When you call at 11.59 to cancel your Wednesday German class (well, this should be the first clue that one is in Germany--as opposed to say, Portugal), and you reach Berlitz at 11.59:30.
As you start to state your need, the clock turns 12. The 'loud enough to wake the dead' church bells from the church that is 5 min on foot from your house start clanging. Then, you hear the church bells in the background in Koeln near Berlitz.
So both parties struggle to hear each other over the incessant pealing of bells which seem to be playing the same tune, but one at a four second lag of the other.
I was working from home today. Usually I sleep through the 07.00 ringing and am too far away for the 12.00, so usually I only catch the 19.00 weekday ones, or the 11.00 Sunday ones.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
welcome back, your dreams were your ticket out
I left the rainy, cold Midwest on Friday at 10 to make it to the airport by 11 for a 13 flight to Newark where I would have 2.5 hours to switch to the overnight to Cologne with Continental. Scratch that plan.
I arrived at the airport, there is massive raining on the East coast, so my flight to Newark was delayed by 2 hours. By the time I found the check-in area it had gone to over 3 hours, so there was no way to make the international leg. At check-in they were pretty empty and the helpful agents got to work with how to re-route me.
There was an overnight from Continental to Manchester, England that left a little later that they could route me on, and then connect me over to Cologne. I would arrive in at 17.30. Instead of 08:30? Um...do you have anything a little closer to lunchtime? Well, Frankfurt perhaps, would be 14.30 instead. Um...how about D'dorf? Agent two then joins the game and has some ideas.
How do you feel about a bus to O'Hare? We'll give you a voucher and you're early enough. Well I'm not so fond of the behemoth that is Chicago because of all the lines and the big planes due to the volume of people moving through, but I can suck it up if it will get me back before lunch, so Chi-town it is.
So to Chicago I go and confuse the heck out of things because they had to issue me a paper ticket as the ticket I was traveling on was purchased in Euros and they are converting me to a different airline (United). And, I didn't need the second half of the roundtrip, because my work travel agency purchased it to drive down the cost because I only needed the first part, so Continental voided that as a part of this process. Are we surprised I triggered the 'special security test' from United's computers and was put in a special security line that included a pat-down that would rival those cheap feels in Germany's airports?
All goes well and I enjoy my middle seat at the back of the plane. I arrived at Heathrow, pass through to terminal 2, get my second paper ticket from Lufthansa and kill time wandering through the shops at 7 AM on Saturday trying to stay awake. My checked in bag, however, had other ideas and was not quite ready to return to Germany. Here's his tag. I'm not sure what exactly constitutes a 'Mini-rush', but maybe it has something to do with my TSA lock showing that it was opened and the form inside saying that the bag was checked.
Not to be outdone, the Germans also got into the act and left me a sticker. Because I arrived without my bag, it was delivered to me today at home.
As you would probably expect, I had some very important things in my bag, and all survived intact. For those not in the know, these are girl scout cookies. I eat one box a year, partly because I'm not really fond of sweets and partly because the recommended serving of these Samosa cookies is two cookies. These two cookies provide 25% of your saturated fat needs for the day.
One of my favorites of US television:
All Soft to deal with the harsh water here.
I introduced one of my German work colleagues to Oreos and since then he requests a package of the originals each time I go to the US. I took special consideration with Milk's Favorite Cookie and wrapped them in a sweater toward the center to protect them from getting squashed with my books. Either they didn't check so much or they also took care because the Oreos came back carefully positioned and protected in the center of the suitcase.
I arrived at the airport, there is massive raining on the East coast, so my flight to Newark was delayed by 2 hours. By the time I found the check-in area it had gone to over 3 hours, so there was no way to make the international leg. At check-in they were pretty empty and the helpful agents got to work with how to re-route me.
There was an overnight from Continental to Manchester, England that left a little later that they could route me on, and then connect me over to Cologne. I would arrive in at 17.30. Instead of 08:30? Um...do you have anything a little closer to lunchtime? Well, Frankfurt perhaps, would be 14.30 instead. Um...how about D'dorf? Agent two then joins the game and has some ideas.
