Sometimes that's the thing with some of those things

Hallo Freunden!

It's been a good week here in Kassel- the weather has been less rainy, there are beautiful parks to walk through, plenty of nice people around, and most of all, I'm finished with my paper. It's a relief to be done with this first paper, because it was so difficult to start. I was a bit rusty in the research department, so now that I have completed one full cycle of a research paper, I'm less nervous about the other 14 papers I have to write.

As a treat to myself, I'm going to Brussels this weekend. I hemmed and hawed a bit at first, but a good friend who I haven't seen in ages is going to be there for work, so I just couldn't say no. It's kismet, or something. I'll be there for four days, and I've already got a tremendous list of things to do and see. At the top of the list of course is sampling fine Belgian beers. Next on the list is chocolate. I'll let you know if I manage to see anything else...


Apart from preparing for my little excursion, I've been busy here. Last weekend I went to a Fußbal game of the local team, KSV Hessen Kassel (I haven't the slightest idea what the KSV stands for... I'll find out and let you know). It was chilly and clear, the perfect weather for a game. We drank beer and glüwein, ate pretzels and bratwurst, and had a merry time. Oh, and some sport happened too. The team was terrible, but it didn't really matter. I enjoy yelling at sporting events, regardless if I know who I'm yelling at. It was good fun, and I think the next sporting event will be the local hockey team, the Huskies. I'll let you know if the beer is good there too.

Qingqing and I have spent a lot more time together, and I'm pleased to say that we get along well. She made dinner for herself last week and had far too much food, so she invited me to join her. It was a delicious stir-fry of sorts, with potatoes, chili peppers, chicken, and of course rice. It was delicious even though just the smell of the chili peppers made me cough. (I did not eat them, I'm sure that's obvious.) After we ate she told me that she had never cooked before. It makes sense, she has been at home or in school her entire life, but I was surprised that she'd never made even a small dish at home. I was also surprised because it was so well prepared. I don't recall the first time I cooked for myself, but if my first attempt at pancakes is any indication, I'm sure it was not a pretty sight. We talked a lot while we ate, and she told me about her work here in Kassel. She has a PhD in Physics from the University of Beijing, and she is here on a Marie Curie grant. She applied to go to either MIT in Massachusettes, Northwestern in Illinois or Kassel in.. never mind. All good places to go, but she didn't find out until a few weeks before she left where she was going! I guess all those places are cold so she knew she had to bring a coat, but other logistics, such as getting a visa and a flight, must have been quite an ordeal. She was originally supposed to stay for one year, but again, a few days before she left she was informed that she was staying for two years. She seems to be pretty happy about it, as doing a research project in physics takes at least a year and a half, but I would imagine it would have been nice to know all the details much earlier. On top of all this uncertainty, she'd never left China before. This is her first trip away from her home country, and it's to an unknown destination for an unknown period of time? Talk about guts.

Aside from sharing some meals, we also had a laundry adventure this past weekend. We set out towards a laundromat in our neighborhood that google maps swore existed. In reality, that address belongs to a dentist, and there isn't a Waschsalon anywhere nearby. We trekked to the nearest stop of the Straßenbahn, and I managed not to garble my German too badly while I asked for a place where we could wash our clothes. It turns out that there is anothe Waschsalon just a few tram stops away, so we lugged our dirty underthings onto the tram and off we went. When we reached the Waschsalon, Qingqing looked to me for directions, but it was unlike anything I'd seen before. I've never had to do my laundry at a laundromat before, but I worked in one in high school, so I've got a fair amount of experience. I remember working at the Laundry Club, and shaking my head at all the intelligent Brown University students who couldn't figure out how to operate a washing machine to save their lives. Well, I take it back. But to be fair, these machines and I do not speak the same language, and they are all controlled from a large central panel. It was complicated. Still, I'm a smart köchen, so I figured it out and we came away with clean and dry clothes. We walked to a Milchbar to have a coffee while the clothes washed, and Qingqing told me that she'd never had coffee before. I was shocked once again. A life without coffee? It's just too horrible to imagine. She wanted to try one at the Milchbar, so for her very first coffee experience I ordered her a cappucino. Boy, her eyes opened up wide, and she loved it. I think we have a convert.

Of course I've spent a lot of time with Christian and Christine too. We went for a walk in the Bergpark which is at the base of the Herkules monument, and surrounds the Wilhelmshöher Schloss (Castle). I didn't have my camera with me on Sunday (dangit!) but here is a picture I took two years ago. It captures only a tiny piece of how beautiful this park is, but I promise I'll go back very soon and take some updated photos.

For some reason, we've recently been digging up tounge-twisters in both English and Deutsch. Last weekend at Olli's concert a bunch of them tried to teach me to pronounce "Streichholzschachtelchen", which means matchbox. I've actually gotten very good at saying it, but I have to concentrate. This led to us looking up tounge-twisters on the internet, and it's funny how the German's are able to pronounce the English tounge twisters fairly well, and I do OK with the German ones. I guess it's all about concentration, and you tend to concentrate a little bit harder anyway when it isn't your native language. Still, I was feeling a little silly for not being able to pronounce "Streichholzschachtelchen", so I came up with a sentence that foils the Germans every time. You see, the "s", "th", "v" and "w" sounds can be troublesome for German speakers, so when you put them into one quick sentence, they can't make the jump between sounds. So if you ever meet a German and you want to give them a challenge, ask them to say "Sometimes that's the thing with some of those things". Because well, sometimes that is the thing with some of those things.

Bis dann!