Ein Jahr in Deutschland

Today marks one year from when I first came back to Germany. So I should take a break from my exam preparation and reflect on the last year.

Well lets see, I did not write as much as I planned to. Interesting to look at how I was writing weekly, and then monthly, and then sometimes.

I have changed of course, though much of it is too gradual for me to really notice. Everyone keeps telling me I have progressed so much in my language ability, yet I mostly see how small it is in comparison to the distance left to cover. Yet, when I really think back to last year when I opened a bank account, at that time I was mostly nodding, smiling, and relying on the honest and helpfulness of the Germans, hoping they understood I wanted a student account, versus last month when I went into get my credit limit increased enough to purchase plane tickets, at which time I was able to conduct and understand the process entirely in German, I can note a growth in ability. I am certain my thoughts and ideas have been impacted by the interaction with students from so many different cultures, but I think that may become most apparent when I visit home for Christmas.

Other things I have become quite adjusted to: the trains and transportation network ("you just need to get anywhere in Germany and you're good"), walking everywhere, the "grocery" stores, the main market street in the city center, the attitude towards alcohol, the atmosphere for Fußball, running up four flights of stairs to my apartment, sound of traffic outside the window, hearing Turkish and Spanish and Russian...
I have not traveled as much as I would have liked, or maybe just not to the places I have thought of going. Paris, Madrid, London, Dublin, Galway, Maastricht, Leige, Amsterdam, not to mention the towns or cities in Germany. Well I have probably traveled more around Europe than I did in the USA in a year.

The entire education system is setup differently, and it has been interesting to learn about it. The University and my Masters program have accordingly been different from what I have expected. The attitude of students being responsible (not Professors or other teachers) for learning in all levels of University study, I like, and I wish there was a good way to channel it back to the USA. The difference in the structure and expectation of a Masters degree is also different. This largely stems from Germany's switch only recently from a Diplom system to the Bachelors-Masters system. In Germany, a Diplom was a five year degree and was the basic University degree. It carries with it a certain level of respect. Companies have had years of work with the Diplom and are expecting new graduates with equivalent qualifications. The basic three or four year Bachelors degree, just does not come close. So, in order to be able to get a job, everyone has to pursue a Masters. So the large number of students, and things that come along with it, is not limited to my program, as I may have thought at first.

Yet for many of the things I have grown accustomed to or come to like, there are other things I do not. The weather was wonderful in August, but now I expect a rather bleak and rainy winter. I just do not think there is enough sunlight here for me to remain permanently. Some freedoms are not as broad here as in the USA.

The cuisine is... actually I have not had that much German food. The Mensa serves food that is a large step up from Chartwells, but is still mass produced cafeteria food. I have not cooked German meals myself, having stuck to making my family favorites for which I constantly hunt through the stores trying to think where they would put such-and-such an ingredient if they had it. Though now that I think about it, for this next year I can get a German cookbook to make meals myself. The beer is good, but the beer is held to strict purity laws which creates a lack of variety. And nobody knows what green chile or pecans are. ;-(


Hmmm...

Of course! I have not mentioned the friends I have made. Many wonderful people. I hope I can maintain my connections wherever life takes me.

Nic

Schlagsahne

Sunshine!

 The last two weeks have been wonderfully filled with warm weather. Too warm in some cases. Last Sunday it was hot all day, and, even with my curtains drawn, my room got piping hot from my southern facing window. Normal it cools down some at night. I open the windows and get a pleasant breeze. But it stayed around thirty all night long. Laying on my bed and sweating is not an easy way to sleep.
 I talked with friends, and decided that if it was always that way, as in India or several other countries, you would grow accustomed to it and it would not be a bother, but if it is a once in a summer thing you need a fan and a cold shower. Though a cold bath only works for so long as I discovered.

Because of the beautiful weather, I finally did something I have been thinking of doing for a long time. I took a bike ride down to the Ruhr River.

 I found some lush landscapes. It still strikes me as odd how there are small crop fields scattered all around town. Not in the dense center, but still what I would consider in the city. Here I finally got a few kilometers outside and saw some larger fields.

 The lazy river. Smaller than I expected.

Odd flowers that I swear gave off some odd, somewhat sweet smell. I catching a whiff of something as I was riding along and patches of these flowers were the only vegetation that I noticed common to each place. Though I was riding rather swiftly most of the time, and, well, I inherited my father's nose, that is to say I normal notice leftovers are bad by an odd taste or the fuzzies growing, not by the smell.

 But I finally reached my destination. The ruins of Burg Hardenstein.

 It turns out they are doing some repair work, but people where there cleaning up so I got to go inside the fences. Thought they would not guarantee my safety.

 Taking pictures by propping a camera on a bike is no easy task.

 And as I rode back on the other side of the river I had to take a shot.

Not having a map with me, I knew I was north of the river, south of Dortmund, and slowly heading east, but it was great to spot the tower in Westfallenpark.