How do you feel about a bus to O'Hare? We'll give you a voucher and you're early enough. Well I'm not so fond of the behemoth that is Chicago because of all the lines and the big planes due to the volume of people moving through, but I can suck it up if it will get me back before lunch, so Chi-town it is.
So to Chicago I go and confuse the heck out of things because they had to issue me a paper ticket as the ticket I was traveling on was purchased in Euros and they are converting me to a different airline (United). And, I didn't need the second half of the roundtrip, because my work travel agency purchased it to drive down the cost because I only needed the first part, so Continental voided that as a part of this process. Are we surprised I triggered the 'special security test' from United's computers and was put in a special security line that included a pat-down that would rival those cheap feels in Germany's airports?
All goes well and I enjoy my middle seat at the back of the plane. I arrived at Heathrow, pass through to terminal 2, get my second paper ticket from Lufthansa and kill time wandering through the shops at 7 AM on Saturday trying to stay awake. My checked in bag, however, had other ideas and was not quite ready to return to Germany. Here's his tag. I'm not sure what exactly constitutes a 'Mini-rush', but maybe it has something to do with my TSA lock showing that it was opened and the form inside saying that the bag was checked.
Not to be outdone, the Germans also got into the act and left me a sticker. Because I arrived without my bag, it was delivered to me today at home.
As you would probably expect, I had some very important things in my bag, and all survived intact. For those not in the know, these are girl scout cookies. I eat one box a year, partly because I'm not really fond of sweets and partly because the recommended serving of these Samosa cookies is two cookies. These two cookies provide 25% of your saturated fat needs for the day.
One of my favorites of US television:
All Soft to deal with the harsh water here.
I introduced one of my German work colleagues to Oreos and since then he requests a package of the originals each time I go to the US. I took special consideration with Milk's Favorite Cookie and wrapped them in a sweater toward the center to protect them from getting squashed with my books. Either they didn't check so much or they also took care because the Oreos came back carefully positioned and protected in the center of the suitcase.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
plus six
is the additional number of days i'll be staying in the US for work stuff. instead of leaving tomorrow i leave next week friday.
try not to miss me too much Germany as i am certainly not missing you, although i've heard the weather has been quite nice.
so far after hours i've gone to:
-kohl's -picked up some basics
-target -bought a pollen/allergen reducing machines, to take care of those yellow flowers in june which seriously impacted me last year. we'll see how i bring it back to DE, although it is pretty small.
-a huge used bookstore - where i spent 80 dollars--don't ask, but it will probably require a trip to the post office to ship a media rate box.
-a cheesecake factory - not my favorite, but it was a free work dinner so who's complaining.
-a pick n' save - supermarkets fascinate me, especially now since i've been gone so long.
-a hole in the wall thai place that i come to every time i'm here. bring on the thai native spicy please.
-a chinese place that is so-so, but ok on the first night of arrival
i have immense amounts of time here, because i'm coming into the office between 7 and 8 to get some cross-over time with the US. and also, because the office here starts early and ends early, so by 5 pm everyone (including me) is gone, so leave as early as 3 pm.
i've also watched this season's American idol on tv and bought 'House' on dvd, one of the few things on US tv i absolutely adore.
tomorrow is supposed to be nice, and my work colleague gave me her member card to the art museum here, so i may visit there and can go for free, although if the weather is nice this area is known for its lake, so i may visit there instead or in addition. i could easily do both if i stick with my weekday schedule and leave the hotel by 7 AM. :-)
i plan to be offline for another week so that i can enjoy as much of the us as i can while i'm here.
try not to miss me too much Germany as i am certainly not missing you, although i've heard the weather has been quite nice.
so far after hours i've gone to:
-kohl's -picked up some basics
-target -bought a pollen/allergen reducing machines, to take care of those yellow flowers in june which seriously impacted me last year. we'll see how i bring it back to DE, although it is pretty small.
