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GERMANY TRIP ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. EPILOGUE                                                                                          b. Elisabeth Krankenhaus, Recklinghausen

2. AIRPORTS                                                                                          c. Marien Hospital, Herne

          a. Schipol, Amsterdam                                                       6. SIGHTSEEING

          b. Düsseldorf International                                                           a. Köln and Brühl

3. FLIGHT JOURNEY                                                                            b. Phantasialand

         a. KLM and Northwest - The Affair!                                 7.  PROLOGUE

         a. Flight Information - To & Fro                                         8.  APPENDIX

4. NORDRHEIN - WESTFALEN                                                          a. English - German Glossary

         a. Bus, Train or Subway                                                                  b. Abbreviations

5. HOME vs. HOSPITAL                                                                        c. Future German Attractions

         a. Bungalow No. 13, Engelbertstraβe                                             d. List of website references

  GERMANY TRIP ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey whazzup, u'all! I am the friendly disk! You will see me on all the visible pictures or photos on this page. If you wish to download that particular picture / photo, please click on me. I will be usually at the bottom of the picture so you can easily find me.

1.  EPILOGUE

The trip to Germany was organized our college, with all expenses paid for the ticket and accommodation. Students of the 5^th year M.B.B.S. from Gulf Medical College, Ajman, were sent to hospitals in Hamburg, Bremen and Recklinghausen which are all in Germany, in batches of 5-10 students. The goal was to accomplish a three week course at various hospitals, and to experience a new medical atmosphere, as well as to undoubtedly bridge the  loopholes in our practical medical education. We would also be able to learn to adapt to an entirely new country within an entirely new continent, with entirely different cultures and traditions. The names and registration numbers of the students who participated with us in the training programme and will be seen in the photos following, alongside me are as follows:

The batch of nine bound for Elisabeth Krankenhaus, Recklinghausen

Duration of stay: 18th August  - 7th September

Throughout this article, you will read through the different points of the journey, and the stay, and get a "picture" of Germany. I apologise to you for the slightly inferior quality of pictures, where applicable, but do welcome your comments, good or bad, regarding the pictures or writings.

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

2.  AIRPORTS

The primary airport used was Dubai International Airport, ultimately, as I was a resident of Dubai. But alongside, there was also a chance to experience two completely new airports, in the form of Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, Holland; and Düsseldorf International, in Düsseldorf, Germany! Indeed, the experiences at each of these airports were novel and worth mentioning.

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

2a ) Schipol Airport, Amsterdam

By far, anyone who considered Schipol airport as the lowest airport in the world (with regard to altitude), would be forgiven. The airport was instead one of the busiest in the European sector, and a vital connection to flights bound for destinations near and far. Indeed, on landing on the runway itself, one could make out the enormisity of this structure, which was even evident by the plane taxiing around for a quarter-hour before finding its “parking” spot.

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

2b ) Düsseldorf International, Düsseldorf

This airport is located in the southern part of the western state  of Nordrhein-Westfalen. Indeed, this  was the closest airport to our destination, Recklinghausen, just about 40 km away. There is an aero rail which connects the terminal complex to the nearest rail and bus station, Düsseldorf Flughafen. {Flughafen}.

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

3.  FLIGHT JOURNEY

3a ) KLM and Northwest - The Affair

As seen before, the official flight carrier was KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. The airline is in a tier with the U.S. carrier, Northwest Airlines. There are other partners in tie up with KLM. We just availed of the slight interaction between KLM airlines and KLM City Hopper, which operates small passenger flights which generally last up to an hour, between various European hubs; at a reasonable price.

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

3b ) Flight Information - To and Fro!

The general flight information and the schedule was generally the same for both ways, except in arrival and departure timings, which was different, given that the flight to Germany was an early morning one, but the one back was an afternoon one.

Overall, the hospitality exhibited to us on our to and fro journeys along with the food and entertainment was good, on these flights.

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

4.  NORDRHEIN - WESTFALEN

This is the most populated state and as mentioned earlier, is home to the city and airport of Düsseldorf and cities like Köln (Cologne), Munster etc.