Oh YA! And the best things I found out today.
First, Danish style apple pie/cake is easy to make and delicious. Second, you can make whipped cream IN A BAG! You just pour the cream, hold the opening firmly closed, and shake to the desired firmness. Last, they have nifty disposable bags to make ice cubes. Now I just have to buy some.

Thinking of green chile.

Nic

Sommer Semester

Well I finally got the impetus to look at writing something new, and I see I have not communicated for many months. The entire Summer semester, as lecture just finished Friday. That means I never wrote about my bike trip,

 visit to Madrid,

 weekend in Amsterdam,

 or BVB winning both the German Meisterschaft and the Polka and the ensuing celebrations. Well maybe I will write about those another time (not very likely).

This past weekend I was in Muenster for a scholarship holders meeting. What a time! There were over 700 people, including families with a total of 80 children, from 91 different countries.

 This trip I took a break from my normal structure, taking cues from some of my good friends, and just went up and talked to people. I talked with an Iranian gentleman working out methods to treat viruses, an Irish girl still in undergraduate German studies, a Russian doing German literature research in Koeln, a South African doctoral candidate in Artificial Intelligence and on the list rolls. Very rewarding  talking in a mixture of English and German; I will have to try to do it more often.

Muenster itself is a beautiful city with a tree and grass lined bike track (Fahrradbahn?), the Promenade around the inner city were the ancient city wall was.

A palace now used by the university.

This was just the area near the center of the city that I got to see as a tourist, but in Dortmund you have to go outside of the city center to visit any of the many parks.


One of my two favorite parts of the weekend was listening to the short half hour lectures given by students on their work. I got to attended a lecture given in German by an Estonian computer scientist developing a method to construct three dimensional models from simple pictures, such as those taken by a smart phone. The interesting thing for me is that he was using some of the very things I have learned about in my Computer Vision class this semester. Nothing like seeing the practical application of the things you are learning about. The second lecture I got to was a very concise, but very thorough, explanation of artificial intelligence. Just a wetting of my appetite to learn more of the applied theories in class next semester.

The second thing I most enjoyed was renting bikes with a Ukrainian student and touring around the town. We rode the entire Promenade loop and around the Aasee. Being a rare sunny Saturday afternoon, there were many natives grilling, sun bathing, and generally enjoying the outdoors. We found a group slack-lining and joined in for half an hour. It has been such a long time since I last slack-lined, but I was walking more than halfway across by the time we left.

Now for my regular life:
Great news! I got the extension for my scholarship to the end of next July! It gives me money for food and housing as well as paying for health insurance. I am now more relaxed, not having to worry about money for another year. I can work on getting my residents permit extended and making more more solid travel plans (going home for Christmas time, I can't wait!). 

Also exciting for me, I got into the project group I wanted for next semester. Aside from a set of classes, electives, labs, seminar, and thesis work, the Masters program requires a semester long group project. Not having started it yet, it sounds like it will be similar to the design groups in my bachelors. I got into a project group working with robot proxemics or "the way in which the interacting partners mutually establish and control their spatial separation and posture while being involved into the communication situation". I can't wait to start it with the new semester in October.


Well until next time.


Nic

Irland und Grossbritannien: Die Gedanken, die ich ohne Computer gehabt haben, sie zu schreiben.

Always the thoughts occur away from a computer on which to write them.

I had a wonderful trip a few weeks ago with my sister in Ireland and the UK, though she would have enjoyed less sightseeing than I.

 I met up with her here, outside the British Library. I think this was the first time I have seen people lined up to get into a library. Inside we got to see many old works, including two copies of the Magna Carta.

 Regents Park was beautiful.

 And of course we made it to Trafalgar Square.

 With the Olympic countdown clock.

 Somewhere down there is Number 10 Downing Street. The Doctor made it seem like you could get much closer; I don't know how he manages to get in so easily.

 This is over one of the doors on Westminster Abbey. I am not sure if you can read it, but below each figure is their given profession. The one on the far bottom right is the Engineer. Why so far away from the middle?

 I have never noticed so much external plumbing anywhere else I have visited. It seemed perfect to climb on, but my sister held me back. Just little a parkour? Pleeeeasse?

 This is a portion of the London Underground. What a messy system. Here in Germany I am used to the U-bahn, where you enter a station and go down a set of stairs, or an escalator for the lazy, and you are at the platform. Not so in London. There you enter a station, pass through a set of gates that you need a ticket to unlock, go down a hallway for 100m, take an escalator down 4 levels, turn right, go 200m bearing left, down a small set of stairs, 100m, turn right or left, and you finally reach the platform. I think you could spend your whole life lost underground. The picture is of the tunnel from the actual station (platform) over to the Science Museum, a good 500m at least.

 The Imperial War Museum. Having visited many Aerospace museums, which tend to have a lot of exhibits devoted to different wars, and having a desire to learn history, it was interesting to get a new perspective on wars, especially WWII.

 We got to see Singing in the Rain, a wonderful production in Westend.

