stressed and depressed=(

Sometimes I do wonder if I could have learnt German a little more diligently, or perhaps I should have taken a year of language course again after all...But deep inside I guess I know that it wouldn't have improved my current situation in any way.

It is tough to contribute to the discussions, even with preparation beforehand, and when I did not have time to prepare stuff beforehand, I can't follow the stuff at all. Perhaps it is just due to the stress from this week, but sometimes I do have doubts about my present capability. It is times like this when you wish that mom was here, so that you would have a leg to cry on, instead of trying to hide your tears while pouring your heart out to a machine in the lib. Enough self-pity. Disgusting.

It has to be the lack of sleep=)

But truly, you wouldn't have chosen this path if you had thought that it would be easy. Good things in life are never easy.


ON a brighter note, I held my presentation on Singapore this Wed and it was good. Touched me to see so many of my classmates and friends in the room, coming to support me/hear about my home. I guessed I realised that this ppt on S'pore was more important to me that I thought: It is not only the homesickness part, but also the part of me that thinks, "hey, you can do something well, give yourself a pat." I know overcoming the language barrier takes time, but does it always take so MUCH time, energy and effort?

Suddenly, I realise all I want for Christmas is to go home.

*The truth is out there*

I just recalled a rather funny incident in class on Thursday. My prof for comparative politics was replying to a question I asked in class, and he took quite a long time in answering it, in the meantime, I had another question forming most stubbornly in my head. Thus I raised my hand just as he posed us another question, (to which I haven’t been listening to), and asked if I could pose a question. He said in return, you could ask your question after you have answered mine, which I couldn’t of course! =p Anyway, he answered the question himself (which was a really simple answer, which I could have answered had I been listening), and his answer to my question was, “Write an email to the author, won’t you? He is so unclear on these points.” (!!)

However, I must admit that he is really a great prof. Good in carrying out discussions, making his points clear, etc. His seminars were the first ones in which I ventured to pose questions in my halting German.

Sometimes I do think that being a German is rather advantageous, one does not need to concentrate so hard to understand what others are saying if one was German. (argh.) I regret to say that I am still having difficulties with the language even though I have learning it ever since 7 years ago…(SEVEN entire years! Oh wasted youth!) It is definitely good to be a German in Germany. *What a redundant sentence! *

Another interesting thing that occurred in class discussion today: it concerns the feminist movement. One thing about coming from a modern girls’ school is that one tends to think that one is a feminist even though one hardly understands what feminism is about. In the course of our “Methods” tutorial, we discussed the general view that women should dominate the professorships for research in Feminism, because research in Feminism should would require usage of scientific tools and methods that would be better understood by females. Going by this seemingly innocent assumption, it would then be appropriate to postulate that the field of microbiology should be pursued by microbes. (Hilarious! =)) The truth, and the absolute truth, is NEVER gender-specific. If any tool happens to be more suited to any specific group, that tool is then unreliable, and it would need to be checked by other scientists to see if it is only just an instrument-theory (method of collecting empirical data to act as empirical substantiation for a theory that is to be proved…), how do we know that the evidence we have is not biased by the data-collector himself/herself?

I did a ppt on the different types of corporate cooperation on Wednesday, all in german, and I think I spoke a full 20 min. *poor classmates of mine! * You could almost hear the rustle of whispers in the beginning of my ppt as some of my classmates (some of them whom I have not got to know personally) asked others where I was from and who I was. I felt immense sympathy for them as I could see their visible struggle to listen and follow my ppt. (argh!) The next time I am doing such a thing again, I am so gonna practise the night before.

I will be doing a ppt presentation on Singapore next Wednesday. Almost everyone who knows me knows of this... I can’t help but be a little nervous. What if I screw it up? Then pple’s impression of my country would be that of a screwed up ppt. :S Now, where has all your confidence gone to, leeting? And I seriously think I am taking on too much this sem, and next week is gonna be the busiest week of my entire life. The ppt, a Klausur for my worst subject, so much catching up work to do, a discussion with my comparative pols professor about the paper I have to write for his module…Why on earth have I taken so many modules in the first place? It is not as if I could finish my studies earlier if I take more. 30 hours of lessons a week. Sometimes I wonder if I am out of my mind.

Most of my ‘extra’ lessons are for German. I do hope to improve by leaps and bounds, or I shall be meek like a cow. Putting lousy rhymes aside, not knowing enough good German does put a serious dampener on spontaneity. Terrible.

"Aus Sein folgt nicht Sollen"

This is the crucial and all important sentence that we learned in the Methods lecture today. Clumsily translated, it means that, erm..."'Should' does not follow Being", or something like the existence of something does not mean that it should exist. Hmm...let's see if I can put it in more concrete terms. For example, if you do a survey of the pop. and the results happen to correspond to a nice theory that you have formulated, it does not mean that your theory is proven...on the contrary, it proves nothing. This is because no matter how much you try to make your selection of surveyees a fair one, it cannot cover the entire pop, and even if it does, the survey has only taken place in a certain period of time. There are just too many limitations of your expt/survey, and too many factors to consider.

The prof gave a v good example: A man went to his doctor and complained of pains. He proded himself in the shoulder, stomach and hips, "It hurts when I prod here, here, and here!" The doctor said in reply,"You have a broken finger."

And this prof actually licked the replacement batt for his mike today, and used a bamboo pole twice his height for support during the lecture (!!). Theatrics! And he loves to 'insult' the female gender, like saying things like, "Do you know that men in general have bigger brain volumes than females?" (Yeah, gorillas have larger brain mass than men too.)

Anyway, enuff of him and school.

I went to Köln the previous weekend, and it was truly fun to be with Singaporeans and see Xizhen after dunno how many months. (ever since the end of PDC!) That goes to show how busy we all are. =p I can't load the pics though, cuz clever me left my digi cam and earrings at Xizhen's place. =p

I tried to donate blood to the Deutsches Rotes Kreuz but the doc rejected me. She asked if I have slept enough, eaten enough and drunk enough. Of course I haven't, but that is normal for me on a school day anyway, sandwich for lunch, less than 1 L of water, etc. And I had a lecture afterwards. She told me that she couldn't take my blood then, cuz I would 'kip over'. (Which was true, I never knew how my neglectful habits have been weakening my system so much that I slept at lecture today) Afterwards, as I was having dinner, she came over to my table to ask if my lecture was fine, and if I felt ok, and told me that I could always donate at another time. That was so unexpected and pleasant of her to do so! I really have a v great impression of German docs, esp having been examined by 2 of them.

Right, I must read up on the swiss govt system now. No more procrastination!

=)Leeting

P.S Who left a comment on my last entry? Jo?

Readings!!

We have a professor in our course for Methoden der empirischen Sozialforschung (d.translation methods of empirical social research), who is absolutely hilarious in his lectures. My other classmates don't find it so great though...let me give you an idea of things he said in class...(translation using 'agaration')

(at 8.00am)
"It is great to be young, isn't it? You find it tough to wake up in the morning...not like us, when you wake up really early easily and think, man, you are dead."

(when trying to illustrate the ineffectiveness of case studies as a scientific method)
"Can you imagine if physics had used case studies as a scientific method?" He imitates a scientist holding a stone. "Yeah, this is a stone. Oh look, that is a stone too! This stone falls. The other stone does too! And THERE is another stone!"

And the thing is that, he tells all these without giving as much of a giggle. And there would be intervals when he has had too much of himself, and he would burst out laughing, holding the podium to support himself. An interesting character, huh?

I must admit that I am understanding more in class, yet fearing more to speak out. My German seems to get worse with each coming day...ironic huh? There are even times when I break out in English. Terrible.


On a brighter note, I went to Ruth's place to celebrate the end of her zwischenprüfung recently. V V nice=) I love visits to her place, she makes you feel totally at home. Though I must admit that I feel kinda guilty letting her cook and wash and all=( Ruth, if you are reading this, must come visit Konstanz and let me do the washing and cooking yah? =)



Rachel, Sam, Yuhan, Me (I look the coldest huh?)



That's Ruth in the centre of the pic. Rachel, Ruth, Yuhan (from left to right)

Right, I have got 110 pages of political readings (in german!) to get through by end of this weekend. Not including extra readings we have to do to revise what we have 'learnt'. Frankly I feel that I know too little, that's why the learning is coming rather slowly for me. Bleah. Oh yeah, to illustrate how little I know about German Politics, when Münterfering stepped down suddenly as party head, I didn't even know what significance that had. (?!) But I must admit that they solved the crisis rather quickly (this means they worked on All Saints' Day! Gasp!)

Oops. Not that I don't have much faith in the Bürokratie, but the thing is that things always run so slowly for me. It seems to be just ME. My classmates don't have that problem, never.

Settling in...

It has been two whole weeks since I have last seen this blog. Not due to laziness, but just due to the simple inaccessibility of the internet! It has been so infuriating...I know that Germans are known for their efficiency, but it is just my luck that I always seem to bump into the inefficient ones, especially for vital services like telecommunications. Argh.

When I first moved into my new apartment on 1.10, it looked so empty! I had expected it to be fully furnished, as my landlord kinda implied. Well, it was 'half' fully furnished, I guess I was one of the lucky ones to actually have a bed, a table, chairs...but there weren't a lot more things that are rather essential to modern living, like radio and tv, cutlery, adequate lights, etc. I guess I have been too 'spoilt' by my last landlady, who supplied me with a really fully furnished room, plus sofa, carpets, TV, etc. However, what I really am in need of is a washing machine. One never thinks twice about changing clothes with a washing machine. Now I have to do all my calculations, like how many clean shirts I would be left with, before changing...cuz handwashing everything is really a chore. (oops, now I do sound a little whiny=))

My landlord/lady were not that bad...they gave me a bookshelf for free and sold me a writing table for 25 euros, which is rather cheap=) Only thing is...I had to assemble them on my own, and what fun it was! I even have photographs of my possible occupation as a handywoman. =) Tada!