-a huge used bookstore - where i spent 80 dollars--don't ask, but it will probably require a trip to the post office to ship a media rate box.
-a cheesecake factory - not my favorite, but it was a free work dinner so who's complaining.
-a pick n' save - supermarkets fascinate me, especially now since i've been gone so long.
-a hole in the wall thai place that i come to every time i'm here. bring on the thai native spicy please.
-a chinese place that is so-so, but ok on the first night of arrival
i have immense amounts of time here, because i'm coming into the office between 7 and 8 to get some cross-over time with the US. and also, because the office here starts early and ends early, so by 5 pm everyone (including me) is gone, so leave as early as 3 pm.
i've also watched this season's American idol on tv and bought 'House' on dvd, one of the few things on US tv i absolutely adore.
tomorrow is supposed to be nice, and my work colleague gave me her member card to the art museum here, so i may visit there and can go for free, although if the weather is nice this area is known for its lake, so i may visit there instead or in addition. i could easily do both if i stick with my weekday schedule and leave the hotel by 7 AM. :-)
i plan to be offline for another week so that i can enjoy as much of the us as i can while i'm here.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
getting the scarf and gloves back out
Today I am going down to the river to do a lovely bbq of tofu dogs and whatever else D. picks up this morning. The temp is currently 16 with an expected high of 27 today. However, before I go into the city I must first pack for an equally lovely business trip to a midwest US city as I leave tomorrow morning. Here is the forecast for the coming week where I'll be, so that you can think of me while I'm not posting. Back next week Sunday.
SunApr 15
Mostly Sunny
high 9°/low 1°
MonApr 16
Sunny
11°/1°
TueApr 17
Partly Cloudy
11°/4°
WedApr 18
Partly Cloudy
7°/3°
ThuApr 19
Partly Cloudy
8°/3°
FriApr 20
Few Showers
9°/6°
SatApr 21
Showers
11°/7°
SunApr 15
Mostly Sunny
high 9°/low 1°
MonApr 16
Sunny
11°/1°
TueApr 17
Partly Cloudy
11°/4°
WedApr 18
Partly Cloudy
7°/3°
ThuApr 19
Partly Cloudy
8°/3°
FriApr 20
Few Showers
9°/6°
SatApr 21
Showers
11°/7°
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Inside Mauthausen Concentration Camp (near Linz)
The view from inside the front gate:
From the far end, looking back toward the front gate:
A wall inside one of the buildings, lined with memorials and remembrances:
The creamatorium from the outside:
The camp jail from the outside:
From the far end, looking back toward the front gate:
A wall inside one of the buildings, lined with memorials and remembrances:
The creamatorium from the outside:
The camp jail from the outside:
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Mauthausen Concentration Camp (near Linz)
On Easter Sunday I took a trip to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria. Last year in May, I went to Katowice to see Auschwitz in Poland, but this one is quite different. Mauthausen is on the top of a hill overlooking beautiful hills, valleys and farms. Here is the view of outside of the compound as one approaches. Much of the complex access is currently restricted due to some maintenance and building works that are being done.
Mauthausen is famous as one of the worst of the Nazi camps, it was a category 3, which was designed for people not to be later released but instead worked to death. Often in Holocaust films you see footage of many men carrying stones up a set of steps, these are those steps. Mauthausen was chosen for its location next to a quarry rich in granite that would be needed to supply Linz and other cities with new Nazi buildings.
The Mauthausen Camp had a long history in the Holocaust. The building of the camp started soon after Austria's annexation in Mar 1938 and it remained open and receiving prisoners from other camps that were cleared in advance of the Allies. It was liberated on 5 May 1945. All told, almost 200,000 came through its gates and 100,000 survived.
Because of its purpose and history, many nationalities were there. They have turned the grounds outside the camp into an area for memorials, and everywhere you look there is another memorial, sometimes with countries erecting another memorial for another occasion. The former Soviet Bloc countries later contributed their own monuments in the 1990's once they were free. Here are some of the monuments I saw.
