AOK Spokeswoman (Unofficial)

Last Summer the health of my skin decided to majorly go on the fritz for reasons I don't know. I first began using cheap, harsh products which just seemed to anger my skin more. Then, when I was a guest in someone else's home I saw a different brand of face wash and decided to give it a try. During the couple of days I tried it out, I found that my skin seemed to like it. So, when I returned home I checked out the full line of products this brand had to offer.

I first started with just the AOK Regular Wash Gel for Clean Skin Above 20 Years Old. To accompany this I would use a "calming" face mask about once a week. I eventually decided that perhaps it would be just as effective or more effective and definitely more economical to purchase a face moisturizer. I first went with just the AOK nighttime moisturizer because I couldn't imagine that there should be such a huge difference between day and night creams. But, eventually I caved and got the AOK daytime cream as well because I could tell that the nighttime cream was working and I trusted that the daytime cream would provide additional benefits.

The conclusion here is, with this suite of AOK facial skin products my skin has gone from scary to nice. Sure, my face isn't yet perfect, but most people's aren't. I think the reason this product line works so well is because even the wash gel keeps the skin hydrated while it washes away yuck. When skin is properly hydrated, it is elastic and can process yuck in a reasonable fashion.

Thank You AOK

Branitzer Park in Springtime

During the winter holiday break on December 30, 2010 I had paid Branitzer Park a visit after dusk. I took some fabulous photos at that time. But, in a couple of weeks I will be giving a tour of the park with a classmate for our "Cultural Landscapes and Historic Gardens" course. So, I took Steffi along last weekend for a visit on a warm, sunny Spring afternoon.



This "pyramid" is a signature feature of the park which appears in all the tourist advertisements. It turned out to be more visually appealing than I expected. The landscape architect and his wife are buried under the pyramid.

Homemade Cherry and Apple Cake

Steffi and I baked a very typical style of German/Austrian cake last weekend. It consists of making up a batter, adding fruit (we used cherries and applies), then plopping on little chunks of buttery, sugary dough.




It was incredibly delicious. We actually made the cake because Christin had left a bottle of whipped cream behind when she moved out and we needed to use the bottle before it expired. What a great excuse, right?

New Semester

My second semester at Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) in Cottbus is nearly two weeks underway. Here's a little summary of the classes I'm taking.

Cultural Landscapes and Historic Gardens

This class actually belongs to another study program called World Heritage, but it's taught by a professor I know and it sounds interesting. It's also a sociological break from my natural science classes. We'll be learning about the history of various landscape and gardens styles in a sort of historical perspective of why these particular styles were popular during their times (e.g. influence of the enlightenment).

Environmental Modelling

In the lecture we'll learn about the theories behind different modelling methods and then in the exercise class we'll learn how to model with the computer program MATLAB.

Applied Geology

This class is like a mixture of Geochemistry and Hydrogeology. During the exercise portion of the class we have to do math. Yuck.

Freshwater Restoration Ecology

With my Aquatic Ecology background from last semester I'm now trying to move on to a new level of activity dealing with waterbodies.

Social Change and Continuity

Another social break from natural sciences, this class looks at how economic systems have developed in unique ways around the world.

Methods of Water Resource Management

This class will take place for just one week in June, so I can't give a first-hand impression of the subject yet, but I think the title explains a bit why I'm interested.

Ultimate Frisbee

Springtime is here which means frisbee outside on the soccer field! I attended once already and it was great fun playing outside. We got a little dirty and the brisk evening air was refreshing compared to the stuffy gym.

The Rodent Room

My room is being taken over by male rodents.

As you all know, I've had two adorable rats, Hans and Frans, under my care since around October. Yesterday the Easter Bunny moved in as well.



I have acquired this year old bunny, name Tiao Tiao, from a neighbor of Lili. The neighbor was giving Tiao Tiao away and I figured that since I've managed to figure out how to keep two rats alive, I could also welcome a rabbit into my heart and home as well. I'm letting Tiao Tiao get acquainted with the apartment today and it is really heartwarming watching him hop around. I do have to keep an eye on him though because he likes to nibble! I can tell he's getting comfortable here already because he just lay down against my open bedroom door : )

I hope that my entire rodent clan can be friends in the future. They have now spent one night in neighboring cages and Tiao Tiao has met Frans through the rat cage bars, but I am going to try and wait at least a week before I introduce them to each other with no cage barriers.

Spanish Food

There are 4 foods from Spain which stand out in my mind. There's the paella, the hamburger, Sangria, and the Cafe Americano. (All photos, except for the last one, courtesy of Lili)

Paella

There are many varieties of this dish, but what they all have in common is a bed of seasoned rice and some sort of meat and/or vegetable on top. Lili and I tried a standard seafood paella and then a local Valencian paella that had chicken (pictured). While I enjoyed the seasoned rice, I can't say that I was totally blown-over with joy about paellas in general because the whole concept of it didn't seem very unique. I also learned through the experience of eating the seafood paella that eating crustacean seafood is a waste of time. The animals are so tiny making for a very small amount of meat and it is incredibly difficult to get the shell off.