I have got to know a few friends, and strangely enough, most of those whom I know better seem to be from the Czech republic, Slovakia, and the Balkans. I am ashamed to say that my knowledge of these countries is pitifully little. We went to the Insel Mainau, the Island of flowers. It was really beautiful. The flowers were in full bloom, especially the Dahlien (Dahlias). They smelled like rubber though=p The roses were in bloom too, and they gave off a v sweet scent. The island of Mainau is still currently the residence of a Swedish count and his family. They even have a mulberry tree on the island, planted in late 1800s to provide food for the silkworms, as the count and his wife then were preparing for the wedding of their daughter to some nobility in Sweden too. The island seems to be able to combine its history and interesting botany together, wonderful.

Here are some pics:

Me and Zuzanna (from Slovakai)



The beautiful Dahlias



Cheers, ting=)

Studying where others have their holiday...

That is the slogan of the Universität Konstanz. I thought that was kinda exaggerated the last time I came here. Now I see that it is true in many many ways.

The Bodensee (Lake Constance) is so large, that sometimes people do mistake it as the sea. When it is misty in the morning, you could hardly see the other shore, and this then gives the illusion of it being endless, just stretching into the distance. On a clear day, you can see the rolling hills on the other side, and the tiny cottages that spot that green landscape. For this view, I think I will be able to withstand the inconvenience of living in a small village =)

Let me describe my little village. It has a village centre, consisting of a bakery and a butcher's. It is soo small it did not warrant the construction of a church, nor a fountain, which are the typical things you would see in almost every single german village. One good thing about it being small: you just cannot get lost over here. Which is an infinitely good thing, when it comes to ting finding her way. There is also a small farm near my place, about 5 min away, which rears chickens. The chickens roam around the place like they own the road. This village is so full of fruit that pple throw away apples and pears by the binful.

I do not have internet access yet at my place, am using the uni's right now. And there seems to be soo many home improvement things that I absolutely have to do! One never realises the importance of a broom and mop, till one is in need.

Simone's parents showed me around Konstanz and the nearby island of Reichenau yesterday. Reichenau is a UNESCO protected island (largest island on the Bodensee) and it is famous for its vegetables. It was the first time that I have seen such huge pumpkins. They also have paprika (peppercorns?) and lots of garden salads and brocoli, cauliflowers, tomatoes, grapes, a kind of maize, but no animals, for obvious reasons.

I met up with Ayline later on in the day. It does feel good to talk in Singlish for a while =) Her place is beautifully done up, much more than mine, definitely. Darn, i should have learnt how to drive. Or get a bf who knows how to (just joking!)I need to get to Ikea to grab stuff. Television. Rugs. Cutlery. Lights. etc.

First day in Konstanz!

Hey all,

sorry for not updating for so long, but there seemed to be sooo little time!

My attachment at the German Centre soon came to an end, and the German Elections (more about them on another day), and the frantic packing, trying to finish watching korean dramas (!!) and the arranging of uni stuff and other dep stuff...finally i am here in dear Konstanz.

It was really a v memorable trip that proves yet again the validity of Murphy's law. Upon arrival in Stuttgart, my luggage came out without its wheels...they dropped off. Just as I was wondering how I would lug it all the way to Konstanz, the wheels came out on the belt, looking like the best immatriculations gift ever. I fixed them back on and they worked! Just needed a little caution to make sure they dun fall off.

I really had lots of yuan2 fen4 with farmers today too! I was sitting next to a girl who did an Ausbildung (traineeship) and a Meister (master-traineeship? dunno how to translate) in agriculture, and she was describing to me how she did specific subjects as in Cows, Chickens, and I thought, wow, this IS life. The landing in Stuttgart showed a wonderous array of fields, beautiful farms interspersed with forests, and this is the kind of delicate and fragile balance that should be kept. Recall the recent Germ elections? I don't understand much of it, but what was in my mind then was, shouldn't all economists and finance personnel be trained at a farm for a few months? Then they would understand what goes into making food, and making this sustainable, then there would be much more emphasis placed into renewability and continuity. After that, I met this Italian who is training to become an agriculture and garden construction teacher, and he is going to the uni, graduating with a masters and all... and i thought, woa. Germany is going the right way.

Met with Yuhan and Jing at the Hauptbahnhof. Wow, I would be totally spent if not for these two wonderful, strong and energetic ladies. My 27 kg luggage turned to 0 kg as they took over the transportation of that mammoth over streets, up and down stairs and busses. Wunderbar. We then chatted about alles moegliches, everything under the sun, and I am just so glad that there are always pple like Sam and Yuhan n Jing that make everything seem so much better than if you are just on your own.

Konstanz is beautiful. I think i am falling in love with this place. =)

Konstanz!

I got my Uni Admissions letter today! I got into University of Konstanz, my dream uni on the BodenSee, or Lake Constance, hurrah!=)



This is the Uni Konstanz from some mountain top or sth. It sits on top of a small hill. It is like being in NJ all over again, with all the stairs to climb, and wonderful views.



This is some picture I got of the fountain/man-made stream running in front of the Uni's library. It is so arty, designed from the likes of the late 1960s hippie movement, if I am not mistaken.

Uni Konstanz is situated at the Bodensee, which is smack in the border between Germany, Switzerland and Austria. (I can walk to Switzerland from there!) It has one of the largest libraries in Germany (7 stories of books, 2 million books, open 24/7 =)) and probably the best pol sci faculty in Germany. (debatable, as all things in Germany are...)

Happy ting:)

Meeting at Newton with all the rg old pals was wonderful=) It seems weird that time should pass so fast, that we would be all going our own ways so soon...but some things, I hope, would never change.

I had an interview with the German Centre in Singapore on Monday. It was hilarious, I said ridiculous things like, "The Germans are a stubborn lot...in my opinion." Which I had to justify and soften later on... and when asked to characterise them as a people, even more useless things like, "Germans bake superb cakes," came out. Sometimes I think I can slap myself for the brainless stuff that spout out of my mouth. I think i must have been kinda so used to the common German stereotypes such as punctuality, preciseness, social equality, beer and Bratwürste, that i didn't see them as anything special. We are kind of all the same, after a while. Then when it was finally my turn to ask questions, I was lost for words...when there were so many things I could have asked! I for one, could have let them have a taste of their own medicine..."so what do YOU think of Singaporeans?" Yet the most brillant thing I could think of then was,"So what do you do in your daily work?" Inanity.

And the craziest thing was...I got the attachment. (?!)

Upon reflection, i guess the Germans are indeed different. They have different values, and by that I don't mean different emphasis on similar values (for how can a value be viewed as important enough to be a 'value' if inadequate/little emphasis is placed on it?) I cannot describe exactly what this difference is. It is probably the greater importance lent to individual opinions and thoughts rather than a communal compromise. This value of greater respect for individuality probably influences their thoughts too on other issues such as family structure, nationalism, societal structure, etc. Yet Germans, due to this inate respect of others' thoughts and opinions, usually do not tend to 'imperialise' or impose their views on others...arguments normally end with "we agree to disagree" rather than one party giving up his/her viewpoint totally.

Hmm...I wonder if I got this right. Any comments?

=)ting

photos! (Super late)

Some more photos from germany=)



That is my host sister when I first went to germany in sec 3. She just grows prettier with every passing year!



Sunset at dutzendteich. Beautiful.



Ting can cook! =) A typical dinner i cook for myself back there in deutschland.


Man I regret not taking enough photos at the pdc. =( People, please donate photos to me!! =)
I had the most incredibly wonderful time tonight at the NJ CO concert. It was beautiful, and boon sang in it as well! Solo! Man i feel so proud of her, my little sis is blooming. (* can almost imagine myself as an old mature woman saying that, but seriously i have no right to, cuz she did it all by herself.)

The PDC chalet was just over. It was a good time for more chatting and bonding, and I got to know a few people better as well. We were laughing the entire time about Russell Peters' weird jokes: "You want to eat?", or "Ya-man!" These are a few of those jokes that kind of stay way, way past their deserved shelf life. I even acquired some of those inane army lingo, like "let's go for one-thum midnight walk," (One-times sth). Of course we had some serious talk on relationships (how they are more work than anything else) and religion (there? or not there?) among other topics.

Rollerblading was fun, but I must award the endurance prize to YH, who fell an ave of once every 30sec, and the spectacular fall prize to HJ and Aud, who performed such stunning falls that it was incredibly fun to watch them, the best teacher award to HX, who taught us all the theory for blading while confessing that she could not blade actually, and last but not least, the long-suffering prize to William, who was our nanny all the time (the only one without skates then). Hey guys and gals, let's do that again! (Ya-man!) *the jerald-virus*

Hey, when are we going to the zoo?

=) ting

photos from germany!

Hey all!
Here are some of my photos from germany, finally!



That's me at the Zugspitze. Jie says I look a bit fatter than usual...dunno to take that as a compliment or as criticism:)



Beautiful Nürnberg...

Will post even more later on. Seeya all!

The Singapore Workout and more

YF and I went for the brisk walk on Sunday, as part of the PDC.

The entire adventure (for me) started way early in the morning. We were supposed to meet in this block in Marsiling at seven in the morning. I was in this half-conscious state of mind, and missed the bus stop I was supposed to stop at, thus was ferried to Woodlands Checkpoint. Upon reaching there, there seemed to be no way to get back to where I wanted to go to, or that was what it appeared to be to my groggy mind then. So I thought in horror, does this mean that I would have to go to Malaysia to come back to Singapore? Darn I left my passport at home! (?!) Unbelievable, isn't it, how foolish I was. Fortunately a policeman gave me directions to get back=D

Well, back to the brisk walk. I must say that it was a very very different experience...it was the first time since 10 years ago that I have done the Singapore Workout, and it was really, really hilarious. We did this hand-wringing cum knee-bending exercise, which reminded me of the exercises my grandma does. Wring your hands to the left, wring your hands to the right, wring your hands in the centre...mind you, they were truly effective ways of warming up in the morning, but I started laughing so hard I couldn't wring my hands properly=) After that, everyone just walked for a rather short distance around the estate. The aunties, their children and the elderly were the main supporters of the Brisk Walk, and some of them were really very enthusiastic. I liked the feeling of walking together with them...it gives you this sense of community, and you feel kind of fit, even without doing much.