Israel:
Next to Israel is Germany:
Slovenia:
More photos tomorrow.
Mauthausen is famous as one of the worst of the Nazi camps, it was a category 3, which was designed for people not to be later released but instead worked to death. Often in Holocaust films you see footage of many men carrying stones up a set of steps, these are those steps. Mauthausen was chosen for its location next to a quarry rich in granite that would be needed to supply Linz and other cities with new Nazi buildings.
The Mauthausen Camp had a long history in the Holocaust. The building of the camp started soon after Austria's annexation in Mar 1938 and it remained open and receiving prisoners from other camps that were cleared in advance of the Allies. It was liberated on 5 May 1945. All told, almost 200,000 came through its gates and 100,000 survived.
Because of its purpose and history, many nationalities were there. They have turned the grounds outside the camp into an area for memorials, and everywhere you look there is another memorial, sometimes with countries erecting another memorial for another occasion. The former Soviet Bloc countries later contributed their own monuments in the 1990's once they were free. Here are some of the monuments I saw.
Israel:
Next to Israel is Germany:
Slovenia:
More photos tomorrow.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Linz - Austria's best kept secret
As of 20.40 tonight, I am back at home from Linz. All told, I must say that Linz was a pretty good choice, or maybe it's just that the options for Easter in Europe as I have previously mentioned, are limited. However, I took 133 photos of Linz and nearby as I was pretty impressed. I may treat you with a week full of Linz photos/commentary, so hopefully you too will be impressed by the end of the week to come, by the time I tire of Linz talk.
Here is Lake Pichlingsee, which is a 50 min bus ride or a 10 min regional train ride away from Linz's main train station. I stayed at a campsite about a 2 min walk from it:
There seemed to be one swan for the entire lake, but he was always near the coast hanging out for the photo op. The lake area was open all day. To walk around the entire lake, along the paved path, is 3.45 kilometers. It is open during the day but closes at dusk. April is still a little early, so only perhaps one third of the stands selling food and such were open, but still people were out. These men were there with model ships, controlling them via remotes from the shore.
Very close to the water were many of these brown pods, like half-tents. They were daily shelters for the people who fish. They put them up early in the day and sit there with their fishing rods and coffee. At the end of the day they take them down.
Here is my sad little tent. The ground was as hard as a rock, but fortunately the camping area is sheltered from the wind, so I was not worried that the lines were loose. One night there were two tents with older folks from Austria (early 60's) who were stopping over for a night with bicycles, but otherwise, I was solo, tent-wise. I was in a campsite with plenty of RV's however, with a locked gate after 20.00, as well as the campsite was next to the main building, so it was very secure. If you look closely at the fence behind, you'll see that it has barbed wire lining the top, so I was pretty pleased at the safety factor.
Tent people can be chatty, perhaps because we're the only fools sometimes in a place. The Austrians invited me to sit at the picnic table and also take my breakfast, but I don't really do breakfast, but still I talked a little with them as they were preparing theirs. They were nice enough to slow down their musical German for me.
They were asking if I was also on bicycle, the man in particular noted with pleasure that he's seen many of that tent it's a 'classic bicycler's tent.' In my world that would be a 'cheap, lightweight tent that doesn't look so great (which is part of the inherent security system--no one would bother trying to steal anything from such a sad little tent, obviously the owner has little.)
The campsite owner also commented on it, and how little it is and how does it hold up in the rain? Actually, it holds up quite well. In Iceland it poured rain and it went around it. Less floor space means less floor space to worry about getting wet. I know the trend these days is to go one size larger, so if you are a one person to get a two person tent, but with the amount of walking I do, I don't need the extra carrying weight, and really, I only sleep in it. However, if you are claustrophobic I imagine this small pod would be painful, so not recommended if that is the case.
