Activities of a week, Reflections on a life

New Arrivals

We have had a sudden influx of new arrivals this week, and have had the chance to meet each of them more or less on an individual basis. This should make for an exciting weekend, as I hope we should finally all have a chance to go out together and have some fun. Our first new arrival was Jess. In America, she is a student at the University of Delaware. Unfortunately, she has extremely long working hours and is still suffering from jet lag, a combination which makes it quite hard for her to enjoy our company as much as we would like. We also met Rae yesterday. Her parents actually live in Dresden, and she goes to school in America at Duke University. This is interesting, as it is an exact reversal of roles compared to what the rest of us are experiencing. Today we finally had the pleasure of meeting Navin, who has unfortunately been cut off from us due to lack of internet connection. We did the usual "new arrivals welcome" routine, which is sitting on the biergarted on the Elbe which overlooks the pretty stuff in Altstadt. He seems to be making a lot of the same observations I have with regards to the stark contrasts between the culture back home and here, such as the land use patterns and benefits of a more socialist society.

Emily's Wish Comes True

This is great, because Emily reads my blog from time to time, and will be either flattered or creeped out that she gets an entire bold heading to herself. That's a bold heading, Emily, not a measly italics heading. You should feel special. The "wish" I'm referring to is not the bold heading, but a GDR-era bicycle. It is actually my supervisor, Reimund, who is lending this piece of history to her. When we got to his place (which is in a very nice part of the city, by the way) he led us down to the cellar where the bicycle was being stored. We were then put into one of those awkward moments when somebody is working very hard on your behalf, and you have no real way to repay them. That is, he put much effort into making the bicycle ridable (adjusting the seat, putting air in the tires, etc.). After the commie-bike was deemed road-worthy, Reimund invited us in to his apartment to have a few drinks, which we graciously accepted. This was especially nice for me, as we had never really gotten to socializing outside of work. The only time I ever got the whole "we work together so this is awkward" feel was when Emily mentioned one of her twelve-hour work days. Needless to say, this is a stark contrast to my 10:00 - 15:00 leave-when-I-get-bored type of schedule. We had a nice evening, one of the highlights being the bus ride home. I knew I was looking for some slot to punch my ticket in, I just didn't know which one. I still wonder what that slot at the front of the bus was for. Luckily I did not end up having to press any buttons, which was a huge relief. All in all, a very successful bus ride.

Accio "Deathly Hallows"!

Damnit, I really hate being a Muggle. Fine. If a summoning charm won't work, then I guess we'll just have to fly to London, England on the weekend of July 21 for the release of the seventh and final Harry Potter book! Yes, I know airplanes are lame, but unfortunately, not all of us have passed our Apparation tests. There aren't any Portkeys in Dresden, and we can be sure that the Floo Network will be jammed on this particular weekend. So yes, we're just going to have to get there like the bunch of Muggles we are. Please take a moment for this to sink in. Those of you, such as my parents, who do not read Harry Potter or otherwise fail to understand what an international cultural phenomenon the series is cannot possibly share my excitement. London. Book seven release. Freaking wow.

Our core travelling group for this particular excursion will be me, Teri, Emily, and Julie. For you regulars, those are the people I spent the majority of last weekend with, which is when the trip was planned. However, with the internet (gotta love that internet) we are linked with the other RISE scholars all throughout Germany, and there is considerable interest. Hopefully we will have a big ol' group of Harry Potter nerds from all over Germany.

Reflection Paper

The rest of today's entry is mostly personal reflection. I have warned my readers several times that since this blog is my only journal, there will be many entries which are not very interesting for readers, and are just a way for me to get my thoughts on “paper.” This is the epitome of one of those entires.

A Crisis Point

I have reached a crisis as to how I am to spend my time here. My main goal in coming over was to really experience life in a foreign city—wake up every day, go to work, perform mundane activities—but in a different environment. In addition to this previously determined goal, I am also coming to terms with the fact that if I am going to see the rest of Europe the way I want to see it, I am just going to have to come back next summer or something and do several months of straight-up traveling. On the other hand, however, the core of western civilization is at my fingertips.

So do I spend the majority of my weekends here in Dresden, going out to Neustadt at night, hanging out in the park during the day, etc.; or do I need to feel hyper-motivated to travel and experience as much of Europe as possible? Dresden or Europe—that is the question. No matter which state of mind I settle into, I will still do some level of weekend traveling—mostly the cities that are very convenient (i.e. Berlin and Prague) and the “no-brainers” (i.e. London and Amsterdam). I am almost completely decided that I want to live life in Dresden, not act like I'm on vacation and constantly feel guilty for not making the most of my time.

City Life

Living in Blacksburg alerted me to the differences between cities, suburbs, and small towns, and ever since I became aware of this distinction, I have wanted nothing more than to live in a real city. Well, here I am, and I must say that it's everything I ever thought it could be and so much more. It feels more authentic, more human. I want to keep this paragraph short, because I realize that my distaste for the suburbs of North America is sprinkled throughout the rest of my blog entries. But there is a reason for this—looking at the places where the average American lives these days, I have always felt that there had to be a better way. When I go home to visit my parents, I complain that our entire days seem to consist of driving from parking lot to parking lot, to which they retort, “Well, that's life.” Living here has shown me that I was right and they are wrong—there is a better way.

(Side Note—Congratulations to my parents who have finally sold their house in the suburbs to live in Downtown Baltimore!)

Open Social Atmosphere

This is one of those things which illustrates what I meant by “indirectly” related to being in Germany. So far, I feel like I am batting 1.000 as far as the percentage of people I have met that I have gotten along with to the point that I feel comfortable spending time together. I suppose I touched on this a bit in my last post, about the unity of displaced English speakers. Walking around an American college campus, why on Earth would you choose to befriend any particular one of the thousands of Americans walking around you? You already have your own friends—there doesn't seem to be much of a reason to get to know this hypothetical random person. This usual social behavior goes out the window when we are removed from our usual comfort zone. Maybe this is why I like youth hostels so much: “Hey, you're a human? That's awesome! Let's go out drinking!”

Academics, Career, and the Future

I must admit that especially after a certain unpleasant work experience in Roanoke, VA, I nearly regretted my choice of university major. I felt like I had given up my chance to receive a real education and was on the fast-track to becoming a corporate slave for life. Any dreams I had as a high school senior about what being an engineer could be were blinded by cubical walls. The Math Emporium shed some light of hope as I began seriously considering a career in academia. The only problem was that I could not resolve my interests in teaching and mathematics with my education in computer engineering.