We had an MPS today with Dr Teo. I thought he handled some difficult cases very well, and it seems like he really takes time to talk to the people, even some unreasonable ones. I was impressed by his superb PR skills, truly. He wanted to understand them well too, even volunteering to go down to assess the ground level situation at some stall competition conflict. That truly shows some commitment. Throughout the session, I just thought how truly the board behind him reflected his character: Jing4 Ye4 Le4 Qun2.

Things to do: Learn Malay, Cultivate infinite patience, Be firm, Stand behind your teammates no matter what, and most importantly, have a Heart for the People. They count on you.

ting

PDC-

Hey all!

I just realised how dangerous a blog can be...I mean if TK can find it with just a little probing and connecting. Not that I am against anyone reading my blog or anything, I mean, read it if it doesn't bore you to death, but it does make you think of entire thing about privacy and all. (*hey tk give me your blog too!)

There are just so many things to blog about that I do not even know where to start. Let's start with the PDC. Frankly I think I am really privilleged beyond anything I could dream of to be in this prog. All v interesting talks, excursions, projects, and most of all, people. Frankly, I thought I was rather out-of-sorts at the beginning of the prog, esp during OBS. Everyone knew what to do, and for once in this kind of team activity, I did not have to think of what to do, or how to assign work. Once you think of something to be done, even before the words, "I think.." escape from your mouth, these things have been already done. Not that I subscribe to the "ruo4 nü2 zi3 zhu3 yi4", but it was mostly the guys... Anyway, it could have been jet lag or any other weird thing, but I was extraordinarily quiet/subdued during OBS I think. Didn't like the 'me' then. Perhaps it is the entire awkward process of finding out where exactly you 'fit' in a group, what is your role and niche, etc.

However, it got much better, as we got to know one another through smaller chats and all. We had a great instructor called Mario/Muchsin/Handsome (?!), who kept making fun of John and tchs boys' smelly tshirts (?!). Frankly I think this PDC is really a great way to build bonds. Just dump a group of like-minded people together, and they would bond. We have so many mutual friends (hear and laugh about their teasing of your old friends), and common interests (Never thought I would see so many pple crazy about singing).

Some highlights: visit to navy base, talks by people who really know about the topic they talk about (less smoke around here), and I was really impressed by a particular speaker who came to talk to us about leadership. We all expected a really dry talk about how to lead, but this guy, David Lim, was simply inspirational. He truly embodies toughness and the wonders of the Human Spirit. Let me give you a short summary of what happened in his life: He LED the first Singaporean Team to conquer Mount Everest; he had to suffer the disappointment of being unable to scale the summit due to some health probs; he had to make some tough decisions on the way; survived Guillian-Barres disease when he came back-a disease that attacks the peripheral nerve system so you are paralysed but you know exactly what is happening to you, it was not due to the expedition. He later went on to scale even more mountains, both literally and figuratively, overcoming his disability and climbing higher than what most of us have even dreamed of:Kilimanjaro, and even doing it alone. Let me quote him on a few things which meant much to me:

"Success isn't an event! It is about changing your mindsets from what is impossible to what IS possible. If you are successful unintentionally, you probably would not be successful again. ONLY WHEN you are successful purposefully can you be successful can you be successful again."

"The most important question to ask when you face an impossible task is: Is that a FACT or a BELIEF?"

"A stretched goal will motivate you."

(From Henry Ford) "Obstacles are those horrible things you see when you take your eyes off the goal."

Lovely, aren't they? Shall make them my life's Maxims.


I enjoyed the talk by Encik Othman Wok too. He was just so...candid and grandpa-ish. Really funny, and it really got me thinking about those turbulent times. I mean, most students think that everything about NE is propaganda and all, but imagine if you were there, changing the course of history, and everything could have gone either way. What if we were still in? What kinds of life would we be having now? (Such SS questions were posed to me as a Pri 5 kid, and I think I gave really stupid ans like, erm...I would be having Tau Sar Piah everyday! (?!) )

I was impressed with Encik. I wish I could travel back in time to live in those times.


Finally, attachment to the CDC. Jobs assistance, Social Assistance, Comcare fund, somehow all these have sounded academic when you read them in the papers, BUT when you see how much they are really needed by Our people on the ground, you get an idea of how important policies are, and it is really NO simple matter...every little detail in how it is all implemented, or how it is planned, can make or break lives. Many lives. Lives of children who have to sacrifice school to support their families. Lives of people over 40 who have mountains of bills to pay and living mouths to feed. Lives of families which can count to the exact cent how much money they have left in the house, of elderly who allow their wounds to fester because they do not have the means to go to the doc's.

How do you teach someone to walk, yet not carry him all the time?

Noblesse Oblige? This term sounds condescending to some. I like the spirit of the term, but it must be coupled with this:
"...For I say...to..you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think SOBERLY, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."

ting

BACK AT HOME!

Hurrah it feels great to be back at home again! It was really exhilarating as we touched down at Singapore, and my heart just gave a whoop of joy as I saw the familar bougainvilleas, palm trees and all along the runway. My aunt and uncle and cousins were there to pick me up, as well as my wonderful friends...what better welcome can there be? There was this warm and fuzzy feeling in my heart...it was indescribable. Thanks gals, for being there!!

I had a really hectic schedule, going for OBS just 2 days after touching down at singapore again, but I enjoyed myself thoroughly. Haven't been so tired for such a long time! The entire week was a mixture of jetlag, physical exhaustion, and mental challenge in remembering names of new pple I am meeting, and enjoying their company and funny characteristics. Not to mention the wonderful home food as well.

I find myself missing Germany sometimes too...just like I thought I would. The new experience, the people you meet there, my friends over there...i actually enjoyed having the burden of doing everything on my own, jogging through parks that they have over there. However, nothing ever quite replaces home I think=)

Right, have to do my reflections now. Gotta go!

Terribly BZ!

14th June 2005

I shall give up back-dating my blog for so long. I am nearly 3 weeks behind time. At the rate that I am going, I will never ever become a passable journalist=) So I shall just describe in little detail what has been happening…it is always like this, isn’t it? We are always too busy living life to reflect on the life we are living.

---------------------------
Ruths Geburtstag!
After the Ritterfest, there came a holiday, Fronleichnam. I went over to Kassel to celebrate Ruth’s birthday with her. I had a very good time there, I remember it made Germany seem exactly like home! On the first day, Kailuo, Ruth and I went to the Orangerie. A bit about the Orangerie: as you might have already guessed, it is a place for…oranges. Apparently, in the 1700s, it became the trend for the dukes or Electors, or basically rulers of the various parts of Germany to travel to the south and bring back some exotic plants to grow in their own land. This must have been quite an important indication of their status, because these Electors spared no efforts in making their Orangeries the best in the country. We walked for half an afternoon in the Orangerie, and we did not even cover the entire place!

That night, we baked a cake together. Ruth insisted on baking her own birthday cake(!!) Later on, Asman told me that we should have locked Ruth up in her room while we baked the cake. This cake was supposed to be a healthier choice, with yoghurt and plant oil instead of butter in it. I loved it, for Ruth thought that it was a failure because it tasted like choco bread instead of choco cake.

The next day, Sam and Joshua came and joined us. We climbed up the Hercules, a Sehenswürdigkeit (or attraction) in Kassel. To cut things short, it was a very beautiful place, as we climbed to the top of the fountain of Herkules, Josh and I could see the entire town of Kassel, plus a nearby castle. It was breathtaking. The dinner that night was Singaporean curry, wonderful veg, and omelette with cai pok (the thing they put on top of chwee kuehs) Ruth refused to let us do any work, so she cooked the entire feast on her own. On her birthday(!!) I think she tired herself out, thoroughly. But the meal was truly delicious, and the conversation just flowed. I must admit that I found it quite hard to speak proper English at first, for German words kept coming to me whenever I try to express myself. I don’t think it is a good sign…it is comparable to the first signs of dementia: someone seems to be talking in your brain, telling you the German and Chinese versions of what you want to say, so you FORGET what you wanted to say at first, and worse, forget that you are speaking English after all. However, one gets used to it.

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Konzert Bonifatius in Erlangen
The weekend after that was my concert in Erlangen. We, the Motetten choir, sang in a church called St. Bonifaz in Erlangen, a nearby town, which is also known as the Siemens town, because besides uni students and Siemens employees, the rest of the population consist of bakers, restauranteurs who exist to serve the Siemens people. Everyone gets along on bicycles. (Did You Know? People can get their driving licences revoked if they were caught cycling recklessly in Germany) Back to the main topic, the concert was held in the hope of raising money for a hospice and a children’s home. We sang 10 songs, most of them Ave Marias, and even Bogoroditse Devo by Rachmaninoff! (NJChoir: great memories? =)) I had the fortune, or misfortune to be standing right in the middle of the performing stage, and by a stroke of luck, there were spaces on my right and in front of me, thus I seemed to be rather prominent. Magdelena, Angelika’s little grand niece, said that it was easy to observe me, and that it was clear that I sang as I opened my mouth rather widely (what observations 9-year-olds have, seemed to be a tactful way of saying that I have a big mouth=D) She made a further comment that she could tell that my mother tongue was not German, just from the shape of my mouth. I really had to laugh at that…she was sitting 5-6 rows away!

