When traveling back home for the first time you feel like you’re leading a double life: you find everything exactly as you left it, minus an old friend who passed away; plus a new nephew who was born. Your friends are still your friends, only somewhat happier to see you; your family can still donate [...]

Now that the volcano has relaxed, life has come back to normal and I guess Iceland must be counting its losses. No matter how much I try to practice or read slowly I can’t seem to remember the name of that mountain nor spell it, why would someone name a mountain Eyjafjallajokull? The sad thing [...]

The first week of this month started with a bang, since I had a couple of friends over at my place and had a lot of fun over the Easter weekend. This was the longest official weekend we had since Christmas and New year, so we decided to travel together and visit a few places, [...]

Regina caeli, laetare halleluja. Die Weihbischöfe singen hinter dem Altar. Das Festsaal erhellt mit den Gesängen der frohlockenden Gemeinde. Die bukolische Landschaft mit dem kleinen Fluss in der Tiefe des Tals lässt sich durch die Schlossfenster erblicken…. So durfte ich, liebe Leser, die Semesterferien vor einer Woche verabschieden, eben mit der Jahresversammlung der Gemeinschaft am [...]

Das ganze letzte Wochenende war ich in Karlsruhe für das Stipendiatentreffen des DAAD. Persönlich war es mein Hauptziel, Karlsruhe zu besichtigen. Die neue Erfahrung mit den noch nicht von mir bekannten Stipendiaten waren allerdings spannender als ich erwartet habe. Natürlich gab es Stipendiaten, mit den ich nicht wirklich zurecht kommen konnte. Aber mit anderen hatte [...]

The little baby was silent in his car. He was looking at the world with interest. I was looking at him: Blue eyes, blond hair and pale skin. His mother was speaking on the phone. I suddenly started to think as a sociologist. This boy is learning German. In a few months, we would speak [...]

Sometimes, you know, sometimes things just get broken. Like you didn’t throw them away because you thought you could still keep them. But in keeping them, and that, you already knew, in keeping them you were also keeping your pain. Nothing is painless and you know that. Unless you want it not to be. Then [...]

What better way to start the semester than to enjoy a cruise to the sea? The weather was perfect, sunny with minimal wind as we boarded the research vessel Uthörn (Picture of it on the left) at 9 am at the Bremerhaven pier. As usual there is always the fear of being sea sick, and [...]

Hallo ihr alle! Ich hab mich richtig erholt und fühle mich viel besser nach der schönen Kurzreise nach Strassburg in Frankreich. Es ist wirklich eine wunderschöne Stadt. Schon die Atmosphäre ist ganz anders als hier in Deutschland. Die Stadt ist richtig lebendig, selbst die wunderschöne Kathedraele und die in ihr eingebaute Uhr. Echt faszinierend, wie [...]

Remember the movie “Schindler’s List”? Okay, that’s a dumb question; remember there’s a short scene portraying a wedding within the womens camp? That were Joseph Bau and his wife, Rebecca, who got married after Joseph dressed up as a woman and snuk into the women’s camp. This creative thinking, this humor, kept him alive. That, [...]