An American Furry in Germany

Consider me cheered up.

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:11:17 GMT

I finally went to see Iron Man after all. I know, I said there was a principle here... but truth be told, I'm not very principled. I saved 2 Euros by going today instead of last Saturday, which I promptly spent on two cheeseburgers after the film. I'll get to that. First of all, I want to say that Iron Man was awesome. I kind of missed out on a lot of the witty repartee, because it was all overdubbed in German, but I got the general point. He is a Man... of Iron. I would have worried more about the dialogue if I had gone to see... I dunno. I was trying to think of an example of an intelligent film in theaters today, but nothing came up. :P In any case, this (plus the reading of Salinger) is a sign that I have begun to understand German. I'm starting to take in entertainment in the German language. I wouldn't say the training wheels are off, but I'm definitely out of the garage. :D
While I was watching the movie, at the point where he asked for a cheeseburger (in German he asks for a "double cheeseburger", instead of an "American cheeseburger" in the English audio. :P), I realized that I wanted a cheeseburger too. Then I realized that I had some money in my pocket, and there was a McDonald's around the corner. As soon as the movie got out, I could have a cheeseburger. And that just cheered me up to no end. I'm not even in America. But I know I'm still in civilization, because I can has cheezburger. That is at once the ultimate question and the ultimate answer. I can has cheezburger? I can has cheezburger. (Either that or the answer is "42", which is even better, actually.) So I went and bought two cheeseburgers. And my expectations were entirely fulfilled. (Although, as always, it is difficult to order food in Germany without some degree of equivocation and nervous grins.)

P.S. To everyone who walked out before the end of the credits: it made the movie twice as good. Scratch that... it squared the awesomeness of the movie. But I won't spoil it. You'll just have to go see it again.

Presentation

Wed, 14 May 2008 14:52:03 GMT

Well, that sucked. I had a presentation today that kept me busy (or at least worried about it, if not actively working on it) all last weekend, which for me is four days. It didn't go so well, though. My main problem is that it was more of an essay than a presentation. I wrote out most of what I was going to say, and just sort of read it in front of the class. And I wrote it while I was researching it, which means that my writing style was primed heavily towards the "essay" style. Which doesn't make the best presentation. To top it all off, my professor realized this about five seconds after I started talking. She interrupted to remind the class that she was expecting a "real" essay. I didn't know, so I could continue, but she wanted to remind the class what she was expecting. And to finish it off, I ended up taking about twenty minutes, with about ten minutes of discussion afterward. The original length of the presentation was supposed to be 90 minutes, but last week she reduced it to 45. Still a lot of time, though... and I'm just not any good at presentations.
Anyway, when the class was over, the teacher left thinking that my only problem was that I didn't know how to do a proper German presentation. And that might be true; I don't think I've seen any presentations here yet. But I suspect that I got off under false pretenses... I think my problem is simply that it was a bad presentation. And somehow I feel bad about that now, too (the false pretenses part). All in all, there were only two good things about the experience:

It's over. As soon as I buck up and stop being all mopey, I don't have to worry about it anymore.
While hooking up the projector, I displayed my desktop background to the entire class. Actually, I'm not entirely sure why that's a good thing...

Der Fänger im Roggen

Tue, 13 May 2008 22:19:15 GMT

I ran out of reading material last week, so I stopped into a bookstore and happened to find a neat, affordable copy of The Catcher In the Rye in German. I glanced through it really quick and came to the conclusion that I would be able to understand it, so I bought it. Now I have some reading material for a while--in fact, it'll probably last me almost a month, at the rate I'm going. And not only that, but I'm going to keep it--it's a book I wouldn't mind owning, and it's quite the conversation piece. I can finally convince myself that I know German.
I've read the book like three times already in English, but I don't think I've read it in years. I'm surprised how much of it I remember... I guess I did first read it at a pretty impressionable age. I really like the book. I think it's probably better in English, but I certainly can't argue that I understand it equally well in both languages. It's a pretty American book, though, isn't it? Oh well, it suits me fine. Now I just have to stop mixing up "blöd" and "bloß". Both are used with surprising frequency. Almost as much as "verfluchte". :P

Nickles and Dimes

Sat, 10 May 2008 13:29:18 GMT

Sigh... it happened again.