An article on the concert appeared on the Erlangen Newspapers on the Tuesday after that. It had a picture of us, and I was in it! =) The article said that our concert was a success on the whole, just that there were 1 or 2 songs that were not together. I just got the CD of our singing, and I am listening to it as I am writing this. Frankly, I think that the columnist is right, but since Herr Killer (our Chorleiter) said that it was all Quatsch, I could hardly say anything to the contrary. During practice, Herr Killer said that one of the most memorable compliments was that from a lady who lived near our practice room. She said that the concert was truly amazing: every Thursday night, she would close her windows to shut out our singing practices, and little did she know that our singing could be so wonderful.

Now, haven’t I told you that Germany is a land of opposites? Everyone thinks in circles here.

We went to the botanic gardens in Erlangen that weekend too. I loved those gardens, they were simply so beautiful, and great to walk in. There are little winding paths in the garden, not like the big paved roads in our gardens, and the entire place had a secretive feel to it. I learned the names of quite a few plants, such as Kiefer, Fichte (pines), Kakten (Cacti), Wasser Rose (water lily), Rosamarginata (a tree with dark red leaves, the edges of its leaves are pinkish red, thus the name), Schwiegermuttersessel (or mother-in-law’s seat, referring to a spiky cactus with a wide top; what a cute name isn’t it).

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Tang yuan-cum-Muah Chee-making
Last Wednesday, I went to Chen Su’s place to help her make Tang yuan or Muah Chee. Of course the China-chinese did not know what a muah chee was. Anyway, we made it as a treat for our colleagues because Su is leaving to work in another department. We brainstormed, she wanted to make ba1 bao3 fan4, I suggested Muah Chee or Konnyaku Jelly. Since the idea of Muah Chee was hard for her to imagine, we made tang yuan, and rolled them in roasted sesame or grounded peanuts. It tasted great, so great that Leila, a German-Lebanese colleague of mine, wanted to know how to make it. She is coming to my place tomorrow, then we will make tangyuan again! =)

After making the Tangyuan, we (Su, her bf Liu Xiao, and I) watched Forrest Gump. It was the first time that I have watched it in its entirety, and I must say that I was very impressed by Gump. The story line was very engaging, and the values it offers, those of the American Dream, were very attractive. The show offers a great history lesson too: I did not even know of the Ping Pong Diplomacy until after watching the show.

At around that time, I wrote my Motivationsbrief to Mannheim as well. It is about why I wanted to choose Pol Sci and why I wanted to study at Mannheim. Wwj helped me with it, and I really improved on my 2nd part after that, thanks man! Leila was a angel: she corrected every single word for me. My entire essay was filled with red marks after she was done with it, but I thought the essay was really much better after that! Terrible of me, though, to still continue to make all those stupid mistakes after nearly SEVEN years of studying the language. It is as if I am always stuck at Primary one. (!!)

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Visiting Sam!
Just last weekend, 11 and 12th June, I visited Sam in Dresden. Dresden is in Saxony (Sachsen), and it used to be a very major city. It was part of East Germany before the Reunification. There is truly a great difference between states in the East and states in West Germany. Somehow, everything seemed…greyer in former East Germany. The buildings are darker, as I later knew from Max, Sams Freund, due to the deposition of soot from the coal-burning power stations in the states’ communist days. There were also many identical buildings in the East, called Plattenbau, because they were all made from the same design to provide fast solutions to the housing problem in East Germany then, just like our older HDB flats. Dresden on the whole still seemed like a big construction site…everything is still under development. I saw many Trabbis there too! The Trabant is a former East German car…apparently you would have to wait about 15 years to get it after you have registered for one. They looked like beetles, or vehicles from a totally different era. I liked them so much, I had a photograph taken with one…and that is my dream car. =) Oh, apparently, I could even get a Trabbi at 1 euro! Jochen showed me how to get it online…and some people are selling Trabbis like scrap metal. Some are collectors’ items though. One just needs to look out for them.

It seemed so apt then that I was reading George Orwell’s 1984. Saw it in a bookshop going for 2 euros (!!) and it was in German (!!), so it was really a steal=) It seemed to me that East Germany was such a dreary place, it was a wonder that people actually tolerated it for so long. However, things are often not as simple as they seem to be. I have a neighbour, Herr Rübsam, and he came from former East Germany. There is a certain nostalgia when he spoke of East Germany to me, about how people would be much better looked after, wrt their pensions, social security and jobs. Everyone had a job to do in East Germany, the work was equally distributed so was the reward. Of course one would be rewarded for greater efficiency with small bonuses. But the main principle was:To each his own. What an impossible, and unworkable promise, you might say. However, it must be taken into account what kind of situation we have right now: unemployment rate is soaring at about 12%, and in most former East German states, unemployment can be as high as 25 %. With its ageing population, Germany can also ill afford to pay her citizens their promised pensions. The anti-capitalism debate, the calling of int firms as locusts waiting to strip German companies bare; these are all just backlashes to the kind of situation that has been worsening in Germany. People want change, and they might have a chance to vote for it in September.



14th June
I am so tired! Tried frying goring Pisang tonight, but they turned out tasting like banana love letters. I think I put in too much egg…and because I am too embarrassed to ask others to try my cooking, so I had to finish all of them by myself! How fattening! =( Terrible.

19th June
Just came back from trip to Mannheim, Heidelberg and Konstanz. Am really dead beat. Wanted to sleep the day off, but I guess I am done with growth, so my body refused to let me sleep.
Spent the entire day trying to make Singapore Curry puffs instead. It tasted ok, but the puffs unraveled whenever I tried to fry them. So I rolled them up like spring rolls, so they looks like little fat spring rolls instead. Thought they were failures, but Angelika thought that they were really good, so I will be making them for her birthday this Thursday (!!)
Am feeling kinda 'Housewifey' or shall I say Domestic? Cooked Green bean soup for pple in the office, am improvising on pancakes=) Can't wait to cook a few German dishes for pa ma gor jie and boon back home! =) Gosh, feel really like a housewife now.

Annettes Besuch

Annette’s visit
It is already 0014h, but let’s see how much I can write before the zz monster takes over.
Annette, my German host when I was in sec 3, came to visit me at Nuremberg on Sunday, 22nd May. It seems that she is just growing prettier every time I see her=) Lothar and Renate, her parents, and Daniel, her younger brother came as well. They traveled 4 entire hours to reach me=p I tried to treat them to “Kaffee”, the german style, with cakes and pastries. But I could fully understand their lack of enthusiasm for butter cake bought from a supermarkt and instant choc cappuccino and instant peach tea. =) (*note: German Kaffee is a big business, with a selection of home-made cakes, and real, brewed coffee. People can sit around for hours in the garden, just enjoying the sun, food and company.)

I brought them around town, went to the Albrecht Duerer Museum in the Altstadt of Nuremberg, which told us the life story of Albrecht Duerer, a famous artist and writer, famous for his “Selbstbildnis” or self-protrait, in which he painted himself as a noble man, and an open window behind him indicated the kind of openness and freedom of thought, the vision that intelligence brings along with it. He was also famous for his painting of the rhinoceros, amazing because it is so life-like, though he has never ever seen a rhino before. Imagine, the people in the 1500s probably thought that the rhino was some prehistoric creature or some mythical being. Anyway, I must qualify that this is all prior knowledge before I visited the museum…the museum just told us of Duerer’s life through the eyes of his wife, a middle-aged ‘ah soh’, and said little about his works. However, I must admit that some exhibits were good, such as that of the metal engraving and the video show, and the museums here always provide you with a personal hearing guide, which is really wonderful. We should have that back home too.

We went on to Dutzendteich, the Nazi party’s land and the great museum there, as I have mentioned in one of my earlier entries. I hope they had a good time, for they seem to be people who like museums, who always are excited at the prospect of more knowledge. I talked a lot to Annette, and found out that she intends to just do an Ausbildung or ‘training’ at a German firm, and perhaps she would not even go on to Uni. This is probably unimaginable to people at home, right? Uni studies seem to be all-so-important, but the thing is that people in developed countries still do very well without one. In fact, they do BETTER without one, for like Annette, she would probably stay in the same firm she does her training in, and rise up far up the ranks if she does her job well. Not going through Uni allows her to save time on education that is not necessary in this case. In fact, haven’t we heard of the Jap internet maverick, who tried to take over some major Japanese network companies so that his company would have a greater presence…anyway he said that the best thing to do is to set up your own company after high school, and manage your own business. There is a Chinese saying “Chu1 sheng1 zhi1 du3 bu2 pa4 hu3”, so I guess this is the only time, when one knows nothing yet about fearing to fail, that one has the best chance to succeed.

Right, the zz monster is starting to take over. Will tell ya more tmr. =)

The Ritterfest

22nd May 2005-29th May 2005
A crazy week!

I must apologise for not updating my blog for so long…or for that matter, for not writing back home for ages too! It suddenly seems as though my stay in Germany is getting shorter and shorter everyday, and it seems really fast that I will be going home in a month. ONE month! There’s simply not enough time for me to explore more of this country, nor achieve the level of proficiency for the language that I want to have. Well.

Anyway, in this past hectic week, I have been hosted, did some hosting, lots of work and lots of traveling too=) Let me start with the Ritterfest. May take up some space!

The Ritterfest (or a visit to Gaul=))
On Saturday, 21st May, I went with Manni (Manfred, but we all call him Manni) and his really cute and funny family to the Ritterfest (knights’ festival). We traveled to Kersbach, a very small place with a Festung (fort) that was over 300 years old. So it all looked a little bit run down, like the ruins of Athens: you could see majestic old walls stretching into the sky. (I took an interesting photo of these “ruins” with a building crane in the background, it was really an ironic pic.) Manni’s children, Johannes, Emily and Samuel (6,4 and 2 years old) are really cute. Johannes and Emily were dressed as a knight and as a princess respectively, and Samuel was just terrorising all of us with his demands to be carried, refusal to let his elder sis share his pram and all. But that is beside the point.

