Advent and other miscellaneous things

Above is what my advent calender looks like this year. Not that I have an advent calender every year, but the ones here in Europe are just so cool, that one can't help oneself even if you're way past the age where having an advent calender is considered normal. Behind each window is a Kinder Surprise Egg, which contains a little gift. From the looks of it, it will probably be one of those reindeer-like figurines, similar to the ones on the box. I don't care that the figurine is a bit naff or about the fact that at the end of December I'm going to be so sick of Kinder Surprise, that I'd never wanna see a chocolate egg again. All I care about is the fact that every morning (starting on Friday) when I wake up, I'll have a surprise to look forward to.

I am totally enthralled with the Christmas decorations being sold practically at every street corner. I'm so going to buy me something kinda useless to spread some Christmas cheer in my room. Again the decorations are way cooler here than they are at home AND you can get something really, really nice without breaking the bank. I especially love what they do with the candles and the greenery and red is not your only option, there are really cool blue and orange - amongst other - decorations to choose from.

On Tuesday Bryan and I did our weekly shopping at our local discount supermarket, Penny Markt. And for the first time I realised that we'd really adjusted to our situation here in Germany. Shopping, especially at a discount supermarket, is a distinctly different experience to shopping at P'nP. Firstly no basket, so if you're not taking a trolley (for which you need a €1 deposit) then you'll have to carry all your groceries in your arms. Well since there were two of us we got ourselves a trolley. For the first time we walked down every aisle to check out the wares. At the check-out point there's no little helper to put the groceries in the bag. You're on your own and usually the queue is sooo long (b/c only one checkpoint is open) and the cashier so fast that you feel really pressured to get your groceries off the (teeny-tiny) counter and pay in as short a time as possible. Well, we had a solution for this as well: we'd just put our groceries back into the trolley and pack our bags at the counter further on, which is what people usually do. So we left the supermarket decidedly less stressed than on other occasions:)

Another thing I noticed is the strange elevator etiquette here at Paul-Sudeck-Haus. People don't greet here - that's a fact. So naturally when one enters an elevator you don't greet either unless you know the person. However, upon leaving the elevator the person leaving usually says goodbye (tschuss). What I don't get is why people feel the need to greet when they leave the elevator when they never had the inclination to greet upon entering the elevator. Saying "hallo" and "goodbye" go together, don't they? Any way, so as not to rock the boat or come across as rude I've adopted this strange behaviour as well, although it has, as yet, not been revealed to me why I do it. Maybe I'll ask some German acquaintances about this strange behaviour, but until then I'll go on greeting strangers upon leaving the elevator.

Theatre review

Yet again it's around the midnightly hour and I'm perched in front of my laptop pandering to the needs of my most loyal and dedicated blog readers. Only difference is that this time I'm posting in my pyjamas:)

Today I sampled German theatre for the first time in ten years. I don't have any recollection of my first experience of German theatre other than it couldn't have been any of the high brow stuff since the theatre was situated in the redlight district (Reeperbahn) and the show only started after 12am.

Tonight's entertainment was quite interesting as the whole play took place in Platt Deutsch - a variation that is spoken here in the North. I consistently missed the punchline (it was a comedy), but didn't feel too bad because there was no way I was going to understand everything. Platt is supposed to be similar to Dutch and although the words are sometimes similar (they use maand amongst other familiar words) the pronounciation is quite different. The only reason I could semi-figure out what they were saying was that I'd been exposed to this pronounciation when I was further North in the rural area as an Au-Pair. Bernd, the father of the brats I looked after (and incidentally the biggest brat of them all) pronounced words in this way in his every day speech - of course the kids picked up on it and imitated him.

The story wasn't particularly riverting, but maybe it would've helped if I got the punchlines. A certain attachment to the dialect must also account for how packed theatre was. I guess if one's dialect is given credit on such a stage, one can't help but feel proud and be enthusiastic about supporting it. By the third half I was better able to understand what they were saying and I actually laughed at the final punchline. All in all it was a very pleasant experience. Especially since I had the excellent company of my dear friend Peter. Afterwards we went to this very larny hotel along the Alster lake for a glass of wine and warm roasted nuts - I'm a sucker for nuts!

