I finally got started on it! The big one! The upstairs project:-). I will be converting out 240 square foot upstairs area into a master suite (if anything that small can be called a master suite). The permits cost $280, but they were issued the same day (20 minutes later - and the people working there were very friendly). There are a total of 9 inspections I think (3 for framing, 2 plumbing, 2 electrical, 2 HVAV/mechanical).
However, words are boring. Pictures are fun. Click here for pictures (this album will be updated as the project progresses.).
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Direct Banking Bargains
"I have decided to post an informational article for those of us who are interested in this new trend of "direct banking". Direct banking offers high interest, FDIC insured (i.e., basically no risk) savings accounts that offer minimal customer service. I will be comparing historical rates as I continue to update the page. Click here to get the latest on direct banking. Banks include FNBODirect, HSBCDirect, EmigrantDirect, ING Direct, UFBDirect, PayPal (not a bank!), GMAC Bank, Washing Mutual (aka WaMu), CitiBank, VirtualBank, iGOBanking, and eTrade. I also include the bank's ABA numbers in one convenient location. Again, click here for this article. I hope to update it about once a month."
Finally a quick update
Finally time for a little update. Most everyone knows this already, but I haven't posted it on the website yet. Nadja is pregnant!! She's in her 4th month now and the baby is due October 28th, at about 7:32PM (after I come home from work, and have had a little to eat!). Click "read more..." to see the rest.
This semester at NCSU is winding down. The coming week is the so called "dead week", because everyone wishes they were dead. Ha ha, just kidding. It's the last week of classes where professors cannot have tests or give assignments of any significant nature. The following week is the first week of finals. They start April 30 and end May 8. I have finals on both the first and last days, but since I'm not traveling right after, I don't care.
I now have a nice job with a nice company called WebAssign. They have a math and sciences online homework system that randomizes the problems so that each student has a unique problem (solved by the same methods, but the parameters of the problem are unique to the student). This allows for collaboration, but makes it impossible to simply copy answers (in most cases) because the right answer for one person, is wrong for another person. I have two jobs there. One is to code the questions, and the other is to test questions.
Nadja and I will be taking an extended trip to Germany this summer. Yay. Tickets have been booked (and weren't the cheapest things on this planet!). Since my job at WebAssign is not inherently tied to an office, I can work while in Germany, so that we don't go broke.
I recently added some storage space to the house by cutting a hole in the wall in our upstairs. See the pictures in the Gallery under North Carolina, Our House, Attic.
I posted some pictures of our yard in the North Carolina, Our House, Yard folder. Also, I posted some new cat pictures under North Carolina, Cats.
The ultra sound picture is at the bottom of the main gallery page. It's a blob!
This semester at NCSU is winding down. The coming week is the so called "dead week", because everyone wishes they were dead. Ha ha, just kidding. It's the last week of classes where professors cannot have tests or give assignments of any significant nature. The following week is the first week of finals. They start April 30 and end May 8. I have finals on both the first and last days, but since I'm not traveling right after, I don't care.
I now have a nice job with a nice company called WebAssign. They have a math and sciences online homework system that randomizes the problems so that each student has a unique problem (solved by the same methods, but the parameters of the problem are unique to the student). This allows for collaboration, but makes it impossible to simply copy answers (in most cases) because the right answer for one person, is wrong for another person. I have two jobs there. One is to code the questions, and the other is to test questions.
Nadja and I will be taking an extended trip to Germany this summer. Yay. Tickets have been booked (and weren't the cheapest things on this planet!). Since my job at WebAssign is not inherently tied to an office, I can work while in Germany, so that we don't go broke.
I recently added some storage space to the house by cutting a hole in the wall in our upstairs. See the pictures in the Gallery under North Carolina, Our House, Attic.
I posted some pictures of our yard in the North Carolina, Our House, Yard folder. Also, I posted some new cat pictures under North Carolina, Cats.
The ultra sound picture is at the bottom of the main gallery page. It's a blob!
A power-sponge
"Since I am too lazy to wash dishes, I built a power sponge. Click "read more" for details
Well, Nadja and I are getting married, and by the time that most people read this, we will be married (we're getting/we got married on March 11th, 2006). One of the few areas where I am pickier in terms of cleanliness is with dishes, so we decided that I would be the one to always clean the dishes (Nadja agreed to do most/all of the other stuff in exchange for that). Now, we don't have a dishwasher (if we did, it would be a very unfair deal!). Nonetheless, I don't feel like washing a ton of dishes by hand and I realized that it had to go faster...
So I decided to invent the electric sponge. Well, I'm sure it wasn't an actual invention of mine, but whatever. I thought it up on my own. Basically you take an electric hand mixer and a (relatively thick) sponge. You cut the sponge to make it round and attach it to one of the hand-mixer attachments. Then the sponge rotates when you turn on the mixer. So now instead of scrubbing, all you have to do is press the sponge onto the dish which has to be washed.
Just a couple notes: you probably shouldn't wash anything with it that is still filled with water. That will splash the water all over the place. Basically, you make the item wet, make the sponge soapy, then scrub.
For pictures, go to http://www.michaelnehring.com/modules.php?name=gallery2&g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=1571
Enjoy!"
Well, Nadja and I are getting married, and by the time that most people read this, we will be married (we're getting/we got married on March 11th, 2006). One of the few areas where I am pickier in terms of cleanliness is with dishes, so we decided that I would be the one to always clean the dishes (Nadja agreed to do most/all of the other stuff in exchange for that). Now, we don't have a dishwasher (if we did, it would be a very unfair deal!). Nonetheless, I don't feel like washing a ton of dishes by hand and I realized that it had to go faster...
So I decided to invent the electric sponge. Well, I'm sure it wasn't an actual invention of mine, but whatever. I thought it up on my own. Basically you take an electric hand mixer and a (relatively thick) sponge. You cut the sponge to make it round and attach it to one of the hand-mixer attachments. Then the sponge rotates when you turn on the mixer. So now instead of scrubbing, all you have to do is press the sponge onto the dish which has to be washed.
Just a couple notes: you probably shouldn't wash anything with it that is still filled with water. That will splash the water all over the place. Basically, you make the item wet, make the sponge soapy, then scrub.
For pictures, go to http://www.michaelnehring.com/modules.php?name=gallery2&g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=1571
Enjoy!"
New review
I have posted a review about the international money transfer service know as XETrade. To read the article, please see: http://www.michaelnehring.com/XETrade-Review.html
I hope this review helps!
I hope this review helps!
Michael in Germany blog
The famous Michael in Germany blog has been painstakingly transfered to the new website. Please go to this website
I have also posted the Germany pictures to the gallery. I will soon post a lot more! (Or maybe not - who knows). Anyhow, it is much easier to manage the site now with PHPNuke and Gallery. Nothing like a little content management.
I have also posted the Germany pictures to the gallery. I will soon post a lot more! (Or maybe not - who knows). Anyhow, it is much easier to manage the site now with PHPNuke and Gallery. Nothing like a little content management.
Welcome to the new site!
Welcome to the new design of MichaelNehring.com. I am now using PHP Nuke as my content management and Gallery 2 as picture management. Both are excelent pieces of free software. I would like to draw your attention to various parts of the website.
The articles section contains various stories and articles that I wrote. At the moment, I only have the articles from the old website.
The photo gallery has various pictures and images. Some may be cool. I'll try to update it regularly.
The blog section will soon have my various blogs. At the moment it does not include my Michael in Germany things, which can currently still be access at http://www.ftper.com/cgi-bin/teemz/teemz.cgi?board=_master
Anyhow, that's it for now. Check back for more cool stuff in the future.
The articles section contains various stories and articles that I wrote. At the moment, I only have the articles from the old website.
The photo gallery has various pictures and images. Some may be cool. I'll try to update it regularly.
The blog section will soon have my various blogs. At the moment it does not include my Michael in Germany things, which can currently still be access at http://www.ftper.com/cgi-bin/teemz/teemz.cgi?board=_master
Anyhow, that's it for now. Check back for more cool stuff in the future.
US patent number 6,368,227
Here is a dumb patent in my series of dumb patents. US patent number 6,368,227. The introduction to the patent is:
"A method of swing on a swing is disclosed, in which a user positioned on a standard swing suspended by two chains from a substantially horizontal tree branch induces side to side motion by pulling alternately on one chain and then the other."
So, swinging from side to side on a swing is patented. Here is an actual quote from the patent text:
"The user may even choose to produce a Tarzan-type yell while swinging in the manner described, which more accurately replicates swinging on vines in a dense jungle forest. Actual jungle forestry is not required."
I don't think I even need to comment
"A method of swing on a swing is disclosed, in which a user positioned on a standard swing suspended by two chains from a substantially horizontal tree branch induces side to side motion by pulling alternately on one chain and then the other."
So, swinging from side to side on a swing is patented. Here is an actual quote from the patent text:
"The user may even choose to produce a Tarzan-type yell while swinging in the manner described, which more accurately replicates swinging on vines in a dense jungle forest. Actual jungle forestry is not required."
I don't think I even need to comment
US patent number 5,443,036
Continuing on my list of dumb patents, we have US patent number 5,443,036. This patent, co-invented by two people (this required a ton of brain work) is summarized as follows:
"A method for inducing cats to exercise consists of directing a beam of invisible light produced by a hand-held laser apparatus onto the floor or wall or other opaque surface in the vicinity of the cat, then moving the laser so as to cause the bright pattern of light to move in an irregular way fascinating to cats, and to any other animal with a chase instinct."
So, the patent basically is using a laser that the cat chases. Nothing was actually invented. They took a laser (invented - perhaps - by Townes, Basov and Prokhorov) and a cat (invented by God) and showed the laser light to the cat. Impressive!
"A method for inducing cats to exercise consists of directing a beam of invisible light produced by a hand-held laser apparatus onto the floor or wall or other opaque surface in the vicinity of the cat, then moving the laser so as to cause the bright pattern of light to move in an irregular way fascinating to cats, and to any other animal with a chase instinct."
So, the patent basically is using a laser that the cat chases. Nothing was actually invented. They took a laser (invented - perhaps - by Townes, Basov and Prokhorov) and a cat (invented by God) and showed the laser light to the cat. Impressive!
US patent number 7,082,894
Another dumb patent is number 7,082,894. They claim that it is non-obvious to put beef jerky into a dog chew toy. The text states:
"A plurality of flavor chunks, for example jerky pieces, are interspersed in the rawhide bit mixture to provide an enticing flavor and aroma that encourages an animal to continue to chew to reveal more flavor chunks."
That is supposed to be non-obvious to an *expert* on dogs. So, if you ask an expert on dogs who does not know of this invention "how can I make my dog chew on something?", there is no reasonable way to expect - according to the US patent office - that the expert will answer "Well, you could make the chew toy taste good, maybe by putting meat in it or something". Thankfully, we have 3 hard working inventors who told us this!
"A plurality of flavor chunks, for example jerky pieces, are interspersed in the rawhide bit mixture to provide an enticing flavor and aroma that encourages an animal to continue to chew to reveal more flavor chunks."
That is supposed to be non-obvious to an *expert* on dogs. So, if you ask an expert on dogs who does not know of this invention "how can I make my dog chew on something?", there is no reasonable way to expect - according to the US patent office - that the expert will answer "Well, you could make the chew toy taste good, maybe by putting meat in it or something". Thankfully, we have 3 hard working inventors who told us this!
US patent number 5,960,411
This patent, number 5,960,411 is a famous patent. This patented, controlled by Amazon.com, is the one-click patent. This patents storing customer credit card information so that users can purchase items with one click on a future visit. This was considered patentable, novel, and non-obvious. The workaround that some other companies have used is to require the users to click two buttons instead of the Amazon invented one-button system.
US patent number 6,250,929
Teaching children to use the toilette is not always easy, but the methods are - according to the US Patent Office - patentable. If we look at US patent number 6,250,929, we see a patent for "Methods for improving the effectiveness of toilet training". Here are some statements from the patent:
"...wherein the recommendations are divided into a plurality of unique groups also based on the age of the child."
"...wherein the recommendations are divided into a plurality of unique groups also based on the gender of the child."
And - drumroll please - get this:
"...wherein the recommendations are divided into a plurality of unique groups also based on the age and gender of the child."
The patent basically is a set of recommendations for potty training based on various aspects of the child. Perhaps the advice is good, but is it patentable?!?
"...wherein the recommendations are divided into a plurality of unique groups also based on the age of the child."
"...wherein the recommendations are divided into a plurality of unique groups also based on the gender of the child."
And - drumroll please - get this:
"...wherein the recommendations are divided into a plurality of unique groups also based on the age and gender of the child."
The patent basically is a set of recommendations for potty training based on various aspects of the child. Perhaps the advice is good, but is it patentable?!?
US patent number 4,443,200
Continuing my poopy-patent of yesterday, we look at US patent number 4,443,200. This is a "toilette training device" described as:
"Disclosed is a toilet training device for toilet training of children, embodied as an animal, such as a bear, having a lower torso having anterior and posterior chambers with upper access ports for filling the anterior chamber with water and the posterior chamber with soft material. Upon sufficient pressure being applied to the anterior chamber, a lower valve opens to allow the water to pass therethrough representing urine; and upon sufficient pressure being applied to the posterior chamber, a lower valve opens to allow such soft material to pass therethrough representing stools."
So, in short, this is a stuffed animal that can poop and pee. "The squeezing pressure applied to such posterior chamber is similar to the pressure experienced in human defecation."
"Disclosed is a toilet training device for toilet training of children, embodied as an animal, such as a bear, having a lower torso having anterior and posterior chambers with upper access ports for filling the anterior chamber with water and the posterior chamber with soft material. Upon sufficient pressure being applied to the anterior chamber, a lower valve opens to allow the water to pass therethrough representing urine; and upon sufficient pressure being applied to the posterior chamber, a lower valve opens to allow such soft material to pass therethrough representing stools."
So, in short, this is a stuffed animal that can poop and pee. "The squeezing pressure applied to such posterior chamber is similar to the pressure experienced in human defecation."
US patent number 4,262,900
Get ready for some creativity and non-obviousness! When we take a look at US patent number 4,262,900, we see a patent for a "Playground set". The inventor states:
"Swing sets for playground and backyard use are known, including those having slides and arm swings for small children. Also known are treehouses, firemen's poles such as firemen slide down when rushing to get their fire engines, and gym sets, including various kinds of exercise bars and parallel, hand-swinging, or walking bars. However, to date no one has provided a unit containing more than one of the aforesaid recreational items adapted to be used at a single location within confined quarters."
So, he is patenting the right to combine the use of a treehouse and a slide together. No one could have thought of that, except maybe a 4 year old who likes to walk up to his treehouse and then would like to slide down. But, if you ask an expert in the field of child toys, none of them would ever have guessed anything like that!
"Swing sets for playground and backyard use are known, including those having slides and arm swings for small children. Also known are treehouses, firemen's poles such as firemen slide down when rushing to get their fire engines, and gym sets, including various kinds of exercise bars and parallel, hand-swinging, or walking bars. However, to date no one has provided a unit containing more than one of the aforesaid recreational items adapted to be used at a single location within confined quarters."
So, he is patenting the right to combine the use of a treehouse and a slide together. No one could have thought of that, except maybe a 4 year old who likes to walk up to his treehouse and then would like to slide down. But, if you ask an expert in the field of child toys, none of them would ever have guessed anything like that!
US patent number D520,825
"A design patent for your laughing pleasure:
"The ornamental design for a fish shaped bottle opener, as shown and described"
See parent number D520,825"
"The ornamental design for a fish shaped bottle opener, as shown and described"
See parent number D520,825"
US patent number 6,820,478
"We would now like to investigate US patent number 6,820,478. Read this:
"A method of and system for buying or selling bras involves establishing a database of bras containing bra characteristic data including bra size and bra cup size measured from a sample of actual bras; measuring a wearer's breast and torso size to obtain wearer characteristic data; searching the database to find bra characteristic data within the database matching the wearer characteristic data; and listing for selection by the wearer any bras in the database whose characteristics match the wearer characteristic data."
So, basically, since bra makers cannot agree on a single reasonable measure, someone patents the idea of having a uniform measuring system for bras across companies. That is, of course, a great idea, but is it *patentable*? Should others be forbidden from measuring bras and keeping a database of the measurements?"
"A method of and system for buying or selling bras involves establishing a database of bras containing bra characteristic data including bra size and bra cup size measured from a sample of actual bras; measuring a wearer's breast and torso size to obtain wearer characteristic data; searching the database to find bra characteristic data within the database matching the wearer characteristic data; and listing for selection by the wearer any bras in the database whose characteristics match the wearer characteristic data."
So, basically, since bra makers cannot agree on a single reasonable measure, someone patents the idea of having a uniform measuring system for bras across companies. That is, of course, a great idea, but is it *patentable*? Should others be forbidden from measuring bras and keeping a database of the measurements?"
US patent number D527,861
"Another design patent for your laughing pleasure:
"The ornamental design for a beverage bottle-shaped snack food, as shown and described."
See patent number D527,861"
"The ornamental design for a beverage bottle-shaped snack food, as shown and described."
See patent number D527,861"
Geothermal cooling with cost estimate
So, I�m sure you�ve heard of the concept of geothermal cooling or heating, and I�m sure the following isn�t any new idea of mine alone.
Well, as you may be aware, the temperature of ground stays fairly constant throughout the year (depending on latitude). I�ve read the numbers vary from 45 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. For the sake of this article, I�ll just say 60 degrees.
Now, heating and cooling make for large costs, and I am theoretically planning to move to North Carolina, where cooling costs could be significant. One number from HowStuffWorks.com about how air conditioners work states that you need about 30 BTU�s per square foot, so a 1000 square foot house needs 30000 BTU�s which translates to around 3500 watts (or $.28/hour at $.08 per kilowatt). 800 cooling hours per summer would then translate to over $200 of cooling costs. I don�t know if there is any truth in those numbers, but when you consider that a refrigerator consumes so much energy, then an air conditioner must be worse.
So it would be nice to capture this 60-degree coolness that is hanging around for free underground. One solution is to build a basement or underground house and live there, but that is too much effort and has a ton of drawbacks. The other way is to build a geothermal cooling system.
I decided to do a little reading up on this, and of course it�s already been done. You take some plastic tubing, run it into the ground and run it back up. You pump in hot air and out comes cool air. Simple enough. However, there are problems with this method, specifically that the tube gets wet, mouldy, and invites various creatures and pests to live in it. So that method was abandoned. Now, my idea has probably been tried and done before, but I just haven�t seen mention of it� So here it comes�
Basically, you pump water down through the tube instead of air. Water transmits heat better than air anyway (which is colder: sticking your arm into 0 degree air or into 35 degree water?). So basically, you have a large basin of water, then you pump the water down to about 6 or 7 feet underground. There it should take a relatively longish route so that it has time to cool off. Then the water comes back up and goes through a radiator to transfer the coolness of the water to the air. Then the water is returned to the basin and goes through the system again.
So what do you need? A pump to move the water around, many feet of copper piping, a car radiator, a holding tank for the water, and a fan. You could also add antifreeze to the system to avoid it freezing in winter and to increase conductivity.
So how much should such a system cost? Well, you could buy a new radiator for a few hundred dollars, but if you go to eBay, you can get one for around $30 (used and non-leaky). You can get a well pump on eBay for around $50. This would still take some consideration. You might actually need only a very, very weak pump. Well pumps are designed to bring water from underground to ground-level. This system is designed to circulate water. For every gallon that gets pumped up, one gallon goes down. Ignoring friction and temperature changes, circulating the water should take no work (once the water starts moving in a circle, it should never stop). However, friction cannot be ignored, so you need a certain amount of energy for that, and the temperature also presents a problem. Hot water rises, so the cold water would tend to move to the bottom and the hot water to the top, which is the opposite of what we want. So the pump would need a certain amount of power, but from my estimations, very little. A fan can be bought at Walmart for $10. The holding tank should also be cheap, if at all needed. I figure it should be used to allow a little buffer for expansion and contraction in the system due to temperature changes. A standard car expansion tank should do the job for $10 used on eBay.
So far we�re up to around $100. Now we need plumbing. At Lowe�s you can get 50 feet of flexible 1/2 inch copper piping for $36. That should actually suffice. We need about 10 feet for each travel direction (4 feet from the unit to the ground and 6 feet underground), which would leave us 30 feet of travelling room underground. This would give the water enough time to change temperature significantly.
So now it�s time for some calculations. First, how much water does the system hold? Well, the copper pipe holds:
(.5*.5)*pi*(50*12)=471 cubic inches.
One gallon is 231 cubic inches, so the pipe hold just about 2 gallons. The rest of the system holds about two gallons, depending on the size of the radiator and tank. So we�ll have about a four-gallon system. Just a random number, I�d say the water should stay a total of 1 minute in the 30-foot section at the bottom (just a random number, but it seems good). The 30 foot section holds 1.2 gallons, so the thing should pump 1.2 gallons per minute (GPM). A 3 GPM pump I saw on eBay goes at 12 volts and 5 amps, which according to Ohm�s law takes 60 watts. So 20 watts per GPM, so we�ll need 24 watts for the pump.
I made some cooling calculations, but they weren�t that positive. I�d have to see how the cooling works in real life.
Now, the goal is to save money. So, we actually don�t want to pay money. When is it hot? During the day, and specifically when it is sunny. So, you can get solar power during this time. Less sun means less power, but also less heat to cool offer. So, we�ll need around 100 watts of solar power. A pound of solar cells yield 75W, so we�ll take around 2 pounds. 3 pounds of broken solar cells goes for around $60 on eBay (they can be soldered together and they will work).
So for a total of around $250, you can maybe build the entire system including power source. After that it should be basically free (basic maintenance would be required, I suppose).
Well, I should have that implemented in Summer 2007.
Direct Banking Bargains
Find the best online saving rates
There has been a recent increase in the popularity of online "direct" banking. For the few of you reading this page who don't know what that means, basically, banks are offering savings accounts with rather high interest rates and minimal customer service. Most or all deposits are made online through electronic transfers from your existing bank accounts. Since your account costs them almost nothing, you get excelent interest rates. However, this is not for everyone! If you demand constant customer service, you may find yourself disappointed. Most such accounts have a minimum deposit of $1 or a similar trivial amount. One way that I use such accounts, rather than chasing the absolute highest rates, is to categorize money. I have a savings account for the coming baby, a savings account for "just for fun" money for Nadja, a savings account for specific coming expenses, etc.
The point of this page is to provide a rather large list of providers and their current interest rates, as well as their historical interest rates (that is, when I update this page, I will not erase old interest rates, but rather move them to another column). I hope this page helps.
Bank name Minimum balance (deposit) ABA routing number Comments Interest rate: 6/27/07 FNBODirect $0 ($1) 104000016 Promotional interest rate until at least 9/29/2007 6.00% HSBCDirect $0 ($1) 022000020 One can also get a free checking account 5.05% EmigrantDirect $0 ($1) 226070319 5.05% UFBDirect $0 ($0) 274070484 (bank name: SkyBank) Hard to transfer online. Only good if you can push money in/pull money out through another account 5.31% PayPal $0 ($0) N/A Not a bank account. Interest not guaranteed/not FDIC insured. Makes a good spending account due to debit card with attached cash back and no limit on number of transfers. 5.04% ING Direct (Orange Savings) $0 ($?) 031176110 The original direct bank 4.50% GMAC Bank $500 ($50) 031176136 Fees of $7.50/month if you do not maintain a $500 average daily balance 5.30% Washington Mutual $300 ($1) 322271627 Fees of $4/month if you do not maintain a balance of $300 every day 5.00% CitiBank Direct e-Savings (unclear) 021000089 Tied to a Citibank checking account 4.50% VirtualBank eMoney Market $0 ($100) 067092200 Tiered interest rates, but higher rates start at $50,000 4.60% iGObanking $0 ($1) 026072928 5.30% eTrade Complete Savings $0 ($1) 256072691 5.05%
The dumbest patents in the USA
A list of what the US patent office considers patentable, but what is actually dumb
What is a patent? A patent is an incentive for invention. It allows an inventor to have a monopoly on an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for the inventor releasing information about the invention. An excelent idea, but sadly, some things have been patented which should not be patented! The US patent office allows many non-inventions to be patented, giving the non-inventors the right to annoy and sue anyone who "infringes" on their non-invention! I hope to give the US patent office a red face by exposing what they consider to be a patent.
NOTE: A patent should not be confused with a copyright! A copyright is on media of various forms. If you take a picture or write an article, that is copyrighted. A copyright is not something you apply for in the United States, but something that is automatically granted. If you write something, then it is automatically copyrighted by you. In the United States you do not even have to write "Copyright by (xxx), 2006". The copyright is a protection of creative media works and is automatic. A copyright in the US typically expires 70 years after the death of the person to copyright it. The owner of a copyright can sell or give away the copyright or he can release it into the public domain (remove the copyright). There are rules on what can and cannot be copyrighted, but a copyright is not an invention and an invention is not a copyright. Do not get them confused.
Let us get started: what does an item have to be to be granted a patent? There are 4 basic requirements:
1. It has to be patentable subject matter. Specifically, literary works are not patentable. Things that can be manufactured and manufacturing processes are patentable.
2. It has to be novel, that is, some part of the invention must be new. For example, I cannot patent the wheel (even if I reinvent it), since the wheel is not new.
3. The patent has to be non-obvious. So, if you have a porch, an obvious way to keep rain from falling on it is to build a roof over it. Therefore a porch roof is not patentable. A non-obvious way is to construct a force-field that keeps the rain away - that would most certainly be patentable (assuming the force-field has not yet been invented).
4. It has to be useful.
If we look at some US patents, we see that these guidelines are not followed. To see a list of the bad patents, please see other posts in this blog.
If you find more bad patents, let me know!
Review: XETrade
Do you need to make an internation transfer?
XETrade is a company that will help you exchange money and make internation transfers. Read this review to find out the details.
For most people the following issue is irrelevant, but for some, this issue can be important � and complicated. The issue is international money transfer. In my case, for those who don�t know me, I am marrying a German (I myself being American) and we are planning to move to the US in the near future. My fianc�e has some savings here in Germany and we wanted to bring some of it to America. Of course, moving money isn�t as easy one could hope. Cash isn�t a great idea. It�s risky and the bank exchange rates are bad. Travelers checks are also plagued by high rates (lower than cash, I think), but at least the risk is lower. However, a transfer would be much simpler.
I talked to the Deutsche Bank in Germany and they said it would cost around 4% plus whatever costs the bank in America would charge (I think typically around $50 for an incoming wire transfer). That�s too expensive.
It would have worked with Citibank, since they exist in both Germany and America, but for some reason they refused to give me a bank account in America.
So, I looked around a little bit and I found a company called XETrade (www.xetrade.com). They made some claims on their website about being able to transfer money with rates that they guarantee as the best, but I failed to find any good reviews (this is the reason that I am writing this review now). Because I failed to find any other good option, I decided to give this company a try.
Signing up:
This was harder than I had expected, but not without reason. XETrade has legal obligations not to transfer money for criminals or criminal purposes, so they do some identity checks. Here�s what was needed:
*A credit reference (a landlord, bank account representative, someone who manages your mortgage, people who gave you a loan for a car, etc).
*Two forms of identification (I used a driver�s license and a passport). These can be scanned into your computer and uploaded by a secure file transfer or you can fax them or if you request the mailing address, you can mail them. The secure file transfer is a really good idea, and I made sure the certificate was valid and all that.
*A signed contact. Again, this can be sent via secure file transfer, fax, or mail.
After you have signed up, they will email you asking you for a good time to call up. At the time specified, they will give you a telephone call (at the number you signed up with!) and they will ask you to confirm the information that was used in signing up. They will also ask some other security related questions. The man I talked to was very friendly and the conversation went smoothly. Have your non-American bank account information ready, since they will probably ask for this (they want to know what bank account you�ll be sending money from).
Shortly after that they will activate your account. After entering your US bank account information (EFT is the type of transfer you�ll probably want) you can start trading.
Once you make a trade, you will have to transfer the money to their European bank account. Their bank is Bank of America in Frankfurt, Germany. If you live in Germany, this means that your transfer will cost the same as a standard transfer (Ueberweisung) which is free with many bank accounts. The bank uses a standard German Bankleitzahl (bank code) and account number. This means you can even make the transfer from your living room if you have online banking with online transfers. So let me review the transfer�
Wednesday, December 14th, 2005, 9:49AM German time. The current rate is listed as 0.830556 Euros per dollar. The rate I accepted was 0.84017989 Euros per dollar. I decided to sell 100 Euros, which means I should have gotten $120.40 if life were perfect. Life isn�t perfect so instead I got $119.02. This means I lost $1.38 (1 Euro and 15 Cents). To be relatively exact, I lost 1.146% of my money.
Wednesday, December 14th, 2005, 10:20AM German time. I transferred the money from the bank account in Germany.
Friday, December 16th, 2005. XETrade reports that my transfer has been received.
Monday, December 19th, 2005. An EFT transfer of $119.02 is cleared in my Bank of America account in America.
So the total processing time was 5 days, or in my case just 3 business days (I�m not sure what would have happened if I had transferred the money on Monday�).
So, I�ll sum it up:
*Total cost: 1.146% of the money transferred (there may be transfer fees outside of Germany if you are in the EU). Otherwise there are no fees. They claim this is the best fee in the industry and offer a guarantee to that effect.
Here�s a list of pros and cons:
Pros:
*Excellent prices. For example, 1000 euros of traveler�s checks currently cost $1244.42. They should cost (in a perfect world) $1184.88, so you lose $59.54 or 4.784%. Another comparison: PayPal charges 2.7% to change currency.
*It goes from your current German (or European) bank account into your current American bank account. There is no need to change banks.
*It�s pretty fast (transfer completed in 5 days)
*Friendly and responsive customer service.
*You can make small transfers (my first transfer was only 100 euros)
Cons:
*You must have a bank account (or a friend with a bank account) in both countries. This means if you don�t have a bank account yet, you�ll have to sign up for one. This can be a pain if you don�t currently reside in that country.
*The signup process can take a while.
So, overall, I�d say this is probably the best option. Unless you have something that you know is cheaper and works better (please tell me if you do), give this company a try.
Also, if you found this review helpful and you have a website, feel free to post a link to this review. Currently, as of this writing, if you Google XETrade Review you don�t get any good websites.
-Michael
Monday, February 11, 2008
FAQ
Some questions
Read on...
Frequently Asked Questions about Michael Nehring
What is your middle name? Peter, my father's name.
Do you have a nickname? Kinda. Brian.
Has anyone actually asked you the above questions? Not really.
How tall are you? 5 feet, and 9.5 inches. I think this is exactly average for an adult male.
What brand deodorant do you use? Why do you ask me such questions? Oh, wait, no one is actually asking me these questions. These are just questions that I made up for myself to waste my own time. I use Right Guard. By the way, Old Spice is evil and causes rashes.
What is your favorite soda? Diet Caffeine Free Coca Cola (brown bubble water as it is often called).
When is your birthday? February 16th, 1985
So, how old are you? Come on, do the subtraction yourself! If I tell you here, this page will become out of date.
Where do you study? As of this writing, I am an undergraduate at the University of Connecticut, in Storrs (nowhere), CT, USA. However, also as of this writing, I am in a study abroad program, so I am sitting at my computer in Freiburg, Germany in the StuSie.
What do you study? Mathematics. My plan is to some day get a Ph.D. in math, so that on the front page I can call myself "Doctor Michael Nehring" instead of "Mister Michael Nehring." Also, at parties, when people say "Mr. Nehring" or "Michael," I can cough twice, then say "I didn't go through graduate school and write a revolutionary dissertation to be called 'Mister'!"
Why did you make this website? Good question. Because I can. Also, to make you love me more. I detected that before you came to this website, you didn't really like me that much. Since I am so lovable, I knew that telling you about myself using too much sarcasm would make you truely love me. The real reason is that I need a place to rant, and I have been banned from every Internet forum (the second half of the last sentence was a lie. There are very many lies on this website).
When did you make this website? Hmm. Good question. I think I started this version some time around May 2002, but it is a work in progress. I try to add more interesting features as I go along.
There are 6 apples and I take 2 away, how many do I have? If I answer 4, you will say "no I have 2. I took 2 away, so those two are the apples that I have." If I say 2, you will say "6 minus 2 is 4, dummy." Ha, I already outwitted you all (or at least I outwitted myself).
The Guide to Love
Welcome to "The Guide to Love" by professor Michael Nehring.
Page: 1/8
Since I am a scientific minded man, I at once grabbed this creature, as surely it was a new species. I took it with me into the language college, downstairs where no one else was. The creature, to my amazement, began talking to me. It asked me in German what I planned to do with him. I responded in German, saying that my German wasn't good, and it would be much better if he could speak English (I pointed out that should be obvious, as I went into a language school!). So, the creature started talking in English. So, we had a conversation, and it turned out that he was none other than Cupid, the one who ties hearts together.
I thus asked him the secrets of the heart and I asked him why he had not revealed the secrets to other people. He said he attempted to reveal the secrets to others, but he had trouble setting up his website, as he was old and had not grown up in the computer age. I then informed him that I have made a few websites, and I would be happy to make a website on his behalf. He then began to share the secrets of love, which I now gladly share with you.
Remember, if any of the words I write upset you, they are not my words, but Cupid's. Blame him. If Cupid sounds like he's trying to be funny, but isn't, it's probably something lost in translation, as Cupid's primary language is the funny little language that only a few people speak in Switzerland, but is still an official language of the country. Cupid likes to talk to himself.
Please click the links below to continue to the sections of interest. Even if you think a section does not apply to you (maybe because you have a boyfriend/girlfriend, are of the wrong gender, are married, have been castrated, or are dead), read it anyway, because the more people that read it, the more likely that it will be linked to on various websites, and thus get a high Google ranking, which next to achieving love, is the most important task for a human being.
Page: 2/8
Page: 1/8
This website contains all the secrets of love, the opposite sex, and marriage. How do I know such secrets? Well, I recently traveled to Freiburg, Germany. As very few people know, this is where Cupid has his winter home. Cupid enjoys the fine skiing in Switzerland to the immediate south, but likes the lifestyle in Freiburg. One day I was riding the street car to my language school. I was walking toward the door to get off, but the driver of the street car suddenly hit the brakes due to a car breaking the traffic rules. Since I was not holding on to anything, I fell over and instinctively reached out and grabbed on to the nearest thing, which happened to be the dress of a large women who was standing next to me. The dress came off, but not to reveal a naked women (hi Google porn searchers!), but rather to collapse to the ground and reveal a little guy with wings.
Since I am a scientific minded man, I at once grabbed this creature, as surely it was a new species. I took it with me into the language college, downstairs where no one else was. The creature, to my amazement, began talking to me. It asked me in German what I planned to do with him. I responded in German, saying that my German wasn't good, and it would be much better if he could speak English (I pointed out that should be obvious, as I went into a language school!). So, the creature started talking in English. So, we had a conversation, and it turned out that he was none other than Cupid, the one who ties hearts together.
I thus asked him the secrets of the heart and I asked him why he had not revealed the secrets to other people. He said he attempted to reveal the secrets to others, but he had trouble setting up his website, as he was old and had not grown up in the computer age. I then informed him that I have made a few websites, and I would be happy to make a website on his behalf. He then began to share the secrets of love, which I now gladly share with you.
Remember, if any of the words I write upset you, they are not my words, but Cupid's. Blame him. If Cupid sounds like he's trying to be funny, but isn't, it's probably something lost in translation, as Cupid's primary language is the funny little language that only a few people speak in Switzerland, but is still an official language of the country. Cupid likes to talk to himself.
Please click the links below to continue to the sections of interest. Even if you think a section does not apply to you (maybe because you have a boyfriend/girlfriend, are of the wrong gender, are married, have been castrated, or are dead), read it anyway, because the more people that read it, the more likely that it will be linked to on various websites, and thus get a high Google ranking, which next to achieving love, is the most important task for a human being.
Page: 2/8
Puberty: Your biggest mistake
Puberty: this is the first step in the love process, and it is the most resisted step, and rightly so. Before puberty, the individual is perfectly happy thing that boys/girls are gross (depending on the gender of the individual). Those are good thoughts to maintain, as boys/girls are, in fact, gross (if you don't believe me, take a biology class with a dissection lab, or watch a Discovery Channel documentation of open heart surgery). Puberty should thus be resisted.
The best method of resistance is denial. Continue to deny the fact that you've gone through puberty until you are 60 years old, and all the puberty-caused changes have been nullified. Another method of resistance is to mock those actively going through puberty. For men, whenever a young man's voice cracks, you should repeat his last sentence 2 or 3 things, exagerating the vocal crack to an extreme degree. If you are unable to mimmick the crack with your own vocal chords, you should carry a 72 RPM record player with you are all times, with an old Peter, Paul and Mary record, and when you get to the part of the sentence where the young man's voice cracked, turn the record player up full blast and slide the neddle back and forth across the record. Women, you task is more fun. Whenever a young women goes out to buy a new bra of a new size, you should do the following. Take the most elastic bra you can find, and take two paint balls, and then form a sling-shot from the bra. Use the sling-shot-bra to flight the paintballs at the young women who is going out to buy a new bra. These actions will cause these young people to generate anti-puberty hormones.
However, you must be able to take advantage of these hormones yourself, or your efforts would only be in vain. Thus, invite the person you harrassed out to dinner. As soon as both of you have your plates in front of you, snatch his/her plate from him/her and eat everything on it, and then, if you haven't already eaten your own food, offer your own food to him/her.
However, for some of you, this information comes too late. You have already gone through puberty. Cupid begs you to pass this information along to the younger generation, so as to scare them for life, so his (Cupid's) work load would be lighter. Seriously, he's pretty sick of matching up couples. But, that is his job, so in the following pages, he will reveal those secrets to you.
Attracting a woman
One of the most perplexing questions facing men (who have mistakenly gone through puberty) is: how do I attract women? The simple answer is this: it's not possible to attract women. Women are not attracted to men, and especially not to you (as I know exactly who you are, despite the fact that this is a static webpage)! However, Cupid told me not to tell you that, but to offer the following lies instead.
Looks:
Women require you to look as if you spend 10 hours per day in the gym, and every free moment in front of the mirror plucking extra hairs. However, they also require that you never go to the gym, and never spend a second in front of a mirror, as 100% of your time must be dedicated to them. There is only one solution: plastic surgery and lots of it. As with all life's problems, having a lot of money can make it better, and this is no exception. Michael Jackson is considered the sexiest man alive. While you are waiting for your plastic surgery, here are some more tips. If you have a beer gut, don't let it hang out the bottom of your shirt, as Cupid finds this gross and told me to tell you to stop doing it. Except for many rashes and occasional death due to internal consumption, deodorant never hurt anyone. Showering once per week also helps.
Sense of humor:
Women require that you be able to make her laugh when she wants to laugh, not only that, but you must be able to magically tell the second when she wants to laugh. There is a 5 minute period during each hour when she wants to laugh, and a 1 minute period during each ten minutes. She randomly decides the times at the beginning of each day. If you do not make her laugh during these times, she will stop talking to you and say that she thinks it's about time to go home. If you make her laugh outside of these times, she will say that you don't take life seriously.
Things/stuff/money:
The more the better. Steal if needed.
Personallity:
A woman wants a man who is both generous, but keeps enough to provide for her. Who is gentle but strong. Who is outgoing, yet reserved. Who is courageous but fearful. In other words, a woman is looking for a logical contradiction. Thankfully, for me, this is good. As a mathematician, I know many logical contradictions. So, to attract women, I will approach them, show them that I have a lot of money and many cars and an appointment with a plastic surgeon, and then pull out a pencil and paper, and prove to them, using a contradiction, that the squareroot of 2 must be an irrational number. Then I'll tell a joke saying that using similar logic, I can prove that women are irrational. They'll love me.
Attracting a man
While attracting a women is impossible, attracting a man is quite easy. However, as discussed, women are not attracted men, so they have no reason to attract men, except to play with them as a cat plays with a mouse. Cupid likes cats. So, Cupid told me to pass these tips along to you.
Looks:
You must be exactly 5' 8", 120 pounds, and have the breast size determined by the bra company that week (they determine the breast size by which size bras they have an overstock of). If you do not look exactly like this, you are ugly. Cupid, like Michael (the author of the rest of the site) tends to be quite sarcastic. Maybe that's why Michael and Cupid got along so well. Cupid would like to inform you that a) you will probably never look like the New York fassion models and b) you should be happy that fact 'a' is true, because men really aren't attracted to those models. Only women are attracted to these models, because the CEO's of fassion companies tells the women that if the women look like that, they can be like cats and men will be like mice. Cupid likes cats. The CEO's of fassion companies enjoy manipulating women, like cats playing with mice. Cupid hates cats.
Sense of Humor:
Your sense of humor must be 5' 8", 120 pounds, and... Ha ha. Got you! If your sense of humor is that overweight, no man will like you! Your sense of humor must lose 5 pounds in the next week. Here is the key to sense of humor: if the man is drooling, he's not listening to what you're saying. No sense of humor is required at those moments. You can use that time to do homework or call friends. If a man farts, the good things to do is fart back and laugh about it. That is a true sense of humor. That is all you need to know.
Things/stuff/money:
Make him pay for everything. Anything else would be unladylike. If he does not give you large quantities of things/stuff/money, start complaining, and tell him he is not fulfilling his duty to you. He, like all men, is stupid. He will do anything you say.
Personallity:
Your personality must be 5' 8", 120 pounds, and... Again I fooled you! Again, if the man is drooling, no personallity is required. You may go to sleep or make plans to become president of the USA. During the times the man is not drooling, you should constantly change your personallity, so as to confuse him. Since he is stupid and doesn't want to be confused, he will put himself into a constant state of drooling, and thus you will be able to continue with your life as normal.
Page: 5/8
Relationship part 1: Approach
In the typical relationship, approach is the first step. Of course, I do not recommend a typical relationship. I advice that you start with death, move on to marriage, jump to approach, then dating, the marriage again, then approach again, that way by the time you come to the last approach, you will already know the person very well, and it won't be awkward.
However, I know no one here will follow my advice about the order, so Cupid told me how one should approach another following the rules of a typical relationship. There are two types of people in the world: extroverts, who don't need this advice, and introverts who won't listen to it because they are too nervous. Clearly this advice is utterly useless. Thankfully, the Internet is full of useless stuff (from a shop for hypo-allergenic steering wheel covers to international news), so I have no problem posting this advice none the less.
Traditionally, the man has to initiate the contact with the woman. This is still essentially true today (sorry introverted guys). It used to be that a relationship would start like this: Man: Um, yeah, um, hi, I have to go to the bathroom. (5 minutes later the man returns. His hand has a lot of scribbling on it).
Man: Um, hi, would you like to go with me to a box social?
Woman: Yes
Man: Will you marry me?
Woman: Yes
It used to be simple and clear like this. There was a clear definition to where the relationship began. This is no longer the case. First the man and woman must become friends through a long and grueling process. Once they have become friends, the man is insanely in love with the woman, and the woman has decided that a relationship would be a bad idea, because she doesn't want to ruin the friendship. Fortunantly, for the sake of continuation of the species, sometimes the woman can be tricked into thinking differently. A man cannot do this trickery himself as he is too dumb. He must instead rely on the woman's female friends. The woman's female friends think it is cute that the woman has a boyfriend, so they will be able to help you ("you" meaning the man, as the knowledge of the approach stage is not required if you are a woman).
After the woman's friends have had a talk with the woman, the woman will realize that she wants to be in a "special" relationship with you. She will invite you to have a "talk." Normally, talking time can be reserved for drooling, as described in the section about attracting men. However, this talk is actually different. Men, listen! You must actually pay attention during this talk. This talk will basically will be where you can finally admit that you are attracted to this woman.
At this point in the relationship you should hire a lawyer to write an agreement that you both sign that puts forward some stipulations about what should happen if the relationship terminates (one stipulation will be that the woman must explain to the man the meaning of the word "stipulation," as the woman's vocabulary is much larger than the man's). Once the lawyer is done writing the agreement, grab it from him and run out of his office without paying him. Now you and your partner can never split, because you have commited a crime together.
Page: 6/8
Relationship part 2: Going steady
What does "going steady" really mean? I don't know, and neither does Cupid. However, Cupid insisted that I write something.
As far as Cupid and I could tell, "going steady" is the part of the relationship where each partner admits that the other partner is his/her girlfriend/boyfriend (depending on the gender of the partner). Here are some tips for those who are going steady.
Public Displays of Affection (PDA):
First, computer nerds, jokes comparing public displays of affection (PDA's) and personal digital assistants (PDA's) aren't funny. If you tell one of these to your girlfriend, she will give you any more PDA's and she will take your PDA and smash it (and you'll lose your high score in Pinball). If you and your significant other decide to make-out, please show some respect for the people around you. Many people don't mind watching people in movies kiss each other, but that's only because the people in the movies are professional kissers. You are not. If your poor kissing ability causes drool to run onto the public bench you are sitting on, please be so kind as to wipe it up. Also, if you are waiting in line and you start kissing and the line moves forward, please move forward with it.
It is important that you are able to openly admit your affection for your partner, however no one said that this has to be done by tasting the other member's lunch after he/she has eaten it. It is important to love your partner without hating your neighbor.
Doing stuff together:
Rule 34.5 c, section ii) of the Going Steady Code (part of the Geneva convention) says that if a man and a woman are going steady, they should go to the doctor to get surgery to become attached at the hip (so that the joke will be on people who try to make jokes about being attached at the hip). This probably won't happen. However, the message of the Going Steady Code still applies. You must do a lot of stuff together. This way you can fully upset each other before you get married, so that when you get married you'll be used to it. One important thing is eating together. This means you will no longer be able to grab a quick 2 minute lunch by taking food and tossing it in the microwave. Every meal must last a minimum of 2 hours. I, Michael, a great philosopher recently logically deducted the reason for meals being so important (it has to do with the German language and irregular verbs). Cupid, having lived in Germany, assures me that my deduction is correct. If you wish to read the deduction, please click here.
Talking:
Homer Simpson assures us that the problem with relationship is communication... Too much communication. He is correct. However, as we know all too well, American never listens to its television set, so people have continued to communicate in relationships. Since I can't say anything to stop this, I might as well give some advice for communicating. First, if you have cute names for each other (snuggle bun, honey lips, or compactor), please make sure that less than half your conversation consists of these words. This is NOT an example of a good conversation:
Man: Hey, snuggle bun
Woman: Oh, honey lips.
Man: Snuggle bun you're like a compactor, doll, or baby to me.
Also, don't talk about politics. If you agree on a topic, the conversation will consist mainly of "yeah! I know!" If you disagree, you'll just upset each other and no one will change their opinions.
The ultimate conversation is mathematics. People cannot disagree, and if both people at a point with they say "Yeah! I know!" they can move onto a topic where they can't say that. Therefore Cupid and I recommend that couples take math classes together.
Friends:
One thing that is confusing about Going Steady is what to do with regular friends. The appropriate thing to do is tell your partner that he/she may not spend time with his/her friends, but you must continue to hang out with your friends as normal. It is important that both partners do this. This is a long standing tradition, and who I am to speak out against such a stupid custom? One thing that modern philosophy demands is that there no such thing as truth, so therefore it is illogical for me to criticize such a stupid custom. I love modern philosophy (I love it, because hating it would be judgemental, and being judgemental indicates that there is such thing as truth).
age: 7/8
Relationship part 3: Marriage
Marriage is the most important part of the relationship. It's the part of the relationship where you realize that you don't have the energy to search for another partner, so you resign yourself to a single partner for life. Did I say "resign yourself"? Ooops my finger slipped and I am too lazy to hit backspace. Honestly, however, despite the negative view put on marriage by television, marriage should be a joyous and expensive occasion.
Proposing:
Again, men, it is your job to propose. There are many different ways to propose, and every women knows exactly how she wants you to propose to her. If you do not do it exactly in this manner, she will not agree to marry you, thus giving you a heart attack and killing you. Therefore, for the sake of your own life, you must find out how to propose. Thankfully, your girlfriend's female friends know all the details. If you follow the advised method for approach, you will already know the girl's friends. However, it won't be easy to extract this information from them. They think it is cute that this girl has a boyfriend, but it's not "cute" to be married. They know once she gets married she won't hang out with them any more. So, basically, to get this information you will have to buy it from them. Here is what you must do. Suppose your girlfriend's name is "Jen." First, buy a car and drive it to the house of one of Jen's friends (preferably when other friends are also there). Invite them for a ride in your new car. Let one of the friends drive and start this conversation: You: How does Jen want to be proposed to?
Friend: I can't tell you that.
You: Then I guess I'll have to donate this car to colon cancer research instead of giving it to you.
Friend: Sign the title over to me and I'll tell you.
In the mean time - waiting for the wedding:
During this time you must save money for the wedding. You must spend a whole year's wages in 45 minutes at the wedding. No one is quite sure where all the money goes, but this is a long-standing tradition and who are you to defy it? During this time you must also set a time and a place for the wedding, which should not only be convenient for your future wife, but also for your future wife's friends. The man should have no say in when and where it will be, because everyone knows that no matter when or where it is, the man spend the night before the wedding slouching on his couch in his messy apartment watching football or informercials.