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

4a ) Bus, Train or Subway ??!!>>##

From the airport of Düsseldorf, we were bound for the north, for a city, rather an area called Recklinghausen. This is a district that has a densely populated city in its center. We were residing in its southern part, called Sud {Sud} . Indeed the ride was for 45 minutes, but cost a hefty €50.

Our destination in Recklinghausen Sűd {Sud}, was the bungalow at Engelbertstraβe {straβe}. The dwelling was about a block from the hospital, so walking seemed to the mode of conveyance. The hospital was Elizabeth Krankenhaus, which will be discussed later. However, the ObGyn hospital, was located at Herne, which was about 3-4 kms away. The city of Recklinghausen, was in the opposite north direction, about 3kms away.

The primary mode of conveyance seemed to be walking, or cycling (especially if you were at either extremes of age – old or young). Then the bus, which runs every 10-15 minutes depending on the route involved. The route preferred was No.205, which stopped at Engelbertstraβe {straβe}. It began from Recklinghausen HBF (HauptBahnHof). From there, a southward drive past our stop to Herne HBF. At Recklinghausen HBF, you could catch a land train anywhere or a bus, but not an underground. At Herne HBF, you could do all three. So in effect, if you wanted to go to another major city; for the northern sector, Recklinghausen HBF would be perfect, while for southern cities, Herne HBF would serve the job.

The DB {Die Bahn} ticket rates for any destination would depend on the place of embarking. If for example, one would board from Bochum, then a city the distance of Munster would be around “A” or €3.30 per person. Going further, would mean “B” type ticket, or around €7.10 per person, for instance, to Düsseldorf. And then, a city furthest than “A” or “B” would be typed as “C” and would cost around €14.00. The ticket, could be bought at the touch-screen machines at Herne HBF itself. The machines were very user-friendly and multilingual (English, Dutch, German or French). Of course, these are the prices from Herne HBF. Any other stations in the state would have different rates for a ticket to various cities depending on how far or close they were.

On our way to Düsseldorf, a Tages karte {Tages karte} ticket was bought, which is a group ticket for 5 individuals, for a “B” city, from Herne HBF. This would work out to about roughly €3.25 per person. So group tickets are always a reasonable offer. There are also different types of trains; RE, Regional Bahn; and the distance trains referred to as either THA, MET, ICE, IC, IR, D. To make the job easier, I took the fact that an ICE or IR meant long-distance trains, and you could not use a subway ticket. However, once you would have booked a ticket according to A, B or C; you could take a train of the RE or IR types, not ICE. The THA train could offer a connection directly to Brussels and Paris! One could travel fast and comfortably from Duesseldorf, Cologne or Aachen directly to Brussels or Paris at a reasonably priced fare.  The ICE could be used for a daily trip into the Netherlands. The EuroStar is the international high-speed course that connects Paris and Brussels by the euro tunnel with Great Britain. It has 2 car classes, 2 bar cars and mini bar service range, wheelchair parking bays and toilets.

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

5.  HOME vs. HOSPITAL

The basis of our stay in Germany, was the bungalow leased by the Elizabeth Krankenhaus, {krankenhaus} kindly, on behalf of Dr. A. Yousef. The hospitals for the training were equally competent and were, as mentioned earlier; the Elizabeth Krankenhaus, Recklinghausen; and Marien Hospital, Herne.

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

5a ) Bungalow No. 13, Engelbertstraβe {straβe}

The bungalow, which was named 13, was not as unlucky as we thought it to be. Of course, the rooms were spacious and the added benefits of a fridge, microwave and the hospital supplying us food for dinner, made us feel nearer to home. The breakfast and lunch was also provided by the hospital. Additionally, my room was on the ground floor and consisted of an added hall and lavatory with a wash basin. So the stay facilities was really great.

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

5b ) Elisabeth Krankenhaus, Recklinghausen

The first hospital; the Elisabeth Krankenhaus; was indeed a mystery unfolding itself over the three weeks. The home base of our clinical coordinator, Dr. A. Yousef, plastic surgeon; this hospital boasted of geriatric, E.N.T, internal medicine, and surgery departments; as well as having about 305 licensed beds, and a Chinese Traditional Medicine  centre, a unique first of its kind in the area.