At this Ritterfest, most of the people were dressed in quasi-middle ages style, ie with long flowy skirt, or for the men, in tunics. It was held in this open space within the old fort, where you could get a v clear view of the land miles around. All around us, large tents of cloth were set up, where “real” knights and princesses were staying in, and they were surprisingly good at imitating the olden times! They cooked using those old large pots that the Druid in “Asterix and Obelix” uses, over a real fire and firewood. The stalls were selling lots of “middle ages” accessories, swords, Indian jewellery they tried to pass off as middle ages stuff, bows and arrows, dresses that would be wonderful costumes at the Fasching (an absolutely crazy festival in Germany), interesting food (haha they had this asian fried rice, and instead of wrapping it in banana leaves, they wrapped it in cabbage leaves!) There was also an entire pig on roast. There was even a “Waffenschmied” or a blacksmith, who used a real leather air bag to blow on the fire, and a stall that allowed kids to sift through some sand in the water to get real gold. The stall-owners bought 100euros of real gold pieces and mixed them into the sand! Talk about throwing money into water.

Oh btw the security there was surprisingly very good, I tried to get a good pic of the land around, so I climbed up the castle wall and sat on it. Then this man in dark glasses and leather trousers said to me in German, “You might want to come down.” He was just standing there the entire time, and earlier on my wallet was retrieved by another person who was similarly dressed. It was the Sicherheitsdienst (or safety service?) and they were really observant.

The atmosphere was wonderful. They had a performance with knights fighting in their armours and a fake announcer speaking in middle ages German…(he was just talking in this funny accent, and I couldn’t understand it. So when Manni asked jokingly if I understood the “mitteralterliche Deutsch”, I was told him no, and that was rather unfortunate.) Then a juggler (Jonglierer) performed, followed by bagpipe performers (or Dudelsack, man am I proud I remembered it! *wink) who had really very long hair. They looked like Orlando Bloom.

After a picnic lunch, we went to visit one of our colleagues, Joerg, who was a “real” Ritter, or hobby Ritter. We played some “ritterliche” games, like the Rope game, and the “Knock-down-the-King” game. I would love to describe them, but that would take you ages to read. You can ask me when I go back home=) If you want to. After which, Joerg decided to “knight” me, or turn me into an asian Chinese Ritter. So he took out his 21 KG armor (Ruestung), let me put it on, and lent me a sword to complement it all as well! Everything was INCREDIBLY HEAVY. It was a long-sleeved metal mail thingy, together with something for the head. The only thing that spoiled the effect was my hair, which has grown too long now. Then we had some mini-battles with the swords, though I could hardly move. Joerg then decided to amuse himself, and told me that he did not know how to get me out of the mail, and that I had to get out of the armor by myself. I tried pulling it off over my head, as that seems to be the only way in and out of it, but I could not lift it off my shoulders. So I tried bending over to let it slide out, but I couldn’t lift the part of the armour that was over my bottom. That was the most unfortunate scene, I wince right now even as I try to picture how I must have looked like: a snail who was trying to get out of its shell, but found that somehow its bottom was stuck in the door or something. We all had a good laugh, and Ute (Manni’s wife) took many pics of me with my camera. Wie peinlich! (how embarrassing!)

Following that, Joerg treated us to a most amazing performance of fire-swallowing and fire-spitting. It was almost unbelievable, he spat out so much fire that the fumes were almost twice that of his height. He said that he learned that all by himself, as a hobby. I never ceased to be impressed…apparently he made the entire armour/metal mail ring by ring, all by himself as well! As well as chairs and beds…everything is DIY.)

We went back to Manni’s place, where I had some wonderful cake and then was showed some photos of Manni’s and Ute’s trip to Jerusalem, and to Beijing. Thoroughly enjoyed myself then, and I wasn’t even tired, despite having only slept for 4 hours the night before. =)

(The song “When You Say Nothing At All” is playing suddenly on my laptop. That reminds me of school previously. Am happy thinking about the great memories and experience, I don’t think I regretted anything I did back then. I don’t think I have regretted things I have done, but only things that I did not do. This might change, though. What do you all think? Do you regret more what you have done, or what you haven’t? What is worse? Feel free to drop me a comment.)

The BIERFEST

Have you ever been to a bierfest? A real, german Bierfest with the great Masskrugen (A Masskrug is a beer mug that measures 1 litre of beer) and the masses of people? It is an experience not to be missed…and definitely never to be repeated.

Some people would protest that I am not doing justice to the great time-honoured practice of celebrating the Bierfest. Afterall, it is the spirit of celebration and togetherness that counts, as well as the team spirit involved in challenging one another to finish as many Massen as possible. In any case, let me first explain how such an activity becomes tradition and pastime of the Deutschen.

As always is the case with large celebrations and holidays, one NEEDS to have a reason for them, though the true reason is obvious, ie. To relax and celebrate. Over here, the reason is simpler: to drink beer. And they do have a very good side-reason for this bierfest in Erlangen. It is called the Bergkirchweih, (direct translation: Mountain church blessing). Just after a church is built, it would be blessed in a ceremony and this ceremony is called the Kirchweih. Of course they had a mass celebration after that, and to commemorate the great day in which the community had a new church, a yearly Bierfest is held, and this Bierfest is simply one of the largest celebrations I have seen in my life. It lasts for 2 weeks every year. Not only the Germans celebrate, but the entire world celebrates with them. This occasion is so international, that at least 4 out of 10 people I saw were non-Germans, ie. Chinese, Africans, Asians, etc. Even the signs on the Autobahn point to this place: the signs rarely say Erlangen, but “Bergkirchweih”.

It is admittedly tough to picture the enormity of the event unless you had been there. Remember the book that Jules Verne wrote, “Journey to the Centre of the Earth”? Now if he had been to the Bergkirchweih, he would have been inspired to write “Journey to the Centre of the Kirchweih.” It was FULL of people, so full that you are compressed by people all around you, and there are times when your feet hardly seemed to touch the ground, because you are just carried by the immense throngs of people about you. It was amazing to see how people can balance 2-4 Masskrugen and go through the crowd, hardly spilling a drop of the celebrated froth. People skillfully drank and smoked, whipping their cigarette butts away from other people just in the nick of time, some just jumped to the life music there. The sights and the smells, oh, the smells of the place…there was the hint of something sour like regurgitated beer in the air, but my colleagues insisted it was horse dung, which made it somehow more bearable (how would you get horse dung in the middle of a city, though?) The five of us made our way through the crowd miraculously, and stood in line to get our Masskrugen of beer. There was a deposit of 5 euros, while the beer costed 6.50 euros, because you had to return the Masskrug. After getting a Masskrug each, we made our way back to get a seat, which was unfortunately against the flow of human traffic (everyone wanted another Mass of beer suddenly) I lost sight of my petite friend and accidentally pushed a drunk man, who started protesting repeatedly, “Das war gemein, sich anzustiessen.” (That was mean, to push on ahead.”) I muttered a guttural sorry and hurried on.

We finally met our colleague Alex near the live band. He was wearing the traditional German Lederhosen or Leather Pants, with the holsters, traditional shoes and all, and looked really cute in it, like the traditional German Farmer. It is the standard Bierfest suit, you could almost imagine him dancing the folkdance in it. We said “prost”, knocked one another’s Masskrugen and drank up. (Apparently you HAVE to drink up after you do this, or else you would have seven years of bad sex.) Surprisingly, the beer did not taste that bad after all, it even had an aroma. Unsurprisingly, the live music was bad, so to entertain ourselves better, we stood on the benches, putting our arms around one another, and pretended to like the music.

At 11 pm, everything started to quieten down. Sales of beer stopped at 11pm, and some people started to head home. My colleague Ioanna and I were heading towards the toilet when this guy just stopped Ioanna, and said, “Du reizt mich an.” (You excite me). I tried to steer her away from him but this persistent guy just blocked our way wherever we turned. Luckily Yang, a petite but very streetsmart Vietnamese Australian, turned back to get us and she was great, just saying,” Excuse me, we are trying to get to the toilet here. Es ist dringend! (it is urgent!)”, gave him a shove and we were free. I was impressed. Guess must be fiercer next time.

After returning the Masskrugen, we made our way to the pubs, on the way meeting some guys who offered us some of their pretzels (the big ones which are about twice the size of your head). Yang and Ioanna started playing with Alex’s Lederhosen, threatening to undress him or something. Then a group of youngsters heard them and really tried to strip him. It was all done in the spirit of fun, not threatening, and when we realized that Alex didn’t know these youngsters at all, Yang shooed them off, saying, “No no no, he’s mine!” That was hilarious=)

Nothing exciting happened at the pub, though it was rather tiring to keep dancing, and trying to help Ioanna ward off some advances. (Really, she is rather pretty and dances rather well too=)) I left at 2am, rather early by party standards, and reached home at about 4 am, as the sun began to rise. One thing I must credit the Germans with is that it is rather safe, even with half of bus being drunk, and public transport is always punctual, even in the wee hours of the morning. It was interesting to see how someone would start singing a song on the bus, and the entire bus would sing along. I mean, can you imagine someone singing Chan Mali Chan on the our SBS buses and everyone just singing along?

Plonked right into bed at 6 am, after eating a most delicious bowl of instant mee, and was up at 10 am to go to a Ritterfest (Knight festival) Will tell ya all about it only tomorrow, it is 1 am plus now, and I still have to work tomorrow=)

“Money makes the world go round, beer makes the world go round and round…”
--aleetlesometing is lacking in my brain at 1.20 am in the morning. =P

SSAG AGM=)

13-16th May 2005

SSAG stands for Singapore Students’ Association, and just like other students’ associations in other countries, its aim is to connect students, promote interaction between Singaporean students in a country. Well, it seems to me that SSAG’s mission is rather tough, because Singaporean Students are really SCATTERED all over Germany…you can have as few as one or up to 30 plus students in one city/area. Thus no matter which place you choose in Germany, it would be a really long trip for some people. I belong to one of those ‘privileged’ ones to have to travel 13 hours by car up to Uelzen, Hannover. It was just like driving from South Germany to North Germany. We were also lucky enough to catch the Pfingsten traffic (Pentecost holiday, the one that the French Government recently scrapped, causing a nation-wide strike), so I must say that this is one of the longest journeys I have experienced. I could have flown back to Singapore for the amount of time I spent in the car!