The special day:
The woman will have spent the past 300 hours just getting dressed for this event. For the man it takes a total of 2 minutes - and even less if he forgets to put on deodorant. You should have already invited everyone you could think of. This includes your step-grandmother's ex-gardner who will insist on calling you "Bill and Beth" no matter what your actual names are. You should also make sure that parking spaces are not clearly labeled, so that when your guests park they will get tickets then forward the tickets to you. This will make you even more broke. Being broke builds character. I was going to write a complete guide for how to run your wedding, but it turns out there are many great books and magazines on the topic, and if I wrote a guide here with the help of Cupid then I would drive all those companies out of business, and the DOJ would come after me because I am a monopoly and they would force me to remove Internet Explorer from my product, because, due to the environmentalist, the DOJ is now required to recycle past decisions.
Page: 8/8
Relationship part 4: Divorce or death
All things must come to an end. This includes your relationship. There are two options for terminating your relationship. These methods are explained to you by the minister during your marriage ceremony.
Minister: "Do you
So, the options are death (section 385 of the US penal code) or divorce (section 384). However, Congress recently decided that death is not enjoyable, so they are considering outlawing death, making divorce the only legal way out of a relationship.
Michael the mathematician
I know some people reading this now are from one of my math classes. Hi!
Anyway, math is probably one of my favorite topics. Why? Because I beat my older sister at it:-). Basically, here's the story (I've told it a million times, so you can skip it if you've heard it before). Anyway, one day when I was 4 years old (note: I just turned 4, because we moved when I was 4 in May and my birthday is in February, but I was still in the old house, known as the "green house"). Anyway, I was 4 years old and my sister, Katherine, age 6, was in public school at that time. Katherine walked in the door and I was busy working on a math problem. The problem (I remember exactly) was 8888+8888. Those of you who are not 100% relient on calculators can see that that problem requires a mathematical technique known as "carrying" (in fact, you have to carry multiple times!). As far as I can tell, carrying is a topic taught in 2nd grade (if you disagree, please tell me. I'm just going with what I saw on the Internet in teacher curriculum). Anyway, Katherine did not know how to do the problem. Katherine was bigger, stronger, and louder than I and she was bossy and I was somewhat submissive, but I finally had something that Katherine didn't, so I decided to like math.
To give you an idea of how geeky I was at math, when we'd go on vacation, a favorite pass time of mine was multiplying fractions. I'd get my mother to write a bunch of fractions to multiply with each other (maybe 10 or so fractions all multiplied with each other). I would then spend my time reducing the fractions. Once I had reduced all the common factors, I would multiply. It was great fun.
Other than my parents, I can count my other math teachers on one hand (as of this writing). They are Dr. Kelly and Dr. McGowan of CCSU, and Dr. Madych, Dr. Kyle Kneisl, and Dr. You of UConn (Dr. Kneisl left UConn and teaching, which is too bad). I'd like to thank Dr. Kelly for teaching me mathematical precision and finesse. My mother had tried for years to get me to write out my steps in a clear manner, but I would always do all the steps in my head (I would be able to look at most problems and solve them in my head).
Anyway, at the moment I've plowed through the 3 step calculus sequence, differential equations, and a proofs writing class which also introduced some more abstract higher math topics. In the fall I should be taking combinatorics (counting), linear algebra, and a math history class.
Note to people who are interested in math and have a good grasp of some college math, I highly recommend the book "Journey Through Genius" by William Dunham. Dr. Kneisl recommended this book to me when I was in his MATH 213Q class, and while UConn was out drinking on Spring Weekend in X Lot, I was in the physics building reading that book. Some people say that abstract math is just chasing symbols across a page, but unlike other sciences, once the chasing is done, the result is always the same (and will remain the same forever). That book contains some of the most profound symbol chasing of all time. Nothing complex, but that's the beauty of it.
If there is any topic I would consider a higher education in, it would be math. Right now I am contemplating the possibility of applying to math graduate school to get a PhD in math. I already have some ideas for my dissertation, but the problem is that many geniuses of tried their hands at those problems and have gotten stuck. The problem is that if I got a PhD in math, I wouldn't get a job involving math (see the "Michael the businessman" section for an explanation).
So, for those of you who have a high enough math education, I have a problem for you. This was one of the bonus problems on Dr. Kneisl's 213Q final for Spring 2003. He didn't actually ask for a proof, but he just asked us to "collect evidence" that a statement was true. I wasn't able to furnish a full proof on the exam, but I did get one later. He claimed a graduate school education was needed to get the answer right, but I think everything needed to solve that problem was covered in MATH 213Q. I will try to explain this problem in full detail. Suppose we are dealing with the first 'n' numbers (the first 5 numbers would be 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4, but NOT 5). For our purposes no other numbers exist. Now we are dealing with multiplication. It's just like normal multiplication, except that if we get up to or above 'n', we have to adjust somehow, as for our purpose no number larger than or equal to 'n' exists. So, what we'll do is we'll subtract off 'n' until we get a number that does exist for our purposes. For example, with the first 5 numbers (n=5) let's say we want to multiply 3*4, that would give us 12, but 12 isn't a number in our small world. So, let's subtract off 'n', so 12-n=12-5=7, but that's still out of our world. So, let's do it again, 7-n=7-5=2. Ah, 2 is a number in our world. So, when n=5, 3*4=2 (pretty cool, huh?). Now, let's say n=6. I want to play around with squares, so I'm going to square every number in our new universe. 0*0=0, 1*1=1, 2*2=4, 3*3=9, but that's too big, so 3*3=9-6=3, 4*4=16, but that's too big, so 4*4=16-6=10-6=4, and 5*5=25, but that's too big again, so 5*5=25-6-6-6-6=1. Now, we notice something interest, some elements are their own squares! When we're dealing with the real numbers, the only numbers which have this property are 0 and 1, but here we see 3*3=3 and 4*4=4. So, a geek might ask himself, in a general case, how many numbers will there be that have this property? Suppose 'n' has 'k' unique prime factors, the answer, as it turns out, is that there are 2^k elements with this property (2^k means 2 to the power of 'k'). So, 8=2*2*2*2, which only has 1 unique prime factor (2), so there is 2^1=2 elements that have that property. 60=2*2*3*5, which has 3 unique prime factors (2, 3, and 5), so there will be 2^3=8 elements that are their own square. The question is, how do you prove this?
I'll give a couple hints for the above problem. The sum of 2 choose 0 + 2 choose 1 + 2 choose 2=2^2=4 (a similar sum for 3 would equal 2^3=8). That can be proven for the general case using induction (or you can take my word for it). Also if one number, 'c' has a certain set of prime factors, the next number up, c+1, will share NONE of c's prime factors.
That's all I have for math at the moment...
Michael the philosopher
This is my page of random "wise" sayings and thoughts.
Compared to me, those greek people are just a bunch of silly folks. Some of these won't make much sense to everyone and some may be inside jokes, but all of Plato's work was actually one large inside joke (everything he wrote meant two different things for two different codes that he devised for his two mistresses. So what one mistress read meant a completely different thing from what the other one read, and what everyone else read was pure gibberish, and thus it is currently held in high regard. Note: I think I'm lying).
"Death, decay, and mutant frogs" ... "Are we gonna die?".
The other day I was thinking about pride. I hear a lot of boasting about how good their ancestors are. But what is better? To have ancestors who did something great or to do something great yourself. You can go around and parade about how good your great-great-grandparents were, but I'd prefer to go out and make a difference myself. If we spend too much time admiring what was done in the past, we won't have much of a future.
A lot of people will say "I am who I am". There's nothing wrong with being who you are. I have to say, I have a lot of respect for the individual. It takes more effort to be yourself rather than part of a large drone system. Anyway, I find that people use "I am who I am" as an excuse for not trying to improve themselves (I've probably done it too). Well, that's not the way it should be. There are no excuses for not improving oneself.
The other day, I was wondering why eating was such a common event of a romantic date. Since I have had minimal experience dating or other such romantic events, I consider myself an expert on the issue. I think the roots of this phenomenon comes from the German language. In German the word for "he" is "er" (said "air"). The word for "to be" is "sein" and the word for to eat is "essen". These look very far apart, but we'll see some similarities soon. To say "he is", that's "er ist", and to say "he eats", you say "er isst". When one says those out loud, they sound alike. Well, so, from that you could say "Wenn er nicht allein ist, ist er nicht allein" (if he isn't alone, he isn't alone). That's clearly a tautology, so that statement must be true. From that statement, we can derive the same statement if said outloud, which is "Wenn er nicht allein ist, isst er nicht allein". Since that sounds the same as our previous statement, it must also be a tautology. That statement reads as "When he isn't alone, he doesn't eat alone". So, from that, it's clear that if a person isn't alone (isn't single), then that person cannot possibly eat alone, and therefore, to be not single, you cannot eat alone, and why not eat with your significant other? So, we can deduct from the German language, that you are not permitted to eat by yourself if you have a significant other. I'm not one for long snacks where I sit around and talk for 20 minutes, so being single looks more attractive.
Michael the athlete
I was thinking about leaving a big blank page here as a joke.
The fact is, compared to other people, I'm not much of an athlete. However, athleticism isn't always about being better than the next guy, but rather being your personal best, and that's what I strive for. Back in 1999 (I think) I was looking for the magic fix to make me big and strong and skinny and I found Myoplex protein shakes. They didn't promise to be a miracle, but they were better than nothing and they didn't have deadly warnings. I picked up a box and found a "Body For Life" pamphlet. Inside was a guy saying, basically, "just give exercise 12 weeks and it will change your life." He wasn't offering a summer body or a quick 3 week fix, but he was offering what the name was, a "Body For Life". I decided to give the whole exercise thing a shot, and it worked out great. I've been in my best health ever. While I'm not huge and macho like the people in the ads, I feel great.
I would highly recommend exercise to those considering it and those who want to feel better. Note, I have to include the full disclaimer that you should consult your doctor before you start an exercise program. I don't know you, and maybe exercise will explode your heart and make your eyes melt. But call your doctor now, I don't care if his/her office is closed. Leave a message! But don't exercise for the wrong reasons. If you exercise to "lose weight", you may find that you've lost 5 pounds of water and you feel junky all the time and you don't look any better (which is the point of losing weight, anyway, right?). Exercise for better health and everything will fall into place. Utilize both weight training and aerobic training. Weight training burns more calories than most people suspect (so the weight loss crowd spends all their time on the treadmills). Aerobic training allows for amazing lung and heart strength (and trust me, you want a set of good lungs and a good heart).
While my athletic "accomplishments" are few, some of them are entertaining, and therefore it might be fun to read. Note: I'm not trying to show off. You'll notice that most of my accomplishments are pretty lame and mainly involve me failing or doing something dumb.
#1: 100-mile bike ride with a long sprint. Every year, a group of people from my church ride their bikes to New Hampshire from Connecticut to a church retreat center. The ride is just a little bit above 100 miles. A few years ago, I decided to ride along. I have a friend who is my age, Ted, who was also riding. Sadly, he was riding with his brakes rubbing for the first 10-20 miles, so that wiped him out pretty good. The group decided to split into a fast group and a slow group. I decided to go with the fast group. Of course, the fast group was made of up riders who had nice road bikes and big, strong legs. I had a mountain bike without a seat (funny story in itself) and little baby legs. Also, I was carrying Ted's backpack, if I remember right. Well, pretty soon I was falling back from the fast group, and the slow group was far enough behind that I couldn't see them. Soon, the fast group pulled out of sight and the slow group was still far behind and out of sight. Finally, I decided to do a "sprint" until I caught up. I found myself sprinting for a very long time. That fast group must have been really fast. Before I knew it, I was in New Hampshire. I decided to stop at a pay phone and call to see where people were (also, I wanted to make sure I was taking the right road. The whole trip is 3 roads: a road to route 10, route 10, and a road off route 10). Well, I found out that the fast group had pulled off for a break and waited for the slow group and that I blown by them. If I remember right, I was the first person to make it up that year. So, without even meaning to, I had sprinted up nearly the entire state of Massachusetts.
#2: A marathon and famous people (kinda). I decided to run the 2001 Greater Hartford Marathon. A Marathon is a 26 mile run, so it's not too easy. The race started, and I was going fine, until about mile 10, where I busted my knee in a pothole I didn't see (my leg fell down further than I had expected, and I landed hard on my locked knee). So, I couldn't run well. I took off my shirt and tied it around my leg and started limping along. 16 miles is a long way to run, it's a much longer way to limp. But since I wouldn't quit, I limped on (I had told people I was doing a marathon, and I didn't want to make myself a liar). Well, about mile 23 near a turn-around, I saw someone coming back limping along the other direction. We yelled back and forth about out afflictions, but we were going opposite directions, so the conversation was short. I decided to speed up my limp a few notches, because misery loves company. Finally, I caught up, and she (the other limper) and I struck up various bits of conversation. Her name was Katherine and she was running the marathon for charity. There are a bunch of other stuff mentioned, but I won't bore you with all the details. Anyhow, at one point in the conversation, she managed to mention that she was a motivational speaker/writer and that she would probably write an article about how I had limped so far (I think she limped from about mile 18) and she said it would be on her website, missnh.com. It took me until later that day to realize that missnh.com was for Miss New Hampshire, and that I was speaking with Miss New Hampshire herself, Katherine Pike (I might add that she was a very nice person, and that the Miss State people look much better in person without the fancy dresses and tons of makeup, and she wasn't at all stuck-up, or any such non-sense. And just a note to all you guys reading this, no, I do not have her number, so don't ask, and her fiancee was also running the marathon, so I think she is now married).
#3: A longer bike ride and a crash. Well, one day Ted (a great friend and bike rider) and I decide to do a longer bike ride than the 100 mile ride to New Hampshire. We decide that we're going to ride there and back in one day. The ride would have been well over 200 miles long. Well, we had ridden a long distance and were on our way back. We were crusing fast, as we had just come out of a long down hill and we wanted to make good time. Anyway, Ted was behind me and his tire slipped in some sand and hit a curb and his bike and he were flung off the road, and Ted landed right in a telephone poll. There was an Australian couple walking by, and Ted later recalled what they said "When I saw you hit that telephone, I said 'that can't be good!'" ("Of course that couldn't have been good" says Ted "I just hit a telephone pole!"). Anyway, the bike wasn't too injured (a bottle holder held its last bottle, and a toe clip broke), but Ted's wrist was broken, so, we had to wait outside a little grocerie store for a few hours while we waited to be picked up by Ted's father. It was a sad end to what would have been a very long day of bike riding.
Michael the punk
The word punk went through three phases.
The first term refers to a prison-sex slave. I have never had prison sex (or any sex) and I've never even been in prison. This was a rather rude term. Then there were a group of people who didn't dress like everyone else, who didn't talk like everyone else, who didn't think like everyone else. Society likes to ridicule the outcasts such as these, so they acquired the name "punks". Of course, since these people didn't really care that much what society said, they took the word "punk" and it eventually became a term of endearment among punks, but still an insult for people from the outside. However, once something gets a name, a marketing agency with a branch in New York and another branch in L.A. pick up on the name and start marketing it. They dictate what the name means. Now being a punk means going to a store in the mall and buying a $200 outfit ($30 metal wallet chains are absolutely mandatory) and then going out and buying a skateboard. The next step is to find a few rules that no one cares about (like "no yelling at passing cars"), then break the life out of those rules (but the rules can't be too major, because then the parents might stop giving their "punk" children their $300/week allowance, and the folks at the L.A. branch don't like the sound of that).
So, from my sarcasm, it's quite clear that I'm not excited about the latest meaning of the word punk and the first meaning of the word punk has less than nothing to do with me (math question, is the square root of negative one also less than nothing?). But the second meaning of "punk" I can agree with. While I sadly have not lived up to the "not-caring" standard 100%, it's a good goal to shoot for. The goal of the second generation punk is to do things because it makes sense, not because that's what society says is the way to go. This actually explains the original punk look. Society said "buy expensive clothing", but punks said "Salvation Army, baby! $10 for a whole outfit". The styles at the Salvation Army are the styles rejected by people and therefore dumped into a big bin outside a department store.
I think my "punkness" is the base of a lot of what I do: it's why I exercise and it's why I wear shorts. Wait! Exercise? Doesn't society tell us to be skinny and/or muscular (depending on age/gender)? Going with the crowd there, eh? Well, kinda, but kinda not. Society does push toward exercise from time to time, but for the wrong reasons. It tells us to exercise to be sexy, whereas I exercise for health (my stunning good looks are just a side-effect). So being a punk, in my mind, is considering why you are doing what you are doing. Are you doing it because someone told you it's the way it should be? Or because you determined for yourself that it's the way it should be?
The punk rant is actually a good opening for a lot of the rest of the site. I hope most of the other opinions expressed on this website come from my own careful consideration of the facts, and not because someone told me that's the way it should be.
Michael the musician
Disclaimer time again...
I know there will be some musically talented people reading this page. Just because this page is called "Michael the musician", that doesn't mean I think I'm a musician. I've never been good at music, but I've always been good at noise (ask me about my "tower of power" and the 20-some speakers I had in my room). Anyway, one sign that I am no musician is that I cannot sing. I really cannot hit any notes right. From time to time, I have a lucky day and I can sing an entire song or two without missing a note. It's quite scary when I do. But, most of the time, I don't even come close. I think I can attribute my poor singing abilities to various children's choirs at church. From time to time, they would put me on the spot, and I've always been very self conscience, so that scared me from singing. I learned to lipsynch and gave up on singing. But that's of little interest.
Well, when I was pretty young, maybe 6 or 7, I decided to take up playing the piano. Both my parents could play, and I wanted to be able to make the same noises. However, no one told me that the piano is pretty hard to play. Well, I started learning and soon it became a chore with required practice time, which is never fun. Also, I got a piano teacher, which was even less fun. Let me explain why. My family has a huge, old grand piano which was probably designed to be played in a huge concert hall without amplification (as there was no such thing as a speaker when the piano was made). So, this piano is quite loud. So, my teacher would always tell me to play quieter. Of course, she would play at full volume without knowing it. Well, I ended up spending all my time during the lesson concentrating on pressing the keys just hard enough to have the hammer hit the strings. So, needless to say, I quit piano as soon as I possibly could. I think I may have been 11 or 12 when my parents finally let me quit.
Well, later on, me and some of my church friends decided we wanted to start a ska band. There were a lot of us, so it was certainly possible. Since there was nothing else for me to do, I decided to take up guitar (at least, I think that's how it went). I still have my guitar, a black Gibson electric with a tiny amp (don't worry, I have way bigger amps, when I want to make noise). I have to say, I really enjoy playing guitar, but I'm not good at it. However, you don't need to be talented to play rhythm guitar in a teenage ska band (leave the mad solos to Ben). I'll probably comment more on guitar later, but now I have to move to the next important event. The band had never actually rehearsed, so we weren't technically a band. Well, some people in the band decided it was too hard being in a band that didn't practice, and our drummer moved away to North Carolina (he was really good). Well, it was pretty much down to 4 or 5 people and no drummer. Since I wasn't really good at guitar, I decided it would probably be simplest for me to take up drums. So, in August 2001, my parents got me a drum set - the cheapest one we could find. In retrospect, I'm surprised they even bought that, as it would seem that I should have given up quite quickly based on my past musical efforts.
Well, no one in my family had drummed before, except my uncle, but he (like our old drummer) was in North Carolina. I got some books and videos and started teaching myself. I was painfully bad, but I slowly started catching on. By this point, the remaining 4 or 5 members started "practicing". We were still technically ska at that point, as we had trumpet and, from time to time, trombone. However, we never actually worked out any real brass parts to any of songs. Our trombone player officially left, so all we had left was trumpet. The trumpet player decided to take up bass, and relieve our singer and former bassist of that position. So, now we were a band of 4 people, two of whom were very new to their respective instruments. Again, I don't need to say it, but we weren't very good. But hey, we sure were loud! Our guitarist, who is quite tallented, started writing some sick music. Meanwhile, both the bassist and I were getting better at the instruments that we played. Oddly enough, we played at a "talent" show. It was the first time in a long time that I had drummed in front of anyone else, and it was the first time in a long time that I had performed music, or anything for that matter. Despite the fact that everyone there wouldn't have cared if we hadn't hit a note right, I was pretty scared. However, I had a lot of fun playing.
The band managed to also get 3rd place out of about 8 bands in a battle of the bands. That show was a lot of fun to play. By that point, we had our collection of, count them, 4 songs that we wrote and performed. We didn't play other people's stuff, probably because we didn't sound good when we did. But of course, I think it's cool when a junk basement band plays their own stuff. Thankfully, I have my church's old sound system, so I can make super-high quality recordings of our music (of course, if the music is bad, there's only so much I can do to make it sound better, but at least the system doesn't make it sound worse).
In case anyone cares, the name of our band is 6 Feet To Go. I guess that's supposed to imply that weren't not dead yet, or something. We used to be The Randominiums (probably because were we more random than we were good). There are 4 members: myself, who you already. Our singer is Rob, our bassist is Calvin, and our guitarist is Ben. Well, since the guitarist and I moved off to college for fall 2002, the band had to pause for the school year. However, as I'm writing this, it's summer 2003 and we're back together. It seems that the band will not be able to get back together for summer 2004, however, as both Ben and I will not be around, if all goes as planned. Right now, I think the goal for the summer is to play some shows, and to record our album so that we have something to show for the band. We only have 1 song recorded with the lyrics recorded, the other 3 recorded songs were recorded when the singer was busy. I would be happy with an 8-10 track CD. Right now we're working on a new song by Calvin, which is really killer. As I'm writing this, I'm listening to yesterday's recording. I think we're almost ready to record the final version of that song. Also, Ben just wrote a new song, which is a nice mellower, almost dark sounding tune, which should be fun. I'm working on writing a parody and a joke song. I may record all parts of the joke song myself (except for singing), as the song isn't anything fancy, so it's hardly worth the trouble of getting the band together. The lyrics are awesome, however.
So, that's my story of "music". So, right now, I'm awful at piano (I sometimes play stuff I wrote for guitar on the piano), I'm bad at guitar (but, I could survive as a punker), and I'm decent at drums. I think my family wishes I played something quieter than drums, and that I play the drums with less passion (a.k.a loudness). In case you want to see me playing my guitar and drums, I made a video, which you can watch online. Before I give you a link, a little disclaimer. First, I'm not wearing a shirt. That is because the video was meant to be an experiment, and I was too lazy to put on a shirt after I got up. Next, I messed up a bit. Also, I wrote that little tune, so that's why it sounds so dumb. The reason for recording the video was an experiment in video editing and overlay. Well, now that you have been warned, I'll give you the links. Click here for the broadband version (2.95MB) (http://www.ftper.com/videos/MusicMix.wmv). Click here for the dial-up version (.37MB) (http://www.ftper.com/videos/MusicMixSmall.wmv). Also, I have decided to include a video of 6 Feet To Go practicing. Again, it's time for a disclaimer. This was only a practice - we weren't even doing studio recording. Also, the singer wasn't able to come that day, which was our last practice before Ben and I went off to college. There are plenty of mistakes in this recording, but overall, the song held together. The name of the song is either "Back Then" or "Johanna" and I'm really not sure which it is at the moment, but I'm leaning toward "Johanna". Click here for the broadband version (6.53MB) (http://www.ftper.com/videos/6FTG2.wmv). Click here for the dial-up version (1.2MB) (http://www.ftper.com/videos/6FTG1.wmv)
Michael the businessman
Many businessmen wear nice suits and ties. I wear shorts and a T-Shirt.
Man, how I love Internet business! Well, business is going to be one of my degrees from UConn once I finish, not that matters. Almost everyone I know that is a good businessman and also has a business degree says that a business degree is useless. I don't doubt them. I'm getting a business degree because business classes are entertaining.
Well, I'll give a history of my entrance into the weird world of business. A decent amount of time ago, I think when I was 11, I got a computer from the pastor of my church. It was nothing fancy or state-of-the-art, in fact, it was an early 1980's IBM PC with a yellow and black screen. When I would start it up, it could only load Microsoft BASIC (Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code - a programming language). I later learned that if I whack it on the side during start-up, it could load MS DOS. Well, my father knew a little bit of BASIC and he taught me how to make a program that could add a couple numbers. I found that quite fascinating. I managed to get my hands on some reference books that simply had hundreds of commands and information about BASIC syntax. They weren't exciting, but soon I was programming in BASIC (I probably did this because everything else I did at that point in my life was pretty boring). Well, eventually I got a modern computer and I started programming in languages that could be used to distribute programs to other people.
In the mean time, I realized that some day I would have to go off to college. Going to college would mean that I would have to take the SAT. Since I was homeschooled, I had never taken a "real" test and therefore the SAT intimidated me. The easy solution would have been to practice for the SAT, but easy solutions were never my style. Therefore, I had to avoid the SAT, and the way to avoid the SAT is to avoid college, and the way to avoid college is to get rich before college (because college is about learning various ways to make money, right?). So, I knew I wasn't going to get rich mowing lawns or selling lemonade. Therefore, I started looking at how to open a business. I ordered hundreds of pages of information from various sources to figure out how to start and run a business. I think I read more page of business documents in one month than I had read pages of novels in my lifetime. Some time in August when I was 14 years old, I walked into the Berlin town hall and after a little trouble (I was 14, after all, and wasn't allowed to own a business), my father and I registered my company RoadSide Software. I should note, that a current survey at that time of 14 year old males found that around 60% of them wanted to own their own business. I was probably one of the very few who actually did.
The rest is pretty boring, except I now run an Internet business and my goal is never to be employeed by anyone else. So far, I am meeting that goal quite well.
I have more dreams for businesses other than just software. Software is fun, but there is a lot more that I could do. One thing I'd like to do is own a nutrition store. There would be a physical store and also an online division. I would be able to offer super low prices because I think any profit margin is a good profit margin and I'm good at finding good deals and discounts. Some day, I would also like to make and sell a car, but that might require a little more effort. There are many other businesses I'd like to start. I think I'll start a master company and call it "RoadSide Enterprises". That company would own all my other companies.
Michael the Christian
This is the most important aspect of me.
So, that's the basics, but there is a little more I'd like to say. I think that many non-Christians don't understand Christians well. That is probably because we Christians don't explain ourselves well. While I can only speak for myself, I think at least some other Christians would agree with what I say (if you don't, send an email, please!). Note: if I refer to God as "He", that's not because I think God is somehow "male" or "masculine", but rather because it sounds clunky to talk otherwise. Also, in German (which is where English comes from), the word for "God" is "der Gott". "Der" is a masculine word, and therefore is referred to back to as "er" (he), "ihn" (him), or "ihm" (him - dative). Also, note that the Germans don't think that God is always a "male" thing. "Das M�dchen" is a word for a female person, but "das" is neuter. As my German professor said "If the German's didn't know that girls were females, there wouldn't be any Germans left".
Do Christians think their better than other people? Well, I'm sure some do. But, we shouldn't. One of the main things about being Christian is admitting that we are no better than anyone else, admitting that we are bad and asking that God forgive us of that (and God guarantees our forgiveness). So, while Christians often act high and mighty, we aren't. There are some sins that are easier to abstain from, and sometimes Christians will play up those sins in order to make themselves look "better" in their own eyes (I'm sure I've done this many times - and I ask both your forgiveness and God's forgiveness for that). However, to quite the Bible, "Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log in your own" - Luke 6:41.
Why do Christians do so many bad things? There have been hundreds of times through history where people have done terrible things and they did it claiming that's what God wanted them to do (from what I hear, even Hitler was good at quoting the Bible). Just because Christians did it (even under God's name) doesn't mean that's what God actually wants! As I was saying before, Christians are only humans and therefore we commit sins like everyone else. Sometimes we use the fact that we're Christian to gather momentum among Christian for our human causes and we do it under the Christian banner (and we manage to put another sin of top of the sins we were already committing - using the Lord's name in vain).
Aren't most people Christian simply because their parents were Christian? Well, that's not necessarily true. Ask any Christian raised in a Christian family, and ask him/her if he/she has ever challenged his/her own faith (stupid political correctness). You will probably find that most people raised Christian, including myself, at one point felt uneasy with their faith. They probably realized that maybe they were only believing something because their parents believed it. However, even after I re-evaluated my faith, I realized that my parents were right after all.
How can you be so sure there is a God? How do you know you have the right God? This is a really tough question to answer. Different people have different answers. If you don't believe in any God, ask yourself this question: "How can I be sure there is no God at all?" Suppose there was plenty of scientific evidence against the existence of a God or a creator. Couldn't God have created that evidence himself? After all, an all-powerful God could certainly make a bunch of bones buried in the dirt somewhere. So, it becomes quite scientifically impossible to "prove" there is no God. Then another question to consider is "where did we come from?". I'm not talking about some creationist/evolutionist debate, but rather, where did matter come from? Suppose there was a "big bang", where did the matter for that come from? As far as I can tell, it's quite hard to create a scientific explanation for the start of the universe. So, if you think there is no God, at least consider that there could be a God. And, suppose there is a God, couldn't God know what you're thinking. So, even if you're still doubtful, you should ask God to show Himself to you. You don't have to say anything out loud, just ask God to show Himself to you. So, I haven't answered the question yet. How can I be sure there is a God? Well, I asked God to show Himself to me and he did. I had to pay good attention, but it happened. "Feeling God's presence" is not an easy thing to describe. It's not something you would expect and it isn't the way you might expect it (the Bible describes an event where God wasn't in the storms or fire, as you might expect from an all-power God, but rather, God was in the calm).
How do I know I have the right God? Again, very hard to answer. The stories of the Bible hold together amazingly well, and they describe clearly how to communicate with God and who God is. When I communicate with God, I can tell that the Bible described God as He is. Also, if I'm feeling doubtful, I can look to some of the physical evidence that God left. For example, the Shroud of Turin are the supposed burial wrappings of Jesus Christ (I'll talk about the Shroud in a second). The Shroud provides a little reassurance if I'm doubtful.
Wait a second, didn't they prove the Shroud was a fake? Ah, glad you asked. It just so happens that my grandfather and grandmother on my mother's side are quite good Shroud researchers. A lot of what is known about the Shroud was first seen by my grandparents. Therefore, I have seen a lot about the Shroud that the mass Media has never published. There was once a carbon dating done of the Shroud that placed the date of the Shroud around 1300 AD. The media quickly accepted the results at face value and labeled the Shroud as fraud and largely ignored later findings. Well, there were a few problems with the test. One problem is that the Shroud still has living bacteria on it, and carbon dating requires that the item be dead so that the scientists can measure the ration of carbon 14 to carbon 12, which have different half-lives. If the item is still alive, the amount of carbon will not even start to decrease. Another factor, which I think is (correct me if I'm wrong, Granddad) is that the sample taken from the Shroud contained fibers from the repairs done to the Shroud. The Shroud was once caught in a fire and some of it was burned and patches were added to it. If I remember right, I was in my grandparents basement, and I was shown a video of the sample being taken, and watching it in slow motion, one could see that the sample was party from the replacement patches. There is also an amazing amount of evidence showing that the Shroud is real. There are images flowers that can be seen on the Shroud, and the pollen around those images match the flowers, and the flowers place the Shroud right where it should be (that is, the flowers show that the Shroud originated from where Jesus died). The body shown on the Shroud is also anatomically perfect, not even the most crafty surgeons and artists working together in the 1300's could have possibly drawn such an accurate image (and it is now generally accepted, even by critics, that the Shroud was not painted with a paint brush). There's a ton more, if you're interested ask me. If I don't know, I'll ask my grandfather, who probably does know.
So, therefore, I hope I don't mess it up and write something that I don't mean. Well, let me just state what I believe. I believe that Jesus is the son of God, that Jesus came to Earth fulfilling God's promise of a savior. While on Earth, he told us how we should live and showed us the way to heaven. I believe that Jesus was executed and that he rose from the dead, thereby paying for the sins of all humanity if we want our sins paid for (to be absolutely clear, I do actually believe that there was a dead body of Jesus, and then later that body was no longer dead). I believe that if I ask God to forgive my sins, God will forgive them, thereby making me free of sin.
So, that's the basics, but there is a little more I'd like to say. I think that many non-Christians don't understand Christians well. That is probably because we Christians don't explain ourselves well. While I can only speak for myself, I think at least some other Christians would agree with what I say (if you don't, send an email, please!). Note: if I refer to God as "He", that's not because I think God is somehow "male" or "masculine", but rather because it sounds clunky to talk otherwise. Also, in German (which is where English comes from), the word for "God" is "der Gott". "Der" is a masculine word, and therefore is referred to back to as "er" (he), "ihn" (him), or "ihm" (him - dative). Also, note that the Germans don't think that God is always a "male" thing. "Das M�dchen" is a word for a female person, but "das" is neuter. As my German professor said "If the German's didn't know that girls were females, there wouldn't be any Germans left".
Do Christians think their better than other people? Well, I'm sure some do. But, we shouldn't. One of the main things about being Christian is admitting that we are no better than anyone else, admitting that we are bad and asking that God forgive us of that (and God guarantees our forgiveness). So, while Christians often act high and mighty, we aren't. There are some sins that are easier to abstain from, and sometimes Christians will play up those sins in order to make themselves look "better" in their own eyes (I'm sure I've done this many times - and I ask both your forgiveness and God's forgiveness for that). However, to quite the Bible, "Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log in your own" - Luke 6:41.
Why do Christians do so many bad things? There have been hundreds of times through history where people have done terrible things and they did it claiming that's what God wanted them to do (from what I hear, even Hitler was good at quoting the Bible). Just because Christians did it (even under God's name) doesn't mean that's what God actually wants! As I was saying before, Christians are only humans and therefore we commit sins like everyone else. Sometimes we use the fact that we're Christian to gather momentum among Christian for our human causes and we do it under the Christian banner (and we manage to put another sin of top of the sins we were already committing - using the Lord's name in vain).
Aren't most people Christian simply because their parents were Christian? Well, that's not necessarily true. Ask any Christian raised in a Christian family, and ask him/her if he/she has ever challenged his/her own faith (stupid political correctness). You will probably find that most people raised Christian, including myself, at one point felt uneasy with their faith. They probably realized that maybe they were only believing something because their parents believed it. However, even after I re-evaluated my faith, I realized that my parents were right after all.
How can you be so sure there is a God? How do you know you have the right God? This is a really tough question to answer. Different people have different answers. If you don't believe in any God, ask yourself this question: "How can I be sure there is no God at all?" Suppose there was plenty of scientific evidence against the existence of a God or a creator. Couldn't God have created that evidence himself? After all, an all-powerful God could certainly make a bunch of bones buried in the dirt somewhere. So, it becomes quite scientifically impossible to "prove" there is no God. Then another question to consider is "where did we come from?". I'm not talking about some creationist/evolutionist debate, but rather, where did matter come from? Suppose there was a "big bang", where did the matter for that come from? As far as I can tell, it's quite hard to create a scientific explanation for the start of the universe. So, if you think there is no God, at least consider that there could be a God. And, suppose there is a God, couldn't God know what you're thinking. So, even if you're still doubtful, you should ask God to show Himself to you. You don't have to say anything out loud, just ask God to show Himself to you. So, I haven't answered the question yet. How can I be sure there is a God? Well, I asked God to show Himself to me and he did. I had to pay good attention, but it happened. "Feeling God's presence" is not an easy thing to describe. It's not something you would expect and it isn't the way you might expect it (the Bible describes an event where God wasn't in the storms or fire, as you might expect from an all-power God, but rather, God was in the calm).
How do I know I have the right God? Again, very hard to answer. The stories of the Bible hold together amazingly well, and they describe clearly how to communicate with God and who God is. When I communicate with God, I can tell that the Bible described God as He is. Also, if I'm feeling doubtful, I can look to some of the physical evidence that God left. For example, the Shroud of Turin are the supposed burial wrappings of Jesus Christ (I'll talk about the Shroud in a second). The Shroud provides a little reassurance if I'm doubtful.
Wait a second, didn't they prove the Shroud was a fake? Ah, glad you asked. It just so happens that my grandfather and grandmother on my mother's side are quite good Shroud researchers. A lot of what is known about the Shroud was first seen by my grandparents. Therefore, I have seen a lot about the Shroud that the mass Media has never published. There was once a carbon dating done of the Shroud that placed the date of the Shroud around 1300 AD. The media quickly accepted the results at face value and labeled the Shroud as fraud and largely ignored later findings. Well, there were a few problems with the test. One problem is that the Shroud still has living bacteria on it, and carbon dating requires that the item be dead so that the scientists can measure the ration of carbon 14 to carbon 12, which have different half-lives. If the item is still alive, the amount of carbon will not even start to decrease. Another factor, which I think is (correct me if I'm wrong, Granddad) is that the sample taken from the Shroud contained fibers from the repairs done to the Shroud. The Shroud was once caught in a fire and some of it was burned and patches were added to it. If I remember right, I was in my grandparents basement, and I was shown a video of the sample being taken, and watching it in slow motion, one could see that the sample was party from the replacement patches. There is also an amazing amount of evidence showing that the Shroud is real. There are images flowers that can be seen on the Shroud, and the pollen around those images match the flowers, and the flowers place the Shroud right where it should be (that is, the flowers show that the Shroud originated from where Jesus died). The body shown on the Shroud is also anatomically perfect, not even the most crafty surgeons and artists working together in the 1300's could have possibly drawn such an accurate image (and it is now generally accepted, even by critics, that the Shroud was not painted with a paint brush). There's a ton more, if you're interested ask me. If I don't know, I'll ask my grandfather, who probably does know.
Michael the shorts-guy
But why, Michael? Why do you wear shorts for the whole winter? Do you not realize that you live in Connecticut?
Yes, I am quite unaware of the fact that I live in Connecticut. Every time someone tells me that CT is where I'm from, I fall over in shock (sarcasm - I gotta work on being less sarcastic). Well, let me begin with how it got started. I forget how long it's being going on, but it's been a while (years). Basically, I hate cold weather (seems a little illogical so far, but bear with me). I love the summer. I love the heat. Well, one year the weather was getting colder and colder, but I wanted the summer to stay. I refused to believe that the summer was already over, so I kept dressing as if it still were summer. It started snowing, but I knew that the warm weather would be coming back, and to show my loyalty to the warm weather, I kept wearing shorts. Surprisingly (to some), my legs managed to not feel the cold. I have had plenty of people push me over into the snow to try and prove to themselves that I really do feel the cold, but it just wasn't painful enough for me to show on the outside, however, their attempts to show that my legs feel cold always have failed.
So, my shorts is about mind over matter. Either the weather will control me or I will control the weather. And I don't want anything pesky like the weather bossing me around! Did you know, if it weren't for my shorts, the winter would declare victory and stay all year around? Therefore, I would like to encourage all my readers to also wear shorts year-round (note: by wearing any type of clothing, you automatically and thoroughly indemnify me, Michael Nehring, from any damage done by any type of weather).
Note, one logical explanation of why I don't feel cold in my legs may relate to some previous bike-riding experiences. Back a while ago, I would ride my friends' BMX bicycles, which had large platform pedals with decently sharp teeth for good shoe grip. However, since I wasn't too skill, often when I would go off of a jump, my feet wouldn't stay on the pedals, and the nice sharp teeth would dig firmly and deeply into my legs, tearing off long strips of skin. This probably did some nice damage to my skin, and now it probably can't feel cold as well as it used to.
There are some other benefits to wearing shorts. One big one is that it makes it easy to run in the winter. Pants are quite restrictive for the knee area, reducing range of motion and causing pain. Another, quite unexpected benefit is that I am famous - well, kinda. At the University of Connecticut, a surprising number of people recognize me as "the shorts guy". They don't know much about me other than the fact that I wear shorts. Aparently, I have aquired various nicknames among the people who know of me, but do not know me personally. Some of these include "Spike" (from my hair) and "Forest" (from the fact that I'm almost always running).
Michael the politician
There seems to be very little that detracts people from each other more than politics. So, people with different political views often have trouble getting along. I've seen this many times. For better or for worse, the political opinions that I hold are not shared by too many people - at least, not too many people are willing to admit that they share my political views (however, I expect that many people don't know that they share my political views). So, that said, you'll probably disagree with a lot of what I say, and not necessarily because you actually disagree, but because the ideas are often so far from normal that you may not have had time to contemplate the ideas carefully. So, please contemplate the ideas presented. If you still disagree with me, more power to you (if you want a LOT of power to you, try sticking your fingers into a power outlet, if your fingers are too fat, use forks). It is our right to disagree and voice our disagreement that makes me thankful that I live in America.
So, first a little background on political views. I was raised in a family where I'd call the political views to be on the more conservative side of Republican (note: both Republicans and Democrats are near the center of the spectrum, so being on the conservative side of Republican doesn't mean too much). As is the case with most people, I shared my parents' political views for a good part of my life. Accepting them without considering them. However, I expect that most people also start challenging their parents political views in their teenage years. In the couple of years leading up to the 2000 election, I started thinking about other political views, however not in a very clear manner. I found in debates that one person would say one thing and I would think "Wow, the point he made was completely correct", then the next person would contradict the previous person, but I would still think "Wow, that point was also completely correct." It was clear that something was wrong, so I adopted the attitude "politics schmolitics!" That isn't too bad an attitude, except it lets other people make decisions for you, which I didn't like too much either.
Anyway, one day I was reading computer news at ZDNet.com and the article I was reading was about the different presidential candidates' standing on the issue of Internet taxation. While, I may have been mainly "politics schmolitics" at that point, I felt very strongly against Internet taxation. Being an Internet entrepreneur myself, I knew that taxes could easily crush any hope that Internet commerce ever had. There was and is nothing magical about Internet commerce that will keep it around forever. The profit margins are thin or negative and there is little known about the field. So, my political choice for that election could have probably been solely determined by the candidate's view on Internet taxes (not that it mattered, because I was too young to vote, but whatever). I read through the article, which I don't remember clearly, but then I started reading through the user response forum. There was a lot of pointless yelling back and forth, but there was one post that said something to the effect of "Why don't these articles ever talk about presidential candidate Harry Browne?" I had no clue who Harry Browne was, so I looked him up. I found his presidential campaign site, and on that site there were some half-hour video clips of Harry Browne explaining his political views. I decided to watch these clips.
I know what you're expecting to read next. I bet some of you are even considering skipping this paragraph because you know exactly what it's going to say. You're expecting me to say "Well, he agreed with me on Internet taxation, and of course, since I was so easily swayed during the other debates, I was completely converted to his point of view." Actually, that's pretty far from the truth. Harry Browne started stating his opinions, and I actually found myself getting mad at him. His ideas were crazy! I kept watching just to see what he would come up with next. Every minute he introduced a wild new idea that clearly could never work and never had worked for all the history of humanity! Or so I thought, at least. Once I was done watching the videos, I thought I realized why ZDNet didn't mention. His other ideas were simply too crazy to ever.
Well, I instantly rejected nearly all of what he said. But later I started thinking about exactly why his ideas wouldn't work, but the more reasons I came up with, the more I realized that I was wrong. Admittedly, I was a little bit confused that all these "facts" that I was testing against Harry Browne's ideas were all creating contradictions. I realized that I held the wrong political views, and that Harry Browne was right about basically everything.
So, my political views are now aligned with Harry Browne and his political party, which is known as the Libertarian party (I bet some of you were wondering when I'd finally say the name of the party!). If I had to sum up the party's views in a few sentences, here is what I would say: the government should be small. The purpose of the government is to protect the rights and liberties of its citizens from outside countries and other citizens. From those very basic ideas, the whole Libertarian view point can be derived.
The official rant of Michael. Also known as "Responsibility? What's that?" Every day for the past 8 years I have eaten at McDonalds: breakfast and lunch and often dinner. Recently I notice that my body is covered with a thick layer of protective jelly called "fat" and my heart doesn't want to beat anymore. Then I realize "maybe I shouldn't have eaten at McDonalds. Maybe eating bad food made me sick." So, I drove down the street toward the hospital, which is across the street from the gym... and the court house. I enter the court house and file a lawsuit against McDonalds for allowing me to eat their food. I am a victim of the "no responsibility" philosophy. I do not know how to be responsible for my own actions.
For those of you who actually know me, the story above never happened to me. It was just an illustration, and using the word "I" was easier than thinking of a random name. Sadly this philosophy is very ingrained in us. It is this philosophy, in my opinion, that is the cause of a good deal of the social trouble we experience today. It is this philosophy that has allowed the government to grow to enormous levels and rule over every part of our lives. We are unwilling to take responsibility for our actions, and we are unwilling to let other people take responsibility for their actions, so we have chosen instead to have someone dictate our lives. And the worst part is that this is a cycle that gets worse and worse. We vote for a government program to reduce the amount of responsibility we must take, and then the next generation grows up without any idea that there should be no responsibility in that area.
Let me explain with the help of an example. It used to be that drugs were perfectly legal. Don't get me wrong, there was a drug problem back when drugs were legal. However, people were required to take responsibility for their actions. If the drugs did them harm, that was something they had to live through. The government did not stand in and say "You cannot use drugs because they are dangerous." The first American drug laws were actually racist laws against Chinese drug users, then later laws were specifically aimed at black drug users. The current spin on drug laws is that they are for the protection of the whole American public. The government says that people are not responsible, and therefore must be forbidden from using drugs (or else the drug users will suck out your brains). So, people, when they realize that the government thinks they are irresponsible, go ahead and do the irresponsible thing: they go out and buy the drugs illegally.
Think for a minute... What if drugs were completely legal? What would happen? Would everyone suddenly start using drugs? If so, what would be the problem? The problem of drug use is not the actual using of the drug, but the side effects (for example, violence, neglect, and a poorly run life). Is it possible to use drugs, but still not be violent? But still run a normal life? Believe it or not, yes, it is quite possible. People must be held responsible for their actions. If they neglect their children, on account of drugs, or for any other reason (for example, laziness), they must be held fully accountable for that. However, if all the drug use is force that person's life down the tube, should we punish that? Should we throw that person in prison? (Note, American has a greater percentage of people in jail than any other nation, and the majority are non-victim offenders). If the only victim of an action is the people who did that action, should that be punished? Should that be regulated? Why do we assume that the person is unable to be responsible for his own actions?
Let me give another example to clarify my main idea. First, let me ask you a question. Is drunk driving bad? I am going to assume that you answered "yes". The government has said "anyone who has more than x% alcohol in his blood while driving must be thrown in jail." However, many studies have shown that sleepy driving is just as dangerous as drunk driving, and there aren't really the same laws against sleepy driving. Does this mean we should introduce a ton of laws to regulate sleepy driving? Then what about the other dangerous activities while driving? What about changing the climate control? Eating? Talking with friends? Talking on a cell phone? (Quick side note, you are more likely to be killed by lightning than to be killed by an accident caused by a cell phone. It is far more dangerous to change than climate control than to use a cell phone while driving. The current cell phone laws are hype). We should create a ton of laws regulating all that, right? No, actually, we shouldn't. The problem is not that people are driving with alcohol in their blood. The problem is not that people drive while sleepy. The problem is not that people drive while talking on the cell phone. The problem is that people drive dangerously. If a police officer pulls you over for dangerous driving and it is found that you have a high level of alcohol in your blood, he can bring you to prison, have your license revoked, and take away your life. If a police office pulls you over for dangerous driving and you're sleepy (which is just as dangerous as drunk), the officer cannot do much. He can probably give you are warning, tell you to get some rest, and send you on your way. Consider this, it takes 8 hours to become fully rested, but only a few hours to become sober. Why is drunk driving worse?
The crime should not be that people drive with alcohol in their blood. The crime should be that people drive dangerously. People should be responsible for their driving. If he hits another car, the punishment should be the same regardless of the reason. Maybe he was drunk, maybe he was sleepy, maybe he was just a bad driver.
Another important to notice is the problems that these anti-responsibility laws cause. Going back to the example of drug laws, we can see that drug laws (not drugs) have created massive violent black markets. A market cannot be black unless the government makes it so. Back when alcohol was illegal, there were massive black markets for alcohol, but now if some guy with a gun tried to sell a bottle of beer behind an old factory for $20, people would laugh at him! Likewise if drugs became legal, the black market would vanish. The black market for drugs is terrible and sad. A great deal of inner city violence is a direct result of the drug black market (not drugs, but the black market. I want to make the distinction clear). Drug adicts have to satisfy their cravings, but since drug use is illegal, it is risky to get help, and since drugs are on a black market are expensive, many people are forced to commit robbery to get the money needed to buy drugs.
You may think that I am just a stoner trying to get his drugs legalized so that he can get a cheap high. That is quite far from the truth. Personally, drug use upsets me a great deal. It saddens me to see people ruin their lives in such a manner. However, that does not mean I think they should be criminals. If drug use were legal, I think more people would be forced to acknowledge drug use as a problem that the government cannot solve. The government has not solved the drug problem (it has probably made it worse. Look at the statistics. A good place to look is back to alcohol prohibition). If drugs were legal, it would force everyone to stare the problem right in the face. I believe more people would donate money and time to help those drug users who want to stop, and I believe people would donate more money and more time to keep non users from becoming users. We rarely realize that the government has failed when the government is still working on the problem. We say the solution is not for us to go out and do something, but rather for some men in suits to sit in a hall in Washington D.C. and work on some paper they call "reform." When the government is busy failing, our solution is "reform". Everything has been reformed hundreds of times. The government is still failing. Our solution is not to go out and take repsonsibility for the problem ourselves. Our solution is to tell the government to make more "reform." That will solve the problem.