    I was visiting the Cinemaxx website today, looking up showtimes. I had heard good things about Iron Man and The Forbidden Kingdom, I hadn't been to a movie since Sweeney Todd, and my financial aid is finally coming through, so I thought I'd treat myself. Turns out they're not showing the Forbidden Kingdom, so I looked up the showtimes for Iron Man (and found, to my surprise, that they would be open tomorrow and Monday as well). Then I decided to look up the prices.
    I know I'm cheap, nobody has to tell me that. But when I go to the movies, I understand that it will be an expense. I expect to pay $5, minimum, if I'm lucky. usually around 7 or 8 dollars, sometimes up to $9 (although at that point I'll have to start rethinking it). And I'm in Europe, so I reasonably expect to pay around €7,50. Even though that comes out to more than $10, it's a once-in-a-while thing, so I won't let it worry me. So it wasn't the price pissed me off. It was the fact that underneath the price, there was a list of "Additional Fees". For 1 Euro more, you could get a box seat. (Nice idea, but I wasn't interested.) For movies longer than 120 minutes, there was an additional fee of 50 cents or 1 Euro, "depending on the film". Iron Man is 123 minutes long.
    If it's not clear exactly why I'm pissed off, I'd like to illustrate it by explaining a little phrase we have in English (I don't know if it's limited to America): "nickle-and-dime". It's used as a verb, and it basically means "charging additional small amounts for individual small reasons, which over time ends up raising the total cost much higher than expected". Usually it's used when the original price is an atractively low "base" price that ends up being very misleading--but it's not limited to that. Generally nickle-and-diming your customers is seen as bad practice--it tells them that you don't respect them, and that you only want to get their money, even if you have to trick it out of them. In Germany, though, it seems to be a sort of cultural identity. I'm afraid I may be crossing the line into "arrogant American" here, but it really bugs me. I still want to go see Iron Man... but not on those terms. And of course that's the only theater in Bremen (that I know of). So in the end, they don't get my money, and I don't get to treat myself. So we both end up unhappy.

This is a mystery.

Fri, 09 May 2008 17:58:30 GMT

I've always preferred whole milk, although in my home environment my mom would only buy reduced fat milk. Reduced fat (2%) is okay, but any lower than that and it just tastes too watered-down to me. I hate skim milk. And I get whole milk whenever I can--now that I'm doing my own milk purchasing. (Word for the wise: Buying alcohol does not make you a man. Having to buy your own milk--and I don't mean a pint carton at school--is the true sign that you've grown up.)
The interesting thing is, I could swear that whole milk in Germany has a higher fat content. This would be less strange if it was just called "whole milk", but it clearly says "3,5% Fett" right on the carton. But it tastes like half-and-half. Needless to say, I love it. :D But I still wonder what the cause is...

Ranger Rick made me furry.

Thu, 08 May 2008 22:07:40 GMT

I can't believe I'd forgotten about it for so long. I used to read a lot of Ranger Rick--an educational magazine about animals, for kids. I also remember "Your Big Backyard" (a magazine by the same people, aimed at readers younger than 7 years old), which places my age at the time at around 7 years old. Anywhere between 5 and 10, actually--I must have read them a lot, to remember it even now. It's so strange, remembering things from so long ago. It feels like they happened to a different person--I have no memory of actually experiencing it, just the basic details and emotions.
Anyway, now that I remember being so into Ranger Rick, it's no surprise that I turned out furry. Just look at the bottom of that website: "Which animal would you want to be?" Notice that "A frisky black-footed ferret." is the top-voted choice. I'll bet Ranger Rick is responsible for the big furry boom in this generation. That and the internet.

Also delicious: Milchreis

Mon, 05 May 2008 22:00:24 GMT

Putting milk, cinnamon, and sugar into cooked rice is not a new concept to me. It's quite tasty, very cheap, and very filling. But what is new to me is the concept of using the milk itself, instead of water, to cook the rice in. It thickens the milk, and results in an extremely creamy, almost pudding-like mixture of deliciousness.
In fact, it might be too delicious. It doesn't seem like such a large serving here, but when I remember that it was created from a liter of milk, I'm less surprised that it's filling me up this fast. Now I get to see how well it stores compared to plain rice...

Creamy and delicious...

Fri, 02 May 2008 20:38:00 GMT

They actually taste pretty good.

Manifestos-a-go-go

Fri, 02 May 2008 14:56:24 GMT

    I'm taking four courses at the moment. Java programming is in German, which should speak for itself (pretty difficult is the message I'm trying to convey), but the other three are harder to define. Two of them are in the HfK (Hochschule für Kunst, or University of the Arts), which also says a lot, but the remaining course, even though it's more of a computer course than an art course, has many similarities. The three courses range in number of participants from 5 to 15, no more. In America this is unheard-of: courses at Humboldt State University, prized for its "small class sizes taught by professors who know your name" (from the website) get as small as 20 people sometimes, but lately there's been a push (from higher-up, opposed by the students) to add more 150-person lecture-hall courses on basic required general education subjects. They're more cost-effective, certainly, but I can say from experience that it's one hell of a lousy learning environment. I don't know how they afford it, but I certainly appreciate the socratic style of round-table discussion in a small group--although Frieder Nake has a tendency to ramble (I feel tempted to shout out "Digression!" in the middle of class, but I don't think anyone would get it). And yes, that was a name drop--I'd never heard of him, but they say Frieder Nake is very well-known in Germany. Or maybe just in Bremen. (He seriously almost bought half the class copies of the Communist Manifesto, until he found out that English language versions couldn't be had for cheap.)
    But anyway, it seems like a lot of the essays I've been reading lately are very... obtuse. Unclear. Using a lot of big words to cover the fact that they're not saying anything at all. And I always hesitate before calling something out as BS, because there's a chance that I simply don't understand, and I'm making the mistake of denouncing something because I don't understand it. I think this is part of what I was talking about in the last post. I prize conciseness. Yes, if you read my LJ you'll often find me using strange phrasings or joking around with the English language (or German, when I dare). That's just for fun, though, because I'm typically trying to entertain more than to inform. But in these essays, it seems like their writing style is running contrary to their purpose--to inform. And it turns me off of the whole educational system. I don't want to constantly read and interpret 20-page manifestos that could have been summarized in a paragraph. I don't want to learn how to write essays to fit a minimum page limit, when I feel that I could be clearer if I said less. In fact, I always feel that one can be clearer by using fewer words, up to a point (the exception sometimes is in highly technical discussions among users of a particular jargon, where bigger words are more precise, but also likely to be understood). It's like the development of computer hardware--by making a processor smaller, you at once make it faster, and more energy-efficient. It's a sign of a novice when one uses newly-learned big words just for their own sake, because they think it represents intelligence. Maybe I'm just being arrogant, but I think that it's a sign of higher intelligence to be able to explain complicated concepts to a young child, not just other "experts". (I go by the assertion that any concept of any complexity can be explained in as little as two words. Not necessarily precisely, but it's a good start. Very concise. :P)
    So I'm worried about spending two more years in university. And if I want to go to graduate school, I know I'm going to have to write a thesis or sommat, which is pretty much the very embodiment of what I've been explaining here. I don't want to learn to BS. That's a skill I can do without.