 Well we didn't want to pay out our nose for tickets, so we bought them in the above the nose-bleed section. I could definitely understand how lower down would be a better view, but it was still wonderful to see. They even had it rain on the stage!

It does not show very well in this picture from the apartment we staid at (I must have taken it too late), but there was a "lovely" London fog every morning.

 Our passage over to Ireland was with a fairly foggy see. I never expected the see to have fog. I think I expected once you got far enough out away from land, it was clear.

 Benjamin Guinness, member of Parliament for the city of Dublin, gave money for St. Patrick's Cathedral.

 Inside St. Patrick's Cathedral. Many plaques and signs and things to read. Did you know there were knights of the Order of St. Patrick?

 Not the best picture, but I thought it was inspiring.

 A fine cheese shop in Galway.

 The Burren. We got a walking tour around an old farm.

 I took a bus to get back to Germany, and I got to ride through the Chunnel!
 I remember learning about the Chunnel as a great engineering feat of modern technology from when I was little. The history/science books described how the used laser to guide the digging from two ends, but never expounded beyond the building into how it actually functions. From when I was young, I always pictured it as a multi-lane road under the water. This led to thought of "What happens if there is an accident?" and "Would they have any rest-stops or service station?". Being older I stuck with that childhood imagination and did not think too deeply on how it actually functions. But now I know! Blackbox opened!
 It is not a road, but a rail-system with the massive trains which cars and buses can drive directly into. There are two tunnels for trains (I assume one for each direction), and an emergency one in-between for people to evacuate to from the trains.

Because I took the bus, I had to change in Brussels. Sadly I did not have enough time to explore (really even less time than I did take), but now I know I want to go back. And it is very close. :-)

A last thing to mention is the people. In a nutshell, Londoners are terrible at giving directions, and the Irish are very friendly and helpful, having a laid-back manner quite different from the Germans.

Nic

Aachen

What to do in the Freizeit? Travel. :-)

Right outside the Aachen Hauptbahnhof (Hbf) was this herd of Pferde. Five of them and five of us. It took the girls some time to get on, but we made. It really reminded me of how long it has been since I have ridden on a horse.

I thought this building was strange. I have seen all sorts of red brick buildings, but the yellow was an interesting highlight. Seemed to be just shops and offices, Deutsche Post was inside one section.

The Theatre, we only happened by it because there was a statue in front of it that caught my eye and I wandered off to see what it was. And then I failed to take a picture of the statue.

There was this bench/sundeck, so naturally I laid down.

And here we all are with the nice lady waiting for us to finish our timer controlled picture. Hahaha....

Looking from the old bath building to the Dom and Rathaus. Lovely green area in the city center.

I noticed as I was staring up at the figurines, that there seemed to be some missing. Or maybe there are just places for the future? But after hundreds of years what would you add?

Hehehe... Not sure what or why.

Model of the Cathedral. We took a tour with a guide in German, as the English tour started a little bit before we arrived and we did not want to wait half-an-hour or more. I was actually amazed at how much I really did understand. :-)
 According to the guide, when Karl der Große (a.k.a. Charlemagne for the English speakers) built the Dom around 800 A.D. it consisted of just the central octagon.

 The inside was originally white when it was built, but at some point (I forget the date) it was renovated and covered with these lovely mosaics. There was a man working on restoring a small section.

This is around the edge of the octagon. 

I do not know where this leads, one of the small alcoves branching off the center as seen in the model, but it looked neat. You can also see some of the marble that was everywhere. 

 This mosaic is on the top of the ceiling in the center.

 This is the ceremonial or church (not for governing) throne on the second level. Not at all fancy, it is a relic made from sections of the temple from Jerusalem. One side had some square scratch marks that the guide said was likely made by Romans soldiers as a game board. 

 The reliquary that holds some of the bones of Karl der Große, hands being located at other places, and one female rib of unidentified origin. The lady on the left was our guide. I believe she said that Karl der Große was buried in the church, and then hundreds of years later Barbarossa exhumed the tomb and placed the bones in the reliquary.
 This cathedral was the crowning places for kings and queens for hundreds of years.

 I thought these hinges were delightful. They give the door much more character than modern hinges.

Believe it or not, this is the back side of the Rathaus. The appearance is like an old keep. 

 I believe it was this tower (on the right side in the previous picture) that was a remnant of Karl der Großes castle. I wanted to climb it. It looks possible. But, as I have not climbed in a long time, I would definitely want some safety gear.

The front side was boring. The red shutters on top piqued my interest, but we did not end up going inside. 

 Blumen.

 As we passed this shop I had to do a double-take. Schwarzgelb are the correct colors, but that name and emblem are just wrong. 

 And then the most exciting part of the trip for the girls, the Lindt factory. You could smell it as we approached, and it was delicious.

The factory outlet store, where Lindt chocolate cost as little as normal off-brand chocolate, though it still tastes better. I won't tell you how fast I have gone through three-quarters of a kilo.

Next stop? Schwebebahn in Wuppertal or London!

Nic