to get lost in the mix...plus, they're really an annoying bunch who stand out wherever they go. That's why many clubs here don't accept Brits, and there was one Bar that had a sign which said that no more than 5 Brits are allowed in there at any time...they took off that sign though, probably for legal reasons...

[stonesean]

Well, I don't want to say too much bad about our English friends, but I will say any time you see someone abroad acting really horribly and speaking English, they're usually Brits. Americans might be dumb and loud, but we don't generally torment the locals on purpose when travelling abroad. I can't say the same for Brits.

The Corso kino in Stuttgart Vaihingen is the local english language theater. I have a friend who owns the bar called "Malwurf" just down the street. So, you'll find me and my wife there, or at the Kebab stand about a block away from the theater most weekends.

I should be working at Patch Barracks. I am hoping to live on Patch, and barring that, living on Kelley in Mohringen won't be too bad. I want to stay away from Robinson Barracks if I can. Too much of a hassle in the morning.

I've already explained to the wife that doing things on home match days is out of the question. In exchange for being allowed to attend home matches no questions asked, I've had to agree to maybe not watch every single away match live on TV...but I'll have a DVR, so there you go....

[kaiser kraut]

you're very lucky. I am trying to figure out a way to get myself employed in the greater stuttgart area. It's funny you mention that Kino, as that is where I and some friends would go from time to time when we were living at the Universitaet Wohnungen just a short distance away. Damn, and please don't make me start drooling for some great doener kebab. It's been far to long.

On that note. If anybody knows a good way for an American with a mechanical engineering degree, working on getting his MBA with a focus on Opperations, to get a job in Stuttgart, please contact me :)

[benztown]

The Corso kino in Stuttgart Vaihingen is the local english language theater. I have a friend who owns the bar called "Malwurf" just down the street. So, you'll find me and my wife there, or at the Kebab stand about a block away from the theater most weekends.

Yeah, that's the one I was talking about...;)

On that note. If anybody knows a good way for an American with a mechanical engineering degree, working on getting his MBA with a focus on Opperations, to get a job in Stuttgart, please contact me :)

Now I don't have any personal contacts, but finding a job as mechanical engineer shouldn't be much of a problem in or around Stuttgart, and when you have an MBA, all the better. The biggest problem is probably getting a Visa.

But with Stuttgart being a center for the auto industry, there are lots of engineering jobs. Not only at the big players like Mercedes, Porsche, Bosch or Mahle, but also at all the smaller suppliers, or at other companies like Stihl or Trumpf.

I'd just check some online job exchange site, like monster.de (http://www.monster.de) and contact the companies directly.

[footyfan1]

Most people don't know me on this thread, but I just wanted to say that I am quite excited.

The military has seen fit to send me back to Stuttgart-Vaihingen for 3 years!

I should be joining you guys in the stands sometime after the winter break!

Hooray!

I can't wait to see the stadium since the world cup overhaul!!!!!


CONGRATS BRO!! Perhaps we can have a beer or something if I get there when BVB comes to Stuttgart at the beginning of March.

Of course, that's an open invite to anyone who might be around Stuttgart at the time too! :D

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

The Corso kino in Stuttgart Vaihingen is the local english language theater. I have a friend who owns the bar called "Malwurf" just down the street. So, you'll find me and my wife there, or at the Kebab stand about a block away from the theater most weekends

Weird that the Corso Kino IS pretty much the only English language theater in Stuttgart. They used to have a cinema called Europa Kino on Koenigstrasse like 5 years ago but that closed down. I always thought that was strange for a fairly big town like Stuggi. :confused: Though of course a lot of the German Kinos will have original versions.

I should be working at Patch Barracks. I am hoping to live on Patch, and barring that, living on Kelley in Mohringen won't be too bad. I want to stay away from Robinson Barracks if I can. Too much of a hassle in the morning.

I've never heard of Robinson Barracks. One of my best friends lives on Patch, I even went on to the base with him once, which i'm pretty sure I wasn't aloud to do since i'm not American. :D

Moehringen's a nice area though, and if you like going downtown it's obviously closer than say Patch in Vaihingen.


@Benztown
I'm surprised you didn't meet many Americans in Stuttgart, I think there's at least 10 000 in the area. :eek:

[footyfan1]

I've never heard of Robinson Barracks.

If I'm not mistake, it's either in Bad Cannstatt or very close to it. It's on a hill and not far from where the Stuttgart Reds play Baseball.

An ex-girlfriend of mine plays softball for them.


One of my best friends lives on Patch, I even went on to the base with him once, which i'm pretty sure I wasn't aloud to do since i'm not American. :D

If your friend is over 18 years old and a U.S. ID Card holder, he can sign you on to Patch Barracks. You have to bring your passport though.


Moehringen's a nice area though, and if you like going downtown it's obviously closer than say Patch in Vaihingen.

I stayed at the Kelley Hotel the last time I was up there for a course. My course was out at Panzer Kaserne in Boeblingen though, so I really didn't get to enjoy the town too much.

