The Grad School Saga Continues...

Laasan

2019-04-08T11:57:00.000+02:00

I organized and led a hike back when the weather started to warm up a bit in Jena (before the onset of Second Winter), and while it didn't go quite as planned (large group trips never do), the group had a pretty nice time.

We started at the Jenzig on a very windy Sunday afternoon and followed the Saale Horizontale hiking route across the plateau and down into the valley to a little dorf/village called Laasan (population ~50). We accidentally ran into a guy there who had keys to the old Rathaus town hall building (which is both a Denkmal/historic site and bat sanctuary), and he showed us the inside and told us a little bit about the village's history.

From there, we headed back to Kunitz, grabbed a tram into the city center, and feasted on a late lunch at the restaurant Cheers. We didn't quite make it to the Kunitzburg itself, but we could see it from Kunitz, and that was good enough.

Jackson Oak

2019-03-31T15:17:00.003+02:00

On a quick reprieve from the grey European winter (which actually wasn't that much of a reprieve, because Alabama was a little grey, too), I met the Jackson Oak in Daphne, Alabama. I guess Andrew Jackson gave some big, rousing, inspiring speech there en route to New Orleans in the War of 1812. This picture doesn't give an adequate sense of scale, but it's still majestic and moss-covered.

I also noted a Rapture Preparation Center in Mobile..

.. and a funky little sci-fi statue in Tuscaloosa.

Skiing in the East

2019-03-29T11:45:00.001+01:00

Back in January there was some significant snowfall and cold weather, so I went with a few friends on a little weekend trip to Vejprty, Czech Republic to do some skiing. Summary: the skiing part was a disaster, but the weather on the first day was utter perfection.

We went to the Klinovec ski slopes, which apparently don't really have a lot of bunny slopes, and the ones they do have require some interaction with steep intermediate slopes. Needless to say, this situation didn't go well for me, having been off the ski slopes for 10 years and not really being a great skier back then anyways.

There was another nearby ski area called Bozi Dar that appeared to be a little flatter and more cross-country-oriented. I think that would be more my cup of tea in any follow-up trips.

Vejprty is full of abandoned and for-sale buildings that inspire the imagination and make an American Millennial fantasize about buying / fixing one up. Our hostel owner did just that (minus the fixing part..); a young woman who bought out her family's old, run-down hotel and runs it as a backpacker hostel, and manages it on the side along with her wolf tracking volunteer work. Reminiscent of The Shining? Absolutely. Cheap and warm? Sure. (Very important, as this was probably the coldest temperatures I've ever experienced in my life. Something like 5 or 8 degrees Fahrenheit in the late evenings.)

I sat out the second day of skiing after my first disastrous day, which worked out fine with the weather, which was rather white-out conditions on day two.

Rock Claw

2019-03-29T11:34:00.001+01:00

.. not to be confused with Wroclaw, Poland (pronounced something like "Vrot-suave").

Above: the main square at night. Below: cathedral at night.

I visited Wroclaw one rainy weekend in March, and it didn't disappoint. I don't understand why people hate on Poland so much, because it seemed pretty nice to me. Wro is in the area of Poland that at various points was actually part of Germany, so it was like visiting a German city like Leipzig but with slavic writing everywhere.

I took a Flixbus to Dresden and then Wroclaw, passing through numerous little German and Polish towns, including the sort of unattractive Chemnitz (shown above with cheerfully painted smokestack) and Goerlitz, which is on the border and seemed like a pretty sweet little city.

Since I had a few hours to kill in between my connections in Dresden, I walked to the nearby Russian Orthodox church and had a look. The above photo doesn't really do justice to the beautiful blue minarets/Zwiebelturm. The interior was pretty but not nearly as elaborate (read: gawdy) as the Greek Orthodox church in Mobile.