My beef with Linux

Thu, 01 May 2008 16:45:44 GMT

    I'm going to state some opinons. I may get some that disagree with me, which is fine. I'm not looking to convince anybody. I just want to explain why I never really got into Linux, and find out if I'm correct, or why I'm wrong.
    This is written from my perspective, which is almost always a unique one--in this case, I would call it the "lazy nerd". I could have been one of those AV club guys, spurned from social circles to retreat into the safety of the machine world, where through mastery of the keyboard and the soldering iron, they could create gods. I think anyone who owns their own server counts into that group--and I think at least half the population of Germany has a Linux server in their basement. Either that, or they're in a band. Sometimes both.
    But instead, I stuck to Windows, and grew up learning all the nooks and crannies inside XP. Not with any sense of dedication, although I did take a bit of pride when I was the "go-to" guy for computer problems (the first ten times, anyway...), but only incidentally, learning it along the way because it interested me. And a lot of the Linux philosophy seems very interesting to me. So I guess my chief question is whether I don't like Linux because it's just very faulty in many different ways, or whether I'm simply too accustomed to doing things the Windows way.

    I started this post because I just started learning how to program ATMEL microcontrollers. It's not an easy task by any means, but even as a beginner I'm certain that it could be easier. This is the point where you say "If you can make it better, then why don't you?" The answer is that I'm still at the foot of the learning curve, and it's a steep climb. By the time I get to the point where I'm capable enough to simplify the process, I'll have reached the point where I can look back at a line like "OBJ = $(SRC:.c=.o) $(ASRC:.S=.o) " and say "what's so complicated about that?"
    I think that's probably Linux's biggest problem. It's written by people who are at once interested in it, and capable of writing code for it. And if the subject is complex enough, then the only people interested in it and capable of working with it will be those already comfortable with the complex interface. Which means that those users who are just interested in it, but not enough to learn how to deal with the complex interface, are turned away. Windows has the advantage and responsibility of a paying consumer base, so they have the funds to hire a bunch of idiots to come in and explain why they can't figure out their software.
    But it's not only idiots. I don't consider myself an idiot. But I consider myself rare in that I value simplicity. I suspect the problem with the Linux mindset is a sort of elitism--a value that prides itself on complexity, often for its own sake. Having to rewrite your driver files just to increase the screen resolution (to give a simple example) requires a certain amount of obscure, arcane knowledge, which feels like power to those who already know it. But it's not an advantage. A simple graphical slider could do the same work with much less preparation required. Simply put, the computer does it for you. And isn't that what computers were supposed to do all along?

    Trouble is, I'm only interested in this subject enough to write a blog post about it. If someday my skills improve sufficiently for me to be able to solve some of the problems I've seen, I'd like to think I could be of some help. But I'm not interested in it enough to pursue it as a quest. So until someone is, I think I'm going to stay away from Linux for a while. Just as long as I don't have to buy Vista.

Found A Job

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:51:32 GMT

Yes, that's right... I met someone on the wild wild interweb who works at the TZI [wearLab], and he sent me a notice that they were looking for student assistants. Today I went in for an interview, and we talked about red tape, C++, data gloves, and Wiimotes. Now it looks like I'm going to be porting the current code for the data glove (which was written in assembly language) into C. I was given an ATMEL controller to play around with, so I need to quickly start learning how to program hardware, and what the difference is between C and C++. I'm still worried that I might be underqualified, but there's no learning like hands-on learning. I'd better start researching it quick, though, so I can have the necessary skills before they're needed.