I needed to sleep before class each day! :(


@Benztown
I'm surprised you didn't meet many Americans in Stuttgart, I think there's at least 10 000 in the area.

Not sure about 10,000, but there are plenty of us. And not just those of us who are serving in uniform or as civilians (I'm a DoD Civilian), but many have gotten out and stayed in that area.

And before anyone screams "OPSEC!" at me, I'm not disclosing any information that isn't distributed publicly here already! ;)

[Rainer24]

I used to travel up to that Kino to catch the occasional movie in the original English.

I just got back over to the right side of the pond, but I can't wait to make it up for a match once I'm all settled into the new job and whatnot.

[stonesean]

If I'm not mistake, it's either in Bad Cannstatt or very close to it. It's on a hill and not far from where the Stuttgart Reds play Baseball.

The big BOSCH advertising tower is at the foot of that hill.

There is a big Party on 4th of July where much of the base is open to locals who might be curious. (This was before 2001 though, so who knows now)


I stayed at the Kelley Hotel the last time I was up there for a course. My course was out at Panzer Kaserne in Boeblingen though, so I really didn't get to enjoy the town too much.

How is the Kelley Hotel? My wife and I will be staying there while we look for a place to live. I was going to move out into a flat in town, but I hear that the housing on base was overhauled, and my wife and I qualify for a 1600 square foot, 3 bedroom place on base...so I might skip living in town and stay on base.

Not sure about 10,000, but there are plenty of us. And not just those of us who are serving in uniform or as civilians (I'm a DoD Civilian), but many have gotten out and stayed in that area.

And before anyone screams "OPSEC!" at me, I'm not disclosing any information that isn't distributed publicly here already! ;)

I plan on retiring from the Navy while I am there, and then putting on a shirt and tie, doing the same job, and getting paid twice as much! LOL.

So, is it bad for me to hope that Karlsruher and Hoffenheim remain up in the Bundesliga? The more Baden-Wurttemburg teams the better! Maybe we can get SSV Reutlingen promoted too....

Thanks for all the words of support. We'll have to have a nice BigSoccer meet n' greet once I get over there.

[kaiser kraut]

Now I don't have any personal contacts, but finding a job as mechanical engineer shouldn't be much of a problem in or around Stuttgart, and when you have an MBA, all the better. The biggest problem is probably getting a Visa.

But with Stuttgart being a center for the auto industry, there are lots of engineering jobs. Not only at the big players like Mercedes, Porsche, Bosch or Mahle, but also at all the smaller suppliers, or at other companies like Stihl or Trumpf.

I'd just check some online job exchange site, like monster.de (http://www.monster.de) and contact the companies directly.

My experience is in pharmaceutical and life sciences, not automotive... so sometimes that is prohibitive. Bosch has a pretty nice program for new grads called JUMP where it puts you on a fast track to upper management. I'd like to do that, but its for people with Masters (amongst others) in Mechanical Eng. and MBA with Finance major. Well, I have my undergrad in Mechanical Eng., but I'm planning on doing my MBA in Operations. So does that mean I'm out of luck? I'm thinking about trying to contact their HR department and ask about that, as I'd love to get in that program with the 4 rotations in 2 years and find my way to Stuttgart at the end of the 2 year program.

[kaiser kraut]

On a totally different note:

The supporters in Columbus, OH are looking at trying to establish relationships (alliances) with supporters groups in other countries and other leagues. I think the basic idea is to have idea exchange and find help in learning good ways to organize and mobilize the group and to get incredible TIFO done. I don't know if anybody from Lost Boys or Cannstatt Commandos would be interested or receptive to this sort of thing, but I have a lot of respect for what appears to be great organization from both groups with incredible TIFO and websites and all that.

Anyway, if anybody here is heavily involved in either of those groups, perhaps you can let me know through PM if this is something worth exploring.

The Columbus Crew supporters have 3 groups (Crew Union, Hudson Street Hooligans, and La Turbina Amarillo) and we collectively sit in what we've labeled as the "Nordecke" (it's the NE corner of our stadium). We've seen a lot of strong growth this year and a lot of excitement about building a strong future for the supporters. Anyway, that's my soapbox talk. Back to your regularly scheduled VfB talk.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

So, is it bad for me to hope that Karlsruher and Hoffenheim remain up in the Bundesliga? The more Baden-Wurttemburg teams the better! Maybe we can get SSV Reutlingen promoted too....


Well, we won't be seeing our friends Reutlingen in the 1. Liga any time soon I think, but Freiburg is currently in a promotion spot in the 2. Liga so you be in luck there ;)

@Kaiserkraut

Commando Cannstatt, Schwabensturm and all the rest of the VfB supporters grous already have 'friendly' relations with numerous sides - Energie Cottbus, Reutlingen, St. Gallen, Cosenza... so I doubt they'd be looking for a new 'partnership' but hey, you can always try! They should be easy to reach by email, just go on their homepage www.cc97.de

[cdmphy]

Sami Khedira tweaked his ankle in the U21 game against France and will be out for three weeks.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Wonderful. And he has been playing really well for us lately. :(