Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
I'm at home in Schwerin with my family until January 4th. I wish you all the best and see you next year.
Cheers, Jolle!
Sunday, December 14, 2003
Göppingen 10k
Today Julia and me ran a 10k run near Stuttgart on a quite hilly course. A bit over 200 finishers, me being somewhere in the middle with 44:55 min. It was the first 10k for Julia, so finishing was her only goal, and she did it.
Later Georg dropped by and we went to the Christmas Market in Stuttgart, which closed shortly after we arrived. So we continued the evening in some bars and cocktail clubs.
Today Julia and me ran a 10k run near Stuttgart on a quite hilly course. A bit over 200 finishers, me being somewhere in the middle with 44:55 min. It was the first 10k for Julia, so finishing was her only goal, and she did it.
Later Georg dropped by and we went to the Christmas Market in Stuttgart, which closed shortly after we arrived. So we continued the evening in some bars and cocktail clubs.
Tuesday, December 9, 2003
Korea presentation
Today has been the presentation about studying at Sogang University GSIS, held by the two exchange students who had visited Korea the last academic year. Marc and Feli have also been there, as well as Prof. Genosko. It's the same presentation we held when coming back from Korea two years ago. At that time it motivated some some students to go for that experience. And it's nice to see that their time over there has been as wonderfull as ours.
Following a short Q&A-session Tom, two friends of his and me went to a Vietnamese-Chinese restaurant to talk a bit more. Now it's time to sleep - and dream about those unforgettable moments in the Far East.
Today has been the presentation about studying at Sogang University GSIS, held by the two exchange students who had visited Korea the last academic year. Marc and Feli have also been there, as well as Prof. Genosko. It's the same presentation we held when coming back from Korea two years ago. At that time it motivated some some students to go for that experience. And it's nice to see that their time over there has been as wonderfull as ours.
Following a short Q&A-session Tom, two friends of his and me went to a Vietnamese-Chinese restaurant to talk a bit more. Now it's time to sleep - and dream about those unforgettable moments in the Far East.
Saturday, December 6, 2003
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Pictures of Asia
I found a wonderful website with thousands of photos of Asia, sorted by country. From China to Indonesia, but also from more remote countries like Burma or the destroyed Buddhas of Afghanistan. Every photo has a description. The site mainly concentrates on architecture, but other photographs of the countryside etc. can also be found. I especially recommend the rare pics of North Korea and the extensive photo series of the Angkor temples in Cambodia. They also have nice image-maps, where the position of the taken photos are shown in a map, see for instance the Bulgusksa-Temple in Gyeongju (S. Korea) or the Forbidden City in Beijing (China).
See OrientalArchitecture.com and have fun.
I found a wonderful website with thousands of photos of Asia, sorted by country. From China to Indonesia, but also from more remote countries like Burma or the destroyed Buddhas of Afghanistan. Every photo has a description. The site mainly concentrates on architecture, but other photographs of the countryside etc. can also be found. I especially recommend the rare pics of North Korea and the extensive photo series of the Angkor temples in Cambodia. They also have nice image-maps, where the position of the taken photos are shown in a map, see for instance the Bulgusksa-Temple in Gyeongju (S. Korea) or the Forbidden City in Beijing (China).
See OrientalArchitecture.com and have fun.
Wednesday, November 5, 2003
Kill Bill
Have been to cinema for the first time since months. Kill Bill is a must-see. Phantastic action, nice shots, Asian athmosphere... definitely my favorite in a long time. Real fight scenes in Hong-Kong-style, not created on the computer like Matrix. And a typical Tarantino style, a bit crazy and very unique characters.
Some might say it's too violent, but this excessive blood-splashing makes it an unreal violence, that always reminds you that this is just a movie. So it is not really shocking in my opinion. By the way, if you think, these are violent scenes, you better not see the Japanese version of Kill Bill :)
I'll eagerly await the second part of the movie. Watch this film, friends.
Have been to cinema for the first time since months. Kill Bill is a must-see. Phantastic action, nice shots, Asian athmosphere... definitely my favorite in a long time. Real fight scenes in Hong-Kong-style, not created on the computer like Matrix. And a typical Tarantino style, a bit crazy and very unique characters.