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

5c ) Marien Hospital, Herne

MarienHospital, was located in the town of Herne, nearer the Holkeskampring subway station which was east from the route no.205 near Herne HBF. The hospital, Elisabeth Krankenhaus, arranged a driver, called Mark, to pick the students up and drop them, when needed. The plethora of obstetric and gynecologic cases was good enough reason to come here. Further, the numerous departments, such as specialized clinics for pediatric and child-bearing patients, refined the hospital facilities.

Our coordinators here were Dr.Alia and Dr.Schmitz who tirelessly showed us numerous ultrasonographies and ward rounds, as well as giving us an opportunity for physical examination. Indeed, we were all wishing for a few more days in the hospital to further tighten the pores in our knowledge of obstetrics and gynecology.

Dr.Katherine deserves special mention too. She is a gynecologist. The operations were all too enticing. All this, in addition to the numerous tips and tricks; did make us all wish for more.

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

6.  SIGHTSEEING

The places which were visited during the latter hours of the day and on the weekends, were primarily Düsseldorf city, Köln and Phantasialand. The ones that are to be mentioned in detail are Köln and Phantasialand. Indeed, given more time and opportunity, as well as having knowledge of the places and transportation around us; we would all have been in a better position to visit more places. The money factor was equally a limiting factor to an extent too.

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

6a ) Köln and Brühl

Köln is the city which is located at the southern part of the NRW state. Indeed, a train ride cost the eight of us about €50.00 which works to about €6.25 per head. But the troublesome part is that we had to change 3 trains. The daily schedule can vary between 3 to even 5 trains, and the ticket booking office should be consulted for the up-to-date timetable.

The trains had to be changed at Duisberg and Köln. Indeed, the overall ride was better in the Köln - Duisberg express, but the RE train from Köln to Brühl was not fair weather. The Köln station itself is a magnificent structure of steel and iron. Made in the shape of an aerodrome, it has about 15 platforms itself. It receives the bulk of the train traffic everyday. Trains from Hambrug and other northern european cities use this station as a changing point to transfer to any southern city or even usually London. I was impressed both by the architecture and the beauty of the InterCity and EuroCity trains that traversed these platforms.

Brühl was the complete antithesis of Köln and one could forgive its state given the minimal expanse of the town and its population density. But even then, there were 4 platforms and here too, numerous trains like the RE and the ICE zoomed past temporarily changing the silent breeze into a hurricane!

From there, a €10.00 cab to the next destination, Phantasialand, was the only aim of this whole trip.

@ MASTER MENU                @ English - German Glossary              @ Abbreviations

6b ) Phantasialand

Phantasialand, as mentioned above, was the theme park located in Brühl, in Köln district. Indeed, from the outset, this looked quite bewildering. As the Phantasialand logo looked down on us in green, we made our way to the ticket counter. Five minutes later, bladder empty and feeling €22.00 lighter; we started to explore the vast acres that spread before us.

The theme park, to our dismay, seemed to appeal to kids. But we were mistaken by the multitudes of young and older post-teens entering the park too. Secondly, many of the rides, you'd seem would come packaged with a PG-15 rating.

An aero rail train gose through the park at snail's pace, through all the different rides as an informative guide to what one can expect from this park. After that, it was a quick lunch at Chinatown, and then savouring the water splash rides, the Colorado roller-coaster and the Mystery Castle, alongwith the Crazy Loop, and the Galaxia. The Galaxia impressed with its dark room, and moving chair, and a Virtual Reality environment which makes you feel you are in an intergalactic experience. The Mystery Castle surprises you when the lights go out, after which it is a speedy rise up the 70metre tower, which makes your heart come into your hands, and then the descent in sequences of 20m falls, which exhilarate even more.

Indeed, a relaxing effect by the fountains and some photo-sessions before almost 5 hours had passed. It was time to head home using the bus to Brühl station and then the train (RE) to Düsseldorf, and then the express to Herne.