Also walked past my first Christmas market and outdoor ice rink. Can't wait to go iceskating outdoors for the first time in how many years? Yeah, winter in Europe is great - especially if you know you don't have to go through it every year;-) And it's especially great when it's not that cold. We're still experiencing relatively barmy days for this time of the year, but I'm not complaining, I just very grateful that I am able to share in this relatively mild autumn. I just hope the the winter does not deploy its full icy arsenal to freeze us back into submission again.

Finally, I would also like to use this forum to announce that "my vrind" Millicent had her baby Joshua last Monday. It took a week for the news to get to me (what's the use of all this technology when no one uses it) and there are reports that he weighed in at 2.7 kg others that say he weighs 2.8 kg. I haven't have time to phone her and get the scoop, but congrats Millicent and Jerome on a heathly bouncing boy.

Back from 'outta space'

Even though it's 1:12 am I thought I'd post before going to sleep because it's been just so long since I last posted. Well, I survived the week of presentations and assignments. This week it's more of the same (and every week I'll have something to hand in), but I got a headstart since I've practically finished the thing I have to hand in on Tuesday and the presentation on Thursday will be done in the week sometime...I've not yet morphed into such a nerd that I would finish presentations due on Thursday on Sunday already.

Why the diligence, you might ask. Tonight I'm going to the theatre with Peter. We'll be seeing a piece in Platt Deutsch (a dialect spoken here in the North), which is quite similar to Dutch I hear, but we'll see how much I understand tomorrow evening. Next Monday Peter and I have another theatre date. We'll be seeing a Midsummer Nights Dream in German - should be fun.

I had dinner Saturday night with Peter, Bernd (Peter's ex) and Frank (Bernd's current). Of course the food (medium-rare beef with bearnaise sauce and lovely veggies, soup, cheese and dessert) was lovely and the company very entertaining although I do suspect I was the main attraction because I sure did a lot of talking in German nogal! Any way Bernd and Frank are great and Frank lives near the station where I get off for Varsity, so I'll definitely go visit him. Thanks again Tessiebear for hooking me up with Peter.

The Friday night I had Thanksgiving dinner with the people from my class. In true coloured style (and I was the only coloured around) we were told to be there at 7pm, but only started eating at circa 10pm. Everyone was drunkenly ravenous and the food was really nice. I don't know what they put in that stuffing that came with the turkey, but it was good, but so was the vegetables and the salad...yip Americans must stop hanging out at Wendy's and McD's and stay home and cook cause they can actually cook. I'm getting hungry just thinking of that lekker food. Left that party way too late, but luckily I could hang out in my PJ's the whole of Saturday watching the new season of Lost...bliss!

Now I'm off to bed with a great sense of accomplishment. You can from now on start to visit this blog regularly again since I'm sure I'll manage my time and assignments/class prep a lot better this week:)

Ciao

Ode to German bureaucracy

This week my loathing of the bureaucratic system, through which my affairs have to proceed, increased tenfold. Yesterday I got served with a second warning for rent that was two months in arrears.

I was completely mortified because never in my life had I ever been given a first (never mind a 2nd) warning - not even on traffic fines. I couldn't believe the embarassment I had to suffer because of someone else's incompetence! What made the situation even worse that I did not have the vocabulary to give this person a piece of my mind and I had to be content with sending her a very polite email informing her of my dilemma - she doesn't work later than 15:00 and I only got the warning at about 14:30! The warning informed me that I had 5 working days to pay the money (in cash - cause a transfer is no longer good enough) otherwise my lease will be cancelled with immediate effect and I'd be literally left out in the cold...bitter pill.