Some might say it's too violent, but this excessive blood-splashing makes it an unreal violence, that always reminds you that this is just a movie. So it is not really shocking in my opinion. By the way, if you think, these are violent scenes, you better not see the Japanese version of Kill Bill :)
I'll eagerly await the second part of the movie. Watch this film, friends.
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
TV interview at Munich Marathon
I've got the tape of my short interview from a fellow runner of the Berlin Marathon Forum yesterday. Quite nice, I'll try to copy it somehow. Here are some snapshots taken from the tv screen:
I've got the tape of my short interview from a fellow runner of the Berlin Marathon Forum yesterday. Quite nice, I'll try to copy it somehow. Here are some snapshots taken from the tv screen:
Sunday, October 26, 2003
New personal Rubik Record
I solved the Rubik's Cube in 76 seconds. Still miles from the 22 seconds world record, but may be it's the Ingolstadt record, don't know and don't care.
What elsehappened? Yesterday was the annual winter party of my university, so I went there with Thomas. But both of us didn't stay very long because Sunday is a work day for us now. The thesis can't wait any longer. Time is ticking away...
I solved the Rubik's Cube in 76 seconds. Still miles from the 22 seconds world record, but may be it's the Ingolstadt record, don't know and don't care.
What elsehappened? Yesterday was the annual winter party of my university, so I went there with Thomas. But both of us didn't stay very long because Sunday is a work day for us now. The thesis can't wait any longer. Time is ticking away...
Sunday, October 12, 2003
Munich Media Marathon
Today I ran the Munich Marathon, just for fun. And it'll definitely be the last one this year :)
My time: 3:26 h, almost the same time than in Berlin. I tried faster, but I started too fast. But it was fun anyway, as I started in a monk's costume and people were cheering crazily at me. I also had a radio and a tv interview, right from a motorbike. More later...
Today I ran the Munich Marathon, just for fun. And it'll definitely be the last one this year :)
My time: 3:26 h, almost the same time than in Berlin. I tried faster, but I started too fast. But it was fun anyway, as I started in a monk's costume and people were cheering crazily at me. I also had a radio and a tv interview, right from a motorbike. More later...
Friday, October 3, 2003
German Reunification Day
The most important holiday in Germany, celebrating the reunification on Oct 3, 1990. When we were in Berlin last weekend we visited a part of the old Berlin wall which you can see on the pic below, always a moving moment. But today, I can't feel much celebrations here in Bavaria.
More info on Germany: Germany at a glance, the German Tourist Board and the official portal site of Germany: Deutschland.de
The most important holiday in Germany, celebrating the reunification on Oct 3, 1990. When we were in Berlin last weekend we visited a part of the old Berlin wall which you can see on the pic below, always a moving moment. But today, I can't feel much celebrations here in Bavaria.
More info on Germany: Germany at a glance, the German Tourist Board and the official portal site of Germany: Deutschland.de
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
3:24:39 - Berlin Marathon 2003
My first marathon, a day to remember. I couldn't find my right speed, as it was very crowded, especially at the beginning. I lost several minutes on my 3:30 target, but from starting from km 10 it began to get better. I dound the right pace, had a lot of fun with the spectators and the scenic track. I waited for the hammerman to come at km 30, but nothing happenend. My running style was still smooth. No much exhaustion and absolutely no pain in the knees or muscles. Much better than expected. So I accelerated from km 30 until the finish and couldn't completely repress some tears when I passed the Brandenburg gate and ran the final meters.
All went so well, my target 3:30 became a 3:24:39. And even more important, I had no pain and could still walk. After drinking, eating and getting a massage I took my finisher beer in front of the Reichstag. A day I'll never forget.
In the evening Kai, Lothar and me went on a small bar tour in the famous Berlin quarter "Prenzlauer Berg" before driving home in the nigth.
Right now I'm in Stuttgart with Julia, and recovering for the Munich Marathon in 2 weeks, which I will run easy with no ambition for time. More later...