My experience in the research environment here at TU Dresden has blown away any doubts I may have had about whether I am in the right major. I believe I mentioned before that the gap between my passion for mathematics and computer engineering has finally been bridged. I am also gaining a feel for what this whole university research thing is all about. I am implementing a SQRD algorithm and find that there are quirks in the architecture that make things less efficient than they could be: Make changes to the architecture, of course! I find gaps in my background knowledge of whatever it is I may be trying to do: Step back and learn! Learn, explore, and improve—that sounds worthwhile to me.

So I now have a resume with two academic jobs, one teaching and one research, from two respectable institutions. Sprinkle in some German words, top it off with a solid GPA, and the future is looking as bright as could be.

Conclusions and Farewell

If any of you who made it down this far actually found any of the above paragraphs worth reading, then I thank you for taking an interest in my life to a level I would have never expected. For whatever reason I have more recently felt very comfortable sharing writing such as this, as evidenced by the sharing of the essay “Red Cups and Revelations” with my entire English class. Perhaps this blog entry would make a good sequel.

My First Real Weekend - A Rousing Success

Friday Night - An Authentic German Birthday Party

Those of you who have been keeping up are already aware that I had a guest this weekend, Julie from Leipzig. On Friday night, Julie, Teri, Emily and I went to a birthday bash that was thrown by one of Emily's German flatmates. Not only did I have a great time, but this was a great opportunity to get a real feel for the social atmosphere of the German youth.

It's English Time!

After a nice tram ride, we arrived in the part of the city where the party was being held. We were not 100% sure of the location, and none of us had handies (mobile phones) with which to contact the hosts. Thus, we were forced to wander about the area for a good hour or so before finally locating the party. We knew the location was directly on the Elbe, so we used the cycling path to search for it. As we were walking, we saw a group of about five ten-year-olds with an adult on the path. One of them jumped out from some trees and yelled at us, "It's English time!" I found this to be absolutely hilarious, and it made the search well worth our time.

We Find the Party At Last

I find it difficult to relate the location of the party to anything I have ever seen in Americaland. It was a wooden cabin type thing with tables and chairs, a kitchen, bathrooms, and an outdoor area with a fire pit, grill, etc. It had the feeling of a hunting lodge (or better yet a building of a summer camp, considering I have never been to a hunting lodge). Apparently is was being rented by those throwing the party. As with much of this particular blog entry, I am still waiting on photographs taken by the people I spent the weekend with. It will be updated once I receive these photographs.

Shots of Fire

The atmosphere of the party was great. The language barrier was not a problem, as everyone was happy to speak English with us and fascinated to explore our cultural differences. There was, of course, German beer to drink at the party, yet we also prosted to several shots which contained vodka and Tabasco sauce (pictures to come). I was surprised at this and thought that if anything, this would work the other way around, as I have always considered hot sauce to be a very American artifact. As it always turns out when drinking in a foreign country, we became more and more arrogant about our cultural differences as the drinks went down. For the most part, this is always fun for both parties, yet the Germans seemed a bit disconcerted when Julie repeatedly apologized for what we did to Dresden in World War II, and I suggested that we prost to "English Time" (they laughed once I explained the inside joke).

A Long Walk Home

Thanks to our impaired mental faculties, we never really made it to the tram on the way back. As is the rule of thumb in Dresden, we followed the Elbe back towards innere Altstadt and then turned inwards towards the University. This walk took a grand total of 90 minutes, the time of the walk being 3 am. Although I enjoyed seeing new parts of my city, I could tell Julie didn't exactly feel the same way as she was attempting to hitch hike. Altogether, we had a great night experiencing the culture of the German youth in the most authentic way possible.

Saturday Night - "Bawlin'"

Neustadt - Je S'Adore!

Four-story buildings kiss narrow streets to form vibrant canyons of human life. The ground level is packed with establishments to cater to every subculture--punk, gay, goth--anything goes. Bicycles struggle to pass through unbroken crowds of people who fill the streets armed with bottles of the finest beer. The aura of life fills the streets unperturbed by oppressive puritan laws.

Apparently, if I am ever to write a short story set in Neustadt, that is the first paragraph. Perhaps it goes without saying that I was extremely pleased with what I saw on my first night-time outing to Neustadt, the part of Dresden which any tourism pamphlet would tell you is home to the city's vibrant night life. Thanks to my friend Alex's willingness to show me the more punkified areas in the cities of Baltimore, MD and New Orleans, LA, I can say that the Neustadt scene absolutely decimates anything I have seen in either of the two aforementioned cities. We went out for Indian food (one of my ethnic favorites) and when we passed the restaurant later in the evening, the area in front of it was absolutely packed with 100+ punks in full uniform and drunkenness. Differences in open container laws aside, my experience in America is that men with guns would arrive to a scene like this in a haste to find any excuse to interfere with their right to live. I did not see any law enforcement throughout my entire night in Neustadt, because apparently it is legal to be young and in public here.

"Travel Bar" leads straight to New Jersey

The best part about being surrounded by people speaking a different language is that the moment you hear your own, you approach the speaker, introduce yourself, and become the best of friends--no questions asked. I can't say I have any friends from America that I initially met on the basis that we speak the same language.

We found a very cool bar in Neustadt called the "Travel Bar" (actually it was in German, but it's hard to remember words from languages that are not your own, as they are merely a noise represented by a hodge-podge of letters). The theme was international--we drank in a booth that resembled some sort of hut. After a glass of wine (shut up, some times you're just in the mood for wine) we perked up as we heard English off in the distance. That's right--English Time! We met four guys who are members of the Rutgers State University Glee Club."


A "Glee Club" is an all-male choir, apparently, the the Rutgers club is one of the top-ranked in the country. They were in town thanks to a several-week-long European tour. We had a great time with our fellow Americans. And yes, they serenaded us in the bar. The bartender even cut off the music while they were doing so. We made plans to see them perform the next night (failed--details follow in later subheading) and to go out drinking again (success--details follow).



Will I ever get tired of seeing this on the walk home after every night I go out drinking in Neustadt?

Heading explained: Apparently people from Jersey say "Bawlin'" while making the hand motion of shooting a basketball (confirmation, Mike?)

Sunday Daytime - Day Trip to a Castle in Konegstein

On Sunday, we took the train to a town about 40 minutes away to visit a castle upon the hill. We had originally planned on taking a steamboat up the Elbe on the way back, but we unfortunately missed the last one by 20 minutes. I was under the impression that this was going to be a go hiking and climb around ruins kind of thing, but it was much more on the Museum side. Admission was charged, and beer and soft ice cream were abundant.



I have always felt that you can learn more about culture from observing real-life cities and towns than you can in any museum, so I have to admit I enjoyed seeing how the Germans live outside of larger cities more so than the castle itself.



