WELCOME TO MY HEAD

Mirko Sledding a Scary Hill

2011-01-05T12:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Hamburg

2011-01-05T12:10:00.000-08:00

Mirko and me sledding!

Mirko bowling.

Oh Christmas tree (and Mirko)

I spent Christmas with Mirko's family in Hamburg. It was a relaxing time.

Glühwein nach Oma's Rezept/ Mulled Wine after Grandma's Recipe

2010-12-18T08:51:00.000-08:00

Ralf (Trixi's partner), Mirko, and Trixi

This is the mulled wine stand which Mirko's sister Trixi has at the Cottbus Christmas Market. Trixi has had the stand for 15 years. She sells Christmas drinks like mulled wine, lumumba (hot chocolate and amaretto), hot chocolate, and grog (hot water and rum). Mirko works in the booth preparing and selling drinks. I have been helping this year with cleaning up tables (removing empty cups and wiping up spilled drinks). It's cold outside, but it is fun spending time among Germans during this special cultural event.

Christmas Market with the Ultimate Frisbee Team

2010-12-18T08:44:00.001-08:00

Laurie's Lumumba with whipped cream on top and Mirko's Mulled Wine with an almond

Mirko, Laurie, and Maik

Members of the Ultimate Frisbee team went to Mirko's family's mulled wine booth to enjoy some delicious Christmas drinks (mulled wine and lumumba).

Christmas Cookies

2010-12-18T08:37:00.001-08:00

Josi and I made sugar cookies for the Ultimate Frisbee Tournament. After making the prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th (the smileys), I decorated a few cookies for my own fun.

I also made cookies specially "Für Mirko" (for Mirko, my boyfriend) and "Für Trixi" (for Trixi, Mirko's sister).

England, Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland, and Ireland

2010-11-26T07:42:00.000-08:00

Back in August/September my mother and I took a trip together through England, Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland, and Ireland. I know that it is bad of me to only finally now in November be posting something about the trip, but since my entrance into Facebook life, I have been neglecting the blog. But I will not quit this blog because I want Michelle to remain proud of me for maintaining a blog for a long time!
I was very excited to see chalk cliffs in England. I had learned about them in my geology courses and was dying to see such cool rocks with my own eyes.

Since Blogspot has changed it's blog creation settings to a level which only experts can figure out, I have to comment here on the photo below (instead of below the photo). That is Scotland, and of all the regions we saw, I have to say that I loooove Scotland. It's gorgeous.

So, if you'd like to see more photos from our trip, then please visit my Flickr page and enjoy!

Climbing with Mirko

2010-09-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

Mirko is belaying me while I climb a cement rock in Guben. I enjoy climbing with Mirko.

Mirko climbs up the wall first and puts the rope at the top of the wall so that the rest of us can climb "top rope" style. He hooks himself to the wall along the way while I stand at the bottom belaying him. Mirko is a bit heavier than me, so belaying him is a mental game of me trying to be as heavy as I can (we also use another rope to hook me to the bottom of the wall!).

Mirko Mirko Bo Birko, My Mirko

2010-09-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

Mirko playing with Bardo, a dog we dogsat for an evening. Bardo was such a wonderful jetty.

Mirko tending the grill at an Ultimate Frisbee party.

Mirko smiling at Laurie because he's so happy to have her as his girlfriend : )

Mirko is a native of Cottbus and studies something similar to me: soil and water management. He's working on a "Diplom Degree" which is the German equivalent of doing a bachelor and master all at once.

Dresden (finally)

2010-06-13T05:05:00.000-07:00

I have been looking forward to visiting Dresden for as long as I've known that I was going to be living in Cottbus. So, for about a year. I never got around to it due to the weather, canceled school field trip, being busy, and being lazy. When Lili asked me last week if I wanted to go on Saturday when the weather was supposed to be nice, I said "yes!" The weather turned out to only be nice in the first half of the day, but we hid under an umbrella at a cafe drinking hot coffee when it decided to rain in the late afternoon.

The city reminded me of Prag, Czech. The facades of buildings in the old part of town all look so well cared for and are painted in light colors, like in Prag. I think that the inside of the renovated Kreuzkirche looks creepy and ugly. The broken sculptures resulting from WWII bombings have been left broken while the rest of the once ornate interior is now covered in a rough stucco. I recommend you click over to my Flickr page to see all of my photos from Dresden (don't worry, there's only about 10 photos) and their accompanying commentary.

Der Spreewald/The Spree Forest

2010-05-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

People around here love to talk about the Spreewald and how fantastic it is. They say you can bicycle or stroll there, but that the best way to explore is with a canoe. So, I'd been dying to get my butt in a canoe! Thankfully, Lili came up with the genius idea of gathering her friends together for canoeing in the Spreewald as a way of celebrating her birthday! Wonderful idea!!

We had a great time. We had 3 kayaks and 1 canoe with 3 people in each. I found the kayak interesting because when I was in the rear position I had peddles with which to steer.

It was nice to be out in nature, especially on a weekend when I was writing a paper for Freshwater Restoration Ecology. It's one thing to read and write about waterbodies, but another thing to get to touch algae and look at big, leafy plants growing on the river bottom (these two are important characters in my paper, also known as cyanobacteria and submerged macrophytes, for those of you who want to learn big words).

Now, to give my honest opinion of the infamous Spreewald: it is nice, but no wild territory. The hand of man is written on every inch of the place, which gave me more of a feel of wandering through an amusement park than a forest. It's experiences like this that make me miss the United States. The more western parts of the United States, that is. I once had a professor at Au Sable Institute in Michigan tell this joke while we were taking a nature hike:

Prof. Bouma, "How do you figure out which way is north if you can't see the sun?"

Students' responses, "Look at the moss on the trees."

Prof. Bouma, "No, look for which direction a satellite on someone's roof is facing...because in Michigan there's always bound to be a house relatively nearby to where you think you are lost."

I actually did use the sun to help us navigate when we got a little lost canoeing. I want to thank my mother for teaching me how to read the sun. It's been a very helpful skill to possess, whether I'm in a foreign city or a forest.

Learning Fast

2010-05-18T15:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we have the luxury of learning slowly, but other times the hassle of washing blankets and sheets is way too much and lessons need to be learned fast. As previously (and joyously, I might add) mentioned, Tiao Tiao now enjoys hopping up on my bed. The downside to this is that he also enjoys going to the bathroom on my bed. I think it is because he feels like he is on soft Earth or something like that and he "digs a hole" in my blankets (i.e. shifts the top blanket around) where he can go to the bathroom. After two instances of "bedwetting" I decided that I had to think like a mother and figure out a solution to my child's problem. Knowing that I couldn't change his behavior, I sought a solution in which I had control. What does a mother do to protect a bed from "bedwetting"? She puts plastic under the sheet. So, I looked around my room, found out I possessed enough large plastic bags, and tried it out. Worked like a charm. He "dug" through the top, easily washable blanket, and did his business on the plastic. The plastic was super easy to clean, meaning much less cleaning work for me and I get to go to bed in a clean bed.

Here's a photo of my solution and Tiao Tiao's work

From the Kitchen

2010-05-16T13:14:00.001-07:00

I got up this morning wanting to eat something that would make me really happy. Since it was a noontime breakfast I knew that whatever I ate, it was going to be a sandwich, but there are a lot of options when it comes to sandwiches. It was on my to-do list to go for a jog this afternoon, so I wanted the sandwich to be hearty. I contemplated a grilled cheese sandwich, but when I opened the fridge I saw the eggs and ham and had the brilliant thought that those two could go really well together with cheese. While the egg was frying I scanned the kitchen for any other ideas for stuff to make my sandwich experience amazing. My eyes landed on the pickles. I contemplated the pickles, but thought they might be a weird addition. The idea of a related and possibly more appropriate food popped in my head, cucumber, but upon investigating my veggies I realized that I've currently got zucchini and not cucumber on hand. So, my pickle argument seemed to be supported and I went for it. It turned out to definitely be the right decision! What a tasty sandwich! I didn't take a picture because I wasn't sure how it would turn out taste-wise, but here's the list of ingredients so you can make one yourself!

Whole wheat bread (buttered on the insides)

Gouda Cheese (or any other white cheese) sandwiching the rest of the ingredients

Slice of ham

Sliced up pickle

Fried egg

Enjoy!

Scarabaeidae

2010-05-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know Latin, that title says "Scarab Beetle".

My fantastic friend Lili did my homework for me and found out that my beetle from Park Branitz is most definitely a Scarab Beetle. You can find a picture of one of his relatives at the following website listed under the name Protaetia aeruginosa (near the bottom of the page).

http://www.kerbtier.de/cgi-bin/enFSearch.cgi?Fam=Scarabaeidae

As I mentioned before, Lili is now working on a study project where she is to capture and identify beetles...after skimming down this webpage I do not envy her. Beetles are creepy, like spiders. But, maybe I'm just negatively biased because I think my specimen from last week was barely hanging on to life as he lay on my desk. Due to his ghost movements, he got chucked out the window. I know, I'm an awful person (I live on the 4th floor with a cement sidewalk below). But in my defense, alive means alive and dead means dead; in between is not allowed!

Leaf Beetle of Park Branitz

2010-05-07T09:34:00.001-07:00

This morning I gave a tour of the locally famous Park Branitz with a classmate for our Cultural Landscapes and Historical Gardens course. While on the tour I came across this fantastic beetle on the path! He is so pretty that I just had to take pictures and bring him home!

I tried to do my beetle research on the internet and identify him, but I think the best name I can provide is "Leaf Beetle". There are thousands of leaf beetle varieties in North America and Europe, so perhaps this is sufficient. But, my friend Lili is in fact just starting a study project on trapping and identifying beetles, so perhaps she could help me narrow down an identification! Or, if you'd like to do some browsing yourself, I found the following website which is pretty interesting

http://www.biol.uni.wroc.pl/cassidae/European%20Chrysomelidae/index.htm

I like how the word "pleasure" ended up getting in the shot! It was indeed a pleasure to find this little dude.

Bunny on the Bed

2010-05-07T09:27:00.000-07:00

Usually I would have to lay claim to having put an animal in a place it doesn't necessarily want to be, but I have resisted forcing Tiao Tiao up on my bed. Last night I was sitting at my desk working on something when I heard a new noise behind me. I turned around to find Tiao Tiao sitting up on my bed! I was wondering if he would ever hop up that high or if he even could. Turns out he just needed to get bored exploring the main floor before he had a desire to seek new horizons.

He fits right in!

Tiao Tiao, Hans, and Frans United

2010-05-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

Tiao Tiao is settling in to life with me. Last night he met Frans and Hans!