Ich bin ein Berliner

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:32:45 GMT

Strangely enough I didn't have a Berliner while I was there. Or "Pfannkuchen", although they're definitely not pancakes. I saw some at Dunkin' Doughnuts, but then we had to leave, and plus, I can get Dunkin' Doughnuts anywhere. There's nothing special about massive chain doughnuts. Unless you're talking about massive amounts of doughnuts strung together like a delicious chain.
I just got back from a weekend trip to Berlin. It was my first touristy experience since I've been here, actually--riding in a double-decker bus, taking pictures while someone talks about the history of this or that sculpture or piece of wall or something. I'm really tired right now, and my feet hurt--it was an intense 2.5 days. I'm sure I've forgotten a lot of what happened, but here are the basics:

We went to an exhibit on the history of Berlin. The WWII section was intense. Very dramatic and educational.
Also neat was the Gedächtniskirche. It's an old church that was half-destroyed by bombs, but they left it there... as a tribute to mankind, I guess. We can build these huge buildings, and we can blow them into pieces too. The steeple is broken off and the edges stick up jaggedly. Apparently people call it the "höhler Zahn"--the hollow tooth.
Berlin is a huge city, but compared to Bremen it seems like there's a lot more open space. The streets are much wider (there's a story behind that, too), so it feels more like an American city. :P I liked the open space, although generally cities aren't my thing. It was a nice place to visit, but it's a nice place to leave, too.
Out of the group of 45, about 20 of them (at least 20) spoke Spanish. And they always traveled in groups, so they never had to speak English or German. I started understanding them, and remembering some of my Spanish... but in the process I forgot all my German for a little while. I'll stick to one language at a time for now...
During the trip my camera went through 1 gigabyte of memory and two pairs of AA batteries in about the same amount of time.
I always knew this, I think, but it was brought to my attention that I don't like being in charge, but sometimes the alternative is worse. For instance, there were many times when the whole group of us walked around for hours trying to figure out where we were going, and how to get there, by committee. Except in a committee people talked... maybe we behaved more like molecules. Just bouncing around, dropping atoms here and there (we kept losing and regaining people), and not making any net progress in any one direction. The second night, I resolved to take action, and I successfully led us to our destination. Trouble is nobody really knew what the destination was--I just assumed that someone had a place in mind. I couldn't have taken that much charge, though... I don't know where bars in Berlin are. I don't much care, either.
I walked around a lot. I got a lot of exercise, but I got very tired, and my feet hurt. Also I should have brought a change of socks. :(

Speaking of tired, I'm going to go sleep now. Maybe I'll write something coherent in the morning.

One more thing...

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:22:03 GMT

Dear Germany:
What's so hard to understand about the term "water fountain"? We need water to live. When I'm visiting a public landmark, I don't want to walk around thirsty for hours and hours because all the shops are closed. When I'm in a restaurant, I don't want to go thirsty because it costs €1,50 for literally just a few swallows of water (0,2 liters). I can understand that there might not be much incentive for McD's to give out free ketchup, but I won't die for lack of ketchup. Not that I've ever been in any real danger of death by dehydration... I'm just thirsty.

Oh, and in case there's anyone reading this who doesn't know what a water fountain is (no, it's not a "fountain"): it's a box that sticks up out of the ground and squirts water into the air when you press the button. You drink the water out of the air--which sounds a lot harder than it actually is, now that I think about it. Usually the water is cold and filtered (often it's too cold, actually, and it hurts the teeth), and of course nobody charges you to use one. They're found in schools, office buildings, parks, and public areas like libraries, monuments, and touristy areas. (Not in restaurants, just to clear things up--in restaurants the waiters come around and refill your glass of water whenever it gets low. Plus they give you free bread.)

Bitchy

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:49:27 GMT

At this point I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to get the typical emotional high, then low usually associated with travel. At least not at any extreme level--I think I'm too moderate to let myself be that unbalanced. But I'm tired today, so I'm feeling a little put out by everything being so different. :P Pardon me while I bitch for a bit. I'd keep it to myself, but then I'd never know if some of my complaints might be reasonable.

First of all, your keyboards. I can understand the need to have the umlauts and ß (I set up my US keyboard to display them on Ctrl+[, ], \, and 8 (for ß)). But that's still no excuse for "Alt gr". Admittedly it's not used much in everyday life, but when you're trying to program, the many important brackets are all assigned to that key--and it's in the most inconvenient place on the whole keyboard. It's under the knuckle of the middle finger on the right hand, where we just have a redundant Alt key, and I always end up hitting the spacebar whenever I go for it. Plus most of its useful features are on the same side of the keyboard, so you have to hit both keys with the right hand. I've tried to change the keyboard layout (it's been years since I actually needed to look at the keys) in the OS, but I was never able to do it--and I'm not sure why, because the operating systems in the computer labs are all in German. Either the English layout isn't installed, I don't have the right permissions, or I was doing something wrong.
Actually I'm kind of growing fond of the money. All the bills are different sizes, which makes them easier to distinguish, and you can't shuff them all together--which is inconvenient sometimes, but it reminds you that if you have lots of different sizes, you have a lot of money in your hands. In America we just have to go by the numbers and the much less colorful styles. Plus here you can have a handful of change worth 10-20 Euros, if you let it accumulate. It makes the money more fun.
I don't see why everything has to close on Sundays. It's just inconvenient. I'm actually mostly just surprised by it. Shouldn't capitalism have intervened by now? I'm used to the customer always being right.
I'm really surprised at the amount of paperwork. It seems antiquated. And when I say "paperwork", I mean the literal paper--everthing is printed. It all goes into the computer eventually, but in the meantime countless resources (both time and trees) are wasted in writing things down, handing them over to be read, photocopied, and typed in, probably only for someone else in Berlin to read it off the screen and fill out some other forms on paper... I get the feeling that the people typing things into computers before granting me a visa would accept anything with a signature on it. (And a signature is just a scrawl of a pen, worn smooth through endless repetition.) I was almost tempted to test my theory, but I'm not stupid. :P Which sometimes leads to me having less fun.
Jimi Hendrix was not German. Heh, got you there. :P
O.J. Simpson was also not German... aww.