The above is an image of Konegstein taken from the fort. As you can tell, Germans have no idea how to do this whole "small town" thing, so I am going to offer some advice. First of all, why is the town confined to a small area, while the surrounding landscape is permitted to continue to exist in its natural form? Haven't these people ever heard of Manifest Destiny? It is our God-given mission to explore every square inch of the "frontier" and then pave it over with strip mall parking lots. And how are large corporations supposed to profit off of the townspeople? I need to see some giant signs-on-sticks and billboards--that's how it should be done. It's almost as if they're permitted to retain a sense of local character. This is simply unacceptable. Every tree in that picture is just a wasted could-be parking spot for a big box retailer.

Let me justify the bitterness of the above paragraph by mentioning that tomorrow night, the Blacksburg Town Council will meet to discuss Ordinance 1450 (limiting big box retail) which will forever determine the shape of our town. Maybe some German people could attend the meeting and talk some sense into everyone.

Sunday Evening--Reunited with our Jersey Friends

After we got back from Konegstein, we had dinner in the middle of Altstadt. This was the single most disappointing moment of my weekend, as due to a scheduling mistake, we had to miss the Rutgers Glee Club performance. We arrived at the church literally as they were walking off the stage. They thanked us for our sincere effort to attend, and we made plans to meet them later in the evening to have a few drinks.



So we went out for a few drinks in a bar in Altstadt (it was getting late, we had just walked back from Neustadt to meet them, and nobody felt like walking back over the bridge). We paraded into a not-so-crowded bar as a group of fifteen rowdy Americans. We had a good time, said our goodbyes, and went our separate ways. Not, of course, without first being serenaded on the streets of Altstadt by our choir friends. Many people waited around to listen, as like I said before, they are amazing singers. We even ended up exchanging information with an English-speaking young person who stopped to listen. Once again--you speak English? Friends for life!

Conclusions and Farewell

I could really write a lot more about this weekend, but alas I am getting bored of writing and I am sure only my very favorite friends and family members have actually read down to the point of this paragraph. I will leave you with another random, beautiful picture of Altstadt.

Prelude to a Weekend

Jeff the Host

This will be my first "real" weekend in Dresden. Last weekend didn't count, as I hadn't really met people yet. To make things even more exciting, I am hosting a guest. There is more or less an understanding amongst all RISE participants that we will offer free accommodation to each other while we visit other German cities. Well, yesterday I received a message from a girl named Julie who is living in Leipzig saying that she is interested in checking out Dresden for the weekend. Long story short, I am to meet her at the train station tomorrow at 19:39. Although I am slightly nervous about making sure she has a good time, I am sure everything will turn out for the best and we will all have a wonderful weekend in Dresden.

On Friday, we have the possibility of going to a real German birthday party. Emily, a fellow RISE intern, is living in a flat with three real live German students, and one of them is having a party on Friday night. I believe this means getting drunk along the Elbe, as seems to be the tradition in Dresden. On Saturday night, I hope to finally explore the night scene in the Neustadt. Monday is yet another holiday, so I don't have to go to the University.

Having fun / Isn't hard...

When you've got a Library Card! That's right: I am now a card-carrying borrower at the Saxon State Library. In 1996, the formerly fragmented Saxon State Library merged with the TU Dresden Library to create one of the largest libraries in Europe with over seven million volumes. During World War II, the library material was all split up and stored in areas which had minimal risk of military attack, allowing almost all of the material to survive.

It turns out that librarians have the same exact attitude in Germany as they do in the United States--they are absolutely thrilled that you are there, and want to do anything they can to make your stay more pleasant. I walked past the front desk with my book bag, and the woman working at this desk starting saying something after me in German. I walked back to her and informed her of my linguistic deficiencies, and she informed me that bookbags are not permitted. She showed me the lockers where I could leave the bag, and asked me if I had a library card. At first I thought she was implying that you needed a library card to be in the library, which I found quite strange. Instead, she was offering to help me get one, as it was painfully obvious that this was my first visit to the library (actually it was my second, but I somehow managed to smuggle in my bag on the first visit). After going through the card application process, I walked past her holding my library card, smiling triumphantly, and gave her the "thumbs up."

One person who was not nearly as accommodating was the security guard who told me that shoes are a must inside the library. I'm not sure what shoes have to do with the sharing and storage of knowledge, but then again I'm also not sure what the secret behind beer and soft ice cream is either.

A Culturally Rich Evening in the Park

Last night at around 19:30, my friend Teri and I decided we would wander over to the park. We sat down on a bench and had a couple of beers and then began hearing music off in the distance. Beers in hand, we wandered about trying to find the source of this music. It turned out that there was an outdoor concert at the amphitheater in the park. It was some kind of accoustic folk music, and the man's voice sounded like Eugene Hutz from Gogol Bordello, for those of you who are familiar with this great gypsy punk band. I could tell by the age and dress of the attendees and the quantity of beer and bikes around the amphitheater that this would most likely be classified as "alternative culture." Here is a picture of the "parking lot":


We sat around and listened to the music a bit, and then decided to wander off and take a closer look at the castle in the center of the park. Trying to find a way inside, we looked in one of the windows and observed a bunch of distinguished-looking people walking around, looking at art, while classical music was being played on a pipe organ. We then moved to the front of the building and starting commenting about how intricate and impressive the architecture was. A woman approached us and said that she was on the committee that is responsible for the restoration of the castle, and filled us in on the history of the building. I love people like this, who get excited when other people show an interest in something they are passionate about. I guess it's the same story with librarians, who are passionate about books.

I walked away from the park very satisfied that night, as we had experienced a full spectrum: the contemporary alternative culture of the youth, and the classical high culture which transcends generations.

Funny Pictures

I will leave you on a light note this evening with some pictures of things around town that have made me giggle.

We are looking at the right side of the banner here...

For any of you who are convinced that I'm just making all of this up, the above picture is your proof...



That's right, partners! Strap on your cowboy boots and grab yourself some peanut butter, because it's study abroad in the U.S.A.! Ever wonder what an entire "city" dedicated to four-wheeled metal boxes looks like? Want to see a real live homeless person? Then come across the ocean to the land of suburbs and economically discriminatory higher education!



Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to have myself a peanut butter and marshmallow on Pop Tarts sandwich, served with a side of microwave pop corn. (People like my parents who are probably unaware that they can click on the pictures to enlarge them will most likely have a hard time understanding this one).