Here is Lake Pichlingsee, which is a 50 min bus ride or a 10 min regional train ride away from Linz's main train station. I stayed at a campsite about a 2 min walk from it:
There seemed to be one swan for the entire lake, but he was always near the coast hanging out for the photo op. The lake area was open all day. To walk around the entire lake, along the paved path, is 3.45 kilometers. It is open during the day but closes at dusk. April is still a little early, so only perhaps one third of the stands selling food and such were open, but still people were out. These men were there with model ships, controlling them via remotes from the shore.
Very close to the water were many of these brown pods, like half-tents. They were daily shelters for the people who fish. They put them up early in the day and sit there with their fishing rods and coffee. At the end of the day they take them down.
Here is my sad little tent. The ground was as hard as a rock, but fortunately the camping area is sheltered from the wind, so I was not worried that the lines were loose. One night there were two tents with older folks from Austria (early 60's) who were stopping over for a night with bicycles, but otherwise, I was solo, tent-wise. I was in a campsite with plenty of RV's however, with a locked gate after 20.00, as well as the campsite was next to the main building, so it was very secure. If you look closely at the fence behind, you'll see that it has barbed wire lining the top, so I was pretty pleased at the safety factor.
Tent people can be chatty, perhaps because we're the only fools sometimes in a place. The Austrians invited me to sit at the picnic table and also take my breakfast, but I don't really do breakfast, but still I talked a little with them as they were preparing theirs. They were nice enough to slow down their musical German for me.
They were asking if I was also on bicycle, the man in particular noted with pleasure that he's seen many of that tent it's a 'classic bicycler's tent.' In my world that would be a 'cheap, lightweight tent that doesn't look so great (which is part of the inherent security system--no one would bother trying to steal anything from such a sad little tent, obviously the owner has little.)
The campsite owner also commented on it, and how little it is and how does it hold up in the rain? Actually, it holds up quite well. In Iceland it poured rain and it went around it. Less floor space means less floor space to worry about getting wet. I know the trend these days is to go one size larger, so if you are a one person to get a two person tent, but with the amount of walking I do, I don't need the extra carrying weight, and really, I only sleep in it. However, if you are claustrophobic I imagine this small pod would be painful, so not recommended if that is the case.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Off to Linz - Easter 2007
I leave this afternoon for Linz, until Monday. I chose a Friday afternoon flight so that I could wake up late, do some laundry, etc. rather than having the hectic packing and rushing out of the office on Thursday before a four day weekend.
Linz seems to be somewhat of a mystery, so I am looking forward to it. People in the office usually ask what I'm up to, but not one single soul in my circle has ever been to Linz which is interesting to me.
My German teacher and I were discussing (in German).
K: Ah, you go to Linz? (puzzled look)
H: It's a cheap flight on a holiday weekend and there is a campsite and hiking options and a lake.
K: Ah, ok. I've never been. I mean, Austria of course, but Linz....Although did you know that Hitler wanted to make Linz the cultural capital of Europe? (laughs)
H: Did you know that Linz is a European Capital of Culture in 2009?
K: Really? 60 years later it comes full circle. Who would have known he'd be right about something?
Linz seems to be somewhat of a mystery, so I am looking forward to it. People in the office usually ask what I'm up to, but not one single soul in my circle has ever been to Linz which is interesting to me.
My German teacher and I were discussing (in German).
K: Ah, you go to Linz? (puzzled look)
H: It's a cheap flight on a holiday weekend and there is a campsite and hiking options and a lake.
K: Ah, ok. I've never been. I mean, Austria of course, but Linz....Although did you know that Hitler wanted to make Linz the cultural capital of Europe? (laughs)
H: Did you know that Linz is a European Capital of Culture in 2009?
K: Really? 60 years later it comes full circle. Who would have known he'd be right about something?
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
'what is this squeeze?'
My German IT colleagues do some technical support on some orphan database. This database support involves reading and understanding commands in some other computer language than one that they know. They muddle through and get the job done with much help from google.