Okay, I think I'm good for another month. :P

I can cook!

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:50:43 GMT

    My brother recently mentioned making potato and leek soup, as an example of a cheap, easy meal. Lots of meals, actually--soup can generally be made in large amounts at one time, and last for long periods of time. Lately I've been trying to economize, so I was trying to think of how I could cook for myself, when I ran across some leeks in the grocery store. So with all the best intentions, I looked up a recipe on the internet, and went shopping very thoroughly. I came back feeling much more prepared, too--I now have salt, pepper, garlic powder, butter, milk, and even chicken bouillon. Oh, and sausage. And bacon. And a king's ransom in instant mashed potatoes.
    In short, I feel well-stocked.
    So today I finally made some potato and leek soup, and it turned out delicious. I had a recipe, but I didn't have any measuring instruments--fortunately, it didn't seem to cause a problem. That's the great thing about soup--you can always just add something, stir, and taste, and add more if necessary. I forgot to put the sausage in like I had planned, but in all other respects the soup was perfect. (Here's the recipe.) I've never had leeks before, and they surprised me--very simple, very mild, and very tasty. Now I feel very proud of myself, and I will definitely be cooking more in the future. I just need to think of something new to cook. I hear it's asparagus time, though, so maybe I can make something with that.

Speaking of Ayn Rand...

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 10:11:18 GMT

The trouble most people have with finding a soul mate is that they need to have shared interests. For instance, the movie "Must Love Dogs". As with all romantic comedies (but with a somewhat funnier title...), the issue is transparently shallow. Half the world loves dogs. Right? You think you have problems... I have problems. Is there even a single other person in the world who would appreciate the concept of replacing every instance of "Who is John Galt?" in Atlast Shrugged (and there are a lot of instances) with "Where is Carmen Sandiego?"

I think if I ever start a profile on Match.com or something, that's going to be a prerequisite.

Gaaaaaayyyy....

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 18:54:10 GMT

Totally gay. But wonderful. It's like Yellow Submarine on acid.
Wait... but Yellow Submarine already was on acid. Okay, it's like Yellow Submarine on gay. Which I guess is a controlled substance now?

EDIT: Hmph. "Gay" isn't a mood choice. Well that's an oversight...

void stiftInAugeHineinstecken()

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:35:50 GMT

Well, I'm learning Java in German now. This first class session was entirely in German, but it was mostly background stuff that I had already learned from C++. Polymorphism, overloading function names, etc. Although "final" was new.
The strange thing is that I understood almost all of it. I guess it's mostly procedural, and I can just follow the code to see what it does, and a lot of the keywords are based off English. But even if she'll speak some English for me in the following sessions, the function names are always going to be in German, and the comments... not to mention the keyboards. :P This is going to be a new experience...

Furries In Hamburg!

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 11:49:35 GMT

Whew. What a day. Yesterday I got up at around 8 am, and very shortly was off to the Hauptbahnhof to meet furries, and catch a train to Hamburg to meet more furries. As it turns out (from a glance at some of my pictures), it looks like there were at least 30 furries there, along with 11 more in fursuits. That's a lot of people.
When we first arrived, there were already about 20 people there, and not a bit of fur to be seen. So I took out my tail and ears, which cheered everyone up, and served as a sort of beacon. :P (I had taken them with in a duffel bag, I should mention, because I wasn't quite ready to have to explain it to my host family.) We were meeting in a parking lot underneath the Radisson, a giant hotel right next to the Hbf. in Hamburg. Apparently this was where a lot of people were arriving, as we found out when great double-decker buses full of tourists drove by, pointing and taking pictures. More so when the fursuits were finally put on, and they started thumbing for rides and waving at the tourists. Then an hour or so later, we set off.
The weather didn't quite cooperate--it was raining, although only lightly. So the actual fursuit walk was relatively short--just an hour or two. We went through the Japanese Gardens, the fursuiters horsing around, the rest taking pictures, and me somewhere in between. We ran into our fair share of tourists, and I took pictures of the looks on their faces. We didn't get a single negative reaction, unless you count the dog at the train station that wasn't prepared to deal with a new species today. It was quite encouraging. The children were especially delighted, when we ran into some. Adults felt the need to figure it out, and worried a bit for our sanity, but the kids didn't care. "That man has a tail!" was an explanation in itself. That probably says something about the reason I was there in the first place... funny, I usually don't like kids.

And here are the fursuiters...

And here's me trying to smile for the camera, but failing as usual.

After walking around for a bit, the fursuits were taken off (the people inside were literally steaming as they hit the cold outside air--it was amusing), and we went to go get something to eat, before a rendezvous at 5 pm at the Dom. For those of you who don't speak German, "Dom" (pronounced "dome") means "cathedral". So naturally I was expecting a cathedral, and not an amusement park. How naive I was...