Social Security does not provide well for the needs of retirees, abandons many, and will go completely bankrupt. Not only that, but the fact that people believe Social Security will be functional and useful when they retire, means that many will not take responsibility for their own retirement, and thus not save for retirement. Will reform solve the Social Security problem? Has reform solved the problem? Why will the next reform be the magic bullet? Think of other government programs. There are tens of thousands of gun control rules on the book. Does that stop criminals from getting guns? No. They're criminals. It's their profession to break the law. A gun law is not unbreakable. Meanwhile, many non-criminals cannot arm themselves in the case of defense, and criminals know this. If I am a rapist walking down the street and I see a women alone, I can be fairly certain that she is unarmed and her only defense will be her fists (and if I exercise a lot, statisically speaking, I will be much stronger than she). However, if I knew she were allowed to defend herself, since I am a dirty criminal watching out only for me, I might think twice before jumping her.
There are so many cases where the government promises to protect us, and we take their promise at their word. However, the government is a massive organization, and thus they will always fail, as the US government has nearly 300,000,000 involuntary customers. That's a lot. You should expect to fall through the cracks of their protection many times. However, since the protection is promised by such a large (and thus seemingly trustworthing) organization, we often feel that we should let down our gaurds and not watch out for ourselves - not take responsibility for ourselves. We don't need to save for retirement, the government will do it. We don't need to keep the air clear, the government will do it. We don't need to know how to defend ourselves, the government will do it. The government will do it. Well, the government has failed again, and again, and again. In any case, government or not, it is needed that we take responsibility for ourselves at the very least. As long as we have massive government programs, a great majority of people will not take repsonsibility for themselves, and thus will become a burden on those who did take responsibility for themselves (because those who fund the government often tend to be those who have high levels for responsibility). Punishing those who are responsible to take care of those who are irresponsible is hardly an encouragement to become responsible.
I am getting tired of writing and sleepy. I think I'll kick back, drink a few beers and shots of vodka, then drive home, being sure to pay a visit to the social security office. If the last statement didn't make any sense to you, don't worry, it doesn't make sense to me either. However, there is a government program called "The Office of the Logic Checkers." It is their job to make sure published material makes sense. They'll fix the last statement for me. Why should I have to do it?
I've decided not to go deep into specific issue, because I'm not a great writer. I invite you to take a look at all the government has done (just a note, try using some sources other than government-published articles). You can go to Libertarian Party website and read the issues (http://www.lp.org/issues/). There are very many issues addressed. I invite you to at least what we have to say. Even if you don't agree, just think about it for a while. At one point or another, I've agreed with the other side of the argument of almost all of the Libertarian party issues. It really helps to be able to at least see the other side of the argument.
Very few people want the government telling them what to do, but many people seem willing to give up their own freedom in order to boss around someone else (and most people only give up freedoms that they don't take advantage of. For example, a non-drug user wouldn't care too much if he weren't allowed to use drugs any more). Ask yourself if it is right for you to decide how to run other people's lives. If someone is minding their own business, should they really be put in jail? Can the government really spend your money better than you can? Can they spend your neighbor's money better than your neighbor? (Go to your neighbors house and ask them, and I bet you'll find out). Do you need the government telling you what you can and cannot buy? Telling you how much extra you have to pay for imported goods? Telling you that you can't buy something from somewhere because a couple people who call themselves "leaders" can't agree? Do you really need the government to baby sit you? Are we that misbehaved? America was founded on freedom. The American founders came over here because they didn't want the government telling them whom to worship and how to worship. The early Americans threw tea into Boston harbor to fight a tax that is quite trivial compared to modern taxes. Have we lost our founders desire for freedom? Or is it simply surpressed? It was surpressed in me, until I thought about it. I want freedom - not just for me, but for the millions of Americans who have been working hard to live the American dream.
Nutrition calculator for Microsoft Excel or Open Office Spreadsheet
Have you ever wondered what was in the food you prepared? While there are nutrition facts on all food packages that we get from the grocery store, once we mix everything together, it's a lot of trouble to know what you're eating. I created a tool which makes this process easy (note: this tool includes database of around 7000 food items!)
First, the requirements. To use this, you should have Microsoft Excel or Open Office. If you have one of those programs or some other program which does the same job, then you can download the file. The file is available at http://www.michaelnehring.com/CalculateTable.xls. And the license: the food database was published by the USDA and you can get it yourself from http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=10093. This file was provided for free, and being a publication of the United States Government, it is not under any copyright. My file provides an alternative format to the provided data as well as an original tool for calculating the nutritional content of multiple foods mixed together. However, the tool is relatively simple and thus I also claim not copyright to the parts of the file that I myself created. Of course, I am to be held absolutely free of any liability for anything that happens with this tool. Enjoy!
And now how to use the tool. When you open the file, you will see a workbook with two spreadsheets, one named "data" and one named "calculator". The "data" table contains all the nutritional information from the USDA database. If you scroll to the right you can see all the different values that are stored there (water content, vitamins, calories, etc). All values in this table are for 100 grams of food. This is a big database and you want to be able to search in it. One way to search is with the standard search tool (Edit|Find or Ctrl+F in Excel). However, that may prove to be somewhat limited. For a better search method, you can filter the table. To filter the table click the "Data" menu, selec the "Filter" sub-menu and if "Auto-Filter" is not already checked, then check it. Now scroll to the top of the table. Each of the header items will have an down-arrow next to it. Click the down-arrow next to "Shrt_Desc". Select the 3rd item, "custom...". Now you can filter the table as you please based on the item description. For example, we can look for peppers. Select "contains" instead of "equals" and type in "pepper". Click "OK". Now you see only the items which have the word "pepper" in the description.
Now to use the calculator. You will need to copy the nutrition data from the table to the calculator. First find the food item that you wish to add. Once you found it, you need to highlight the entire row. You do this by clicking the absolute leftmost column in the row you wish to highlight. This row will contain a number between 1 and 8000, which is the row number (this is column before column A. This column has no name!). Once you have selected it, press Ctrl+C or select Edit|Copy. Now go over to the Calculator sheet. Select the row where you wish to paste the item (a row between 2 and 27) and hit Ctrl+V or select Edit|Paste. The item will now be pasted. Note: by default, there are two items in the table (peppers and chicken breast). These can be removed by selecting the row and hitting the delete key. Once you have pasted the item, select the "Amount" column in the row that you just pasted and enter the number of grams that you wish to add. Once you have entered the value, hit the enter key. Now you have added an item.
This is all you need to know to opperate the tables. Now you need to read the results.
At the bottom you should look at rows 28, 29, and 30. Row 28 contains the sum of all the nutritional entries listed there, weighted based on the number of grams you entered per item. Row 29 converts those numbers in the RDA-percentages (percent daily values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower, depending on your calorie needs). Row 30 shows how much of the nutrients you would get if you are 2000 calories worth of this item. For example, if the items you entered have only 500 calories and 40% of the RDA for calcium, then if you ate 2000 calories worth of this food, you would get 160% of your RDA for calcium. Row 30 is very useful in evaluating the nutritional goodness of what you are looking at. You want to keep values like sodium, fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol under 100% and vitamins, fiber and minerals above 100%. This will help you have a more balanced diet.
Enjoy!
Shrimp stirfry with rice and fruit salad
This is an attempt at a healthy, balanced meal that actually tastes good. This recipe should serve 3-4 people. First, I will give you the RDA values that come out of a 2000-calorie portion of this food. Note: the entire recipe has 2000 calories and it serves 3-4 people, therefore these numbers should be divided by 3 or 4. However, the 2000-calorie reference is useful, because it tells you if the food is part of a balanced diet, because percent daily values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Serving size: 2500 grams (3-4 meals)
Calories: 2000 (100 RDA)
Total fat: 14.5g (22.6%)
Saturated fat: 3.1g (10.2%)
Cholesterol: 877mg (290%)
Sodium: 2600g (110%)
Postasium: 3300g (94%)
Total carbohydrates: 350g (117%)
Fiber: 37g (145%)
Sugar: 105g (N/A)
Vitamin A: 90%
Vitamin C: 460%
Calcium: 45%
Iron: 115%
Thiamin: 98%
Riboflavin: 46%
Niacin: 145%
B6: 152%
B12: 110%
Nutritional analysis:
The good: low calories from fat, and even less saturated fat. Excelent source of vitamin C, iron, B12, and K (as well as various other trace minerals). It also provides a good amount of dietary fiber.
The bad: High in cholesterol. One serving will give you a full day's supply. It is also high in sodium (but if a soy sauce with less sodium is chosen, then the problem is solved - but watch out for MSG!), it also lacks any large amounts of calcium.
Overall, this can be one healthy meal in a day. Let's get on to the recipe.
First, the shirmp stirfry:
Ingredients:
450 grams of shrimp (mine were precooked)
4 tablespoons soysauce
4 teaspoons cornstarch or other thickening agent
Two medium onions
1.5 cups of chopped celery
1.3 cups of chopped red pepper
Water
Some oil for stir frying
Instructions:
Mix the cornstarch with a little bit of water to create a slurry, this will be a thickening agent for the sauce. Put the shrimp in a bowl and pour the soy sauce on top. Add the slury and water and mix around a bit. Chop up one onion and add it to the mixture. Let this mixture sit while you prepare other stuff. Chop the remaining onion, the celery and red pepper.
Heat a pan or wok and cook the shrimp mixture a bit (maybe 5 minutes or so, longer if the shrimp was provided raw). Clear that out of the pan and put some oil in the bottom for stirfrying. Make the pan pretty hot (I've read the the oil should be almost at the level where it starts to smoke). Add the vegetable mix to the pan. Stirfry this for one or two minutes (to stirfry means to constantly stir the mix while cooking it. This is not a slow process, but a fast and agressive one). After 2 minutes or so, turn down the heat and add the shrimp mix. And now your done.
The nutrition facts were based on making a total of 800 grams of cooked brown rice (you'll need to start with much less rice than 800 grams!).
The fruit salad is as follows:
1 kiwi
2 small to medium plums
1 mango
1 pear
1 cup of pineapple (I had fresh pineapple on the day I made this).
Chop the fruits into the needed blocks and mix together.
And that's all there is to it. The result is quite yummy and very nutritious. There is also a large diversity of food there, since there are 3 sorts of vegetables and 5 types of fruits.
Geothermal cooling with cost estimate
So, I�m sure you�ve heard of the concept of geothermal cooling or heating, and I�m sure the following isn�t any new idea of mine alone.
Well, as you may be aware, the temperature of ground stays fairly constant throughout the year (depending on latitude). I�ve read the numbers vary from 45 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. For the sake of this article, I�ll just say 60 degrees.
Now, heating and cooling make for large costs, and I am theoretically planning to move to North Carolina, where cooling costs could be significant. One number from HowStuffWorks.com about how air conditioners work states that you need about 30 BTU�s per square foot, so a 1000 square foot house needs 30000 BTU�s which translates to around 3500 watts (or $.28/hour at $.08 per kilowatt). 800 cooling hours per summer would then translate to over $200 of cooling costs. I don�t know if there is any truth in those numbers, but when you consider that a refrigerator consumes so much energy, then an air conditioner must be worse.
So it would be nice to capture this 60-degree coolness that is hanging around for free underground. One solution is to build a basement or underground house and live there, but that is too much effort and has a ton of drawbacks. The other way is to build a geothermal cooling system.
I decided to do a little reading up on this, and of course it�s already been done. You take some plastic tubing, run it into the ground and run it back up. You pump in hot air and out comes cool air. Simple enough. However, there are problems with this method, specifically that the tube gets wet, mouldy, and invites various creatures and pests to live in it. So that method was abandoned. Now, my idea has probably been tried and done before, but I just haven�t seen mention of it� So here it comes�
Basically, you pump water down through the tube instead of air. Water transmits heat better than air anyway (which is colder: sticking your arm into 0 degree air or into 35 degree water?). So basically, you have a large basin of water, then you pump the water down to about 6 or 7 feet underground. There it should take a relatively longish route so that it has time to cool off. Then the water comes back up and goes through a radiator to transfer the coolness of the water to the air. Then the water is returned to the basin and goes through the system again.
So what do you need? A pump to move the water around, many feet of copper piping, a car radiator, a holding tank for the water, and a fan. You could also add antifreeze to the system to avoid it freezing in winter and to increase conductivity.
So how much should such a system cost? Well, you could buy a new radiator for a few hundred dollars, but if you go to eBay, you can get one for around $30 (used and non-leaky). You can get a well pump on eBay for around $50. This would still take some consideration. You might actually need only a very, very weak pump. Well pumps are designed to bring water from underground to ground-level. This system is designed to circulate water. For every gallon that gets pumped up, one gallon goes down. Ignoring friction and temperature changes, circulating the water should take no work (once the water starts moving in a circle, it should never stop). However, friction cannot be ignored, so you need a certain amount of energy for that, and the temperature also presents a problem. Hot water rises, so the cold water would tend to move to the bottom and the hot water to the top, which is the opposite of what we want. So the pump would need a certain amount of power, but from my estimations, very little. A fan can be bought at Walmart for $10. The holding tank should also be cheap, if at all needed. I figure it should be used to allow a little buffer for expansion and contraction in the system due to temperature changes. A standard car expansion tank should do the job for $10 used on eBay.
So far we�re up to around $100. Now we need plumbing. At Lowe�s you can get 50 feet of flexible 1/2 inch copper piping for $36. That should actually suffice. We need about 10 feet for each travel direction (4 feet from the unit to the ground and 6 feet underground), which would leave us 30 feet of travelling room underground. This would give the water enough time to change temperature significantly.
So now it�s time for some calculations. First, how much water does the system hold? Well, the copper pipe holds:
(.5*.5)*pi*(50*12)=471 cubic inches.
One gallon is 231 cubic inches, so the pipe hold just about 2 gallons. The rest of the system holds about two gallons, depending on the size of the radiator and tank. So we�ll have about a four-gallon system. Just a random number, I�d say the water should stay a total of 1 minute in the 30-foot section at the bottom (just a random number, but it seems good). The 30 foot section holds 1.2 gallons, so the thing should pump 1.2 gallons per minute (GPM). A 3 GPM pump I saw on eBay goes at 12 volts and 5 amps, which according to Ohm�s law takes 60 watts. So 20 watts per GPM, so we�ll need 24 watts for the pump.
I made some cooling calculations, but they weren�t that positive. I�d have to see how the cooling works in real life.
Now, the goal is to save money. So, we actually don�t want to pay money. When is it hot? During the day, and specifically when it is sunny. So, you can get solar power during this time. Less sun means less power, but also less heat to cool offer. So, we�ll need around 100 watts of solar power. A pound of solar cells yield 75W, so we�ll take around 2 pounds. 3 pounds of broken solar cells goes for around $60 on eBay (they can be soldered together and they will work).
So for a total of around $250, you can maybe build the entire system including power source. After that it should be basically free (basic maintenance would be required, I suppose).
Well, I should have that implemented in Summer 2007
Well, as you may be aware, the temperature of ground stays fairly constant throughout the year (depending on latitude). I�ve read the numbers vary from 45 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. For the sake of this article, I�ll just say 60 degrees.
Now, heating and cooling make for large costs, and I am theoretically planning to move to North Carolina, where cooling costs could be significant. One number from HowStuffWorks.com about how air conditioners work states that you need about 30 BTU�s per square foot, so a 1000 square foot house needs 30000 BTU�s which translates to around 3500 watts (or $.28/hour at $.08 per kilowatt). 800 cooling hours per summer would then translate to over $200 of cooling costs. I don�t know if there is any truth in those numbers, but when you consider that a refrigerator consumes so much energy, then an air conditioner must be worse.
So it would be nice to capture this 60-degree coolness that is hanging around for free underground. One solution is to build a basement or underground house and live there, but that is too much effort and has a ton of drawbacks. The other way is to build a geothermal cooling system.
I decided to do a little reading up on this, and of course it�s already been done. You take some plastic tubing, run it into the ground and run it back up. You pump in hot air and out comes cool air. Simple enough. However, there are problems with this method, specifically that the tube gets wet, mouldy, and invites various creatures and pests to live in it. So that method was abandoned. Now, my idea has probably been tried and done before, but I just haven�t seen mention of it� So here it comes�
Basically, you pump water down through the tube instead of air. Water transmits heat better than air anyway (which is colder: sticking your arm into 0 degree air or into 35 degree water?). So basically, you have a large basin of water, then you pump the water down to about 6 or 7 feet underground. There it should take a relatively longish route so that it has time to cool off. Then the water comes back up and goes through a radiator to transfer the coolness of the water to the air. Then the water is returned to the basin and goes through the system again.
So what do you need? A pump to move the water around, many feet of copper piping, a car radiator, a holding tank for the water, and a fan. You could also add antifreeze to the system to avoid it freezing in winter and to increase conductivity.
So how much should such a system cost? Well, you could buy a new radiator for a few hundred dollars, but if you go to eBay, you can get one for around $30 (used and non-leaky). You can get a well pump on eBay for around $50. This would still take some consideration. You might actually need only a very, very weak pump. Well pumps are designed to bring water from underground to ground-level. This system is designed to circulate water. For every gallon that gets pumped up, one gallon goes down. Ignoring friction and temperature changes, circulating the water should take no work (once the water starts moving in a circle, it should never stop). However, friction cannot be ignored, so you need a certain amount of energy for that, and the temperature also presents a problem. Hot water rises, so the cold water would tend to move to the bottom and the hot water to the top, which is the opposite of what we want. So the pump would need a certain amount of power, but from my estimations, very little. A fan can be bought at Walmart for $10. The holding tank should also be cheap, if at all needed. I figure it should be used to allow a little buffer for expansion and contraction in the system due to temperature changes. A standard car expansion tank should do the job for $10 used on eBay.
So far we�re up to around $100. Now we need plumbing. At Lowe�s you can get 50 feet of flexible 1/2 inch copper piping for $36. That should actually suffice. We need about 10 feet for each travel direction (4 feet from the unit to the ground and 6 feet underground), which would leave us 30 feet of travelling room underground. This would give the water enough time to change temperature significantly.
So now it�s time for some calculations. First, how much water does the system hold? Well, the copper pipe holds:
(.5*.5)*pi*(50*12)=471 cubic inches.
One gallon is 231 cubic inches, so the pipe hold just about 2 gallons. The rest of the system holds about two gallons, depending on the size of the radiator and tank. So we�ll have about a four-gallon system. Just a random number, I�d say the water should stay a total of 1 minute in the 30-foot section at the bottom (just a random number, but it seems good). The 30 foot section holds 1.2 gallons, so the thing should pump 1.2 gallons per minute (GPM). A 3 GPM pump I saw on eBay goes at 12 volts and 5 amps, which according to Ohm�s law takes 60 watts. So 20 watts per GPM, so we�ll need 24 watts for the pump.
I made some cooling calculations, but they weren�t that positive. I�d have to see how the cooling works in real life.
Now, the goal is to save money. So, we actually don�t want to pay money. When is it hot? During the day, and specifically when it is sunny. So, you can get solar power during this time. Less sun means less power, but also less heat to cool offer. So, we�ll need around 100 watts of solar power. A pound of solar cells yield 75W, so we�ll take around 2 pounds. 3 pounds of broken solar cells goes for around $60 on eBay (they can be soldered together and they will work).
So for a total of around $250, you can maybe build the entire system including power source. After that it should be basically free (basic maintenance would be required, I suppose).
Well, I should have that implemented in Summer 2007
Gift list
Gift list for Michael and Nadja
A great way to get rid of junk – or – one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. If you have something you want to give us and it’s not on the list, that’s fine! We’ll take it too!
(The dark dots indicate the beginning of a subsection. We are not asking for a bathroom for our wedding!)
• Kitchen
o Oven mitts
o Pots and pans
o Glasses and mugs
o Plates, bowls, everything that you eat off of
o Utensils
o Tortilla maker
o Toaster
o Mixer (hand mixer and/or table mixer)
o Baking pans (except for cupcakes and cakes with a hole in the middle).
o Microwave
o George Foreman’s Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine or similar electric grill.
o Spice rack
o Tupperware and other plastic food storage items of all sizes
o Bowls (all sizes: for mixing stuff and for eating!)
o Can opener
o Cutting knives of various sorts
• Bedroom
o A bed large enough for two people and mattress to go with it (a mattress is more important). Keep transportation to North Carolina in mind!
o Dresser
o Desk
o Blankets/sheets
o Bedside table
o Lamp
• Bathroom
o Towels
• Living room
o Small television set
o DVD player
o VCR
o Chairs
• Garden and yard
o Hammock
o Lawn mower (preferably NOT riding, due to transportation issues)
o Rake
o Hose
o Spray nozzle for hose
o Shovels (various kinds – big, small, pointed or flat tip, etc)
o Hedge trimmer
o Chain saw
o Flower pots of various sizes
o Other stuff
• Car
o Car jack
• Maintenance and tools
o Broom and dust pan
o Vacuum cleaner (bag-free would be better!)
o Hammer
o Screw drivers of various sizes and types (Phillips, flat heads, electric, etc)
o Wrenches of all types and sizes
o Clamps of vises
o Files and chisels
o Tape measure
o Pliers
o Crowbar
o Various hand saws
o Caulk gun
o Safety glasses
o Breathing filters
o Work gloves
o Electric drill with bits
o Rotary saw with blades
o Jig saw
o Staple gun
o Other tools for all sorts of house and car projects!
• Other
o Money and gift certificates (please try to give gift certificates to places that exist in North Carolina, like Walmart, Target, Home Depot, etc. There is NO Ikea in NC).
o Printer
o Scanner
o Telephone
o Computer speaker set
o MP3 player (suggested product: Creative Zen Nano with 512MB available from NewEgg.com for around $50)
o Sleeping bag
o Energy saving light bulbs (compact fluorescent)
o 2 bicycles (one for Nadja, one for Michael – please ask for measurements or wait for us to come and see if it fits. Nadja is 5’4” and Michael is 5’9”)
o A tandem bicycle
o Acoustic guitar
o Record player (able to play the big sized records. Should be used! New record players are expensive, and I want to do some conversions on it).
o One American, one German, and one Bavarian Flag, all of the same size (one person certainly does not have to get all 3). A good standard size seems to be 3’x5’. It would be nice if the flags are rated for outdoor use.
o Two backpacks. A smallish one for Nadja and a largish one for Michael.
A great way to get rid of junk – or – one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. If you have something you want to give us and it’s not on the list, that’s fine! We’ll take it too!
(The dark dots indicate the beginning of a subsection. We are not asking for a bathroom for our wedding!)
• Kitchen
o Oven mitts
o Pots and pans
o Glasses and mugs
o Plates, bowls, everything that you eat off of
o Utensils
o Tortilla maker
o Toaster
o Mixer (hand mixer and/or table mixer)
o Baking pans (except for cupcakes and cakes with a hole in the middle).
o Microwave
o George Foreman’s Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine or similar electric grill.
o Spice rack
o Tupperware and other plastic food storage items of all sizes
o Bowls (all sizes: for mixing stuff and for eating!)
o Can opener
o Cutting knives of various sorts
• Bedroom
o A bed large enough for two people and mattress to go with it (a mattress is more important). Keep transportation to North Carolina in mind!
o Dresser
o Desk
o Blankets/sheets
o Bedside table
o Lamp
• Bathroom
o Towels
• Living room
o Small television set
o DVD player
o VCR
o Chairs
• Garden and yard
o Hammock
o Lawn mower (preferably NOT riding, due to transportation issues)
o Rake
o Hose
o Spray nozzle for hose
o Shovels (various kinds – big, small, pointed or flat tip, etc)
o Hedge trimmer
o Chain saw
o Flower pots of various sizes
o Other stuff
• Car
o Car jack
• Maintenance and tools
o Broom and dust pan
o Vacuum cleaner (bag-free would be better!)
o Hammer
o Screw drivers of various sizes and types (Phillips, flat heads, electric, etc)
o Wrenches of all types and sizes
o Clamps of vises
o Files and chisels
o Tape measure
o Pliers
o Crowbar
o Various hand saws
o Caulk gun
o Safety glasses
o Breathing filters
o Work gloves
o Electric drill with bits
o Rotary saw with blades
o Jig saw
o Staple gun
o Other tools for all sorts of house and car projects!
• Other
o Money and gift certificates (please try to give gift certificates to places that exist in North Carolina, like Walmart, Target, Home Depot, etc. There is NO Ikea in NC).
o Printer
o Scanner
o Telephone
o Computer speaker set
o MP3 player (suggested product: Creative Zen Nano with 512MB available from NewEgg.com for around $50)
o Sleeping bag
o Energy saving light bulbs (compact fluorescent)
o 2 bicycles (one for Nadja, one for Michael – please ask for measurements or wait for us to come and see if it fits. Nadja is 5’4” and Michael is 5’9”)
o A tandem bicycle
o Acoustic guitar
o Record player (able to play the big sized records. Should be used! New record players are expensive, and I want to do some conversions on it).
o One American, one German, and one Bavarian Flag, all of the same size (one person certainly does not have to get all 3). A good standard size seems to be 3’x5’. It would be nice if the flags are rated for outdoor use.
o Two backpacks. A smallish one for Nadja and a largish one for Michael.
GeneralThe American Wedding Date!
The American wedding will be held at 2PM on the 15th of July, 2006 at Bethany Covenant Church in Berlin, CT. If you are reading this, you are most likely invited!
The date is set!
Yes, it's true. We have a wedding date. So start thinking about airplane tickets, if you want to come. Currently it seems to cost around $500 per person round trip (WITH TAXES! Don't be fooled by lower prices when it doesn't include taxes).
We are also almost done collecting the legal documents, and we will probably turn them in tomorrow (!!!).
That's it for now,
-Mike and Nadja"
We are also almost done collecting the legal documents, and we will probably turn them in tomorrow (!!!).
That's it for now,
-Mike and Nadja"
Wedding dress update
We still need your help, but the search has been narrowed. Click "read more..."
Well, we found the dress, kinda. The manufacturer is called "Lip Service" and the dress is the "Ivory London" (Ivory being the color, London being the design). It was most likely sold at the mall-store "Hot Topic". You can see the sold-out page here:
http://www.hottopic.com/store/product.asp?LS=0&ITEM=118398&RN=147
and here:
http://www.torrid.com/store/product.asp?LS=0&ITEM=592463&RN=225&AID=3751244&PID=781018
(The picture from Torrid is better).
Anyhow, we can't find this dress. I already emailed the manufacturer and someone who bought the dress from an online auction 2 years ago (maybe the buyer has it and doesn't need it anymore).
If you see this dress anywhere (orient yourself to the picture from Torrid or http://www.mikeandnadja.com/Dress2.JPG), please let us know. The dress doesn't cost more than $90 new, so used it should be less (the final price of the dress at Hot Topic was $10.01).
Thanks
-Michael and Nadja
Well, we found the dress, kinda. The manufacturer is called "Lip Service" and the dress is the "Ivory London" (Ivory being the color, London being the design). It was most likely sold at the mall-store "Hot Topic". You can see the sold-out page here:
http://www.hottopic.com/store/product.asp?LS=0&ITEM=118398&RN=147
and here:
http://www.torrid.com/store/product.asp?LS=0&ITEM=592463&RN=225&AID=3751244&PID=781018
(The picture from Torrid is better).
Anyhow, we can't find this dress. I already emailed the manufacturer and someone who bought the dress from an online auction 2 years ago (maybe the buyer has it and doesn't need it anymore).
If you see this dress anywhere (orient yourself to the picture from Torrid or http://www.mikeandnadja.com/Dress2.JPG), please let us know. The dress doesn't cost more than $90 new, so used it should be less (the final price of the dress at Hot Topic was $10.01).
Thanks
-Michael and Nadja
We're looking for a dress! Please help!
Here's where you can help us. You can help us find the dress! Click "read more..."
Anyhow, Nadja's looking for her wedding dress. The good news is she found the dress she wants to get married in. The bad news is that the dress belongs to a friend and was bought in a store that may or may not exist, and we don't know where it is (the dress was not sold as a wedding dress). I have three pictures of the dress:
http://www.mikeandnadja.com/Dress1.JPG
http://www.mikeandnadja.com/Dress2.JPG
http://www.mikeandnadja.com/Dress3.JPG
If you see a dress like that, please let us know. You don't need to find it in a wedding dress shop (in fact, that's nearly a shure way to pay too much for the dress).
Thanks:-)
Anyhow, Nadja's looking for her wedding dress. The good news is she found the dress she wants to get married in. The bad news is that the dress belongs to a friend and was bought in a store that may or may not exist, and we don't know where it is (the dress was not sold as a wedding dress). I have three pictures of the dress:
http://www.mikeandnadja.com/Dress1.JPG
http://www.mikeandnadja.com/Dress2.JPG
http://www.mikeandnadja.com/Dress3.JPG
If you see a dress like that, please let us know. You don't need to find it in a wedding dress shop (in fact, that's nearly a shure way to pay too much for the dress).
Thanks:-)
Some good news
Well, one less legality in the way and some general updates... Click "read more..." to read the rest
Well, some good news first. To get married here in Germany (as a foreigner) I need to get a certified document from the US Embassy saying that I am allowed to get married. The embassy responsible for me (since I am in Freiburg) is located in Frankfurt, which is a good 4 hours away, and a one way ticket there costs 50 euros ($65), so round trip would cost $130 - a tad much, and then 8 hours of driving. There is another embassy in Munich, Nadja's home town (home city, actually, of course. "Home city" just sounds weird).
Now, it turns out that the world-famous Oktoberfest is coming up (it's starting this weekend), and that is in Munich (along with the Autobahn, that's probably the main American tourist attraction in Germany). For the very few of you who don't know, Oktoberfest (there's only one real one) is a huge fair centered around beer. Since I am American and Nadja's a Muenchnerin (native of Munich), it is almost required that we go there. In any case, we're going off to Munich soon.
So, it would be nice to get this document in Munich. I emailed the Munich Embassy, and they said that they don't have the form, but they'd be happy to witness anything (for a fee, of course), if I could provide the form. I emailed Frankfurt to tell them about the situation, and they didn't email back yet, but I just called them, and they said they got the email and I can get everything done in Munich!:-). So I will save myself 8 hours of boring travel (I wouldn't have a car) and $130 (again, since I don't have a car).
In other news, we reserved the room for the reception. We may reserve it for another day for setup (we already reserved it for the morning on the next day to allow for cleanup).
Well, some good news first. To get married here in Germany (as a foreigner) I need to get a certified document from the US Embassy saying that I am allowed to get married. The embassy responsible for me (since I am in Freiburg) is located in Frankfurt, which is a good 4 hours away, and a one way ticket there costs 50 euros ($65), so round trip would cost $130 - a tad much, and then 8 hours of driving. There is another embassy in Munich, Nadja's home town (home city, actually, of course. "Home city" just sounds weird).
Now, it turns out that the world-famous Oktoberfest is coming up (it's starting this weekend), and that is in Munich (along with the Autobahn, that's probably the main American tourist attraction in Germany). For the very few of you who don't know, Oktoberfest (there's only one real one) is a huge fair centered around beer. Since I am American and Nadja's a Muenchnerin (native of Munich), it is almost required that we go there. In any case, we're going off to Munich soon.
So, it would be nice to get this document in Munich. I emailed the Munich Embassy, and they said that they don't have the form, but they'd be happy to witness anything (for a fee, of course), if I could provide the form. I emailed Frankfurt to tell them about the situation, and they didn't email back yet, but I just called them, and they said they got the email and I can get everything done in Munich!:-). So I will save myself 8 hours of boring travel (I wouldn't have a car) and $130 (again, since I don't have a car).
In other news, we reserved the room for the reception. We may reserve it for another day for setup (we already reserved it for the morning on the next day to allow for cleanup).
A general update
We've been working on wedding planning. A new date has been selected, but is not yet set in stone. To read more of this entry, please click "Read more..."
So, you clicked "Read more...". Good choice (maybe).
Anyhow, we've been working on setting a wedding date. As some of you may be aware, in around one years time, that is, around August, 2006, we will be moving to the United States of America.
As mentioned in a previous post, getting a visa/green card isn't as easy as one could hope (not even for the spouse of a US citizen). So we decided to get married somewhat earlier. The current date is:
Saturday, the 11th of March, 2006 A.D.
The date of the legal ceremony (this is attended by only a few guests) would be March 10th.
Neither of these dates are solid yet. To solidify the legal marriage date, we will need to have submitted all of our various legal documents to the marriage office. We cannot begin submitting documents until 6 months before the date of the legal wedding. The earliest date for this would therefore be Monday, the 12th of September.
We cannot set the church-wedding date until we have found a church that will take us, and a room for the reception. Neither of the churches that Nadja and I attend would be well suited for a wedding. One is located in an old movie theather and the other is located in an apartment/business building. Neither would be very pretty. We found a church in Freiburg, and we went to the church to ask if we could use it. It turns out they don't have a pastor and therefore we have to ask the central office of the denomination in Freiburg. We ask them. They tell us they're getting a pastor in a couple weeks and we'll have to ask her.
Similar situation with the reception room. The room is free on the day and we can reserve, but the person in charge is gone, and we can't look at it until he's back - in a couple weeks as well.
We are also aware that various from the US will not be able to make to the wedding in Germany. We therefore plan to have a second wedding ceremony in the US, tentatively on the fourth of July (a Tuesday, but a sort-of-holiday). How does that sound? Feedback? A wedding with fireworks would be pretty cool.
We are currently working on designing our wedding invitation. We have also made a list of the stuff we have to do. Nadja is also depressed by the poor selection of wedding dresses. One of her friends had a wedding dress that she likes, however, the dress was not bought in Germany (it was bought in the US), and not at a wedding dress store (I think at some sort of weird goth store).
I guess that's the update for now.
-Michael and Nadja
So, you clicked "Read more...". Good choice (maybe).
Anyhow, we've been working on setting a wedding date. As some of you may be aware, in around one years time, that is, around August, 2006, we will be moving to the United States of America.
As mentioned in a previous post, getting a visa/green card isn't as easy as one could hope (not even for the spouse of a US citizen). So we decided to get married somewhat earlier. The current date is:
Saturday, the 11th of March, 2006 A.D.
The date of the legal ceremony (this is attended by only a few guests) would be March 10th.
Neither of these dates are solid yet. To solidify the legal marriage date, we will need to have submitted all of our various legal documents to the marriage office. We cannot begin submitting documents until 6 months before the date of the legal wedding. The earliest date for this would therefore be Monday, the 12th of September.
We cannot set the church-wedding date until we have found a church that will take us, and a room for the reception. Neither of the churches that Nadja and I attend would be well suited for a wedding. One is located in an old movie theather and the other is located in an apartment/business building. Neither would be very pretty. We found a church in Freiburg, and we went to the church to ask if we could use it. It turns out they don't have a pastor and therefore we have to ask the central office of the denomination in Freiburg. We ask them. They tell us they're getting a pastor in a couple weeks and we'll have to ask her.
Similar situation with the reception room. The room is free on the day and we can reserve, but the person in charge is gone, and we can't look at it until he's back - in a couple weeks as well.
We are also aware that various from the US will not be able to make to the wedding in Germany. We therefore plan to have a second wedding ceremony in the US, tentatively on the fourth of July (a Tuesday, but a sort-of-holiday). How does that sound? Feedback? A wedding with fireworks would be pretty cool.
We are currently working on designing our wedding invitation. We have also made a list of the stuff we have to do. Nadja is also depressed by the poor selection of wedding dresses. One of her friends had a wedding dress that she likes, however, the dress was not bought in Germany (it was bought in the US), and not at a wedding dress store (I think at some sort of weird goth store).
I guess that's the update for now.
-Michael and Nadja
The engagement
This is Nadja's version of the story of our engagement. It's most certainly better than what my version would be (my version would be pretty boring).
Anyhow, click on "Read more..." to read the story.
Ok, I´m supposed to tell how Mike proposed so that it´s more exciting
than his view of the story because he knew all along that he was going to propose on that day and all. Well, I´ll try :-)
Ok, where should I start, first of all, I don´t really know anything
about proposals because they are not that exciting in Germany mainly because we don´t get an extra engagement ring. The way I thought how that all happens was that the couple at some point decides to marry, maybe the man asks the woman, but not necesserily, and then they´re engaged and buy rings together. They both wear the ring on the left hand and at the wedding they change the rings to their right hand. So, that´s how it all works in Germany, although I guess many people have decided to prefer the American version probably because they´ve seen it in so many Hollywood movies... and because it´s a lot more exciting :-). Anyways, Mike prefers the American version and so I got a most wonderful proposal :-).
But I better start telling the story itself.
Ok, Sunday was our first anniversary and Mike had told me that I
shouldn´t plan anything for that day because he had already things
planned out. He said he wanted to find a treasure with the GPS, and I
had already asked for a treasure hunt before so I wasn´t suspicious. Normally we look up an appropriate treasure (aka Cache) in the internet and then try to find it. But last time we forgot to find out we´re the treasure might be and ended up on the other side of Freiburg and the knowledge that we had forgotten to change the coordinates, so that we we´re still on the trail of the last treasure we we´re looking for. Only that that was about a month before and the treasure was probably either gone already or at least on the other side of a mountain that I didn´t want to climb. Not that it´s real treasures that people hide, last time we found a little box with a piece of paper and a pencil to write down who we are and when we found the box, it´s a bit like climbing a mountain, only there is no cross (gipfelkreuz – the sign to mark the top of the mountain. Gipfel=summit, Kreuz=cross), at least the mountains in Germany do have a cross at the top.
But I´m losing the subject.
So this time Mike said he had already looked up the coordinates so that
we know for sure that it´s not too far away and he had the coordinates in the GPS already, so I didn´t get to see the internet page with it, but it all made sense to me and so we started walking.
It was mainly all in on the coastline of the Dreisam, the little
riverish thing in Freiburg, more like a brook, but very nice (editor’s note: about 30 feet wide, and no deeper than a foot at the deepest point. Good for wading around). We went on a bridge and on the middle of it, the GPS said we we´re at the right place...only that we were standing on an intersection, so I thought it might not be the right place after all and we went back to walk under the bridge. There
again the GPS said we were on the right spot, only that there was
nothing but stones. Normally they have some sort of clue with the coordinates to help find the hidden something, so I asked Mike if he remembered the clue and he said it was kind of weird but it said "You´ll find it in love" and that we´re gonna understand it when we´re there. Well, I didn´t understand it, but it sounded weird to me too and highly suspicious :-)
But I still didn´t see what we were looking for. Mike suggested that he
could go to the other side of the river and look for something there or
we could go and look for it in the water. Now, I wasn´t convinced that
anyone would try and hide something in the water, but oh well, why not, so we walked across the bank on the stones and looked for anything.
After a while I started being worried about being at the right spot after all, but then I saw that someone had put a lot of stones together to form the word "Love", actually "Liebe" in the river. By then I knew that it wasn´t something anyone on the internet had thought up and I found a jar with a rose in it :-)
So that was really sweet and nice and all and I thought Mike had done
that to celebrate our anniversary, but when I tried to hug him and thank him for the rose and the "’love’ sign" he knelt down and asked if I would marry him :-)
And of course I said "yes" :-)
So, that´s the story :-)
Anyhow, click on "Read more..." to read the story.
Ok, I´m supposed to tell how Mike proposed so that it´s more exciting
than his view of the story because he knew all along that he was going to propose on that day and all. Well, I´ll try :-)
Ok, where should I start, first of all, I don´t really know anything
about proposals because they are not that exciting in Germany mainly because we don´t get an extra engagement ring. The way I thought how that all happens was that the couple at some point decides to marry, maybe the man asks the woman, but not necesserily, and then they´re engaged and buy rings together. They both wear the ring on the left hand and at the wedding they change the rings to their right hand. So, that´s how it all works in Germany, although I guess many people have decided to prefer the American version probably because they´ve seen it in so many Hollywood movies... and because it´s a lot more exciting :-). Anyways, Mike prefers the American version and so I got a most wonderful proposal :-).
But I better start telling the story itself.
Ok, Sunday was our first anniversary and Mike had told me that I
shouldn´t plan anything for that day because he had already things
planned out. He said he wanted to find a treasure with the GPS, and I
had already asked for a treasure hunt before so I wasn´t suspicious. Normally we look up an appropriate treasure (aka Cache) in the internet and then try to find it. But last time we forgot to find out we´re the treasure might be and ended up on the other side of Freiburg and the knowledge that we had forgotten to change the coordinates, so that we we´re still on the trail of the last treasure we we´re looking for. Only that that was about a month before and the treasure was probably either gone already or at least on the other side of a mountain that I didn´t want to climb. Not that it´s real treasures that people hide, last time we found a little box with a piece of paper and a pencil to write down who we are and when we found the box, it´s a bit like climbing a mountain, only there is no cross (gipfelkreuz – the sign to mark the top of the mountain. Gipfel=summit, Kreuz=cross), at least the mountains in Germany do have a cross at the top.
But I´m losing the subject.
So this time Mike said he had already looked up the coordinates so that
we know for sure that it´s not too far away and he had the coordinates in the GPS already, so I didn´t get to see the internet page with it, but it all made sense to me and so we started walking.
It was mainly all in on the coastline of the Dreisam, the little
riverish thing in Freiburg, more like a brook, but very nice (editor’s note: about 30 feet wide, and no deeper than a foot at the deepest point. Good for wading around). We went on a bridge and on the middle of it, the GPS said we we´re at the right place...only that we were standing on an intersection, so I thought it might not be the right place after all and we went back to walk under the bridge. There
again the GPS said we were on the right spot, only that there was
nothing but stones. Normally they have some sort of clue with the coordinates to help find the hidden something, so I asked Mike if he remembered the clue and he said it was kind of weird but it said "You´ll find it in love" and that we´re gonna understand it when we´re there. Well, I didn´t understand it, but it sounded weird to me too and highly suspicious :-)
But I still didn´t see what we were looking for. Mike suggested that he
could go to the other side of the river and look for something there or
we could go and look for it in the water. Now, I wasn´t convinced that
anyone would try and hide something in the water, but oh well, why not, so we walked across the bank on the stones and looked for anything.
After a while I started being worried about being at the right spot after all, but then I saw that someone had put a lot of stones together to form the word "Love", actually "Liebe" in the river. By then I knew that it wasn´t something anyone on the internet had thought up and I found a jar with a rose in it :-)
So that was really sweet and nice and all and I thought Mike had done
that to celebrate our anniversary, but when I tried to hug him and thank him for the rose and the "’love’ sign" he knelt down and asked if I would marry him :-)
And of course I said "yes" :-)
So, that´s the story :-)
The announcement
So here’s the big announcement. On July 10th, 2005, I asked my girlfriend Nadja Frick to marry me. She said yes (actually “ja”, as the whole thing was in German), and therefore we are now engaged to be married.
(To see the rest of this entry, click on "Read More..." below).
The first wedding at least will take place in Germany. Therefore, I expect many of my friends/family will not be able to afford to come to my wedding. It is possible that we may also hold a second wedding-like ceremony in the USA, most likely in Connecticut. However, there are no details yet. In any case, the legal wedding and the first church wedding will take place in Germany (in Germany, weddings held at a church are not legally binding, and therefore the actual legal ceremony is held at a government office.)
As for dates of the wedding. I have a week vacation during the summer semester, during which we will most likely get married. My vacation starts on Saturday, June 3rd, and ends on Sunday June 11th (and depending on my schedule, I may have no Monday classes).
If we want to get married earlier, the date would be before the start of the semester. The semester starts on April 24th, therefore the wedding would be around April 15th if we decide to get married sooner.
For those of you who don’t know, Nadja and I plan to go to California in Fall 2006, where I will work on a Ph.D. in mathematics. Therefore I will need to work on getting a visa/green card for Nadja. This isn’t as automatic as one could hope. In fact, it’s very non-automatic (oddly enough, in Germany – a country which is not intended for immigration – the permanent visa is as good as automatic. Weird, huh?) I haven’t informed Nadja of all the legal details yet, so you guys will have to wait too (legal details of an international wedding would be an excellent way to spoil the mood of the engagement day).
That’s the announcement for now. I’ll post more details later. As I get new information, I will post it. When there are developments, I will also post those. This website also has a forum, if you look at the links, where you are free to post stuff (you will have to sign up, but don’t worry, that just means making a password). We will need you thoughts, prayers, and ideas, since the whole situation will probably be a little stressful (the wedding itself will be difficult to arrange with the legalities, and the fact that the wedding will have to be held in a country which is foreign to either my family or Nadja’s, and then afterwards, we will probably proceed to move to a place with is at least 3 time zones away from where we grew up - in Nadja’s case 9 time zones. 9 times zones is more than a third of the way around the world).
More later.
-Mike
(To see the rest of this entry, click on "Read More..." below).
The first wedding at least will take place in Germany. Therefore, I expect many of my friends/family will not be able to afford to come to my wedding. It is possible that we may also hold a second wedding-like ceremony in the USA, most likely in Connecticut. However, there are no details yet. In any case, the legal wedding and the first church wedding will take place in Germany (in Germany, weddings held at a church are not legally binding, and therefore the actual legal ceremony is held at a government office.)
As for dates of the wedding. I have a week vacation during the summer semester, during which we will most likely get married. My vacation starts on Saturday, June 3rd, and ends on Sunday June 11th (and depending on my schedule, I may have no Monday classes).
If we want to get married earlier, the date would be before the start of the semester. The semester starts on April 24th, therefore the wedding would be around April 15th if we decide to get married sooner.
For those of you who don’t know, Nadja and I plan to go to California in Fall 2006, where I will work on a Ph.D. in mathematics. Therefore I will need to work on getting a visa/green card for Nadja. This isn’t as automatic as one could hope. In fact, it’s very non-automatic (oddly enough, in Germany – a country which is not intended for immigration – the permanent visa is as good as automatic. Weird, huh?) I haven’t informed Nadja of all the legal details yet, so you guys will have to wait too (legal details of an international wedding would be an excellent way to spoil the mood of the engagement day).
That’s the announcement for now. I’ll post more details later. As I get new information, I will post it. When there are developments, I will also post those. This website also has a forum, if you look at the links, where you are free to post stuff (you will have to sign up, but don’t worry, that just means making a password). We will need you thoughts, prayers, and ideas, since the whole situation will probably be a little stressful (the wedding itself will be difficult to arrange with the legalities, and the fact that the wedding will have to be held in a country which is foreign to either my family or Nadja’s, and then afterwards, we will probably proceed to move to a place with is at least 3 time zones away from where we grew up - in Nadja’s case 9 time zones. 9 times zones is more than a third of the way around the world).
More later.
-Mike
Germany: Grad school stuff and the like
Hi all,
Well, I should start hearing from universities soon. I have already heard from NCSU - they accepted me. They offered me $13,000 per year, which isn't enough, however, I might get more. They have yet to decide who to give fellowships, I could get more. Also, I could probably teach in the summer for an extra $2000 to $4000. They pay for my health insurance but not for Nadja's.
I did some living cost comparisons of various areas that I applied for. 100 is normal for all of America. Raleigh/Durham scored 97 (that is, $97 in Raleigh/Durham is worth an average of $100 in other places, so you need less money, so it's cheaper). The scores of the places in CA were around 150, 175, and 200 depending on the location, so I'd need a $26,000 stipend in Berkeley to match the $13000 stipend from NCSU. Crazy, huh?
Since I'll have to support both myself and Nadja on my stipend and since I want to buy a house, I think I've pretty much decided to study in NC. Now, of course, I have to decided which university I want to study at and what city I want to live in. The choices are Duke, UNC, and NCSU. Duke is in Durham, UNC is in Chapel Hill, and NCSU is in Raleigh. The decision for a place to live is between Raleigh and Durham. Chapel Hill is out of the question due to housing costs (no houses below $100,000). But for those of you who don't know the area, Durham and Chapel Hill are direct neighbors.
Raleigh and Durham, however, and not so direct neighbors. They are neighboring cities, but there is a bit of a commute between them. Both cities have advantages and disadvantages. One big advantage of Durham is that the housing stock is much cheaper - Raleigh lacks a wide choice of housing in the sub-$75000 range (there is some, but not as much). However, Durham has a reputation of being a higher-crime city than Raleigh. I'm honestly not sure which city I'd like more. They both often rank very high in national rankings of cities and towns. I recently discovered another possible factor to consider. If I decide to go to NCSU, which is the university in Raleigh, my university ID will let me ride for free on the city and regional busses, specifically, I can take the bus to and from Durham for free. This would mean I could live in Durham and study in Raleigh. A bus ride takes an hour in each direction or 45 minutes during rush hour (yes, less during rush hour since they have express busses during that period which drive without stop between the two cities). While that sounds like a lot, the trip from my place to Nadja's last about an hour last semester, so I got used to it. I can do homework in the bus. That actually wouldn't be that bad.
Yeah... NCSU is technically is the lowest rated university that I applied to, but they actually seem to have a nice program. They offer a lot interesting courses and they don't seem to be overly demanding. For example, they don't require me to learn any foreign languages. They have a large department so there are plenty of interesting professors to choose from. They also have some cool industrial mathematics programs. While I am more interested in pure mathematics, I don't know if a career in academics is the way I should go - I know I wouldn't want to work at a German university if I went back to Germany. I also would like to do some cool stuff in indsutry (whether that would require a PhD in math is a different question!).