On Wednesday

On Student Dining

I finally got registered with the University and can now purchase food at the Mensa (direct translation: refectory; it's the cafeteria...) for student rates. It's awesome: less than EUR 2 for an entire plate of hot food! It's not the high class stuff we get at Tech, just regular old cafeteria food. Today, I had french fries, corn, and mystery meat. The other options I saw were a heaping plate of pasta, macaroni with cut-up hot dog pieces on top, or pizza. There's a salad bar and such too, of course. I much prefer it this way. Having one of the top-rated dining services is the country is great when you live on campus but is completely impractical for commuters such as myself. Why would I ever eat lunch at school when I can get more interesting food for less money just by eating around Town, with the added bonus of supporting an ever-so volatile small town economy? Bah, I can't wait for my EUR 2 lunch at the Mensa tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day...

On Sleep

I just woke up from a nap, which upsets me. I have always seen naps as a sign of poor sleeping habits and a way to perpetuate said habits. The first few days, when I was in my lonely culture-shock phase, I had to convince myself to get out of bed in the morning for another day of explaining my linguistic deficiencies to every single person I interacted with. Now I have the opposite problem. I am so excited to be here I can't fall asleep at night. Last night and the night before I didn't get to sleep until 3:30 am, which is quite incompatible with my 8:30 am wakeup time.

On Daily Routines

08:30 - 09:45

Wake up and shower, then eat corn flakes, drink coffee, and read from The Baltimore Review (starting to run of pages; I'm going to need to get my hands on an English magazine or literary journal pretty soon.)

10:00 - 12:30

Spend time in the computer lab. Usually Reimund stops by around 10:15 and sets things up on the computer for me and tells me some things I may be curious to look into. This is when I also ask him questions about the work I am doing, the City of Dresden, and the culture of the Germans. Once he leaves I just play around with the stuff on my own for a while

12:30 - 14:00

Lunch break! As I said before, I eat lunch in the Mensa, with two fellow interns, Vivek and his friend who's name I honestly can't remember. They are both from India. After I eat lunch I usually grab my bike and do some kind of errand, which is why it takes me 1.5 hours.

14:00 - 15:00

Spend another hour in the lab. I hate to say it, but I'm extremely bad at independent work, especially when there are no pressing goals or deadlines. This is why I usually just get up and leave after an hour of learning.

15:15 - 16:30

Hang out in the park and read. If I feel like treating myself I may sometimes even get myself an Italian ice! I guess it's not too big of a surprise that this ended up being part of my daily routine, as this was the case for the Virginia Tech Duckpond once the weather became consistently nice.

19:00

Dinner! My friend Teri and I have agreed that there is no reason for us to be eating alone, so we have formed something of a dinner partnership. Nothing big, of course, as is the custom in Germany. Simple breakfast, nice hearty lunch, followed by a simple dinner. This is more or less how I always did it in Blacksburg as well, but now it is the socially acceptable way to go.

00:30 - 03:30

Notice bed time is a range of hours. 00:30 is when I aim to go to sleep, and 03:30 is when I actually end up falling asleep. The time in between is some combination of reading, listening to music, and of course the classic tossing and turning.

On My Internship

I would say things are starting to go a bit better with this, as I have finally managed to get the Sioux processor to add two numbers and store the result! It gets better, though. Yesterday, in the course of conversation with Reimund, I mentioned my acute interest in mathematics. Today he came over with a document which outlines a quite complex linear algebra concept and how it relates to wireless communications and the CPU architecture that I am studying. This is kind of a breakthrough for my academic career, as it bridges my two main interests that until this point haven't really met head on yet. Computational mathematics applied to embedded systems. Sweet. It really makes me wonder how us American engineering students are supposed to accomplish anything meaningful with the pathetic mathematics background we are given. I have a lot of complaints about the engineering curriculum and this is certainly one of them--not NEARLY enough mathematics.

In the afternoon, I met a student who is getting the German-equivalent of his master's degree. He too works in the wireless communications chair, but less on the hardware side than what I am doing. When he asked what kind of stuff I am learning about, I showed him the document on QR matrix decompositions, and he smiled and told me that he was the author of said document. Funny coincidence.

On Roommates

I mentioned before that my one room mate is German and does not seem too keen on being social with me. This is still true to some extent, though I have been seeing him incidentally here and there and we have been saying a few more words. Of course, I live in a three-bedroom apartment...

The third room mate is great! He is from Slovakia, and is extremely friendly and outgoing. I usually keep my door open when I'm in my room (strange behavior in Germany, but I'm over here to learn about Germans, not pretend to be one), and he has absolutely no problem walking right in, sitting down on my bed and talking to me. Yesterday we chatted idly as we watched a somewhat-impressive thunderstorm, and he has given me a lot of good tips on Eastern Europe. He sat down with me at my computer and showed me what cities I should visit and how I should get there. It seems that for many cities (Eastern and Western Europe alike) my best bet is to take a train or bus to Prague and fly from there. I guess it goes without saying that I want to visit Prague itself. Any of you Marylanders are certainly familiar with the high concentration of Eastern European young people working at the establishments in Ocean City, MD. He did this one summer, except at some amusement park in New Jersey.

On American Comforts

First of all, I took my Big Brother's advice and got myself a coffee maker. It brews one cup at a time directly into the mug and only cost EUR 6. As I suspected, it brews coffee faster and hotter than any American coffee maker I have used due to the 250 V power system (compared to 120 V in America). I'm not sure what I was thinking when I thought I would be able to get along without a coffee maker. I'm so glad coffee is a socially-acceptable addiction--I'm addicted, proud of it, and will remain this way for most of my life!

Do me a favor. Go to your kitchen cupboard, and get out your jar of peanut butter. Don't lie--I know you have one. Open it. Smell it. Grab a spoon. You may even be lucky enough to have a new jar and have the satisfaction of breaking that virgin surface. Put the peanut butter in your mouth, and swish it around. Mmmmmm... that's good, isn't it? I was deprived of this sensation for my first week or so here, as Germans simply do not eat peanut butter. I mentioned this observation to Reimund, and he informed me that they have a international foods section at large department store around here. Sure enough, there was a small section labeled "U.S.A." What do these crazy cowboys across the ocean eat, you ask? Apparently some combination of peanut butter, jelly, marshmallow fluff, Oreo cookies, and microwave pop corn. I plan on taking a picture of this for you all next time I'm in the area and have my camera.



On Good Byes

That should be enough for today. I think I'm going to have myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich now. I can't wait for the Mensa tomorrow...

Catching Up on the "Blogging"

Welcome and Apologies

I apologize to all of my faithful readers for not keeping up over the past few days. You didn't really expect an entry every single day for the next three months, did you? The "Chez Jeff" post didn't really count...

Alas, English-Speaking Companionship!