My first marathon, a day to remember. I couldn't find my right speed, as it was very crowded, especially at the beginning. I lost several minutes on my 3:30 target, but from starting from km 10 it began to get better. I dound the right pace, had a lot of fun with the spectators and the scenic track. I waited for the hammerman to come at km 30, but nothing happenend. My running style was still smooth. No much exhaustion and absolutely no pain in the knees or muscles. Much better than expected. So I accelerated from km 30 until the finish and couldn't completely repress some tears when I passed the Brandenburg gate and ran the final meters.
All went so well, my target 3:30 became a 3:24:39. And even more important, I had no pain and could still walk. After drinking, eating and getting a massage I took my finisher beer in front of the Reichstag. A day I'll never forget.
In the evening Kai, Lothar and me went on a small bar tour in the famous Berlin quarter "Prenzlauer Berg" before driving home in the nigth.
Right now I'm in Stuttgart with Julia, and recovering for the Munich Marathon in 2 weeks, which I will run easy with no ambition for time. More later...
Friday, September 26, 2003
Off to Berlin / Marathon Live Stream
In a few hours Julia, Kai and me will start off to Berlin. We'll stay at my cousin's new apartment and have a nice sportive weekend :)
Saturday is a breafast run from the Charlottenburg Castle to the Olympic Stadium, later in the evening the big open air party at the Brandenburg Gate. Don't miss the marathon start at Sunday 9 am. It'll be aired on tv in major parts worldwide and on their website www.berlin-marathon.com there'll be a live race system. Just type in my start number 20676 and you can follow me live running on the track, see a video of me at the finish... My plan is 3:30 h, finishing around 12:35. Let's see!
On RBB Online there'll be several live streams of the Marathon starting Sunday 9 am. So tv coverage reaches every little corner of our planet. :)
Have fun, as I'll definitely have.
In a few hours Julia, Kai and me will start off to Berlin. We'll stay at my cousin's new apartment and have a nice sportive weekend :)
Saturday is a breafast run from the Charlottenburg Castle to the Olympic Stadium, later in the evening the big open air party at the Brandenburg Gate. Don't miss the marathon start at Sunday 9 am. It'll be aired on tv in major parts worldwide and on their website www.berlin-marathon.com there'll be a live race system. Just type in my start number 20676 and you can follow me live running on the track, see a video of me at the finish... My plan is 3:30 h, finishing around 12:35. Let's see!
On RBB Online there'll be several live streams of the Marathon starting Sunday 9 am. So tv coverage reaches every little corner of our planet. :)
Have fun, as I'll definitely have.
Monday, September 22, 2003
Feeling better
My illness seems to be almost over. Just the stomach pain still remains. But still 6 days left for recovery, that should be enough. Yesterday evening I ran the last 10 km, accompanying Arwed and Thomas on their last 30k run before the marathon in Cologne, which will be a week after Berlin.
My illness seems to be almost over. Just the stomach pain still remains. But still 6 days left for recovery, that should be enough. Yesterday evening I ran the last 10 km, accompanying Arwed and Thomas on their last 30k run before the marathon in Cologne, which will be a week after Berlin.
Friday, September 19, 2003
Saturday, September 13, 2003
Thanx for your presents
I didn't plan a party for my birthday on Wednesday, but Marc and Feli dropped by with a cake in the afternoon and later Georg, Kai and Thomas invited themselves for the soccer match and to have some beer. So it was a happy day in the end. I also got some presents, a running shirt, lots of energy gels and bars, running socks... People must think I am seriously running :), mustn't they?
Also thank you to Ling for a nice sweatshirt, to uncle Henning for a Yoyoma CD of Bach Suites which I am happen to play at the moment. Thanks to my parents and grandparents for the financial support and thanks to all the others for the mail, e-mail or phone calls you sent/gave me.
At last thanks to the slow Deutsche Post, that I can still happily wait for the packages from Mom & Dad as well as from Yoojung. So I'll still have some surprises to come, including Julia's present, which she wants to give me personally the next time we see.
I didn't plan a party for my birthday on Wednesday, but Marc and Feli dropped by with a cake in the afternoon and later Georg, Kai and Thomas invited themselves for the soccer match and to have some beer. So it was a happy day in the end. I also got some presents, a running shirt, lots of energy gels and bars, running socks... People must think I am seriously running :), mustn't they?
