May

In the this part of Germany the first of May is a holiday which is also known as: "Tag des Bekenntnisses zu Freiheit und Frieden, sozialer Gerechtigkeit, Völkerversöhnung und Menschenwürde". Get that!

Behind this voluptuous phrase a mulitude of events take place. The mandatory demonstrations of the workers result in riots, followed by the inevitable clash with the police.

However this day also has a more peaceful aspect. In the north of Nordrhein-Westphalen young men get a hold of a small birch tree (mostly by stealing), and decorate it with coloured ribbons. This results in wonderfull sights like this:


The tree is then placed in front of the house of your beloved. Three trees means you get married (I don't suspect, that they take that last part very seriously).

So while the police is preparing for the big battle with the protestors, young men with open hearts drive ornamented birches trough town.

Contact

After a week without a phone, internet or TV I finally have two out of three.
The German mail service sent my SIM-card back the first time, because my name wasn't on the door. That wouldn't have bothered the Danish mail service. However I might get it tomorrow or Monday.
Before I could use my internet a technician had to come by and activate the plug. This being done I had to bike into town to pick up the modem. At home I found out they forgot to give one of the cables, so back to town i went. Finally everything was connected but the modem wasn't working. Back to town. Here I was told that I should call the hotline....only I have no phone! So I had to byu a prepaid card in order to call the hotline. They told me they would get back to me later. Later being.....maybe today.
At 6 pm I got a textmessage saying the problem was fixed and looky here: the modem works!!!
Television...the landlord's doughter told me that the appartment har cable tv. Only...it didn't. Another tenant told me that I need an antenna and a DVB-T-tuner. My parents in stead suggested to byu a new TV, since I wanted to do that anyway. After several communications with my father surrounden price, quality and where to byu the TV, I finally found one. I had to transport the TV pulling my bike for 2.5 km home.
Tired but sort of happy.
Tomorrow: Installation of router!

Weekend

Double Standards

The other day I saw a documentary about women form Thailand that marry danish and other men from western countries to improve their own and their families standard of living. I have the opinion that if you choose to marry for money that's up to you, and the men normally wouldn't have a chance in hell to get a danish girlfriend. Moreover most danish men are quite well-behaved and are neither violent nor vey chauvinistic, so all in all they are not that bad a catch for a poor thai-woman.
On the other hand, why do I think that it's okat for a thai-woman to live in a marriage of convenience, when I wouldn't wan't any of my friends, least of all me, to end up in such a relationship? Why is it okay for a poor girl to settle, when we require the highest standards for a future spouse?
To me this is a sign of how people in the rich part of the world (including me) look at people less fortunate. We consider them to make do and don't grant them the same happiness, we demand in every aspect of our lives.
So maybe we should protest against men marrying women from third-world-countries even if the women do it voluntarily, because how much of a choice do they really have?

Repair?

Yesterday I went to have my bike fixed. The back tire was punctured and my gear cable wa about to give up. I made an appointment with my bikesmith bringing the bike in the morning and picking it up in the afternoon.
Little did I expect that my bike would be more broken when I picked it up than when I handed it over in the morning. The back brake was so loose it almost didn't function but this didn't matter much since the back wheel was to tight it almost couldn't turn.
Well, thanks a lot!

Heavy

It is sunday, it is dark outside and cold, really cold. That last word also describes my office quite well. Since I'm the only one at work at the institute today, the heat is off. The electricity is not so luckaly I can have my electrical heater go full power. Unfortunately that is about the most positive thing I can say right now.
What I'm doing now is procrastinating and it's working. For the moment my thesis is getting nowhere.
My eyelids are getting heavy and I'm seriously considering a powernap with head on laptop.
God, I can't wait till this is over!

Christmas?

In case you haven't noticed christmas is coming nearer. I've noticed and still haven't bought the necessary christmas gifts. For some this also means that a holiday is coming. For everybody else but me. It's thesis time and thesis time does not equal holiday. Or weekend.
Now the challenge arising is making my mother understand why I'm not going to be the super helpful christmas elf!