Frans met Tiao Tiao first nose to nose and after sniffing each others faces Frans put his paws on Tiao Tiao's face to get a better sniff of Tiao Tiao's head, but Tiao Tiao backed off. Rats followed rabbit and vice versa, exploring my room together. I think Tiao Tiao was a little overwhelmed though because the first opportunity he got he went off to the living room and sprawled out there.

Hans was a sneaky boy and investigated Tiao Tiao's abode.

Frans returned to an old hiding place to find that Tiao Tiao had renovated and made the nest even homier (that's my newest apartmentmate and animal lover Paola).

Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness!!

2010-05-07T07:54:00.000-07:00

During my childhood years my mother enjoyed watching made-for-tv movies in the evening. I didn't ever watch these movies with her, to my knowledge. But, one time I did walk in on a movie and acquire a vivid memory which has haunted me for years since. The title of this post expresses such excitement because I finally found out what movie the haunting scenes came from!! And I just watched the movie! Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness!

First, the two scenes which have haunted me, making me scared of the outdoors at night and of people who sit in the dark. In my memory there is a teenage boy trudging across a backyard in the dark with an ax dragging behind him. Then there's a teenage boy sitting on the edge of his bed in the dark but when a little light shines on him you can see that he has blood all over his face.

So, how did I find the movie? Accidentally. I am a fan of the tv shows "How I Met Your Mother", starring the actor Neil Patrick Harris, and "The Big Bang Theory", starring Johnny Galecki. I was browsing the IMDb website for information about the "Big Bang Theory" actors and actress when I came across information saying that Johnny Galecki made a movie with Neil Patrick Harris back in 1993 titled "Sudden Fury: A Family Torn Apart". My curiosity was piqued and I checked out the information on the movie. The plot summary triggered the haunting memory of my mother's movie, so I decided to find the movie and find out if this was "the one".

AND IT WAS!!!!!

What a relief. Now that I have some context for my haunting memories I can possibly let go of the fear associated with them. It's really not a scary movie, but I was only 7 when I first saw the scenes, so they made a big impact on me. It is a decent movie and I encourage you to check it out. You can find it on Youtube in 10 minute segments.

AOK Spokeswoman (Unofficial)

2010-04-24T04:15:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-24T04:03:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-24T03:54:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-15T01:35:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-04T04:35:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-02T03:57:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-04-02T03:38:00.000-07:00

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

Back from Spain

2010-03-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

Lili and I have returned from a lovely vacation in Spain.

We had some beautiful Spring weather, visited interesting art museums, learned some Spanish history, walked old narrow streets, saw unique architecture, and relaxed in parks, on beaches, and in coffee shops. My wallet disappeared while in Madrid, but the sly street thievery of the Spaniards didn't ruin my trip because most of my money was not in the wallet. The cities were full of dogs, so despite the lovely time we were having, I was doggy-sick and glad to visit the animal shelter in Cottbus yesterday (where I walked a mini-Molly! Click on "Arthur" on this website http://www.tierheim-cottbus.de/intern/page/main.html). Spanish cities also contain a lot of smooching couples and motorcycles, so I was Steve-sick as well.

Please visit my Flickr page to see pictures from the trip.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/larriettasimon/
If you click on the "Spain: March 2010" icon on the right side of the page, then you can see the photos in chronological order. Feel free to leave comments!

Holiday: Spain

2010-03-09T16:30:00.000-08:00

I will be on holiday in Spain for the next two weeks, but here's your homework until I get back:

celebrate my one year anniversary of being in Germany/Europe on March 15.

I know, can you believe it? Aside from two weeks back in June 2009 when I was in Michigan, I've been living here for a year. Crazy. Almost half of the time I lived in Erlangen, Bavaria, while for a little over half of the time I have lived here in Cottbus, Brandenburg. I've really enjoyed living here and I am looking forward to my next year and a half.

Doggy Crush: Leo

2010-03-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

This is Leo and I have a doggy crush on him.

He's a lovable black lab from the Cottbus Animal Shelter. I mentioned him last week in my post with the small dog and ducks.

Leo's great characteristics are 1) his visual similarity to my number one dog Molly 2) his heartwarming, golden colored eyes 3) his medium length, soft black coat 4) his energy and enthusiasm 5) his calm and 6) his enjoyment of petting, scratching, hugs, kisses, etc. We sat on the river bank today watching the rapids and river flow. It was so nice to have a dog who sat next to me looking as curiously at the river as I was. As I sat there stroking him, he eventually lay down and proceeded to share with me in imagining how beautiful our lives could be together. Actually, I was coincidingly thinking about how much I'd love to live with him, but how I can't because he would freak Steffi out and I would always have to fear a lawsuit because as a dog he is a biting liability (he wears the muzzle because of his dominant temper with other dogs).

So, I just take lovely photos of my crush and treasure the time we have together.

Just Some Lipsmackin' Fun

2010-03-08T17:22:00.000-08:00

Those braces did a nice job, didn't they?

This photo is my "artist" tribute to the album cover of a musician, Ben Arthur. (Please note that the quotes mean sarcasm.)

Closing in on a decision: Calling all Devil's Advocates

2010-03-08T17:07:00.000-08:00

I make difficult decisions by conversing with myself. I have been going over and over in my head and out loud with people my dilemma about which department at the school I should become involved in. I've decided that I need to decide now, so I put one last push of effort into researching the two departments. The following is my decision, that is, unless any of you can give me a good Devil's Advocate argument to make me think some more. But, you only have until Wednesday morning (German time) to post your comments or send me an email.

Maybe it's because the out-of-this-world character of soil fascinates me. The fact that I don't yet grasp all of its secrets intrigues me. It makes me want to know more and understand more about this entity which is so important to my life and yet generally just gets trampled upon. I don't want to just manage the land, I want to understand it too. I want to see the data and find out for myself what it means: how did humans affect it, what should we do or not do about it, etc.? The environmental planners may feel like they are making a difference when they push paper, but I feel like I make a difference when my hands are literally dirty. I want to know about Soil Protection and Recultivation.

Early March in Cottbus, Germany

2010-03-04T07:04:00.000-08:00

The snow is melting and temperatures are warming up a little. Songbirds are providing an outdoor soundtrack.

I'm not usually much into small dogs, but this little dude had soft fur, a cute face, and was pretty friendly. I walked an utterly fantastic black lab last week who let me hug him and stroke his thick, soft coat. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of that big lug. The fishing ponds are still frozen, but the snow has mostly ceased covering land surfaces.

The ducks have been active all winter in the unfrozen Spree River and I have been particularly intrigued by this non-mallard duck variety, mostly because it isn't mallard. Some internet searching has lead to me knowing that this is a Common Goldeneye pair.

Books: Spanish, Food, Soil

2010-03-04T06:11:00.000-08:00

My one month of vacation has arrived. Plans are made to spend two weeks in the middle of March in Spain, but what to do with the two other weeks?

Lili asked me on the evening on which my vacation began if I was planning on reading any books during the vacation. Up to that point I had been making a mental list of tv shows and movies I wanted to watch, but her question reminded me that the university library here at BTU Cottbus is amazing. So, the next day I spent some time in the candy factory of knowledge picking out a stack of interesting books. There were tons more books which intrigued me, but the library has labeled the best books as being restricted to in-library use. While it is nice to keep these best books available for all to use, it greatly reduces the likelihood that I will ever read them because I like to read books at home in bed or on the couch, not in the cold, uncomfortable library. Oh well, my bounty is still contains some great books.

I am kind of picky when it comes to choosing my reading material because I know that I am going to invest a lot of brain power and time to reading, so it better be worth it. Let's analyze my current selection.

Starting on the right end we have books to acquaint me with the Spanish language. I have no intention of actually learning the language in the sense of building sensible phrases and such, but I want to feel comfortable reading signs, listening to conversations around me, and communicating with a word or two.

Next we have a couple of books written by people with particular passions. "Stolen Harvest" is a book written by an Indian activist about the modern global food system. It's an incredibly depressing book, but I'm more than half-way done, so soon I will only have the lingering sadness. The next book is "Exploring the Tomato". This book is basically a history of the tomato from it's wild roots to its modern genetically controlled status. I plan on bringing this book with me to Spain as my entertaining, light reading! I get enough crime and comedy through the tv shows I watch. Educational tv shows are interesting but I struggle to stay tuned. So, I turn to books for educational fun. I can read as fast or slow as I want and they contain way more information than educational tv shows.

The next section of my books are about good soil quality. One of the books deals with soil pollution while the other deals particularly with the role of organic matter in soil. I find both of these topics intriguing. Soil looks so simple to the naked eye, but it fascinates me how complex it in fact is.

The final book section contains books covering anthropogenic soils. In all the introductory education on soils, we think about soils out in fields, but so much of the earth is covered by urbanization, so I am really excited to crack open the "Urban Soils" book. On a related theme we have the final book, "Brownfields", which discusses how to remediate soils which have been majorly polluted and destroyed by human activities.

When picking out books I pretty much follow my instinctive desire. After having assembled my instinctive collection of books, I pondered what this particular combination says about me. I came up with the following ideas.

I like food. I like how it tastes, how it smells, and the energy it gives me to move and think. Food grows in soil. Soils need to be of decent quality in order to grow decent foods so that they can create healthy humans. Sure, everyone is going to die someday due to either a disease, accident, or homicide, but I don't think that we should mask millions of homicides as diseases. Humans are intelligent creatures, but often we don't fully use our brain capacities. We all play roles in this system, whether we directly realize it or not. I don't want to be a part of the higher levels of this food system. I want to do my part at one of the most basic levels: soil. Perhaps my work as an individual won't have much affect, but I will feel wholesome getting my hands literally dirty.

Goofy

2010-02-17T06:49:00.000-08:00

I use this word a lot. It just seems to be so applicable to so many people and situations.

But, I have been finding out that foreigners don't learn this word during their English educations. This is problematic because as I said, I use this word a lot, and "goofy" isn't really a simple word to explain.

If I ever teach an English course, I need to make sure "goofy" is on the vocabulary list. If any of you have influence upon English language education in foreign countries, please teach this word.

In the process of me learning German I feel like nouns and verbs are super important while I can get away with a small supply of adjectives and adverbs. But, when I speak English with my foreign friends, I find that it is through the language of adjectives that I express myself and can be descriptive. Apparently, all parts of speech are important. So much to learn...

Bodyweight Study Complete

2010-02-14T14:52:00.000-08:00

For the past five weeks (35 days) I have weighed myself every morning first thing when I got up and every night right before climbing into bed. I additionally kept track of how many hours I slept each night, exercise I did, and any notable stresses or health issues.

