Gemutlichkeit

Last weekend I visited Germany for the second time in my life, and I must say, I had a grand time. I started the trip in Regensburg, where I stayed with my friend and former colleague Joerg Tessmar and family. Highlights from that trip include:

• Learning how to count in German from 4-year old Sebastian (the little guy in the pic)
  
• Meeting Florian (the really little guy in the pic)
• Kuchlbauer Alte Liebe (maybe the best dark beer I ever had)
• Falling asleep at a pub after a liter of beer
• Lots of pretzels
• Walking across a bridge that is almost 1000 years old
  
• A visit to Dr. Achim Goepferich's lab at the university
  

I then tripped down to Munich, where my friends Kyle and Maureen are living for a few months. Highlights from this visit:

• Viewing the city from atop St. Peter's
• Drinking gluhwein while watching ice skaters (see pic below)
  
• Hofbrauhuas (nuff said)
• Kyle's bicycle tour of Munich
  
• Pancakes by Mo
• Beer and a doughnut at a beer garden

I had a great feeling on my way home Sunday night...perhaps it was gemutlichkeit. Read more about it at Mo's blog (its where I got a lot of these links from).

I'll post some more pics on my Picasa site soon.

brainwashed by the radio

Sometimes I think songs on the radio are brainwashing us. A catchy tune, a gripping beat, a sultry voice...they get our attention and suddenly we are singing along to a song without internalizing the lyrics. I remember a while ago I was in the car with two friends (both girls) who were happily singing along to Shaggy’s “It wasn’t me.” I thought to myself, this song is about a guy trying to get away with cheating on his girlfriend, and these girls are so happy to sing about it. Hmmm, something is just not right about that.

Not too long ago, I found a new Nelly Furtado/Timbaland song stuck in my head. It sounded to me like Ms. Furtado and Timbaland were calling each other “mysterious girl” and “mysterious boy.” After closer listening, I realized that they were calling each other “promiscuous.”

Now I don't mean any disrespect towards the beautiful and talented Ms. Furtado and the brilliant Timbaland, but I have absolutely no interest in promiscuous girls. And another thing, sometimes, hips do lie. So the next time you hear me singing along to one of those songs, please slap me.

the title of this blog

The first person to correctly figure out the significance of the title of my blog wins a dollar.

Good luck.

cold rain run

It was a dark, and stormy night...ok, it wasn't stormy. But it was raining and cold when I got home from lab last night. Nevertheless, I decided to go for a run to keep up with my marathon training. Before I left, I made sure I checked my city map to know where I was going - I decided to head towards Goffert Park, where the Nijmegen football club plays.

As I departed, the rain picked up and it seemed to get darker, but I thought I could handle it. After about 30 minutes, I was "in the zone," but decided to turn around and head home since I was already pretty wet. But this wouldn't be an "amit" story if I didn't miss the turn back to my place and get lost. I had to ask for directions twice and finally reached my apartment soaking wet.

Quite an adventure, and also a great run!

The Dutch and their music

Observations on the Dutch and music.

In the lab I am working in, the radio is always on. And everyone sings along, even a friend here who typically sings in a church choir. The other day he was singing along to a somewhat lewd pop song (not something you would hear in a church anyways). Quite funny I thought.

Dutch radio DJs are just as annoying as American ones. Why do they have to be so darn annoying?

Another thing, there is this really great band here called Blof. I discovered them during my stay here in spring 2005, and they rock, even though I don't understand what they are singing (in Dutch). They do a duet with Counting Crows - Holiday in Spain. Great stuff.

Terror

Everyone should read this article.

We overcame our fear.
Jameela al-Shanti
Thursday, November 9, 2006
The Guardian

Voting

Today is voting day in the states. I'm here in The Netherlands (where elections will be held in a few weeks) but I still voted by absentee ballot. Due to a silly mistake (the return address label was affixed upside-down when I got it) the ballot was returned to me. I sent it in the mail again, so hopefully it will reach Harris county by the deadline for overseas ballots.

Some observations while voting this year:

* Some libertarian, pre-med, biochem student at Rice is running for state representative. Rice students, go figure.
* A whole heck of a lot of Republicans are running unapposed for a bunch of offices in my district. One would think that a Dem or Independent could at least try...
* Props to the League of Women's Voters for putting out a handy guide to the election. Its amazing how many names are on the ballot that I have never heard of. I have to say, its no wonder so few people vote. Too many people I don't know anything about, its hard to give them my vote (of confidence) if I've never heard of them.
* A more negative note: Sometimes I feel like my dollar is more powerful than my vote. That is, by contributing money to a candidate's campaign or party, I'm more likely to help him/her get elected than by voting for them. That's not the way it should be.

Working in Holland

Here are some observations on working in Holland. First of all, the work pace is much more relaxed than our crazy American overwork, overstress, work-your-butt-off ethic. I like it here. Hardly anyone puts in hours on nights and weekends (unless its absolutely necessary).

In our department, we have coffee breaks every morning and afternoon on top of a lunch break. Well, that may not seem like a big deal, but everyone stops what they're doing and takes the break, which could be up to 30 minutes long. If its someone's birthday or there is another reason to celebrate, that person brings a pie - and these are no dinky American pies. They are fantastically delicious.

The coffeekamer (coffee room) is an interesting place lately since 3 languages are generally spoken. Dutch, English (when I'm there), and Chinese (quite a few Chinese students here).

Here is a pic of me and some friends in the lab here (l-r: Walter, Juliette, Corinne, Anja, Dennis, me) hanging out after work on a Friday evening during my last trip in April.