Eastern European Camouflage.

So, two developments to report. Tomorrow morning I am off for a weekend in Prague with a good friend from grad school and for the trip am sporting a new moustache I decided to grow for fun my last month of living alone here in Germany. It is amazing how many people here have really great moustaches, so hopefully it will help me assimilate further into German culture before I leave. If anything, it makes people laugh all the time when they see me, which is a plus.

Meine Geburtstag.

Well, in Germany it is officially my birthday. Though I get to spend tomorrow night with a great group of friends, I certainly miss home tonight. There are many stories I would like to tell about people I would love to be near, the places I would like to be near them, and things we could do there, but tonight I am too tired and cannot find the words.

I thought turning 29 would leave me feeling a sense of loss for my youth and disappointment in all that I have failed to do at this point. However, for tonight at least, looking back instead leaves me honestly feeling pretty satisfied with all the joys, pains, laughter, discoveries, victories, failures, surprises, adventures and challenges I have experienced with those who have been willing along the way to this point. Hopefully the next 29 years will be even richer.

Unbelievable.

I just had to make a brief note about just how perfect a day it is here in Bonn. The sky is bright blue with a few wispy, white clouds, the sun is warm but the air is not hot, and there is just a bit more than a slight breeze. Of course, I did just have a giant cup of coffee, so my rather positive take on the world could simply be due to that particularly magical concoction.

The Lost Continent

I just finished Bill Bryson's chronicle about a road trip in his somewhat recently past father's Chevelle through much of the continental United States. As a child, his father had loaded them into the car and driven them all over the US each summer for some sort of legendary family road trip vacation to quite often obscure and inexpensive places.

Largely, it was a clever, slightly sardonic take on many places I have either been to or lived in during my life, which either helped me see them in a new light or resonated quite strongly with my own perceptions. At the time he made his observations, he was an American born in the Midwest, living in England and in his early 30's. Perhaps our somewhat common experiences led us to draw similar conclusions about many places in the lower 48. Though there were times when perhaps it was just a bit too snarky, I must confess he also casually makes rather poignant observations about poverty, health care, consumerism, regional differences and the slow progression of American small towns into the same collection of chain restaurants and hotels. It would less impressive if the book were not written over 20 years ago.

Throughout his trip, sometimes there were places I wish he would have visited in his journey but more often than not he informed me of some obscure piece of Americana I myself missed while flying through a town on the highway. Anyway, if you love a good road trip (as I most certainly do), this is a good read for a taste of much of the American experience. Largely the people and regions are treated rather fairly, though a bit condescendingly at times. Mostly though, the language he uses to describe each road he drives down, small town he pulls into, random historical place he visits, natural attraction or diner he eats his fried chicken dinners at is all rather richly crafted, which I found surprising for someone I imagined more as a humorist. The effect is that you feel yourself rather easily being shuttled down the road sharing his experiences and can really see and feel yourself on this scattered road trip towards personal discovery.

It is finally over.

So, even though I have not taught for the last two years, the semester end still marks a time when schedules relax, campus quiets down and pressure subsides. It is a good time for a great deal of free thinking and organization of ideas. Anyway, the semester finally ended here in Germany today, though having it go on this long has been tortuous for someone like myself who has not been in school past mid-May since I was 14 years old living in Southern CA where school went until late June. It was a great semester, but I like the quiet halls and streets of a University suddenly abandoned by all the students who usually buzz about with tremendous energy. It is like a giant organism finally coming to rest after a long period of stressed activity. The rest for me as a tiny component in the organism is welcome and long overdue. These two years have been amazing in many ways, but trying and exhausting nonetheless. My time here is now limited to about five weeks, which hopefully I can enjoy to their fullest. I will miss my work, life and friends here very much I believe, though I am ready to lay my head down on my own pillow and fall into the deep slumber you only find possible at home.

A Filmspotting Birthday.

So, tonight I followed my usual Friday night ritual of settling in to listen to Filmspotting, one of my favorite podcasts. Much to my surprise, my friend G had donated to them for me as a birthday present, which they announced this week. It was a great gift and a fantastic cause since they are an artistic and a publicly broadcast film show. Anyway, thanks G, you really made my birthday week already.

HP6.

So, on Amber's last night we had the German delicacy known as spaghetti ice cream, then went to see the new Harry Potter. Since we arrived a bit early for the show, we grabbed a little Haribo candy and popcorn, which it turns out they sugar rather than salt here in Germany. Anyway, we found our assigned seats after being displaced by someone who had purchased the choice seats we had chosen to occupy and settled in for the show.

Though of course I do love all things Potter, I must say I expected more from this movie. I did enjoy it, but not as much as the movies for HP3 and HP5. It was better than HP4, though with some of the same problems. It did however make me want to see the next two movies even more and slightly satisfied my appetite for new Potter material. As Matty from Filmspotting really enjoyed it, I definitely need to see it again since the anticipation and expectations set up by the last movie and the delayed release may have impacted my first viewing experience. In any case, I will definitely be re-reading the 6th book sometime soon to jog my memory about a lot of the plot subtleties and tiny details lost in translation to the big screen.

Ich bin ein Berliner (alternative Title: Achtung Baby).

Berlin was an amazing. First of all, it was great to see my old friend M and meet some of her students. Secondly, not only does the city feel vibrant, thriving and young, it has this astounding history, great modern and classical architecture, interesting museums, and fantastic food. Plus, it never sleeps. On Saturday night, I got to see a colleague, have a pleasant dinner at a restaurant called Weinstein and enjoy a Berlin micro-brewed beer. Amber got to attend the Snow Patrol (sorry C) and U2 concert with M, which seemed pretty amazing in the Olympic Stadium outside the city. The weather was a bit iffy when we arrived Friday night, but it turned into a beautiful weekend with just a little rain here and there. The only thing lacking was the time we had to spend there. I could easily stay in that city for many weeks at a time.

A piece of graffiti art by apparently noted artist Alias.

My colleague MH after our meal at Weinstein. The wine was from Austria and surprisingly nice.

These bricks trace where the wall stood throughout the city.

The bricks as we traveled through the city on a bus.

Photos of the small section of the wall that remains standing.

The Brandenburg Gate.

Amber, my dear friend M and new friend B.

One more shot of the gate.

East Berlin Walk.

East Berlin Don't Walk.

I love these guys.

A collection of shots from in and around the Bundestag.

The Spree and the Parliamentary Library.

A wall by the Bundestag in honor of Poland.

The Monument to Victory, with a rather interesting history.

The major government building with a large glass dome.

Several angles of the experience in the Holocaust Memorial.

The rather famous Humboldt University in Berlin.

A collection of amazing buildings we saw in Berlin whose history I sadly do not recall right now but will have to look up in time.

E and M suggesting it may be time for lunch and coffee.

Amber near the Potsdamer Platz.

Gratuitous Clock Shots.

Some East German architecture.

This plaza has a French Church on the left, a German Church on the right and the Philharmonic Hall in the center.

Shots of the reconstructed Check Point Charlie.

It is official ... I can count.

So, after a year and a half, I finally heard back on a combinatorics paper I wrote with my undergraduate advisor at OU. Essentially, we give an algorithm for counting a certain type of sets of integers. In fact, it is a development of my undergraduate thesis, which after grad school we finally decided to finish. Though they wanted a few changes, it will be accepted. It is rather exciting to publish in a different field, be done with the project and have a a journal specifically devoted to counting accept that you in fact can do it. This one is for you Count von Count.

Hamburg and Pickled Herring.

So, Hamburg was certainly an interesting city. Though we found it to be far more popular with German tourists than with those from other countries, it had an amazing harbor and a really long, interesting history. Sadly, the ballet was sold out and cold rain fell most of the trip, but we found a way to do some good exploring. The art museum was very nice, there were some decent small coffee/pastry shops, the bus tour we took to get out of the rain was a bit shady but oriented us nicely in the city, the harbor impressive on our boat tour, the churches not under construction were beautiful, the old harbor city had a great feel and happened to be hosting the Stand Up Paddling World Cup, the Brahms museum though small was pleasant, plus the Hamburg history museum had some fantastic model ships. In addition, I was brave enough to try a filet of pickled Herring, practiced my German a bit, and had a very nice dinner Saturday night with some interesting modern German cuisine. Amber tried to learn stick at a car museum and greatly diminished the Hamburg hot chocolate supply. Hopefully the pictures will fill in some of the gaps in the story.

Amber learning to master Formula One racing provided I can always be at this angle moving the gear shift.

The thrill of the open road ... inside a car museum in Hamburg.

The Church of St. Nicolai was bombed during the war and now serves as a monument to all who lost their lives in the conflict.

Me in the old Harbor City part of town.

The canal without me...we've got to find Doc Brown!

Some of the participants in the Jever SUP Cup, or Stand Up Paddling Cup. During an endurance race one competitor rowed to the edge, borrowed a lounge chair and a beer from a spectator, then finished the race in a far more luxurious fashion.

Walking through the crowds and food stands at the SUP Cup with all the Hamburg construction in the background. Part of the Harbor City area is being rebuilt, and the project is one of the largest construction undertaking in Germany.

Amber at the Brahms Museum Plaza in front of a Clarinet store.

The Brahms museum. Though it is a small house and his birthplace had been destroyed in the war, they had many interesting things including concert announcements of his from the day with many other prominent musicians such as the Schumanns who lived in Bonn late in life.

Amber not wanting her picture taken in the dirty train station near the Hamburg "Festival of Love" that was happening that weekend. In case you wonder what a festival of love is like, imagine a number of middle-aged, drunk Germans in bell bottoms and you pretty much have it.

Several shots of the skyline as seen from the tower at St. Michael's Cathedral.

Me looking more devil may care than intended in front of the tower.

Amber and the tower at St. Michael's.

The old harbor city in the background. A fire started here in 1842 that burned pretty much the entire city.

One of the restored ships serves as a floating museum of sorts.

St. Michael's Tower from the river.

A ship being repaired in dry dock.

Bridge over the River Elbe.

The tugboats from a different angle.

The crazy star wars looking trucks that zip back and forth around the harbor delivering and picking up containers.

The large cranes for loading and unloading containers.

A tugboat close-up.

A long line of tugboats!

An interesting building shaped like a ship near Altona.

Amber pretending she is sitting on a glamorous yacht.

Prepared for launch.