I phoned her today to find out what was going on because she didn't deem it necessary to answer my email and put me out of my misery. What struck me as a little bit strange was the fact that Bryan wasn't served with a warning although all our affairs are handled by one person. Any way, according to her she deposited the money for rent on 2 November, but it seems as if the money got lost somewhere in the system. What's the use of the system if money can get lost like that???? Any way, she had informed the head of student accommodation and I shouldn't worry since everything will be sorted...that was said the last time as well. So here I sit quite powerless and not in any way sure whether I'll have to vacate my room by the end of the week.

Last week I was also threatened with eviction (I would be given a month's notice - at least) if I didn't produce a valid permanent student card. I had shown them the temporary one, but the permanent one only arrived after one had paid the €190 registration fee. Unlike Bryan I wasn't dependent on the university appointed person (same woman as above) to pay this money since I had the cash. Unfortunately, I was still naive (not realising how long it would take for our stipends to be paid in - it's still not paid in) and thought since my temporary student card was valid until 24 November, it would be enough time for my money to paid (rightly) from my stipend. I was advised to not wait for the university and paid the money myself albeit a little late. Luckily this one I resolved myself by emailing the head of student accommodation and explaining my situation. We got an extension until Monday, by which time my student card had luckily arrived.

And I thought the admin at Stellenbosch University was bad. It's a breeze compared to the admin in this so-called first world country.

Oggendgloed

Just sounds better than morning glow, I think! Today was a gloriously lovely day in Hamburg. It wasn't really cold and we had this beautiful sunrise, which unfortunately I couldn't fully capture (wait until the sun peaked over the horizon) as I was anxious to get back to sleep. I have no clue what the time was (probably something to or past 8), but afterwards I had a lovely sleepy until 10:30. Ah! The life of a student.

This is how it works it's sort of a progression from top to bottom. I also took the photos from right to left out of my window. The photos don't really do justice to quite how beautiful the sunrise was, but you'll get the general idea.

Enjoy!

The strangest dream

This morning just before waking up I had one of my weirdest dreams. I dreamt that I was back at Die Burger (DB) out on a story about a family, where two young children (siblings) died within a week of each other. I met a lot of the reporting regulars and everyone asked me where I'd been since they hadn't seen me out on a story for so long. I told them that I was actually studying in Germany and that I was just there to help out at DB over the weekend. However, as I was saying this I started doubting whether my stay in Germany wasn't a dream and whether I had finally woken up to the reality of still being at DB - eek! Yes, this is when this dream turned into a nightmare. As the dream proceeded, I found myself in the nagkantoor and even as I was telling people, who were surprised to see me there, that I was only there temporarily, I felt as if I was lying. You see, what added even more realism to the dream was a book, I'd recently read, called Straw Dogs. It's all about how misguided we humans are in thinking we are different to all the other animals of this world. In this book the author, John Gray, quotes Chuang-Tzu, a Taoist philosopher-poet, who saw human-life as a mere dream. He even tells how he once dreamt of being a butterfly and how upon waking up he didn't know whether he was a human being dreaming of being a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was a human being. Now I would say I'd had a similar experience, but I'm very happy with the realisation that my life in Germany is not a dream (phew!). Most of you reading this blog can attest to this because I'm not in SA with you (double phew!).

The bad news is that my blog won't be as regularly updated over the next couple of days. I have to put my noise to the grindstone and churn out a two presentations (for Monday) and 1 written assignment. I have to do a lot of reading for these assignments, so there won't be time for blogging. However, as soon as I'm done with the assignments (which I hope is soon) I'll start posting regularly again. I would love to share my musings on studies in a foreign country, but that would have to wait until next time.

Catch you on the flipside.

P.S. Flo, I know you're already well on you way to America with a song in your heart. Girlfriend enjoy it. You deserve it!

Another first

Today I tried out the gym facilities here at Paul-Sudeck-Haus for the first time. The gym room is nothing spectacular, but all the machines are in working order and it's great considering it's totally free. See, last week our "huiskomitee" held a party and orientation for all the newbies at the res. Although Bryan knew about the gym room he didn't know how to procure the keys for it. And when I saw it I thought to myself, "I can gym in here". Don't worry I will one day take my camera down to the gym room, so you can also see what it looks like. Bryan had me doing bench presses (2x5kg), I guess that's what you get for working out with a guy. We're planning on going back there Wednesday.