So the past two days have been my best days yet here, as I finally have fellow North Americans to speak English with! Yesterday I met Emily, who attends the University of Georgia and is originally from somewhere near New Orleans in Louisiana. Today I met Teri, who is from Canada. Emily is experienced in the art of living in Germany, as she participated in a language program at the Technische Universitat Darmstradt last summer. She knows enough German to make me look like an idiot, which is quite helpful. Teri is as new to Germany as I am, which makes me feel comfortable that I'm not the only one who arrived here not knowing much about the language or culture.

Biergarten, the Elbe, and a Beautiful View of Dresden

Last night (Sunday 20 May), I had one of those vacationesque moments, with Emily and I sitting at a biergarten on the Elbe, drinking German beer, and taking in a gorgeous view of the scenic parts of Dresden. It was quite similar to one of those moments when you are on vacation, sitting on a beach or looking at something like the Grand Canyon, thinking, "Wow, this is surreal. Too bad this vacation is going to end soon and I'm going to have to go back to my crappy life." Of course, the main difference is that I actually do live here, and I don't have to go back to my crappy life. As I sit here and write this, I have the option of going back to said biergarten in ten minutes by bike, twenty minutes on foot, etc. This will be the case for the next three months as I write these to you.

Incidental Music Festival

Yesterday, as Emily and I walked from around where I live to the center of Altstadt entirely via pedestrian promenades, we walked through some archway and found ourselves in a crowded baroque square with a ~200 person choir singing religious music. For whatever reason it's just funny to randomly happen upon something like that. Apparently it was the beginning of the Dresden Music Festival. Unfortunately it's not the "cool" kind of music festival, but there will be some kind of music in the center of Altstadt every evening for the next week or so.

A New Favorite Food

As Emily and I were wandering around Altstadt yesterday evening, she stopped at one of those hole-in-the-wall counter-service food stands, and asked me if I have ever had dinner before. I stopped to think for a second, and told her that yes, I have indeed had dinner before, and I typically eat it every night. Actually it is spelled "Doner" with two little dots over the 'o', and is pronounced the same way we refer to our evening meal. It is a Turkish food, though it is very common in Germany (similar to how gyros are a Greek food but all the rage in America). It is quite like a gyro, actually. The meat is almost the same, though sliced a bit thinner, and the bread is a bit thicker than pita. The sauces are also very different. It is freaking delicious. Best of all, it's very cheap, and there are doner stands all around the city. I even managed to find one about a block away from where I live!

Bicycle Woes

First of all, I fell off my bike... AGAIN!!! I'm really starting to dislike tram tracks, as they leave a metal-walled gap in the street that is basically the exact width of road bike tires. This time, there was a large group of pedestrians gathered at the corner, and none of them said anything or approached me. Once again, quite a different experience than when I have had the pleasure of falling in Blacksburg. Also, I purchased a small hand pump, and as I was trying to use it ended up messing up one of my tubes and breaking the valve. Thus, I had to buy new tubes, a seemingly simple task which is of course complicated by the fact that I'm in Germany and I don't speak German. I just bought a floor pump when I bought the new tube.

Trip to Meissen

FAILED.

I tried to visit a neat-looking small town about 15 km up the Elbe, under the impression that I would just have to stay on a bike trail the whole way. Unfortunately, the trail ended only a few km outside of the main urban core of Dresden, and I was dumped out onto streets in the outskirts of the city. The area I was dumped into was pretty cool; it had something of a "small village" feel to it, but I really wasn't trying to get lost in an entire region and decided to turn around. The coolest part of my little journey was the approach back towards the center of Dresden. You definitely need to have read "The Slaughterhouse Five" to understand what I am talking about. I am referring to the scene when the main character, after being stuck on a P.O.W. train for an extended period of time, looks out the window of the train as they are approaching Dresden, and is convinced that he has died and awoken in a Baroque Heaven. Here is what he saw approaching via train, and what I saw approaching via bicycle:


Compared to what I see as I approach Christiansburg on the Huckleberry Trail:


Oh, America... When will you learn?

(Side note: Wal-Mart tried to ruin Germany, and failed miserably!!! There are now no Wal-Mart stores in the whole country. It's pretty interesting how and why they failed; I suggest you read into it if you are critical of Wal-Mart or otherwise interested.)

Beer and Soft Ice Cream

It's funny how the only knowledge I was given of German culture in school is seeing videos of Hitler shouting. In reality, Germany is a bunch of extremely nice people who walk around all day eating soft ice cream and drinking beer. Seriously. This is one of those quirky cultural things that you will probably only realize if you spend a good amount of time here, but they love soft ice cream and Italian Ice. All over the crowded parts of the city, in the parks, etc. there are carts that sell soft ice cream and Italian ice. For some reason it really seems to brighten up the general aura of the city when so many people are holding ice cream cones. My suggestions is that we not only take away Americans' guns, but replace them with ice cream cones.

The Park

Ah, that park. The Virginia Tech Duckpond finally gets a run for its money. First of all, it's absolutely massive for an urban park. There are countless dirt trails that go through forests and ponds, and some wider paved trails that make up the main thoroughfares of the park (cars are permitted Monday - Friday, but are still a rare sight). The park is very heavily used by city residents young and old alike. I counted no less than four soft ice cream and Italian ice carts on the weekend, and there was even one there in the middle of a weekday. There are a couple of beer gardens around the periphery of the park. There is also a zoo, and a little train that goes around the park. Here is a picture of a castle which is in the center of it all:


Conclusions and Farewell

I'm starting to feel much more comfortable here now that I've met some English speakers and know my way around a good chunk of the city. I no longer have to spend five hours getting lost just to go grocery shopping. I'm still a bit uncomfortable with the internship, but hopefully I will soon feel less stupid and worthless. Soon I will even venture onto the public transportation system, once I officially become enrolled as a temporary student at TU Dresden. Thanks again to anyone who is keeping up.

Chez Jeff

This post is mainly for my parents who are, as one would expect from parents, quite curious about where their baby boy calls home over the next three months. As I have explained, it's called the "international guesthouse" (or at least thats what I call it; it's really called something in German) and is used primarily by international students who have business at the university on a temporary basis. Most of the rooms are singles with their own kitchen and bath, and there are two three-bedroom suites on each floor (which is what I stay in). It is most comparable to the modern "suite-style" dorms found on many university campuses, except that instead of a living room, there is a kitchen. This is quite reflective of the more individualistic social habits of the Germans. The exterior of the building is identical to the many socialist-era high-rises found around the city, and the interior has a quite industrial feel as well. All floors are concrete with the exception of very hard carpeting in the bedroom itself. I will let the pictures do most of the talking:

My Bedroom
Sorry, but I wasn't going to bother tidying up just for this picture. I'm usually all about keeping a clean room for the purpose of stress reduction, but when you have few possessions to begin with in a relatively large, sterile room, it just doesn't seem too necessary.