So, here I present to you the graph. The weight change value (in kilograms) was derived in the following way: each day I would take the difference between my morning and bedtime weight to see how much I had gained or loss throughout the day. Then, the next morning I would calculate how much I had lost over night (always loss). The difference between my gain/loss over the day and loss overnight is the daily change.

The first thing that surprised me during the study was how much weight I gained during each day and lost at night. I had never really thought before too much about my daily food accumulation and nightly energy burning. And getting a good, long, unstressful night of sleep often, but not always, affected how much I burned at night.

My eating habits were variable during these five weeks. I confess to putting conscientious effort into eating with the goal of increasing my weight during the first couple of weeks of the study. But, my body wasn't really liking all of that food, so I cut back.

The second week I was very stressed about a presentation which I knew would go horribly and you can see how my weight went down that entire week. Take-away message: stress is unhealthy.

The final few weeks of the study show much fluctuation. I would love to make a general statement about showing a tendency to always gain during a certain time of the week, but there is at least one peak on the graph for every day but Sunday.

My weight from the entire data set had a range of 4.84 lbs. The difference between the averages of all my morning and bedtime weights was only 1.2 lbs. I consider this to mean that my weight is relatively consistent around the weight which it fluctuates.

During the study I often wondered, does the weight of the food I eat transfer directly to the weight I gain? I was curious, but not crazy enough to weigh all of my food before I ate it...

While we are on the topic of weight, I would like to comment on healthy habits. The Yahoo! homepage loves to supply us with all sorts of articles listing ways to improve health, relationships, city to live in, etc. Well, in this theme I came across this list tonight, "6 Easy Slim-Down Strategies". Or, as I would more properly call the list, "6 Ways to Have a Healthy Body".

1) Weigh yourself daily
2) Keep t.v. viewing under 2 hours a day
3) Eat 4g of fiber at every meal
4) Sleep at least 7 hours per night
5) Drink 8 glasses of water per day
6) Stick to an 8-hour work day

I think this is a pretty good list. In summary, it says to eat healthy, get exercise, keep stress low, and sleep well.

I can't claim to do all of these things super well, but in general I try hard. I know that I have a naturally high metabolism which is simply genetic and I do not have the ability to gift this to any of you who are trying to lose weight. But, in addition to my natural ability, I also put effort into making my diet, exercise, and sleep contribute to the betterment of my health.

I am not a great Ultimate Frisbee player, but I go twice a week to run around like an idiot, sweat, and lower my stress (or temporarily raise it, as that is really the case, but it all works towards the best for the functioning of my body). I drink water all the time which has the consequence of people thinking I'm weird because I go to the bathroom so frequently. I'm a night-owl, but that doesn't keep me from getting my 8 hours of sleep! I just sleep later into the day! One weakness of mine which I used to be great about but have fallen out of the habit is eating an apple each day. It's not just a saying! It really is good to eat an apple a day! My habit has now turned into a banana every morning, which is also good, but not as great as an apple every day at lunch.

I wish you all the best of health!

My Head on Paper Again

2010-02-13T14:30:00.000-08:00

I should be studying for my exam Tuesday and so I am trying to keep myself away from the television this evening. But, even without the tv my head keeps fantasizing, so I get the same unproductive result.

This is an old image which I look at often. I saw it for the first time on the western coast of Michigan's Lower Peninsula when I was on the Michigander Bike Ride (a week long bike ride tour) in the summer of 2004. I have embellished my drawing with a little fantasy. Missing is Lake Michigan on the horizon behind the forest to the west (left) and I have converted a forest into a wheat field.

When I saw this scene, I thought it was just so idyllic. A perfect little farm house perched on a hill surrounded by a lush field full of sheep. If only you could really see inside my head...

English

2010-02-12T13:11:00.000-08:00

I am American and I am totally biased to liking American English more than British English. That said, I admit to being a fan of using the letter "u" in words like "flavour" or "colour" because I find it looks very elegant.

But, using an "s" in the place of a "z" is NOT elegant and I incredibly dislike it! Words like "emphasize" or "stabilization" are meant to be spelled with "z"s. My Merriam-Webster Dictionary agrees with me on this. When I type in a word with an "s", I am directed to a page which reads "British variant of..." and doesn't provide a definition. Hah! Take that British English.

I think the reason I take issue with an "s" taking the place of a "z" is that it would actually require a completely different pronunciation. An "s" is different than a "z". With an "s", "emphasize" (emphasise) should be pronounced more like "precise". But it's not. It's not like the British spell the word "size" any different than American English, so what's with messing up "emphasize"?

You know what really cracks me up about the whole thing? Merriam-Webster is an American dictionary producer and they recognize that these "s" spellings exist. But, you pop over to the Oxford Dictionary, which comes from the United Kingdom, and it doesn't recognize the existence of these "s" spellings. Odd, right?

Decisions, Decisions

2010-02-10T05:49:00.000-08:00

What to wear...What to eat...Who to work for...What theme to do a master thesis on?

I did very well on my oral exam today in the course "Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Analysis (EIA & SEA)". After telling me my grade on the exam, the professor (of the Environmental Planning dept.) said that he likes to make his good students aware that they can do paid research for his department on a path to doing a thesis. Sound familiar?

Well, now I have to decide where specifically my interests lie. It's easy to not even consider some subjects/departments because I know for sure that I'm not interested. But, the areas of "Soil Protection and Recultivation" and "Environmental Planning" are similar enough to make the decision difficult.

When I try to give people advice on decisions, I usually try to get out from them the positives and negatives of their options and what their intuition says 'feels' right. Maybe with your help I can talk myself through this decision.

The department of Soil Protection and and Recultivation (SPR) focuses on technical scientific research whereas the Environmental Planning (EP) department tries to make scientific results usable in practical management contexts. SPR would deal a lot with chemistry whereas EP would deal with social systems. SPR deals specifically with soil (lithology, hydrology, biology, air, humans) whereas EP goes beyond that to the level of how to deal with the soil practically. But it's not like SPR isn't practical. The knowledge is being gained in order to hopefully improve practical applications. Each path has a negative attritute. The SPR professor does not give his students any guidance and attention (a fact supported by yet another person). The EP department focuses a lot on Climate Change. But each path also has a positive attribute. Through the SPR department I could have the potential to understand the details of soil even better. A big positive about the EP department is that its study interests fit perfectly with my lifelong interest in understanding the Earth-Human relationship and figuring out how to put them in the most harmony.

This decision reminds me of when I was trying to decide whether to study Geography or Geology at Calvin College. I made the decision to study Geology because I wanted to have a solid background in the technical side of the environment before I pursued the social side later in my life. I wonder, has "later" come and I should begin honing my synthesizing skills? The answer always leads back to the question people have been asking me all my life, "What do I wanna be when I grow up?" I could probably get my dream job no matter which path I choose, so I need to pick the one which makes me happy now.

Reading through what I've written, it looks like I'm leaning a certain way. Do you feel it too?

My Head on Paper

2010-02-05T14:12:00.000-08:00

After talking with that soil professor a few days, my mind got to fantasizing about my future. This is the image which came to mind. Since I was enjoying dwelling on it so much, I decided to draw it out and share. That's my dog Ihi Lani chillin' next to the car keepin' me company while I carry out my work (for the Soil Conservancy or Dept. of Land Reclamation, perhaps).

One More Step in the Right Direction for My Life

2010-02-01T05:43:00.000-08:00

I love it when life falls in my lap and I don't have to be proactive.

This morning on my way to soil protection class I was chatting with a classmate about our professor. We agreed that he seems a little preoccupied with things other than our class. He said that when he was beginning his Bachelor Thesis (imagine it like a Honors Project or a mini-master thesis) that he considered asking this professor to be his advisor, but decided against it because he didn't think this professor would be a very involved advisor.

Well, at the end of class today the professor said that he had a question for me. He has offered me the opportunity to do paid research work here at the university in soil science. I think it is a lovely idea and I'm very excited that he brought up the offer to me. He suggested we discuss things more after the exam in a few weeks.

Maybe you think I have forgotten the conversation with my classmate this morning and should be wary to work with this professor, but I think it sounds like a good opportunity and I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.

What is one thing you would change about your appearance?

2010-01-31T16:04:00.001-08:00

And would you really change it, or is it just a part of who you are and you are okay with it making you look weird?

Whenever I ponder this question, I am puzzled by what answer I should give. I won't list off all of my flaws to you right now because if I did, then those features would stick out in your brains whenever you think of me, and I surely don't want that! But, I will say that one time one of my signature features was erased from a photo and even though I typically don't like this feature, the person in the photo simply wasn't me without this feature. And then there's the solution I tap into now and then of wearing cover-up, making my face one even tone. While I like this effect a lot, I also really like seeing my freckles and the various shades the different sections of my face naturally take on.

But, there is one feature of my face which nearly everyone I am acquainted with has pointed out once or twice which should probably go on a list of things I should want to change about my appearance. Look at the following picture.

Perhaps your eyes are first drawn to the yucky red acne, but since that is temporary (in a long-term sense of the term), I want you to look at the picture again.

Yes, you see it now. You see it in multiple locations. Here's a hint if you are not seeing it...blue.

I have very blue veins on my face, which some days seem to pop out very brightly. It doesn't matter whether I've got a tan or not, the vein under my eye is always showing through my skin. But as I said, there are some days when I get the question (even from my own mother), "What happened to your eye? Did you get hit by something?" And then there are days like today when Christin pointed out that I had veins on my forehead in addition to under my eye. I looked at myself in the mirror and felt like I was wearing make-up for an alien role in a tv series like Star Trek.

The thing is, I should probably be bothered that this vein under my eye which is so noticable and draws people's attentions. But, it is partially due to the fact that people have noticed it for so long (my entire life) that it's like them saying, "Hey, is that a right arm I see on you?"

So, ponder this question, "What is one thing you would change about your appearance?" because I think it is a more complicated question than we typically take it for.

Word of the Day: Dingsbums

2010-01-27T16:30:00.000-08:00

das Dingsbums: thingamabob

Isn't it beautiful how in both languages the word to describe something for which you can't place the name is a goofy combination of word and letters? In both languages the first part of the word means "thing" (Ding), but the second part is just incoherent babble.

Steffi uses the word "Ding" a lot in her speech. She even refers to Dominick as "der Typ" (that guy) and "das Ding" (that thing) sometimes. It's quite funny. When I told Christin about Steffi calling Dominick "that thing", she said it is actually quite common to call someone "das Dingsbums" when you can't recall his/her name. So, it's like saying "whats-his/her-name". But whereas we have "thingamabob" and "whats-his/her-name" in English to differentiate between objects and people, apparently it is okay to mix the situations in German. You probably shouldn't conclude that they don't also have a specific word just for people because I probably just haven't been educated on this word yet.