Another reason why I wanna get in shape is the fact that my husband has become quite the mountain climber. He can do Lion's Head in 34 mins, which is a great improvement on the 45 mins we normally took to climb Lion's Head. He also went up Table Mountain from the Kirstenbosch side (Skeleton Gorge) for this first time this weekend and promised to do so again. So as you can see I cannot let myself go whilst in Germany, where there are so many foods tempt me. Another motivator is the fact that if I work out regularly I can more regularly sample the delicious things on offer:)))

Speaking of lovely food: On Sunday I had my very first slice of a German Torte (cake). Peter, my very trustworthy personal guide here in Hamburg, took me to a coffee shop in the city centre. According to him they served the best Torten in the city. Well, I was completely spoilt for choice, but decided on the raspberry cake and I wasn't disappointed. It was absolutely heavenly and I savoured every bite. I foundly recalled the Berry Torte I had for my birthday in Germany ten years ago. Although it wasn't completely the same (this one had the raspberries worked into the light and creamy filling instead of having the berries on top of a creamy base) the effect was the same...absolute ecstacy. I'm definitely going back to that place because there are so many of the cakes I haven't tried and which I would love to try, possibly over and over again:)))

That's it for tonight.
Ciao

Recovering from a lovely weekend

I'm going to keep this one short. I need to get to bed badly! However, not before I give you a brief summary of my weekend.

It started out without incident on Friday when I was toying with the idea of going to a cocktail party being thrown for Erasmus students (they are students from other European countries). I started on a new hospital drama, which you should've heard from, Scrubs and when it got to 22:00, when the party started, I couldn't drag my lazy bum out of bed. Reckoned I needed an early night after the late hours I'd been keeping (never going to bed earlier than 00:30) throughout the week.

Saturday morning started uneventful enough, I met up with Bryan to watch the SA v. Ireland rugby match (waste of time since Bokke lost) and had my first Alsterwasser (Alster= river in Hamburg, Wasser= water, but in fact it's a beer shandy). That evening there was yet another party being held in our res bar. Bryan and I started the night on vodka shooters, so I decided to keep to the vodka and kept on ordering vodka (instead of tequila) sunrises. The music they were playing was nice, Bryan and I got down and danced. Got to bed at 3am and couldn't sleep later than 9:45 am - blasted alcohol. Met up with Peter, this lovely Hamburger Tessa introduced me to, and he was my guide for an extensive tour of the city centre, where all the sights are within in walking distance.... who would've thought.

Nothing came of my good intentions to work on some of my presentations and assignments, but lucky they only have to be in, in two weeks time, so I've still got time.

Blast! This post was supposed to be short. What happened?
Keep well.

Rainbows outside my window today. It hailed and although it was chilly and there were intermittent heavy shower, I must admit to thoroughly enjoying the weather, especially since the sun and blue skies appeared between the showers

Slightly disturbed in Hamburg

As opposed to sleeples in Seattle...that's me this evening. Thursday evenings are movie nights since I get to watch cheap (€2) movies in German at the University, all in an attempt to improve my very rusty German. This evening it would appear I read the programme wrongly and instead of watching a movie that made a clean sweep at the German Oscars, I got to watch Deutschland: Ein Sommermaerchen (a summer fairytale), all about the German team and its attempt to win the World Cup this year.

Firstly the auditorium was packed. A lot more people came to watch this movie than those who watched Capote with me last week. Maybe it was the music that was supposed to invoke national pride and bring emotions to a crescendo. As can be imagine the music was at its most annoying when the Germans scored a goal. Maybe it was the nudity, which didn't serve any purpose other than to illustrate in what great shape the national team is. Now of course some of the footage was shot in the locker rooms, so a little bit of nudity was expected. I'm no prude and admire good male anatomy when it's presented to me, but I thought they took it a little too far when they showed Michael Ballack (German captain, whose arrogance was displayed proudly throughout the movie) being massaged, outside the locker room, with just a small towel protecting his privacy. Maybe it was regular intervals of nudity - honestly I'm not very interested in seeing what Jens Lehmann (goalkeeper) looks like without his kit when he's drying himself (a very private moment that he might share with his teammates, but he doesn't have to share the rest ofGermany). Also within the first couple of seconds of the movie we are presented with a pair of lily-white buttocks and that kinda set the tone for the whole thing. One almost got the feeling that these poor players are national property to such a degree that their right to not parade naked in front of a big audience was completely disregarded.