Kitchen
This is the table where I begin every day by eating corn flakes, drinking instant coffee, and reading from The Baltimore Review. Kitchen equipment consists of a stove, refrigerator, sink, and cabinets. I learned just after purchasing a liter of ice cream that I do not have a freezer. My roommate also has one of those water-heater-uppers that seem quite popular over here, which is quite useful for instant coffee and tea.

Interior Hallways


Nothing too terribly interesting here. The top picture is the entryway; the door at the far end on the left is the entrance. The bottom picture is the view of the hallway to the kitchen, the open door at the left leading to my bedroom. Notice the random, unnecessary green paint.

View From My Window

Like I said before, I unfortunately overlook one of the largest intersections in the area. The buildings and trees beyond the intersection are the campus of the TU Dresden. I've actually taken a liking to the white noise provided by the traffic at such a height. I hope to become one of those snobby people who lives in the city and complains about not being able to fall asleep when staying elsewhere due to the lack of background traffic noise.

Common Hallway

Notice the closed doors and lack of human presence. The door at the far end actually leads to a common balcony.

I hope this clears up any questions you may have had about where I live. I will leave you with this picture of a jar of hot dogs because in Germany, hot dogs come in jars:

Day Four - Picture Time!

Change of Plans--Tourist Day!

My original plan for today was to take a ride up the Elbe, but unfortunately due to various circumstances (couldn't buy pump due to shops closed on holidays, got a late start due to insomnia, weather wasn't too great), I decided to hold off on that. Instead, I left my bike at home, grabbed my digital camera, and took to the streets on foot: just the way God intended it to be.

Ariel View of the City from my Kitchen Window

What can I say but that I have a thing for relatively flat cities/towns surrounded by not-too-impressively-tall mountains? So in additional to lots of green space, this is what we mean by "green city." You may think you're looking at low-density single-family homes and parks, but in reality those buildings are four-story tall multi-tenant apartment buildings that more or less meet the street. Yes, there are streets hidden underneath that canopy of trees! Also notice the socialist-style architecture of the high-rises off in the distance. This is quite a common sight in Dresden as a relic from the socialist rebuilding era.

Altstadt Tourist Area





Yeah, so this is the part of Dresden that German tourists come to and take pictures of. I couldn't tell you what any of these buildings are, other than the fact that they're beautiful. This is only a subset of the pictures I took, but I suppose it's enough to give you a general idea.

Dresden's True Story


The last picture under the previous heading is taken inside of a courtyard, and this picture is taken just outside of the courtyard. I think it shows just how devastating the firebombing was, and the ugliness that replaced some of the beauty you saw in the previous set of photographs.

Young People Drinking in a Field


Perhaps the main reason I chose to take/share this photograph is because this is illegal in the United States. I know that I, personally, did not feel that my safety was threatened by the chemical properties of liquids being consumed on this particular field, but to each his own. This is on the Neustadt (center of life for young people in Dresden) side of the river, just across from the architecturally impressive buildings under the "Alstadt Tourist Area" heading. Just as Reimund told me it would be, they were all in large groups, huddled around several cases of beer. Notice how poorly kept the grass is. This seems to be quite common of the green space in Dresden, including the very large park that I like to hang out in. Other than that the park is very nice, but apparently the city doesn't own lawnmowers or something. What's even stranger is that this particular field is right across the river from the tourist area.

Transportation


This photograph is not intended to be aesthetically pleasing, but it more or less visually explains the transportation situation in Dresden. To those of you who hate wide roads/corridors as much as I do, don't worry; this is one of only a handful of major arteries through the city (unfortunately my bedroom window happens to overlook the intersection of two of said major arteries!). Anyways, the white-bricked path on the right is for pedestrians, and to the left of that we have a red-bricked path for cyclists. Then there are the tram tracks, followed by paved lanes for automobiles. Although I have not yet had a reason to use it, the public transportation seems very comprehensive for a city of this size (~500,000). No, it's not quite the mega-metro-systems of the larger cities, but I have noticed that American cities of this size seem to have what I like to call "poverty transportation" (these observations are principally based from my experiences in the cities of Baltimore, MD and New Orleans, LA). That is, the city provides a minimal system of public transportation to satisfy those who are not financially eligible to be a part of the car-owning elite. This is certainly not the case here, as I have observed buses and tram-cars packed with what appears to be an accurate cross-section of the population.

An Incomplete Picture

The pictures I have shown you represent the pre-firebombing glory days, and I have also touched upon the post-firebombing socialist rebuilding. Both of these aspects play a very small role in the visual make-up of modern-day Dresden, however. Most of the streets resemble what I have always imagined a typical European city looks like (very visually appealing). One of these days I well get around to taking pictures of some more typical streets to give you a better idea of what the city actually looks like.

Conclusions and Farewell

Thanks again to those of you who are keeping up, and I can't stress this enough: comment! You don't need to have something earth-shattering to write; just acknowledging that you read is good enough!

Day Three - The Internship Begins!

Hokie, Hokie, Hokie LIES!

My friend Alex and I used to joke that because we went to a private high school, everything we learned was most likely false and we would be informed of this hilarious joke on our so-called graduation day. After spending a few hours with my phd student mentor Reimund here at TU Dresden, I am now beginning to question everything I have learned at Virginia Tech. Our conversation was in English, yet as he presented his research and how I would be participating, I was more confused than I would be reading the complete works of James Joyce translated in German. How does everyone here feel about Synchronous Transfer Architectures?

My mentor, Reimund

The good news is that despite my perceived academic inadequacy, I couldn't have asked for a better person to work with. He implied that he is willing to give me work that matches what I am comfortable with and fully acknowledged that an internship is a learning experience. When I asked him about hours, he said he "isn't worried about that," and that I can put in as many hours as I see fit, depending on how much I enjoy the work. Do we have anything in common? He is a former member of the Virginia Tech Cycling team! As soon as I told him I had my bike with me, he recommended several great rides around Dresden. Tomorrow I think I am going to go 15 km up the Elbe to an interesting-looking city. Hopefully we will take a ride together sooner than later, though it is a bit intimidating knowing that he cycled competitively. I also happened to meet another former graduate-Hokie in the lab today.

Open Door Policy? Nicht in Deutschland!