While I don't speak Polish at all, I found it somewhat easier to get around in Poland than in Germany because there's so much English everywhere, and all the young Poles I met spoke English really well and seemed unbothered using it. (Side note: in Germany it's not unusual to encounter young people who either shame you for not speaking German very well despite living here or just refuse to use English with you. While the latter can be very helpful in improving one's German, the former is not and makes you not really want to interact with Germans and just stick to your English-speaking circle of friends.)

Like everywhere else in Europe, Wroclaw is an old city, with buildings and monuments around that are handfuls of centuries old. The main market square has an iconic clock tower, some beautiful architecture, and a pretty installation that actually used to serve as the public whipping post/imprisonment viewing spot. Dark.

It also has many newer additions, such as a collection of several hundred little bronze dwarf statues that you can find around the city, in a variety of poses and occupations. This little guy has had a bit too much to drink at what was the oldest pub in the city (but is currently closed and seeking new ownership).

I went on a walking tour of the city and learned some interesting factoids, including that Wroclaw ranks 5th in the world for number of bridges (crossing water) in the world (1st is Hamburg). Not to mention just seeing the sights, including Wroclaw's own "Manhattan" with some 1970s-era funky architecture and various churches and the cathedral (Church of St. Peter and Paul shown below).

My trip back to Jena was with Blablacar (kind of an Uber/ride-share for long-distance trips) and took about half the length of time that the Flixbus trip did, for about the same price. Poland is nice, go there.

A Little More Leipzig After All

2019-03-29T11:04:00.001+01:00

.. but not too much more.

An organ bench whereupon J. S. Bach sat his rotund butt

Some sort of interesting building in downtown Leipzig.. the Concert Hall, I believe.

Weird statue of kids with a duck, overlooked by a creepy gargoyle-y face

The man, the myth, the legend.. JSB

Frankfurt, Gateway to the World

2019-03-28T11:27:00.002+01:00

I've spent a few evenings in Frankfurt, in anticipation of flights the next day heading to the States. It's aight.

A Very Belgian New Year

2019-03-28T11:26:00.002+01:00

Almost caught up.. since plane prices are fairly high around Christmas and New Years, I opted to stay in Europe and delay a holiday visit to the States, taking a road trip to Belgium instead. Here's the German city of Koeln (Cologne)..

.. and its bridge covered in love locks. I'd like to see the engineering plans that accounted for the added weight of about a billion padlocks.

Then onto Bruges, Belgium, with their famous frites...

.. and some lovely scenery and buildings. Bruges went through hard economic times several centuries ago and was never really updated architecture-wise. Finally in the 20th century, they realized they could capitalize on the medieval appearance of the city and become an attractive tourist hub, so now most of the buildings in the city are protected, such that you can't change the exterior, and with certain buildings you can't even change the interior's appearance!

The main square..

.. and iconic clock tower and canals. They don't call it the Venice of the North for nothing! (Actually, I think there are several cities that share that nickname, but whatever. Still aptly nicknamed.)

Then NYE in Brussels, with its own main square/Grand Place/Grote Markt..

.. with a church you can pee on the side of, if you happen to use urinals...

Plus some creepy steampunk carousels for kids..

.. the Atomium..

.. Monument of the Dynasty in Laeken Park..

.. a piece of the Berlin wall in the European parliament headquarters..

.. and lots of Belgian beers, chocolate, the iconic Manneken-Pis (peeing boy) statue, and curious mix of French and Flemish language. (Not to mention the terrifying firecrackers being set off by teenagers on the streets and sidewalks all night every night.)

A Quick SoCal Trip

2019-03-19T22:03:00.000+01:00

In contrast to the Christmas markets of Germany, I flew to LA and Santa Barbara just before Christmas for some, shall we say, "business." (No quotes necessary, actually.)

Santa Barbara is very pretty, with the Santa Ynez mountains in the backdrop and the Pacific Ocean front and center.

There's a bike path that follows the ocean, and the town itself is very bike-friendly.. even to beater beach cruisers.

The old Mission is beautiful, with a sort of park and flower garden out in front of it that people hang out in.

The harbor was packed...

.. and the view from Inspiration Point was a very welcome reward for a good hike.