Early on in the movie I started recalling images of grainy Nazi propaganda films, which showed naked blondes on horses taking part in parades to the the sound of emotion-stirring music. And I wondered wasn't this movie just a continuation of that? The tone of coach Jurgen Klinsmann pep-talk before each game was similar to that employed by Hitler, when he was spewing out his emotion-stirring rhetoric. What lurks in the collective German psyche that makes invasion of privacy/sharing intimacy in such a public way OK, when they are otherwise so intent on protecting people's privacy? What got me was how everyone on-screen and in the audience was OK with this, when according to me (the outsider) it was so not OK. The nauseating mixture of overwhelming national pride, emotion-stirring music and gratuitous nudity got so much for that I couldn't wait for the semi-final match, where the Italians trounced the Germans with two beautiful goals.

How, do you ask yourself, did I manage to sit through the whole ordeal? Answer: Lukas Podolski. Despite big names like Ballack, Lehmann (Klinsmann, Bierhof, Kahn) this was the star of the show for me, not only because he scored some beautiful goals, but also he's the complete opposite of the big-headed and stubborn Ballack. That and the fact that he looks absolutely adorable sprawled across a bed in just white briefs (grrrr). He was also given a camera (Poldicam) with which he filmed his teammates giving an even more intimate look into the life of the national team. He's so young (and inexperienced he can't even speak English) and the World Cup thrust him onto the world stage. I'm keeping my eye on this player b/c I think he's destined for great things - watch out Ronaldhino, you got some serious competition.

I feel bad comparing this movie with Nazi propaganda. I like Germans and don't think as a group they are inherently bad - far from it. This movie shows me that despite how developed a nation is there will always lurk some unexplained, irrational elements in the national psyche. It's also amazing how these elements permeate through the ages and across generations.

Finally the photos

At the insistence of my self-proclaimed most loyal fan (yes, Christelle, I'm referrring to you;-) I've finally posted the photos I promised to post over the weekend.

I'm a bit disappointed at the dimished quality of the photo of my photo collage, but I guess it's probably a good thing that the young children's faces are obscured so that they can't become the targets of nasty paedophiles trawling the internet in search of new bait. I know you've seen some of these photos, but I had to use them again to illustrate the improvement in my living space.

If it's not obvious I've moved my bed and desk around. Why? Just to put my own stamp on the place...although I don't think I'll be the first or the last to move things around in this way. One is quite limited within the alotted 11 square metres. The reason I didn't take pictures of the other side of the room is because things haven't really changed on that side. It's hard to be creative with a built-in cupboard.

Hope you enjoy what's on offer.

Here's a close-up of my little photo collage. Top left: Tessa and I. Bottom left Cole (my brother's son). Centre: Tom and I. Bottom centre: Christelle (best friend) and Imran (her son). Bottom right: Hot-Momma Bernice (sister) and Maysoon (daughter) Top right: Jesse and Danielle (my eldest sister's darling daughters) 

Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of my desk two weeks ago (probably b/c it had something embarassing like underwear on it). Here's my desk in its new place with my pictures above it 

My bed now 

My bed two weeks ago 

The bookrack and cupboard (cause one doesn't need all that space for non-existent books) now 

The bookrack and cupboard on the day I arrived. On this photo one also gets an idea of where the desk used to be 

Pronto Condoms

Today some South African and his inventiveness made me proud to be a South African. I pay tribute to Willem van Rensburg, designer of Pronto Condoms, which can be opened and put on within a second - according to the BBC. It's great that a South African took the time to come up with a condom that can be easily unwrapped and used, especially since South Africa has the highest incidence of HIV/Aids in the world because people there are so reluctant to use condoms.