Also thank you to Ling for a nice sweatshirt, to uncle Henning for a Yoyoma CD of Bach Suites which I am happen to play at the moment. Thanks to my parents and grandparents for the financial support and thanks to all the others for the mail, e-mail or phone calls you sent/gave me.
At last thanks to the slow Deutsche Post, that I can still happily wait for the packages from Mom & Dad as well as from Yoojung. So I'll still have some surprises to come, including Julia's present, which she wants to give me personally the next time we see.
Sunday, September 7, 2003
New personal best
The Altoettig halfmarathon was a full success. Wonderfull sunny weather, but luckily with the track going 90% through shady forest. Cause I decided so late to come here I had to start in the second field and had to overtake more than a thousand runners on the narrow forest paths. This was a bit of a pity, I got several scratches and burned both my legs by stinging nettles while overtaking beside the track. Nevertheless, I succeeded running steady 4:15 times per km, speeding a bit on the last 2 km and finishing in 1:28:56 h, improving my old mark by more than 4 min.
I was quite astonished to be that fast today as yesterday's test run was so bad. But fellow runners and an audience definitely make the difference. Berlin can come!
The Altoettig halfmarathon was a full success. Wonderfull sunny weather, but luckily with the track going 90% through shady forest. Cause I decided so late to come here I had to start in the second field and had to overtake more than a thousand runners on the narrow forest paths. This was a bit of a pity, I got several scratches and burned both my legs by stinging nettles while overtaking beside the track. Nevertheless, I succeeded running steady 4:15 times per km, speeding a bit on the last 2 km and finishing in 1:28:56 h, improving my old mark by more than 4 min.
I was quite astonished to be that fast today as yesterday's test run was so bad. But fellow runners and an audience definitely make the difference. Berlin can come!
Saturday, September 6, 2003
Halfmarathon
The regeneration week went well. I made a run today and still feel some pain in the muscles and left feet but it's not very bad, so I can continue training, and more important, can start at the halfmarathon in Altoetting tomorrow, a small pilgrim town near the Austrian border. It shall be the last test on the way to Berlin. I've scheduled 1:45 hours, let's see if I can finish in time. My personal best 1:33:34 from last year is in far distance as I lost my speed somewhere during the marathon training. Today, I couldn't even run 5 km in that speed.
On the other hand my preparation for the halfmarathon is perfect. A 10k run 16 hours before the race and a bottle of wine. If I fail to reach the finish in 1:45, I know why :)
The regeneration week went well. I made a run today and still feel some pain in the muscles and left feet but it's not very bad, so I can continue training, and more important, can start at the halfmarathon in Altoetting tomorrow, a small pilgrim town near the Austrian border. It shall be the last test on the way to Berlin. I've scheduled 1:45 hours, let's see if I can finish in time. My personal best 1:33:34 from last year is in far distance as I lost my speed somewhere during the marathon training. Today, I couldn't even run 5 km in that speed.
On the other hand my preparation for the halfmarathon is perfect. A 10k run 16 hours before the race and a bottle of wine. If I fail to reach the finish in 1:45, I know why :)
Thursday, September 4, 2003
Regeneration
Just three 10k runs are scheduled this week, I need some regeneration from the heavy training in August with 70 km per week (enough for my legs). I have some minor muscle pain in the left leg, but I hope it'll vanish by weekend.
PS: The comments server is down at least until Sept 8, so page building may need some time or give an error while loading. Don't worry, it's not a problem with your browser or some virus. Just simple technical failure. :)
Just three 10k runs are scheduled this week, I need some regeneration from the heavy training in August with 70 km per week (enough for my legs). I have some minor muscle pain in the left leg, but I hope it'll vanish by weekend.
PS: The comments server is down at least until Sept 8, so page building may need some time or give an error while loading. Don't worry, it's not a problem with your browser or some virus. Just simple technical failure. :)
Thursday, August 28, 2003
# 20676
We had two races at the Team Cup last weekend. At the first one I started from the last position and moved up to fifth. The second race I won, starting from the fifth place. Overall, I had quite some luck and good race partners. Now I rank on second overall with one race missing this year. Not a bad postion.