Das Dingsbums...it just sounds so funny!

Ingredient of the Week: Lime

2010-01-26T11:49:00.000-08:00

I tend to go on little kicks with my food ingredients, especially when it comes to flavoring meals.

This week I have a variety of vegetables on hand. The vegetables look so colorful and happy that I want to flavor them lightheartedly. In the past I have found a combination of lemon and lime to be a lighthearted combination. These past couple of days I've gone heavy on the lime part, resulting in amazing deliciousness.

The lemon-lime duo isn't just for veggies either. Sunday it went into the groundbeef and veggies pan which got mixed with spaghetti noodles for consumption. Yesterday it went in the pan with chicken and veggies. Today it just went with veggies, but the other half of my plate has dry mashed potatoes (I always find mashed potatoes dry). I find it useful to pair the lighthearted lemon-lime with heavy foods, like the beef, chicken, and potatoes because it makes the meal slide down easier.

What's with all the meat? I'll explain some of that in a couple of weeks when I produce my "Bodyweight Study" results. That study is coming along very nicely and I am very excitedly watching the results. I can't wait to share, but I have to wait in order to have results of enough significance!

A professor told my class on Friday that every slide in a presentation should have a "take-home message". So, my take-home message for this blog entry is: go buy some lime in a bottle (assuming you already have lemon at home) and squeeze both lemon and lime into your next pan of frying vegetables (or boiling, but preferably frying). Experiment with varying amounts of lemon vs. lime for a variety of tastes.

Every meal I make is a mystery on how it will taste. Be creative and enjoy stepping into the unknown!

"New" Baby Names

2010-01-25T12:41:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when American parents are given the task of naming their children, they decide that a "normal" name would be boring, so they come up with some sort of weird combination of letters which no one can pronounce or they name the child after a common object or feeling (i.e. Sunshine, Passion, Apple, etc.). I can understand how parents can feel that there are no original names left out there without resorting to one of these two options.

But, just a short jump across the pond and Europe provides a whole slew of new names up for grabs. Here's some "new" names to try:

Sabastian, Basti
Christoph
Ingo (male)
Inga (female)
Inken (female, heard it in a movie)
Rike
Mirko
Josephine, Josi
Francine, Francie
Axl
Felix
Brigitte
Magdelena, Lena
Julianna, Juli, Anna
Katherina, Kathe
Ferdinand, Ferdi
Ulrike
Ronny
Niesel (I find this name funny because "nieseln" means "to drizzle")
Steffen
Marcel
Carolla

These are only German names. When Poles were here at BTU for our frisbee tournament in December, they brought along a whole new name vocabulary.

Ola (I'm told a very common name)
Marek
Mikolaj
Matan
Sylwia (the w is pronounced like a v, also a very common name)
Karola
Lucjan
Ulle
Nynek
Rafal
Kamil

In the United States it is common to see "Baby Names" books in bookstores. I can't claim to have flipped through many, but from the couple I ever did flip through at the library (remember, I worked at libraries for a few years), they all contained pretty normal "American" names.

I think an international baby name book needs to be created. You know, travel the world collecting names from various countries. Of course, many names are mispronounced when out of the context of the original language. So, the spelling of names would need to be tweaked in order for American speakers to get the pronunciation correct while still trying to maintain the original beauty in how the name looks.

I think such a baby name book would be really helpful to a lot of American parents who are on the brink of committing a horrible mistake in naming their child/pet.

Confidence

2010-01-24T15:08:00.001-08:00

Word of Life: Confidence

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines confidence as

1a) a feeling or consciousness of one's powers or of reliance on one's circumstances

1b) faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way

I think that this word holds the key to life for me. In whatever I do, from relationships to work to play, I am required to be confident in myself.

I often don't feel confident. Every look, whisper, word put in my direction feels like a pillow being stuffed over my face. But, inside my head I have a dialogue running, telling myself positive statements.

Confidence can work in my life in a great variety of ways. One important way is knowing what will make me happy as an individual. Everyone around me always has expectations and judgments of me, but confidence is my key to fulfilling my own expectations and judgments of myself.

Family Photos in New Mexico

2010-01-24T14:32:00.000-08:00

These photos were sent to me today by my mother grace a my aunt grace a my uncle. They were taken in Fall 2008 when my brother Walter and I visited my Uncle Richard (Mom's brother) in southern New Mexico.

I've included the photos on the blog today for a couple of reasons. One, you can see how lovely my brother and I look. Really, I think we look nice in these photos! Second, you can see my uncle. Third, the scenery is gorgeous!

Walter and Me with beautiful New Mexican mountains in the background.

Uncle Richard, Me, and Walter

More Tabu

2010-01-23T14:45:00.001-08:00

and some Body Talk too!

Yesterday evening I joined several of my frisbee comrades for a game night. It was wonderful to hang out with this group outside of frisbee. We played Taboo and Body Talk (like Charades) and watched a classic French movie called "Louis and the out-of-this-world heads of cabbage". The main actor, Louis de Funes, is very famous here in Germany for his collection of comedy roles from 1946 to 1982. The movie was pretty corny, but something interesting to watch with a group.

I learned a few new words from the games. One of the Body Talk cards I passed on because I didn't know the meaning happened to be this lovely statement "in die Nase popeln", which means "pick one's nose"!!! I love learning such important phrases like that! One night at frisbee several months ago I had a wedgy, so I asked a girl how to say that in German. The phrase sounded so cool, "arsch frisst Hose (say 'hose-uh'), that I proudly declared my new knowledge to Christin when I got home. She asked me why someone taught me such a phrase and I told her that I learned it because I asked! My German language skills are still at the 4 year old level, but constantly growing in all directions!

Espana

2010-01-20T06:51:00.001-08:00

Being that I am living in Europe, I decided that a trip down to Spain is in store during the semester break in March. I have spoken with a few (female) friends about the idea and a couple have affirmed that they would like to join me for at least a few days. Not that I want to stay a long time, only about 12 days. I have planned it out so that I have time to visit several important cities and attend the only festival occurring in Spain during the month of March (Las Fallas in Valencia). There are many more amazing places possible to visit in Spain, but I have kept my list down to three major cities and the three important cities near them.

Madrid and Toledo

Barcelona and Girona

Valencia and Stagunta

Plans aren't set yet, but I am bursting to share and I didn't want to set anything in stone before any one of you has the opportunity to say, "But...", obviously followed by an amazing suggestion.

Action Photo

2010-01-16T09:04:00.000-08:00

I was browsing the website of my frisbee group when I found this photo of me at the tournament we held on December 19 in our gym. I couldn't tell you who ended up grasping this frisbee, but it sure looks like I had a good chance!

Some Favorite German Words

2010-01-15T05:11:00.000-08:00

Naturally, as I learn German vocabulary there are some words I love and some I hate. I've been watching a lot of the tv show "Scrubs" lately and I just love how the character Elliot says "mist" all the time. I'm not exactly sure what she says in English, but the general meaning of the word "mist" is along the lines of "shoot, dang-it". Another word I like is "ne", which is a slang way of saying "no". You pronounce it kind of like you were pretending to be a horse. Whenever I come across words I love I try to figure out the reason why I love them, but it is difficult to pinpoint reasons. Sometimes they just flow out of the mouth in a nice way. Sometimes it's the way people say them with emotion.

Tabu!

2010-01-13T07:04:00.000-08:00

On Monday evening Christin invited Steffi, Dominick, and I out to sushi dinner with her and her boyfriend Andres to celebrate her birthday and as a going away event because she'll be moving out soon (to move into an apartment with her boyfriend). Dinner was a jolly and delicious time.

Back at the apartment Christin, Andres, Dominick, and I played a couple games of "Taboo", written as "Tabu" in German. I wasn't sure if I should try playing because the game is all about describing words to your teammate without using a certain group of words listed on the gamecard. I figured I would just be a hindrance to my partner and it wouldn't be fair of me to put someone in such a losing position.

But, I decided to give it a try and I'm glad I did. A great thing about the game is that if you pick up a gamecard with a word you don't know or don't know how to describe, then you can just put it down and pick up a new card. So, did I hinder my teammate? A little, but not significantly. I look forward to playing again!

I'm a Quack

2010-01-13T06:11:00.000-08:00

Actually, the ducks in this video are real quacks!

I was walking a dog from the animal shelter along the Spree river and then we crossed a bridge. I was very amused by the large number of ducks and reasoned that they must have been begging me for food. My dog was not amused by the ducks, but patiently put up with my photo/video session.

I even caught a few photos of a mouse peaking out from his house...

and running along the bank.

The Evil Assignment

2010-01-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

I hate writing essays about things I barely understand. I try to read all the stuff written about the things which confuse me, but all they end up doing is confusing me more. Everything is too complicated and it's no wonder my interpretation of the information comes out all complicated and oversimplified. I try to simplify things into causes and effects which make sense to me. Then, my work gets edited and I'm told things don't make sense. Well, they make sense to me! I try to write for my audience, and to do so I reason, I am also a member of the audience. Most of my assignments have gone relatively well this semester, but this one deals with chemical reactions, and I hate chemical reactions (because they are complicated). Sometimes I want to just accept that I'll never win certain fights. But, I have to try and it's so frustrating!

Understanding Bodyweight

2010-01-08T03:42:00.000-08:00

You are all probably going to think I'm neurotic, but I've really just got a curious mind.

I gifted myself a scale and have begun a study to understand how my weight fluctuates throughout the day depending on such activities as sleeping, eating, exercising, and lazying around. The preliminary results after only one week are fascinating.

It appears that I gain about one kilogram between waking up and going to bed (yes, I will be speaking in kilograms and not pounds; 1 kg = 2.2 lb). Then, during the night I lose weight, as is normal (Dr. Rosen for Psychology Today, 2009). The amount of weight I lose during the night depends on how long and deep is my sleep. I had difficulty falling asleep the first few days of the week because I was trying to sleep too early (compared to my holiday schedule), so I only lost a few decimal points during the night. Later in the week when I was able to go to bed late and sleep late, I lost closer to a kilogram during the night. So, if I gain one kilogram during the day and lose one kilogram at night, then my weight remains about constant.

Dr. Rosen says in the article "Lose weight while you sleep (for real)!" that a study found it was normal to lose about 1/4 lb per hour of sleep. If I multiply that by nine hours, that comes to 2.25 lbs, which is just about 1 kg. The study showed that people lost more weight during sleep than just lying around awake in bed. The cause of the weight loss during sleep is that REM sleep uses a lot of energy. I love to sleep and most nights I travel well away to dreamland (a sign of REM sleep). On those nights when I don't sleep long enough, like at the beginning of this week, I still lose 1/4 lb per hour, but over the duration of only a couple of hours, so the resulting weight loss is less.