So I don't know what to expect. It may also turn out that no university offers us a livable amount of money. If not, I guess I'd get a job. However, NCSU seems to be generous. They offered to pay for a flight to the US and a hotel stay so that I could come to the orientation. However, that is a little close to the wedding, so I can't do it.
Oh, well. We'll see what happens.
-Mike
Well, I should start hearing from universities soon. I have already heard from NCSU - they accepted me. They offered me $13,000 per year, which isn't enough, however, I might get more. They have yet to decide who to give fellowships, I could get more. Also, I could probably teach in the summer for an extra $2000 to $4000. They pay for my health insurance but not for Nadja's.
I did some living cost comparisons of various areas that I applied for. 100 is normal for all of America. Raleigh/Durham scored 97 (that is, $97 in Raleigh/Durham is worth an average of $100 in other places, so you need less money, so it's cheaper). The scores of the places in CA were around 150, 175, and 200 depending on the location, so I'd need a $26,000 stipend in Berkeley to match the $13000 stipend from NCSU. Crazy, huh?
Since I'll have to support both myself and Nadja on my stipend and since I want to buy a house, I think I've pretty much decided to study in NC. Now, of course, I have to decided which university I want to study at and what city I want to live in. The choices are Duke, UNC, and NCSU. Duke is in Durham, UNC is in Chapel Hill, and NCSU is in Raleigh. The decision for a place to live is between Raleigh and Durham. Chapel Hill is out of the question due to housing costs (no houses below $100,000). But for those of you who don't know the area, Durham and Chapel Hill are direct neighbors.
Raleigh and Durham, however, and not so direct neighbors. They are neighboring cities, but there is a bit of a commute between them. Both cities have advantages and disadvantages. One big advantage of Durham is that the housing stock is much cheaper - Raleigh lacks a wide choice of housing in the sub-$75000 range (there is some, but not as much). However, Durham has a reputation of being a higher-crime city than Raleigh. I'm honestly not sure which city I'd like more. They both often rank very high in national rankings of cities and towns. I recently discovered another possible factor to consider. If I decide to go to NCSU, which is the university in Raleigh, my university ID will let me ride for free on the city and regional busses, specifically, I can take the bus to and from Durham for free. This would mean I could live in Durham and study in Raleigh. A bus ride takes an hour in each direction or 45 minutes during rush hour (yes, less during rush hour since they have express busses during that period which drive without stop between the two cities). While that sounds like a lot, the trip from my place to Nadja's last about an hour last semester, so I got used to it. I can do homework in the bus. That actually wouldn't be that bad.
Yeah... NCSU is technically is the lowest rated university that I applied to, but they actually seem to have a nice program. They offer a lot interesting courses and they don't seem to be overly demanding. For example, they don't require me to learn any foreign languages. They have a large department so there are plenty of interesting professors to choose from. They also have some cool industrial mathematics programs. While I am more interested in pure mathematics, I don't know if a career in academics is the way I should go - I know I wouldn't want to work at a German university if I went back to Germany. I also would like to do some cool stuff in indsutry (whether that would require a PhD in math is a different question!).
So I don't know what to expect. It may also turn out that no university offers us a livable amount of money. If not, I guess I'd get a job. However, NCSU seems to be generous. They offered to pay for a flight to the US and a hotel stay so that I could come to the orientation. However, that is a little close to the wedding, so I can't do it.
Oh, well. We'll see what happens.
-Mike
House: some progress
I've continued looking for a home. I think I have decided to move to Durham since the universities there are more promising, but I can't say yet, since no university has accepted me so far (no rejections either).
I've started to contact people. I called up the North Carolina Home Finance Agency to see if they count stipend income as income, and they do. It was quite entertaining to hear a southern accent.
One positive note is that Durham has a good area for investment. There is a section of town which is plagued by low ownership rates and general crime and disrepair, which means the houses there are cheap (half cost less than $50,000, with a good selection under $30,000). This area is currently undergoing a multi-million dollar revitalization program, so the value of houses should increase in the area (see www.durhamhopevi.com for details about this project). So it could prove to be a wise investment to buy in that area.
But I've been thinking... Maybe I should start doing some dealing in real estate marketing. I wouldn't become a real estate agent, but rather someone who assists sellers in the For Sale By Owner process. I really think that the internet has not been used to the level that it could be. The online house descriptions are simply bad. There are even some properties listed with no pictures at all. I think I'd start by targetting one small area (for example, the Triangle area if I move there). I would basically sell a package to the seller. I would take photos of the house, take measurements, collect data on other houses in the neighborhood (when they were sold, how much), maybe order an inspection (at the seller's expense, but then if the seller could offer the inspection results to the buyer (through me so that it would be more objective), that would save the buyer a lot and would encourage offers), and of course promotion and a profession broucure and website. I think if I concentrated my efforts in one town at first, then it would have a chance of suceeding.
I've started to contact people. I called up the North Carolina Home Finance Agency to see if they count stipend income as income, and they do. It was quite entertaining to hear a southern accent.
One positive note is that Durham has a good area for investment. There is a section of town which is plagued by low ownership rates and general crime and disrepair, which means the houses there are cheap (half cost less than $50,000, with a good selection under $30,000). This area is currently undergoing a multi-million dollar revitalization program, so the value of houses should increase in the area (see www.durhamhopevi.com for details about this project). So it could prove to be a wise investment to buy in that area.
But I've been thinking... Maybe I should start doing some dealing in real estate marketing. I wouldn't become a real estate agent, but rather someone who assists sellers in the For Sale By Owner process. I really think that the internet has not been used to the level that it could be. The online house descriptions are simply bad. There are even some properties listed with no pictures at all. I think I'd start by targetting one small area (for example, the Triangle area if I move there). I would basically sell a package to the seller. I would take photos of the house, take measurements, collect data on other houses in the neighborhood (when they were sold, how much), maybe order an inspection (at the seller's expense, but then if the seller could offer the inspection results to the buyer (through me so that it would be more objective), that would save the buyer a lot and would encourage offers), and of course promotion and a profession broucure and website. I think if I concentrated my efforts in one town at first, then it would have a chance of suceeding.
Germany: Stolen laptop
Well, it's time for another update.
First, my laptop got stolen. Too bad. I left one window open a crack and they used that to open the other window and take out my laptop (which was sitting near the window). Since the window had bars in front of it, they we're able to get in and steal other stuff.
50 days until the wedding day. We booked a honeymoon. We're going to Malaga, Spain, the warmest point in Europe (it should get up to the low 70's on average in Spring). At the moment, it's 60 degrees there. We're going on the 15th, which is 4 days after the wedding. Sadly, we have to leave bright and early to catch the flight, which leaves the airport at 7AM, so we have to leave Freiburg at 4:45AM. Bus+Hotel+Flight only cost $480 for both of us for a week. Not bad at all in my opinion.
The semester is almost over. My only final exam is on the 11th (of February). I am already done with all the graded material in one class, and the last class's grade is based only on homework.
We've started buying stuff for our apartment here in Germany, but we don't want to buy much. We found a dresser in the garbage and we bought a bedframe for 19 euros ($23). We got a mattress for free and I am building an additional part for the frame (the German's don't use boxsprings, so you need to have a solid floor to put the mattress on. I'm going to build one myself out of junked pieces of wood instead of paying 50 euros!).
I should probably do homework, but I really don't feel like it. Freakin' class schedule for next semester still hasn't been published... Oh, well. Instead of doing homework, I think I'll update the house blog.
First, my laptop got stolen. Too bad. I left one window open a crack and they used that to open the other window and take out my laptop (which was sitting near the window). Since the window had bars in front of it, they we're able to get in and steal other stuff.
50 days until the wedding day. We booked a honeymoon. We're going to Malaga, Spain, the warmest point in Europe (it should get up to the low 70's on average in Spring). At the moment, it's 60 degrees there. We're going on the 15th, which is 4 days after the wedding. Sadly, we have to leave bright and early to catch the flight, which leaves the airport at 7AM, so we have to leave Freiburg at 4:45AM. Bus+Hotel+Flight only cost $480 for both of us for a week. Not bad at all in my opinion.
The semester is almost over. My only final exam is on the 11th (of February). I am already done with all the graded material in one class, and the last class's grade is based only on homework.
We've started buying stuff for our apartment here in Germany, but we don't want to buy much. We found a dresser in the garbage and we bought a bedframe for 19 euros ($23). We got a mattress for free and I am building an additional part for the frame (the German's don't use boxsprings, so you need to have a solid floor to put the mattress on. I'm going to build one myself out of junked pieces of wood instead of paying 50 euros!).
I should probably do homework, but I really don't feel like it. Freakin' class schedule for next semester still hasn't been published... Oh, well. Instead of doing homework, I think I'll update the house blog.
Germany: New years
Hi again,
First, some general news... I have now graduated from the University of Connecticut for the second time.
Graduation date: 12-18-2005
Degree: BA in German studies with a minor in business management
Honors: Summa Cum Laude
Overall GPA: 3.944
But nobody celebrated this graduation (despite the fact that I have a higher GPA this time around). Poor me:-D.
The class schedule for next semester should be published soon. I hope there will be some interesting classes. I also hope that I will be able to leave the classes early (that is, before the end of the semester), since I plan on starting to move to America at that point.
Also, in probably a month or two I will start hearing from various universities about whether they're gonna take me or not.
Now on to new years... In general Germany is a country of rules, which means fireworks are generally forbidden being loud and dangerous. In fact, they even have rules that you have to be quiet between 1 and 2 PM for lunch break. But on January 1st at midnight, these rules die. Instead of having professional fireworks shows, everyone is allowed to buy (small) fireworks and set them over themselves. There seem to be very few restrictions as to where people can set them off, so this means that there are fireworks everywhere. So I bought myself a 9 euro kit of fireworks that included five big rockets, two small rockets, two roman candles, and a bunch of smaller cherry bombs and chinks and the like. So I had fun making a level of noise at midnight that would have gotten me arrested on any other day of the year. A bad note about it all was that Nadja ate or drank something bad (or caught a virus) and became sick right after that. Oh, well...
First, some general news... I have now graduated from the University of Connecticut for the second time.
Graduation date: 12-18-2005
Degree: BA in German studies with a minor in business management
Honors: Summa Cum Laude
Overall GPA: 3.944
But nobody celebrated this graduation (despite the fact that I have a higher GPA this time around). Poor me:-D.
The class schedule for next semester should be published soon. I hope there will be some interesting classes. I also hope that I will be able to leave the classes early (that is, before the end of the semester), since I plan on starting to move to America at that point.
Also, in probably a month or two I will start hearing from various universities about whether they're gonna take me or not.
Now on to new years... In general Germany is a country of rules, which means fireworks are generally forbidden being loud and dangerous. In fact, they even have rules that you have to be quiet between 1 and 2 PM for lunch break. But on January 1st at midnight, these rules die. Instead of having professional fireworks shows, everyone is allowed to buy (small) fireworks and set them over themselves. There seem to be very few restrictions as to where people can set them off, so this means that there are fireworks everywhere. So I bought myself a 9 euro kit of fireworks that included five big rockets, two small rockets, two roman candles, and a bunch of smaller cherry bombs and chinks and the like. So I had fun making a level of noise at midnight that would have gotten me arrested on any other day of the year. A bad note about it all was that Nadja ate or drank something bad (or caught a virus) and became sick right after that. Oh, well...
Germany: Graduate school update
Well, some good news.
First, UConn finally processed my grades from last semester. I emailed the people at Registrar's, and they already got my update transcripts in the mail (despite the terrible rules that UConn makes, they are absolutely excelent when it comes to transcripts. They are free, and they are processed quickly). I have officially completed 154 credits in my undergraduate career. I have 10 credits where I didn't get an A. 1 credit was a pass, and 9 credits were a B+ (stupid thing messing up my GPA!).
This also means that I will be getting my second degree soon, a B.A. in German studies with a minor in business, but no one will be throwing a graduation party for this degree (note: it hasn't been graduated yet, since there is a small technicallity that needs to be cleared. I should get my diploma in January).
Here's some more good news... Well, I took the GRE subject test back in November. The date for mailing the scores was set for December 22nd (I could pay $10 to hear the scores a week or before that if I felt like wasting the money). Anyhow, I had ETS send the scores to all the universities, and Duke just sent me an email to report that they got my scores, and they reported the scores they received, so that means I know my score! Last year I got a 690 and that was at the 67% percentile (not that good). This year I got a 750, and that was at the 81% percentile (not that good, but much better). UC Berkeley is typically considered to be one of the top 5 math universities, and the 80% percentile is typically what they look for. So now my overall picture looks good:
*Near-perfect GPA
*Acceptable GRE score
*Good letters of recommendation
Note: I'm not expecting this, but it would be pretty cool to be accepted by every university. This would certainly put me in the driver's seat when it comes down to bargaining about my stipend and the like. Duke, for example, has all the documents it needs except for one letter of recommendation, so that's pretty good:-)
Some bad news. Nadja is not going to be here this weekend, and on top of that, my Internet is scheduled to be down all day Saturday, so that will leave my quite isolated:-(.
Well, back to homework. The current topology homework sheet seems a little bit on the boring side to me, but I should survive it...
First, UConn finally processed my grades from last semester. I emailed the people at Registrar's, and they already got my update transcripts in the mail (despite the terrible rules that UConn makes, they are absolutely excelent when it comes to transcripts. They are free, and they are processed quickly). I have officially completed 154 credits in my undergraduate career. I have 10 credits where I didn't get an A. 1 credit was a pass, and 9 credits were a B+ (stupid thing messing up my GPA!).
This also means that I will be getting my second degree soon, a B.A. in German studies with a minor in business, but no one will be throwing a graduation party for this degree (note: it hasn't been graduated yet, since there is a small technicallity that needs to be cleared. I should get my diploma in January).
Here's some more good news... Well, I took the GRE subject test back in November. The date for mailing the scores was set for December 22nd (I could pay $10 to hear the scores a week or before that if I felt like wasting the money). Anyhow, I had ETS send the scores to all the universities, and Duke just sent me an email to report that they got my scores, and they reported the scores they received, so that means I know my score! Last year I got a 690 and that was at the 67% percentile (not that good). This year I got a 750, and that was at the 81% percentile (not that good, but much better). UC Berkeley is typically considered to be one of the top 5 math universities, and the 80% percentile is typically what they look for. So now my overall picture looks good:
*Near-perfect GPA
*Acceptable GRE score
*Good letters of recommendation
Note: I'm not expecting this, but it would be pretty cool to be accepted by every university. This would certainly put me in the driver's seat when it comes down to bargaining about my stipend and the like. Duke, for example, has all the documents it needs except for one letter of recommendation, so that's pretty good:-)
Some bad news. Nadja is not going to be here this weekend, and on top of that, my Internet is scheduled to be down all day Saturday, so that will leave my quite isolated:-(.
Well, back to homework. The current topology homework sheet seems a little bit on the boring side to me, but I should survive it...
House: getting started
As I mentioned in my first post, my goal is to buy a house. As I also mentioned, I have no money and no credit, which leaves me in an bad position.
So, I have started to build up my credit. I got a credit card and a student loan. The student loan is at 0% interest, but none the less I will pay it off regularly (to be paid off in full before moving to the US). So, I should have a short, but perfect credit report.
So, a few bits of good news. The state of North Carolina and the city of Raleigh offer special mortgage programs for those who have lacking credit or small paychecks. These mortgages actually run at less than market rates (with a couple offers at as little as 0% interest).
Now, most mortgages seem to want to keep housing expenses at 29% of income or below. So, if I make $20,000/year this limits my housing expenses to $483/month. Personally, I think this is insane, since my housing expenses here in Germany (together with Nadja) will be around 580 Euros per month, which is $680/month (and will be around 60% of our income, since I only get a meager stipend of 500 euros, and I have to pay tuition, meaning I'm actually paying for my time here out of savings). Also, a cheap apartment starts at around $700/month in America, so I must be able to afford more than 29%. So, I am going to keep track of costs for the time that Nadja and I live together to prove that we can live quite frugally. I would even refrain from buying a car if that made the difference. Anyhow, hopefully I will be able to bring in a little bit of flexability into that number. At $483/month, that would leave me with around $400/month for mortgage (after taxes, utilities, etc). That will get me a $68,000 mortgage for 30 years.
But I've been reading up on real estate transactions (real estate customs, timelines, various costs, making offers, closing, etc). It seems like a pain, but it should be survivable.
I'll provide more updates later...
So, I have started to build up my credit. I got a credit card and a student loan. The student loan is at 0% interest, but none the less I will pay it off regularly (to be paid off in full before moving to the US). So, I should have a short, but perfect credit report.
So, a few bits of good news. The state of North Carolina and the city of Raleigh offer special mortgage programs for those who have lacking credit or small paychecks. These mortgages actually run at less than market rates (with a couple offers at as little as 0% interest).
Now, most mortgages seem to want to keep housing expenses at 29% of income or below. So, if I make $20,000/year this limits my housing expenses to $483/month. Personally, I think this is insane, since my housing expenses here in Germany (together with Nadja) will be around 580 Euros per month, which is $680/month (and will be around 60% of our income, since I only get a meager stipend of 500 euros, and I have to pay tuition, meaning I'm actually paying for my time here out of savings). Also, a cheap apartment starts at around $700/month in America, so I must be able to afford more than 29%. So, I am going to keep track of costs for the time that Nadja and I live together to prove that we can live quite frugally. I would even refrain from buying a car if that made the difference. Anyhow, hopefully I will be able to bring in a little bit of flexability into that number. At $483/month, that would leave me with around $400/month for mortgage (after taxes, utilities, etc). That will get me a $68,000 mortgage for 30 years.
But I've been reading up on real estate transactions (real estate customs, timelines, various costs, making offers, closing, etc). It seems like a pain, but it should be survivable.
I'll provide more updates later...
House: New blog: buying a house with no money
Hi all,
Well, this is the start of a new blog. You will note that this blog is at the same place as my Germany blog. Unless things change, it will probably stay that way. You will not that next to the blog heading there is an icon. For the Germany blog it is a German flag, and for this blog it is a little house.
So, what's this all about? Well, as you may know, Nadja and I are planning to go to the US in the fall of 2006. So, I started thinking about what I like about America. One thing that I like is that there are some places that aren't as freakin' cold as Germany. But I didn't grow up in one of those places. I grew up in Berlin, CT, which is pretty freakin' cold in winter. So that means that that can't be the real thing that I like. Hmmm. Maybe it's the food. But now I've found almost all the critical American ingredients here (big exceptions: root beer and cheddar cheese). Hmmm, what else? It's not the highways... I realized that the thing I like the most is the freedom. On the one hand there is the political freedom. America is a country of fewer rules (or rather, of fewer enforced rules. Exception: alcohol. Germany will pretty much sell anyone alcohol at any age). But then there is the freedom that comes from owning your own property.
Yeah... I think that's the thing I like. You can do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it. Want to play drums at midnight? Sure... Want to mix dangerous chemicals resulting in cool explosions? Sure. Want to build a huge thingimajigger? Sure. There just aren't the restrictions that you have when you live in an apartment. If you don't own your own property, you are always playing by someone else's rules, because the owner of the property has the right to set the rules.
So that's the thing... In Germany there are cities and there is rural land. There are no suburbs. So, owning a house means either being isolated, which I don't want, or buying a house in a major city, which starts at around $300,000 for a tiny house and quickly climbs up to $1,000,000. This is more than I can afford. This is also the case in certain parts of America (e.g. Cape Cod or San Francisco), but this is certainly not the case in all of America.
One example of where this is not the case is the Raleigh/Durham area, home of 3 good universities in mathematics. For example, in Raleigh, there are currently 188 homes for sale in the MLS (Realtor database) for under $100,000, in Durham there are 229.
So, that said, I think if it turns out that I won't be able to buy a house, I may stay in Germany a little bit longer and postpone my graduate studies. Life in an apartment in Germany is probably even better than life in an apartment in America, since normal people live in an apartment in Germany, but only weirdos live in apartments in America (the type of people who choose any apartment over a house aren't my type of people).
So what's the problem? The problem is I have no money, no income, and no credit (well, that's a little bit exagerated, but that's going to be the challenge to overcome). So, in the future postings I will talk about how I am planning to overcome this.
Well, this is the start of a new blog. You will note that this blog is at the same place as my Germany blog. Unless things change, it will probably stay that way. You will not that next to the blog heading there is an icon. For the Germany blog it is a German flag, and for this blog it is a little house.
So, what's this all about? Well, as you may know, Nadja and I are planning to go to the US in the fall of 2006. So, I started thinking about what I like about America. One thing that I like is that there are some places that aren't as freakin' cold as Germany. But I didn't grow up in one of those places. I grew up in Berlin, CT, which is pretty freakin' cold in winter. So that means that that can't be the real thing that I like. Hmmm. Maybe it's the food. But now I've found almost all the critical American ingredients here (big exceptions: root beer and cheddar cheese). Hmmm, what else? It's not the highways... I realized that the thing I like the most is the freedom. On the one hand there is the political freedom. America is a country of fewer rules (or rather, of fewer enforced rules. Exception: alcohol. Germany will pretty much sell anyone alcohol at any age). But then there is the freedom that comes from owning your own property.
Yeah... I think that's the thing I like. You can do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it. Want to play drums at midnight? Sure... Want to mix dangerous chemicals resulting in cool explosions? Sure. Want to build a huge thingimajigger? Sure. There just aren't the restrictions that you have when you live in an apartment. If you don't own your own property, you are always playing by someone else's rules, because the owner of the property has the right to set the rules.
So that's the thing... In Germany there are cities and there is rural land. There are no suburbs. So, owning a house means either being isolated, which I don't want, or buying a house in a major city, which starts at around $300,000 for a tiny house and quickly climbs up to $1,000,000. This is more than I can afford. This is also the case in certain parts of America (e.g. Cape Cod or San Francisco), but this is certainly not the case in all of America.
One example of where this is not the case is the Raleigh/Durham area, home of 3 good universities in mathematics. For example, in Raleigh, there are currently 188 homes for sale in the MLS (Realtor database) for under $100,000, in Durham there are 229.
So, that said, I think if it turns out that I won't be able to buy a house, I may stay in Germany a little bit longer and postpone my graduate studies. Life in an apartment in Germany is probably even better than life in an apartment in America, since normal people live in an apartment in Germany, but only weirdos live in apartments in America (the type of people who choose any apartment over a house aren't my type of people).
So what's the problem? The problem is I have no money, no income, and no credit (well, that's a little bit exagerated, but that's going to be the challenge to overcome). So, in the future postings I will talk about how I am planning to overcome this.
Germany: Moving in
Well, this time it hasn't really been a long time since my last update. Well, I'm moving again (this will be my fouth apartment since January 2005 when I came back). As you may expect, I'll be moving in with Nadja (for outsiders: my fiancee). We set the moving date for March 1st, 2006. The owner of the apartment came by today. He said he would call us at 10:30AM to tell us when he was coming, but of course he decided to actually *come* at 10:30AM without calling. Well, whatever. Everything seemed to go alright, and he decided to allow me to move in (Nadja's current roommate is going to move out).
We also went to the insurance company to see what we have to do to get Nadja and myself on the same plan once we're married (there are various laws here governing when you can change insurance companies and for what reasons, and we wanted to make sure that we wouldn't have to continue paying after leaving Germany). It turned out to be quite simple, and Nadja doesn't even have to cancel her plan at her current provider, because my insurance company will do that for her. So as of March 9th (the date the we become legally married) our insurance bill will be cut in half
Today is Monday, so Nadja has to work and I have no classes. Monday is sort of set aside as a day when I cook dinner (something nicer than normal). Today Nadja requested that I make my famous Shrimp Stir Fry (see http://www.michaelnehring.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=13. I found some shrimp on sale for around $3/pound (beating the $5/pound that I paid last time). The grocery store that I bought it at is also the only one that I know of that accepts credit cards, and is the only store I know of that has a self-service checkout counter (which also means I get free plastic bags, which they don't normally give you here. They normally sell you heavy-duty bags for 10 cents or so).
Anyhow, I am going to head over to my place now to take a shower and clean up my room (it's messy since I had to move my bed to do some soldering due to a terrible lack of electrical outlets in my apartment). Maybe once it starts working I'll post some information about what I've been soldering: an electric drumset (hopefully to cost under $50).
Also, I think it's possible to comment the stories if you sign up on my website and log in (go to http://www.michaelnehring.com to sign up). The old usernames from the old message board are no longer valid. Sorry about that!
-Mike
We also went to the insurance company to see what we have to do to get Nadja and myself on the same plan once we're married (there are various laws here governing when you can change insurance companies and for what reasons, and we wanted to make sure that we wouldn't have to continue paying after leaving Germany). It turned out to be quite simple, and Nadja doesn't even have to cancel her plan at her current provider, because my insurance company will do that for her. So as of March 9th (the date the we become legally married) our insurance bill will be cut in half
Today is Monday, so Nadja has to work and I have no classes. Monday is sort of set aside as a day when I cook dinner (something nicer than normal). Today Nadja requested that I make my famous Shrimp Stir Fry (see http://www.michaelnehring.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=13. I found some shrimp on sale for around $3/pound (beating the $5/pound that I paid last time). The grocery store that I bought it at is also the only one that I know of that accepts credit cards, and is the only store I know of that has a self-service checkout counter (which also means I get free plastic bags, which they don't normally give you here. They normally sell you heavy-duty bags for 10 cents or so).
Anyhow, I am going to head over to my place now to take a shower and clean up my room (it's messy since I had to move my bed to do some soldering due to a terrible lack of electrical outlets in my apartment). Maybe once it starts working I'll post some information about what I've been soldering: an electric drumset (hopefully to cost under $50).
Also, I think it's possible to comment the stories if you sign up on my website and log in (go to http://www.michaelnehring.com to sign up). The old usernames from the old message board are no longer valid. Sorry about that!
-Mike
Germany: Santa Claus is coming to town
Hi all, It's been a long time since an update, but whatever.
Well, the semester is well underway, and it is actually almost half over (!!!), well, it's at least 1/3rd over. But this semester is not nearly as bad as the last semester, so it's not so important that it ends instantly.
I have finished applying to graduate school, and I have taken the GRE. The GRE wasn't as good as I had hoped, but that's not so bad, since the universities that I want to go to aren't actually the highest rated ones, but I haevn't decided where I'd like to go the most. It will probably also depend on my stipend, since I'll have a small family to support.
But it looks like the Raleigh/Durham area is the place for us. It has the population of a big city, which Nadja wants, as well as the advantages of a nice suburban area (which I want). All of the California universities are either located in big cities, where even appartments are expensive (starting around $1000/month), or in really rice rural areas, where apartments only exist for students, and are thus expensive, starting at around $1000/month. Considering I could get a 10-year mortgage on a decent house in the Raleigh/Durham area for less than that (then add property taxes to make it match), then that seems like a clear choice for me:-)
So, if all goes as planned, I hope to buy us a house. I am currently working on getting a credit rating. I recently got a credit card. It is a secured credit card, which (for those of you who don't know) means that I placed a security deposit in the amount of my credit limit. I am currently reading up on strategies to make my credit look as good as possible (of course one should always pay on time, but for example, what percentage of the credit limit should one use? 100% is probably too much, whereas 0% is certainly too little). I also applied for a student loan to pay my tuition for next semester. The loan is interest free until 6 months after I finish college, so I'm not actually losing money. I am, however, losing time, since it turns out not to be as simple as one could hope, when one has no direct personal contact to the university.
Since I am planning on/hoping to buy a house, I've been doing some research into being a cheapskate. I've decided that planting a garden correctly can be a way to get towards this goal. The thing that I hated about gardening at home was all the freakin' weeds - gardening was just non-stop weed picking, and I didn't even help that much. So I decided that making a raised bed would probably be a good choice, and I found a relatively famous gardening guy who supports my idea. His idea is called "Square Foot Gardening" (see http://www.squarefootgardening.com/html/body_how_to___.html) and it has been significantly revised since he published his book who knows how many decades ago. The way he organizes his plants allows for a decent-sized garden to fit in a 4'x4'x6" bed, which is really, really small. The soil used in the garden is completely independent of the native soil to the area, and is thus rock-free and weed-free. It seems like a good idea, and it's small enough that I could realistically build a small greenhouse to house a couple gardens for the few months of Winter in the Triangle area. Ah there are so many great ways to be a cheapskate.
It's starting to get wintery in Freiburg, which means it gets down to around 35 degrees, it rains, and the wind blows. It's kinda yucky, but in the mountains area Freiburg, you can see a lot of snow. I'll be spending Christmas in Munich with Nadja's family. Munich tends to be a little snowier than Freiburg.
Anyhow, that's it for now...
Well, the semester is well underway, and it is actually almost half over (!!!), well, it's at least 1/3rd over. But this semester is not nearly as bad as the last semester, so it's not so important that it ends instantly.
I have finished applying to graduate school, and I have taken the GRE. The GRE wasn't as good as I had hoped, but that's not so bad, since the universities that I want to go to aren't actually the highest rated ones, but I haevn't decided where I'd like to go the most. It will probably also depend on my stipend, since I'll have a small family to support.
But it looks like the Raleigh/Durham area is the place for us. It has the population of a big city, which Nadja wants, as well as the advantages of a nice suburban area (which I want). All of the California universities are either located in big cities, where even appartments are expensive (starting around $1000/month), or in really rice rural areas, where apartments only exist for students, and are thus expensive, starting at around $1000/month. Considering I could get a 10-year mortgage on a decent house in the Raleigh/Durham area for less than that (then add property taxes to make it match), then that seems like a clear choice for me:-)
So, if all goes as planned, I hope to buy us a house. I am currently working on getting a credit rating. I recently got a credit card. It is a secured credit card, which (for those of you who don't know) means that I placed a security deposit in the amount of my credit limit. I am currently reading up on strategies to make my credit look as good as possible (of course one should always pay on time, but for example, what percentage of the credit limit should one use? 100% is probably too much, whereas 0% is certainly too little). I also applied for a student loan to pay my tuition for next semester. The loan is interest free until 6 months after I finish college, so I'm not actually losing money. I am, however, losing time, since it turns out not to be as simple as one could hope, when one has no direct personal contact to the university.
Since I am planning on/hoping to buy a house, I've been doing some research into being a cheapskate. I've decided that planting a garden correctly can be a way to get towards this goal. The thing that I hated about gardening at home was all the freakin' weeds - gardening was just non-stop weed picking, and I didn't even help that much. So I decided that making a raised bed would probably be a good choice, and I found a relatively famous gardening guy who supports my idea. His idea is called "Square Foot Gardening" (see http://www.squarefootgardening.com/html/body_how_to___.html) and it has been significantly revised since he published his book who knows how many decades ago. The way he organizes his plants allows for a decent-sized garden to fit in a 4'x4'x6" bed, which is really, really small. The soil used in the garden is completely independent of the native soil to the area, and is thus rock-free and weed-free. It seems like a good idea, and it's small enough that I could realistically build a small greenhouse to house a couple gardens for the few months of Winter in the Triangle area. Ah there are so many great ways to be a cheapskate.
It's starting to get wintery in Freiburg, which means it gets down to around 35 degrees, it rains, and the wind blows. It's kinda yucky, but in the mountains area Freiburg, you can see a lot of snow. I'll be spending Christmas in Munich with Nadja's family. Munich tends to be a little snowier than Freiburg.
Anyhow, that's it for now...
Germany: General update
Hello,
It's been a really long time since the last update, so I'll do one now. First, notice that the site is different. I have a big photo gallery and various articles on this site. It is all integrated into one. I also set up the blog so that the German flag shows up next to entries about Germany.
The semester has started here and seems to be going well. I have already finished one class, since my assignment was to prepare and present a lecture, and my lecture came at the start of the class. I think I actually did alright, but I was pretty nervous and therefore made many more language mixtakes than normal. Oh, well.
I acidentally turned in my number theory homework in my topology class. However, I was able to fix that (only realizing it after the weekend).
Nadja and I have finished all legal requirements for our wedding. We have a date set of the legal ceremony and don't have to do anything else until then!
On Saturday I have my GRE exam. Fun, fun. Thankfully, that is in Freiburg
My grades from Spring/Summer still haven't been posted! It's been around 3 or 4 months since I sent the stuff in, and it still hasn't been done!
Otherwise, things are going as normal. I plan to post some more pictures soon...
It's been a really long time since the last update, so I'll do one now. First, notice that the site is different. I have a big photo gallery and various articles on this site. It is all integrated into one. I also set up the blog so that the German flag shows up next to entries about Germany.
The semester has started here and seems to be going well. I have already finished one class, since my assignment was to prepare and present a lecture, and my lecture came at the start of the class. I think I actually did alright, but I was pretty nervous and therefore made many more language mixtakes than normal. Oh, well.
I acidentally turned in my number theory homework in my topology class. However, I was able to fix that (only realizing it after the weekend).
Nadja and I have finished all legal requirements for our wedding. We have a date set of the legal ceremony and don't have to do anything else until then!
On Saturday I have my GRE exam. Fun, fun. Thankfully, that is in Freiburg
My grades from Spring/Summer still haven't been posted! It's been around 3 or 4 months since I sent the stuff in, and it still hasn't been done!
Otherwise, things are going as normal. I plan to post some more pictures soon...
Germany: : Quick general update. August 8, 2005
Hi everyone,
It has again been a long time since I last updated. Life is busy, as usual. This will be sort-of bullet style. Here are the general updates:
*The wedding date should now be March 11th (note that is much sooner than previously expected - the earlier date is due mainly to Visa concerns). For updates on that, please read http://www.mikeandnadja.com. Also, the story of the engagement is posted there.
*I passed my driver's license exam (written test) with 0 mistakes (from 110 points - up to 10 points lost is allowed). I don't have the actual license yet. I do not know when that will be given to me. I will go to the driver license center tomorrow. (The test center is not the same place as the driver's license center). It took a total of over a month to arrange and take the written exam.
*Anna's coming to visit. Yay!
*I'll be in Munich to pick her up and hang around with Nadja and her family.
I'm also working on getting into grad school and sending my grades back to UConn. It's all so much trouble.
I gotta take a shower,
-Mike
It has again been a long time since I last updated. Life is busy, as usual. This will be sort-of bullet style. Here are the general updates:
*The wedding date should now be March 11th (note that is much sooner than previously expected - the earlier date is due mainly to Visa concerns). For updates on that, please read http://www.mikeandnadja.com. Also, the story of the engagement is posted there.
*I passed my driver's license exam (written test) with 0 mistakes (from 110 points - up to 10 points lost is allowed). I don't have the actual license yet. I do not know when that will be given to me. I will go to the driver license center tomorrow. (The test center is not the same place as the driver's license center). It took a total of over a month to arrange and take the written exam.
*Anna's coming to visit. Yay!
*I'll be in Munich to pick her up and hang around with Nadja and her family.
I'm also working on getting into grad school and sending my grades back to UConn. It's all so much trouble.
I gotta take a shower,
-Mike
Germany: The semester is over! July 16, 2005
The semester is over:-)!!!!!! Now I can do stuff again. Today I bought a joystick to make a computerized drumset.
Happiness.
I'll post more updates later.
-Mike
Happiness.
I'll post more updates later.
-Mike
Germany: The big announcement. July 11, 2005
Hi all,
Big news. I asked my girlfriend, Nadja, to marry me. She said yes. You can read the rest here:
http://www.mikeandnadja.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1& mode=&order=0&thold=0
I'm very happy:-)
(And the semester is over in less than a week).
-Mike
Big news. I asked my girlfriend, Nadja, to marry me. She said yes. You can read the rest here:
http://www.mikeandnadja.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1& mode=&order=0&thold=0
I'm very happy:-)
(And the semester is over in less than a week).
-Mike
Germany: Counting the days - the end of the semester is coming! June 18, 2005
Hi all,
It's probably time for another update or something.
At the moment I am sick, not that bad however. I have a sore throat and swollen lymph nodes in my neck (I don't have any real recolection of ever having swollen lymph nodes before. Whatever).
Anyhow, the semester is trudging along. One class - algebraic geometry - is simply taking the wind out of me. Here are some numbers:
6 more algebraic geometry lectures where I have to pay attention (each lecture is two hours - there are two lectures that I don't have to pay attention to). 3 more algebraic geometry homework sheets (one per week, the last one being turned in on the 11th. Therefore I don't need the lectures on the 11th and the 13th).
1 or two more number theory homework sheets. Too bad, because that class I enjoy (and it's relatively understandable too).
Two or three more analysis homework sheets.
Around 2,390,400 more seconds until the end of the semester (28 days about).
20 days until the first exam
28 days until the last exam.
25 days until the middle exam.
Then 3 months vacation!!!!
But in case you were wondering, I'm not counting;-).
Sorry for complaining. This semester has just been taking a lot out of me (and has been giving me very little in return). And I have a certain number of frustrations about the university structure. In my opinion, they badly need tuition.
The German government has been thinking about introducing tuition of around 500 euros per semester (around $600). This has sparked massive protests. It's really all quite silly. Actually, I think it's socially more fair to have tuition. If universities are paid for by taxes, then everyone pays for the university, including the poor. However, in the end, it is primarily the rich who benefit from the university (since, at least in America, university grads earn twice as much per year as non-grads). Therefore the poor are paying for the rich. In a tuition-based system, the rich pay full tuition and the poor and the smart get loans, scholarships and grants.
And personally, I think the German university system is in rather sad condition. There is minimal student-teacher contact, huge classes (500 isn't rare - and those are often classes that are considered upper division at American universities; classes that would have no more than 20 students), there is general chaos, and the students are non-motivated. This semester has been frustrating and discouraging. Of the 10 or so German university classes that I have taken/am taking, I can't say there's one where I said "wow! I learned a lot!" "That teacher was great!" or the like. They weren't all bad, mind you, but I have had far fewer experiences of glee than at UConn (which is a crummy university in the states! (I wonder if any UConn person will ever read this and hate me for that remark)).
Anyhow, I'm looking forward to the end of the semester. This will be my first long vacation in a long time (note to Dad: I know you don't get any vacation either). This will be the first significant time off (significantly more than one month) since May to August 2002, that is, it's been 3 years. I think I'm going to enjoy some genuine time off.
Ben Johnson (church, 6 feet to go) may be going to Italy in the fall (maybe not - I haven't talked to him since Christmas). Anyhow, if he is, I'll certainly go down and pay him a visit. Ah there's so much you can do with free time. I'll enjoy it.
In other news, I'll be learning French soon to prepare for my PhD studies. I'm currently looking for a dry, boring French grammar book.
I've decided that next semester I'll take only classes that I think will be fun, and not classes I'll need for my PhD. I've realized that the level of teaching here just isn't good enough, that it isn't worth taking important classes if I'm not going to learn anything. I think that will make the semester more enjoy, and it probably won't lengthen my Ph.D. study time, since I'd have to take the classes again.
In other news, I think I may have switched my top university pick from Berkeley to UC San Diego (which, as the name states, is located in La Jolla, CA. Actually, La Jolla (say la-hoy-ah) is a suburb of San Diego that happens to have it's own name). The university seems slightly easier to get into than Berkeley and is also a crazy-good resort town. The weather is always perfect (highs in the high-60's in winter, and mid-70's in summer. Record low of around 28 degrees). The university is practically located on the beach. Go to http://maps.google.com/maps?spn=39.287109,64.863281&t=k&hl=en and type in "9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla". On the left you will see the ocean. The university seems to pursue mathematical topics which are interesting to me, and it seems like a well organized place with reasonable policies (for example, you can take the PhD qualifying examinations as often as they are offered, so there is no penalty for taking some as soon as you arrive). It seems to be a nice place, in any case.
That's it for now. I'm in the process of reading Nadja a book about the American government - written by none other than Mr. Dave Barry himself, so it's not a serious book (and actually, at the moment, Nadja's reading it to me, instead of the other way around).
Reply if you have something to say. Also reply if you have nothing to say.
It's probably time for another update or something.
At the moment I am sick, not that bad however. I have a sore throat and swollen lymph nodes in my neck (I don't have any real recolection of ever having swollen lymph nodes before. Whatever).
Anyhow, the semester is trudging along. One class - algebraic geometry - is simply taking the wind out of me. Here are some numbers:
6 more algebraic geometry lectures where I have to pay attention (each lecture is two hours - there are two lectures that I don't have to pay attention to). 3 more algebraic geometry homework sheets (one per week, the last one being turned in on the 11th. Therefore I don't need the lectures on the 11th and the 13th).
1 or two more number theory homework sheets. Too bad, because that class I enjoy (and it's relatively understandable too).
Two or three more analysis homework sheets.
Around 2,390,400 more seconds until the end of the semester (28 days about).
20 days until the first exam
28 days until the last exam.
25 days until the middle exam.
Then 3 months vacation!!!!
But in case you were wondering, I'm not counting;-).
Sorry for complaining. This semester has just been taking a lot out of me (and has been giving me very little in return). And I have a certain number of frustrations about the university structure. In my opinion, they badly need tuition.
The German government has been thinking about introducing tuition of around 500 euros per semester (around $600). This has sparked massive protests. It's really all quite silly. Actually, I think it's socially more fair to have tuition. If universities are paid for by taxes, then everyone pays for the university, including the poor. However, in the end, it is primarily the rich who benefit from the university (since, at least in America, university grads earn twice as much per year as non-grads). Therefore the poor are paying for the rich. In a tuition-based system, the rich pay full tuition and the poor and the smart get loans, scholarships and grants.
And personally, I think the German university system is in rather sad condition. There is minimal student-teacher contact, huge classes (500 isn't rare - and those are often classes that are considered upper division at American universities; classes that would have no more than 20 students), there is general chaos, and the students are non-motivated. This semester has been frustrating and discouraging. Of the 10 or so German university classes that I have taken/am taking, I can't say there's one where I said "wow! I learned a lot!" "That teacher was great!" or the like. They weren't all bad, mind you, but I have had far fewer experiences of glee than at UConn (which is a crummy university in the states! (I wonder if any UConn person will ever read this and hate me for that remark)).
Anyhow, I'm looking forward to the end of the semester. This will be my first long vacation in a long time (note to Dad: I know you don't get any vacation either). This will be the first significant time off (significantly more than one month) since May to August 2002, that is, it's been 3 years. I think I'm going to enjoy some genuine time off.
Ben Johnson (church, 6 feet to go) may be going to Italy in the fall (maybe not - I haven't talked to him since Christmas). Anyhow, if he is, I'll certainly go down and pay him a visit. Ah there's so much you can do with free time. I'll enjoy it.
In other news, I'll be learning French soon to prepare for my PhD studies. I'm currently looking for a dry, boring French grammar book.
I've decided that next semester I'll take only classes that I think will be fun, and not classes I'll need for my PhD. I've realized that the level of teaching here just isn't good enough, that it isn't worth taking important classes if I'm not going to learn anything. I think that will make the semester more enjoy, and it probably won't lengthen my Ph.D. study time, since I'd have to take the classes again.
In other news, I think I may have switched my top university pick from Berkeley to UC San Diego (which, as the name states, is located in La Jolla, CA. Actually, La Jolla (say la-hoy-ah) is a suburb of San Diego that happens to have it's own name). The university seems slightly easier to get into than Berkeley and is also a crazy-good resort town. The weather is always perfect (highs in the high-60's in winter, and mid-70's in summer. Record low of around 28 degrees). The university is practically located on the beach. Go to http://maps.google.com/maps?spn=39.287109,64.863281&t=k&hl=en and type in "9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla". On the left you will see the ocean. The university seems to pursue mathematical topics which are interesting to me, and it seems like a well organized place with reasonable policies (for example, you can take the PhD qualifying examinations as often as they are offered, so there is no penalty for taking some as soon as you arrive). It seems to be a nice place, in any case.
That's it for now. I'm in the process of reading Nadja a book about the American government - written by none other than Mr. Dave Barry himself, so it's not a serious book (and actually, at the moment, Nadja's reading it to me, instead of the other way around).
Reply if you have something to say. Also reply if you have nothing to say.
Germany: Finally an update - university, grad school, and the EU. June 4, 2005
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
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
Germany: Signing up for the university - the promised long saga.. April 11, 2005
First I gotta say that my tooth hurts. It’s not really my tooth. It’s behind my left-lower wisdom tooth. Some food must have gotten stuck back there and fermented. I think I managed just to pop the infection or something like that, because it suddenly started to hurt a lot. Oh, well.
Anyhow, on the 4th of April, I promised you guys a “long saga” about signing up for the university. Little did I know on the 4th that the long saga wasn’t close to over. Well, all stories have a beginning, so I’ll start there. So there I was. To get into the university foreign students require permission (Germans who went to one type of high school often don’t even have to apply to get into the university, and Germans from another type of high school simply can’t get in. If you think the Americans track students, then you haven’t looked at Germany yet). Anyhow, we didn’t have to send the applications ourselves. Since we were with an exchange program, the program director sends our applications (which are guaranteed to be accepted as well, since the program director accepted us to the program and they have a deal with the German universities). After acceptance they send an acceptance letter called Zulassungsbescheid, which you need to register. However, it was already late March and we hadn’t heard a thing about the Zulassungsbescheid.
Our director said she probably misplaced them or something like that and that she’d send them as soon as they were found. Well, I decided on Tuesday, March 29th to go to the Rektorat, which is where they take care of stuff like that, and there I would ask them what would happen if these letters never show up. It so happened that on that day I had the final exam for my language class, so I had to go after the exam. I show up there around 2PM. No one there. Office hours end at 11:30AM. Note, this place is similar to the registrar at an American university. At UConn the hours of the registrar are 8AM to 5PM. 3.6 times longer! And UConn is smaller than the University of Freiburg. Silly lack of office hours. Day 1 down the drain.
Wednesday: The next day I show up promptly at 9AM (opening time). After searching around to find the right people (they were all hiding in the wrong rooms), I find someone with a computer. He tells me that he’ll be able to print up the letters we need and he just needs my name. I give him my name. He tells me my name is only there for the previous semester. I figure something could have gotten entered wrong. I get him to look up the name of another person the program. Not a trace. He tells me I have to go talk to someone whose office is across the hall. I go over there. On Friday and *Wednesday* she has no office hours. Day 2 down the drain.
Thursday: Again, I show up promptly first thing and go to the women who wasn’t there the day before. She looks around for a while and then assures me that nothing was received from our program. I ask her if it’s too late. It’s not. We can fill out a couple applications and we should be set. But we have to get some sort of notice from our program director because otherwise “anyone from Connecticut could come here and say they want to study here” (yes, because that’s what Americans do – show up in Germany and study towards a non-degree program without even thinking to apply). So I get the applications and head back to my place to find the telephone numbers of the other two in Freiburg and give them the forms. But… They were on vacation! So they won’t be able to fill out the forms. In the mean time, I call up the program director (at this point it’s about 4AM on the East Coast) and talk to her answering machine. I tell her we have an emergency situation and give her the details. At this point I thought “ok, I’ve done all I can. I guess the others won’t be able to sign up since it’s all so late, but I’ll fill out my form so that I can sign up at least.” Later that afternoon I get a phone call. It’s the director of the exchange program. The applications had been sent back in January, but they were sent to someone who doesn’t work at the university anymore and no one forwarded it. She had just faxed the applications to the university and emailed me copies to make sure that I have a copy in case something went wrong with the fax. She was very apologetic.
Friday: Well, there wasn’t anything more I could have done Thursday (offices closed, of course), so I show up again early Friday. After talking to a few people (I was starting to get to know them), I confirmed that they had received our applications and I made sure that the paper got promptly pushed through to the right department. They told me I could pick up our acceptance letters on Monday.
Monday: I come in early in the morning. After around an hour of waiting in lines, and trying to explain my situation to people who hadn’t been there for the earlier details, I find out that they haven’t yet processed our applications. And they can’t do it now, and they put that type of stuff in the computer in the afternoon. I can come by on Tuesday and pick it up.
Tuesday: Since we (the other two and myself) were planning to sign up on Wednesday, I actually didn’t go!
Wednesday: We meet at 8:30AM. We head off to the insurance place, as we need insurance to sign up. They inform us that we need our acceptance letter to get insurance. Thankfully the university office was across the street. We go over there, and after a little waiting, we find out that they finally actually printed our acceptance letters. Happiness. So we go back to the insurance place and get insurance. Then we have to go the city registration office to get Visas. We go there and fill out forms. The lines weren’t bad, however. I find out that I can only get a 2 month visa, since I wasn’t sent a letter informing me of my stipend (I could get a longer visa, but non-stipend receivers must pay for the visa, whereas I should get it for free). We head back to the university to sign up. After filling out the forms to sign up, we go over to the room to sign up. Sorry, it’s 11:30. “We’re closing. Come back tomorrow”.