Apparently the old cathedral used to be a safe haven for transients and street performers during harsh weather. When it burnt down, the city gave them another area kind of close by, which used to be a field for animals. They kept the name "Dom" though, apparently. Unfortunately this was explained to me right before I saw the sign, or I would have laughed more. :D
So our numbers had dwindled by then, but there were still about ten of us going through the fair, having fun and winning prizes. (We saw a furry tiger head hanging from a prize booth--about an hour later, one of the lost furries came walking back holding it. Apparently it wasn't for wearing, as it had first appeared... but I'm sure it will be modified.) I bent my tail on the Airwolf ride, but it was a lot of fun, and I bent it right back. Oh yeah, and then there was "No Limit", which cost €5 (too much for me...), but looked like a lot of fun. I don't think the video really captures the sense of height, though.

After that, we rode the Ferris wheel, and I got a bunch of pictures of Hamburg from above. Then we began to depart. It was about 8 pm, so I had been on my feet for 12 hours. There were about ten of us by that point, most living in Hamburg, and only one other going back to Bremen. Three of us went off to the train station, where we arrived about 10 minutes late for the train, and had to wait there for an hour. We found another furry also waiting for the same train back to Bremen, so the four of us ate at Pizza Hut, which was very delicious. Three left on a one-hour train ride back, two of us walked out of the main station, he ran off to catch a train, and there I was, finally back in Bremen, a little dazed, all alone at last, and still wearing my furry tail and ears. I had decided by that point that I would go all the way to the house in them, rather than keep it a big secret, but when I got home at around 11:30, everyone was in bed. And now it's Sunday.

It was quite a day.

Those Terrible Pants

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:53:17 GMT

I was trying to figure out how to say that in German on the way to the bank just a moment ago. On the way back to the bank, that is. I had gone to the bank previously, and they said that I couldn't get an EC-Card (check card, basically, but better), because I would be here less than 6 months. I asked at Sparkasse Bremen and Deutsche Bank, and received the same response. But because I already have 600-odd Euros in Paypal, I need some kind of account here, even if it wouldn't be optimally convenient. So I went back to the Sparkasse, the one branch out of all fifteen-thousand in Bremen that was closest to where I live, and this time they said that it would be no problem! So, I'm happy.
Except that shortly after I returned, I got a phone call from them, saying that I had left my Semesterticket there. They didn't need it for anything--it had just fallen out of my pocket. So I had to head right back. It's these terrible pants--the pockets are like an inch deep, and only hold stuff when I'm standing up. I lost my comb today, too. But I need my Semesterticket a whole lot more. So from now on I need to be a lot more careful, and stop wearing these pants.
And then when I was walking back, I ran into a pole. I think I should really try not to leave the house again today...

You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar...

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:43:15 GMT

Have you ever been really out of it, then hit on something surprisingly lucid? A "moment of clarity", or something? I just did that this morning. It was really weird... like Philip Oakey was walking over my grave or something. :P

I've been sick since Sunday, but yesterday it moved out of my tonsils and into my sinuses, with a vengeance. Fortunately I didn't have any school that day, so I basically just stayed in my room playing Brawl all day. I finally got it working, by the way, although the network connection here is too slow to support any online play. :( My friend code is 3652-0558-4673, for what it's worth. Anyway, I did have school this morning, so I had to set my alarm for 8 am and hope I felt better. I did, but not well enough--I almost stayed home. But this would have been a bad day to miss, so I went anyhow. Fortunately not too much was going on, so I was able to get out at 11:30. And on the way to the tram station, on my way back, I found myself singing Don't You Want Me by The Human League. It's a good song, I like it, but I had no idea I knew the words. In fact, I'm pretty sure I didn't--I remember thinking this as I was singing it, and being unable to tell what was going to come out of my mouth next. As long as I kept up the rhythm, though, somehow my mouth kept finding words. The right words. Apparently the song tells a little story, although I couldn't have told you that before today. I know I have an aptitude for remembering lyrics... but usually it's conscious. Get it together, brain. Sheesh.

Don't forget to be afraid...

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:24:03 GMT

I just registered online with the US Department of State. That way, if anything happens, they're know where to find me. Also if there's something new and potentially dangerous going on in Germany, they'll let me know about it. For instance, when I completed the form, a notice came up under the category "Germany", about potential anti-globalization protests at some conference in June. That might be useful information. Then right after that, I got this, under the category "World". Just a reminder, I guess, to anyone thinking about leaving our fair country--it's a dangerous world out there. Don't forget to be afraid.

Public Announcement 04/10/2007

Worldwide Caution

April 10, 2007

This Public Announcement updates information on the continuing threat of terrorist actions and violence against Americans and interests overseas. This supersedes the Worldwide Caution dated October 11, 2006 and expires on October 9, 2007.

The Department of State remains concerned about the continued threat of terrorist attacks, demonstrations and other violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests overseas. Current information suggests that al-Qaida and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks against U.S. interests in multiple regions, including Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. These attacks may employ a wide variety of tactics to include assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings and bombings.

Ongoing events in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East have resulted in demonstrations and associated violence in several countries. Americans are reminded that demonstrations and rioting can occur with little or no warning.