However, the ride there was worth it. I guess there is an immediate connection between people who can spice up conversation with the occasional ‘lahs’ and ‘mahs’, as well as the ability to play bridge, Tai-tee (at this juncture I must admit that I finally learnt how to play Tai-tee properly, from a German girl who is the girlfriend of one of the Singaporeans. But I mastered it in record speed! * self-justification*=)) It was interesting to observe how some of us mix German in our conversations, because seriously, some German words explain things a lot better than their English substitutes. I christened this new language “Sherman”, but another alternative is “Seutsch” (Singlish and Deutsch). I think it is really a Singaporean characteristic to mix all the languages we learn…I was just talking to my sis in office, when Jochen overheard and asked, “Do all Singaporeans mix English and Chinese?” And I had to explain, “No, we mix Hokkien, Malay and sometimes German too.”

We played Frisbee in the morning, had a real German lunch at noon, (I had a Jaegerschnitzel, or the Hunter’s Pork Chop, which is really delicious and had this mushroom sauce with whole mushrooms that people could pick from the Black Forest) and had the AGM in the afternoon, followed by a Barbecue (or Grill) at night on the second day. The camaraderie between everyone was almost tangible. We laughed so much that Pris (DSTA scholar studying at Wuerzburg) and I had stomach muscle aches the following morning. Sam, Ruth and Kailuo and I stayed in the same room, and I must say it was a great feeling, to have ‘big sisters’ taking care of, or nagging a little at me again. Things like, ‘Apply moisturizer’, ‘Wake up, it’s time for breakfast’, etc, are a welcome break from the usual quiet that comes with living alone.

On the next day, we went canoeing along the peaceful river Ilmenau, which is rather small actually, about the size of a canal. It was a pity that the weather was so cold and wet, it just rained NON-STOP. Clever me forgot to bring a cap, or a completely water-proof windbreaker/jacket for that matter, and got completely wet. Other than the cold and the wetness, it was great fun, to just sail down the river, singing Singaporean songs at the top of our voices. (Kharthik remembered all the lyrics, amazingly!) Songs like Count On Me Singapore, The Little Things, We are Singapore…it would have sounded incredible to the Germans that we can be so nationalistic, as Germans are still in general wary of nationalistic feelings due to the Nazi past. To keep my hair away from my face, I placed my glasses on top of my head, and nearly missed looking at some big moos which were grazing by the river bank. One of them turned to me with a baleful gaze, munching on some grass at the same time. It was just the Perfect Setting for a great getaway.

We had to cut the Canoe trip short by 2 hours, because it was raining non-stop, and most of us were shivering in our wet clothes. It was really no joke to have your teeth chattering and knees shaking, and hopping around to keep warm, as the wind blows past to take all remaining warmth you might have had.

We returned to the Jugendherberge (Youth hostel), took warm showers…and then I played Ping Pong. Some Germans are surprisingly good at it! We (the guys) played against this German boy who had the posture and strikes of a professional Ping Pong player, and I learned how to enjoy the game too, though it is because everyone gave way to me as a first-time player, haha!

At night, we passed the time by playing bridge. This was when I learnt something else about myself for the 2nd time in two months. (The last time I learnt that I am actually a very shy person, short of painfully shy, remember? Don’t you laugh, I am probably a very very quiet person in my subconsciousness. See, my subsconsciousness is sooo quiet that I hardly knew there was a shy me in it. Ah, crap.) Well, this time it is that I am conservative, that I probably couldn’t take risks. Comments, anybody? The things that people can read about you from just a card game. Conservative is fine by me, it doesn’t mean I can’t take risks, but that I take CALCULATED risks. But being shy is another matter I think…shy and conservative, the last time I remembered being so was when I was five…or was it Primary Five? Haha, Old Friends, you tell me.

Time really passes quickly, it is nearly 1 am in the morning and I have gotta work tomorrow. Keep in touch!

Advice needed (!!)

8th May 2005

Hey everyone..

I am feeling a little lousy right now. The weather outside looks wonderful, sunny and having the appearance of being warm, but it is all just an illusion, once you step out, you would be hit by a cold drift that makes you shiver. Terrible, the whole time I was just carrying my ibook to and fro, from my bedroom to the garden, then back again, because I simply couldn’t stop sniffling.

I went cycling earlier today. It was beautiful, but for the cold…and the sudden rain. The skies over Nuernberg are terribly fickle. They cannot decide if they should rain, thus the frequent and sudden showers of ‘blessings’. I never knew how cold being wet could be.

It is Mother’s day today, and do you recall the saying about how you would miss your loved ones many times more during festivals and all? Well, it is really true. I called home just now, and couldn’t help but cry when I heard my mom’s voice describing how they have spent Mother’s Day. It is not that they had a terrific celebration, just the normal, day-to-day things that they do, like shopping and wondering about the prices of fish (!!), but sometimes you just wish that you were there with them, taking in the sights and the sounds, making lame comments, having the company of your loved ones… Well, she didn’t know that I cried, and probably wouldn’t know, since none of my family read my blog. (Ironic, isn’t it? I started the blog with the intention of informing them what I am doing overseas)

Right now, I am keeping myself ‘grounded’ at home, not only because of the weather (it is 1-7 deg cel outside, according to weather report…I estimate about 5-6deg) but also I have to read through dozens of downloaded uni websites, in order to decide what other subject I should take besides my main subject PS. I want to take up the Magister program, which consists of either 2 main subjects (Hauptfach), or 1 main subject and 2 other minors subjects (Nebenfaecher). PS is my no. 1 main, but I am currently trying to decide which other Hauptfach I should take. I have within my choices Sociology, Economics and History, in the order of preference for now. The problem is that I think I would have lotsa fun taking Sociology, it seems to be the subject that I would jump at, but Econs is the more practical one, allowing me to really understand economics, thus understand rationale behind policies, and all. History would be very helpful for me to understand my main subject PS. The problem is that if I were to take 2 Nebenfaecher instead of 1 more Hauptfach, my understanding in the 2 Nebenfaecher, I imagine, would be rather limited. So any suggestions, anyone? Advice please!

Right, short break over, shall go back to studying the different areas of the subjects. And the big prob is that ALL unis have diff interpretations of the subjects. In addition, there is also a difference between the traditional Magister degree and the new international Bachelors and Master of Arts degrees. So, as I am applying to 3 universities, a simple calculation would mean I have 4 (subjects) x 3 (types of degrees) pdf files to read, and some of them can be really lengthy, ie 29 pages! And in German too, but frankly speaking, I find it easier now to think in German. So good training for me then=)

See the silver lining?
Ting=)

I am getting the Blues...literally and figuratively

7th May 2005

Die Blaue Nacht! ( the Blue night)

This is a night, in which all parts of the Altstadt (the old city) in Nürnberg was made blue, literally. There were blue people walking around, with blue faces, bright blue costumes, and really strangely, blue hair, which made them look either like fashionistas or Martians from the blue planet. (Wait, Mars is the RED planet, and Earth is the BLUE one, so they are dressed to be like Earthlings after all…never mind.)

In spite of all good advice not to go there (my sources of advice being the weather report, saying that temperatures would drop to even ZERO degrees, and from friends here who have braved the rainy weather in Nürnberg before), I went there alone, my solitude being due to the lack of willingness of my colleagues to freeze together with me=) And boy were they right. I had the luck of meeting the rain head on, at 7 deg Celsius, but with the wind…it really felt like winter was on me all of a sudden. My fingers were really frozen, and the cold made me wolf down 2 pretzels, a chocolate pastry AND a Bratwurst (or was that an excuse?) But that was the first time I really felt SOOO satisfied with a bratwurst, it was heavenly, hot sausage with mustard and ketchup, a warm refuge from the cold. I can finally understand why most Germans are Wurst carnivores.

The night was beautiful, despite the cold. The street lamps were blue, buildings and the old ancient castle (Burg) was cast in a fantastic blue hue. There were wonderful artistic performances all around, some people just setting up their music instruments and playing them spontaneously, with the applause or singing of people on the streets as accompaniment. There were skits around the city, and I really sympathized with the performers, who had to be garbed in thin circus suits in the cold…you could almost hear the chattering of their teeth. All the museums were open through the night, until the wee hours of the morning, and there were special performances and exhibitions all around. I did not buy a ticket (€12), which would grant me access to all the museums, although I was very tempted to do so just to escape into the comparative warmth in a museum =). Thank goodness that many Germans are tall, so I could hide behind them, and peek over their shoulders to watch the performances.

Somehow, despite the cold and all, I thoroughly enjoyed myself=) The atmosphere in the Altstadt was just perfect for artists to just station themselves in the middle of the road, to play, sing or act, because this city is one full of art and tradition. I could have stood behind this German guy all night, just to listen to this Spanish group sing, and just take in the entire atmosphere. Then this guy had to take up a cigarette and smoke. Ugh. That completely spoiled everything there and then.