I had a nice conversation with this Hokie graduate and we discussed what I have both read and observed regarding differences between German and American social habits. As a general rule, Germans keep interior doors shut. However, I am told that if you simply knock, they will welcome your presence. For those of you who have ever lived in an American college dormitory (all doors open, people running about the halls talking to each other, music trickling out of rooms here and there) you can imagine how much of a difference this is. Don't worry, my dorm room door is wide-open as I type this--I'm such a multicultural rebel. Similarly, for those of you who have ever lived in an American small town (Blacksburg, anyone?) you know that if you pass someone on the street, it would almost be considered rude not to say "hi," or acknowledge the passerby in some way. Not the case in Germany. But once again, if you were to greet a stranger on the street, they would not be offended. The stranger simply wouldn't be likely to initiate on their own. As far as what people tell you about Germans enjoying English conversations because it gives them a chance to practice, this is absolutely true, at least as far as I have seen so far.

Being Lame

I left the university at around noon, went and finally got my traveller's cheques cashed at the train station, and have pretty much been hanging around my room reading and communicating with friends back home ever since. The good news is I finally have companionship arriving this weekend; and even better, she has a bike! As far as outstanding tasks, I still have to purchase a bicycle pump (difficulty: medium), go grocery shopping (easy), open a bank account (hard), and get really good at computer engineering (impossible). I can't stress this enough to you college students, especially with technical concentrations: just because your school sends you a list of letters that are impressively close to the beginning of the alphabet at the end of every semester doesn't mean a damn thing.

Happy Christi Himmelfahrt!

That's right, because tomorrow is some German holiday, meaning that I am not to report for work. I'm pretty sure it's the day that Christ Himself turned into an Elf and Farted. Either way, Reimund told me that I should be extremely careful on my bike tomorrow because the greater part of the city will be on the streets and intoxicated (When I asked about open container laws, he laughed and reminded me that I am not in America. Strangely enough, I have not yet observed alcohol on the streets.). I think I am going to take that ride along the Elbe and go grocery shopping tomorrow. When at the grocery store, I think I am going to buy some tea, and experiment with the idea of switching from coffee as my main form of caffeination. Why go back on everything I have ever believed in, you ask? Well, I obviously don't have a coffee maker in my kitchen, and instant coffee just plain old sucks. I really don't enjoy the flavor too much and drink it just for the caffeine.

Conclusions and Farewell

Thanks again to anyone who is actually reading this; I hope you are actually enjoying it and not just continuing out of politeness. Have a great day.

Day Two - Scavanger Hunt

Linguistische Beobachtungen

Guten Abend! Ich erlernte Deutsches, gerade indem ich mein Fahrrad in einer deutschen Stadt ritt!

No, I'm just fucking around. I'm still clueless. German is a very interesting language because the translation of many individual words seems nearly identical to English, but when you hear the language spoken in conversation, it's completely incomprehensible. Some examples:

"Hello" == "Hallo"
"Yes" == "Ja" (pronounced "Yah")
"Thank You" == "Danku"

This is great for going to the grocery store, for example. I greet that cashier with a simple "Hallo," my products are scanned, I am informed of the price (thank god for the display on the cash register) and on my way out I say "Danku." It's an extremely bad thing, however, in situations where there might be other English speakers around, such as where I live. If this were a French-speaking country, for example, I would carry on a conversation with someone who says "Hello," and awkwardly walk away from a "Bonjour." Here, however, I can't tell if the person is speaking English or German.

Urban Scavenger Hunt

Today, I spent seven hours on my fahrrad and came home with some shaving cream and a battery charger (meaning digital camera pictures will be posted soon!). It's too bad that the real goal was to cash in my Traveler's Cheques so that I can finally pay the first installment of my rent (supposed to be paid up front, but the guy was lenient and said I could have a few days). I hit the streets at around 1:30 pm, finally found a bank at around 3:00 pm, where I was informed that I needed my passport to cash the checks. Needless to say, I got lost in the city and didn't make it back home until 6 pm, after banks close.

Street layout

For you non-urban-planning-junkies out their, there are three main ways streets can be laid out. The best (in my opinion) is the rigid grid found in most American cities. Then there is the hierarchal method (residential spaghetti streets, collector roads, expressways) found in American suburbs, which is by far the worst because it is only useful for one form of transportation--personal automobile. Then there is what I like to call random craziness, which is what most European cities look like. Thanks to the firebombing, Dresden is some combination between European random craziness and the more modern street grid. Thus, you fool yourself into thinking you have a grid to keep yourself in line, but no. You'll get lost.

International Grocery Shopping

I learned in church on my last American day that most people do not find grocery shopping fun. I think these people are insane, as I think that walking down the aisles of Kroger and putting whatever the hell I want into my cart is one of the greatest activities there is. For you naysayers, may I suggest going to a foreign country to do your grocery shopping? What a blast! First of all, with some products, you just have to hope you got the right thing. Did I just purchase butter or cream cheese? I was reminded of my friend Alex's adventures in Paris, where he thought he purchased chocolate milk and ended up with some kind of yogurt product. Also, in Dresden (and New Orleans too, from what I remember) grocery stores are not just limited to selling groceries--the shelves are stocked in the most random way imaginable. Where is the peanut butter? Between the unicycles and children's shoes, of course (this is not an exaggeration; one grocery store I went to in Dresden actually sold both of these products.)!

What's Missing

I already mentioned the more responsible implementation of outdoor advertising in yesterday's post, and today I made some other observations regarding what I would expect to find in American cities but have been completely absent here in Dresden. I have already spent a total of around 10 - 15 hours on the streets of Dresden on my bicycle, and I have not seen a single police officer (on foot or automobile), surveillance camera on public property, homeless person, or hostile interaction on the streets. I haven't even heard anyone raise their voices (I will expand on this under the next heading). I made a similar observation during my stay in Montreal, but I still saw a handful of officers throughout my day, whereas here I have literally seen none.

A Tranquil People

Another major observation that I don't know how to react to is that the people here seem to be much less emotional than Americans. As with all of my observations of the people, I don't know whether to apply it to Europeans, Germans, Saxons, or Dresdeners (which is why I need to travel on weekends!). Walking down the streets of an American city, the aisles of an American grocery store, etc., you are treated to a broad range of emotions. People are screaming at each other in rage, laughing hysterically, talking loudly, and maybe even crying. Despite the presence of a fair amount of customers, both grocery stores I have visited in Dresden have felt like libraries. People on the streets seem to go about their business in a dignified, straight-forward manner. I was hanging out in a park yesterday (and what an amazing park it is) and just watched a major "thoroughfare" (in a park, so no cars, of course) where people were roller blading, cycling, walking, etc. and they were all wearing very straight faces. I have always accused Americans of being too pissed off all of the times, but that mainly applies to when they are locked up in their cars (which is how Americans spend most of their time). However, I think that I prefer the more colorful, out-loud way that Americans conduct themselves in public.

