It’s been a long time since the last update. Apologies. I’ve been really busy. My classes have been keeping me quite occupied. I have 4 classes, adding up to 20 hours per week (3 6-hour classes, and one two-hour class). The classes are number theory, analysis II, algebraic geometry, and a computer class to go with algebraic geometry. Number theory and analysis aren’t bad as far as time invested is concerned. Algebraic geometry is terrible. The class builds up on a topic that wasn’t covered in my algebra I class, and the goal of the teacher is to fail half the class (the classes here are offered all on pass/fail. There are a few departments that require grades, but in those cases the grades don’t actually matter. A D- is as good as an A+). I’m trying to convince UConn not to require me to get a grade (collective efforts of 4 people in this class tend to lead to 50% of the points. I’m proud that I’m able to get more than 50% alone without any group-effort).
The other two (long) classes are reasonable and grading won’t be bad (or at least not terrible). The computer class is also reasonable, and relatively easy since the language that we are using is relatively similar to C++, so the syntax doesn’t require much brain power.
I fear that UConn will give me way to few credits for all my work (20 hours should equal 20 credits. I expect something closer to 6 credits due to various factors – mainly because UConn doesn’t understand that a 6 hour course is worth 6 credits. Incidentally, I got 3 credits for a 1.5 hour course last semester in Germany. I think UConn has a policy of awarding 3 credits)
The university has already published its math class schedule for next semester. That’s really nice. They’re offering topology. Happiness. (I’ll also be taking the continuation of analysis and number theory. I won’t be continuing in algebraic geometry).
In other news, I’m trying to get my German driver’s license. Depending on which state you’re from, you either have to take both the written and road test, or just the written test, or nothing at all. Since I’m from Connecticut, I have to take the written test. There’s around 1000 possible questions. I paid 20 Euros ($25) for 4 months of access to an online training system. I’ve gotten to the point where I answer almost everything correctly.
For whatever reason, the original date of issue of my driver’s license is not printed on my license, and the Germans hate that. They assume that I’ve only had my driver’s license for 6 months (and since they write dd/mm/yy instead of mm/dd/yy, the lady thought I got my license while I was in Germany last year. She thought I got it on March 12th instead of December 3rd). Anyhow, I actually had a good experience with DMV service. First I called them, and found out that their telephone number doesn’t lead to an actual person (it just doesn’t. It’s just a recording of a lady reading the information from the website). So I wrote them an email. Within 7 days, I had received a letter stating the date of issue of my license, and that my license is still valid.
I also have to get my license translated. Germany has a version of the AAA called the ADAC. There are two ADAC centers in Freiburg. ADAC centers are the standard places to get a license translated. So I go to the first place (they’re only open 2 or 3 hours on Saturday). They tell me that they can do it, but their translator is away for the week on vacation, and she suggests I got to the other ADAC center where they have two translators. So I quickly go into town to the other ADAC center and – get this – the translators there were on vacation! I am not joking. This week must be German national translator vacation week. But at least the translators will be back on Monday.
The ticks here have Meningitis. Scary, huh? The German word of Meningitis (one of the two words – the other word is Meningitis) translates as “brain skin inflammation”. Nothing like descriptive disease names.
In other news, I think I’ve decided I want to go to grad school at Berkeley. (University of California at Berkeley, in Berkeley California. Berkeley is the city with too many e’s. It’s also next to San Francisco (on the other side of the long bridge which isn’t the Golden Gate bridge)). But I don’t actually expect to get in there. That’s my dream school, so to say. I’ll be retaking the GRE subject exam in the hope of getting a better score to increase my chances of getting in. But I think in any case I’ll be going to grad school in California. There are basically two places to go to math graduate school in America: the northeast and California. Personally I think Nadja would hate California less than the northeast; she might even enjoy it. Personally I think I’d like California more than the northeast. I think I’m in the mood for a more temperate climate. In Berkeley it’s mid 60’s in the winter and mid 80’s in the summer. Always nice and warm. The record low, if I remember right, was around 25 degrees or so. New England has freakin’ crazy weather. Sometimes it’s fun, but sometimes it’s annoying.
But yeah, Berkeley is the number two math grad school in America, and has been rated as the number two university in the world (behind Havard). They have a relatively large math program, so the interests of the professors span a fairly large field.
If I don’t get into Berkeley, I think my number two pick would be UCLA, or possibly Stanford. There are enough universities in the gold-rush state to ensure that I’ll get into to something.
Speaking of California weather, it’s finally gotten somewhat warm here in Freiburg. Took it long enough.
My new hard drive broke. That’s pretty sad. The hard drive was new. Then it broke. It’s not 100% gone, but I can’t really store data on it reliably. Yay for Knoppix for helping me recover some files.
There’s a place here than sells Doener Kebabs for 1.90 Euros. Not bad. That stuff is so yummy. Yum. Yum! Good German food (actually it’s not German, it’s Turkish, but who’s counting?)