Christmas Markets

2019-03-19T21:59:00.003+01:00

As my blog slowly morphs into an Instagram... Weihnachtsmarkts in Jena (above), Leipzig (below)..

Braunschweig (below and below that, featuring Bruno, the world's heaviest nutcracker)...

.. and Jena, in action.

Academic-ing it up in the UK

2019-03-18T19:16:00.000+01:00

I went to an academic workshop + networking event with the British Society of Geomorphologists at the Cumberland Lodge in Windsor, UK. It was a nice chance to interact with some other English-speaking PhD students, and the lodge was a great venue space. We were kept well fed, and nighttime entertainment involved billiards, ping pong, and foosball in a secret basement.

The weather was super British while we were there... foggy, grey, cool, and generally damp. The mistletoe- and oak-covered scenery added to the atmosphere. No sign of Harry and Meghan, though.

A Whirlwind Trip

2019-03-18T19:14:00.002+01:00

Back in the fall, I visited the States in a pretty major month-long whirlwind tour, with something like 1,600 miles driven and over 30 people visited in 7 states.

Major crops seen from the road: tobacco leaves, corn, cotton. Major cities visited: Springfield, St. Louis. Minor cities visited: Athens, Chattanooga, Hamel, Vicksburg, Mobile. Major holidays celebrated: Halloween. And when I got back to Germany, my neighbor had left her stove on, so I called the fire department while super jet-lagged and exhausted to keep the building from burning down. Whew.

Bulldog in front of the electric company building in Athens, Georgia

The Tree That Owns Itself in Athens

Oljiata Bridge, with a view of the Walnut Street Bridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee

Corn en route to Illinois

Conservatory at a park in Springfield, IL

Abraham Lincoln mural in Springfield

Rolls Royce get-together in Springfield

Frank Lloyd Wright house (Dana Thomas House) in Springpatch

Farmer humor in Hamel, IL

The Arch! in St. Louis

Cotton en route to Mississippi

View of the Mississippi River in Vicksburg, MS

Memorial at the Vicksburg National Military Park

Abita Brewery in Louisiana

Pumpkins!

Down by the bay in Daphne, AL

More Berlin

2019-03-13T21:13:00.000+01:00

Very Berlin. Alexanderplatz and the Fernsehturm, U-bahn (might have been the U2.. but probably not), Berlin Opera house (not nearly as pretty as I was expecting, but ultimately not surprising), and some cool car art.

Niedersachsen Work Trips

2019-03-13T21:11:00.002+01:00

The other members of my research group are based in Braunschweig and Hannover, so I end up doing frequent train trips across the country. I haven't seen the two cities extensively, but I have seen a few interesting things while walking around.

Rizzi architecture in Braunschweig

Fachwerk in Bschweig

Cool fountain in Hannover

Scary church door in Hannover

Weird water feature in Han

Liquor in a Hannover hotel's drink vending machine.. my colleagues didn't get what the big excitement was.

Braunschweig pedestrian bridge

Lion in the park in Braunschweig

Cool fountain in Braunschweig... no idea who it is

More Fachwerk building

My Only Picture from Leipzig

2019-03-08T11:10:00.001+01:00

I captured this beauty in a women's restroom stall in an Italian restaurant in the main square of Leipzig.

Baltic Vacay

2019-03-08T11:10:00.000+01:00

I was glad to clear my mind (and rest my GI tract) after my trip to China with several days along the Baltic Sea at the border between Germany and Poland. I visited Swinoujscie and Rewa, which are touristy beach communities, and quite lovely.

Dresden, Zweimal

2019-03-06T17:09:00.001+01:00

Two visits to Dresden, one in the dead of winter and one in Biergarten season (spring) with the (not-so) lil bro. The Altstadt in Dresden is super cool because it was essentially completely destroyed in World War II (that little firebomb thing kinda worked...), and in the early 2000s was rebuilt in the old style. So it looks old but is actually quite new. Anyways, highly recommend a visit.