Thursday: So, we meet again to sign up. We go there. The first person in our program signs up. Victory!! I go to sign up. The person looks at my application and then remarks that I was at the University of Freiburg a couple semesters ago and asks me where my Studiumsbuch is. That’s some sort of odd record book that the student has to keep track of. I thought the thing was silly and I probably lost it or threw it out or just didn’t bring it back to Germany. But for some reason I’m not allowed to sign up without this book (everyone else just gets one made there). I ask her what I can do. She says I have to go back to my place and get the book. I inform her that the book isn’t at my place, and may not be in one piece. She then informs me that I have to have a new copy made (so all the information in this book is in a computer anyway!). So I have to go back downstairs and do that (which costs 15 euros and 34 cents. Why they couldn’t round it is beyond me!). So I give the person the form and the person informs me “Ok, you can pick it up tomorrow.” What????? Why can’t you make it now? It’s a little green book with a couple stamps. It takes 3 minutes! I guess if you only have 2.5 offices hours per day, 3 minutes seem like a lot.
Friday: I come back again. I get my dumb little green book. I go upstairs. I sign up. Victory is mine. At long last, victory is mine.
Ok, that was a really long story. I hope it didn’t bore you too much. The moral of the story is that Germans don’t have anywhere near enough office hours. If Germany would just introduce the concept of “service”, they would solve their (pretty bad) unemployment problem.
Anyway, classes started today. I’ll post an update about that soon.
Anyhow, on the 4th of April, I promised you guys a “long saga” about signing up for the university. Little did I know on the 4th that the long saga wasn’t close to over. Well, all stories have a beginning, so I’ll start there. So there I was. To get into the university foreign students require permission (Germans who went to one type of high school often don’t even have to apply to get into the university, and Germans from another type of high school simply can’t get in. If you think the Americans track students, then you haven’t looked at Germany yet). Anyhow, we didn’t have to send the applications ourselves. Since we were with an exchange program, the program director sends our applications (which are guaranteed to be accepted as well, since the program director accepted us to the program and they have a deal with the German universities). After acceptance they send an acceptance letter called Zulassungsbescheid, which you need to register. However, it was already late March and we hadn’t heard a thing about the Zulassungsbescheid.
Our director said she probably misplaced them or something like that and that she’d send them as soon as they were found. Well, I decided on Tuesday, March 29th to go to the Rektorat, which is where they take care of stuff like that, and there I would ask them what would happen if these letters never show up. It so happened that on that day I had the final exam for my language class, so I had to go after the exam. I show up there around 2PM. No one there. Office hours end at 11:30AM. Note, this place is similar to the registrar at an American university. At UConn the hours of the registrar are 8AM to 5PM. 3.6 times longer! And UConn is smaller than the University of Freiburg. Silly lack of office hours. Day 1 down the drain.
Wednesday: The next day I show up promptly at 9AM (opening time). After searching around to find the right people (they were all hiding in the wrong rooms), I find someone with a computer. He tells me that he’ll be able to print up the letters we need and he just needs my name. I give him my name. He tells me my name is only there for the previous semester. I figure something could have gotten entered wrong. I get him to look up the name of another person the program. Not a trace. He tells me I have to go talk to someone whose office is across the hall. I go over there. On Friday and *Wednesday* she has no office hours. Day 2 down the drain.
Thursday: Again, I show up promptly first thing and go to the women who wasn’t there the day before. She looks around for a while and then assures me that nothing was received from our program. I ask her if it’s too late. It’s not. We can fill out a couple applications and we should be set. But we have to get some sort of notice from our program director because otherwise “anyone from Connecticut could come here and say they want to study here” (yes, because that’s what Americans do – show up in Germany and study towards a non-degree program without even thinking to apply). So I get the applications and head back to my place to find the telephone numbers of the other two in Freiburg and give them the forms. But… They were on vacation! So they won’t be able to fill out the forms. In the mean time, I call up the program director (at this point it’s about 4AM on the East Coast) and talk to her answering machine. I tell her we have an emergency situation and give her the details. At this point I thought “ok, I’ve done all I can. I guess the others won’t be able to sign up since it’s all so late, but I’ll fill out my form so that I can sign up at least.” Later that afternoon I get a phone call. It’s the director of the exchange program. The applications had been sent back in January, but they were sent to someone who doesn’t work at the university anymore and no one forwarded it. She had just faxed the applications to the university and emailed me copies to make sure that I have a copy in case something went wrong with the fax. She was very apologetic.
Friday: Well, there wasn’t anything more I could have done Thursday (offices closed, of course), so I show up again early Friday. After talking to a few people (I was starting to get to know them), I confirmed that they had received our applications and I made sure that the paper got promptly pushed through to the right department. They told me I could pick up our acceptance letters on Monday.
Monday: I come in early in the morning. After around an hour of waiting in lines, and trying to explain my situation to people who hadn’t been there for the earlier details, I find out that they haven’t yet processed our applications. And they can’t do it now, and they put that type of stuff in the computer in the afternoon. I can come by on Tuesday and pick it up.
Tuesday: Since we (the other two and myself) were planning to sign up on Wednesday, I actually didn’t go!
Wednesday: We meet at 8:30AM. We head off to the insurance place, as we need insurance to sign up. They inform us that we need our acceptance letter to get insurance. Thankfully the university office was across the street. We go over there, and after a little waiting, we find out that they finally actually printed our acceptance letters. Happiness. So we go back to the insurance place and get insurance. Then we have to go the city registration office to get Visas. We go there and fill out forms. The lines weren’t bad, however. I find out that I can only get a 2 month visa, since I wasn’t sent a letter informing me of my stipend (I could get a longer visa, but non-stipend receivers must pay for the visa, whereas I should get it for free). We head back to the university to sign up. After filling out the forms to sign up, we go over to the room to sign up. Sorry, it’s 11:30. “We’re closing. Come back tomorrow”.
Thursday: So, we meet again to sign up. We go there. The first person in our program signs up. Victory!! I go to sign up. The person looks at my application and then remarks that I was at the University of Freiburg a couple semesters ago and asks me where my Studiumsbuch is. That’s some sort of odd record book that the student has to keep track of. I thought the thing was silly and I probably lost it or threw it out or just didn’t bring it back to Germany. But for some reason I’m not allowed to sign up without this book (everyone else just gets one made there). I ask her what I can do. She says I have to go back to my place and get the book. I inform her that the book isn’t at my place, and may not be in one piece. She then informs me that I have to have a new copy made (so all the information in this book is in a computer anyway!). So I have to go back downstairs and do that (which costs 15 euros and 34 cents. Why they couldn’t round it is beyond me!). So I give the person the form and the person informs me “Ok, you can pick it up tomorrow.” What????? Why can’t you make it now? It’s a little green book with a couple stamps. It takes 3 minutes! I guess if you only have 2.5 offices hours per day, 3 minutes seem like a lot.
Friday: I come back again. I get my dumb little green book. I go upstairs. I sign up. Victory is mine. At long last, victory is mine.
Ok, that was a really long story. I hope it didn’t bore you too much. The moral of the story is that Germans don’t have anywhere near enough office hours. If Germany would just introduce the concept of “service”, they would solve their (pretty bad) unemployment problem.
Anyway, classes started today. I’ll post an update about that soon.
Germany: End of the language course. April 4, 2005
Hey all,
Sorry I haven't updated for a while. I've been quite busy with this, that and the other.
Our applications for the Freiburg university were sent to the wrong person, so we didn't have permission to sign up as university students. After a lot of question-asking, and waiting in lines, and going all over the place, I think the problem is mostly fixed. I'll post the full story once the story is over. At the moment, we still aren't signed up, but we'll be able to do it soon.
Anyhow, my language course is now over. Our final exam also served as an entrance exam for the university (however, I don't need to actually pass any entrance exam, since I am an exchange student, and not a normal foreign student). Therefore, the exam was the university.
The exam was at 10AM and we had to be there at 9AM and it was a couple days after the time change (we set the clocks back a week earlier in Germany). So we were sitting in the room, with the test booklets upside down. The first part was listening comprehension. Someone started giving some introductory words and we were all waiting for him to say something like "Ok, take out your booklets, fill out the form on the front and read through the questions". But then the introductory words just flowed into the text that we were supposed to be hearing. Then you see 100 students grabbing for their exam booklets to start making notes. Thankfully the guy noticed, and he stopped, and we were able to do everything properly.
Other than that, the test went fine.
Today I just got the result (for some reason, the university didn't post the results of the people from the language school, so we had to go to the language school). I got a 98% (66% is passing). I'll be getting a graded certificate shortly.
Well, I'll post another (most interesting update soon) with a long saga about trying to sign up for the university.
Archived comments:
Mom:
Congratulations on your excellent score!
I'm waiting with much interest for your updates....
Sorry I haven't updated for a while. I've been quite busy with this, that and the other.
Our applications for the Freiburg university were sent to the wrong person, so we didn't have permission to sign up as university students. After a lot of question-asking, and waiting in lines, and going all over the place, I think the problem is mostly fixed. I'll post the full story once the story is over. At the moment, we still aren't signed up, but we'll be able to do it soon.
Anyhow, my language course is now over. Our final exam also served as an entrance exam for the university (however, I don't need to actually pass any entrance exam, since I am an exchange student, and not a normal foreign student). Therefore, the exam was the university.
The exam was at 10AM and we had to be there at 9AM and it was a couple days after the time change (we set the clocks back a week earlier in Germany). So we were sitting in the room, with the test booklets upside down. The first part was listening comprehension. Someone started giving some introductory words and we were all waiting for him to say something like "Ok, take out your booklets, fill out the form on the front and read through the questions". But then the introductory words just flowed into the text that we were supposed to be hearing. Then you see 100 students grabbing for their exam booklets to start making notes. Thankfully the guy noticed, and he stopped, and we were able to do everything properly.
Other than that, the test went fine.
Today I just got the result (for some reason, the university didn't post the results of the people from the language school, so we had to go to the language school). I got a 98% (66% is passing). I'll be getting a graded certificate shortly.
Well, I'll post another (most interesting update soon) with a long saga about trying to sign up for the university.
Archived comments:
Mom:
Congratulations on your excellent score!
I'm waiting with much interest for your updates....
Germany: Finally updates and pictures! March 21, 2005
Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve last updated and a lot has hap pened since then. Sorry about the lack of updates. I’ve mainly been la zy. My last post was on my birthday over a month ago. For shame!
When I last posted, Freiburg was in a state of constant snowing. Snow , snow, snow. Tons of it. It never really stuck much, because each day it would get above freezing and the accumulation from the previous da y would melt. Just two weeks ago it was regularly below freezing. But now the sun (and my shorts) have won! At this moment it’s 66 degrees a nd sunny.
I finally got my bike completely working again today… Last year I bou ght myself a bike and left it at Nadja’s place. The bike has a spoke-l ock to which I have no key, so I never touched it. Someone, however, p ushed in the spoke lock, meaning I could ride my own bike. I finally g ot around to hammering off the spoke lock (it was welded on) a couple weeks ago. And today I finally pumped the tires up to 100%. Bikes are so much faster than busses. Yay.
Ok, I started typing this yesterday – now it’s today. In the meantime my chain broke. I’m not joking.
So what I have been up to? Lots, I suppose, or maybe not. My parents came and visited from the 6th to the 12th. I was going to go pick them up from the train station in Basel with Nadja, but I forgot my passpo rt, so I was not able to go to Basel, since Basel is in Switzerland, w hich is not a part of the EU. So I sent Nadja on ahead down to Basel a nd she picked up my parents, and I got on the train with them one stop above Basel. The next day we went to the famed Bavarian city of Munic h and met Nadja’s family (that’s where they live). On the day after th at, we went to the castle Neuschwanstein, which is a famous German cas tle (there are certainly pictures below). On the day after that, we to ok a tour of the Munich inner-city and the BMW museum. Then we went ba ck to Freiburg. In Freiburg we went up to Titisee, which is a kinda-to uristy area filled with Coocooclocks. And on the next day we did every thing in Freiburg that had to do with climbing up to the top of stuff. Then the next day was already time for my parents to go home. I hope they had enough fun.
Note: COME VISIT ME! Housing costs are no excuse. In my building, you can get guest housing for 10 Euros ($13) per person per night. Cheape r for students (around US $10). As of July 16th, I am on vacation (kin da – don’t plan to close to that, since I may actually still have a co uple tests at that point). Also, airplane ticket prices have dropped a lot too.
Talking about being free as of July 16th, I guess I’ll talk a bit abo ut university-related stuff. My language course is coming to a close. There are now 4 days of classes left (Monday to Thursday) and one test left (a week from Tuesday). Glad it’s going to be over. This will mea n I will have completed around 630 hours of formal German training (as well as many hours of talking German outside class). That’s a lot of training. That will also complete my German major. So I will be gettin g a second diploma this time with a German major (and maybe I’ll remem ber to put in my Business minor).
My semester starts on April 11th. I’ve picked out my course schedule. Algebra II, Analysis II, and Number Theory. Each class has 4 hours of lecture and 2 hours of exercises per week. Hopefully UConn gives me a t least 4 credits for each class (1 hour per week is one credit – but silly UConn gave me just 3 credits for my Differential Geometry class) . It looks possible that I’ll have Friday free. I don’t know yet, sinc e the exercise session times have yet to be published.
So I’m sure you’re bored with reading all my comments and you just wa nt to see pictures. Ok, here they are.
Here we are in a fine Bavarian Beer Basement:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/Beer1.JPG
Again:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/Beer2.JPG
Here are a couple shots over Munich:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/MunichOverview.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/MunichTower.JPG
And here’s a BMW M1:
BMWM1.JPG
And us in front of a huge BMW motor:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/WeLoveBMW.JPG
Here’s the car that Angie loaned us for free (!!!):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/Car.JPG
And me driving down the autobahn:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/CarAutobahn.JPG
And here’s the car that Nadja’s father loaned us for free with a cast le in the background:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/NeuSSWithCar.JPG
Here’s a cool picture of the castle:
NeuSS1.JPG
(Note: that’s actually a picture of a picture. Turned out pretty well , huh?)
Here’s the castle again:
NeuSS2.JPG
Some TV Cameraman videotaped me for wearing shorts. We took pictures of him:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/CameraMan.JPG
Here’s Mom in front of Nadja’s family’s apartment building:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/MomBuilding.JPG
Here’s some German industry:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/Industry.JPG
Back in Freiburg, we have a nice no-pooping sign:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/NoPooping.JPG
And here’s a view from inside the tower in a church:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/Muenster.JPG
And here I am walking down the steps:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/GoingDown.JPG
Here’s Freiburg from above:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/FreiburgBig.JPG
And me running around on a kid’s thing:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/ExerciseClass.JPG
Dad and I are eating Wurst. Yum.
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/TheWurst.JPG
Mom and I have ice cream:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/IceCream.JPG
And we are in the ice:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/HikingUp.JPG
Here are Nadja’s rabbits (Rhonja is the white one, Merlin is black):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/Bunny.JPG
And I’m pouring beer:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/BeerTime.JPG
When I last posted, Freiburg was in a state of constant snowing. Snow , snow, snow. Tons of it. It never really stuck much, because each day it would get above freezing and the accumulation from the previous da y would melt. Just two weeks ago it was regularly below freezing. But now the sun (and my shorts) have won! At this moment it’s 66 degrees a nd sunny.
I finally got my bike completely working again today… Last year I bou ght myself a bike and left it at Nadja’s place. The bike has a spoke-l ock to which I have no key, so I never touched it. Someone, however, p ushed in the spoke lock, meaning I could ride my own bike. I finally g ot around to hammering off the spoke lock (it was welded on) a couple weeks ago. And today I finally pumped the tires up to 100%. Bikes are so much faster than busses. Yay.
Ok, I started typing this yesterday – now it’s today. In the meantime my chain broke. I’m not joking.
So what I have been up to? Lots, I suppose, or maybe not. My parents came and visited from the 6th to the 12th. I was going to go pick them up from the train station in Basel with Nadja, but I forgot my passpo rt, so I was not able to go to Basel, since Basel is in Switzerland, w hich is not a part of the EU. So I sent Nadja on ahead down to Basel a nd she picked up my parents, and I got on the train with them one stop above Basel. The next day we went to the famed Bavarian city of Munic h and met Nadja’s family (that’s where they live). On the day after th at, we went to the castle Neuschwanstein, which is a famous German cas tle (there are certainly pictures below). On the day after that, we to ok a tour of the Munich inner-city and the BMW museum. Then we went ba ck to Freiburg. In Freiburg we went up to Titisee, which is a kinda-to uristy area filled with Coocooclocks. And on the next day we did every thing in Freiburg that had to do with climbing up to the top of stuff. Then the next day was already time for my parents to go home. I hope they had enough fun.
Note: COME VISIT ME! Housing costs are no excuse. In my building, you can get guest housing for 10 Euros ($13) per person per night. Cheape r for students (around US $10). As of July 16th, I am on vacation (kin da – don’t plan to close to that, since I may actually still have a co uple tests at that point). Also, airplane ticket prices have dropped a lot too.
Talking about being free as of July 16th, I guess I’ll talk a bit abo ut university-related stuff. My language course is coming to a close. There are now 4 days of classes left (Monday to Thursday) and one test left (a week from Tuesday). Glad it’s going to be over. This will mea n I will have completed around 630 hours of formal German training (as well as many hours of talking German outside class). That’s a lot of training. That will also complete my German major. So I will be gettin g a second diploma this time with a German major (and maybe I’ll remem ber to put in my Business minor).
My semester starts on April 11th. I’ve picked out my course schedule. Algebra II, Analysis II, and Number Theory. Each class has 4 hours of lecture and 2 hours of exercises per week. Hopefully UConn gives me a t least 4 credits for each class (1 hour per week is one credit – but silly UConn gave me just 3 credits for my Differential Geometry class) . It looks possible that I’ll have Friday free. I don’t know yet, sinc e the exercise session times have yet to be published.
So I’m sure you’re bored with reading all my comments and you just wa nt to see pictures. Ok, here they are.
Here we are in a fine Bavarian Beer Basement:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/Beer1.JPG
Again:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/Beer2.JPG
Here are a couple shots over Munich:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/MunichOverview.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/MunichTower.JPG
And here’s a BMW M1:
BMWM1.JPG
And us in front of a huge BMW motor:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/WeLoveBMW.JPG
Here’s the car that Angie loaned us for free (!!!):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/Car.JPG
And me driving down the autobahn:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/CarAutobahn.JPG
And here’s the car that Nadja’s father loaned us for free with a cast le in the background:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/NeuSSWithCar.JPG
Here’s a cool picture of the castle:
NeuSS1.JPG
(Note: that’s actually a picture of a picture. Turned out pretty well , huh?)
Here’s the castle again:
NeuSS2.JPG
Some TV Cameraman videotaped me for wearing shorts. We took pictures of him:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/CameraMan.JPG
Here’s Mom in front of Nadja’s family’s apartment building:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/MomBuilding.JPG
Here’s some German industry:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/Industry.JPG
Back in Freiburg, we have a nice no-pooping sign:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/NoPooping.JPG
And here’s a view from inside the tower in a church:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/Muenster.JPG
And here I am walking down the steps:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/GoingDown.JPG
Here’s Freiburg from above:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/FreiburgBig.JPG
And me running around on a kid’s thing:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/ExerciseClass.JPG
Dad and I are eating Wurst. Yum.
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/TheWurst.JPG
Mom and I have ice cream:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/IceCream.JPG
And we are in the ice:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/HikingUp.JPG
Here are Nadja’s rabbits (Rhonja is the white one, Merlin is black):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/Bunny.JPG
And I’m pouring beer:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P3/BeerTime.JPG
Germany: Morgenstraich (photos!). February 16, 2005
Sometimes people in other countries do funny things. Sometimes they d o funny things in large groups. In that case, you buy yourself a ticke t and go there. I was at such an event.
The event is called the Basler Morgenstraich. Let me break down that series of meaningless symbols. Basel is a city in Switzerland. It is t he closest Swiss city to Freiburg (1 hour away by train, so probably a round 30 miles or so). Morgen=morning. And Straich is the Swiss spelli ng (or an old Swiss spelling) of Streich, which means "practical joke" . So it's the morning practical joke in Switzerland.
So here's the thing. Here they celebrate the last day before lent (th e time of fasting before Easter, for those of you who don't know). The typical celebration is to gorge oneself, as you're about to go on a f ast. The German celebration, however, is mixed with a strange pagan tr adition (similar to Christmas, but much more extreme then just a tree) . They dress themselves of as evil spirits in order to scare off the r eal evil spirits, because when the real evil spirits see themselves, t hey get scared and run away. Of course, few modern Germans actually th ink anything of this tradition, but that's the root in any case.
So this was a Christian holiday, and was thus regulated by the church (back in the pre-protestent era). The church said that after Ash Wedn esday the party is over and you gotta get fasting. The people in Basel said no. From one report, their method of saying no was chopping off the heads of the church messengers and sending them back to the church (the church being the larger organization and not an individual build ing). Then they decided they would march around the city and celebrate this festival in the middle of the night on the Sunday night/Monday m orning after Ash Wednesday. And they're still doing that today.
The event itself is free and is attended by thousands of people (I've heard reports of around 100,000). And the event starts at 4:00AM. At 4:00AM all the lights in the city are turned off, the marchers turn on their tourches (now mostly electric, but whatever), and they whip out their little flutes, and they play a tune. Not just any tune. One tun e. All of them. Over and over and over without stopping for around 45 minutes. And there's drumming. And they march around the streets playi ng this tune. It's a very weird effect.
There really isn't too much more to say, so I'll put in some pictures .
First, here's a picture of Nadja in the train (you can see me in the reflection).
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P2/Nadja1.JPG
And here's me:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P2/Me1.JPG
And here's a picture of our small group minus Nadja, who took the pic ture:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P2/Us1.JPG
And a second picture:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P2/Us2.JPG
And finally the main attraction. Weird people!
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P2/MS1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P2/MS2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P2/MS3.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P2/MS4.JPG
That's it for now...
The event is called the Basler Morgenstraich. Let me break down that series of meaningless symbols. Basel is a city in Switzerland. It is t he closest Swiss city to Freiburg (1 hour away by train, so probably a round 30 miles or so). Morgen=morning. And Straich is the Swiss spelli ng (or an old Swiss spelling) of Streich, which means "practical joke" . So it's the morning practical joke in Switzerland.
So here's the thing. Here they celebrate the last day before lent (th e time of fasting before Easter, for those of you who don't know). The typical celebration is to gorge oneself, as you're about to go on a f ast. The German celebration, however, is mixed with a strange pagan tr adition (similar to Christmas, but much more extreme then just a tree) . They dress themselves of as evil spirits in order to scare off the r eal evil spirits, because when the real evil spirits see themselves, t hey get scared and run away. Of course, few modern Germans actually th ink anything of this tradition, but that's the root in any case.
So this was a Christian holiday, and was thus regulated by the church (back in the pre-protestent era). The church said that after Ash Wedn esday the party is over and you gotta get fasting. The people in Basel said no. From one report, their method of saying no was chopping off the heads of the church messengers and sending them back to the church (the church being the larger organization and not an individual build ing). Then they decided they would march around the city and celebrate this festival in the middle of the night on the Sunday night/Monday m orning after Ash Wednesday. And they're still doing that today.
The event itself is free and is attended by thousands of people (I've heard reports of around 100,000). And the event starts at 4:00AM. At 4:00AM all the lights in the city are turned off, the marchers turn on their tourches (now mostly electric, but whatever), and they whip out their little flutes, and they play a tune. Not just any tune. One tun e. All of them. Over and over and over without stopping for around 45 minutes. And there's drumming. And they march around the streets playi ng this tune. It's a very weird effect.
There really isn't too much more to say, so I'll put in some pictures .
First, here's a picture of Nadja in the train (you can see me in the reflection).
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P2/Nadja1.JPG
And here's me:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P2/Me1.JPG
And here's a picture of our small group minus Nadja, who took the pic ture:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P2/Us1.JPG
And a second picture:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P2/Us2.JPG
And finally the main attraction. Weird people!
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P2/MS1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P2/MS2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P2/MS3.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P2/MS4.JPG
That's it for now...
Germany: A European experience: Ikea. February 2, 2005
I figure I should probably write something again...
Anyhow, I was in Ikea. Ikea is much more ubiquitous here in Germany than in America (although the parking lot is less crowded than the one in New Haven). But Ikea certainly has some qualities which make it the European-Walmart.
First, one thing they, Ikea is not an "everything" store like Walmart. But it has low-ish to normal quality products, and some really good products, for really cheap prices. I bought a super-non-stick pan (really non-stick) for 4 euros ($5). Later that evening I made some Schnitzel with Spaetzle (yum!) and it really didn't stick a bit. Not a bit. And it took 3 seconds to clean up.
Ikea almost also caught on to the idea of fast food. There is McDonalds in Germany, but they somehow must have lost something in translation.
McDonalds is soooooooooo expensive here! I could get a Doener Kebap (much better) for half the price of a meal and McDonalds. And you don't get free refills here. In Burger King you get *one* free refill. Ikea had cheap food (1 euro for a hot dog) and they *almost* had free refills, but they missed the main point. You know how in McDonalds they have the soda machines on the customer side of the register so that you can get your own refills, Ikea almost has that. They have the soda on the customer side of the counter - but no free refills! Silly people. Silly silly. Almost American, but not quite.
But I bought a ton of stuff and spent under 25 Euros. It was a pretty good bargain.
Two weeks until my birthday.
My language course also goes well. We've hit the point where there are one or two tests per week.
Ok, a question to test your English knowledge. Pick the correct meaning for "He was detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure":
a) He commited a crime
b) He receieved an "honour" (honor) from the Queen
c) He attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace
Tell me your answer.
Archived comments:
Mom:
Maybe you can make us some schnitzel with spaetzle when we come visit!
Anything particular we could send you/bring you for your birthday?
My answer is (a)
Paula:
hey mike, first off i wasn't informed that mcdonald's in america allowed you to get free refills. i think you've been stealing from american mcd's all these years, thinking you were innocent. why isn't there a sign that says free refills? ...because there are no free refills! don't you know, they just put it on the customer side because they want to test us to see if we will turn into thieves.
secondly... spaetzle, or however you spell it, is really good indeed. my dad makes it. because he's into cooking random things like that. yummy.
mikepn:
McDonalds does offer free refills. If they don't have a serve-yourself soda machine, then go to the counter and ask for one. Most of the McDonalds I've been in have serve-yourself machines.
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?pagenumber=1&t hreadid=224800
http://www.kevinhebert.com/alt.mcdonalds.html#10
Enjoy your free refills.
Anna:
I think I'm gonna pick (c) cause it sounds cool. Also to be different from Mom, not that that's gonna help my chances of being right.
Anyhow, I was in Ikea. Ikea is much more ubiquitous here in Germany than in America (although the parking lot is less crowded than the one in New Haven). But Ikea certainly has some qualities which make it the European-Walmart.
First, one thing they, Ikea is not an "everything" store like Walmart. But it has low-ish to normal quality products, and some really good products, for really cheap prices. I bought a super-non-stick pan (really non-stick) for 4 euros ($5). Later that evening I made some Schnitzel with Spaetzle (yum!) and it really didn't stick a bit. Not a bit. And it took 3 seconds to clean up.
Ikea almost also caught on to the idea of fast food. There is McDonalds in Germany, but they somehow must have lost something in translation.
McDonalds is soooooooooo expensive here! I could get a Doener Kebap (much better) for half the price of a meal and McDonalds. And you don't get free refills here. In Burger King you get *one* free refill. Ikea had cheap food (1 euro for a hot dog) and they *almost* had free refills, but they missed the main point. You know how in McDonalds they have the soda machines on the customer side of the register so that you can get your own refills, Ikea almost has that. They have the soda on the customer side of the counter - but no free refills! Silly people. Silly silly. Almost American, but not quite.
But I bought a ton of stuff and spent under 25 Euros. It was a pretty good bargain.
Two weeks until my birthday.
My language course also goes well. We've hit the point where there are one or two tests per week.
Ok, a question to test your English knowledge. Pick the correct meaning for "He was detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure":
a) He commited a crime
b) He receieved an "honour" (honor) from the Queen
c) He attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace
Tell me your answer.
Archived comments:
Mom:
Maybe you can make us some schnitzel with spaetzle when we come visit!
Anything particular we could send you/bring you for your birthday?
My answer is (a)
Paula:
hey mike, first off i wasn't informed that mcdonald's in america allowed you to get free refills. i think you've been stealing from american mcd's all these years, thinking you were innocent. why isn't there a sign that says free refills? ...because there are no free refills! don't you know, they just put it on the customer side because they want to test us to see if we will turn into thieves.
secondly... spaetzle, or however you spell it, is really good indeed. my dad makes it. because he's into cooking random things like that. yummy.
mikepn:
McDonalds does offer free refills. If they don't have a serve-yourself soda machine, then go to the counter and ask for one. Most of the McDonalds I've been in have serve-yourself machines.
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?pagenumber=1&t hreadid=224800
http://www.kevinhebert.com/alt.mcdonalds.html#10
Enjoy your free refills.
Anna:
I think I'm gonna pick (c) cause it sounds cool. Also to be different from Mom, not that that's gonna help my chances of being right.
Germany: Other random things (grad school, etc). February 5, 2005
Hi all,
I figured I'd talk a little bit more.
First, I think I'll get my German driver's license soon. After 6 months, if you want to drive, you gotta hold a German driver's license. Due to an agreement between Connecticut and Germany, I can get a German drivers license after only taking a writen exam. Germany has a separate deal with each state, and I think the reverse is also true (each state has a separate deal with Germany, for the German drivers in America). I gotta pay 40 euros for the exam, but in exchange I get a real, German driver's license, which normally costs over 2000 Euros in driving school and other expenses. And I get to drive as fast as my car can go on the Autobahn. Jawohl.:-)
I also applied to UConn as a graduate student. Basically I did this so that Germany will recognize me as the graduate-level student that I am, and give me more money. In just a few months (so 9 or 10 months:-)) I'll have to start applying to American graduate schools. I might try learning a little French this Summer, in case I need to know two languages for my future grad school.
Also, the Algebra 1 course here took a different route than my algebra 1 course at Uconn, so I'll have to learn the stuff I didn't learn a UConn. I think I'll download all the homework sets (they're online) and just crank through them, from the start of the course (for refreshers) to the end of the course (for new learning).
And I've learned the ultimate style of lazy (and cheap) lunching here in Germany. In the local grocery stores, you can buy a package of 6 semi-cooked rolls for 35 cents (about US$.07 per roll). You then put however many you need in the over for 10 minutes, take them out, split them down the middle, stick in a sausage, some cold cuts, cheese, and for desert some Nutella. You get a whole meal in 15 minutes with almost no clean up and less than 5 minutes of work for about US $1. Yum.
Well, now I gotta shower.
Archived comments:
Mom:
1. Good deal for the driver's license!
2. What car?
3. Oui, c'est une bonne idea d'apprendre le francais.
4. Go algebra!
5. Do you have the giant jars of Nutella like the one Katherine brought home from Italy?
I figured I'd talk a little bit more.
First, I think I'll get my German driver's license soon. After 6 months, if you want to drive, you gotta hold a German driver's license. Due to an agreement between Connecticut and Germany, I can get a German drivers license after only taking a writen exam. Germany has a separate deal with each state, and I think the reverse is also true (each state has a separate deal with Germany, for the German drivers in America). I gotta pay 40 euros for the exam, but in exchange I get a real, German driver's license, which normally costs over 2000 Euros in driving school and other expenses. And I get to drive as fast as my car can go on the Autobahn. Jawohl.:-)
I also applied to UConn as a graduate student. Basically I did this so that Germany will recognize me as the graduate-level student that I am, and give me more money. In just a few months (so 9 or 10 months:-)) I'll have to start applying to American graduate schools. I might try learning a little French this Summer, in case I need to know two languages for my future grad school.
Also, the Algebra 1 course here took a different route than my algebra 1 course at Uconn, so I'll have to learn the stuff I didn't learn a UConn. I think I'll download all the homework sets (they're online) and just crank through them, from the start of the course (for refreshers) to the end of the course (for new learning).
And I've learned the ultimate style of lazy (and cheap) lunching here in Germany. In the local grocery stores, you can buy a package of 6 semi-cooked rolls for 35 cents (about US$.07 per roll). You then put however many you need in the over for 10 minutes, take them out, split them down the middle, stick in a sausage, some cold cuts, cheese, and for desert some Nutella. You get a whole meal in 15 minutes with almost no clean up and less than 5 minutes of work for about US $1. Yum.
Well, now I gotta shower.
Archived comments:
Mom:
1. Good deal for the driver's license!
2. What car?
3. Oui, c'est une bonne idea d'apprendre le francais.
4. Go algebra!
5. Do you have the giant jars of Nutella like the one Katherine brought home from Italy?
Germany: One month down... And Munich. February 5, 2005
Hello everyone,
Well, it's now been a month since I've arrived in Germany. The Euro has fallen $.07 since my arrival, but the weather has stayed about the same. But just a few more weeks and we'll start hitting spring. At the moment it's 39 degrees and the sun has nearly set. The forecast shows low to mid 40's for the rest of the week.
My language course is going well. We've gotten to the point in the course where it's pretty much 1 to 3 tests per week - but that's not too surprising considering it's a ~18 hour per week course. 4 weeks of the language course over. Just 6.5 weeks left. My birthday marks the halfway point of the course. (My birthday is Feb. 16th for those of you who care). Just for the record, I do now have an address in Germany. If you send me something, please include my name! It may not make it to me without my name. My address is:
Michael Nehring
Zimmer Nr. 3217
Kappler Str. 57
79117 Freiburg
Germany
"Zimmer Nr" means "Room number"
Note that this address will become *invalid* as of April, since they will be closing down the building which I am living in and I'll have to move into a different building (same student housing, just a different building).
My telephone number here is
011-49-761-6808-6317. If you are *inside* Germany and want to call me, my number is 0761-6808-6317 (note the extra 0!).
I've been working a lot on RoadSide Software lately. I hope to bring RoadSide Software to a level where I can live from it completely (that is, as if I had a normal job).
And I went to Munich. Munich, for those of you who don't know, is Nadja's home-city. So I got to stay free at her family's appartment. The trip was also cheap because we drove with the Mitfahrgelegenheit. Literally translated that means "with-travel-opportunity". Basically, people post on the Internet where they will be driving to and where they'll be driving from and when and how many seats they have free in their car, and then other people look to see if anyone traveling to their destination at about the same time and then they call up. A normal express-train trip to Munich costs 72 euros and lasts at least 4 and a half hours. Our trip cost 15 euros (per person) and lasted 4 hours. We should have such a thing in America (we probably have such a thing, but it should be more popular. Of course, our main restriction is that we live in the suburbs, where as the Germans live in the city).
Anyhow, Munich. It was a nice city. I was only there for about 3 days (Thursday night, Friday, Saturday, Sunday until evening), but I had a really good time. I got to meet Nadja's family and see the city where she grew up. Munich is an actual big city, which is not something I'm used to. I've only been to New York less than ten times in my life, and the same for Boston. CT's largest city is smaller than Freiburg, and Munich is 5 times bigger than Freiburg (from the population. Population density is much higher in Munich, as it is Germany's most densly populated city, with 4000 people per square kilometer. New York tips the scale at 10000, and Shanghai at only 2000). Nadja's family also rents out a small plot of land right outside Munich where they can have a little bit of private property, since they live in an apartment and thus have no private land. But at the moment there really isn't much else interesting to say. Maybe I'll make myself some food. Yum.
Well, it's now been a month since I've arrived in Germany. The Euro has fallen $.07 since my arrival, but the weather has stayed about the same. But just a few more weeks and we'll start hitting spring. At the moment it's 39 degrees and the sun has nearly set. The forecast shows low to mid 40's for the rest of the week.
My language course is going well. We've gotten to the point in the course where it's pretty much 1 to 3 tests per week - but that's not too surprising considering it's a ~18 hour per week course. 4 weeks of the language course over. Just 6.5 weeks left. My birthday marks the halfway point of the course. (My birthday is Feb. 16th for those of you who care). Just for the record, I do now have an address in Germany. If you send me something, please include my name! It may not make it to me without my name. My address is:
Michael Nehring
Zimmer Nr. 3217
Kappler Str. 57
79117 Freiburg
Germany
"Zimmer Nr" means "Room number"
Note that this address will become *invalid* as of April, since they will be closing down the building which I am living in and I'll have to move into a different building (same student housing, just a different building).
My telephone number here is
011-49-761-6808-6317. If you are *inside* Germany and want to call me, my number is 0761-6808-6317 (note the extra 0!).
I've been working a lot on RoadSide Software lately. I hope to bring RoadSide Software to a level where I can live from it completely (that is, as if I had a normal job).
And I went to Munich. Munich, for those of you who don't know, is Nadja's home-city. So I got to stay free at her family's appartment. The trip was also cheap because we drove with the Mitfahrgelegenheit. Literally translated that means "with-travel-opportunity". Basically, people post on the Internet where they will be driving to and where they'll be driving from and when and how many seats they have free in their car, and then other people look to see if anyone traveling to their destination at about the same time and then they call up. A normal express-train trip to Munich costs 72 euros and lasts at least 4 and a half hours. Our trip cost 15 euros (per person) and lasted 4 hours. We should have such a thing in America (we probably have such a thing, but it should be more popular. Of course, our main restriction is that we live in the suburbs, where as the Germans live in the city).
Anyhow, Munich. It was a nice city. I was only there for about 3 days (Thursday night, Friday, Saturday, Sunday until evening), but I had a really good time. I got to meet Nadja's family and see the city where she grew up. Munich is an actual big city, which is not something I'm used to. I've only been to New York less than ten times in my life, and the same for Boston. CT's largest city is smaller than Freiburg, and Munich is 5 times bigger than Freiburg (from the population. Population density is much higher in Munich, as it is Germany's most densly populated city, with 4000 people per square kilometer. New York tips the scale at 10000, and Shanghai at only 2000). Nadja's family also rents out a small plot of land right outside Munich where they can have a little bit of private property, since they live in an apartment and thus have no private land. But at the moment there really isn't much else interesting to say. Maybe I'll make myself some food. Yum.
Germany: Two weeks down (almost). And pictures!. January 17, 2005
Hello everyone,
Well, I've now been here for about 2 weeks. I'm staying here for a total of around 80 weeks. That means it's 2.5% over. That makes 80 weeks seem short, but 80 weeks is well over a year, so it's not short!
So what's been going on?
Well, I registered myself at the city (which is not the same as getting a visa, which I have to do around April). That went really easily. I also got a bank account here. There was so much paper work. Just sheet, after sheet, after sheet.
My language course started. There are two teachers. The one teacher I had last time is excelent. The other teacher also seems to be quite nice. The topics aren't particularly challenging, and I think my German abilities are among the higher German abilities in that class (note: this isn't meant as boasting - different people are simply at different levels). The class is 3.5 hours per day, 5 days per week and also has a decent chunk of homework. It's a time-eater, but oh, well.
I've gotten to see many of my friends here in Germany. That's always fun. I haven't *done* much yet, but I haven't had a lot of playing time, since there's a lot of stuff to be organized.
On the 27th I will be heading over to Munich, to my girlfriend's family's house (well, apartment - most people don't own a house in Germany, and Munich is the most expensive city for housing in all of Germany). That'll certainly be neat.
My computer case finally came, but I haven't put it together yet. Right now my computer sitting as a bunch of pieces lying around. It's working, mind you, just not in a case. It's also really, really quiet, since the power supply has an ultra quiet fan.
Here's a picture of my computer:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P1/Computer.JPG
If you look on the window sill, you will see a bunch of computer parts lying around. That's my computer. It's functioning.
While I'm showing pictures, let me just show a random picture of my UConn dorm room.
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P1/UConnDorm.JPG
But now let me show you the view from my airplane window in the flight from Milan to Stuttgart:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P1/AlpsPlane.JPG
As you can see, we are at a low altitude there. That was the same level that we were at for the whole flight. It was absolutely cool.
Which brings me into a rant about slow public transportation. In a plane it takes 40 minutes to fly from Milan to Stuttgart, which means we also fly over Freiburg, so it's about 10 minutes from Freiburg to Stuttgart by plane. By train, the trip is 2 to 3 hours. So at least 12 times as long. By train, it takes one hour to go from Freiburg to Basel (Basel is the nearest city in Switzerland). With the busses and trams, it takes 1 hour for me to get from my apartment to my girlfriend's, which is only half way across town. I think the ideal form of transportation here in Freiburg would be a moped. A car is too big, since there is no space in Freiburg (Freiburg is an actual city), and bicycles, especially for high-speed transportation are very dangerous here. If you are riding a bicycle and there is a bicycle lane, you are required to ride in the bike lane, where there are two directions of traffic and they are both moving slowly. I fully support the use of bicycles as a common means of transportation, but they cramp my style:-).
I guess I'll post a couple more pictures, due to the general lack of words. My room:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P1/Room.JPG
The bathroom:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P1/Bathroom.JPG
The hall:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P1/Hall.JPG
And a bit of the kitchen:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P1/Kitchen.JPG
OK, I guess I can say something about my living situation. I live in a so-called WG. There are 9 other people on my floor and we all share a bathroom (2 showers, 2 toilettes, one urinal) and a kitchen (where each has a cubard and some fridge space). I have Internet in my room - unfortunantly a few things are blocked. Fortunantly, I got around the blocking. The people on my floor seem nice. Oh, yeah, I'm the only person who lives in my room. "Roommates" is a foreign concept to the Germans. They think it quite strange that two people live in the same room. This year's housing is far better than last year's (and also cheaper).
Well, I guess that's it for now. Reply if you want - it makes the board more interesting for everyone.
Archived comments:
anon:
Michael - great pictures of your room, the Alps and your computer pieces. Learning German will come in handy if any visitors from the USA drop in - you will be an invaluable translator and tour guide! 2 questions: What career/job plans do you have to make use of your new language? and, Where is the computer located that handles this site - is it in CT or Germany? Just curious. It's been snowing a lot here, lately, and it's so cold (5 Fahrenheit, tonight) my mind must be going numb. Uncle Rob
Well, I've now been here for about 2 weeks. I'm staying here for a total of around 80 weeks. That means it's 2.5% over. That makes 80 weeks seem short, but 80 weeks is well over a year, so it's not short!
So what's been going on?
Well, I registered myself at the city (which is not the same as getting a visa, which I have to do around April). That went really easily. I also got a bank account here. There was so much paper work. Just sheet, after sheet, after sheet.
My language course started. There are two teachers. The one teacher I had last time is excelent. The other teacher also seems to be quite nice. The topics aren't particularly challenging, and I think my German abilities are among the higher German abilities in that class (note: this isn't meant as boasting - different people are simply at different levels). The class is 3.5 hours per day, 5 days per week and also has a decent chunk of homework. It's a time-eater, but oh, well.
I've gotten to see many of my friends here in Germany. That's always fun. I haven't *done* much yet, but I haven't had a lot of playing time, since there's a lot of stuff to be organized.
On the 27th I will be heading over to Munich, to my girlfriend's family's house (well, apartment - most people don't own a house in Germany, and Munich is the most expensive city for housing in all of Germany). That'll certainly be neat.
My computer case finally came, but I haven't put it together yet. Right now my computer sitting as a bunch of pieces lying around. It's working, mind you, just not in a case. It's also really, really quiet, since the power supply has an ultra quiet fan.
Here's a picture of my computer:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P1/Computer.JPG
If you look on the window sill, you will see a bunch of computer parts lying around. That's my computer. It's functioning.
While I'm showing pictures, let me just show a random picture of my UConn dorm room.
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P1/UConnDorm.JPG
But now let me show you the view from my airplane window in the flight from Milan to Stuttgart:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P1/AlpsPlane.JPG
As you can see, we are at a low altitude there. That was the same level that we were at for the whole flight. It was absolutely cool.
Which brings me into a rant about slow public transportation. In a plane it takes 40 minutes to fly from Milan to Stuttgart, which means we also fly over Freiburg, so it's about 10 minutes from Freiburg to Stuttgart by plane. By train, the trip is 2 to 3 hours. So at least 12 times as long. By train, it takes one hour to go from Freiburg to Basel (Basel is the nearest city in Switzerland). With the busses and trams, it takes 1 hour for me to get from my apartment to my girlfriend's, which is only half way across town. I think the ideal form of transportation here in Freiburg would be a moped. A car is too big, since there is no space in Freiburg (Freiburg is an actual city), and bicycles, especially for high-speed transportation are very dangerous here. If you are riding a bicycle and there is a bicycle lane, you are required to ride in the bike lane, where there are two directions of traffic and they are both moving slowly. I fully support the use of bicycles as a common means of transportation, but they cramp my style:-).
I guess I'll post a couple more pictures, due to the general lack of words. My room:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P1/Room.JPG
The bathroom:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P1/Bathroom.JPG
The hall:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P1/Hall.JPG
And a bit of the kitchen:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/P1/Kitchen.JPG
OK, I guess I can say something about my living situation. I live in a so-called WG. There are 9 other people on my floor and we all share a bathroom (2 showers, 2 toilettes, one urinal) and a kitchen (where each has a cubard and some fridge space). I have Internet in my room - unfortunantly a few things are blocked. Fortunantly, I got around the blocking. The people on my floor seem nice. Oh, yeah, I'm the only person who lives in my room. "Roommates" is a foreign concept to the Germans. They think it quite strange that two people live in the same room. This year's housing is far better than last year's (and also cheaper).
Well, I guess that's it for now. Reply if you want - it makes the board more interesting for everyone.
Archived comments:
anon:
Michael - great pictures of your room, the Alps and your computer pieces. Learning German will come in handy if any visitors from the USA drop in - you will be an invaluable translator and tour guide! 2 questions: What career/job plans do you have to make use of your new language? and, Where is the computer located that handles this site - is it in CT or Germany? Just curious. It's been snowing a lot here, lately, and it's so cold (5 Fahrenheit, tonight) my mind must be going numb. Uncle Rob
Germany: The trip. January 5, 2005
Hi,
It's been a while since I've writen. I am now in Germany, at the moment in Nadja's apartment enjoying her fine wireless DSL (and yes, Blin, it is password protected).
Just so you know, I did graduate. I now have a bachelors in math. At the moment, I am registered as a "German Major".
So... The trip. We drove up to Boston without event. Then we got to Boston. First, my bags weighed about 60 pounds each. So we get in the Delta line, since our tickets were Delta tickets. After getting to the front of the Delta line after 30 minutes, the lady tells us that our flight is operated by Alitalia, so we must go to the Alitalia check-in place, which just happens to be in another terminal. So we go off to the other terminal. There we get checked in and Nadja got them to give us seats next to each other. My baggage didn't get an oversize charge (it was technically a couple inches too big). Security wasn't that bad. We had to wait around the terminal for a while after that...
Then we suddenly hear "Final boarding call for Alitalia flight (whatever)". Final boarding call?? We hadn't heard a single inital call! We run over there just to make sure they didn't know English and were actually giving the initial boarding call. But nope, that was the final boarding call. We get on - thankfully.
The seats (or at least my seat) were pretty bad. We were in a 767, but the interior wasn't that great. My seat had the butt-dent in the wrong place, so it wasn't conformatable to sit up. I slept about an hour on the flight. The first inflight movie was "The Bourne Surpemacy". I didn't quite get the movie. I might have to watch it again. The second inflight movie was some sappy movie which I didn't watch. We arrived in Milan, Italy (as planned) and then had to go through Italian security. After that we boarded our next plane - a little puddle jumper to Stuttgart.
The flight to Stuttgart was really nice. It was a *really* low flight. You could see cars and houses the whole flight. The flight was only 40 minutes long (we had to fly over the whole of Switzerland). This also means that it takes only about 10 minutes to fly from Freiburg to Stuttgart (since we flew over Freiburg (approximately)). It takes 2-3 hours on a train. I got to see the alps. They're really cool, pointy mountains (at least where I was).
So we arrive in Stuttgart. We wait for our baggage. And then they take our flight off the baggage screen. No baggage. So we go to baggage tracking to be informed that they don't have a clue where our baggage is. They give me a little bag with a T-shirt, shaving creme, pads for my female bleeding (so it wasn't a gender-specific bag), and some other stuff. They take our address and tell us that we'll probably get the bags soon (within the next couple days).
So we take the train back to Freiburg. We had to transfer to a different train 3 times. Somewhere along the way, we decide to visit Nadja's grandparents, who live somewhat along the route, since we had a ticket which allowed for unlimited travel for up to 5 people. So in Offenburg, we got on a train to Gengenbach where her grandparents live. They were at home (we hadn't called up or anything - the visit was a complete surprise (for us as for them)). They are very nice people. I had already met them, but I hadn't really talked to them much. This time I got more of a chance to get to know them.
So we leave and go back to Freiburg. By this point it's too late to get my key for my room, so I stay the night at Nadja's place. By 10 or 11 or so I was asleep. I didn't wake up until 11 the next morning.
I then called up my peer advisor to get the key. I go over there, and we go into the secretary's office to get the key. We get the key and go up to my room. Seems nice. The current rent is 210 euros per month ($280 at the current exchange rate).
I then go back to Nadja's place where I am now.
So that's the current update.
Nadja has a friend who has a car, so we'll be taking my stuff to my place soon (hopefully). I don't have a case for my desktop computer yet, so I'm stuck with my laptop (note to those reading: I took along my desktop computer, but not the case or monitor since both take up too much room/weight. One of my friends here gave me a monitor which Nadja is holding. I recently ordered a case to Nadja's place, but it hasn't come yet).