Speaking of Turkish… The EU is falling apart. I don’t know how much you guys are hearing about that back in the states. I predicted the fall of Europe (also the fall of America), but I didn’t think it would come so soon. So here’s the story. Actually, there’s a lot of stories that happen to all be coming together (but luckily for me, this means the Euro has plunged from $1.37 in January to $1.22 now). The first story is that the liberal German party SPD has lost its biggest stronghold state to the conservative CDU in a relatively landslide election, considering that the SPD held the state for a long time. For whatever reason, the current chancellor (the top guy in the government) is calling for an early election for his spot, which he will in all likely loose (I don’t quite get why he wants to do it. I think he wants to somehow maintain party unity and keep his party from defecting to the policies of the CDU in order to get laws passed). Anyhow, people are guessing that the German version of Margaret Thatcher could be elected (she would be the first female German chancellor). Anyhow, that would be a relatively large change for the German government. The main problem seen by the German people (and in fact Europeans from many countries) is Germany’s/Europe’s chronic unemployment, which here in Germany is well about 10%. So the German government is going through a time of relative crisis.
But that’s not all that’s going on here. The single EU currency, the Euro, is starting to lose support. Some Italian politicians are getting together to get rid of the Euro and bring back the Lira (ah, the good old days when everyone was a millionaire. Of course, 1 million Lira bought you a hot dog, but it was cool!). Even Germany – Europe’s largest economy, and a leader in the transition to the Euro – has been giving up support for the Euro. Some survey showed around 54% of Germans want their Deutschmark back. The Euro is just too expensive to be good for the Germans, who are scared of loans. The current interest rate for the Euro is two percent, and the Germans want one percent. But yeah, as a said, the Germans are afraid of loans, so no businesses want to take out large loans because the interest rates are just too high, so no businesses are increasing spending, and thus there is no increase in jobs and so continues Germany’s critical unemployment situation.
But those would just be little blips on the radar if it weren’t for the big kicker. The EU finally has a constitution (which – if you ask me – will officially make the EU a single country, and in a much, much stronger sense than what the USA was at the beginning. Of course, in the mean time, the US has become a genuine centralized country and not just a union of smaller countries (know as “states”)). Anyhow, every country in the EU needs to ratify the constitution. France decided to let the people decide whether to ratify it or not, because the French government figured it was a sure thing. Oooops, big mistake. The French rejected the constitution, which gave the Dutch the courage to strongly reject the constitution. Now the constitution in its current form is doomed. So now everyone is finally getting to the courage to speak against the EU. The feelings – in my opinion – have always been mixed, but no one really had the guts to say anything bad in fear of being seen as anti-European. Now everyone is starting to get the guts to say that they don’t like some of the changes at all. Sure people like being able to move from country to country without a passport, but not everyone wants others to move into their country and live a work there without having to apply for anything. Sure it’s nice to be able to buy stuff in another country without have to exchange currency, but if that means stagnated growth/recession in your own country, the trips to the money changer don’t seem that bad (and the old currency was a lot prettier than the ugly Euro. The Euro has pictures of buildings that don’t exist to avoid conflict between the countries about who gets their building on the bill). Sure it’s cool to have a European identity, but the Dutch know, for example, that Holland is much cooler than, say, Italy, and the Italians know, for example, that Italy is much cooler than Holland. But all those thoughts would be anti-European. Until now.
Europe is historically a country of big government and tons of borders. One central European government would also automatically have to be big, and that would override all the smaller national-level governments, and all traces of national identity. The whole one-central-government thing worked in America because the US was a place with no borders and minimal government. The central government was there basically to keep the Brits away, and ensure certain rights – it wasn’t actually supposed to *do* anything.
So, do you want to the EU to survive? Is such a thing good?
Well, in any case, I’m still alive. Hi everyone. I’ll try and post again at some point.
Archived comments:
Mom:
Interesting analysis of the EU! I've read things on the BBC website about the rejection of the constitution, but hadn't really been following it closely, or thinking about the implications that might have. I don't know, without considering it at some length, how I would feel about the possible failure of the EU to survive. From the outside, I like the idea of separate national identities - but then I've never lived close to them, so don't have any personal experience with their strengths and weaknesses. State identities, at this point in our history, aren't distinct enough really to count.
Yesterday, on our way back to San Francisco to catch our plane, we tried to stop at the Berkeley campus. Dad wanted to see it and maybe get Jonathan to take some pictures so you and Nadja could see what your proposed area looks like. But no luck - there was an information center, but what with the heavy traffic and the one-way streets and the inadequate map, we couldn't find it. So we don't have any impressions of the campus to pass along. It's definitely a big-city setting - crowding, and traffic, and lots of ethnic variety (in the stores, and I presume therefore also in the population).
I saw your comment on one of Jonathan's blog entries about setting up a Nehring website. I've been meaning for some time to ask you and Blin about the feasibility of that - seems like an efficient way to communicate with each other, as more of us are dispersing in more directions. Could it be password protected or something so that it wouldn't be accessible to the general public?
Glad they're offering topology next semester!
Carry on -
Love,
Mom
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