However, occasionally they hit a command that they don't know. And further, it seems to be based on an English word that they also don't know, so to them, it's like looking at some random letters, (like say, 'wtrenbg' or 'noxfor' to put together some random letters and give you a feel) and trying to figure out first what it means in English, and then to try to unravel what it is doing technically based on this meaning.
So here is how it goes....Heather is trying fervently to get some things banged out as she was out until noon in German class. So music was in ears to block out sound. I see my colleague wave, so earbuds come out. I missed anything prior they may have discussed, but I'm used to random English questions, as they are used to my random German questions.
IT 1: H, what is 'sqeeze'?
Heather: 'squeeze? s-q-u-ee-z-e?'
IT1: No. Quize.
Heather: huh? Quiz?
IT2: here, i ping it to you, maybe it's part of a word.-->quiesce
Heather: ah! perhaps from acquiesce? like to give in or or to agree, does that make sense for what the command does?
IT2: ah, yes....techical mumbo jumbo (that i zoned out, but apparently it made sense.)
IT1: (whose English is very good, mentally storing new word) hmm....'ack-quease'. 'ak-sqeeze'.
Heather: (thinking) what a half-baked database command.
However, occasionally they hit a command that they don't know. And further, it seems to be based on an English word that they also don't know, so to them, it's like looking at some random letters, (like say, 'wtrenbg' or 'noxfor' to put together some random letters and give you a feel) and trying to figure out first what it means in English, and then to try to unravel what it is doing technically based on this meaning.
So here is how it goes....Heather is trying fervently to get some things banged out as she was out until noon in German class. So music was in ears to block out sound. I see my colleague wave, so earbuds come out. I missed anything prior they may have discussed, but I'm used to random English questions, as they are used to my random German questions.
IT 1: H, what is 'sqeeze'?
Heather: 'squeeze? s-q-u-ee-z-e?'
IT1: No. Quize.
Heather: huh? Quiz?
IT2: here, i ping it to you, maybe it's part of a word.-->quiesce
Heather: ah! perhaps from acquiesce? like to give in or or to agree, does that make sense for what the command does?
IT2: ah, yes....techical mumbo jumbo (that i zoned out, but apparently it made sense.)
IT1: (whose English is very good, mentally storing new word) hmm....'ack-quease'. 'ak-sqeeze'.
Heather: (thinking) what a half-baked database command.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Imagini and Visual DNA
Following Andrea's post, I gave it a try:
Then my computer crashed so I went to bed. Today I ran through it again while in a bit of a different mood, but realized that my previous version still existed. However, it makes for a nice comparison.
-the second time around I matched myself 84% (only two changes)
-I still match Andrea 23%
-my top matches both times were the same--hello Timo in Finland! But only at 53%.
-my matches were evenly split male/female, however, of the top 15 people who have age range listings, one is in my age group, the rest are almost all either the one above or the one below.
-five are also US people, the remaining 10 are from other countries.
Then my computer crashed so I went to bed. Today I ran through it again while in a bit of a different mood, but realized that my previous version still existed. However, it makes for a nice comparison.
-the second time around I matched myself 84% (only two changes)
-I still match Andrea 23%
-my top matches both times were the same--hello Timo in Finland! But only at 53%.
-my matches were evenly split male/female, however, of the top 15 people who have age range listings, one is in my age group, the rest are almost all either the one above or the one below.
-five are also US people, the remaining 10 are from other countries.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Holiday planning - Lithuania in September
This year my aunt is venturing over from the US to join me on the family pilgrimage (my 4th year going there). Since this is her first trip there (and here too for that matter), I'm making the most of it. Fortunately she's up for anything...
heather says: just a small question--are you ok with a few hours on a bus?
Aunt R says: sure...as long as I dont drive it
...blah blah...
heather says: are you ok on prop planes?
Aunt R says: love 'em
heather says: last one-->20 hours on an overnight ferry?
heather says: don't worry, you would get a bunk to sleep in though.
At this point Aunt R is probably re-thinking this proposition.
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