Ye old preserved Communist mural

Altstadt, near the Frauenkirche

Procession of Princes mural, dating back a thousand years

Looking up at Bruehl's Terrace

Zwinger palace courtyard

Zwinger column art

Golden rider at night in the cold

Elbe in the spring, looking from the Altstadt towards the Neustadt direction

Zwinger courtyard, taken from the same point but in different seasons

Military Museum

Signs and Wonders, Jena Edition

2019-02-14T02:56:00.001+01:00

A collection of interesting things I've seen around Jena:

Lichtenhain Feuerwehr (volunteer fire department) mural

Commemorative plaque at Jena West train station for the Holocaust victims who departed on trains from there

Walpurgisnacht witch effigy burning at the top of Kunitzburg

Graffiti of Pikachu as Totoro

Warning: bat house! (Old house in the woods transformed into bat sanctuary)

Driveway entrance passed while hiking up Am Herrenberg

Vegalize it.. food truck

"American-style table dance bar"

Napoleonstein commemorating Napoleon's Jena victory in 1806

Land of Yaks

2019-02-12T20:53:00.004+01:00

Tibet is a beautiful place, and the blue skies when we arrived at the Lhasa airport were a welcome sight after days of Beijing's "blue" grey skies. (Above, a sign leaving the airport that pictures all the great Communist party leaders, past and current.)

The Potala Palace is Lhasa's most noteworthy building, and while I was initially excited to do a tour inside it, the tour process for our English-speaking group was going to be a massive pain in the butt, so a coworker and I escaped in search of noodles instead. We wandered through some public park areas and through the main streets of downtown, which are quite cheery during the day, despite all the police and military presence.

After a few days of acclimation, we headed to our field station at Nam Co, which is at an elevation of ~4720m (15,000+ feet) (and everything liquid-like in a bottle you bring up from Lhasa WILL explode as soon as you open it). We first headed over a nearby pass, which is often visited by tourists and pilgrims and covered in prayer flages, to the point that they just look like trash.

North of Nam Co, a local pub/restaurant/hang out for workers on nearby construction projects.

Yaks were everywhere, including this prettiest lady of the bunch (disclaimer: possibly not a lady).

Rock cairn by the shore of Nam Co, or Holy Lake

Bridge out over a glacier-fed stream.. not a problem for our professional drivers and land cruisers.

Tibet.. alas that I only had 2 weeks.

Beijing Blue(s)

2019-02-12T20:41:00.001+01:00

A catch-up post from the summer.. I was in Beijing for a few days en route to Tibet, and the skies were varying shades of grey the whole time.

Some highlights: a tourist market with lots of unique things to eat (including freshly deep-fried scorpions)..

Some street posters depicting information about Chinese socialist values..

A nice park near the Forbidden City, with these trees wrapped in plastic wrap (presumably to protect them from something? Or keep them moist??)

Lotus flowers in the park

Lotus + pagoda + boats + bridge

Looking into the Forbidden City from the park next to it. Note the illusion of it disappearing into the distance, thanks to the smog.

And the value of clear translation, from the restroom in said park:

Praha, Gateway to Eastern Europe

2018-08-06T13:30:00.001+02:00

I must say, Prague is a pretty cool city. All the buildings look like something out of a fairy tale, and the population is international and cosmopolitan. A very compelling advertisement for Eastern Europe.

My bro came to visit, and we kicked off the week with a few days in the Czech Republic, which was better than I anticipated. It's hard to explain the feeling, but for some reason I felt more at ease there than I do some days in Germany...

We checked out all the major tourist and sight-seeing attractions: the St. Charles Bridge (which got progressively more and more choked with pedestrians as the day wore on), the Mala Strana neighborhood, Petrin Hill, and Prague Castle.

On the eastern side of the river, we visited the Old Town, the under-construction Astronomical Clock in the Rathaus, and the old Jewish Quarters.