Being away from your family can be a very odd feeling. You are fine, good, and living very well by yourself, keeping yourself busy and entertained, making lots of new friends, basically feeling great about being independent and able to somehow ‘stand on your own two feet’, yet at the same time this is this itch at a little corner of your heart, right just where you can’t reach, no matter how hard you may try. You can ignore it and pretend it is not there, but it IS. Then when you chance to hear a familiar tune that your father loves to sing at home, or chance to see a pair of slippers that you know your sis would love, or see some things decorated in a really traditional Chinese manner that you know your mom would have liked to have, but would not have admitted to it in order to appear ‘cool’ and ‘hip’ to her children…that itch spreads right from your heart to the back of your eyes, making you sniffle a little even though the weather was just as cold as it was a few seconds ago. That’s when you know that homesickness is actually a kind of slight cold that appears from time to time, at various odd and random stimuli. It is indeed a kind of illness, now that we have recognized it, and just like any illness, there are ways to combat it, e.g. through regular doses of home food like rice, and in contrast with the other forms of illnesses, through plenty of work (not rest) and lots and lots of interaction. There is, unfortunately, no available vaccination for it, nor would your body build up a kind of immunity against it. More exposure does not mean greater resistance. This illness can be infectious, but most of the time, it is not. Because seeing other people who are infected with the same strain of homesickness (i.e. they come from the same place) can be very very therapeutic, thus the association of patients with similar ailments is actually encouraged.

tings

Kaffee, the little Red Riding Hood and others

2nd May 2005

Hey All!

I have just eaten a very big dinner, and as it is time for bed, I have no idea how my stomach is going to digest it all…guess I would wake up with indigestion. The thought of all that food lying undigested in my stomach as I sleep makes the thought of sleep unthinkable. Thus I thought of updating my blog=)

I have the good luck of having a wonderful lady called Angelika as my landlady=) She brought me to her sister’s house on Saturday, just for a gathering, and the entire family just unhesitantly took me into their fold. It was wonderful. We drank a lot of Kaffee (the German Tradition of Kaffee-Trinken deserves a mention, see paragraphs later) and had a Grill (BBQ). There were quite a few of us, Angelika’s niece Karin (40) and her Italian-sicillian mate (not husband and not from Mafia, apparently what the Mafia does now is just to be normal politicians, helping to repair roads, build community facilities, etc.) Pino, Angelika (63) and her sister Marianne (72), their funky neighbour Anita(69 going on 70), Anita’s daughter (forgot name) and Anita’s granddaughter Samira. We had fun thinking up ways to remember my name, e.g Lied- (Lied=song in German) or Meeting. It was too much effort to get them to pronounce it the Chinese way, so I just told them that the stress is on the first syllable. After dinner, we just sat around, drank wonderful red wine and chatted, and boy, are the old ladies lively. Someone (not me) mentioned about snails in the garden, ‘vernaschen’ the grass, then someone else corrected her, saying that it was naschen, not vernaschen, with vernaschen being a sexual act. They spent a long time debating about the importance of the use of the correct word, Geli arguing that it was important for me to know if a guy says “Ich will dich vernaschen.” (I want you) or something.

Angelika told us of her experience with a guy who tried to get it on with her, and I thought her answer was worth one hundred points. She was walking home alone one day and a car stopped beside her. The man inside asked if she was interested to go for a ride. She said no, because it wasn’t safe. Then they agreed to meet at a pub further down the road. In the pub, the guy said, “What beautiful legs you have.”
Her answer was classic. “I know that.”
The persistent but unintelligent bloke ventured on, “What pretty lips you have.”
“I know that too, so what?”
Kinda reminds you of the little red riding hood and the Big Bad Wolf yeah?

We laughed as these grandmamas recounted their manifold experiences, the latest being Marianne’s breakup with her boyfriend just a day ago. He wanted her to move into his farmhouse, and even bought her a Mercedes (I am not sure if anyone would do that for me=P) but she did not want to (Her house is one of the most beautiful houses I have seen), thus they broke up. Being with them, I felt so prudish. And they are 3-4 times my age. Allmech. (Bayerisches Word for oh man!) Anyway, I did not know how to comfort her, so I just listened and repeated whatever her younger sister said, C’est la Vie! But I don’t think that’s the way to do it though…didn’t we learn in Pastoral Care that the one good way for people to get over things is for them to really think it through and cry over it for once? However, I seriously doubt if she wants to know about the engineering supremacy of Mercedes cars..

It was really hot in the weekend and today as well, hot according to the Germans (really hot= 25-28 deg Celsius), and we will be waiting for the frost soon. Nope you did not read wrongly, the weather here is really unlogical and unpredictable (unvorhersehbar, Angelika praised me for using such a big word, and I felt this pride I haven’t been feeling since learning the 2 times table in Kindergarten). May Day is the official start of real spring, but there are still the Eis-heilige (the ice-holy ones) to tide through. These days even have names: Niko-something, Servatsius and die kalte Sophie (the cold Sophie). Frost would come on these nights and we would have temperatures of minus something. I am really NOT looking forward to it. Some people would jump at the opportunity of seeing snow, but I can skip that, truly the cold is not worth it. I really should get a big thick coat to hide under.

I will be going for the AGM in Hannover with the other Singaporean students. I am looking forward to it, a great gathering with other Singaporeans, with canoeing and some sight-seeing. There is even a holiday this Thursday, called Christihimmelfahrt. I have no idea what it celebrates, but one does not question holidays =)

Time passes really quickly, it is already my third week here. I think I have adapted well here so far…just need to watch my diet a little more. I have no idea what and how much to eat, not exactly used to cooking for one, and I have to finish everything when I cook more or something. There is a weighing machine in my living room, and I have never ventured to step on it, guess the truth would be out only when I return home…bwahaha.

=) tings

It's all Greek to me...

Hey All!

The wonderful weekend has just passed me by, and what a weekend it was!

I went for a long walk around the Altstadt (or the Innenstadt, where the castle and citywalls are) and got to see how romantic the old german city of Nürnberg is. And when I say romantic, I don't only mean romantic as in the castle is romantic, but as in the very distinct danger of knocking into a couple who just stop suddenly to kiss in the middle of the pavement. They say that Paris is a truly romantic city, I think Nürnberg should be included in the list too.

I did not walk alone, was with my new friend Ioanna (the greek girl, remember?) She was very nice, showing me which sights to take note of and was absent-minded in the endearing way. It was quite funny as both of us couldn't really read maps, so we just went around and around the city, listening to the occasional tour guides and stopping at different sights just to look at the buildings, smell the flowers, have a freshly-baked pretzel or a Nürnberger sausage. It feels wonderful to have a companion at your side again=)

The both of us were on a quest to look for a chinese book so that Ioanna could learn how to speak chinese in 2 weeks, but the Chinese books here are soo expensive! Instead, we found a book teaching tourists how to speak and use Greek, plus the CD, and the entire package was going for 5 euros! I grabbed it. So now I am learning how to speak greek, but frankly, even with Ioanna's explanations, it is all still Greek to me (haha, sorry but I could't help with that pun!) Let's see how much I can learn/ achieve in 2 weeks..haha. Right now I only know the word for 'hallo', or Kalim-ärra. (accent on the ä)

Now I suddenly have lots to do at night:
- watch TV to improve my German
- Learn Greek
- Learn French (i bought the same package too=)
- Write letters back home in Chinese
- write my blog (so sorry if I can't update it as regularly as I want to)
- Improve my cooking
- Go wandering in the woods and pretend to be Gretel (haha!)
- Learn the choral music that I am supposed to be singing with my Landlady in a 4 weeks' time

Feel like I am living the prime of my life =)

After the walk in the city, Ioanna and I met up with a few Chinese students who are studying in Nürnberg for dinner at an Italian restaurant. I ordered pizza, and I really love italian pizzas. Those at pizza hut or other fast-food outlets really cannot compare to a real italian pizza: they look like giant curry puffs, with lotsa cheese in them (to keep all the warmth in, the clever baker folds the pizza into half, they really SHOULD make all pizzas like that, tastes A LOT better this way) and it doesn't feel fat at all, cuz there is no extra oil added. Yummy. But that was not the highlight of the dinner=)

Our companions were really a funny lot of people! They are really very knowledgeable about a lot of things, so I got to learn much from them, and they always mix up some English words, thus I would correct them while they correct my German and Chinese. I even learned something about my hakka roots from them. Hakkas are called ke4 jia1 in chinese, meaning the Guests, because we were basically migrants from North China to South China, and because our dialects sounded different from the Southerners, we were 'guests'. Then, a few hundred years later, our dialect diverged from the original North Chinese dialect, thus our language became something so unique.

Our companions were very very lively. In the middle of our waiting for the dinner, one of them hit a pillar to test if it were made of wood, and as it was made of plaster, it sounded like he was trying to bring the house down (his girlfriend hid in embarrassment, but it was really funny then=) There is a feeling of camaraderie and belonging even when we came from various different lands.

Right, gotta go get my groceries now, all shops close at seven, and it is six now=P still have 25 min brisk walkajog home and to the supermarkets=P

love, ting

Know your country: for Singaporeans=P

Was rather embarrassed when someone asked me who Macpherson was and I had no idea. He must have been a rather important person to have a road named after him right? And the Siemens Building in Singapore is in this road some more.

Here is to all other hapless Singaporeans, snippet of info from the history website in Singapore:

St Andrew's Cathedral
This is the second building to be erected on this site. The original was built by G.D. Coleman and consecrated in 1838. However, the Church was demolished in 1852 following two lightning strikes. The present Cathedral was designed by Colonel Ronald MacPherson in 1856.

haha, lousy ting=P

will update more on Monday! Ciao bis dann!
Tings

Babe in the Woods

Hey all wieder! (again!)

It is the end of the week, and the end of my work day...just thinking about the walk home makes me freeze. Brr...it is really ironic, the sun shines like hell (as in hell in German, which means bright) here but it is freezing. I can't even jog anymore because because the cold is just too much...my nose simply freezes. When I go home, all I want to do is to cuddle up in my bed and shiver under the blankets (I exaggerate a little here, not all the time, but always when it gets dark.)