So, what can I recommend to those of you trying to lose weight? Do some aerobic exercise to tire yourself out and then sleep for a long time.

Movies I've Seen Recently

2010-01-02T16:24:00.000-08:00

The observant blog reader would notice that my "Movies I've Seen Recently" list has increased in length by about a third over these past two weeks.

The two weeks involving Christmas and New Years are always horrible for normal tv watching because all the regular scheduling is replaced with movies. I usually hate this aspect of the holidays because in the United States movies get edited for television and I never really feel like I can claim to have seen them. German television, on the other hand, wins points with me in that it shows films in their full-length entirety (swearing, nudity, and violence are all there). There is the little downside of the language barrier, so there are still some movies I need to see again in English in order to understand all the jokes and wordplay. But, I've also had the opportunity to see a couple of original German movies, which has been great for cultural education.

Favorite? You're out of luck because I don't do favorites of nearly anything!

Note: "Recently" in my context here means the past 365 days (otherwise known as 1 year). I would wipe out some of the films from last January, of which there are a few, but I like using the list to remember which movies I've seen "recently". Hey, as long as a scientist defines her terms, she's allowed to use them as she wishes!

New Year's Eve in Cottbus

2009-12-31T16:40:00.000-08:00

The Cottbuser folk put on a wonderful fireworks show on New Year's Eve at midnight. I took this video from my living room.

Branitzer Park

2009-12-30T03:54:00.000-08:00

Branitzer Park is just about the only sightseeing location in Cottbus and I told myself yesterday that I was going to visit it.

Fuerst Pueckler (Prince Pueckler) landscaped Branitz Park back in the 1800s. It's a decent sized park with open fields, patches of trees, forest, and some streams.

I realized that the park probably wouldn't be very pretty in the winter when the grass is dead and there's no leaves on the trees. But, I thought that perhaps I could visit once in winter and then again in summer to compare its appearance between seasons.

Winter sunlight hours are short, especially when you get up late. By the time I set out for the park the sunlight was already dimming, but once I commit myself to something I don't give up easily, so I continued to my destination.

My decision to view the park in the dark turned out to be for the best. Whereas I was expecting to see a drab landscape, the moon was big and full providing a wonderful glow and beautiful shadows. The mansion of Fuerst Pueckler took on an impressive presence in the landscape in its lit-up state.

And now to address my mother's concerns of me being out alone in a dark park. I assure you that there are occupied homes on the property, I passed by other joggers and dog walkers, and most of all, it's your fault that I have the courage to wander around in a park at night in the freezing cold winter weather. You always assured me when I was afraid that there is a super low chance that someone is going to be waiting out there in the dark, freezing cold just to prey upon me.

Fireworks (ie little bombs)

2009-12-28T08:52:00.001-08:00

I am used to hearing random small explosions in the month of July around Independence Day, but Germany instead fills the end of December with fireworks in celebration of New Year's. And while the people in Detroit typically either infrequently or all at once set off fireworks, the Germans have been enjoying setting the dang things off with frequent frequency. And these fireworks are loud too. Sometimes I even see the glow of the explosion shoot up from behind a building or outside my window. I don't like it.

Firework shows can be really cool with all the different shapes and loud booming coming all at once. But I am not prepared for all of these little private explosions and do not get to enjoy a colorful view after getting my heart boomed. I simply can't imagine what it must be like for the old people here who lived through WWII because if it were me these random explosions would remind me of my world getting slowly blown apart by Nazis and Allies.

Weihnachtsmarkt Berlin

2009-12-26T14:41:00.000-08:00

My apartmentmate Steffi invited me up to Berlin on Monday to visit a couple of Weihnachtsmarkts with her and her friends. Steffi is a native of Berlin, so it is her home playground. I decided that if I was going up to Berlin (a 2-hour trip), then I would make a full day of it and visit a couple of museums.

I first paid a visit to the Kaethe Koellwitz Museum because I did a presentation in German a few years ago on this turn of the century artist (19 to 20th century). I like her work and in the museum I additionally learned a little bit more about her technique and motivations for various projects.

Second stop was a museum called The Story of Berlin which covers the 800 year history of Berlin. I concentrated my education on the early history of the city since I knew my general German history but was curious how Berlin in particular fit into the picture.

With Steffi and her friends we visited a couple of Christmas markets which surround Der Fernseh Turm at Alexander Platz (the TV Tower at Alexander Place). Everything was on a bigger scale than in Cottbus, but still the same concept of fair rides, tasty treats, and lots of people. My highlights were trying a delicious donut-like food and riding the ferris wheel high above the city (this time in a closed-in box, thankfully).

View of the second market from the top of the ferris wheel at the other market

There were sheep and a donkey!

That's a water-fountain statue of Neptune lit up with blue lights while people ice skate around on his frozen fountain water.

German Vocabulary for Americans

2009-12-24T05:36:00.000-08:00

I've been collecting German words lately. The words fall into three categories: 1)German = English 2) German ~ English 3) Same spelling, but different meaning. The point of these lists is to show the close relation between German and English. Sadly, most of the words which fall into category one are words which have been adopted into German from English, although a friend argued a while back that the German language was simply "taking back" its words. I'm most amused by category three because they can cause confusion in the mind ("am I thinking/speaking English or German?").

Enjoy.

Category 1: German = English

arm
auto
ball
bar
bus
chaos
computer
fan (team supporter)
finger
fit
gel
gram
hand
hi
information
manager
meeting
mole (meaning varies in both languages, but sometimes the same)
museum
name
okay
party
presentation
sex
sofa
sorry
spam
T-shirt
taxi
winter

Category 2: German ~ English
Hint: Just replace a letter or two, or try saying it outloud.

Bier
Brokkoli
Foto
Glas
Haare
Jacke
Kaffee
Kamera
Lampe
Lippe
Metall
Milch
Nase
Papier
Plastik
Ringe
Schuh
Socke
Sommer
Strikt
Tee
Wasser
Wein

Category 3: Same word but different meaning
German definitions are provided after the colons.

stark: powerful, strong
ton: clay
Wade: calf (anatomy)

Ultimate Frisbee Tournament in Cottbus

2009-12-20T03:06:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a long day of playing frisbee. Our team here at BTU, Team DISCover (nerdiness is definitely a big product of technical schools), invited people from other areas to come play Ultimate Frisbee with us. There were a few people from Dresden and then a whole lot of people from various cities across Poland. The language of the day was English, but many of us German speakers often found ourselves speaking English with one another until we realized with whom we were speaking.

Each of the 6 teams was a mixture of players from various places. In my team I had two other DISCover players, one girl from Dresden, and three people from Poland. Games lasted 27 minutes. Each team played 6 games in total throughout the day, with typically an hour break in between each game. Five players are on the field at a time, so most teams had at least two substitutes to switch with the tired and weary (one or two teams had 8 team members).

I tried to drink a lot of water and eat in between each game (I brought chocolate chunk cookies for the buffet and people liked them). It paid off. I had the energy to keep sprinting hard until the end.

It was a good experience to play with people from outside of my BTU group because I acquired some new ideas on how to play well.

Here's a couple of videos from yesterday to show you the game of Ultimate Frisbee, but you'll find more photos on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/larriettasimon/

Stephan Assisting the Frisbee in its Travel down the Field

Mirko Assisting in making a Point

An Asian Evening

2009-12-20T02:55:00.000-08:00

I attended a birthday party for a friend of Lili on Friday. There were a lot of students there from the World Heritage study program, which consequently meant that it was an international population (France, Chile, Peru, Korea, China, Japan, USA, Mexico, Germany). We all took turns helping to make the sushi and dumplings. We enjoyed French wine, German beer, German Gluehwein, and American Coca-Cola. I brought some chocolate chunk cookies and there was a cinnamon-chocolate cake. I got acquainted with a few new people and had some good conversations with classmates.

Lili spreading sticky rice on the seaweed for the sushi.

Dumpling Making and Consumption

It's Cold Outside!

2009-12-18T07:29:00.000-08:00

People seem to think that my body should be "adapted" to cold weather since I have lived in the north my entire life. Let me educate you on this concept of "adaptation".

Adaptation is a process of natural selection which occurs over several generations. A single individual does not change itself to "adapt" to its conditions. Rather, if an individual is naturally made fit to survive in a certain situation, then that individual survives and reproduces future generations with the same natural abilities.

This means, I am not fit to live in the cold and no matter how many years I live in the cold, I will never "adapt". If I were to reproduce, my children would have a good chance of being wimps like me, unless the fitness of their father overruled my lack of fitness.

The Celsius temperature system makes cold temperatures sound so much more exteme than in the Fahrenheit temperature system. It's currently -11 degrees C, which sounds so extreme because it is below the number 0. But, in Fahrenheit it is 12 degrees, which sounds better because it is above 0.

I just remembered that winter temperatures often hover around 10 degrees F. This is a sad realization.

Sometimes in summer I find tank top and shorts to be too much clothes, whereas now I am wearing something like 4 layers on top and 3 on the bottom just to be comfortable. And don't tell me in the comments that it is my lack of extra meat on my bones which makes me cold! I eat! I do, I swear! I eat both healthy and unhealthy foods. I eat my good fats and bad fats. And still, I am cold.

Weihnachtsmarkt Cottbus

2009-12-16T16:51:00.000-08:00

A Weihnachtsmarkt is a Christmas Market located in the downtown of German cities. The market is open every day for about a month before Christmas. I have only visited the market in Cottbus so far, but I plan on seeing the one in Berlin on Monday. From what I know so far, I can say that it is not like an American craft sale, rather an outside social gathering to eat grilled meats on bread, eat crepes, eat sweets (roasted candied almonds, Stollen--fruit bread, etc.), drink Gluehwein (mulled wine) and other hot alcoholic beverages, buy some things related to Christmas, buy some things related to winter, buy other general items which I suppose could be Christmas presents, play some carnival games, and ride on carnival rides.

I have visited the market a few times. The family of a friend of mine has a hut where they sell said hot alcoholic drinks, so I paid them a visit a few times. I have gone with Lili a couple of times and it was on our most recent visit yesterday when we rode on the ferris wheel. It was a little scary because the top half of the sitting compartment wasn't caged in, but the view of the city at night was beautiful. The photos below were taken by Lili and belong to her.