Ok, so that's really it. Say stuff if you want.
Oh, forgot to say. The luggage came. The airport people paid a special delivery service to bring it (so it didn't come in the normal mail).
Archived comments:
anon:
Hi Michael (and Nadja), it's Uncle Rob of Westfield, New Jersey.
I liked the detail you put into your narrative about your trip to Germany. If PhD in math doesn't happen, you could be an English PhD.
I saw the Alps from a train (not a plane) in 1979 when I visited Uncle Jim in Austria. They are truly wonderous. By the way, was the flight to Stuttgart expensive? I have heard that local flights are not costly??
Well, glad you made it. I got this web address from a card your Mom sent. Apparently, with all the excitement at your house over the holidays, she didn't get around to sending Christmas cards until 2005!
Cheers.
Anna:
Glad to hear luggage finally arrived. So now you have to start some sort of music revolution with your new guitar. Or just play some songs. Either one's fine really.
Have you started language school yet?
And Uncle Rob must have a time machine, because although he claims having recieved the Christmas(/New Years?) card in 2005, he supposedly writes this note in November of 2004. Duh duh duuuuuuuh.
Anna:
Whoa whoa whoa! Apparently I have the time machine now!
mikepn:
My server date was wrong for some reason. Fix now, I think...
It's been a while since I've writen. I am now in Germany, at the moment in Nadja's apartment enjoying her fine wireless DSL (and yes, Blin, it is password protected).
Just so you know, I did graduate. I now have a bachelors in math. At the moment, I am registered as a "German Major".
So... The trip. We drove up to Boston without event. Then we got to Boston. First, my bags weighed about 60 pounds each. So we get in the Delta line, since our tickets were Delta tickets. After getting to the front of the Delta line after 30 minutes, the lady tells us that our flight is operated by Alitalia, so we must go to the Alitalia check-in place, which just happens to be in another terminal. So we go off to the other terminal. There we get checked in and Nadja got them to give us seats next to each other. My baggage didn't get an oversize charge (it was technically a couple inches too big). Security wasn't that bad. We had to wait around the terminal for a while after that...
Then we suddenly hear "Final boarding call for Alitalia flight (whatever)". Final boarding call?? We hadn't heard a single inital call! We run over there just to make sure they didn't know English and were actually giving the initial boarding call. But nope, that was the final boarding call. We get on - thankfully.
The seats (or at least my seat) were pretty bad. We were in a 767, but the interior wasn't that great. My seat had the butt-dent in the wrong place, so it wasn't conformatable to sit up. I slept about an hour on the flight. The first inflight movie was "The Bourne Surpemacy". I didn't quite get the movie. I might have to watch it again. The second inflight movie was some sappy movie which I didn't watch. We arrived in Milan, Italy (as planned) and then had to go through Italian security. After that we boarded our next plane - a little puddle jumper to Stuttgart.
The flight to Stuttgart was really nice. It was a *really* low flight. You could see cars and houses the whole flight. The flight was only 40 minutes long (we had to fly over the whole of Switzerland). This also means that it takes only about 10 minutes to fly from Freiburg to Stuttgart (since we flew over Freiburg (approximately)). It takes 2-3 hours on a train. I got to see the alps. They're really cool, pointy mountains (at least where I was).
So we arrive in Stuttgart. We wait for our baggage. And then they take our flight off the baggage screen. No baggage. So we go to baggage tracking to be informed that they don't have a clue where our baggage is. They give me a little bag with a T-shirt, shaving creme, pads for my female bleeding (so it wasn't a gender-specific bag), and some other stuff. They take our address and tell us that we'll probably get the bags soon (within the next couple days).
So we take the train back to Freiburg. We had to transfer to a different train 3 times. Somewhere along the way, we decide to visit Nadja's grandparents, who live somewhat along the route, since we had a ticket which allowed for unlimited travel for up to 5 people. So in Offenburg, we got on a train to Gengenbach where her grandparents live. They were at home (we hadn't called up or anything - the visit was a complete surprise (for us as for them)). They are very nice people. I had already met them, but I hadn't really talked to them much. This time I got more of a chance to get to know them.
So we leave and go back to Freiburg. By this point it's too late to get my key for my room, so I stay the night at Nadja's place. By 10 or 11 or so I was asleep. I didn't wake up until 11 the next morning.
I then called up my peer advisor to get the key. I go over there, and we go into the secretary's office to get the key. We get the key and go up to my room. Seems nice. The current rent is 210 euros per month ($280 at the current exchange rate).
I then go back to Nadja's place where I am now.
So that's the current update.
Nadja has a friend who has a car, so we'll be taking my stuff to my place soon (hopefully). I don't have a case for my desktop computer yet, so I'm stuck with my laptop (note to those reading: I took along my desktop computer, but not the case or monitor since both take up too much room/weight. One of my friends here gave me a monitor which Nadja is holding. I recently ordered a case to Nadja's place, but it hasn't come yet).
Ok, so that's really it. Say stuff if you want.
Oh, forgot to say. The luggage came. The airport people paid a special delivery service to bring it (so it didn't come in the normal mail).
Archived comments:
anon:
Hi Michael (and Nadja), it's Uncle Rob of Westfield, New Jersey.
I liked the detail you put into your narrative about your trip to Germany. If PhD in math doesn't happen, you could be an English PhD.
I saw the Alps from a train (not a plane) in 1979 when I visited Uncle Jim in Austria. They are truly wonderous. By the way, was the flight to Stuttgart expensive? I have heard that local flights are not costly??
Well, glad you made it. I got this web address from a card your Mom sent. Apparently, with all the excitement at your house over the holidays, she didn't get around to sending Christmas cards until 2005!
Cheers.
Anna:
Glad to hear luggage finally arrived. So now you have to start some sort of music revolution with your new guitar. Or just play some songs. Either one's fine really.
Have you started language school yet?
And Uncle Rob must have a time machine, because although he claims having recieved the Christmas(/New Years?) card in 2005, he supposedly writes this note in November of 2004. Duh duh duuuuuuuh.
Anna:
Whoa whoa whoa! Apparently I have the time machine now!
mikepn:
My server date was wrong for some reason. Fix now, I think...
Germany: Welcome! December 11, 2004
Hello everyone. Since this is the first message, I'll include some basic background here.
First, what is the point of this board? This is a "blog" (weB log) where I will posting information from my study abroad experience in Freiburg, Germany. As many of you know, I was also in Germany last year (January to August 2004). If you click the "Home Page" link, you will be able to see those forum postings. The postings on the new forum will probably be somewhat different, since my experience level is now a little more mature.
Just some technical notes. This is a public forum. Everyone is free to post. However, to post, one must register. There is a button above to register. It's simple and doesn't require any prying information. Also, your information isn't sold or given away. If you have trouble getting this to work, please contact me. You can get my email address by clicking the "Profile" button to the left.
OK, enough of that, let's cut to the chase. As of this writing, I am still in America. On December 17th, my German girlfriend Nadja will be flying to America to spend the holidays with my family (Nadja and I met during my last trip to Germany. Here is a picture:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/BF3.JPG
That's me in the middle and Nadja on the right, and our friend Inge on the left). After the turn of the new year, Nadja and I will be taking the same plane back to Stuttgart, Germany on the 3rd of January. We then will take a short train ride to Freiburg.
One might be inclined to ask what I'd be doing there (I might be inclined to answer as follows). I am a math student, and I will get my bachelors on December 19th, 2004 (that is, before I go to Germany). At that point I will reenroll as an undergraduate German major. During my stay in Germany I will take both "German" classes and math classes (of course, all classes there will have at least something to do with German, but I will be taking classes which would transfer back to the German department). I require only 6 credits to complete my German major.
During my first 3 months in Germany, I will be taking a language class, since the semester does not begin until mid April. The language class should give me 6 credits, which is all I need to complete the major. During the regular semester, I expect to be taking primarily math classes.
I will be staying in Germany for 3 semesters. After my 3 semester stay, I am planning to return to America to get a Ph.D. in math. At that point, I will have already made significant progress towards a Ph.D.
So, that's the background. I have a digital camera, so many pictures will be posted. My girlfriend comes from Munich, so I will be visiting that city, so that'll be very cool.
One quick note. Dr. Finger, a German professor at UConn, is offering a "First Year Experience" (FYE) class about German culture, and I will be acting as a correspondent in Germany. This forum will probably serve as a place of communication with those FYE students. That should certainly be neat.
Anyhow, my finals end on the 18th. I graduate on the 19th. After that I should keep this page up-to-date. Check back often. If someone sent you a complicated address, you can forget it. It's simply http://germany.michaelnehring.com.
Los geht's!
-Mike
Archived comments:
Nadja:
Also die Inge meint es ist besser, wenn wir dir auf Deutsch scheiben, dann hast Du ein bisschen was zu tun Ja, die Inge ist gerade bei mir, wir haben gerade gefrühstückt und tun es immer noch Wir haben vorher beschlossen, dass wir, wenn Du wieder da bist einmal in den Funpark gehen um abzutanzen! Natürlich freut sich die Inge auch, wenn Du wieder da bist, dann können wir endlich wieder rocken bis der Notarzt kommt ( also das hat die Inge gesagt!)
Inge: Äh, ich hoffe, dass Du schon neue Songs geschrieben hast, also ich bin ja auch gerade dabei von Queen "We will rock you" umzuschreiben auf Jesus natürlich. Natürlich wird es nicht einfach werden, aber ich hoffe, dass ich es hin bekomme. Ja, genau, richtig. ähm, ja also das mit dem Training läuft eigentlich ganz gut, ab nächstes Jahr möchte ich dreimal die Woche trainieren, wenn Du Lust und Zeit hast, dann kannst Du ja einfach mit laufen. Es gibt jetzt auch eine Homepage, da kannst Du Dich mal informieren über den Freiburger Morgenlauf, also ähm, ja, www.freiburg-morgenlauf.de, ja genau. Lach So, was gibts noch? Wie Du weisst, vielleicht, bin ich gerade dabei das Konzert von meiner Lieblingsband, Anton and the Watergirls zu managen ( digididang doo), weil das ein Typ von der Christengemeinde Freiburg sich ersteigert hat, bei E-bay, ist das nicht toll?! Und Du bist sogar dabei auf dem Konzert, genau. Der Termin steht schon fest, das ist der 19. März 2005. P.S. Falls Du eine Videokamera besitzen solltest könntest Du das Konzert mitfilmen, das fände ich ganz toll . Auf jeden Fall werde ich in das, wie soll ich sagen, ja ich steige ja ein in den Unterstützerkreis, das kostet ein bisschen Geld, aber ich habe auf jeden Fall die Möglichkeit nach dem Konzert auf die After hour Party zu gehen. Wenn Du möchtest kannst gerne für das Konzert beten, richtig. Also lieber Mike, ich wünsche Dir und Deiner Familie ähm frohe Weihnachten, ja und dass Du eine schöne Zeit mit deiner Freundin Nadja in Katze, wie? Weiss ich nicht, wie das heisst in deinem Ort halt (Connecticut) verbringst und auf jeden Fall, einen guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr. Alles Liebe, Deine Pinge fun anyone??? Geh ma auf die Homepage von den Watergirls da steht viel im Gästebuch drin also wenn da steht (1,60m) dann weist Du das ich da eingetragen habe im Gästebuch!!! Solltest Du nicht verpasst haben...www.Antonandthewatergirls.de
Ok, also jetzt von mir
Hm, also die Inge sollte Dir nicht zuviel "Alles Liebe" senden , sonst muss ich sie leider umbringen, was sehr schade wäre, weil unsere krasse Band, dann nicht mehr komplett wäre Aber ich weiss jetzt nicht wirklich was ich schreiben soll, hoffentlich musst Du nicht so schrecklich viel lernen, aber ich befürchte Du musst trotzdem ganz viel machen Armen, armer Mike Aber ich mach dafür ganz viel, dann kann ich ganz viel erzählen ALso, ich fang schonmal an damit, dass ich das Sonntagsmärchen anschaue, eigentlich sollte die Johanna ja auch noch vorbei kommen, aber ich befürchte sie ist wieder irgedwie versumpft. Tja, vielleicht klingel ich noch mal bei ihr, aber ich glaube das sind jetzt für´s erste genung sinnsolse Informationen, bis ganz bald Sehr sehr toll, dass Du bald wieder da bist!!!!
Deine Nadja
Ah ja, ich kann das Foto nicht aufmachen, leigt das an meinem Computer? Oder ist was falsch eingestellt, oder so?
mikepn:
The photo link has been updated, so it works now.
First, what is the point of this board? This is a "blog" (weB log) where I will posting information from my study abroad experience in Freiburg, Germany. As many of you know, I was also in Germany last year (January to August 2004). If you click the "Home Page" link, you will be able to see those forum postings. The postings on the new forum will probably be somewhat different, since my experience level is now a little more mature.
Just some technical notes. This is a public forum. Everyone is free to post. However, to post, one must register. There is a button above to register. It's simple and doesn't require any prying information. Also, your information isn't sold or given away. If you have trouble getting this to work, please contact me. You can get my email address by clicking the "Profile" button to the left.
OK, enough of that, let's cut to the chase. As of this writing, I am still in America. On December 17th, my German girlfriend Nadja will be flying to America to spend the holidays with my family (Nadja and I met during my last trip to Germany. Here is a picture:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/BF3.JPG
That's me in the middle and Nadja on the right, and our friend Inge on the left). After the turn of the new year, Nadja and I will be taking the same plane back to Stuttgart, Germany on the 3rd of January. We then will take a short train ride to Freiburg.
One might be inclined to ask what I'd be doing there (I might be inclined to answer as follows). I am a math student, and I will get my bachelors on December 19th, 2004 (that is, before I go to Germany). At that point I will reenroll as an undergraduate German major. During my stay in Germany I will take both "German" classes and math classes (of course, all classes there will have at least something to do with German, but I will be taking classes which would transfer back to the German department). I require only 6 credits to complete my German major.
During my first 3 months in Germany, I will be taking a language class, since the semester does not begin until mid April. The language class should give me 6 credits, which is all I need to complete the major. During the regular semester, I expect to be taking primarily math classes.
I will be staying in Germany for 3 semesters. After my 3 semester stay, I am planning to return to America to get a Ph.D. in math. At that point, I will have already made significant progress towards a Ph.D.
So, that's the background. I have a digital camera, so many pictures will be posted. My girlfriend comes from Munich, so I will be visiting that city, so that'll be very cool.
One quick note. Dr. Finger, a German professor at UConn, is offering a "First Year Experience" (FYE) class about German culture, and I will be acting as a correspondent in Germany. This forum will probably serve as a place of communication with those FYE students. That should certainly be neat.
Anyhow, my finals end on the 18th. I graduate on the 19th. After that I should keep this page up-to-date. Check back often. If someone sent you a complicated address, you can forget it. It's simply http://germany.michaelnehring.com.
Los geht's!
-Mike
Archived comments:
Nadja:
Also die Inge meint es ist besser, wenn wir dir auf Deutsch scheiben, dann hast Du ein bisschen was zu tun Ja, die Inge ist gerade bei mir, wir haben gerade gefrühstückt und tun es immer noch Wir haben vorher beschlossen, dass wir, wenn Du wieder da bist einmal in den Funpark gehen um abzutanzen! Natürlich freut sich die Inge auch, wenn Du wieder da bist, dann können wir endlich wieder rocken bis der Notarzt kommt ( also das hat die Inge gesagt!)
Inge: Äh, ich hoffe, dass Du schon neue Songs geschrieben hast, also ich bin ja auch gerade dabei von Queen "We will rock you" umzuschreiben auf Jesus natürlich. Natürlich wird es nicht einfach werden, aber ich hoffe, dass ich es hin bekomme. Ja, genau, richtig. ähm, ja also das mit dem Training läuft eigentlich ganz gut, ab nächstes Jahr möchte ich dreimal die Woche trainieren, wenn Du Lust und Zeit hast, dann kannst Du ja einfach mit laufen. Es gibt jetzt auch eine Homepage, da kannst Du Dich mal informieren über den Freiburger Morgenlauf, also ähm, ja, www.freiburg-morgenlauf.de, ja genau. Lach So, was gibts noch? Wie Du weisst, vielleicht, bin ich gerade dabei das Konzert von meiner Lieblingsband, Anton and the Watergirls zu managen ( digididang doo), weil das ein Typ von der Christengemeinde Freiburg sich ersteigert hat, bei E-bay, ist das nicht toll?! Und Du bist sogar dabei auf dem Konzert, genau. Der Termin steht schon fest, das ist der 19. März 2005. P.S. Falls Du eine Videokamera besitzen solltest könntest Du das Konzert mitfilmen, das fände ich ganz toll . Auf jeden Fall werde ich in das, wie soll ich sagen, ja ich steige ja ein in den Unterstützerkreis, das kostet ein bisschen Geld, aber ich habe auf jeden Fall die Möglichkeit nach dem Konzert auf die After hour Party zu gehen. Wenn Du möchtest kannst gerne für das Konzert beten, richtig. Also lieber Mike, ich wünsche Dir und Deiner Familie ähm frohe Weihnachten, ja und dass Du eine schöne Zeit mit deiner Freundin Nadja in Katze, wie? Weiss ich nicht, wie das heisst in deinem Ort halt (Connecticut) verbringst und auf jeden Fall, einen guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr. Alles Liebe, Deine Pinge fun anyone??? Geh ma auf die Homepage von den Watergirls da steht viel im Gästebuch drin also wenn da steht (1,60m) dann weist Du das ich da eingetragen habe im Gästebuch!!! Solltest Du nicht verpasst haben...www.Antonandthewatergirls.de
Ok, also jetzt von mir
Hm, also die Inge sollte Dir nicht zuviel "Alles Liebe" senden , sonst muss ich sie leider umbringen, was sehr schade wäre, weil unsere krasse Band, dann nicht mehr komplett wäre Aber ich weiss jetzt nicht wirklich was ich schreiben soll, hoffentlich musst Du nicht so schrecklich viel lernen, aber ich befürchte Du musst trotzdem ganz viel machen Armen, armer Mike Aber ich mach dafür ganz viel, dann kann ich ganz viel erzählen ALso, ich fang schonmal an damit, dass ich das Sonntagsmärchen anschaue, eigentlich sollte die Johanna ja auch noch vorbei kommen, aber ich befürchte sie ist wieder irgedwie versumpft. Tja, vielleicht klingel ich noch mal bei ihr, aber ich glaube das sind jetzt für´s erste genung sinnsolse Informationen, bis ganz bald Sehr sehr toll, dass Du bald wieder da bist!!!!
Deine Nadja
Ah ja, ich kann das Foto nicht aufmachen, leigt das an meinem Computer? Oder ist was falsch eingestellt, oder so?
mikepn:
The photo link has been updated, so it works now.
Germany: End of the semester. July 27, 2004
It's been a while since I've last posted. I'm really sorry. I wonder if people still come here.
Anyhow, the 23rd of July was the last day of lectures. At that point, I had finished all my graded work for all my classes except one. I've gotten 3 grades so far. A 1,0 (A+) a 1,3 (A/A+), and a 2,0 (A-). Those should theoretically all be A's back at UConn, but we'll see. My math grade hasn't come yet. I have a spoken-exam for Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the 2nd of August.
At the moment I am getting ready for Freak Stock. Freak Stock is the big (6000 people) once-per-year Jesus Freaks music fest. It goes from Wednesday until Sunday. It should be a great time.
Well, I just I'll post some general reflections on the time I've had here so far. I'm mainly doing that as a way to avoid studying for AI. Actually, I'm not quite sure what I should study for AI. The spoken test is 20 minutes. That seems a bit short to me. We'll see.
First some relfections on classes:
Pronunciation and intonation (grade 2,0): this class was so painful. Basically, it was the teacher listening to us, and then asking the others was we did wrong. If we knew, we wouldn't have been in the class!! I don't think the class helped my pronunciation. My pronunciation improved during the course of the class, but not because of the class.
Methods of Anthropology and Cultural Geography/Intercultural Communication (grade 1,3): Our graded project was a research project about intercultural communication in a grade school here in Freiburg. It was actually a pretty neat experience. So I managed to survive a masters-program social-science class. However, I found our report pretty boring. We got a near-perfect grade, but still, the first 20 pages (literally) were rather meaningless blather about diversity and how wonderful it is, and how differences cause peace (yes, all those wars were caused because the countries had so much in common. If they were only different, it would have been all good).
Aspects of Germany Society (grade 1,0): The teacher for this class was great. I learned a lot, and didn't suffer from much stress. The class was not deep, but it covered a lot of topics about German society.
Artificial Intelligence (grade not completed): This class was pretty interesting. It was an overview of many important topics in AI (searching, learning, logic, probability and other things). The class was half in English and half in German, and every lecture was video taped and put online for free download later. The teacher who taught in English had neither English nor German as his first language. His English was overall excelent (great grammar, great pronunciation, etc), but a few things bugged me. First, he used the word "like" in the only places where it doesn't work. He did the same thing with "so to say" and "kinda". Also, he used "would" in "if-sentences". But I think the Germans understood him better that way.
Differential Geometry (grade not received): This was my only math class this semester. The class was a fight and a half! The other students had 18 credit hours of analysis (I've probably had about 3 credit hours at their level of abstraction), 12 credit hours of linear algebra (I've had 3, but 3 super-high quality), 4 credit hours of algebra (me: 0), and 4 of complex analysis (me: 0). I had to learn a lot of background material to survive. I survived. I learned a lot, but the bulk of what I learned was not differential geometry (I learned a lot of that), but rather background topics. That'll all be helpful for graduate school.
Well, I have some more thoughts, especially about language. But you'll have to wait until I get back from Freak Stock.
Anyhow, the 23rd of July was the last day of lectures. At that point, I had finished all my graded work for all my classes except one. I've gotten 3 grades so far. A 1,0 (A+) a 1,3 (A/A+), and a 2,0 (A-). Those should theoretically all be A's back at UConn, but we'll see. My math grade hasn't come yet. I have a spoken-exam for Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the 2nd of August.
At the moment I am getting ready for Freak Stock. Freak Stock is the big (6000 people) once-per-year Jesus Freaks music fest. It goes from Wednesday until Sunday. It should be a great time.
Well, I just I'll post some general reflections on the time I've had here so far. I'm mainly doing that as a way to avoid studying for AI. Actually, I'm not quite sure what I should study for AI. The spoken test is 20 minutes. That seems a bit short to me. We'll see.
First some relfections on classes:
Pronunciation and intonation (grade 2,0): this class was so painful. Basically, it was the teacher listening to us, and then asking the others was we did wrong. If we knew, we wouldn't have been in the class!! I don't think the class helped my pronunciation. My pronunciation improved during the course of the class, but not because of the class.
Methods of Anthropology and Cultural Geography/Intercultural Communication (grade 1,3): Our graded project was a research project about intercultural communication in a grade school here in Freiburg. It was actually a pretty neat experience. So I managed to survive a masters-program social-science class. However, I found our report pretty boring. We got a near-perfect grade, but still, the first 20 pages (literally) were rather meaningless blather about diversity and how wonderful it is, and how differences cause peace (yes, all those wars were caused because the countries had so much in common. If they were only different, it would have been all good).
Aspects of Germany Society (grade 1,0): The teacher for this class was great. I learned a lot, and didn't suffer from much stress. The class was not deep, but it covered a lot of topics about German society.
Artificial Intelligence (grade not completed): This class was pretty interesting. It was an overview of many important topics in AI (searching, learning, logic, probability and other things). The class was half in English and half in German, and every lecture was video taped and put online for free download later. The teacher who taught in English had neither English nor German as his first language. His English was overall excelent (great grammar, great pronunciation, etc), but a few things bugged me. First, he used the word "like" in the only places where it doesn't work. He did the same thing with "so to say" and "kinda". Also, he used "would" in "if-sentences". But I think the Germans understood him better that way.
Differential Geometry (grade not received): This was my only math class this semester. The class was a fight and a half! The other students had 18 credit hours of analysis (I've probably had about 3 credit hours at their level of abstraction), 12 credit hours of linear algebra (I've had 3, but 3 super-high quality), 4 credit hours of algebra (me: 0), and 4 of complex analysis (me: 0). I had to learn a lot of background material to survive. I survived. I learned a lot, but the bulk of what I learned was not differential geometry (I learned a lot of that), but rather background topics. That'll all be helpful for graduate school.
Well, I have some more thoughts, especially about language. But you'll have to wait until I get back from Freak Stock.
Germany: My band. June 29, 2004
As the title indicates, I joined a band.
It started like this, kinda... I was at a friend's place and we were playing some sort of game. I was trying to get the German word for "br ainfreeze" (aka "the ice cream headache"). But they don't have a word for it!! Most of them aren't even aware that it exists (I drunk a ton of ice-cold Coke really quickly and got brainfreeze, so it does exist here!).
So, the next day I was at a different friend's place (however, she wa s at the original friend's place the day before). A few of us were han ging out signing songs with the guitar. I decided we needed to write a song ourselves. So I wrote a song about brainfreeze in German.
So Inge suggested that we play our song in the Jesus Freaks music pra ctice room. Shortly thereafter we decided to start our band. I think w e're called "Brainfreeze".
So, we now have two original songs, and we're working on more (includ ing parodies).
Well, what's a band without pictures? Here are some:
Ok, Inge is not the drummer, but here she is drumming:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/IngeDrums.JPG
I am the drummer, so here is a picture of me with drums (yay!):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/MeDrums.JPG
Inge is the singer, and Nadja is the guitarist/singing. Here they are :
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/IN1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/IN2.JPG
And then we had some publicity shots taken:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/BF1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/BF2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/BF3.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/BF4.JPG
So, that's our band. We're cool:-D
Archived comments:
Mom:
Cool!
I'd wondered where you found drums.
What's your other song, besides the brainfreeze one? Are you the only songwriter, or do Inge and Nadja write too? Post some lyrics or even some videos, if you can do that kind of thing on your computer. I'd like to hear you play, and I rather doubt you'll be on tour quite this distance from your home studio!
crewchild2000:
wow mike, you sure are the lady's man. you go!!
It started like this, kinda... I was at a friend's place and we were playing some sort of game. I was trying to get the German word for "br ainfreeze" (aka "the ice cream headache"). But they don't have a word for it!! Most of them aren't even aware that it exists (I drunk a ton of ice-cold Coke really quickly and got brainfreeze, so it does exist here!).
So, the next day I was at a different friend's place (however, she wa s at the original friend's place the day before). A few of us were han ging out signing songs with the guitar. I decided we needed to write a song ourselves. So I wrote a song about brainfreeze in German.
So Inge suggested that we play our song in the Jesus Freaks music pra ctice room. Shortly thereafter we decided to start our band. I think w e're called "Brainfreeze".
So, we now have two original songs, and we're working on more (includ ing parodies).
Well, what's a band without pictures? Here are some:
Ok, Inge is not the drummer, but here she is drumming:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/IngeDrums.JPG
I am the drummer, so here is a picture of me with drums (yay!):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/MeDrums.JPG
Inge is the singer, and Nadja is the guitarist/singing. Here they are :
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/IN1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/IN2.JPG
And then we had some publicity shots taken:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/BF1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/BF2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/BF3.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/BF4.JPG
So, that's our band. We're cool:-D
Archived comments:
Mom:
Cool!
I'd wondered where you found drums.
What's your other song, besides the brainfreeze one? Are you the only songwriter, or do Inge and Nadja write too? Post some lyrics or even some videos, if you can do that kind of thing on your computer. I'd like to hear you play, and I rather doubt you'll be on tour quite this distance from your home studio!
crewchild2000:
wow mike, you sure are the lady's man. you go!!
Germany: A funny end to a not so long stay. June 29, 2004
Well, a few months ago I met an American here in Germany named Taylor and we progressed to become friends. However, his time in Freiburg wa s a good deal shorter than mine, and he left for America a couple days ago.
So he had a farewell party. After the party we went back to his place , where he had a bottle of champaign which he was going to open. So, t he bottle gets opened.
Boom!
Champaign everywhere. Red champaign. White walls. Rented apartment. G ermany. Short fragement sentences. (Ok the last part didn't happen the re, but those were not complete sentences).
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/WallSekt.JPG
So, it is now 10PM Friday. Everything closes at the latest at 8PM. So , of course there is no paint. Thankfully someone that John knows had some paint. So he rode his bike off and grabbed some paint. Meanwhile the renter came along, took a look at it, laughed, and then quickly to ld us that we have to paint everything.
We got the paint and the color match was very good, and our friend Da le happened to know a bit about paint, as he was a Lowe's paint salesm an:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/DalePaint.JPG
Sadly the paint was just the slightest amount off, and the wall was j ust old and dirty enough. So we painted:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/John.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Taylor.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/DaleOmar.JPG
But in the end, the red champaign lost:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Sekt.JPG
The wall was new:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/WallNew.JPG
And we were happy:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/AfterPaint.JPG
Taylor had to leave at 5AM, so he wanted to be up before 4AM. We left his place at 2AM. I don't think he was expecting that.
So he had a farewell party. After the party we went back to his place , where he had a bottle of champaign which he was going to open. So, t he bottle gets opened.
Boom!
Champaign everywhere. Red champaign. White walls. Rented apartment. G ermany. Short fragement sentences. (Ok the last part didn't happen the re, but those were not complete sentences).
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/WallSekt.JPG
So, it is now 10PM Friday. Everything closes at the latest at 8PM. So , of course there is no paint. Thankfully someone that John knows had some paint. So he rode his bike off and grabbed some paint. Meanwhile the renter came along, took a look at it, laughed, and then quickly to ld us that we have to paint everything.
We got the paint and the color match was very good, and our friend Da le happened to know a bit about paint, as he was a Lowe's paint salesm an:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/DalePaint.JPG
Sadly the paint was just the slightest amount off, and the wall was j ust old and dirty enough. So we painted:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/John.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Taylor.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/DaleOmar.JPG
But in the end, the red champaign lost:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Sekt.JPG
The wall was new:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/WallNew.JPG
And we were happy:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/AfterPaint.JPG
Taylor had to leave at 5AM, so he wanted to be up before 4AM. We left his place at 2AM. I don't think he was expecting that.
Germany: Deutschland falls. June 29, 2004
Well, Germany lost the Fussballspiel. How sad. The first two they tie d (1-1, and 0-0) respectively, the last they lost. Now they are out.
The first two games landed like duds. If they lost, there would have been something to be upset about. If they had won, there would have be en something to celebrate. A tie leaves you with a big questionmark fe eling.
So, after the last game there was a little bit of mourning:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Weinen.JPG
But not without hope for the other team, England (note: I think she w as the only other England fan):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/EnglandSieg.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/EnglandSieg2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/EnglandSieg3.JPG
England later lost and is now out.
We then ripped Uwe out of bed:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Uwe.JPG
And covered the bed with junk:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Arena1.JPG
And we made a mess out of the kitchen:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Arena2.JPG
Then we put pieces of paper on our heads and took pictures of ourselv es because we weren't drunk (that makes sense, right? Well, in any cas e, we weren't drunk):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Stirn1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Stirn2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Stirn3.JPG
And that was our game! We lost but we played better. Grrrrr.
The first two games landed like duds. If they lost, there would have been something to be upset about. If they had won, there would have be en something to celebrate. A tie leaves you with a big questionmark fe eling.
So, after the last game there was a little bit of mourning:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Weinen.JPG
But not without hope for the other team, England (note: I think she w as the only other England fan):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/EnglandSieg.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/EnglandSieg2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/EnglandSieg3.JPG
England later lost and is now out.
We then ripped Uwe out of bed:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Uwe.JPG
And covered the bed with junk:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Arena1.JPG
And we made a mess out of the kitchen:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Arena2.JPG
Then we put pieces of paper on our heads and took pictures of ourselv es because we weren't drunk (that makes sense, right? Well, in any cas e, we weren't drunk):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Stirn1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Stirn2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics5/Stirn3.JPG
And that was our game! We lost but we played better. Grrrrr.
Germany: DEUTSCHLAND!!!! June 15, 2004
Well, tonight Deutschland (Germany:-)) is playing Holland (playing=playing soccer). The game starts in 1 hour and 45 minutes, I can already feel the tension in the air. I heard a German say something along the lines of "I don't think Holland likes us because we're so big, and they're so small, and we go on vacation there". Anyway, there seems to be a friendly (ha!) rivalry between Holland and Germany.
I'm going to a friend's place to watch the game. There will probably be a decent number of people there. Since I am an anthropologist in disguise, I'll take some pictures and take some notes.
In other news, I move back to UConn on the 28th. That gives me 18 days of free time in America, during which I will record a hardcore version of "itsy-bitsy spider". The song can be played with one chord, which makes it super-hardcore. I'll have another roommate next semester.
I think for the fall semester I will open a new forum on this message board for "Michael in America". I figure it'll be nice to have a website where I record one semester of my normal life as a college student. That will be my last semester of college in America - and hopefully my most interesting, and probably my most stressful.
Well, I'll post again later (probably tomorrow).
-Mike
I'm going to a friend's place to watch the game. There will probably be a decent number of people there. Since I am an anthropologist in disguise, I'll take some pictures and take some notes.
In other news, I move back to UConn on the 28th. That gives me 18 days of free time in America, during which I will record a hardcore version of "itsy-bitsy spider". The song can be played with one chord, which makes it super-hardcore. I'll have another roommate next semester.
I think for the fall semester I will open a new forum on this message board for "Michael in America". I figure it'll be nice to have a website where I record one semester of my normal life as a college student. That will be my last semester of college in America - and hopefully my most interesting, and probably my most stressful.
Well, I'll post again later (probably tomorrow).
-Mike
Germany: General updates. June 11, 2004
Well, I haven't posted anything in a long time, so I'll do that now.
I haven't been up to much in particular, so I'll babble for a bit.
First, I think I've pretty well decided to come back next year (come back to Germany, that is). It'll get me a good start on my graduate school, and it'll probably be my last chance to see my German friends, speak German, and see Germany for the next 2 or 3 years. I think after another 7 months (especially with what I've learned during these first 5 months), I would be able to speak nearly fluent German (that is, be able to trick a German into thinking I'm German).
Right now I am looking for a ticket back home, and I think I found one. It costs 310 Euros after tax, and will be flying out of Frankfurt at 9:45 AM on the 10th of August. I'll be back in America afternoon that same day. The 10th is a Tuesday, if anyone happens to want to throw me a huge getting-back party (hint hint:-)).
So, enough with the boring stuff. What have I been up to here? Well, recently I went up to a rich little town called "Bad Herrenalb" with the CT-BW exchange program (the program I'm in). It was an orientation for the German students, but they wanted CT students there. As an incentive, they gave us (the CT students) the whole trip for free (food, bed, travel, etc). It was the first time I ate "all you can eat" in Germany. I met some cool German students who will be studying at UConn next semester, and the German students met me (what could be cooler?). The people addressing the German students about differences in America did so in a very humorous manner.
I was talking to a couple of my German friends about hair cutting. I didn't know a specific word for an electric razor. I could have easily compounded a couple words to make a realistic (and probably correct) word, but I choose not to. I described the device as a "bzzzzz" (and showed the associated hand movement). Then I asked the Germans if the word was masculine, feminine, or neutral, and they both agreed that the word was definitely masculine. (Note: German genders are far more complicated than Spanish genders, where it's nearly 100% certain).
Update!! Well, instead of going back up a few lines to change the old information, I'll put it here. I just bought my airplane ticket. I leave Frankfurt at 9:45 on the Tuesday, the 10th of August, land in Kopenhagen at 11:05, leave there an hour later, then arrive in New York at 2:30 that afternoon. I'm still open for big parties to welcome me back.
If anyone cares, I am starting a website for English speakers learning German. The site can be found at http://www.learndeutsch.com. I've actually found out some interesting stuff.
Well, I don't have much more to say, and I have some homework.
Bye for now.
Archived comments:
Mom:
Jonathan and I just got to a dialogue in our German lessons in which someone is trying to exchange an electric razor - "einen Rasierapparat", according to the book - because it is "nur fur 220 Volt" and he wants one "auch fur 110 Volt". (Yes, I know "fur" is spelled with an umlaut; what I don't know is where to find the extra characters).
We're looking forward to seeing you in 59 days! Which airport in New York?
mikepn:
If you want to write something without an umlaut, and don't have an umlaut, simply write the base vowel with an e after it. So für is fuer. This also applies to websites, etc. If you want the ß, that's simply a ss. (Note: the ß actually produces an "s" sound, whereas "s" is much more like a z. A z is a lot like a ts. There will be far more pronunciation tips once I get my pronunciation section of my website up).
I'm actually flying into Newark (so not into New York itself). I guess Newark gets searched along with the rest of "New York" (I tried to keep the options as flexible as possible to get a cheap ticket. The ticket for the second Germany-mission will be much cheaper alltogether).
I haven't been up to much in particular, so I'll babble for a bit.
First, I think I've pretty well decided to come back next year (come back to Germany, that is). It'll get me a good start on my graduate school, and it'll probably be my last chance to see my German friends, speak German, and see Germany for the next 2 or 3 years. I think after another 7 months (especially with what I've learned during these first 5 months), I would be able to speak nearly fluent German (that is, be able to trick a German into thinking I'm German).
Right now I am looking for a ticket back home, and I think I found one. It costs 310 Euros after tax, and will be flying out of Frankfurt at 9:45 AM on the 10th of August. I'll be back in America afternoon that same day. The 10th is a Tuesday, if anyone happens to want to throw me a huge getting-back party (hint hint:-)).
So, enough with the boring stuff. What have I been up to here? Well, recently I went up to a rich little town called "Bad Herrenalb" with the CT-BW exchange program (the program I'm in). It was an orientation for the German students, but they wanted CT students there. As an incentive, they gave us (the CT students) the whole trip for free (food, bed, travel, etc). It was the first time I ate "all you can eat" in Germany. I met some cool German students who will be studying at UConn next semester, and the German students met me (what could be cooler?). The people addressing the German students about differences in America did so in a very humorous manner.
I was talking to a couple of my German friends about hair cutting. I didn't know a specific word for an electric razor. I could have easily compounded a couple words to make a realistic (and probably correct) word, but I choose not to. I described the device as a "bzzzzz" (and showed the associated hand movement). Then I asked the Germans if the word was masculine, feminine, or neutral, and they both agreed that the word was definitely masculine. (Note: German genders are far more complicated than Spanish genders, where it's nearly 100% certain).
Update!! Well, instead of going back up a few lines to change the old information, I'll put it here. I just bought my airplane ticket. I leave Frankfurt at 9:45 on the Tuesday, the 10th of August, land in Kopenhagen at 11:05, leave there an hour later, then arrive in New York at 2:30 that afternoon. I'm still open for big parties to welcome me back.
If anyone cares, I am starting a website for English speakers learning German. The site can be found at http://www.learndeutsch.com. I've actually found out some interesting stuff.
Well, I don't have much more to say, and I have some homework.
Bye for now.
Archived comments:
Mom:
Jonathan and I just got to a dialogue in our German lessons in which someone is trying to exchange an electric razor - "einen Rasierapparat", according to the book - because it is "nur fur 220 Volt" and he wants one "auch fur 110 Volt". (Yes, I know "fur" is spelled with an umlaut; what I don't know is where to find the extra characters).
We're looking forward to seeing you in 59 days! Which airport in New York?
mikepn:
If you want to write something without an umlaut, and don't have an umlaut, simply write the base vowel with an e after it. So für is fuer. This also applies to websites, etc. If you want the ß, that's simply a ss. (Note: the ß actually produces an "s" sound, whereas "s" is much more like a z. A z is a lot like a ts. There will be far more pronunciation tips once I get my pronunciation section of my website up).
I'm actually flying into Newark (so not into New York itself). I guess Newark gets searched along with the rest of "New York" (I tried to keep the options as flexible as possible to get a cheap ticket. The ticket for the second Germany-mission will be much cheaper alltogether).
Germany: Ich bin wieder da (I'm back). May 22, 2004
Well, my server crashed hard. The OS refused to boot up, so they had to toss in a new hard-drive, messing everything up. Thankfully the old hard drive is still in fine shape, so I can copy the files from the old hard drive into the new. As you can see, none of my entries were lost. Yay!
Well everything still goes in Germany. My math class requires way more background than what I have, but I'm going to plow through nonetheless. I'll probably be meeting someone to help me catch up on the things I don't know (it's better getting a person to help you than trying to find it in a book, as the lectures here don't really seem to relate closely to any books).
My AI class is a lot of fun, as expected. The new exercise sheet came out today and now has some real problems on it (the exercise sheets are optional, but you get bonus points, and it helps to learn). I have to write a search algorithm or two in Java. I'm only partially fluent in Java, but I should be able to figure it out.
My class in English turned out to be much more interesting than expected. The class is called something like "Methods of Anthropology and Cultural Geography" or something like that. The course is aimed at first year grad students in a fairly specific international-studies program. However, what we get to do is actually go out and do a study here in Freiburg. We will be studying "internation communication in the field of education". So we will probably actually be going out to schools to observe and to interact with the kids. I think that's so cool.
In my DAF class our entire grade is based on a project. The project is due in 9 days. Then we're done with the grade part of the class, and we get to kick back and learn. Cool, huh?
In the mean time, I found a German TTS (Text-To-Speech) program. Hopefully I will be able to use it to help me improve my vocabulary and pronunciation. I still can't get the "r" quite right. I heard a German today who rolled her r's so much. It was so cool. I could probably roll my r's as much as she does, but I find it hard to roll them, but only a little (which is more normal). The normal German roll is located back in the throat, and seems to really only have 2 "bumps" (trying doing a really long rolled "r". Every time your tounge bounces I would consider a bump).
About my previous post about my new computer program. So far I have analyzed about 200,000 words from chat room conversations. I think 1,000,000 would be a nice goal. I also downloaded the Bible in German and analyzed that. I've started going through the list, and adding the words I don't know to my "to learn" list.
It would be neat to be fluent in a foreign language. But there's just so many words. First let me explain something. The church I go to was started by American missionaries to Germany (I think Germany also sends missionaries to America). Both the pastors are American, and so they preach in English. But we're in Germany, and Germans live in Germany (woah dude, why didn't my study abroad program warn me?!?). So, the entire service is translated in real time by a person. So the pastor will say a sentence or two, and the the translator will say the same thing in German. The sermons also seem to be formulated on the spot. It's clearly pre-thought-out, but the pastor doesn't seem to read from a sheet of paper. During one sermon the pastor said the word "blindfold", which the translator was able to translate.
But what kind of a word is "blindfold"?? Everyone with English as a first language knows what it is, but what are the odds that you actually learn that word in a foreign language? It's so random!! I've realized more and more how many random English words I know. I've probably only heard them a few times in my life, but I know what they mean.
Which also brings me to the question of how I learn new English words. I really don't look in the dictionary very much, except when I come across a funny word (actually, I look in the online dictionary a lot, but that's beside the point. We'll not really. Whatever). How do I learn new words? I just kinda pick them up, which is cool.
What I find cool is when I say I word in German which I never had explained to me, and that I never translated. I haven't done that much, but whenever it happens it's neat. I just hope that I apply it correctly, as I don't actually try to use such words, they just come out.
Well, I've yacked on for a while (what kind of a word is "to yack on"?). Anyway, I'll post some pictures soon. Maybe I'll take some pictures of my Freiburg Family at the Family Meeting (the Jesus Freaks in Freiburg is my Freiburg family).
Well, I am off.
-Mikel
Archived comments:
Jarednuss:
HAHA you will never escape geography!!!!!!!!! Good to see your taking a class with my kind of leaning, though i could never even dream off taking one of your type of classes. And with the news that our roommate next semester being Meng Chen i am sort of fearing that there will be a whole lot of math being discussed in our room!!!
Well everything still goes in Germany. My math class requires way more background than what I have, but I'm going to plow through nonetheless. I'll probably be meeting someone to help me catch up on the things I don't know (it's better getting a person to help you than trying to find it in a book, as the lectures here don't really seem to relate closely to any books).
My AI class is a lot of fun, as expected. The new exercise sheet came out today and now has some real problems on it (the exercise sheets are optional, but you get bonus points, and it helps to learn). I have to write a search algorithm or two in Java. I'm only partially fluent in Java, but I should be able to figure it out.
My class in English turned out to be much more interesting than expected. The class is called something like "Methods of Anthropology and Cultural Geography" or something like that. The course is aimed at first year grad students in a fairly specific international-studies program. However, what we get to do is actually go out and do a study here in Freiburg. We will be studying "internation communication in the field of education". So we will probably actually be going out to schools to observe and to interact with the kids. I think that's so cool.
In my DAF class our entire grade is based on a project. The project is due in 9 days. Then we're done with the grade part of the class, and we get to kick back and learn. Cool, huh?
In the mean time, I found a German TTS (Text-To-Speech) program. Hopefully I will be able to use it to help me improve my vocabulary and pronunciation. I still can't get the "r" quite right. I heard a German today who rolled her r's so much. It was so cool. I could probably roll my r's as much as she does, but I find it hard to roll them, but only a little (which is more normal). The normal German roll is located back in the throat, and seems to really only have 2 "bumps" (trying doing a really long rolled "r". Every time your tounge bounces I would consider a bump).
About my previous post about my new computer program. So far I have analyzed about 200,000 words from chat room conversations. I think 1,000,000 would be a nice goal. I also downloaded the Bible in German and analyzed that. I've started going through the list, and adding the words I don't know to my "to learn" list.
It would be neat to be fluent in a foreign language. But there's just so many words. First let me explain something. The church I go to was started by American missionaries to Germany (I think Germany also sends missionaries to America). Both the pastors are American, and so they preach in English. But we're in Germany, and Germans live in Germany (woah dude, why didn't my study abroad program warn me?!?). So, the entire service is translated in real time by a person. So the pastor will say a sentence or two, and the the translator will say the same thing in German. The sermons also seem to be formulated on the spot. It's clearly pre-thought-out, but the pastor doesn't seem to read from a sheet of paper. During one sermon the pastor said the word "blindfold", which the translator was able to translate.
But what kind of a word is "blindfold"?? Everyone with English as a first language knows what it is, but what are the odds that you actually learn that word in a foreign language? It's so random!! I've realized more and more how many random English words I know. I've probably only heard them a few times in my life, but I know what they mean.
Which also brings me to the question of how I learn new English words. I really don't look in the dictionary very much, except when I come across a funny word (actually, I look in the online dictionary a lot, but that's beside the point. We'll not really. Whatever). How do I learn new words? I just kinda pick them up, which is cool.
What I find cool is when I say I word in German which I never had explained to me, and that I never translated. I haven't done that much, but whenever it happens it's neat. I just hope that I apply it correctly, as I don't actually try to use such words, they just come out.
Well, I've yacked on for a while (what kind of a word is "to yack on"?). Anyway, I'll post some pictures soon. Maybe I'll take some pictures of my Freiburg Family at the Family Meeting (the Jesus Freaks in Freiburg is my Freiburg family).
Well, I am off.
-Mikel
Archived comments:
Jarednuss:
HAHA you will never escape geography!!!!!!!!! Good to see your taking a class with my kind of leaning, though i could never even dream off taking one of your type of classes. And with the news that our roommate next semester being Meng Chen i am sort of fearing that there will be a whole lot of math being discussed in our room!!!
Germany: Meet my family (pictures!!). May 16, 2004
Well, you finally get to meet my Freak Family from Freiburg. These are some pictures from my good friends (actually my family), the Jesus Freaks.
I'll start with the blury picture. This is Johannes and Simon jamming on guitar. There is a saying in German "Jeder Christ, ein Guitarist" (Every Christian, a guitarist)
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Jamming.JPG
Ok, well, later that night I was at the apartment of "Die Katholichen Schwestern" (the catholic sisters). We watched "The Royal Family Tennenbaum" in German, and they we decided to play a game. The game basically went like this: there are two people standing up front, and they act out a scene with body language and spoken language. Then someone in the audience claps, the actors freeze, the person who claped goes up and replaces one of the actors (and freezes in the same position), and the scene changes. So I took some pictures of that. I'm not sure if I'll be able to explain everything.
Anna (right) and Marika (left) are arguing about something, but I can't remember what:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game1.JPG
Angie (left. I think I have her name right, but I could be totally off. It's late) and Inge (right) are talking about something, but again, I forget what:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game2.JPG
Ok, I think Johannes (right) is some sort of spiritual advisor, and Angie is getting advice:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game3.JPG
I think Johannes is a beggar asking for D-Marks, only to find out from Titus (left) that the currency is now called the "Euro".
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game4.JPG
Florian (right) is giving Titus Yoga lessons:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game5.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game6.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game7.JPG
And Anna took over Florian's job and is dancing around:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game8.JPG
And Marika walks on as Titus walks off:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game9.JPG
Marika and Anna:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game10.JPG
Titus frozen:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game11.JPG
Flo and Angie are apes, and Flo is eating out of Angie's hair:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game12.JPG
Flo and Johannes (hard to see) are rock stars. Marika is in the way, but she can be a rock star too!
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game13.JPG
Johannes is a bull fighter. The bull (Anna) is out of the picture to the left:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game14.JPG
Anna charged and won!
