July 14, 2014   //   International   //   By Alex Krog

Share

Four stars and seven hours ago…

I think that’s the only way for me to start this, but it should be noted that I was out on Leopoldstrasse, which is their Victory Street (a designated street where everyone goes to celebrate), until 4:00 am walking around and soaking in what was a wonderful atmosphere.  I’m now running on fumes as I am just three days away from returning back to the states.

Anyway, in case you weren’t aware, last night was the World Cup Final which featured Germany vs. Argentina, where Germany was victorious and earned their 4th star.  Germany, as all countries do, has stars on their jersey which represents every world title that they have won. Last nights’ victory joined ’54, ’74, and ’90 as their four stars.  Something that I found funny was the fact that they were frustrated that they hadn’t won in 24 years prior to last night, which is only a 5 tournament drought.

As a Chicago Cubs fan, I have no comment.

It was amazing that on a Sunday night, at 3:00 in the morning there were still thousands of people out celebrating, and I passed thousands more on my walk to the street.  Cars were still driving around honking, people were still walking around yelling and I happened to be here to enjoy it. And the picture at the top is to provide a glimpse of what it was like.

I’ve had the time of my life here, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  I can’t thank Mueller and Kleeberg enough for the opportunity that was given to me to live and experience Germany.  A thank you to everyone over here that made my trip enjoyable as well as all people back home that have stayed in touch with me.  It has really meant a lot.

To say that my three months have gone quick would be an understatement.  It seems like I was just at the German-American Summit meeting in April.  Dave Nissen, Mueller’s Managing Partner, and Amy Chamoun, Mueller’s International Tax savant, were here five days after I arrived in Munich, and they were back this last weekend, five days before I leave Munich.  The time between the two did not feel like it was more than 2 months, and that’s a good thing.

A very personal and heartfelt thank you goes to Isabella Danisch who has been my best friend over here and she made my stay in Germany better than I could’ve ever imagined. She knows what the experience is like as she spent three months in America as a Global Exchange Employee. She will be the biggest thing that I will miss about Germany (a very close 2nd is the beer, obviously).

Thank you for reading my posts the last three months.  I have tried to be as real, honest, and as entertaining as I possibly could be for an accounting website blog.  I sincerely hope that you enjoyed reading them.

Prost!

Alex Krog, CPA is an Audit Associate and participant in Mueller’s Global Employee Exchange Program.