In August 2006, British authorities arrested a significant number of extremists engaged in a plot to destroy multiple passenger aircraft flying from the United Kingdom to the United States. The September 2006 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Syria and the March 2006 bombing near the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan illustrate the continuing desire of extremists to strike American targets.

Extremists may elect to use conventional or non-conventional weapons, and target both official and private interests. The bomb attacks targeting buses carrying foreign workers in March 2007 and December 2006 in Algeria, a series of bombings in Thailand in May and September 2006 that targeted commercial and tourist destinations in the far south, and the bombings in the the Egyptian resort town of Dahab in April 2006 all illustrate how terrorists exploit vulnerabilities associated with soft targets. Additional examples of such targets include high-profile sporting events, residential areas, business offices, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, schools, public areas and locales where Americans gather in large numbers, including during holidays. Financial or economic targets of value may also be considered as possible venues; the vehicle-based suicide attack on an oil facility near Mukalla and Marib in Yemen in September 2006 and the failed attack on the Abqaiq oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia in late February 2006 are such examples.

In the wake of the August 2006 plot against aircraft in London, numerous terrorist attacks on trains in India in 2006, the July 2005 London Underground bombings, and the March 2004 train attacks in Madrid, Americans are reminded of the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems. In addition, extremists may also select aviation and maritime services as possible targets.

U.S. citizens are strongly encouraged to maintain a high level of vigilance, be aware of local events, and take the appropriate steps to bolster their personal security. For additional information, please refer to ¿A Safe Trip Abroad¿ found at http://travel.state.gov.

U.S. Government facilities worldwide remain at a heightened state of alert. These facilities may temporarily close or periodically suspend public services to assess their security posture. In those instances, U.S. embassies and consulates will make every effort to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens. Americans abroad are urged to monitor the local news and maintain contact with the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.

As the Department continues to develop information on any potential security threats to U.S. citizens overseas, it shares credible threat information through its Consular Information Program documents, available on the Internet at http://travel.state.gov. In addition to information on the Internet, travelers may obtain up-to-date information on security conditions by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the U.S. or outside the U.S. and Canada on a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444

A is A

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:51:06 GMT

I've been reading a lot of Ayn Rand lately--and by a lot, I mean Atlas Shrugged. One very long book... fortunately it only took me one month to finish the whole thing. This whole tumultuous month, while I've been moving back to my hometown, preparing for a semester in Germany, and going through one existential crisis after another, I've been reading Ayn Rand. Scary, I know. Turns out that I didn't like it now as much as I did when I was young and impressionable (in high school), and now I disagree with a lot of it--but not all. I can't blame her for it; she grew up in communist Russia, and although she escaped from it, her entire philosophy is a reaction to it. Not to mention her writing style is more like propaganda than decent fiction--I guess you can never truly escape your roots. But her basic premise is only slightly flawed, and along the way to taking it way too far, she makes a lot of good points. So I think I've learned a few things.

But this post isn't about Ayn Rand--it's about Germany. Again. I think I've figured out their underlying premise.

You see, nothing is free in Germany. I know we have the saying "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" (tanstaafl, for short), but we don't really mean it. We get ketchup free, water free, bread and butter, free refills, etc. I haven't gone to a doctor, but I bet they don't even give out little lollipops here. In Germany, nothing is free--tanstaafl.

But reality is like that, isn't it? We only say that because it's true--you can't get a free lunch, you can only get someone else to pay it for you. America is ruled by corporations that have realized that buy people free lunches can be a good business practice. It's not immediately obvious, but people will give you more money if they have the choice, instead of being nickle-and-dimed out of it. If you change their reality, and don't charge them for 2 cents worth of ketchup, they'll order 50 cents more worth of fries! If you give them a plastic bag that costs 1/100th of a cent for free, they'll do all their shopping at your stores! And so America is gradually slipping away from our hold on reality. Either that, or we were founded with a national mentality firmly outside of reality--either way, the result is obvious. Disneyland, Ronald McDonald, The Brady Bunch, all-you-can-eat, etc. Each asks for nothing but your money, and offers you nothing but a brighter and more perfect fantasy. Isn't it nice to escape reality for a while?
Don't get the idea that I'm saying one is better than the other--I've tried to avoid doing that. I'm certain that there is a difference, and I have a pretty good idea of its nature, but I'm not yet certain which is "better"--of if one can be better. Germans as a people tend to have a more bleak worldview--the cost of accepting reality. Is it worth rejecting reality, at least in part, if it makes you happy? Or is it our "duty" to keep ourselves firmly rooted in reality--I mean, look what the American way of life is doing to the world. Seeking individual happiness would seem to be a good enough meaning of life, but when everyone does it, it turns out it's not sustainable. But for what should life be sustained, if not happiness? It's certainly a quandary. Maybe I need to figure out what premises I'm working from--if any really exist.

This got off topic fast, but suffice it to say that the Germans have a very realistic worldview. This makes them at once less fun, and more responsible. So if you want to lay back and enjoy life, go to America. If you want to prolong life, and I mean all life on earth, I'd suggest Germany.