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game15.JPG
Marika and Titus are doing something:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game16.JPG
(Ooops, I forgot to shrink this pictures)
Franz (left) and Titus are talking about something, probably marraige:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game17.JPG
Now Flo and Titus are talking about something. Now I know they are talking about marriage:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game18.JPG
And I know that because Titus agreed to marry Flo:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game19.JPG
Angie and Anna are doing something:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game20.JPG
Flo and Anna:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game21.JPG
Inge and Anna:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game22.JPG
And they danced:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game23.JPG
Speaking of dancing, a week or two later I was at Maria's birthday party. There was a cool pair of sunglasses that Maria got as a birthday gift. We tried them on:
Here is Maria:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Glasses1.JPG
Inge:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Glasses2.JPG
Simon (he's going to be a doctor, by the way. The one to the left is Simon's wife, Carina):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Glasses3.JPG
Inge again:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Glasses4.JPG
Lotz:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Glasses5.JPG
A different Simon (his girlfriend is named Carina, which is strange, because the other Simon's wife is named Carina):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Glasses6.JPG
And I come in peace:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Peace.JPG
A couple nights before, Nadja, Inge, Jana and I watched Pulp Fiction. There is a scene were the two of the main characters are dancing. I think it was twist dancing, or something like that. Anyway, Nadja brought along the sound track to Pulp Fiction, and it came to that song. Somehow I ended on the dance floor with Inge doing twist to Pulp Fiction music (I can't dance, by the way).
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/PulpFictionDancing2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/PulpFictionDancing3.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/PulpFictionDancing4.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/PulpFictionDancing5.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/PulpFictionDancing6.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/PulpFictionDancing7.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/PulpFictionDancing8.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/PulpFictionDancing1.JPG
And finally, to make sure you come back, here is a wonderful picture: http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/SexyLegs.JPG
Well, that's it for now.
-Mike
I'll start with the blury picture. This is Johannes and Simon jamming on guitar. There is a saying in German "Jeder Christ, ein Guitarist" (Every Christian, a guitarist)
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Jamming.JPG
Ok, well, later that night I was at the apartment of "Die Katholichen Schwestern" (the catholic sisters). We watched "The Royal Family Tennenbaum" in German, and they we decided to play a game. The game basically went like this: there are two people standing up front, and they act out a scene with body language and spoken language. Then someone in the audience claps, the actors freeze, the person who claped goes up and replaces one of the actors (and freezes in the same position), and the scene changes. So I took some pictures of that. I'm not sure if I'll be able to explain everything.
Anna (right) and Marika (left) are arguing about something, but I can't remember what:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game1.JPG
Angie (left. I think I have her name right, but I could be totally off. It's late) and Inge (right) are talking about something, but again, I forget what:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game2.JPG
Ok, I think Johannes (right) is some sort of spiritual advisor, and Angie is getting advice:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game3.JPG
I think Johannes is a beggar asking for D-Marks, only to find out from Titus (left) that the currency is now called the "Euro".
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game4.JPG
Florian (right) is giving Titus Yoga lessons:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game5.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game6.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game7.JPG
And Anna took over Florian's job and is dancing around:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game8.JPG
And Marika walks on as Titus walks off:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game9.JPG
Marika and Anna:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game10.JPG
Titus frozen:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game11.JPG
Flo and Angie are apes, and Flo is eating out of Angie's hair:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game12.JPG
Flo and Johannes (hard to see) are rock stars. Marika is in the way, but she can be a rock star too!
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game13.JPG
Johannes is a bull fighter. The bull (Anna) is out of the picture to the left:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game14.JPG
Anna charged and won!
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game15.JPG
Marika and Titus are doing something:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game16.JPG
(Ooops, I forgot to shrink this pictures)
Franz (left) and Titus are talking about something, probably marraige:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game17.JPG
Now Flo and Titus are talking about something. Now I know they are talking about marriage:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game18.JPG
And I know that because Titus agreed to marry Flo:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game19.JPG
Angie and Anna are doing something:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game20.JPG
Flo and Anna:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game21.JPG
Inge and Anna:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game22.JPG
And they danced:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Game23.JPG
Speaking of dancing, a week or two later I was at Maria's birthday party. There was a cool pair of sunglasses that Maria got as a birthday gift. We tried them on:
Here is Maria:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Glasses1.JPG
Inge:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Glasses2.JPG
Simon (he's going to be a doctor, by the way. The one to the left is Simon's wife, Carina):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Glasses3.JPG
Inge again:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Glasses4.JPG
Lotz:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Glasses5.JPG
A different Simon (his girlfriend is named Carina, which is strange, because the other Simon's wife is named Carina):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Glasses6.JPG
And I come in peace:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Peace.JPG
A couple nights before, Nadja, Inge, Jana and I watched Pulp Fiction. There is a scene were the two of the main characters are dancing. I think it was twist dancing, or something like that. Anyway, Nadja brought along the sound track to Pulp Fiction, and it came to that song. Somehow I ended on the dance floor with Inge doing twist to Pulp Fiction music (I can't dance, by the way).
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/PulpFictionDancing2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/PulpFictionDancing3.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/PulpFictionDancing4.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/PulpFictionDancing5.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/PulpFictionDancing6.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/PulpFictionDancing7.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/PulpFictionDancing8.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/PulpFictionDancing1.JPG
And finally, to make sure you come back, here is a wonderful picture: http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/SexyLegs.JPG
Well, that's it for now.
-Mike
Germany: Meet the neighboring town (pictures!). May 16, 2004
Well, a few weeks ago I decided to jump the border and head to France . Where they speak French. Well, I went there with an American friend named Taylor (who's do an intership here in Freiburg. Before December he couldn't speak a word of German, and he came here on a last-second offer! He wasn't expecting to go to Germany.).
So, Colmar is touristy and French. So we toured France. French is rel atively easy to read, because many English words come from French, but it is impossible to understand, but the entire sentence is one long w ord.
To show you how touristy it was, they ran tour boats town a little ri ver, and they called it "Little Venice".
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Boat.JPG
Or you could ride the high-speed French trains (assuming they aren't on strike):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Train1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Train2.JPG
And there were some pretty plants hanging around, if you're intereste d in that:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Flowers.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Trees.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Trees2.JPG
Or you can look at the fountains:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Fountain1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Fountain2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Fountain3.JPG
I think we took this word from the French language:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/InService.JPG
However, I think American service is still decades ahead of pretty mu ch anywhere else, as we really don't have any resources, so the only t he we have to sell is service.
Here is a picture of Taylor:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Taylor.JPG
And a picture of Taylor taking a picture:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Picture.JPG
Here is the river without the boat:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/River1.JPG
Or you can go to the fair:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/RoundAndRound.JPG
But I made a good decision. The decision was to stay dehydrated. Why would that be good? Because you have to pay to use the bathroom! This woman here is putting some money into the machine for her and her kid. http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Toilette.JPG
Well, that was the fine city of Colmar. We stayed 4 or 5 hours, and t he travel cost 6 Euros for the both of us (however, we already had a r egion ticket, so it would have been more).
Well, one more post...
So, Colmar is touristy and French. So we toured France. French is rel atively easy to read, because many English words come from French, but it is impossible to understand, but the entire sentence is one long w ord.
To show you how touristy it was, they ran tour boats town a little ri ver, and they called it "Little Venice".
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Boat.JPG
Or you could ride the high-speed French trains (assuming they aren't on strike):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Train1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Train2.JPG
And there were some pretty plants hanging around, if you're intereste d in that:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Flowers.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Trees.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Trees2.JPG
Or you can look at the fountains:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Fountain1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Fountain2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Fountain3.JPG
I think we took this word from the French language:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/InService.JPG
However, I think American service is still decades ahead of pretty mu ch anywhere else, as we really don't have any resources, so the only t he we have to sell is service.
Here is a picture of Taylor:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Taylor.JPG
And a picture of Taylor taking a picture:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Picture.JPG
Here is the river without the boat:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/River1.JPG
Or you can go to the fair:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/RoundAndRound.JPG
But I made a good decision. The decision was to stay dehydrated. Why would that be good? Because you have to pay to use the bathroom! This woman here is putting some money into the machine for her and her kid. http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Toilette.JPG
Well, that was the fine city of Colmar. We stayed 4 or 5 hours, and t he travel cost 6 Euros for the both of us (however, we already had a r egion ticket, so it would have been more).
Well, one more post...
Germany: Meet my roommates. May 16, 2004
Well, as promised, I have pictures. So, I will do this in 3 or 4 part s, as there are really 3 or 4 sets of pictures.
Ok, so I'll start with my "roommates". They don't actually live in th e same room, but on the same floor. However, the standard translation of "Mitbewohner" is "Roommate".
Today we just had a WG Essen (floor meal), and so we took a couple pi ctures.
Here is Michael (the first Michael):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Michael.JPG
Here is Michael (the third Michael):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Mike.JPG
Here is MorningStar and Michael (MorningStar is her actual name, by t he way):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/YouCantSeeMe.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/NowYouCan.JPG
Here is Raphael (and you can see Katarina in the background):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Raphael.JPG
Here is Thomas and Zari:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/ThomasZari.JPG
And finally me, nicknamed "Nummer Zwei" (number 2. There is no funny bathroom joke with the word "number 2" in German. The German word is " big business" and "little business", that is "grosses Geschaeft" and " kleines Geschaeft".):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Feuer.JPG
So, that was our meal, and those are my floormates.
Ok, so I'll start with my "roommates". They don't actually live in th e same room, but on the same floor. However, the standard translation of "Mitbewohner" is "Roommate".
Today we just had a WG Essen (floor meal), and so we took a couple pi ctures.
Here is Michael (the first Michael):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Michael.JPG
Here is Michael (the third Michael):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Mike.JPG
Here is MorningStar and Michael (MorningStar is her actual name, by t he way):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/YouCantSeeMe.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/NowYouCan.JPG
Here is Raphael (and you can see Katarina in the background):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Raphael.JPG
Here is Thomas and Zari:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/ThomasZari.JPG
And finally me, nicknamed "Nummer Zwei" (number 2. There is no funny bathroom joke with the word "number 2" in German. The German word is " big business" and "little business", that is "grosses Geschaeft" and " kleines Geschaeft".):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics4/Feuer.JPG
So, that was our meal, and those are my floormates.
Germany: Serious work and goofing around. May 16, 2004
Well, I haven't posted in a while, so I think I'll post again.
I will have pictures very soon, maybe later tonight. Some of them are really great. Some of them have great stories to go with them, but I'm not going to post the stories until I post the pictures, so you'd better come back later!!
Well, I think I might be starting to make some headway in Differential Geometry. Basically, the other students have had about a billion credit hours of abstract math, and I've had 9 hours. (A billion is closer to 20 or 30). My homework sheet is due Friday. I still didn't have it done Thursday, so I promised myself that I would buy me a Doener Kebap if I got my homework done before 8. I finished at 5:-). I was sitting in the math library with about 3 books, tuns of sheets of paper, and my laptop computer, which had about 20 math related sites open. I hope to have all my homework apart from math homework finished later today (Sunday), then I can spend the rest of the week in the math library. I wish they had wireless access in the math library.
Hey, I said wireless access... Yes, I have wireless Internet access at the University! I bought myself a 35 Euro wireless network card, and now I have Internet access on MY computer!! Finally! Some of you may have noticed that my old screen name is back online. That is the reason. I can get Internet in the Library, in the Geography building (where a math class meets) and in the Informatik (Computer Science) department. Yay.
Anyway, after church today I caught up with Nadja (the German version of "Nadia", and it's pronunced almost identical) and a few other Freaks (Inge, Oliver, and Susanne, I think). We went into the city park, and played kids games like the German version of "Duck-Duck-Goose". Then we did some acrobatics, which mainly involved Inge and Nadja making cool graceful movements, and then me and Oliver falling over. After that we headed back toward the city center, and there was a street performer playing a violin, so we stopped and just started Waltzing in the middle of the city center. Tourists were taking pictures. I can't dance Waltz (or anything for that matter... More dancing in the next post), but I danced anyway.
Hmmmm. I think for more stories, I need pictures.
Just some quick language updates. Well, as I said before, my ability to understand in the classroom is nearly 100%. It's amazing what a limited vocabulary is used for lecturing in a specific topic. The same words are used over and over again. So, the main project now is speaking, and still learning the everyday language. I found a German TTS SDK (Text-To-Speech Software-Development-Kit), so I am going to integrate that into my vocab training software. So every time I type a word, it will read it outload to me. Hopefully that will help my pronunciation. I really need to work on my "r".
Anyway, more later. Now I gotta clean the kitchen.
Tschuess!
-Mikel
I will have pictures very soon, maybe later tonight. Some of them are really great. Some of them have great stories to go with them, but I'm not going to post the stories until I post the pictures, so you'd better come back later!!
Well, I think I might be starting to make some headway in Differential Geometry. Basically, the other students have had about a billion credit hours of abstract math, and I've had 9 hours. (A billion is closer to 20 or 30). My homework sheet is due Friday. I still didn't have it done Thursday, so I promised myself that I would buy me a Doener Kebap if I got my homework done before 8. I finished at 5:-). I was sitting in the math library with about 3 books, tuns of sheets of paper, and my laptop computer, which had about 20 math related sites open. I hope to have all my homework apart from math homework finished later today (Sunday), then I can spend the rest of the week in the math library. I wish they had wireless access in the math library.
Hey, I said wireless access... Yes, I have wireless Internet access at the University! I bought myself a 35 Euro wireless network card, and now I have Internet access on MY computer!! Finally! Some of you may have noticed that my old screen name is back online. That is the reason. I can get Internet in the Library, in the Geography building (where a math class meets) and in the Informatik (Computer Science) department. Yay.
Anyway, after church today I caught up with Nadja (the German version of "Nadia", and it's pronunced almost identical) and a few other Freaks (Inge, Oliver, and Susanne, I think). We went into the city park, and played kids games like the German version of "Duck-Duck-Goose". Then we did some acrobatics, which mainly involved Inge and Nadja making cool graceful movements, and then me and Oliver falling over. After that we headed back toward the city center, and there was a street performer playing a violin, so we stopped and just started Waltzing in the middle of the city center. Tourists were taking pictures. I can't dance Waltz (or anything for that matter... More dancing in the next post), but I danced anyway.
Hmmmm. I think for more stories, I need pictures.
Just some quick language updates. Well, as I said before, my ability to understand in the classroom is nearly 100%. It's amazing what a limited vocabulary is used for lecturing in a specific topic. The same words are used over and over again. So, the main project now is speaking, and still learning the everyday language. I found a German TTS SDK (Text-To-Speech Software-Development-Kit), so I am going to integrate that into my vocab training software. So every time I type a word, it will read it outload to me. Hopefully that will help my pronunciation. I really need to work on my "r".
Anyway, more later. Now I gotta clean the kitchen.
Tschuess!
-Mikel
Germany: My latest experiment. May 1, 2004
Well, I have determined that I can understand nearly 100% of what is said in my classes. I am not lacking math or computer vocabulary. The required vocab is probably less than a 1000 words for each class. I don't normally take a lot of class notes (as the notes are often just a copy of the book anyway), but I always have a notebook and pen ready to write down words I don't understand. During the first week I wrote down about 200 words. During the second, that dropped to around 50. I expect it to continue to drop until it hits around 20 per week. That's all fine and dandy because then it's easy to understand.
However, people on the street still use words I don't understand. I am in Germany and this is my perfect chance to learn German, so I have set out on a new experiment. At the moment, I have my computer listening in on 5 chat room conversations. After a period of chatting, I copy the conversation onto a text program (so far I have 25 pages of 8-point meaningless conversation). Then after collecting a couple hundred pages of conversation, I will save the file onto my camera and transfer it to my computer. On my computer I wrote a program which extracts every word from the conversation, then it builds a database showing how often each word was used. I then sort it from the most common to the least common, and translate the words I don't know.
I'll probably learn a lot of slang that I wish I never knew. But I probably will create a list of really useful words (well, the list will probably also have a few thousand meaningless screen names, but those will be easy to detect and delete).
I'll let you know the results later.
-Mikel (that is the German spelling of my name. I've spelled my name "Mike" a few times, which would not be a German spelling at all, and a couple of my friends changed that to "Michael" by tossing an "l" on the end. I have cool friends).
Archived comments:
Paula:
Hey, at least if you learn slang, you will know when someone is insulting you, and you won't just smile and look stupid.
However, people on the street still use words I don't understand. I am in Germany and this is my perfect chance to learn German, so I have set out on a new experiment. At the moment, I have my computer listening in on 5 chat room conversations. After a period of chatting, I copy the conversation onto a text program (so far I have 25 pages of 8-point meaningless conversation). Then after collecting a couple hundred pages of conversation, I will save the file onto my camera and transfer it to my computer. On my computer I wrote a program which extracts every word from the conversation, then it builds a database showing how often each word was used. I then sort it from the most common to the least common, and translate the words I don't know.
I'll probably learn a lot of slang that I wish I never knew. But I probably will create a list of really useful words (well, the list will probably also have a few thousand meaningless screen names, but those will be easy to detect and delete).
I'll let you know the results later.
-Mikel (that is the German spelling of my name. I've spelled my name "Mike" a few times, which would not be a German spelling at all, and a couple of my friends changed that to "Michael" by tossing an "l" on the end. I have cool friends).
Archived comments:
Paula:
Hey, at least if you learn slang, you will know when someone is insulting you, and you won't just smile and look stupid.
Germany: How life goes.... April 27, 2004
Well, the first week of the semester is over and the second week is now beginning. I might as well tell you some updates.
I have sadly had to drop Algebraic Topology. That is truely sad, but my background is not big enough to get what the teacher is talking about (stupid Gen Ed's keeping me from taking real classes!)
I had my first exercise session for my differential geometry class today. It was very confusing. The math wasn't confusing (a couple parts were because they were using random theorems that I hadn't seen before). What was confusing was the purpose of the meeting. We had previously received an exercise sheet with two sets of problems. One set was called "attendence problems" the other set was just regular problems. I figured that we would pass in the "attendence problems" at the exercise session.
But it wasn't like that. We came in, and sat down, and just kinda did the problems there as a grad student watched (I had already prepared all the problems beforehand). From time to time the grad student would offer tips. Then at the end of 2 hours we left. We didn't pass anything in. We just left. It was weird. I don't understand the purpose. It also seems quite out of pace with Germany's general university policies (they really couldn't care less if you come or not). This is something you have to come to, but it doesn't seem to have much of a point. I emailed the grad student (who I had met before the semester started) and maybe he'll explain the purpose.
Anyway, since I dropped topology, I decided to pick up a class on German pronunciation. I don't need the class for any requirements or anything. I missed the first class session, since I wasn't expecting to take part in it, but it begins this Thursday.
So, let's get some votes. Should I come back to Germany next spring or not? Of course, I have ultimate veto power over everything you guys say (ha ha!), but I'm still interested in hearing what you have to say.
Archived comments:
Katherine:
Well, it all depends. Are you happy in Germany? If so, I think you should go for it. The US'll always be around to bum around and go to grad school in and whatnot, assuming we don't do anything stupid and blow ourselves up, or the structure of society implodes, or anything like that. But now's the time of life to be immersing yourself in other cultures and things of that sort. Besides, there's so much more to get to know about a place than can be learned in a semester. I mean, if Germany gives you the impression of "nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there" then come back to the states. But it sounds like you're settling in pretty well, so I would say, keep going with it! Besides, we need more langauges in the family.
Mom:
Some questions: would you be an undergraduate or a graduate student at that point? That is, would you have graduated from UConn in December, and if so would you still be in Germany under UConn's auspices? If you were done with UConn, would this complicate anything? Would you be taking courses for fun & general knowledge, or towards a degree?
Katherine's right: this is a good time of life to be immersing yourself in other cultures. (Dad almost stayed on longer in Israel after his summer semester there; I've never actually asked him if he wished he'd done so.)
But that would be another semester during which you wouldn't get to drive your car or bang on your drums....
mikepn:
I would still be an undergraduate. I would reapply to UConn to persue a second undergraduate degree, so then I would be qualified for free money and whatnot.
Well, maybe I'll make friends who have drums and cars...
I have sadly had to drop Algebraic Topology. That is truely sad, but my background is not big enough to get what the teacher is talking about (stupid Gen Ed's keeping me from taking real classes!)
I had my first exercise session for my differential geometry class today. It was very confusing. The math wasn't confusing (a couple parts were because they were using random theorems that I hadn't seen before). What was confusing was the purpose of the meeting. We had previously received an exercise sheet with two sets of problems. One set was called "attendence problems" the other set was just regular problems. I figured that we would pass in the "attendence problems" at the exercise session.
But it wasn't like that. We came in, and sat down, and just kinda did the problems there as a grad student watched (I had already prepared all the problems beforehand). From time to time the grad student would offer tips. Then at the end of 2 hours we left. We didn't pass anything in. We just left. It was weird. I don't understand the purpose. It also seems quite out of pace with Germany's general university policies (they really couldn't care less if you come or not). This is something you have to come to, but it doesn't seem to have much of a point. I emailed the grad student (who I had met before the semester started) and maybe he'll explain the purpose.
Anyway, since I dropped topology, I decided to pick up a class on German pronunciation. I don't need the class for any requirements or anything. I missed the first class session, since I wasn't expecting to take part in it, but it begins this Thursday.
So, let's get some votes. Should I come back to Germany next spring or not? Of course, I have ultimate veto power over everything you guys say (ha ha!), but I'm still interested in hearing what you have to say.
Archived comments:
Katherine:
Well, it all depends. Are you happy in Germany? If so, I think you should go for it. The US'll always be around to bum around and go to grad school in and whatnot, assuming we don't do anything stupid and blow ourselves up, or the structure of society implodes, or anything like that. But now's the time of life to be immersing yourself in other cultures and things of that sort. Besides, there's so much more to get to know about a place than can be learned in a semester. I mean, if Germany gives you the impression of "nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there" then come back to the states. But it sounds like you're settling in pretty well, so I would say, keep going with it! Besides, we need more langauges in the family.
Mom:
Some questions: would you be an undergraduate or a graduate student at that point? That is, would you have graduated from UConn in December, and if so would you still be in Germany under UConn's auspices? If you were done with UConn, would this complicate anything? Would you be taking courses for fun & general knowledge, or towards a degree?
Katherine's right: this is a good time of life to be immersing yourself in other cultures. (Dad almost stayed on longer in Israel after his summer semester there; I've never actually asked him if he wished he'd done so.)
But that would be another semester during which you wouldn't get to drive your car or bang on your drums....
mikepn:
I would still be an undergraduate. I would reapply to UConn to persue a second undergraduate degree, so then I would be qualified for free money and whatnot.
Well, maybe I'll make friends who have drums and cars...
Germany: There. April 19, 2004
Well, ok, now I have taken my first day of classes. Today was Differential Geometry and DAF (German as a Foreign Language (Deutsch als Fremdsprache)). The DAF course is a basic German culture course. Ok, hopefully to make this post a little interest, or boring, I will try to describe a few things in exciting detail (now in Technocolor!)
Ok, so I woke up at 8:30AM today. The weather was nice, but chilly. I decided to delay my typical morning workout until after classes, just to make absolutely sure that I would not be late. I also didn't take a shower because I was clean from yesterday, and my hair looked cool. I also decided to ride the public transport instead of my bike, just to make sure I also knew how to get there with the public transport.
So, I got to the lecture hall way too early. About 1.5 hours early. My class was at 11:00. I walked around, and I walked over to another building to see where tomorrow's class would be. After walking around, I walked in on the previous lecture in the lecture hall at about 10:45. It was a good 300-500 person lecture hall (I would guess), and it was an intro course, so it was fairly full. The lecturer was talking on a microphone, and the students were busy making a ton of noise. Even when I was at huge lectures at UConn, people tend to keep quiet. Not here. It was a riot (at UConn we have genuine riots, but ONLY AT NIGHT! Show some dignity!).
So, the class ended, and I found myself a seat right in the front row. I figured that the classroom would fill nicely, and I would have a couple neighbors. But the lecture started at 11:15 (they always start 15 minutes late here), and I was the only one in the 20-person front row. Well, no big deal. That makes me the best student:-D.
The lecture began and it was quite easy to understand. Most math words come from Latin, and most of the Latin that you find in English, you also find in German, and vice-versa (I think English has a little more Latin than German, but that works in my favor, as I understand everything. Also, English doesn't always have a standard form for Latin, while it is quite easy to recognize a Latin word in German.). The only thing that made it hard to understand was that the room echoed a bit.
Ah, well. So, the lecture ended, and I confirmed that I could get a benoteten Schein (a graded certificate). Then I went to the Mensa to eat (Mensa=dining hall). I had Schnitzel mit Pommes. That's the Americanized version of German food. It was good and relatively cheap, and I got a lot, and a free salad to make it look less unhealtful. It wasn't as good as a Doener Kebap, but it was a euro cheaper and a whole lot more food.
Ok, then I found my next class. That class met in the Old University, which I assume is the first building (at least, the earliest one still standing, as the university is around 500 years old). It's connected to the University church. I don't know if the University church is a church anymore. Well, I got there on time (15 minutes early), and the room was already packed. Every seat but 2 taken. People kept pouring in, so people started carrying in chairs from other rooms. There is no real registration, so a unexpectedly popular class can quickly become packed. However, unregistering for a course simply involves not coming.
The course was easy to understand. The teacher was young and cool (because he lets us say "du" to him, instead of the polite "Sie"). I wonder how hard these people have to train to avoid using difficult words... It must be hard. When I speak English to a foreigner, I have to audit myself and speak slowly to avoid using complex words (complex words like "audit").
Well, that's all over now. Everything went well. Tomorrow a new class starts, and also the next day, and then also a week from Wednesday. Fun fun fun.
Bye.
-Mike
Archived comments:
Katherine:
It took me a bit of time to get the hang of speaking slowly. I guess I was subconsciously thinking that if I spoke slowly, I would be showing disrespect. But then I said to myself: Do you think people are showing you disrespect when they slow down their French or Spanish for you? No, you are happy and dance around! And so I used to be pretty good about being able to slip into slow, simple English - but I've lost the knack for it now. I'm sure it'll come back as soon as I need it
Keep posting about your classes! it sounds cool.
KN
Ok, so I woke up at 8:30AM today. The weather was nice, but chilly. I decided to delay my typical morning workout until after classes, just to make absolutely sure that I would not be late. I also didn't take a shower because I was clean from yesterday, and my hair looked cool. I also decided to ride the public transport instead of my bike, just to make sure I also knew how to get there with the public transport.
So, I got to the lecture hall way too early. About 1.5 hours early. My class was at 11:00. I walked around, and I walked over to another building to see where tomorrow's class would be. After walking around, I walked in on the previous lecture in the lecture hall at about 10:45. It was a good 300-500 person lecture hall (I would guess), and it was an intro course, so it was fairly full. The lecturer was talking on a microphone, and the students were busy making a ton of noise. Even when I was at huge lectures at UConn, people tend to keep quiet. Not here. It was a riot (at UConn we have genuine riots, but ONLY AT NIGHT! Show some dignity!).
So, the class ended, and I found myself a seat right in the front row. I figured that the classroom would fill nicely, and I would have a couple neighbors. But the lecture started at 11:15 (they always start 15 minutes late here), and I was the only one in the 20-person front row. Well, no big deal. That makes me the best student:-D.
The lecture began and it was quite easy to understand. Most math words come from Latin, and most of the Latin that you find in English, you also find in German, and vice-versa (I think English has a little more Latin than German, but that works in my favor, as I understand everything. Also, English doesn't always have a standard form for Latin, while it is quite easy to recognize a Latin word in German.). The only thing that made it hard to understand was that the room echoed a bit.
Ah, well. So, the lecture ended, and I confirmed that I could get a benoteten Schein (a graded certificate). Then I went to the Mensa to eat (Mensa=dining hall). I had Schnitzel mit Pommes. That's the Americanized version of German food. It was good and relatively cheap, and I got a lot, and a free salad to make it look less unhealtful. It wasn't as good as a Doener Kebap, but it was a euro cheaper and a whole lot more food.
Ok, then I found my next class. That class met in the Old University, which I assume is the first building (at least, the earliest one still standing, as the university is around 500 years old). It's connected to the University church. I don't know if the University church is a church anymore. Well, I got there on time (15 minutes early), and the room was already packed. Every seat but 2 taken. People kept pouring in, so people started carrying in chairs from other rooms. There is no real registration, so a unexpectedly popular class can quickly become packed. However, unregistering for a course simply involves not coming.
The course was easy to understand. The teacher was young and cool (because he lets us say "du" to him, instead of the polite "Sie"). I wonder how hard these people have to train to avoid using difficult words... It must be hard. When I speak English to a foreigner, I have to audit myself and speak slowly to avoid using complex words (complex words like "audit").
Well, that's all over now. Everything went well. Tomorrow a new class starts, and also the next day, and then also a week from Wednesday. Fun fun fun.
Bye.
-Mike
Archived comments:
Katherine:
It took me a bit of time to get the hang of speaking slowly. I guess I was subconsciously thinking that if I spoke slowly, I would be showing disrespect. But then I said to myself: Do you think people are showing you disrespect when they slow down their French or Spanish for you? No, you are happy and dance around! And so I used to be pretty good about being able to slip into slow, simple English - but I've lost the knack for it now. I'm sure it'll come back as soon as I need it
Keep posting about your classes! it sounds cool.
KN
Germany: Really almost there. April 19, 2004
Well, it's not 9:30 AM. My first German University lecture starts in 1.5 hours. I haven't bought a notebook yet, so I think I'm going to go do that right now. I'm also going to find my second classroom. They sure don't make things easy to find on this campus. By the time you guys in America are actually starting to move around at 100% mode (10AM), I'll be finishing my last class of the day (4PM).
Well, I'm off to see the wizard or cupid or whatever they have in Freiburg.
Archived comments:
crewchild2000:
Well, i was at 100% at 9:00 am, so OHHH!!!! that busts your prediction. good luck finding your class, plus buying a notebook. those note books are really sketchy deals to get. sorry for the pun. i think it's a superknowledgable cupib that knows wizardry, that's what they have in Freiburg.
Well, I'm off to see the wizard or cupid or whatever they have in Freiburg.
Archived comments:
crewchild2000:
Well, i was at 100% at 9:00 am, so OHHH!!!! that busts your prediction. good luck finding your class, plus buying a notebook. those note books are really sketchy deals to get. sorry for the pun. i think it's a superknowledgable cupib that knows wizardry, that's what they have in Freiburg.
Germany: Almost there... (Where's there?). April 15, 2004
Well, the semester starts this Monday, the 19th of April. I've pretty much selected my classes. AI, Differential Geometry, Topology, Anth, and German culture.
Today I took my bike out in an effort to actually *find* the university. The university is kinda splatted out across town. I found most of my classrooms. Well kinda. Actually, I found 1. I found 4 of the buildings. Tomorrow I'll go out again.
Well, I was talking with a German today, and the German actually thought that I was a German. My accent didn't give me away. I probably just sounded a little stoned (maybe that's why he was asking me if I had anything that he could "kiffen" (ha ha, just kidding!!)).
I've taken up the practice of sitting down in front of the TV with my laptop, and every time I don't understand a word, I write it down. Then I translate the list of words, and use my amazing vocab-building software (which I wrote) to learn the words. This method seems to be effective, as my ability to understand standard conversation is rapidly approaching the 100% level. That makes me very happy.
Well, I'll post more once I have something more to post (which will be soon).
Archived comments:
crewchild2000:
what are you doing? sitting in front of the boob-toob (i know it's spelled tube but that isn't funny) all day? you should be out FIDNING MORE classrooms of your's. lazy bum.
Mom:
Cool! I look forward to hearing what your classes are like.
Congratulations on being taken for a German! I think that's cool too.
We were at the NC Zoo yesterday, and while we were watching the monkeys a German-speaking woman and three young children were standing next to us. I could only pick up a little of what the woman was saying, but I could understand almost all of what the chattiest child - about Sarah's age - was saying. So now whereas you can understand almost all of a normal adult German conversation, I can understand almost all of a five-year-old counting the monkeys and describing what they are doing.....:)
Today I took my bike out in an effort to actually *find* the university. The university is kinda splatted out across town. I found most of my classrooms. Well kinda. Actually, I found 1. I found 4 of the buildings. Tomorrow I'll go out again.
Well, I was talking with a German today, and the German actually thought that I was a German. My accent didn't give me away. I probably just sounded a little stoned (maybe that's why he was asking me if I had anything that he could "kiffen" (ha ha, just kidding!!)).
I've taken up the practice of sitting down in front of the TV with my laptop, and every time I don't understand a word, I write it down. Then I translate the list of words, and use my amazing vocab-building software (which I wrote) to learn the words. This method seems to be effective, as my ability to understand standard conversation is rapidly approaching the 100% level. That makes me very happy.
Well, I'll post more once I have something more to post (which will be soon).
Archived comments:
crewchild2000:
what are you doing? sitting in front of the boob-toob (i know it's spelled tube but that isn't funny) all day? you should be out FIDNING MORE classrooms of your's. lazy bum.
Mom:
Cool! I look forward to hearing what your classes are like.
Congratulations on being taken for a German! I think that's cool too.
We were at the NC Zoo yesterday, and while we were watching the monkeys a German-speaking woman and three young children were standing next to us. I could only pick up a little of what the woman was saying, but I could understand almost all of what the chattiest child - about Sarah's age - was saying. So now whereas you can understand almost all of a normal adult German conversation, I can understand almost all of a five-year-old counting the monkeys and describing what they are doing.....:)
Germany: Interesting observation (perhaps). April 1, 2004
Anyway, I'm on break, so now is the real chance to learn German. By the way, in case anyone cares, I got a 1.5 on my final exam (straight transfer: A-) and a 2 for the whole class (B+). However, the grades tend to get knocked up a notch or two in transfer. Hopefully I'll be able to negotiate a better grade (in exchange for fewer credits, perhaps).
So, I decided to increase my vocabulary - the question is always: where do I get the words from? One solution is the list of commonly searched words on http://www.dict.cc. Another solution is, of course, television. So I sat in front of the tube listening for words I didn't know, and the more I listened, the more I realized that I knew most of the words already. So, my suggestion is that when you are trying to understand a foreign language, keep and pen handy to write down every word you don't know. Then you'll find that you far more words than expect.
However, I did manage to squeeze out 100 words or so. Now I gotta translate the words and learn them.
Tomorrow I'm hitting up Heidelberg, home of the oldest University in Germany (I think it was started around 1350) and home of so many tourists. I'll be visiting another CT student, and one of my former German teachers. If I don't forget my camera, there will be pictures!
Archived comments:
Anna:
I just thought of another category of vocabulary words: matematical terms. Maybe you know them all already, but if you're going to be taking math classes in German, it would probably be good to know what they're talking about.
mikepn:
Good point Anna. Actually, I started that already. Dict.cc makes its dictionary available for download, and math terms are marked with "[math.]", so I wrote a program to dig through the dictionary and dig out the math terms. I got 350 math terms without even trying:-).
One thing to note for those planning on studying sciences in Germany... Most mathematical terms, and I assume most scientific terms, seem to be Latin words (and often Greek as well), which are common to both English and German. That makes it quite easy to understand. Speaking can be a little harder, as the pronunciation is different. For example, "situation" in English is "sit you a shun". In German it is something like "sit ou aht zee own". Very easy to understand, but somethings one forgets to speak it that way.
So, I decided to increase my vocabulary - the question is always: where do I get the words from? One solution is the list of commonly searched words on http://www.dict.cc. Another solution is, of course, television. So I sat in front of the tube listening for words I didn't know, and the more I listened, the more I realized that I knew most of the words already. So, my suggestion is that when you are trying to understand a foreign language, keep and pen handy to write down every word you don't know. Then you'll find that you far more words than expect.
However, I did manage to squeeze out 100 words or so. Now I gotta translate the words and learn them.
Tomorrow I'm hitting up Heidelberg, home of the oldest University in Germany (I think it was started around 1350) and home of so many tourists. I'll be visiting another CT student, and one of my former German teachers. If I don't forget my camera, there will be pictures!
Archived comments:
Anna:
I just thought of another category of vocabulary words: matematical terms. Maybe you know them all already, but if you're going to be taking math classes in German, it would probably be good to know what they're talking about.
mikepn:
Good point Anna. Actually, I started that already. Dict.cc makes its dictionary available for download, and math terms are marked with "[math.]", so I wrote a program to dig through the dictionary and dig out the math terms. I got 350 math terms without even trying:-).
One thing to note for those planning on studying sciences in Germany... Most mathematical terms, and I assume most scientific terms, seem to be Latin words (and often Greek as well), which are common to both English and German. That makes it quite easy to understand. Speaking can be a little harder, as the pronunciation is different. For example, "situation" in English is "sit you a shun". In German it is something like "sit ou aht zee own". Very easy to understand, but somethings one forgets to speak it that way.
Germany: Pictures (including Heidelberg!). April 3, 2004
Well, I went off to Heidelberg yesterday, so now I am posting some pi ctures that I took.
Here is the castle viewed from below (the building up high):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/castle.jpg
And when you want to shoot people away from your castle:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/cannon.jpg
But it didn't keep everyone away. The French did a little damage:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/thefrench.JPG
But despite the attack, you still get a nice view of the city:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/cityview1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/cityview2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/cityview3.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/cityview4.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/cityview5.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/peoplecastle.JPG
And you could still drink your wine.
Either from your small barrel:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/wine.jpg
Or your big one:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/wine2.jpg
When you were done drinking your wine, you could kick back:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/godoflaziness.JPG
Or watch the frogs sit on top of each other:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/froggyback.JPG
Or you could just pose for a picture (left: Katalin, a former German teacher. Right: Diana, another UConn student):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/katalindiana.JPG
Or you could get back down to your nice river out of your castle and pose for another picture (same people):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/katalindiana2.JPG
Or just be a fool, like me, and stick your head in a money statue:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/tourist.jpg
While in Heidelberg, you can look at a couple fountains:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/fountain.jpg
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/fountain2.JPG
Or just look at the former German teacher's cute kid, Samuel. He's 6 and he already speaks German and English, which is pretty cool. I can' t tell if he prefers one language over another (sometimes he'll slip f rom one to the other):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/samuel.jpg
Back in Freiburg, up in the Black Forest, there is a workers' paradis e. They get to carry buckets of hot tar around:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/wokersparadise.JPG
One of them walked to far without taking a break, and is now stuck in the snow forever. Only in such a workers' paradise are people inspire d to work so hard!
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/maninsnow.JPG
Or, of course, you can look at me.
I'll either stare at you:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/stare.jpg
Or talk to a dial-tone, because no one calls me:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/dialtone.jpg
The end.
Archived comments:
Anna:
Hahaha, very amusing pictures and captions. It makes me want to come visit.
Here is the castle viewed from below (the building up high):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/castle.jpg
And when you want to shoot people away from your castle:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/cannon.jpg
But it didn't keep everyone away. The French did a little damage:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/thefrench.JPG
But despite the attack, you still get a nice view of the city:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/cityview1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/cityview2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/cityview3.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/cityview4.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/cityview5.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/peoplecastle.JPG
And you could still drink your wine.
Either from your small barrel:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/wine.jpg
Or your big one:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/wine2.jpg
When you were done drinking your wine, you could kick back:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/godoflaziness.JPG
Or watch the frogs sit on top of each other:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/froggyback.JPG
Or you could just pose for a picture (left: Katalin, a former German teacher. Right: Diana, another UConn student):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/katalindiana.JPG
Or you could get back down to your nice river out of your castle and pose for another picture (same people):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/katalindiana2.JPG
Or just be a fool, like me, and stick your head in a money statue:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/tourist.jpg
While in Heidelberg, you can look at a couple fountains:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/fountain.jpg
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/fountain2.JPG
Or just look at the former German teacher's cute kid, Samuel. He's 6 and he already speaks German and English, which is pretty cool. I can' t tell if he prefers one language over another (sometimes he'll slip f rom one to the other):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/samuel.jpg
Back in Freiburg, up in the Black Forest, there is a workers' paradis e. They get to carry buckets of hot tar around:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/wokersparadise.JPG
One of them walked to far without taking a break, and is now stuck in the snow forever. Only in such a workers' paradise are people inspire d to work so hard!
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/maninsnow.JPG
Or, of course, you can look at me.
I'll either stare at you:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/stare.jpg
Or talk to a dial-tone, because no one calls me:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics3/dialtone.jpg
The end.
Archived comments:
Anna:
Hahaha, very amusing pictures and captions. It makes me want to come visit.
Germany: Marathon. March 27, 2004
Tomorrow morning in the Freiburg marathon. I'll be running half of it (that is, a half marathon). That's a total of 21 kilometers, better known as 13.1 miles.
I kinda decided to sign up on a whim. My goal is 1:45. That's 105 minutes. Divide that by 21 kilometers, that's a kilometer every 5 minutes. Multiply by 1.6, and we get a mile every 8 minutes.
We'll see what happens. I'll probably hurt myself:-)
I'd like to comment, whoever put the marathon on the night that you loose an hour sleep? Are they crazy?
The time change happens a week earlier here in Europe, so there will be a 7 hour difference!
Not only does that mean we have to wake up early, it also means we have to run in freezing cold weather.
Well, I ran the half marathon. My total time, according to my stop-wa tch (that is, non-offcial) was 1:59:38. Pretty wimpy. However, I did a bsolutely no training for the marathon. The only thing that might coun t as training would certainly not have trained me. The day before the marathon I ran 7 kilometers (the half marathon is 21 kilometers). If I had done that on Wednesday, it might have been training, but nothing you do the day before will have a positive effect on the next day - on ly negative (as you'll still be sore).
I used my stop-watch to measure how long it took to do each 3-kilomet er stretch. My goal was 15 minutes per stretch (1:45 total), but here are the real results:
15:07
15:59
15:56
18:05
17:09
17:17
20:03 (yeah, I didn't get a second-wind at the end).
Of course, there were other factors leading to my poor performance. I didn't eat dinner the day before or breakfast the day of (ever since I got really sick in July/August 2002, sometimes my hunger will disapp ear. Sometimes for a day, sometimes for a couple weeks, and I'll drop down to a meal a day). The marathon solved my hunger problem:-)
But it was fun. It was the first marathon in Freiburg. I ran in it. Ha.
I kinda decided to sign up on a whim. My goal is 1:45. That's 105 minutes. Divide that by 21 kilometers, that's a kilometer every 5 minutes. Multiply by 1.6, and we get a mile every 8 minutes.
We'll see what happens. I'll probably hurt myself:-)
I'd like to comment, whoever put the marathon on the night that you loose an hour sleep? Are they crazy?
The time change happens a week earlier here in Europe, so there will be a 7 hour difference!
Not only does that mean we have to wake up early, it also means we have to run in freezing cold weather.
Well, I ran the half marathon. My total time, according to my stop-wa tch (that is, non-offcial) was 1:59:38. Pretty wimpy. However, I did a bsolutely no training for the marathon. The only thing that might coun t as training would certainly not have trained me. The day before the marathon I ran 7 kilometers (the half marathon is 21 kilometers). If I had done that on Wednesday, it might have been training, but nothing you do the day before will have a positive effect on the next day - on ly negative (as you'll still be sore).
I used my stop-watch to measure how long it took to do each 3-kilomet er stretch. My goal was 15 minutes per stretch (1:45 total), but here are the real results:
15:07
15:59
15:56
18:05
17:09
17:17
20:03 (yeah, I didn't get a second-wind at the end).
Of course, there were other factors leading to my poor performance. I didn't eat dinner the day before or breakfast the day of (ever since I got really sick in July/August 2002, sometimes my hunger will disapp ear. Sometimes for a day, sometimes for a couple weeks, and I'll drop down to a meal a day). The marathon solved my hunger problem:-)
But it was fun. It was the first marathon in Freiburg. I ran in it. Ha.
Germany: Language class. March 25, 2004
Well, my language class is now over - time to actually start learning German! I have a few weeks of vacation - maybe a little travel. This weekend I'm popping up to Stuttgart for a concert. Monday I register at the University and actually get a visa (which is not a credit card, by the way).
Anyway, in other news, I think I decided that I want to build a city - an entire city from the ground up. All I need is a few thousand acres of land with no one living on it, but in an area close enough to another city (so that I can leech off of that city's resources). The city will be complete with its own university. Basically, the entire city will be built with no one living there, then once I've spent a few billion dollars, it'll be move in day. Anyone want to invest?
Archived comments:
crewchild2000:
well, as long as i get an entire office building as a house, I'm in. i can contribute about 5 dollars. that good?
Anyway, in other news, I think I decided that I want to build a city - an entire city from the ground up. All I need is a few thousand acres of land with no one living on it, but in an area close enough to another city (so that I can leech off of that city's resources). The city will be complete with its own university. Basically, the entire city will be built with no one living there, then once I've spent a few billion dollars, it'll be move in day. Anyone want to invest?
Archived comments:
crewchild2000:
well, as long as i get an entire office building as a house, I'm in. i can contribute about 5 dollars. that good?
Germany: More pictures!! March 20, 2004
Ok, these are my pictures. The USB connection is working!!!!! I am in the process of FTPing the pictures over to my brother. Note the domai n name of the site you are on. It's called FTPer.com. I was planning o n making an FTP program and calling it FTPer. Maybe I should do that s ome time.
For those of you who didn't know, my brother and father came to visit me in Germany. So, the pictures with them are actual pictures from Ge rmany.
Speaking of which, here is my Dad climbing into his nice 300SL. The c ar only costs $150,000. Ok it's not his, and he's not actually getting in. Whatever:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/300sl.jpg
Ok, what sort of bathroom is that? What sort of person is that? Enoug h said:-):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Bathroom.JPG
German food, American people:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/BlinInRest.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/DadInRest.JPG
Why pay $40 for a ticket when you can get front row seats to the Blue Man Group right in the Freiburg city center?
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/BlueManGroup.JPG
Speaking of which, here's what the city center looks like at night:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/CityCenter.JPG
Here is Herr Dr.Med Nehring in a German train:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/DadInTrain.JPG
The Germans tend to be more direct than us silly Americans. But for s ome reason they speak English...:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Death.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Death2.JPG
Here are some Freaks:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Freaks1.JPG
More Freaks (with the hand of yet another Freak):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Freaks2.JPG
And the ultimate freak show of it all! Me in PANTS!:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Freaks3.JPG
Here's a road in Germany:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/GermanRoad.JPG
Here I am with my sexy 20 Euro+tip haircut. Maybe I'll grow my hair o ut and become a hippy (or a hippo. OH! I bet you didn't see that joke coming:-D (note: I know that's not funny)):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Me1.jpg
They didn't have to break it! They could have given it to me!:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Porsche1.JPG
This one they didn't break:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Porsche2.JPG
Ok, she's not technically a roommate, because we don't live in the sa me room (only the same floor). But to the Germans the idea of 2 people sharing a bedroom is crazy, so the standard translation of Mitbewohne r is "Roommate" (more litereally "with-liver". Note, this picture was taken as she was leaving back to Italy):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Roommate1.JPG
Germans like their holidays, but I guess they need to prove that they were on holiday:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/SillyGermans1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/SillyGermans2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/SillyGermans3.JPG
There is actually a UConn curse. UConn is always under construction. 3 UConn students got sent to 2 student housing complexes in Freiburg. Both weren't under construction at arrival. Both are now. Spooky, huh? :
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/construction.JPG
That looks like a nice guitar! Ok, maybe not, but 40E can't get much: http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/guitar1.jpg
Can you get motion sickness while sitting still? Well, take a look at this picture (taken from the S-Bahn as we're about to hit Paduaallee heading toward Littenweiler:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/motion.jpg
Well, that's it for now. More soon once my brother posts... I'll post more regularly now.
Respond if you feel like:-)
-Mike
Archived comments:
Katherine:
That's a great idea! I bet it doesn't say anywhere in US laws that the Surgeon General's Warning has to be in English. In fact, you could probably name a brand of cigarettes "Horrible Death" in German, and market them to Americans. How do you say "Horrible Death" in German, anyway?
How's the guitar?
That is a sweet SL. I think you should mail me one. Oh, wait, I'm going to be in Benin. Hey, how long would it take you to travel to France?
For those of you who didn't know, my brother and father came to visit me in Germany. So, the pictures with them are actual pictures from Ge rmany.
Speaking of which, here is my Dad climbing into his nice 300SL. The c ar only costs $150,000. Ok it's not his, and he's not actually getting in. Whatever:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/300sl.jpg
Ok, what sort of bathroom is that? What sort of person is that? Enoug h said:-):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Bathroom.JPG
German food, American people:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/BlinInRest.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/DadInRest.JPG
Why pay $40 for a ticket when you can get front row seats to the Blue Man Group right in the Freiburg city center?