Hamburger

The Spanish know how to make hamburgers. We saw signs for them everywhere and digested some ourselves one day. What makes them so fantastic!? The ingredients: beef patty, deli slice of ham, onion, lettuce, tomato, and a sunnyside-up egg. I made one last night myself. Soooo delicious.



Sangria

We had a very Spanish meal one day of paella and Sangria. Sangria is a cold red wine drink with slices of fruit floating in it. I found it to be quite tasty because the fruit added the extra fruitiness which I have always believed red wine should have (because it's red and red says fruity!). Having had already tried German Gluehwein during the Christmas season, we found ourselves identifying Sangria as a cold version of Gluehwein (because Gluehwein is a hot, red, fruit-filled wein, for those of you who forgot).



Cafe Americano

I have not even had my 1 year annisversary yet of being a true coffee drinker, so until I did some research a couple days ago, I was really not knowledgeable at all about all the different terms used to describe specific types of coffee. I was first taught to make coffee by pouring drip coffee into a cup about 3/4 of the way full, adding a spoonful or so of sugar, and filling the rest of the cup with milk. At home I have changed this to adding water to instant coffee, adding two spoonfuls of sugar, and filling the cup with only a tiny bit of milk. So, in Spain I didn't know how to order coffee... On my first try I agreed when the woman said "cafe solo". I thought this meant a single coffee. As you can see in this picture, that is not what it meant.



No, my cup does not just appear smaller, it was smaller. I think I ordered espresso. So, I learned that with enough sugar, even a tiny cup of espresso can taste good. Perhaps you are thinking, what did Lili order that her cup is so big? She ordered "cafe con leche", which means "coffee with milk". So, why didn't I order that? Because I learned already last summer that when "coffee with milk" is ordered at a coffee shop, they fill half of the cup with milk and only put in half a cup of coffee, and that just tastes boring. On my next attempt to order coffee I tried to describe that I wanted "coffee black" because I figured that with the little amount of milk I usually add, I could probably survive with no milk. I was informed that what I wanted was "cafe Americano". I didn't quite understand the logic of calling it "Americano" because it doesn't describe from what region of America this style of coffee originates, but it tasted right. When I did my coffee research a couple of days ago in an attempt to answer this origin of name question, I found out a couple of interesting facts. First, I had not found a "normal black coffee" like I thought I had. Rather, "cafe Americano" is watered-down espresso, typically served at coffee shops as the equivalent of "normal black coffee". Second, this style of coffee originated during WWII when American (United States American) soldiers poured hot water into their coffees. And if I had already been at all into American coffee culture, I would have known that this name "cafe Americano" is normal in American coffee shops like Starbucks. Ah well, sometimes ya gotta travel halfway around the world to learn about your home.



Here's a quick lesson for all of you who have ever wondered what is with all those crazy coffee names.
Espresso Varieties (water forced through ground beans by pressure):
Cafe Americano -- diluted with water
Latte -- diluted with milk
Cappacino -- diluted with milk
Machiato -- diluted with milk

Coffee:
Drip Coffee (water passes through ground beans by gravity)
Instant Coffee (ground beans freeze dried)
Cafe con Leche, Cafe au lait, caffe e latte -- diluted with milk
Frappucino -- cold coffee and milk, typically with additional flavorings

Where is the love?

Yesterday evening I was flipping through t.v. channels taking advantage of the approximately 80 channels we get. I found the near-end of a "Mythbusters" episode in which the team split a car perfectly in half with a rocket. That was pretty sweet. I came across a reality show on VIVA, which is the German equivalent of MTV, and watched a 19 year old girl go on a mission to find a guy to have sex with her because it was her opinion that she was definitely too old to have not had sex yet. I didn't watch this show very long because I was disturbed that such a show even existed.

And then I came across the channel which does the international evening news in English (British English, but I'll forgive them). I decided that based upon the random snippets of news I had been hearing on the radio and reading online that I should be a good citizen of the world and watch the international news. So, I sat through news on about 4 countries before I was totally depressed and renewed my old vow to not watch news. People are simply mad. There's the Russian Caucasian "rebels", the Sudanese elections, the Afghan elections, the Catholic priests, the Michigan militiamen (this one didn't make the international news, but I've seen it online), Israel not backing down on stealing Palestinian land, peaceful Jordan getting caught up in spy scandals, and the Iranians trading fuel for weapons with China. I realize that it is these insane people who give us content for history books, but history books are always too big and heavy anyways, so we could use a little less history.

As I was washing dishes in the kitchen this morning I heard the song "Where is the love?" by the Black Eyed Peas on the radio and I think it speaks very well to my feelings. Either use this link or find the song yourself on Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjeL-CfwqOI