Another reason why Van Rensburg and his product should be praised is because of the wonderfully witty adverts, which seek to promote the product. I don't suppose these ads will ever make it onto SA TV because although they come with a disclaimer, that they are just "light-hearted", they poke some serious fun at controversial figures like Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and our beloved former deputy pres. Jacob Zuma.

So, with this post I'm doing my part to promote Pronto Condoms, not only because I think it's a great product, but because I want to applaud the maker of this product for taking the initiative and coming up with a truly South African solution to a very serious problem affecting many South Africans. I find it strange that I had to read about this product on BBC. Why does News24 not have this story in a more prominent place? Any way, all the readers of this blog do yourselves a favour and check out www.prontocondoms.co.za Click on the adverts link and check out the cool jabs at the above-mentioned public figures and enjoy it!

Until next time.
Tschuss (German 101 - Bye)

Is there a doctor in the House?

I've got a new obsession or should I say I have a new television programme I'm obsessively watching? The latter is probably true since the good doctor cannot be an obsession since he doesn't really exist.

What am I talking about? Well, an American series entitled House, which Bryan got me hooked on...bad Bryan. I could very well waste my time doing other things than be glued to my computer screen watching episode after episode of this hospital drama. Now I've always been a sucker for a hospital drama. Chicago Hope, St. Elsewhere (can anyone still remember that?) and ER, name them and I've watched them at some time in my life.

House is different and it's all because of the central character dr. Gregory House. He's an ill-tempered, middle-aged, scraggly crank of man with a limp, but I think he's the hottest thing since chocolate cake. Of course he's an ingeniously smart physician, who together with his team solves a seemingly unsolvable medical condition every time, but what comes out of that man's mouth is just so deliciously un-PC and inappropriate. The series is so well written and the deadpan deliverance by Hugh Laurie, an English actor called in to do the work of an American doctor, priceless. Of course, they had to get in an Englishman for the role since I cannot think of an American actor who could do justice to the character. The series has been running in the States since 2004, so I've got a lot of catching up to do, but I relish the thought since I've already watched the whole of the first season in one weekend, in which I manage to do all that I did yesterday as well as finish an assignment today.
I could give you a sample of some of the House-ism, but they wouldn't be as enjoyable because one first has to hear them from the proverbial house's mouth. I'll stop the gushing right here and proceed to watch yet another couple of episodes before I go sleep tonight.

Sorry for not making good on my promise to post pictures today, but I got sidetracked :)

Till next time.

Finally a place to call home!

Yes, as the title of this post indicates, after two weeks in Hamburg I am finally feeling truly at home in my living space here in the student res Paul Sudeck Haus. This morning I went grocery shopping and boy was it an experience. I first went to the 55c-Shop - better and cheaper than €1 or Crazy Store - to pick up things like a sharp knife, drying cloths and a pair of scissors amongst other things. Then after a couple of other stops I went into the supermarket to finally acquire some of the lovely stuff on offer there.

The first thing I put into my basket was half a Schwarzbrot, I've been dreaming about this bread ever since I heard I was going to Germany. I acquired the taste for this wholewheat bread with a pronounced yeasty taste the last time I was here. There's nothing like two slices of Schwarzbrot with Philedelphia cream cheese on it. Then I proceeded onto the cold meat section, there was such a great variety, I couldn't make up my mind as to what I was going to take. After much deliberation and a promise that I would sample everything over the next couple of months, I finally decided on some ham with a peppery rind. Then it was onto the cheese section, which was easier since I'd decided beforehand that I was going to get me some Philadelphia. However, the temptation to buy more than that was great. There were so many wonderful cheeses to try and again I promised myself that I would sample everything at least once. Next were the spreads, for want of a better word. They have these lovely mayonnaise-based spreads here. My favourite are the ones with the cold meats and the ones with the vegetables. I decided on the vegetable spread (Gemüsesalat is something like coleslaw only much better with more carrots than cabbage) b/c I knew that next time I was going to get the meat spread (Fleischsalat). Then I to decide which yoghurt I was going to buy. Of course it had to be low fat because and inventory of what I'd already bought indicates a lot of stuff with a high fat content:-( I very smugly walked past the chocolate desserts/mousses b/c they didn't have the power to entice me since I'm not really into dessert. Then it was off to the till. Of course there were many more things I could've bought, but I had to take into consideration the limited space I have in the fridge and the fact that I'm buying fresh produce that might go off if I leave it for too long.

You see my plan is to have cereal and juice for breakfast. Lunch would be the main meal and then I'll grab me something hot from the Uni-Caf. Evenings I'll have bread and cheese/ham/spread - like a true Western European. This works out lovely since I wouldn't have to cook at all - such bliss! Shopping is also kept to a minimum each week:)))

Upon my return to the res, I proceeded to the kitchen. There I cleaned all the crockery and cutlery I bought almost a week ago. I also cleaned my cupboard as well as the fridge I'm sharing with Alexander. These minor chores gave me a lot of satisfaction and I really felt as if I was carving out a nice little niche for myself on my floor. In my room I also hung up the photos of some of my loved ones cause now I had sellotape and scissors to do the job. As I look up now from my laptop now I look into their lovely smiling faces and I think, "Ah, life doesn't get any better than this".

I've also moved around the furniture in my room. So tomorrow when there's natural light again, I'll be taking pictures and doing a before and after take on my room.

Until then.
Ciao

Today, as you can see, I was out taking pictures of the university campus to give you an idea of what I see on a daily basis. After the horribly stormy weather the day before, the sun came out, however, there was an icy chill in the air. I'd been putting off hauling out my coat for a while now, but today I had to relent. It was just too cold...even my ears started to hurt from the cold. What was nice was touching my cold hair every time I entered a building or the U-bahn (underground train/tube). It gave me a nice little thrill to feel just how cold the tips of my hair got.

Now the pictures you see below is not of the whole campus. It's only the part that houses the faculty of economics and sociology. The campus grounds are known as Von-Melle-Park and most of the buildings are called VMP 1,2, etc. Our building (Allende Platz 1) is the only one that's not a VMP and it not only houses the journalism and communications departments, but also the department of sociology.

Enjoy the pics and don't be afraid to comment.
Ciao

This is the Staatsbibliothek because Hamburg is not only a city it is, like Bremen, a city state i.e. one of the federal states of Germany 

Translation: Place of the Jewish deportation. In 1933 there were 24 000 Jews in Hamburg. Here began the journey of thousands of Jewish citizens of Hamburg that ended in the death camps of the Nazi regime 

One of the many book shops in the vicinity of our campus 

Another one... 

And yet another one 

Here's one of those notorious copy shops where Hamburg student kill off a couple of hundred trees a day. This specific specimen is tiny (maybe 30 sq metres) and the students are always packed in their like sardines. As you can imagine it's not a joy to make photocopies 

This strange mural is also on campus. I haven't quite figured out what it's about 

This is a side view of the cafeteria, where I eat at least once a day. It's very cheap (you can get a meal - sometimes with a salad - for €2) and wholesome (if you make the right choices). I didn't take any pictures inside b/c I didn't want people to think I'm crazy or something - no cool person would take pics of the inside of a caf 

This perculiar set-up faces the Audi Max, which I might add is not an open air theatre. I just think it's weird that they have chairs elevated an arranged in this way when there's no a stage or anything in front of it 

This building is known as Audi Max and hosts anything from movies to theatrical events 

Since I'll be seeing so little of the sun over the next couple of months I take every opportunity to photograph it:) 

This big building houses the department of philosophy.  

Allende Platz 1: Where the Journalism and Communications department is situated and where I have most of my classes 

The Abaton cinema at the entrance of the main campus. Students get a �1 discount, but still pay �5.50, which is almost R50 

Bus No. 5 the fastest way to Von-Melle-Park