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/BlueManGroup.JPG
Speaking of which, here's what the city center looks like at night:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/CityCenter.JPG
Here is Herr Dr.Med Nehring in a German train:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/DadInTrain.JPG
The Germans tend to be more direct than us silly Americans. But for s ome reason they speak English...:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Death.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Death2.JPG
Here are some Freaks:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Freaks1.JPG
More Freaks (with the hand of yet another Freak):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Freaks2.JPG
And the ultimate freak show of it all! Me in PANTS!:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Freaks3.JPG
Here's a road in Germany:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/GermanRoad.JPG
Here I am with my sexy 20 Euro+tip haircut. Maybe I'll grow my hair o ut and become a hippy (or a hippo. OH! I bet you didn't see that joke coming:-D (note: I know that's not funny)):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Me1.jpg
They didn't have to break it! They could have given it to me!:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Porsche1.JPG
This one they didn't break:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Porsche2.JPG
Ok, she's not technically a roommate, because we don't live in the sa me room (only the same floor). But to the Germans the idea of 2 people sharing a bedroom is crazy, so the standard translation of Mitbewohne r is "Roommate" (more litereally "with-liver". Note, this picture was taken as she was leaving back to Italy):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/Roommate1.JPG
Germans like their holidays, but I guess they need to prove that they were on holiday:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/SillyGermans1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/SillyGermans2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/SillyGermans3.JPG
There is actually a UConn curse. UConn is always under construction. 3 UConn students got sent to 2 student housing complexes in Freiburg. Both weren't under construction at arrival. Both are now. Spooky, huh? :
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/construction.JPG
That looks like a nice guitar! Ok, maybe not, but 40E can't get much: http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/guitar1.jpg
Can you get motion sickness while sitting still? Well, take a look at this picture (taken from the S-Bahn as we're about to hit Paduaallee heading toward Littenweiler:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics2/motion.jpg
Well, that's it for now. More soon once my brother posts... I'll post more regularly now.
Respond if you feel like:-)
-Mike
Archived comments:
Katherine:
That's a great idea! I bet it doesn't say anywhere in US laws that the Surgeon General's Warning has to be in English. In fact, you could probably name a brand of cigarettes "Horrible Death" in German, and market them to Americans. How do you say "Horrible Death" in German, anyway?
How's the guitar?
That is a sweet SL. I think you should mail me one. Oh, wait, I'm going to be in Benin. Hey, how long would it take you to travel to France?
Germany: Cool news from home. March 20, 2004
I got an F on the Putnam exam:-). 20 out of 120 points. That makes me tied for place 358-449 out of 3615 total participants. I tied for top-student at UConn. Congrats to Brian, the other top UConn student. The top schools were MIT, Harvard, Duke, California Institute of Technology, and Harvey Mudd College. MIT and Harvard are kinda my dream schools for getting my PhD. I haven't looked at Duke yet, but it could be a nice school. UConn ranked 96 out of 401 schools. Not bad, all things considered - top 25%.
Just to give you an idea of how hard this exam is:
28% of the people taking the exam got a score of 0.
25% got a score of 1.
Another 10% got a score 2.
The top score was 110 points (which is absolutely mind-blowing).
Aparently I'm going to be getting money and a book as my reward for taking a 6-hour math test on a snowing Saturday morning (well, the reward is actually for getting a "high" score).
I hope to take the exam again in the fall. Hopefully I will be able to score much better. By the fall I will have some geometry, topology, algebra, and analysis under my belt (basically every topic). Can't wait...
Anyhow, my language class is coming to the end. The last day of class is Tuesday, then we have a big exam Wednesday (text-repetition, test-analysis, and grammar. A total of 3 hours of testing). I'm pumped for the semester to start. 2 weeks after my semester starts, the UConn semester ends. Funny, huh?
Well, that's all for now.
Archived comments:
Anna:
Hey wow! Good for you. Haha, you get money for getting an F. I wish my professors would do that. (Actually, no, because then I'd just have a low GPA...but at least I'd have money!)
Mom:
Congratulations! Tremendously proud of you and all that.
Katherine:
Rock on. (My brother is offcially better than me... I'm going to go cry now...) Seriously, though, that is awesome. Graduate schools are going to be lucky to get you.
Just to give you an idea of how hard this exam is:
28% of the people taking the exam got a score of 0.
25% got a score of 1.
Another 10% got a score 2.
The top score was 110 points (which is absolutely mind-blowing).
Aparently I'm going to be getting money and a book as my reward for taking a 6-hour math test on a snowing Saturday morning (well, the reward is actually for getting a "high" score).
I hope to take the exam again in the fall. Hopefully I will be able to score much better. By the fall I will have some geometry, topology, algebra, and analysis under my belt (basically every topic). Can't wait...
Anyhow, my language class is coming to the end. The last day of class is Tuesday, then we have a big exam Wednesday (text-repetition, test-analysis, and grammar. A total of 3 hours of testing). I'm pumped for the semester to start. 2 weeks after my semester starts, the UConn semester ends. Funny, huh?
Well, that's all for now.
Archived comments:
Anna:
Hey wow! Good for you. Haha, you get money for getting an F. I wish my professors would do that. (Actually, no, because then I'd just have a low GPA...but at least I'd have money!)
Mom:
Congratulations! Tremendously proud of you and all that.
Katherine:
Rock on. (My brother is offcially better than me... I'm going to go cry now...) Seriously, though, that is awesome. Graduate schools are going to be lucky to get you.
Germany: Some more pictures. March 13, 2004
Well, these aren't my pictures. They are my brother's. In fact, half my brother's pictures are still on my computer. I gotta send them over some time.
Here is a birds-eye view of Freiburg. This picture was taken shorting after I abandoned my father and brother to go class:
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/viewfromtower.jpg
Here's a picture of the place that picture was taken from:
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/towerhill.jpg
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/towerhill2.jpg
German public nudity (not really!):
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/snailboy.jpg
Some building in the middle of town with a thing on it (wow, that sentence was meaninglyless):
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/sideofbuildinggermany.jpg
Here is a sideways picture of a house in Germany:
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/houseingermany.jpg
We went to the Rhein river at night and we ate real German food. It was the first time I ate German food in Germany:-). Here are some ducks:
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/ducksRhein.jpg
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/ducksRhein2.jpg
Here's another duck somewhere else:
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/duckgermany.jpg
The things on the side of big church vomit/pee. Good art from the 1300's:
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/cathedralrain.jpg
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/cathedralrain2.jpg
There are a big Cathedral about the Rhein. It looked scary:
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/cathedralRhein.jpg
Ok, so we didn't want to spend too much money/time, so we saw a local castle. I don't think a king ever lived there. Maybe a captain of 10 workers:
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/castle.jpg
And here is a picture not from Germany. It is a picture of my younger brother's dog ("Cola") and my older sister's cat ("Ginger"):
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/catdogresized.jpg
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/catanddog2resized.jpg
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/castlecloser.jpg
There will be *way* more later. I have some pictures with people in it as well, for those of you who like to look at people.
Here is a birds-eye view of Freiburg. This picture was taken shorting after I abandoned my father and brother to go class:
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/viewfromtower.jpg
Here's a picture of the place that picture was taken from:
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/towerhill.jpg
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/towerhill2.jpg
German public nudity (not really!):
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/snailboy.jpg
Some building in the middle of town with a thing on it (wow, that sentence was meaninglyless):
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/sideofbuildinggermany.jpg
Here is a sideways picture of a house in Germany:
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/houseingermany.jpg
We went to the Rhein river at night and we ate real German food. It was the first time I ate German food in Germany:-). Here are some ducks:
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/ducksRhein.jpg
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/ducksRhein2.jpg
Here's another duck somewhere else:
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/duckgermany.jpg
The things on the side of big church vomit/pee. Good art from the 1300's:
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/cathedralrain.jpg
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/cathedralrain2.jpg
There are a big Cathedral about the Rhein. It looked scary:
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/cathedralRhein.jpg
Ok, so we didn't want to spend too much money/time, so we saw a local castle. I don't think a king ever lived there. Maybe a captain of 10 workers:
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/castle.jpg
And here is a picture not from Germany. It is a picture of my younger brother's dog ("Cola") and my older sister's cat ("Ginger"):
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/catdogresized.jpg
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/catanddog2resized.jpg
http://www.blinblue.com/photosforgallery/castlecloser.jpg
There will be *way* more later. I have some pictures with people in it as well, for those of you who like to look at people.
Germany: Visit... March 2, 2004
Well, my father and brother are coming to visit tomorrow morning (they'll be landing in 7 hours or so). So, I'll be cutting a week of class. Note, I have only cut class once in my college career, and that was because I had study-abroad orientation. But in my language class, I really don't care what I get for a grade, as I know it's not going to be great (so I won't transfer it back), and the grade doesn't matter, it only matters if I learn something. Most of what it graded has nothing at all to do with learning. It all has to do with preparation for a standardized language exam, which doesn't actually test language abilities (I don't have to take the exam).
Anyway, I strayed from the point. So, tomorrow my father and brother are coming (actually, today, technically). We'll do all sorts of wonderful touristy stuff. Maybe I'll eat some German food. By the way, Germans don't eat German food. Germans eat in a similar style as Americans (that is, slightly changed versions of all sorts of international foods). Of course, there is a fair amount of Turkish food, as there are a lot of Turkish people in Germany.
Speaking of which, when in a person no longer a foreigner? In the US, in my opinion, a person is no longer a foreigner as soon as he/she feels at home in the USA. So, in my opinion, a person could stop being a foreigner within a month. Of course, in Germany, it's much different. Europe is nothing like the US, as when I look at a person in Germany, I can say with fairly good assurance, that the person's ancestors can be traced indefinitely back to the land of Germany. Germans live in Germany. It seems in Germany, it takes a lot longer (many generations) to no longer be a foreigner. So, if you were not native born, you will always be a foreigner. If your parents weren't native born, you're probably still a foreigner.
It's weird. Over here there are actual feelings of national identity. Maybe there is also that in the US. I love my country and all that, but I don't really feel that my country defines me. I had a 1 in 20 chance of being American, and that's how it turned out. I don't define myself by that, and I'm not proud of that (it wasn't my choice to be born here).
Oddly enough, I seem to identify better with the German students than I do with the International students. I think it's because most of the international students are trying to live a different life, preserve some sort of identity. Personally, I don't care. Sure, sometimes I'll be the stereotypical American (rude, stupid, and drinking Coca-Cola), but that's only so the other people can be entertained (ok, the Coca-Cola is also for me:-)). Other than that, I'm in Germany. While to the Germans, I'm certainly a foreigner, to me, I am a German with a bad speech impediment and cultural ineptitude.
Of course, maybe I can feel like a German because Germany is fairly similar to America. Germans won't always admit it, but a lot of their culture is borrowed from America. I don't think American Idol is called American Idol (but that's British, actually), and some other things are changed, but it is a similar culture.
Anyway, I've rambled. My father and brother are coming tomorrow.
Archived comments:
Paula:
Ok so American Idol... I would audition for the fun of it but I bet Simon would tell me I was out of tune or something. He's mean. He makes fun of people. His criticism isn't constructive.
I had all this important stuff to say about American Idol and I can't remember what it is anymore. Ah well. OH WELL!!!!
Anyway, I strayed from the point. So, tomorrow my father and brother are coming (actually, today, technically). We'll do all sorts of wonderful touristy stuff. Maybe I'll eat some German food. By the way, Germans don't eat German food. Germans eat in a similar style as Americans (that is, slightly changed versions of all sorts of international foods). Of course, there is a fair amount of Turkish food, as there are a lot of Turkish people in Germany.
Speaking of which, when in a person no longer a foreigner? In the US, in my opinion, a person is no longer a foreigner as soon as he/she feels at home in the USA. So, in my opinion, a person could stop being a foreigner within a month. Of course, in Germany, it's much different. Europe is nothing like the US, as when I look at a person in Germany, I can say with fairly good assurance, that the person's ancestors can be traced indefinitely back to the land of Germany. Germans live in Germany. It seems in Germany, it takes a lot longer (many generations) to no longer be a foreigner. So, if you were not native born, you will always be a foreigner. If your parents weren't native born, you're probably still a foreigner.
It's weird. Over here there are actual feelings of national identity. Maybe there is also that in the US. I love my country and all that, but I don't really feel that my country defines me. I had a 1 in 20 chance of being American, and that's how it turned out. I don't define myself by that, and I'm not proud of that (it wasn't my choice to be born here).
Oddly enough, I seem to identify better with the German students than I do with the International students. I think it's because most of the international students are trying to live a different life, preserve some sort of identity. Personally, I don't care. Sure, sometimes I'll be the stereotypical American (rude, stupid, and drinking Coca-Cola), but that's only so the other people can be entertained (ok, the Coca-Cola is also for me:-)). Other than that, I'm in Germany. While to the Germans, I'm certainly a foreigner, to me, I am a German with a bad speech impediment and cultural ineptitude.
Of course, maybe I can feel like a German because Germany is fairly similar to America. Germans won't always admit it, but a lot of their culture is borrowed from America. I don't think American Idol is called American Idol (but that's British, actually), and some other things are changed, but it is a similar culture.
Anyway, I've rambled. My father and brother are coming tomorrow.
Archived comments:
Paula:
Ok so American Idol... I would audition for the fun of it but I bet Simon would tell me I was out of tune or something. He's mean. He makes fun of people. His criticism isn't constructive.
I had all this important stuff to say about American Idol and I can't remember what it is anymore. Ah well. OH WELL!!!!
Germany: It exists! February 29, 2004
Well, I had previously mentioned that I was looking to improve my voc abulary. Anyway, there is a German-English online dictionary called ht tp://www.dict.cc. It is a nice website (along with http://dict.leo.org , which is another great one). Anyway, today I emailed the author of t he site, asking if I could see his server statistics to find the most commonly searched words. 3 hours later he responds, and he compiled th e list of words himself!
For those of you interested, the list is here:
http://www.dict.cc/?s=about%3Amost-requested&l=e (Note, rude words do show up high on the list, so expect them). Also, the author of the site, in all his coolness, also makes the ent ire dictionary available for download. http://www.dict.cc/?s=about%3Aw ordlist
Of course, learning an entire dictionary is insane and impossible. Ho wever, learning the 2500 most searched words is probably a great step towards fluency.
Over the next couple of days, I will be writing a computer program to process and help me learn these words. Oh, I am so excited. Yippy yay . He he.
Time for me to go eat some food and watch some TV (yes, watching TV i s a healthy activity now, because it helps me learn the language).
For those of you interested, the list is here:
http://www.dict.cc/?s=about%3Amost-requested&l=e (Note, rude words do show up high on the list, so expect them). Also, the author of the site, in all his coolness, also makes the ent ire dictionary available for download. http://www.dict.cc/?s=about%3Aw ordlist
Of course, learning an entire dictionary is insane and impossible. Ho wever, learning the 2500 most searched words is probably a great step towards fluency.
Over the next couple of days, I will be writing a computer program to process and help me learn these words. Oh, I am so excited. Yippy yay . He he.
Time for me to go eat some food and watch some TV (yes, watching TV i s a healthy activity now, because it helps me learn the language).
Germany: Coming back from the dead. February 27, 2004
Ok, the title might be a little bit shocking. Death is difficult topic. It's always sad when the goldfish, that you won at the fair, dies. I also died. At least a part of me.
Back in America, I was known by many simply as "Shorts Boy". My fame spread because of the fact that I never wore long pants.
My shorts also had another important purpose. They scared away the winter. Either the weather controls me or I control the weather. So, every year when the winter leaves, it is only because it lost the battle with me.
Sadly, as of January 5th, 2004 some time around 8PM, I stopped wearing my shorts. The weather became so cold that the theory of global warming was completly dropped. Why did I do this? Well, sadly, um nicht aufzufallen. Ok, sorry, that was German. In order to not stand out.
There, I said it. I am a pathetic conformist. I always have been.
But some fresh blood has been flowing through my head. I came to realize that the good fight must still be fought. The summer *needs* me. I'm in the warmest city in Germany, and it is colder than Berlin, CT. Unbelievable. I admit my guilt. It is time for me to fight back. So, I am pleased to announce the return of "Shorts Boy". He is back from the dead! Watch out Winter! Watch out Germany!
Now I just need to practice what I'll say when people ask me if I am cold or crazy. The answers are "no" and "yes" respectively. Of course, I need more complete answer than that. I need everything from the 1 second answer, to the 30 minute life story (including various events of snow diving).
And this has one benefit that even my German teachers can't criticize me for - it is a wonderful conversation starter. Probably 99% of all conversations I've had in the past few years have stemmed from the fact that I don't wear long pants. Also, this will be a conversation start that will prompt Germans to talk to me (as opposed to the many foreigners living in Freiburg. Not that I have objections to talking to foreigners, it's just easier to practice German with Germans). I find it unlikely that a random foreigner would challenge me about my short pants, simply because I look european enough to be native, and I think it would seem odd to challenge a native about such a thing (maybe not. Maybe that's just my Connecticut upbringing talking, which says "really, just be quiet, unless you have a good reason to make noise!").
Anyway. This is it. I am back. Welcome home.
Archived comments:
Anna:
HUZZAH!!!!
Yay! How exciting! Good for you! How bout I end every sentence with an exclamation mark!
PS: Did you bring shorts with you to Germany? Or will you have to buy them there? Oh, and did you get your hair cut?
Katherine:
It's the return of the Shorts-Guy! Everyone in Freiburg will soon know your name... well if not your name, at least your shorts.
You should write a book, and call it The Adventures of the Shorts-Guy
mikepn:
Yes, I did bring shorts with me to Germany. I'm in the warmest city in Germany. I would have looked like a fool wearing long pants in summer. Oddly enough, both "Shorts" and "Boy" seem to be Denglish words (that is, English words used in German (Deutsch - that's where the D comes from)). So, in Germany, I could just as well be called "Shorts Boy" (except, since this is Germany, "Shortsboy").
Just a note, the shorts are working. The weather forecast seems to have increased a about 1 degree since my decision to wear shorts. Hey, Mr. Weather, watch out, here I come!
The question is, for my shorts spiel, should I claim to be a prophet? Or would that be too ofensive to people who don't have my sense of humor? (A prophet in the sense of "Ordinary Jack" for those of you who read the book). Here's my proposed new spiel:
"Are you cold/crazy/stupid/etc? Who do you wear shorts?"
"I had a vision. In the vision it was clearly stated to me: 'Michael, son of Peter, but not called Peterson, because that would be corny and your name isn't Sweedish, I must issue you a warning. The sun, it burns. Hotter and hotter it burns. Soon the snow that lies upon the ground will reach a sad end. But who will warn the people? You Michael, you must warn the people! Announce the coming of the season of the sun, for it is not far off! Announce the coming not with your mouth. Words are cheap and not to be believed. Rather, you must announce the coming with your actions. See, I have set before you Short Pants. Wear them as a testamony to the people'. So, I am doing as I was instructed. Prepare yourself for the coming heat!"
Or something like that. I wonder how that would sound in German.
Back in America, I was known by many simply as "Shorts Boy". My fame spread because of the fact that I never wore long pants.
My shorts also had another important purpose. They scared away the winter. Either the weather controls me or I control the weather. So, every year when the winter leaves, it is only because it lost the battle with me.
Sadly, as of January 5th, 2004 some time around 8PM, I stopped wearing my shorts. The weather became so cold that the theory of global warming was completly dropped. Why did I do this? Well, sadly, um nicht aufzufallen. Ok, sorry, that was German. In order to not stand out.
There, I said it. I am a pathetic conformist. I always have been.
But some fresh blood has been flowing through my head. I came to realize that the good fight must still be fought. The summer *needs* me. I'm in the warmest city in Germany, and it is colder than Berlin, CT. Unbelievable. I admit my guilt. It is time for me to fight back. So, I am pleased to announce the return of "Shorts Boy". He is back from the dead! Watch out Winter! Watch out Germany!
Now I just need to practice what I'll say when people ask me if I am cold or crazy. The answers are "no" and "yes" respectively. Of course, I need more complete answer than that. I need everything from the 1 second answer, to the 30 minute life story (including various events of snow diving).
And this has one benefit that even my German teachers can't criticize me for - it is a wonderful conversation starter. Probably 99% of all conversations I've had in the past few years have stemmed from the fact that I don't wear long pants. Also, this will be a conversation start that will prompt Germans to talk to me (as opposed to the many foreigners living in Freiburg. Not that I have objections to talking to foreigners, it's just easier to practice German with Germans). I find it unlikely that a random foreigner would challenge me about my short pants, simply because I look european enough to be native, and I think it would seem odd to challenge a native about such a thing (maybe not. Maybe that's just my Connecticut upbringing talking, which says "really, just be quiet, unless you have a good reason to make noise!").
Anyway. This is it. I am back. Welcome home.
Archived comments:
Anna:
HUZZAH!!!!
Yay! How exciting! Good for you! How bout I end every sentence with an exclamation mark!
PS: Did you bring shorts with you to Germany? Or will you have to buy them there? Oh, and did you get your hair cut?
Katherine:
It's the return of the Shorts-Guy! Everyone in Freiburg will soon know your name... well if not your name, at least your shorts.
You should write a book, and call it The Adventures of the Shorts-Guy
mikepn:
Yes, I did bring shorts with me to Germany. I'm in the warmest city in Germany. I would have looked like a fool wearing long pants in summer. Oddly enough, both "Shorts" and "Boy" seem to be Denglish words (that is, English words used in German (Deutsch - that's where the D comes from)). So, in Germany, I could just as well be called "Shorts Boy" (except, since this is Germany, "Shortsboy").
Just a note, the shorts are working. The weather forecast seems to have increased a about 1 degree since my decision to wear shorts. Hey, Mr. Weather, watch out, here I come!
The question is, for my shorts spiel, should I claim to be a prophet? Or would that be too ofensive to people who don't have my sense of humor? (A prophet in the sense of "Ordinary Jack" for those of you who read the book). Here's my proposed new spiel:
"Are you cold/crazy/stupid/etc? Who do you wear shorts?"
"I had a vision. In the vision it was clearly stated to me: 'Michael, son of Peter, but not called Peterson, because that would be corny and your name isn't Sweedish, I must issue you a warning. The sun, it burns. Hotter and hotter it burns. Soon the snow that lies upon the ground will reach a sad end. But who will warn the people? You Michael, you must warn the people! Announce the coming of the season of the sun, for it is not far off! Announce the coming not with your mouth. Words are cheap and not to be believed. Rather, you must announce the coming with your actions. See, I have set before you Short Pants. Wear them as a testamony to the people'. So, I am doing as I was instructed. Prepare yourself for the coming heat!"
Or something like that. I wonder how that would sound in German.
Germany: And life continues... February 25, 2004
Anyway, it's been a while since I've posted updates.
First for the boring stuff. Let me note, I am not only posting about my language skills so that you guys read the boring reports, but it is also for my personal use, so I can see how my language abilities have progressed.
Well, let me explain something real quick. When I am talking in a normal conversation with a friend, I usually talk before I think (if it's not with a friend, I usually will know the topic of the conversation beforehand and thus will have prepared myself with specific sentances). Anyway, after I talk (but before the next person talks), I run a quick grammar check on the sentance(s) that I just said. Of course, if I made a mistake, the mistake was already made.
Sometimes I'll quickly re-say the sentence in its corrected form. I noticed today that I spoke some real complex sentences without making grammatical mistakes. All the words fell in the right place, all the endings were right, and all the verbs were in the right form and time. Also, my Denglisch (German-English) is getting better. I can drop in English words and phrases and be fairly certain that everyone will understand them (I wonder if that makes me look more like a German, or more like an American...). Also, I'm starting to catch on with the "particles". "Particles" are little words that have no real meaning of their own (or have an unrelated meaning), but have a little flavor to the sentence.
Ok, end of boring stuff. Now on to other boring stuff.
Ok, so I was in class and we were going over when to use articles (the, a, etc). It's fairly similar to English (except "ich bin ein Berliner" is not the proper way for an actual Berliner to say he is from Berlin. "I am Berliner" would be correct. So, a little difference. Egal). Anyway, back to the story. Well, the teacher handed out a sheet, and we were going around the room taking turns reading it outloud. So, it came to my turn. My section was dealing with articles in front of countries ("die USA" but simply "Deutschland" and not "das Deutschland"). So, I was reading outloud, and my eyes were skimming the paper, and no actually reading. As soon as I thought I saw enough of a word, my eyes would move to the next word. So, one word was "die tschechische Republik" (the Czech Republic), however, I said "die technische Republik" which is "the technilogical republic." My dream country.
Anyway, so one night I was at someone's apartment, and we were playing a game. I won't explain the game, but it required that we write-down certain phrases. Somehow I spelled "Rome" (translation "Rom") with an umlaut (so, Röm). Of course, that's completely wrong. An umluat changes the pronunciation a lot (of course, never enough for it to be completely clear to the English-speaker. English-speakers suffer from "umlaut unhearability symdrome"). Anyway, Röm=Roem (when spelled without the umlaut). So, I don't think my friends will ever let me forget that terribly stupid, but wonderfully American mistake.
Today was "Rosen Montag". It seems to be a holiday for the sake of a holiday. Germans are smart. Cupid likes cats, Cupid hates cats. (Don't ask. If you want to understand, go to "The Guide to Love" on my personal homepage). Anyway, so, there were people dressed in all sorts of weird clothing walking around the streets. It was funny. I took many pictures. Sadly, I can't upload the pictures yet:-(. I think Rosen Montag *might* have had *something* to do with Lent. Who knows. I got a day off from class. So I am happy.
On Saturday I was at Heiko's birthday party. There was loud thumping music, so some people were "dancing" (note to the older readers, dancing is not salsa, mambo, square dancing, or tango. "Dancing" is odd rythmic body movements. Plain and simple). A couple people encouraged me to join the pulsing frenzy of people. Since I am such a conformist, I joined in. I must say it is quite the odd sport. I had never "danced" before. I quickly realized that my body doesn't move like other people's bodies. Obviously, I would stick out like a sore thumb. So, I decided to double the speed that my feet were moving at and move my body in ways that no sensible person would do (nothing indecent!). So, I didn't stick out like a sore thumb, but rather like a guy wearing shorts in the winter (sadly I wasn't actually wearing shorts, but I stuck out as if I were). I must say it was quite the workout. It made as much sweat as a good, solid run.
Another random thought. A week ago I was riding home from the Jesus Freaks meeting on the S-Bahn. I missed my stop, because I was talking with a few friends. So I decided to stay on the S-Bahn until the last stop, at which point it would turn around and drive back. Of course, since it was late night, the S-Bahn waited for 20 minutes at the last stop before turning back. So I decided that I would walk down the line a couple stops. Of course, it turns out that that line goes into the woods for a bit, and there is no sidewalk next to it there. So, I made my best guess to the general direction. However, the 20 minutes passed and I hadn't re-found the tracks. So, I missed the last ride home. Egal. It was a nice night. So, after losing my way a few times, I finally made it back. The only thing bad was that I needed to use the bathroom the entire time. I ran the last 20 minutes or so (the whole walk was nearly 2 hours).
Well, those were my random thoughts for today. Sorry about wasting your time. Cheers (not to be confused with "Tschüs").
-Mike
Archived comments:
Paula:
Can you give an example of a particle?
Ha ha, you can't dance. Well, maybe you just can't dance like the Germans do. Good move though, making up your own kind of dance. Maybe you'll start something.
mikepn:
Example of a particle... Ok, let's take the German word "mal". In translation it means "time". Einmal is "one time" or simply "once" (in German there is no silly other word for "one time", like "once" in English). Zehnmal is "ten times". Noch 'mal=Noch einmal="still one [more] time"="again". However, as a particle, it has no meaning of its own. Instead, it serves as a softener. If you want to give a super-rude command in German, simply say the direct object followed by the infinitive of the verb. "Die Tuer zumachen!" That is basically military-style talk for "close the door!". A little less rude is "Machen Sie die Tuer zu" or informal "Mach die Tuer zu" (litterally, "make the door closed). However, if you stick in the "mal", "Mach mal die Tuer zu", suddenly this goes from a command to a polite suggestion. Something like "Could you close the door?"
Particles serve as flavor and intensifiers. English seems to generally lack them. An example in English is "like". "That was like a really good movie!". The "like" is really meaningless here, but it serves to change the tone and feel.
~Mike
First for the boring stuff. Let me note, I am not only posting about my language skills so that you guys read the boring reports, but it is also for my personal use, so I can see how my language abilities have progressed.
Well, let me explain something real quick. When I am talking in a normal conversation with a friend, I usually talk before I think (if it's not with a friend, I usually will know the topic of the conversation beforehand and thus will have prepared myself with specific sentances). Anyway, after I talk (but before the next person talks), I run a quick grammar check on the sentance(s) that I just said. Of course, if I made a mistake, the mistake was already made.
Sometimes I'll quickly re-say the sentence in its corrected form. I noticed today that I spoke some real complex sentences without making grammatical mistakes. All the words fell in the right place, all the endings were right, and all the verbs were in the right form and time. Also, my Denglisch (German-English) is getting better. I can drop in English words and phrases and be fairly certain that everyone will understand them (I wonder if that makes me look more like a German, or more like an American...). Also, I'm starting to catch on with the "particles". "Particles" are little words that have no real meaning of their own (or have an unrelated meaning), but have a little flavor to the sentence.
Ok, end of boring stuff. Now on to other boring stuff.
Ok, so I was in class and we were going over when to use articles (the, a, etc). It's fairly similar to English (except "ich bin ein Berliner" is not the proper way for an actual Berliner to say he is from Berlin. "I am Berliner" would be correct. So, a little difference. Egal). Anyway, back to the story. Well, the teacher handed out a sheet, and we were going around the room taking turns reading it outloud. So, it came to my turn. My section was dealing with articles in front of countries ("die USA" but simply "Deutschland" and not "das Deutschland"). So, I was reading outloud, and my eyes were skimming the paper, and no actually reading. As soon as I thought I saw enough of a word, my eyes would move to the next word. So, one word was "die tschechische Republik" (the Czech Republic), however, I said "die technische Republik" which is "the technilogical republic." My dream country.
Anyway, so one night I was at someone's apartment, and we were playing a game. I won't explain the game, but it required that we write-down certain phrases. Somehow I spelled "Rome" (translation "Rom") with an umlaut (so, Röm). Of course, that's completely wrong. An umluat changes the pronunciation a lot (of course, never enough for it to be completely clear to the English-speaker. English-speakers suffer from "umlaut unhearability symdrome"). Anyway, Röm=Roem (when spelled without the umlaut). So, I don't think my friends will ever let me forget that terribly stupid, but wonderfully American mistake.
Today was "Rosen Montag". It seems to be a holiday for the sake of a holiday. Germans are smart. Cupid likes cats, Cupid hates cats. (Don't ask. If you want to understand, go to "The Guide to Love" on my personal homepage). Anyway, so, there were people dressed in all sorts of weird clothing walking around the streets. It was funny. I took many pictures. Sadly, I can't upload the pictures yet:-(. I think Rosen Montag *might* have had *something* to do with Lent. Who knows. I got a day off from class. So I am happy.
On Saturday I was at Heiko's birthday party. There was loud thumping music, so some people were "dancing" (note to the older readers, dancing is not salsa, mambo, square dancing, or tango. "Dancing" is odd rythmic body movements. Plain and simple). A couple people encouraged me to join the pulsing frenzy of people. Since I am such a conformist, I joined in. I must say it is quite the odd sport. I had never "danced" before. I quickly realized that my body doesn't move like other people's bodies. Obviously, I would stick out like a sore thumb. So, I decided to double the speed that my feet were moving at and move my body in ways that no sensible person would do (nothing indecent!). So, I didn't stick out like a sore thumb, but rather like a guy wearing shorts in the winter (sadly I wasn't actually wearing shorts, but I stuck out as if I were). I must say it was quite the workout. It made as much sweat as a good, solid run.
Another random thought. A week ago I was riding home from the Jesus Freaks meeting on the S-Bahn. I missed my stop, because I was talking with a few friends. So I decided to stay on the S-Bahn until the last stop, at which point it would turn around and drive back. Of course, since it was late night, the S-Bahn waited for 20 minutes at the last stop before turning back. So I decided that I would walk down the line a couple stops. Of course, it turns out that that line goes into the woods for a bit, and there is no sidewalk next to it there. So, I made my best guess to the general direction. However, the 20 minutes passed and I hadn't re-found the tracks. So, I missed the last ride home. Egal. It was a nice night. So, after losing my way a few times, I finally made it back. The only thing bad was that I needed to use the bathroom the entire time. I ran the last 20 minutes or so (the whole walk was nearly 2 hours).
Well, those were my random thoughts for today. Sorry about wasting your time. Cheers (not to be confused with "Tschüs").
-Mike
Archived comments:
Paula:
Can you give an example of a particle?
Ha ha, you can't dance. Well, maybe you just can't dance like the Germans do. Good move though, making up your own kind of dance. Maybe you'll start something.
mikepn:
Example of a particle... Ok, let's take the German word "mal". In translation it means "time". Einmal is "one time" or simply "once" (in German there is no silly other word for "one time", like "once" in English). Zehnmal is "ten times". Noch 'mal=Noch einmal="still one [more] time"="again". However, as a particle, it has no meaning of its own. Instead, it serves as a softener. If you want to give a super-rude command in German, simply say the direct object followed by the infinitive of the verb. "Die Tuer zumachen!" That is basically military-style talk for "close the door!". A little less rude is "Machen Sie die Tuer zu" or informal "Mach die Tuer zu" (litterally, "make the door closed). However, if you stick in the "mal", "Mach mal die Tuer zu", suddenly this goes from a command to a polite suggestion. Something like "Could you close the door?"
Particles serve as flavor and intensifiers. English seems to generally lack them. An example in English is "like". "That was like a really good movie!". The "like" is really meaningless here, but it serves to change the tone and feel.
~Mike
Germany: I need you! (That means you, the reader!) February 8, 2004
Howdy, all. Since the only educational requirement I currently have i n Germany is my language class, I want to improve my language skills. Also, I want to improve my language skills so I look less like a silly foreigner. My UConn German teacher sent me a nice attachment about co nversational German, here is the introduction:
*********************************************
"Guten Tag, Frau Schmidt. Wie geht es Ihnen?"
"Gut, Herr Müller. Und Ihnen?"
"Danke. Sehr gut."
This is how you learned German. Then you moved to Germany, only to di scover that the conversations you practiced in your language class mad e you sound like a 1950s B-movie.
*********************************************
That is very true.
I think I am picking up on the slang and everyday language decently ( there is a growing set of words in my vocabulary which I have never lo oked up in an English-German dictionary, but words that I simply know how to use). However, that is not enough. I want a [wicked] strong voc abulary.
I recently wrote a computer program to drill vocabulary into my head (I had previously written a program, but I don't have Internet access on my computer, so I cannot access it!). This program also saves me to ns of money on flashcards (at a cent per flashcard, increasing the voc abulary by 2000 words would cost 5 days of food).
So, this is where I need you! I need you to think of conversation top ics for which I should learn some vocabulary. If you know any websites that have a list of words about this topic - even better (note: the w ebsite does not have to be an English-German translation. All I need i s a list of English words, I can do the translating myself).
So, I thought of some topics, which I will list, but please add more:
Sports
Religion
Computers
Mathmetics
Cars
I'm too lazy to think, so I am forcing you to think for me. If you ha ven't registered yet, feel free to register and post! If I could get 2 0 topics, and 100 words per topic, or 25 topics and just 80 words per topic, that would be a 2000 word increase in my vocabulary (2000 words is a lot of words). Maybe I'll give a special prize to people who pos t. Then again, probably not:-)
~Mole (I think I'll stick to that name)
Archived comments:
crewchild2000:
www.toothpastefordinner.com this is a site that has a whole lot of jokes (about one or two updates per day) i bet this would be great cause it is really saticrical (is that a word?). anyways, check it out. it might help, if not, you get a good dose of humor.
Mom:
Music. Food. Movies. Sorry, I don't know any websites listing words about the above, but I bet you can make your own lists. Or, if you're really feeling lazy, I can make lists for you. (But I probably don't know all the right terms, even in English, for some of the music you listen to!)
Katherine:
And you can't forget those situations which guidebooks never quite prepare you for...
Thanking people politely but explaining that you're really not lost, you're just trying to get [x] by way of [y].
Bargaining
Inquiring about local history. How to explain that it's a different sort of information you're looking for, and not the particular kind that you're getting.
Dealing with servants and waitstaff. How to ask questions without sounding accusatory. How to make requests without being rude.
And in general
Sex
War
Philosophy.
and
Poetry - its content, history, and devices. Great poets in German and English. Their influence on the language.
Cars. How they work. What sort of people drive what sort of car. Expressions of glee or distaste. Oops, you already said cars, but I'm too lazy to backspace.
Linguistics. How languages work. What languages you know. How much of them you've studied, and under what circumstances.
Travel. Where you've been. How you got there. What the toilets were like. WHy you went there.
Plans for the future. Will you marry and have children? Will you become a scientist and make things? Do you harbor optimism or pessimism about your course of life in general?
Anna:
Well, I found this site, which doesn't exactly have lists of words, but it has quizzes of English words in different categories.
http://a4esl.org/q/h/vocabulary.html
Oh, and I just found this website too:
http://www.better-english.com/vocabulary.htm which is similar to the one above.
Paula:
Topics:
15th century medicine
The Hope Diamond
The artist formerly known as Prince
Jane Austen
Retirement
Headphones and their uses
Go-carts, scooters, and riding lawn mowers
Underwater basketweaving
I hope this helps.
Paula
*********************************************
"Guten Tag, Frau Schmidt. Wie geht es Ihnen?"
"Gut, Herr Müller. Und Ihnen?"
"Danke. Sehr gut."
This is how you learned German. Then you moved to Germany, only to di scover that the conversations you practiced in your language class mad e you sound like a 1950s B-movie.
*********************************************
That is very true.
I think I am picking up on the slang and everyday language decently ( there is a growing set of words in my vocabulary which I have never lo oked up in an English-German dictionary, but words that I simply know how to use). However, that is not enough. I want a [wicked] strong voc abulary.
I recently wrote a computer program to drill vocabulary into my head (I had previously written a program, but I don't have Internet access on my computer, so I cannot access it!). This program also saves me to ns of money on flashcards (at a cent per flashcard, increasing the voc abulary by 2000 words would cost 5 days of food).
So, this is where I need you! I need you to think of conversation top ics for which I should learn some vocabulary. If you know any websites that have a list of words about this topic - even better (note: the w ebsite does not have to be an English-German translation. All I need i s a list of English words, I can do the translating myself).
So, I thought of some topics, which I will list, but please add more:
Sports
Religion
Computers
Mathmetics
Cars
I'm too lazy to think, so I am forcing you to think for me. If you ha ven't registered yet, feel free to register and post! If I could get 2 0 topics, and 100 words per topic, or 25 topics and just 80 words per topic, that would be a 2000 word increase in my vocabulary (2000 words is a lot of words). Maybe I'll give a special prize to people who pos t. Then again, probably not:-)
~Mole (I think I'll stick to that name)
Archived comments:
crewchild2000:
www.toothpastefordinner.com this is a site that has a whole lot of jokes (about one or two updates per day) i bet this would be great cause it is really saticrical (is that a word?). anyways, check it out. it might help, if not, you get a good dose of humor.
Mom:
Music. Food. Movies. Sorry, I don't know any websites listing words about the above, but I bet you can make your own lists. Or, if you're really feeling lazy, I can make lists for you. (But I probably don't know all the right terms, even in English, for some of the music you listen to!)
Katherine:
And you can't forget those situations which guidebooks never quite prepare you for...
Thanking people politely but explaining that you're really not lost, you're just trying to get [x] by way of [y].
Bargaining
Inquiring about local history. How to explain that it's a different sort of information you're looking for, and not the particular kind that you're getting.
Dealing with servants and waitstaff. How to ask questions without sounding accusatory. How to make requests without being rude.
And in general
Sex
War
Philosophy.
and
Poetry - its content, history, and devices. Great poets in German and English. Their influence on the language.
Cars. How they work. What sort of people drive what sort of car. Expressions of glee or distaste. Oops, you already said cars, but I'm too lazy to backspace.
Linguistics. How languages work. What languages you know. How much of them you've studied, and under what circumstances.
Travel. Where you've been. How you got there. What the toilets were like. WHy you went there.
Plans for the future. Will you marry and have children? Will you become a scientist and make things? Do you harbor optimism or pessimism about your course of life in general?
Anna:
Well, I found this site, which doesn't exactly have lists of words, but it has quizzes of English words in different categories.
http://a4esl.org/q/h/vocabulary.html
Oh, and I just found this website too:
http://www.better-english.com/vocabulary.htm which is similar to the one above.
Paula:
Topics:
15th century medicine
The Hope Diamond
The artist formerly known as Prince
Jane Austen
Retirement
Headphones and their uses
Go-carts, scooters, and riding lawn mowers
Underwater basketweaving
I hope this helps.
Paula
Germany: Pictures! February 18, 2004
Ok, I have some pictures. They're boring. I'll have some interesting ones soon:-).
On the first day, I stayed in a different place. Here is a picture of my room. It's already messy:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/BurseRoom.JPG
Running water in my first room!:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/BurseRoom2.JPG
And the view out my back window in the first place:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/BurseView.JPG
My mother (hi Mom!) drives a Volkswagen EuroVan. In Europe (where the name "Euro"Van comes from) it is called the California Event (at least for certain versions):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/CaliEvent.JPG
This is a picture of my peer advisor, Carina, and my fellow student, Diana. Carina is on the right, Diana on the left:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/CarinaDiana1.JPG
This is a picture of Carina looking out the window of the train:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/CarinaLookingOutWindow.JPG
Ok, so in my building there are 4 washing machines and 1 dryer, and the dryer takes 3 times as long as a wash cycle, so the dryer is always busy. So, I draped my clothing over anything and everything in my room:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Clothing.JPG
I gotta be American:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Coke.JPG
As I said, I moved to a different room after the first day. Here is my current room:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Room1.JPG
Everyday I ride the S-Bahn to the language school. The S-Bahn shown here is going away the opposite direction. This is in front of my dorm complex:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/SBahn.JPG
Some German snow:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Snow1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Snow2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Snow3.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Snow4.JPG
Here's a picture of my peer advisor, Carina, and a fellow student, Rachael, at the end of a snowy path. It looked cool in real life.
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/SnowyPath.JPG
Ok, here is a picture that I just happened to take while I was in a bus. http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Something1.JPG
Here is a picture of Titisee:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Titisee1.JPG
(The water has cancerous tumors!):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Titisee2.JPG
This was a picture of 2 trains hitting eachother at the moment of impact. Ok, I lie, but it looks like it could be.
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Train1.JPG
This is the view out of my current window (I didn't show you the smashed computer below, but I also see a smashed computer out of my window): http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/WindowView.JPG
Archived comments:
Mom:
I love your pictures! Take some more!
Any particular reason there's a smashed computer outside the window? I like my car much better being a Eurovan than I would if it were a California Event! A Eurovan by any other name....I didn't realize that I was so influenced by marketing techniques!
crewchild2000:
nice pics, dude, but where are the pictures of you in pants? that has to look wierd, cause it never happens in the USA.
Anna:
Yay pictures!!! I love em
On the first day, I stayed in a different place. Here is a picture of my room. It's already messy:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/BurseRoom.JPG
Running water in my first room!:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/BurseRoom2.JPG
And the view out my back window in the first place:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/BurseView.JPG
My mother (hi Mom!) drives a Volkswagen EuroVan. In Europe (where the name "Euro"Van comes from) it is called the California Event (at least for certain versions):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/CaliEvent.JPG
This is a picture of my peer advisor, Carina, and my fellow student, Diana. Carina is on the right, Diana on the left:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/CarinaDiana1.JPG
This is a picture of Carina looking out the window of the train:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/CarinaLookingOutWindow.JPG
Ok, so in my building there are 4 washing machines and 1 dryer, and the dryer takes 3 times as long as a wash cycle, so the dryer is always busy. So, I draped my clothing over anything and everything in my room:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Clothing.JPG
I gotta be American:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Coke.JPG
As I said, I moved to a different room after the first day. Here is my current room:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Room1.JPG
Everyday I ride the S-Bahn to the language school. The S-Bahn shown here is going away the opposite direction. This is in front of my dorm complex:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/SBahn.JPG
Some German snow:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Snow1.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Snow2.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Snow3.JPG
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Snow4.JPG
Here's a picture of my peer advisor, Carina, and a fellow student, Rachael, at the end of a snowy path. It looked cool in real life.
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/SnowyPath.JPG
Ok, here is a picture that I just happened to take while I was in a bus. http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Something1.JPG
Here is a picture of Titisee:
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Titisee1.JPG
(The water has cancerous tumors!):
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Titisee2.JPG
This was a picture of 2 trains hitting eachother at the moment of impact. Ok, I lie, but it looks like it could be.
http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/Train1.JPG
This is the view out of my current window (I didn't show you the smashed computer below, but I also see a smashed computer out of my window): http://www.ftper.com/Germany/Pics1/WindowView.JPG
Archived comments:
Mom:
I love your pictures! Take some more!
Any particular reason there's a smashed computer outside the window? I like my car much better being a Eurovan than I would if it were a California Event! A Eurovan by any other name....I didn't realize that I was so influenced by marketing techniques!
crewchild2000:
nice pics, dude, but where are the pictures of you in pants? that has to look wierd, cause it never happens in the USA.
Anna:
Yay pictures!!! I love em
Germany: Happy birthday to me. February 16, 2004
As Katherine pointed out in a previous post, today is my birthday. Happy birthday to me.
But I would also like to point out that tomorrow is also my birthday. Due to a wonderful technicallity, I have two birthdays (at least, I'll pretend to have two brithdays for the moment).
You see, I was born at 11:53PM in New Britain, CT on February 16th, 1985. However, at 11:53PM on the 16th in New Britain, it was already 5:53AM on the 17th in Freiburg. So, if we had had friends in Freiburg and called them up as soon as I was born, they would think I was born on the 17th.
Also, Michael Jordan was born on the 17th, and I've always wanted to share a birthday with him.
However, Dr. Kneisl was born on the 16th. Happy birthday Dr. Kneisl. He is 33 years old (I think). Dr. Kneisl was an insanely good teacher (note: I said teacher, not person. If you have anything against him personally, that's different. Also, I said teacher, not easy grade giver). Today is also my grandmother's (father's mother's) birthday.
I'll post more soon (like how I spelled "Rome" with an umluat. I should pay attention. Also, the "Technical Republic" is now a country, according to me. Language mistakes are always fun.)
But I would also like to point out that tomorrow is also my birthday. Due to a wonderful technicallity, I have two birthdays (at least, I'll pretend to have two brithdays for the moment).
You see, I was born at 11:53PM in New Britain, CT on February 16th, 1985. However, at 11:53PM on the 16th in New Britain, it was already 5:53AM on the 17th in Freiburg. So, if we had had friends in Freiburg and called them up as soon as I was born, they would think I was born on the 17th.
Also, Michael Jordan was born on the 17th, and I've always wanted to share a birthday with him.
However, Dr. Kneisl was born on the 16th. Happy birthday Dr. Kneisl. He is 33 years old (I think). Dr. Kneisl was an insanely good teacher (note: I said teacher, not person. If you have anything against him personally, that's different. Also, I said teacher, not easy grade giver). Today is also my grandmother's (father's mother's) birthday.
I'll post more soon (like how I spelled "Rome" with an umluat. I should pay attention. Also, the "Technical Republic" is now a country, according to me. Language mistakes are always fun.)
Germany: Silly German postal system!. February 12, 2004
Ok, so I check my mail this morning and I get a notice that I received a package and I must go to the post office to pick it up. So I go to the post office only to find out that I can't pick it up until tomorrow. I have no idea why I can't get it until tomorrow, and I didn't ask, because if there were an explanation, the postman probably wouldn't want to give it, and I probably wouldn't understand it.
Anyway, that means I can't play my guitar until tomorrow.
Archived comments:
crewchild2000:
boo hoo mole, welcome to the German postal system...honestly, i have no clue what it's like, but it's fun to pretend to know what i am talking about
Anna:
I HATE it when people pretend to know what they're talking about when they really have no clue!!!!!!
Oh....wait....ummmmmm.....did I just say that outloud??
mikepn:
By the way, for those of you wondering, I did get my guitar the next day. It was what was to be expected from a 40 Euro guitar. It came with nylon strings installed, but I will be buying metal strings on Monday. After playing it a bit, I came to fully realize how little I had played guitar recently (that is, I haven't played it at all). My fingers hurt so much now. It hurts to type, but only with my left hand.
crewchild2000:
I HATE it when people say things outloud and then realize they shouldn't have...oh, did i say that outloud?? good
Katherine: What Michael is not telling you is that today is his birthday. But nothing can be kept hidden! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLE!
Anyway, that means I can't play my guitar until tomorrow.
Archived comments:
crewchild2000:
boo hoo mole, welcome to the German postal system...honestly, i have no clue what it's like, but it's fun to pretend to know what i am talking about
Anna:
I HATE it when people pretend to know what they're talking about when they really have no clue!!!!!!
Oh....wait....ummmmmm.....did I just say that outloud??
mikepn:
By the way, for those of you wondering, I did get my guitar the next day. It was what was to be expected from a 40 Euro guitar. It came with nylon strings installed, but I will be buying metal strings on Monday. After playing it a bit, I came to fully realize how little I had played guitar recently (that is, I haven't played it at all). My fingers hurt so much now. It hurts to type, but only with my left hand.
crewchild2000:
I HATE it when people say things outloud and then realize they shouldn't have...oh, did i say that outloud?? good
Katherine: What Michael is not telling you is that today is his birthday. But nothing can be kept hidden! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLE!