Four years ago, I was living in Germany. On election night, I stayed up most of the night listening to BBC radio for election results. It was an exciting time. The next day, I was approached by a lot of people – some I knew, some I didn’t know – congratulating me for ‘finally getting it right.’ I hope we manage to get it right again. My hopes are high, but my confidence is low.

I took a few pictures with my new camera.  I have so much to learn about how to use it properly.  I guess it would help to read the instructions.

All pictures can be found here.

Found in a the local döner shop tonight.

When in Germany….

Last weekend, I took a long weekend to do a couple things I have wanted to do since I have been in Germany – Oktoberfest in Münich and see Billy Bragg in concert. My friend Alex, who is from Münich area and living in Berlin, has invited me the past couple years. Now that I nearly completed my stay in Germany, I knew it was time. I also convinced my friend Mareike that it would be a good idea for her to come along just to experience it. I am not sure how I did that, but I am glad I did.

Oktoberfest was different than I was expecting. I envisioned a big area with open tents and tables to belly-up to. I was expecting lots and lots of drunk people – that expectation was met. It was a wet day and we spent a long time standing outside hoping to get into a big tent – something we never managed to do. We did have some good food and drink and all and all it was a pretty good day. The incredible number of people began to wear on me after a while. I think in order to really truly enjoy Oktoberfest, you just have really really let go of all inhibitions and just go for it. Something I am not so good at. It was good and fun day – no complaints.

We left on Sunday morning to go to the Billy Bragg concert some 6+ hours away by train. Not thinking about the fact that it was the last weekend of Oktoberfest, we did not reserve seats. A big big mistake. We ended up having to sit on the floor of the train (in the area by the doors) the entire way – with people coming and going, luggage falling over, etc. A bit annoying. We arrived in Bochem late and a bit tired. We had to rush to the concert and upon arrival at the ‘concert hall’, we found a very very dark building. I was very frustrated by this point as I have been looking forward to seeing Billy play for quite sometime now. Just when I was about to give up, Mareike figured out that the concert hall was a hundred meters away in another building. We raced over and made it just in time. Once the band started to play, I was able to sit back and relax and enjoy the show. I thought that Rosanne Cash (also playing) was fairly mediocre — although to be fair, I was not sure what to expect from her as I was not familiar with her music beforehand. But Billy Bragg was really really good and worth the effort of getting there. I highly recommend anybody that has the chance, to go and watch him play. Now that I have seen Billy Bragg play, I feel I can leave Europe feeling good about what I have done and seen.

The rest of the pictures can be found here.

On my way home from Istanbul, I began to feel like something was not quite right with my throat.  By mid-week, I (along with everyone else in Potsdam) was down for the count.  On Wednesday, it felt like nobody on the campus was at work.  I went home early on Wednesday – pretty much straight to bed.  Thursday was spent mostly in bed.  After consuming more vitamin C than I can recall doing before, I was beginning to feel quasi-human again (Friday).  After being cooped up all week, I was feeling the need to break out of my own personal Krank Haus.

So what did the break out compose of?  Friday night, the local men’s fußball team (Babelsberg) played – so I went.  It was a fairly strange scene.  At the beginning of the 2nd half, the flares came out, smoke filled the stadium, flares were tossed onto the field, riot cops poured in, and beer and taunts poured onto the riot cops – and the game continued on all the while.  I just kept thinking to myself, “but this is Babelsberg”.  I was smart enough to buy an expensive seat away from all the action.

The rest of the weekend was also full and busy – Turkish coffee with P&J, visiting the Babylon Exhibition at the Pergamon Museum, Drachenfest kite festival (I really liked watching the kites), watching an ultimate frisbee tournament hosted by the Goldfingers (I was not feeling well enough to play), taking Emil to the Turbine Potsdam fußball game, and finally going to a percussion concert (Vanille-Orange) in Berlin.  All-in-all, I think I managed to escape my Krank Haus pretty well.

This weekend is in Zürich with Hil, Ryan and Sophie.