I went for a walk in the woods two days ago, and it was really breathtakingly beautiful. The ground is just covered with lots and lots of moss, so you get really soft ground to walk on, and the entire forest is full of pine trees. Because it was rather late in the evening, the sky was turning grey, and the forest looked almost...magical. I could imagine a dragon coming out from the trees. I have always wondered when I was little, how Hansel and Gretel could get lost in the woods. I mean, the woods I have seen back home always have maps in the middle of them, kinda takes the adventure out of wandering in them, don't you think? And here in these woods, I want to get lost in them, crazy though that sounds, so that I can feel like Gretel (always thought that Gretel was the cleverer one who outsmarted the witch).

This reminds me of a new term I have learnt today: Frauen Bewegung. To those who learn German, this does NOT mean Ladies' Exercise (I was standing up to do some stretching when my boss/colleague Jochen remarked Frauen Bewegung) but Women's Liberation Movement. I got the pun only about 30 seconds later, and thought it was very funny, but since it would be dumb to laugh at seemingly nothing in the office, I kept the laughter in. Hmm..everyone prob thinks I am some humourless gal=P

My boss/colleague Jochen really knows so many languages...he knows namely English, Deutsch, Japanese, and can even read some Chinese/speak it! Plus Korean (he has a key to how to read it) which is really amazing. He was relating an experience he had in a Chinese restaurant, and complained how you cannot tell the ingredients in a CHinese dish just by looking at the name, like how 'Toder Hund im See' can even be the name of a dish! (dead dog in the lake) HAHA!

I will be teaching a greek girl called Ioanna (like ee.yo.han.na) how to speak Mandarin, and she must master it within 2 weeks to win a bet. Don't tell me how that can be done...it just can't be done. She needs to know the four tones and all, within one day at least, so that she can learn enough words to converse in Mandarin in 2 weeks. I get to learn Greek in return=) I have been thinking of learning a German Dialect (over here they speak Frankish, but there are hundreds of other dialects, like Kölsch from Köln, Schwäbisch from Schwaben, Baden-isch or something from Baden-Württemberg, etc.) And guess what wonderful advice everyone has for me to learn a dialect? -get a German boyfriend. Hey, as if they hang on trees ready for harvest!" *incredulous*

Just realised that I missed home when I read the blogs of my friends and buddies...so many things are happening but I am just not there to chat with them and all...sorry gals! I will get a German Phonecard tomorrow...don't know if I would be able to make cheaper calls, but anyway, please contact me at my new company email ok?

Am leaving for home soon...wondering if I should have dinner. The girls here eat peanuts (not literally!) for lunch, while I eat comparatively humongous portions...the cold really gets to me=( Maybe I would balloon before I go back to Singapore, terrible, isn't it?

Alright, no one else is left but for me, gotta go!

Loveya lots, Tings

FOOD!!!

Hey all!

I think I am beginning to LUURVE my own cooking...which is a miracle, because I used to hate it. Now that I am in a foreign land, with new food and new flavourings, I am just experimenting with different dishes everyday. I just had an Eintopf (one pot) yesterday, with potatoes, carrots, Weisswurst and egg...and it tasted great=) Without any other flavouring but salt.

Oh yes, and now I understand why there was an entire historical hoo-ha about the Salt trade...and why Mahatma Gandhi started the salt march and all, because it is REALLY very important for flavour! It is hard to describe how HARD I searched for salt in the first few days...it is now so 'common' a commodity that the supermarkets do not have signs for it! How ironic. Therefore I searched 3 days for salt, before finding it just at the entrance of the supermarket, hidden beneath some conserves. And what a moment of triumph it was...Ting finds SALT!!

The next thing I will be investing in is a bottle of ketchup. Did I say that Germany is a Land of Opposites? Here is more evidence that it is immer noch so ein Land: The cheapest fruits here are..guess? Strawberries. These go for about 49 cents euro per punnet, while the most expensive are...Apples! My favourite fruits are so expensive=(, so I just have to make do with strawberries for now. Next cheapest are tomatoes, thus I am just eating tomatoes everyday. Potatoes are terribly cheap over here, that's why I want ketchup. Or pepper. But I must save up for that first...better finish the food in my fridge first! =) It is terribly difficult to shop and cook for one person alone. One must have many similar meals, (e.g now I have brocolli, carrots and tomatoes everyday) before one can buy other things for the fridge.

I am sounding more and more like an Ah Soh..haha, but I like cooking=) haha, my mom would be really proud of me, if she reads this, that is...

Ok, better get back to work, lazy bum=)

Oh, did I mention that the people here are really very nice? Will save that for the next entry. And that the woods here are wonderful places to get lost in? Will save that for later too, haha=)

love ya all, tings

An idiot's Guide to the Ethernet and the Loch Ness Monster

19th April 2005

I have backdated some of my blogs, just in case none of my friends realize. Please look at my previous blogs if you think I have not updated my blog at all, especially for the 17th and 18th of April, because I will try to update my diary every weekday, when I have access to the internet through Siemens.

I will describe the first day of work in my previous blog, (what a curious way of phrasing a sentence! Just like me telling you what I WILL do in the PAST.) Meanwhile, here’s my second day:

I went to work to find out what on earth Ethernet is, and all those jargon of Switches, Hubs, Bridges, Repeaters, and what my department does in actual fact. Do you know what a PLC is? I wish I have an inkling of what it is remotely, but apparently it is supposed to be this terminal that directs your information to the receiver. I.E I instruct my younger sister boon boon to bring me some water (like real!) but because boon is in the living room and I in the bedroom, she cannot hear me. So my Jie, being in the kitchen, acts as the PLC, because she is able to receive the info I sent out and relay to Boon. And she does not only do this for me, but for my father, who wants to send a msg to my mom, and my brother, who wants to send a msg to coincidentally, boon too. So the PLC receives and relays messages (by repeating it to the next hub) from any terminal that is linked to it, just as my Jie repeats the msgs sent to her.

Now, the problem is that, my Jie has a limit to how many words she can listen to or speak at the same time. So if my dad and I both speak at the same time, she cannot receive anything. Thus this results in a collision. But clever us, me and my dad, both have the sense to wait till the other is done before speaking to my Jie again, thus we are equipped with what is called basic manners, or what the computer people call “Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection”, which is a scheme that governs the way computers ‘talk’ to one another. This means that each individual computer, when met with a collision, basically waits for a random period of time before talking again, and this amount of time, being random, hopefully prevents another collision. The more the number of collisions, the longer the period of time the computer waits. ( Just like me and my dad, I wouldn’t be so stupid as to interrupt him so many times at one go, would I?)

Are you lost yet? If you are, imagine that I had to read up on all these in German! It was basically dictionary day for me today.

Take a big breath, for here we go deeper. What are Switches and Bridges then? The problem with the old Ethernet that I have just described to you is that there is absolutely NO security. I.e All messages have to pass through a common medium (the air) and gets sent to all the terminals. So even I can get a message from my dad, which is meant for my mom. This means that I can eaves drop on all conversations, or even interrupt some, or confuse my Jie by bombarding her with many useless messages. Then her message-carrying speed greatly slows down, and meanwhile, I get to listen to all the messages (assuming that I can speak and listen at the same time=)) What switches do is to recognize what terminals usually receive messages from what terminals, and dedicate a channel to this way of communication. (I am a little hazy here, do feel free to correct me if you know more, please!) So security gets a LITTLE better, as Jie wouldn’t automatically tell me Pa’s message to Ma, BUT I can still intercept the message by various methods (by faking Ma’s voice, for example). And the speed that Jie does the message-transferral is much faster, and her bandwidth can be used to the greatest extent and advantage.

Still have to find out more about bridges, Gateways, smart Ethernet, etc. Can’t say more here=(

I had my first choir practice with a mature German choir tonight, and it is really one of those practices in which I laughed as much as I sang! My landlady invited me to practise in her choir as well, which is holding a small concert in a church on 5th June in Amberg. (not Hamburg) The Chorleiter (or conductor) was a standing joke=) He cracks really funny jokes in the middle of the practice. They have rather good resounding basses here, only a little tone-deaf though. There is one part in the Ave Maria, when they came in on a horrifyingly wrong low note (much too low, sounded like a foghorn) and they had to hold it through like NINE bars. Can you imagine the sound? The entire choir was in harmony but for THEM. I was so amused that I started on a fit of giggles and had to stop singing to control myself. Then the Chorleiter said, “Ich habe gedacht, dass die Loch Ness Monster in Schottland nicht mehr existiert, aber es lebt noch in unserer Probe.” (Translation: I thought that the Loch Ness Monster of Scotland has gone extinct, but apparently it is still alive and healthy in our choir practice.) It was then that I couldn’t control myself and HOWLED with laughter…HOW EMBARRASSING! But it was really really very funny! The people around me just looked so amused, and one said,” Sie kommen ja zurecht mit der Probe!” (Translation: You adapt well to the practice!)

Then there was another time when he tried to signal for us to come in loudly, so he opened up his arms like he had a big belly, and the singers thought that he meant for them to breathe in deeply, so everyone breathed in so deeply and held their breaths, and the next coming in was… abysmal, followed by laughter in unison. What really surprises me is the complete feeling of Gemeinschaft (community) over here…everyone knows or makes an effort to know everyone else, and goes around shaking hands and talking during the break and before the practice starts. It is wonderful, because the enjoyment is clearly visible.

Am having an absolutely wonderful time here in Germany. It is just a little too cold, like 7 degrees and it is raining outside, so I go around in almost winter clothes to survive it all. Don’t worry, I just look a little odd, while some people are just in simple shirts and jeans, because they drive to work, and I walk/jog through a forest for about 20 minutes before I get to the office. But the view is worth it, anytime.

Spring is a season to ‘spring’ for joy=) My Cherry tree is blossoming beautifully, hopefully the weather is not so cold that it freezes the bees and keeps them from pollinating my cherry blossoms. “Sakura…Sakura…” You really have to see it to sing the song from the heart, I guess=)

Love ya all, and best regards, (I can’t send you warm ones because I don’t have any..)
Ting =)