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

7.  PROLOGUE

All in all, this was an all-round trip to Germany, where we had our cake and ate it too. By the end of three weeks, it seemed like we had not had enough. Anyway, this was just like savouring the icing on the cake and not the whole cake itself. There were many big cities in Germany itself, leave alone NRW, which had to be seen, such as Hamburg, Berlin, Munich etc. Perhaps a more extended trip would be perfect for the same. But clinically, the experience was very satisfying. I am indebted yet again, to the staff of Elisabeth Krankenhaus and Marien Hospital, for their untiring support and effort to make our stay great. If I have the chance again next year, courtesy the college of course, I would indeed opt for more of OBGyn time, and would make full effort of it. The weather, people and the culture were all quite different from the ones we are exposed to in the U.A.E. and it was indeed a unique experience. Until the next time of course, its just the snaps and the memories that will be nostalgic.

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

8.  APPENDIX

Use these appendices at will, to search up a german word's english translation or to see an expanded form of an abbreviation. Alternatively, do not forget to visit the website links below, to see more of the sites from where much of the information and pictures were taken from. And, last but not the least, always prepare for tomorrow. The last appendix feature is on the future German attractions such as the World Cup 2006 and the Youth Day 2005. Keep visiting this site for updated links to these pages plus your chance to be there with the stars.

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

8a ) English - German Glossary

ABBREVIATION	EXPANDED FORM
Bahn	Train
Die	The
Flughafen	Airport
Halt	Stop
Haltenstelle	Station / Stop
HauftBahnHof	Main Station
Krankenhaus	Hospital
Nachste	Next
Straβe	Street
Sűd	South
Tages karte	Day ticket

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

8b ) Abbreviations

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

8c ) Future German Attractions

Youth Day 2005, Cologne (keep visiting these space)

The youth look forward to this day of worship and reverence. Caste no bar, sex no bar, religion no bar. The chief guest? The Pope, the ultimate head of the Roman Catholic Church. The time? Summer 2005. The place? Cologne (Koln), Germany. With the co-operation of a large number of cathedrals and the local community in this city, can this edition of the WYD aim to be better than the one recently held in Toronto in 2002? Only time can tell. Check down for more links.

FIFA World Cup 2006 (keep visiting these space)

A new phrase is born - WC'06. And very much so in advance. Barely even into the World Cup '06 qualifiers to be held in 2004, and there are a few sites already up for cashing in on the economic boom that this event generates. Indeed, if the 2002 edition was anything to go by, it would be early to expect something good from the next edition. Germany has been chosen as the prime country to host the tournament. A number of cities with stadiums - some built already while others still in the infancy stage - will be host to a number of players from around 64 countries, this 2006 summer. Check down for more links as well as keep visiting this space for information on updated links and news, over the next four years.

- "Teams that Made It!" -  The World Cup 2006 Ticker

Keep watching this ticker for news of which teams made it to the WC'06.

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

8d ) List of website references (click on link to connect to URL)

AIRPORTS

Schipol Airport, Amsterdam:- http://www.schiphol.nl/                

Dusseldorf International, Düsseldorf:- http://www.duesseldorf-international.de/

TRANSPORT

Die Bahn:- http://www.diebahn.de

MAPS

Germany GenWeb (Nordrhine-Westfalen):- http://www.rootsweb.com/~deunrhwf/

Meinstadt Maps:-

 http://www.meinestadt.de/Recklinghausen?FRAMESET=_frameset_karte.html (for Recklinghausen)

 http://www.meinestadt.de/Recklinghausen?FRAMESET=_frameset_karte.html (for Engelbertstraβe)

Entry.De:-

 http://www.entry.de/

AIRLINES

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines:-  http://www.klm.com/

Northwest Airlines (alliance with KLM):-  http://www.nwa.com/alliance

Sharjah National Travel and Tourism Agency:-  http://www.sntta.com

ENTERTAINMENT

Phantasialand:-  http://www.phantasialand.de

HOSPITALS

Elisabeth, Krankenhaus, Recklinghausen:-  http://www.ekonline.de/

Marien Hospital, Herne:-  http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/mahe/

FUTURE 2002

Youth Day 2005, Cologne (keep visiting these links)

Information at CDC Education:- 
http://www.cdeducation.org/oym/connections/cologne/

Information at Christian Travellers:- 
http://www.christian-travelers-guides.com/guides/germany/germany.html

FIFA World Cup 2006 (keep visiting these links)

The mother of all football sites:- 
http://www.fifaworldcup.com

Information at WC06:- http://www.wc06.com

@ MASTER MENU                     @ English - German Glossary                   @ Abbreviations

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