As to the hot alcoholic drinks, I have tried the Gluehwein and another drink called Lumumba. The Gluehwein is a red wine spiced with such spices as cinnamon, orange peel, and almonds. I was a little skeptical on my first sip of Gluehwein, but I took to it quit quickly when my tastebuds realized that it did not have the nasty taste of red wine but was actually sweet and smooth (just like I thought red wine should taste before I actually tried it). The Lumumba is a very delicious mixture which I was very skeptical of when I heard the ingredients: hot chocolate milk and rum. The chocolate milk my friend's family uses is very rich chocolately and the rum adds some sort of flavor, but not a nasty alcoholic one. There is also the option to buy Grog, which my family is supposedly acquainted with from our neighbor, but I think that the combination of hot water and rum doesn't sound very tasty, so I doubt I will be trying it any time soon (recipes may very depending on the regional origin of the recipe, so I can't say this Cottbus Grog is the same as Johann's Swedish Grog).

View of a small portion of the market in Cottbus (the market continues a ways down a sidestreet--the main shopping strip)

Me all giddy on the big ferris wheel!

Smirk...

2009-12-14T17:12:00.000-08:00

...to the smug joy of a silent victory.

It just makes you feel good inside.

What a (Bad) Week

2009-12-14T04:21:00.001-08:00

I thought I broke the refridgerator when I was trying to find the right dial or button to make it colder. After spending several hours in fear that I had killed the fridge, my apartmentmates came home and informed me that I had only pressed the "defrost" button. The upside to this is that we had too much ice in our freezer compartment, so a defrost was just what the doctor ordered.

I had to spend an entire day with someone I wasn't too keen on in the first place but who I ordinarily see nearly every day. Well, within the course of the day we had the ability to get on each others' nerves, ending in the person yelling at me and hurting my feelings. I decided that the upside to this was to remember not to say to other people what this person said to me.

I woke up to find the toilet water running non-stop. I decided to investigate under the tank cover. I found water pouring out from between a plastic ring and a metal pipe. I got the water down to a drip before I screwed the plastic ring too tight and caused it to crack. Water began spraying out from the pipe and flames began spraying out of the orifices of my head. In my state of panic and rage I managed to locate the turn-off valve for the water pipe. After coming to my senses, I took some pictures of the broken region (with a ruler for scale--last time I needed something from the hardware store I had to return home to do some measurements) and headed over to the hardware store. The helpful salesman showed me everything I needed. When trying to undo the pipes, I had some difficulty and went down to my old neighbor to ask for some more hands, but he said he would come by in an hour. I didn't want to wait an hour, so with renewed vigor I attacked the pipe. I succeeded in unscrewing the old part and putting on the new part. I nervously turned the water back on and flushed the toilet...and it worked! For those of you out there who ever thought that my lack of interest in construction would leave me inept at fixing household problems (and I know you people exist), I am here to show you that my abilities prove themselves worthy when necessity strikes.

Broken--You can see the crack in the plastic ring.

Fixed--I had to replace the whole water in-flow contraption (comes as one piece).

I'm hoping for this coming week to go a little better.

Learning Lessons from Mean People

2009-12-13T06:33:00.000-08:00

Someone was mean to me and hurt my feelings a couple of days ago. I've spent the past couple days being frustrated and trying to figure out a way to get over the whole thing. I think I found the solution and it lies in the previous post.

Positive lesson learned: I should remember to not say to other people what this person said to me because it hurts feelings.

*Note: Please don't ask for details. I wrote this post in a vague way because I wanted to be vague. Just learn the lesson.

Best Advice I Ever Got

2009-12-10T14:43:00.000-08:00

At the end of each day, make a list of positives from my day.

Hans Bathing

2009-12-06T03:39:00.000-08:00

This is a video of Hans in the bathtub. I tried to make the horrible experience of bathtime a little more interesting for both the boys and myself by letting them stroll around in the bathtub. I was hoping at least one of them would be joyed by the experience, but neither was too keen on it. After bathtime they took a vacation from my bedroom into the living room and snuggled up near a warm heat register. That's not to say that my bedroom is cold, but the living room is cozier. And they smelled so yummy after the bath (from my shampoo) that I didn't have to worry about them leaving any stinky trace behind in the living room.

Black

2009-12-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

Preface: I love wearing black. It's easy to pair with other clothing items and it is soothing to the eye.

Context: I am sitting in the library among 5 other people and every single one of us is wearing black. Some of us have it on top and bottom, some just top or bottom.

Question: Is it a current western style thing to wear so much black (ie Germany and USA), or is it just a current local thing to wear so much black (ie Germany)?

Additionally: Everyone wears black or olive green winter coats! I confess that I too own an olive green autumn coat and a dark gray winter coat. But, my typical winter coat (and the only one I have here in Germany) and my raincoat are both very brightly colored (winter -- yellow, rain -- red). I walk across campus and see a sea of dark coats. In a way I feel special, but I also feel a little awkward.

Calvin College Diploma in German

2009-12-03T08:43:00.000-08:00

I had to translate my Calvin College diploma for the payroll office here at BTU. I tried to make it look nice and pretty, like the original. I think it looks cool in German, so I thought I'd share : )

Flickr Photos!!

2009-11-27T18:03:00.000-08:00

Please tune in to Flickr to see new photos of Cottbus, food, and nature. There's even an opportunity for you to help me solve a mystery!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/larriettasimon/

Chopin Imaginaire

2009-11-27T17:16:00.000-08:00

I attended a fantastic performance at the Cottbus Staatstheater (State Theater)last night. The program was titled "Chopin Imaginaire" and was a combination of Chopin's piano music and original ballet dancing! That there, my friends, is an amazing combination!!!

There were two people on the piano performing live but invisible from my seat on the first floor. I have no complaints at all about my seat though because it provided a great head-on view of the dancers, which were also not too far away as this is a relatively cozy theater (seating for ~ 260 on 3 levels). There were 4 female and 4 male dancers.

Chopin's compositions vary in length from barely a minute to several minutes long. The dancing performances ranged from classical pair dancing to comical skits. One of the wonderful things about ballet is how open it is to creative movement and expression. As the title of the program gives hint, the dancers brought to life what one may possibly imagine when listening to Chopin's pieces.

I cannot recreate in words the fantastic things they did on that stage, but I will give a few hints so you may develop a little bit of an idea of why I sat in that theater gladly smirking. For one of the pieces, the dancers wore socks and gloves which showed up in the black lighted stage. As they danced around and interwove their arms, all we really saw from the audience were free-floating hands and feet! In another piece only the men danced together and created with their legs raised up on one another what I thought of as a caterpillar marching around!

The stage and costumes continued to change as the show progressed. At the start there was a glossy black wall with 4 doors in it across the stage. The dancers spent a while "dancing" with the doors. Eventually the wall and half of the doors disappeared and only two doors remained but further back on the stage with a new, shear curtain as the wall. Since their were only 8 dancers, the dancers themselves used different additions and subtractions of black clothing to keep their characters fresh in each scene.

Although I could have easily attended this program on my own, I found out about it through the International Office listserv (emails) and attended with other students from BTU. The International Office coordinated a tour of the theater before the performance which was pretty sweet. We got to go under the stage and see the mechanics for how the center of the stage turns (which they used during the show) and where the doors are for actors to disappear through the stage floor. The guide also told us the history of the building. The most important fact for you to know as to the history is that this is the only large theater in the state of Brandenburg and it is supported through state funds. (Don't we have a theater in Detroit called "the State Theater"? Is it supported by state funds? Was it once upon a time?) In order to attract theater-goers from around the region, the theater has a different show each night covering the whole gamut of live performances like operas, plays, ballets, and orchestras. Many of the shows are put on by visiting performance groups since Cottbus is not such a major city as to have its own opera company, ballet company, orchestra...

One of the delightful aspects of this Chopin Imaginaire was its combination of live music and frequently changing visual entertainment. With a classical ballet there is one story line and one musical theme for a couple of hours. This can be wonderful, but a little tiring. I wasn't sure what to expect from this Chopin Imaginaire, but I was greatly pleased with what it turned out to be!

Rhyming in German

2009-11-27T07:45:00.000-08:00

You know what's great about the German language? I'll tell you: the standard form of verbs ends in -en and one of the past tense forms ends in -t. Can you imagine how easy this makes things for poets?! Let's make a poem right now (instead of writing for schoolwork)!

Ich habe einen Hund gekauft,
obwohl es nicht erlaubt war,
Ich habe ihn getauft,
obwohl es nicht gestattet war.

Wir sind im Park gegangen,
er hat einen Ball gefangen.

Wir spielen jeden Tag,
weil er es mag.

Ich muss ihn verkaufen,
weil er zu laut ist,
Ich muss eine nette Familie suchen,
weil er mir so wichtig ist.

I bought a dog,
although it wasn't permitted,
I baptized him,
although it wasn't permitted.

We went to the park,
he caught a ball.

We play every day,
because he likes it.

I must sell him,
because he is too loud,
I must seek out a nice family,
because he is so important to me.

-----------------------------

I can see how much is lost when translating poems!!!!

All Gone!

2009-11-26T04:05:00.000-08:00

My neighbor apartment building is completely torn down. All that remains is the rubble and a new view from my living room. I can now see the park across the street.

Is Blue Really Soothing?

2009-11-25T05:43:00.000-08:00

The background color of Microsoft Word 2007 is blue. Blue is supposed to be a soothing color. What's your opinion? Do you think it works? When I know what to type, I don't even notice the color. But when I sit here wishing words would spring onto the page without any effort on my part, I fear it doesn't work so well.

Dreams -- Welcome to My Unconscious Head

2009-11-23T15:23:00.001-08:00

I have the amazing ability to remember my dreams when I wake up in the morning, so I'm going to share some stories from the last few days.

Steve was in Germany for 24 hours. Yup, he flew up here from Afghanistan for 24 hours to attend some sort of event and then was going to be flying back a few hours after I spoke with him.

I was cooking and trying to salt my food, but the salt box had multiple holes at the top and across its middle. I instantly mentally blamed my apartmentmate Dominick and when he entered the scene I yelled at him, "Did you do this!?!"

I was hiking on rocky cliffs with a couple of people, one who I couldn't identify and the other an old apartmentmate (Christy Admiraal). Christy was trailing behind this other person and myself and fell off the cliff onto a sandy riverbank where a tiger was prowling about. Sorry Christy, but in our search we didn't find you.

I was in a mansion with some rooms with really high ceilings where large giraffe-like animals were hanging out for tourists who were mingling about, a few really quiet rooms with normal house-furniture like couches and beds, and a big, open, dirty cement-walled room with big rats running around on the floor. But these rats weren't pet rats like Hans and Frans. A couple of these crazy, dirty rats were in the hall where I was walking and jumped up viciously and tried to bite my arm. I woke up to reality flinging my arm away from my stuffed animal dog Perkins.

I love dreaming!

Ich uebersetze Deutsch.