"America--Fuck Yeah!"

Expanding on the previous heading, I am a quite critical person, so I came over here knowing what I hate about America (cars, strip malls, billboards, stupid people... ME ME ME, NOW NOW NOW!). However, now that I see a different way, I am relieved to see that these things are indeed restricted to American society, and I am also finding that there is a lot that I truly do like that is unique to American culture. Although we seem to be looked down upon by other countries, we have every right to have our own culture, and it actually does have a lot to offer.

Conclusions and Farewell

Now that I finally have my battery charger, tomorrow I will be able to show you visually what an amazing city this is! And remember--don't be shy, feel free to comment!

Day One - initial impressions

Welcome and Introduction

Hello everyone, and welcome to your source for information about my temporary new life in Dresden, Saxony. Since I am not "traveling" per se, I see no reason to keep a separate hard-copy personal journal and electronic public blog, so these entries may be filled with information that neither you nor any other reader would find interesting at all. Thus, I will be using a system of headings and hierarchal organization to allow you to sort through what you think sounds worth reading.

Airplane Ride

A Surreal Flight of Luxury

I must say that this was one of the best flights I have ever been treated to. A hot dinner was served, and I was offered beverages many times throughout the duration of the flight. Also, to my surprise, beer was free! They even walked through the cabin with a bottle of red and white wine after dinner. Between the small amount of alcohol and other medications I consumed to help me catch a full night of sleep, I was in a quite euphoric state. For some reason it seemed appropriate for such a significant journey as this.

Land Usage Observations from Above

Although I did not get a window seat thanks to some businessman who didn't even deserve it, I was still able to make observations regarding land use patterns below just before landing in Frankfurt and Dresden. I must say that especially compared to what I saw from a recent flight out of Atlanta, GA, I was quite impressed. Approaching Atlanta (or most American cities, for that matter) by air, you notice that the land is covered for miles upon miles by unbroken human development. It seems that the goal of the United States is to cover every square inch of earth with pavement. The "spaghetti-style" cul-du-sac-laden streets of suburbia seem to spell things from the sky ("help us"?). This was not the case around Frankfurt and Dresden. Suburbs exist, of course, yet they exist in high-density patches as opposed to low-density sprawl. The land between the cities is mostly left as forest and agriculture. Seems much more logical and responsible to me.

Initial Arrival

After a silent cab ride with a driver who couldn't speak a word of English and a passenger who couldn't speak a word of German, I finally checked into the International Guesthouse: my new temporary home. The check-in seemed to go okay, until I couldn't get the key to work. I went back down the the front desk and the attendant showed me I was an idiot with a swift motion of the key. Then I sat in my room alone with my suitcase and it suddenly hit me that I was in a strange land where I knew absolutely no one, and could not easily meet new people due to the language barrier. So, I did what anyone in this state of shock would do--took a nap. Really, though, it was justified due to lack of sufficient sleep on the airplane.

I'm sure I'm not the only American to travel to Europe with electronic toys only to realize that my power plugs are not welcome here. Not only is the shape of the plug different, but the voltage is as well (~120 VAC in the US, ~250 VAC in Germany). I was easily able to solve this problem using my engineering ingenuity. The laptop power adapter is designed to be used over a range of voltages, so the shape of the plug became the only problem. Luckily I had my bike multi-tool complete with screwdriver with me, so I just removed the power outlet from the wall and made the connection with the bare wires. Please don't tell the fire department. The only problem is I still have no way to charge "AA" batteries, thus will be unable to use my digital camera or portable CD player heavily until I sort that out.

Lost in Dresden

After waking from my nap, I decided to hit the streets with my two-wheeled friend who doesn't just me regardless of what language I speak. Unfortunately, the weather turned south on my after a while. I ended up slipping amongst some cobblestone and streetcar tracks (please don't tell General Motors that there are still streetcars in Dresden) and falling over in the middle of a busy intersection. It wasn't too bad, but I must admit its a lot funnier in the safety and comfort of Blacksburg. As you could have guessed by the title, I found myself completely lost as a severe thunderstorm broke out and daylight was starting to fade. I was armed with nothing but a useless, incomplete map of the city center. What a great thing to happen on the first day in a foreign city.

(Very) Initial Impressions of Dresden as a City

Transportation

It appears to me that Dresdeners move throughout the city using a healthy mix of bikes, public transportation, and private automobile. Keeping in mind that Dresden is more comparable to a city like Baltimore as opposed to New York as far as density goes, the city really goes the extra mile to accommodate cyclists. Every single road with more than two lanes of traffic has a special bike path between the road and the sidwalk (denoted by red brick for cyclists, white brick for pedestrians). There are separate traffic lights just for bikes (they light up with little pictures of bikes). I know that for the city and the world as a whole, having more cyclists is a good thing, but it kind of seems to take the fun out of it. Cyclists can do whatever the hell we want in most cities, and the cars really have no right to complain. Here, however, there is a well-established protocol of how cyclists should act in traffic. Whenever I hit a red light, I was joined by several other cyclists waiting as well.

Architecture and Street Layout

Dresden is traditionally hailed as the "Florence of the Elbe" due to its beautiful baroque architecture. As we all know, this isn't nearly quite as true as it was before World War II, but I must say this is still a beautiful city overall. Due to the soviet control of East Germany after the firebombing, much of the rebuilding was done in that very bland socialist architecture (including the building I am staying in). It is also the "greenest city in Europe," which basically means there are a lot of parks.

Outdoor Advertising

One of my biggest pet peeves these days is outdoor advertising (especially billboards) and I am happy to say that the situation is under much better control compared to many other cities I have visited. Billboards the size of those found in American cities and interstates are non-existent, and the much smaller counterparts thereof are quite rare.

I still haven't even had the chance to cross the Elbe into the Neustadt yet, which from my understanding is where the city really shines. I'm sure my impressions of the city will expand after I explore this area (probably on tomorrow's bike ride, weather permitting).

Accomodation

I am quite disappointed in the building I will be living in, but then again, I've only been here one day. There doesn't seem to be much of an open social atmosphere, and there are no common areas where everyone in the building can come to meet each other. Worse yet, I met my room mate and he shows no sign of wanting to get to know each other. Perhaps this is due to the language barrier, though, as he says he speaks very little English.

Conclusions and Farewell

That's enough for now. If I were only here for a short period of time, I would feel rushed to get out there and have a good time, but that simply isn't the case. It's almost midnight, and I'm going to see what my friends at Hogwarts are up to and then go to bed. Farewell, my friends.