Thugs On A Tram

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:19:58 GMT

The first week I was here, I did a lot of exploring. Fortunately the public transit system here is very convenient--unfortunately, the price is not so convenient. It's €2.15 each way, which, for a student at least, is pretty expensive. I could by five bars of chocolate in the price it costs to travel to the city center and back!
Fortunately I now have my Semesterticket, so I don't have to worry about that (not to mention I can go as far as Hamburg or Hannover for free). But even when I was paying for it, nobody ever checked my ticket. I wondered if the whole thing was based on the honor system. I'm a pretty honorable guy, so I guess it worked for me--not to mention, I didn't want to risk potentially breaking the law, because that's not something you want to do in a foreign country. I don't even know where the nearest embassy is. So as I shelled out Euro after Euro for each trip, a little pang inside me said that I might be wasting my money.

Well, I finally realized how it works. Today I was on the tram, and suddenly everyone reached for their wallets. I looked around, confused, and saw a couple of nondescript people moving through the tram, checking tickets. So I got mine out, and a few seconds later, they were finished. Then when we arrived at the next stop, they got off. I think they must have gotten on, one at each entrance, and moved towards each other. It was very efficient, but the lack of uniforms was kind of confusing. Usually a person doing a public service is easily identifiable. These people were just wearing whatever--jackets, sweaters, dark colors mostly. If they were wearing uniforms, I would have recognized what they were doing faster. But when I see a group of strangers in casual clothing, moving efficiently and with a common purpose, I don't immediately assume they're working in the public interest. :P

Kneipeabend

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 18:17:15 GMT

The last part of the orientation week was an organized pub-crawl at 8 pm at the Lagerhaus. I know Germans are supposed to be punctual, but these are students, so I took my time, and arrived at 8:30. Apparently there was a soccer game yesterday, because everyone was wearing "Werder Bremen" scarves and other paraphernalia... and drinking. Along the way I met a few Germans who were out drinking, and we struck up a conversation. It's very strange because we were speaking entirely in German, but I was actually communicating at a decent rate. We were holding an actual conversation. We got off at the same stop, and they helped me find the Lagerhaus. When I got there, though, I couldn't find anyone. I wandered around the bar (which was surprisingly big--apparently the Lagerhaus is a performing arts venue, along with the "Cafe Lagerhaus" which was the bar) for a good ten minutes before I found a group of students from Spain, also trying to find out whether we were in the right place. We wandered around for a while longer, collecting more Spaniards and Mexicans, but we didn't find anyone else. One girl went around a corner to see if there was maybe another Lagerhaus, and she came back all startled, telling us (in Spanish) that she had seen someone lying in the street shooting up through a vein in his leg. The only words I could understand were "sin pantalones", but I got the general picture.
After that we went to a bar called Bermuda, and about ten more Spanish-speaking students showed up, and one from France. We started talking, because everyone else was only talking in Spanish. It was "Happy Aua", so I got two beers for € 2,50. They weren't actually beers--I don't like beer--they were a beer-based beverage called "Beck's Chilled Orange". Not bad, but it wasn't that great. Later on, the French student and I went back to the Lagerhaus. This was around 10, and finally the other students had arrived.
Oh yeah. On the way back, I was hungry, so I got a hot dog from a street vendor. It was really good, actually, but I'm still confused by it. It was topped with ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, dill pickle slices, and... something else. It looked like it might have been bacon bits, and it was very light and crunchy... but it wasn't bacon bits. Does anyone know what it was? If I can't figure it out soon, I'm going to have to go back there and ask him--and I'm not prepared to find out that now there's no stand there, and never was. Gasp!

Anyway... I happened to have very little cash on me last night, so I couldn't afford a beer by the time I got to the Lagerhaus, even if I had wanted one. The strange result of this is that everyone asked me at least four times why I wasn't drinking anything. First I said I didn't have any more money, which was met with a kind of shrug and a look that seemed to mean "Why does that matter?". Next I tried saying that I had two beers already, which was kind of a lie, and even if it had been true, it didn't work. They had half-liter glasses of beer at the table. After that I just said that I didn't drink much, which was unbelievable for two reasons: First, they didn't understand that the phrase implicitly meant "alcohol", and second, how could I not like beer? I have yet to ask anyone how they could like beer, but I suspect the reason is simply peer pressure. They drink it because that's what people do--they drink, smoke, and talk. And somehow, none of that interests me.
At some point we left the Lagerhaus to head to a night club. I was kind of tired, and realizing that this type of entertainment wasn't really my thing, but I went along with it for a while longer. You never know until you try, right? So we got on the tram, and were immediately followed by ten thousand drunken soccer fans, singing, joking, and generally being less than sober. When we finally got to the club, there was a huge line outside. I figured that there were only two reasons there could be a line: 1, there's no room in the club, and they have to wait for people to come out before more can go in--in which case it would take forever for us to get in. 2, there was something taking time happening at the door--probably a cover charge, in which case I would probably be turned away at the door. So I decided that it was time to go home (particularly because I can't dance anyway, and probably shouldn't try).

So, I guess it's just not my thing. I tried it out, though, so now I know what it's like, and furthermore I realized that not everyone goes out to drink. It's mistaken to assume that those who do are the "popular kids"--they're just the ones that happen to enjoy the taste of beer and cigarettes, and have an endless ability to talk about nothing. So I'll stick to my own interests, and not try to be someone I'm not.