2009-11-20T08:13:00.000-08:00

I bet you don't understand the title of this post. That's okay, it's not your fault that you don't love the German language like I do.

I translate German. That's what the title says. And it's true, I do! I have signed on with the university's International Student Office to edit English texts and translate German texts to English.

I worked on my first assignment a couple of days ago. It was a lot of fun! I was given a couple of forms from the city office. I had to edit some stuff that was already translated and do some of my own translating. There was an entire page explaining a certain law, which might sound like dry reading, but it was actually kind of exciting to find out what all the words meant and learn all the regulations for this law.

I expect to learn a lot of new words through this work. You might be thinking that I should already know all of the words which I need to translate, but in fact I don't. What is important is understanding how German verbs conjugate (so I can find the core verb in the dictionary), how German builds compound words, how sentences are structured, and the German psyche behind word choice. I have these skills and I'm puttin' 'em to use!

"Ah-ha" Moments

2009-11-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

There was a moment early on in high school when I remember sitting in English class and saying to myself "ah-ha! I finally understand the parts of speech!" It was a very jubilant moment since teachers had been trying to get it into our little idiot heads for years.

I had an "ah-ha" moment today in Aquatic Ecology. The topic of the course today was "acidification", which is a concept I've been taught about in several courses from various perspectives, but my chemistry skills are poor so thoughts in my head about acidification usually just felt like a blobby gray mass. Until today.

Unlike last week, when the professor for this class kind of sucked (we have a different professor nearly every week), the professor today was fantastic! He started with easy basics, hands-on examples, built up the concept in a simple way, and answered my questions clearly so that by the end I was actually comprehending the chemical formulas he was using to explain acidification!

It always feels good to say "ah-ha".

Building 2/3 Gone

2009-11-17T13:54:00.000-08:00

This is my neighboring apartment building still in the process of being torn down. They seem to work every day, but are not making progress very fast. When I showed my new Chinese friend Lili the building and told her that they've been working at it for a few weeks now, she said that in China they would have that thing down in a day or two. I feel like they would in the United States as well. I guess these guys just want to hold on to their jobs for as long as possible.

COOKIES

2009-11-17T13:45:00.001-08:00

Steffi and I made cookies on Sunday!

The light brown ones are chocolate chip. The dark brown ones were made with crushed haselnut, sugar, and graded chocolate. Both types of cookies taste delicious!

Delicious but hard. We need to develop a different technique next time to make sure they don't dry out. For the chocolate chip cookies I always wanted to wait until they were a little golden, but perhaps a combo of more butter and earlier removal would save them from being crispy.

Ultimate Frisbee Bruises

2009-11-17T13:39:00.000-08:00

There are two categories of bruises in this world: the ones earned in a proud fashion and the ones to be ashamed of.

These are PROUD bruises! I earned them last week whacking the frisbee out of the air so that the opposing team couldn't catch it. This was the first week that I had done this with any proficiency (ie making contact with the frisbee). These were the kind of bruises which formed instantly and went away in just a couple of days. As proud as I was to have these bruises, I will try to adopt a new whacking method this week so as to not cause my hand too much more harm.

Cottbus Animal Shelter

2009-11-17T13:29:00.000-08:00

It seems to rain on 99% of the days I go to the animal shelter. It worked out for the best on the day I took these pictures because the world looks really beautiful when it's cloudy and wet. We walk on paths alongside the Spree River and farm fields.

The doggy in the photo is Kalla! I know, you were probably thinking that Hannibal the Cannibal had transformed into a dog! I usually walk him. He's a lab mix, perhaps 3 years old, full of energy, and sweet. He has to wear the muzzle because he gets really excited around other dogs (in a bad way). Kalla likes to walk fast but typically partially adheres to my requests to not pull on the leash.

Intro to Today's Posts (but you'll probably read this last)

2009-11-17T13:26:00.001-08:00

I've been a little busy lately between classes, schoolwork, eating meals in front of the tv, playing Ultimate Frisbee, and socializing. But, I have made sure to document important happenings with my camera so I will now present to you several entries based on photos. Enjoy!

Yup, I'm "one of them"

2009-11-13T10:21:00.000-08:00

You know those foreigners you meet who seem to speak your language pretty well...except for that one word which they always seem to say wrong?

Yup, I'm one of them.

In English we have the word "when" and we use it in multiple situations. Take the following examples.

1) When I saw the ghost appear, I froze in horror.

2) When will you arrive?

The first sentence uses "when" in an if/when sort of way, whereas the second sentence uses "when" in questioning time.

German has two different words for these two different situations.

1) Wenn...
2) Wann...

My apartmentmate Steffi pointed out to me last week that I typically say "wann" for both sentences 1 and 2. Since notifying me about this fact, she has been policing my mouth. I am trying so hard to remember to say the correct word, but it is really astounding how frequently I still say "wann" when I should be saying "wenn". The stupid thing about it is that "wenn" is pronounced a lot more like "when" than "wann" is pronounced like "when", so my mouth should naturally gravitate towards the sound that is closer to English. (If you are trying to say it outloud for yourself right now, remember that the "w" in these German words is pronounced as a "v" and not a "w".)

I have a possible explanation for my consistent mistake.

There's another pair of words in German which share similar meanings and almost identical spellings which I frequently mix up: "denn" and "dann". Ignoring definitions, let's go straight to the point that "dann" is supposed to be used in most situations and "denn" is reserved for more special occasions. My mistake with this pair is saying "denn" too much. This mistake makes sense with its similarity to English because "denn" sounds a lot like "then" while "dann" sounds a lot like "than". I don't use the word "than" very much in English because it is a comparative words, while the word "then" is frequently used in if/then statements.

"Than" example: My dog is bigger than your dog.
"Then" example: If you are going to the store, then I want to come with you.

So, here's the language problem in its entirety: each pair of words has an "a" option and an "e" option.

wenn, wann
denn, dann

Martin Luther, the father of modern High German, would have been a much better person if he had decided, "Okay, it is the words with the "e" in the middle which should be used in most situations." But no. The "a" and "e" usage is mixed.

wenn, wann
denn, dann

Somehow the brain has to be programmed to remember which situation gets the "a" and which one gets the "e".

This may sound like a personal rant on the German language, but this is actually a common problem for non-native speakers.

...And yet, every time Steffi calls me out on it, the personal frustration grows bigger and bigger and ahhhhhhh. I am "one of them" and I don't like it.

Uberraschungsei/ Surprise Egg

2009-11-07T16:26:00.000-08:00

This miniature excavator joined my knickknack collection this evening. Christin came home from school a few days ago with news from a presentation one of her classmates had given that day: the Kinder chocolate brand creates a popular kids chocolate called the Uberraschungsei in which a toy is hidden inside a thin chocolate egg, but this particular product is not permitted to be sold in the United States due to the risk of children choking (ie risk of law suit). So, since I was not acquainted with this particular product, Christin gifted me one of these eggs this evening. I was going to take a photo of the whole combo of broken open egg, the plastic egg in which the excavator parts were in, and the excavator, but I couldn't resist eating the delicious Kinder chocolate long enough to get the camera. The chocolate might not have lasted long, but this plastic excavator will be with me forever.

Curious about the histories behind the other knickknacks?

The red object on the left is a lighter I got in a bag of worthless free stuff from the bookstore. The word printed on it is Flaschenoffner/Bottle Opener.

The camel was a gift from Mrs. de Vries, Prof. Bert de Vries' wife. She gave one of these camels from Bethlehem to all of us upon completion of our month in Jordan/Palestine/Israel. The word printed on it is Bethlehem.

The lizard was originally a key chain, but the loop on his tail finally broke recently after about 3 years of dangling on my backpack. He was a gift from Marina, one of my good friends whom I worked with at Potts Park in Germany in 2006.

The green cylinder is a candle holder with an expired candle which was gifted to me for my birthday by Asta, also a good friend whom I worked with at Potts Park in Germany in 2006. I've mostly kept the candleholder around because I like how it looks.

Lastly, on the right is a farmer woman holding a lamb. I bought this little figurine while working at Michael's Arts and Crafts last Autumn. I grew up with a few sheep as pets, so this little figurine reminds me of happy times spent with Betsy, Jake, and the rest of their woolly ancestors. Additionally, the woman is holding a baby bottle in her hand with the lamb, which reminds me of Jake's first few months of life spent in the house getting bottle fed, wearing diapers, and getting smacked by the cat.

Rat in the box

2009-11-02T14:25:00.000-08:00

Steve suggested I give the boys a box full of paper as a place to nest. I scoped out the discount grocery store today while shopping and found the perfect box. Frans and Hans seem to agree with me that it is nice and snuggly.

I also unknowingly complicated their lives by putting the ladder to the opposite shelf as the food and water. I only realized I had done this when I saw Hans scaling the wall this evening. It might sound mean, but even now that I've realized what I have done I am going to leave it this way. Steve told me that I should make their lives more complicated in ways that they get more exercise and have to think more. And its not like scaling the walls is anything new to them because they do it all the time for their own pleasure.

Ultimate Frisbee Lessons

2009-11-01T10:49:00.000-08:00

I've never really been a team sport player. I danced (not partner dancing), did Track and Field, and bowled. I didn't like playing basketball in gym class because the other kids were so pushy with their bodies. I tried playing soccer but I was really awful and didn't have time to improve while still making time for dancing, which was much more fun and interesting. Volleyball has always been a fun thing to play with friends.

But, team sports can be fun and offer important life lessons.

Now that I've played ultimate frisbee for a couple of weeks, I've got a good idea of how all the playing strategies are supposed to work. With this burden of knowledge comes the responsibility to do the right thing.

Let's take a step back a moment and give an example of "doing the right thing" in a non-ultimate frisbee context. Christin set up some placards on our apartment door a few days ago so that we could keep track of who is home and who is not home. It's a great idea and I've tried to remember to flip over my card when I leave and enter, but it is indeed a task to remember to flip the sign when running out the door. On two of the three evenings on which I left the apartment for several hours, I forgot to flip my sign. Tonight was the first night I remembered. The point of this little story is that while my sign does not move locations, it still took me three tries to get it right.

Let's go back to ultimate frisbee. When playing the game, I don't have just one stationary object to think about like I do with the signs Christin set up. I've got teammates and opponents running everywhere and a frisbee which must be thrown with special care so that it flies to the desired destination. My brain spins with decisions to be made and most of them will most likely end in a mistake.

Here's the lesson: Decisions must be made and typically quickly. Mistakes will naturally occur and with frequency. But, time cannot be wasted dwelling on mistakes. Once they are made, try to (quickly)learn a lesson from them and then move forward.