We ate some Trdlo confections, sampled beers, and I was very excited to have company that wanted to eat at vegan restaurants, so we tried out Vegan's Prague and Estrella, which were both awesome veggie places. (We didn't go to the above-pictured Hard Rock Cafe, I just thought it was a hilarious juxtaposition of Old Town architecture and new-world kitsch.)

And for extra touristy fun, we checked out a black light theater production (Afrikania) and zorbing on the Vltava. Nice weather, nice city, nice price, 5 stars.

Berlin is a Male

2018-08-05T15:30:00.005+02:00

Berlino is the Italian version of Berlin's name, and I wondered how one can tell whether a city is male or female. Putting this question to the test over a weekend trip, I got a few clues. (All-night-döner, the omnipresent 24/7 corner Spätis, and ashtrays built into the walls in club bathrooms are just a few ideas that come to mind.) But I also saw some interesting and/or nice things.

An old, abandoned amusement park, complete with a small train system around the border; not sure what this weird spider-looking pavilion was, but maybe part of a ride.

The Insel with water access and festival-type foods

Flower wreaths in Treptower Park commemorating Soviet efforts to free Berlin in WWII

(I happened to be there May 10, the day after Victory Day)

Soviet soldier rescuing a German child and crushing a swastika

Abandoned train cars and old train station... exactly the post-industrial, apocalyptic look I'd hope for in Berlin

Reichstag German parliament building

The popular tourist spot, Brandenburg Tor

Hotel Adlon, where Michael Jackson infamously held his baby over the balcony

(on the far right, actual room just out of the picture)

Fashion for the large (or exxxxtreeeemmmmeeely large) man

Ashtray built into the bathroom stall wall

The Namesake-city of Jena, Louisiana

2018-07-25T15:18:00.003+02:00

.. but pronounced differently. Jena, Germany (YAY-nuh) was the site of a major Napoleonic victory and thus served as the namesake city for several other Jenas across the world, including Jena, Louisiana (JEAN-uh).


View towards the south of Jena from the commemorative Napoleonstein

I've been in Jena since the end of January this year, and I've thus far enjoyed the "small city" life, a.k.a. 100,000 person university-town. Some of the highlights of the area include great hiking in the surrounding hills, the Saale River cutting through town, being able to walk everywhere interesting in under 20 minutes, and the Old Town/Markt area in the center of town.

Following: some landscape views from around town.

Saale, "warm" winter weather

Saale, same spot, "cold" winter weather (the ducks don't care either way)

Old water tower on the outskirts of Jena

Erlkoenig statue

Market square, with some random person

View from the plateau in southwest of Jena

Springtime at the Strand22 bar on the Saale, with rentable swan boat

View from the swan

Balloon above the southwest hills

City view from the northwest hills

The Things You Take for Granted

2018-07-21T17:09:00.001+02:00

A short list of things you take for granted living the States that are simply not a given in Germany:

No Netflix, Amazon prime, or Pandora: You might be able to access shows and movies on Netflix or Amazon, but your content will be limited by geography. There's a German Amazon, but your American account won't transfer over any gift card funds or stuff like that. Also, Pandora is right out. You'll need a smart DNS or VPN to get around the limitations.
Unlimited texting/calling with your phone plan: You'll probably have to pay per text or call-minute. Although plus-points for the high availability of no-contract phone service. It's been over 10 years since "long-distance calls" were a thing in the US, with calls between different area codes and states becoming irrelevant as everyone got cell phones. Well, in Europe it's a concept that's still around for calls between countries with different country codes. Suck it up, buttercup, and just use WhatsApp to contact your international friends instead.
Using credit cards: There are a lot of cash-only places, and even in shops where you can use your debit card, sometimes you feel a little judged for holding up the line if you have to type in your PIN. With that said, my debit card is a touchless "contactless" one, so you don't even have to put it in a chip reader, just kind of waft it by a scanner, which is neat.
Coffee sizes: are not sufficient by American standards. I have a moka-pot Bialetti-style coffee pot in my apartment whose box says it's a 3-cup pot.. but I would struggle to call it a one-cup pot. Maybe this is because it's more espresso-style coffee, but maybe it's just because I think a solid cup of coffee is one that could make a dent in a pint glass. As it is, I fill up a cup with equal parts milk and coffee to make it a reasonable cup. The presence of teeny tiny coffee mugs in my pre-stocked apartment makes me think it's not a one-off thing.
Everything's just a little inconvenient: Opening a bank account is a pain.. you'd think they want your business, but not exactly. (N26 for online banking is the best.. although it means I have to withdraw money from certain shops, which is awkward and weird.) Apartment-hunting with German contracts is ridiculous, and what you get in the end sucks. If you want to engage in online shopping and have a package delivered to your apartment... just don't. Someone has to be there to receive it, and if it doesn't fit in your mailbox, you're SOL. (I have stuff delivered to my office, although that's probably against the norm / rules.) German fridges are generally tiny, so you have to go shopping more frequently. No Uber.