I think that I am discovering why decent team sport players often carry themselves so confidently. They naturally make tons of wrong decisions and mistakes during games, but then they move forward. Without moving forward, there is no hope of doing something right.

I may not be a great frisbee thrower yet, but I am pretty good at catching it. My one excellent memory from the evening is of catching a low flying frisbee in the end zone while sliding and subsequently sitting on the ground.

Oh Boy! Paper Everywhere!

2009-11-01T03:35:00.000-08:00

This is a video showing how excited the boys were when I put them in the cage with all the new paper.

The Rat House: Before and After

2009-11-01T03:26:00.000-08:00

I completely cleaned out the rat cage a couple of days ago and then put in tons of new crumpled up paper. I covered every surface of the cage with the paper so that I could see where Frans would decide to build the nest, which side the bathroom would be located on, and if any paper would be left not included in the nest.

As you can see, Frans got to work and brought nearly every piece of paper into the nest. As of today when I am writing this, the only paper remaining not in the nest is about 5 pieces up on the top, right shelf.

I tried to create a tunnel out of a brownie box for them to run through, which Frans did do a couple of times, but then they flattened it during the nest building efforts.

In answer to my questions of where the new nest and toilet would be located, they remained in the same places as before cleaning.

Halloween!

2009-11-01T03:17:00.000-08:00

I went down to the on-campus club on Halloween to enjoy a metal concert. I didn't want to dress up in a frightening way, but I did enjoy the opportunity to be more creative with my appearance. The music was decent and my cool look made me feel confident enough to chat with some people.

Then I came home and gave Frans some lovin' as thanks to his Daddy for inspiring me and giving me confidence to be myself (in both its bold and quiet forms).

Bye Bye Birdies

2009-10-28T09:14:00.000-07:00

The bird family is gone. About a week ago I noticed that there didn't appear to be any babies in the nest anymore and the parents were only infrequently sitting on the nest together. I've been checking in every day to make sure that they are really gone, and I've concluded that it's true.

I don't know what kind of birds they were, but I asked my ecology professor one day about what he knew of birds having babies in the Autumn. He explained that some birds lay eggs 2 of 3 times during the Spring, Summer, Autumn mating season as long as the weather remains decent. Well, I'm not so sure these birds were good judges on "decent" weather, but I guess my theories on accidental late-season mating were probably wrong.

Maybe they'll return to their nest in the Spring!

The Other Half of the Story

2009-10-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

I used to have this habit when I frequently wrote in my journal of only writing when I was frustrated, nervous, or mad, and then only including a happy tale every once in a while, which gives a lopsided picture of the inside of my head. I will try not to do that to you guys because you are an interactive audience and I don't want to give you a lopsided picture of my head. Then again, I tend to only write happy things on this blog, so a little dose of my frustrations, nervousness, and madness is actually what this blog needs to even things out (opposite to the journal situation).

A Chinese girl from my program invited me over for lunch today after class. She said that she's only a first level cooker, but I found it none-the-less tasty in its simplicity. It was really nice talking with her. We talked a lot about our different cultures. I learned a lot about China! And, it was a really interesting exercise to explain American culture. What I really found great though is when she said, "I feel like I share more similarities with you as a female American than I do with males from my own culture", which was a reference to what our ecology professor had said last night, "Male humans share more similarities with monkeys than they do with female humans." We had a good time and it made me happy.

Bye Bye Building/ And the Walls Came Tumbling Down

2009-10-28T08:19:00.000-07:00

Remember how I said that there were some buildings in my neighborhood which were empty? Well, a couple of them are in the process of getting torn down today.

If your refer back to my beginning of October entry titled "View from my Living Room", you will see this big empty building which is getting torn down.

Tuesday Night Special

2009-10-27T16:21:00.001-07:00

Tuesday nights are good nights in my apartment. The "new" episodes of "The Simpsons" and "Two and a Half Men" are on tv, and we are all fans of at least one of these shows. (I put "new" in quotes because American shows are often repeats to me because of the delay between US and German airings. I'm expecting things to be actually new in the Spring or next Summer.) I personally have been bored with The Simpsons since several years ago, so I only come out for Two and a Half Men. It's nice to sit around in the living room enjoying sitcom jokes together.

Tonight was extra special and we played a game of Settlers of Catan. I think I've only won this game once in my life, but I still enjoy sitting around with people and enjoying their competitive company.

People are Complicated (Myself Above All)

2009-10-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

Some people have got minds which can comprehend mathematical concepts as if it were second nature. Some people have the love and patience to be kindergarten teachers. Some people marry and divorce 4 times, but still believe in love enough to get married a fifth time. Some people write lots of novels because they have alternate realms in their minds. Some people have the wires crossed in their brains and can't function in "normal" society. Some people are successful in their work but suck at their personal lives. Some people are successful in their personal lives but suck at their work.

I've been told many a time that it is the vast variety of personalities which make human society so great. I've been told to just be confident and happy with who I am, no matter what anyone else thinks. I've been told to seek my own happiness by doing whatever makes me alone happy.

And just when I think I've figured it, I am in a new situation or meet a new person who stirs up trouble in my happy little head. The trouble is that everything and everyone has positive and negative attributes. Sometimes even that which I love is that which frustrates me.

What do you get up for each day? What drives you forward? Christin said that looking forward to a concert a month in the future inspires her. For some people it is the hope that a new situation or place will make life more exciting. For students it is often the goal of finishing the semester. For 9-5 workers it is looking forward to Friday.

I used to think that I was a cold-hearted, mean person. But, I hate being mean. I feel incredibly awful when I am mean. So, although sometimes I am a little cruel, I think that in comparison to most other people, I am actually incredibly nice! And this is why I now think that I don't deserve the cruelty others impose upon me, even when they are "just joking".

Here's some questions which can probably be found as the titles of articles on internet magazine websites, but which trouble me.

How do you make friends?

How do you start a conversation?

What topics are actually interesting in a conversation?

What controls a conversation: what you want to say or what you think the other person wants to hear?

How do you end a conversation (without using a lame excuse)?

How do you numb yourself to everything in the world which hurts and just focus on the positive, the productive, the good?

I tried hiding from the world by continuing to sleep this morning even after I wasn't tired, but all I got for my efforts were frightening dreams (a lizard stabbed his fangs through my comforter!!!!)

Senior year at Calvin College was such a great year. I had friends in my apartment, friends in the apartment next door, and friends in my classes. I felt loved.

People might think that I'm full of confidence and happiness because of my over-compensating personality, but I'm really just reaching out for any fish which will bite (Okay, not just any fish because my cruel side has had to show its face a couple of times for unwanted friendships. I totally believe that I'm allowed to be picky.). I just have to figure things out in a short time period cause I only got 2 years this time.

People tell me that we are all in the same boat and feeling the same way. If this is true, then why doesn't it feel like it? Why does it feel like the person I am talking to is judging me in a negative way? Why does it feel like the person I am talking to isn't really listening and doesn't care about what I am saying? How do I know if someone wants to talk to me if I am the one who approaches and starts the conversation? How do I shift my fake confidence to real confidence?

This blog entry has been inspired by many people, which might even include you, so please comment with your most truthful and personal responses.

My Most Fantastic Sequence of Photos Ever!

2009-10-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

Mission: Scout out Laurie's bedroom

2009-10-18T07:01:00.000-07:00

Frans wanted to make sure he scouted out every reachable place in my bedroom. I had removed the clean sheets, towels, and blankets from the bottom shelf after he had already checked them twice, so he decided he had to check out the next level of clothes. I was actually hoping he would continue to scale the shelves, but this is as far as he went.

Ultimate Frisbee

2009-10-18T06:59:00.001-07:00

I need to learn to not fall down when I play Ultimate Frisbee. Or, at least share the wealth with my other knee every once in a while...

I'm not sure how I got the bruise lower down since I only recall falling on my knee.

Rats (Say it with enthusiastic discouragement)

2009-10-17T08:56:00.001-07:00

Saying, "Hey, don't bite me you little rat" becomes so much more appropriate when there really is a rat on the floor nipping at your feet.

ERM at BTU

2009-10-17T03:22:00.000-07:00

Here's what's on the docket for my first semester of the Environmental and Resource Management Masters Program at Brandenburg Technical University in Cottbus, Germany.

Courses

Soil Protection and Ecotoxicology
This course is all about soil, from how it forms, activities which take place in soil, and human impacts on the soil including the negative contaminant inputs and the positive attempts at reducing and removing contaminants.

Strategic Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment
I don't know a lot about this topic yet. I do know that these are comprehensive management methods in which environments are assessed in order to provide governments with advice on what actions should be taken on projects which could significantly affect the environment. Example: Where to build the next major highway.

Introduction to Environmental and Resource Management 2
In this course all of us first year masters students will learn about how to write scientific papers and masters thesis'.

General and Applied Ecology
I think the name says it all.

Aquatic Ecology
Again, I think the name says it all.

Sport

Ultimate Frisbee
I chose this sport because I wanted a sport where I would have to run a lot, teamwork was involved, and I wouldn't have to learn a whole lot of new skills. It turns out that there are a lot more ways to throw a frisbee than I ever imagined, but with practice I hope to improve.

Animal Lovin'

Animal Shelter
Going to the animal shelter to walk dogs on Tuesday afternoons still fits in my course schedule.

Rats
Any time I am in my bedroom, they are present either sleeping, eating, or bickering. They are permitted the roam of my room when I release them to do so and on individual bases they may join me on my lap in the living room for t.v. watching.

Friends

I don't know if I would say that I have any friends quite yet. I have made acquaintances with several people, but only time will tell with whom I form bonds.
There are about 25 of us who are first semester ERM (Environmental and Resource Management) masters students. Only one of these people is actually German. Our international population originates from places like Mexico, France, Kenya, Camaroon, Great Britain, Pakistan, and China.
The educational and experience backgrounds of my fellow students is varied. Many of them previously studied some branch of engineering. The person with the most similar educational background to me is the German who studied Geo and Atmospheric Sciences in Austria. One person worked for four years as a chemical engineer before starting this program. Another person worked for four years on an oil rig ship calculating the amount of chemicals being dumped into the sea. This is the second masters degree for another person.
The motivations for studying are interesting to hear. The people who have held jobs say that they have worked in the system and now want to improve it. The Africans want to return to their villages and help improve the qualities of life there.

New Roommates: Hans and Frans

2009-10-14T07:17:00.000-07:00

Hans and Frans, Steve's soft, cuddly, adorable rats have moved in with me! I have been entrusted with their love, kisses, and care during the year-long absence of Steve while he resides in a less friendly part of the world (ie Afghanistan).

*It sounds best to say "Hans and Frans", but in the photo it is actually Frans on the left and Hans on the right.