But there are of course good things to balance out the inconvenient.. like public transit that runs all night long, even if it only runs once an hour. No fear of getting shot walking around late at night. Pedestrian and bike-friendly cities. And so forth.. but that's not the subject of this post.

Red Tape for Days

2018-05-05T09:52:00.003+02:00

... a.k.a., the Saga of Moving to Germany.

I've been in Germany for 3 months now, and with the receipt of my Aufenthaltstitel (residence permit card) I can proudly say I've finally waded through all the bureaucratic red tape and officially reside in Germany for the next 3 years.

It all started off with a simple application to a PhD position I'd seen posted on the web: the opportunity to do some hydrology/fluvial geomorphology work in Tibet based through a German university, to which I merrily sent off my resume and letter of interest. A skype-like interview and research presentation followed, and then the notification that I'd been selected for the position. From there it was all downhill.

The worst part of the whole process of getting to Germany was getting the visa on the US side. Americans can technically wait until they get to Germany to apply for a work visa, but I needed to have the visa processed before I could sign my job contract and start working. So I had to set an appointment a month out to go to the German consulate in Atlanta in-person. I carefully prepared all the materials listed on the consulate's website ("documents you need for the working visa"), stayed overnight in Atlanta, showed up on time... only to have the woman working there inform me that she wanted a whole slough of other documents that weren't on that list. "Each case is different; the list is only a suggestion!" she coldly informed me, and gave me an hour to run around and find a print/copy shop (God bless you, free Marriott wi-fi and FedEx).

Meanwhile, my job position is a civil servant position, which means my salary is set by a very specific set of German standards. In particular, you get paid more for having previous job experience, which you document by showing mysterious documents called "job contracts." As an American, I thought a job contract referred to an offer letter (you know, the binding document that sets your salary and job title and start date), which I happily produced for some previous positions. Apparently the offer letters don't quite cut it in the German bureacracy, for reasons I don't understand at all since my own job contract here is not that different from an offer letter... anyways, I had to get signed letters from HR documenting some past positions, not too difficult except that for some reason a lot of HR people really suck at their jobs.

Speaking of job contracts, when I signed my official job contract with the university, I ended up signing about a BILLION papers, all in highly technical German that my supervisor loosely translated for me. Somehow, either through the job contract or from signing up with my health insurance company, I was registered for a tax identification number and signed up for unemployment insurance and some other social benefits programs with German names that I don't fully understand the implications of.

I also had to register with the Buerger service in the city: anytime you move or change addresses in Germany, you have to register with your local municipality (even German citizens). Not too difficult a process, but you have to have some official paperwork each time you go. Naturally.

And finally, with the extension of my visa (because the one in Atlanta was only issued for 6 months), I am officially here as a resident through 2021, with a cool pink and blue card. Hip hip hooray!

More Mobile Art

2018-02-08T18:32:00.001+01:00

As in, art in Mobile (moh-BEEL), not art on your phone.

I'm not sure the Dude "roll tides" as this street art would suggest, but it was still cool to see in downtown Mobile.

Part of a larger street art/graffiti work on Dauphin Street. Never forgett-i.