This weekend was also an alternative event on the Nuerburgring F1 Grand Prix Course as well as on the old race course, the famous 21 km-long Nordschleife. Several bike and inline skate races had been scheduled, including a 24-hour-bike-race on the Nordschleife. When I went there on Saturday evening with Raffael, most of the races except the 24-hour-race were already over. It was completely dark by now and if you know the Nordschleife with its steep and dangerous curves, you know it isn't easy to ride it in complete darkness. Many riders had cars following them, drinving just 2 meters behind and spending a bit more light than the small battery powered bike lamps. But anyway, it remained dangerous, as they went downhill with more then 90 km/h at some points, drivers told me the next morning, when I came back for the final hour and the ceremonies. A single rider from Austria won his category with over 500 km. He didn't sleep and made just shot stops. Wow!!!
But that wasn't the reason I came back in the morning. I was thinking about taking my inline skates and ride some laps on the F1 Grand Prix Course, which was no more allowed today. But luckily nobody cared and some other riders even joined me on their bike. When will you have that chance again, riding with your skates where normally Schuhmacher, Montoya etc. turn their laps. A good way to learn how hilly the course actually is, in TV it doesn't look like.
By the way, I got my starting number for the Berlin Marathon today: it's # 20676. So watch out for that number in Berlin. It's very easy to remember...
We had two races at the Team Cup last weekend. At the first one I started from the last position and moved up to fifth. The second race I won, starting from the fifth place. Overall, I had quite some luck and good race partners. Now I rank on second overall with one race missing this year. Not a bad postion.
This weekend was also an alternative event on the Nuerburgring F1 Grand Prix Course as well as on the old race course, the famous 21 km-long Nordschleife. Several bike and inline skate races had been scheduled, including a 24-hour-bike-race on the Nordschleife. When I went there on Saturday evening with Raffael, most of the races except the 24-hour-race were already over. It was completely dark by now and if you know the Nordschleife with its steep and dangerous curves, you know it isn't easy to ride it in complete darkness. Many riders had cars following them, drinving just 2 meters behind and spending a bit more light than the small battery powered bike lamps. But anyway, it remained dangerous, as they went downhill with more then 90 km/h at some points, drivers told me the next morning, when I came back for the final hour and the ceremonies. A single rider from Austria won his category with over 500 km. He didn't sleep and made just shot stops. Wow!!!
But that wasn't the reason I came back in the morning. I was thinking about taking my inline skates and ride some laps on the F1 Grand Prix Course, which was no more allowed today. But luckily nobody cared and some other riders even joined me on their bike. When will you have that chance again, riding with your skates where normally Schuhmacher, Montoya etc. turn their laps. A good way to learn how hilly the course actually is, in TV it doesn't look like.
By the way, I got my starting number for the Berlin Marathon today: it's # 20676. So watch out for that number in Berlin. It's very easy to remember...
2: # of legs I possesNot so easy to remember? Make a better proposal to me. Just leave a comment!
0: # of marathons I ran
6: # of days I scheduled to run per week
7: # of days per week
6: # of hours I hopefully won't need for the 42,195 km distance.
Saturday, August 23, 2003
Team Cup Number 3
Today evening (Friday) I met with Georg to discuss about his thesis and watch a DVD later. And to have some beer, too, as you can see on the pic. :)
In some hours I'll leave to the Nuerburgring again for the third Team Cup cart race. I packed my stuff and cleaned the dishes already, in a wise foreseeing that I won't be able to do that after having some beer. So now I'll sleep, cause I planned to go running in the morning (in 4-5 hours) before getting to the train at 9:30 am.
On the way back I'll drop by my darling in Stuttgart and come back to Ingolstadt on Monday morning. And yes, don't worry, I'll take some books to read on the train.
Today evening (Friday) I met with Georg to discuss about his thesis and watch a DVD later. And to have some beer, too, as you can see on the pic. :)
In some hours I'll leave to the Nuerburgring again for the third Team Cup cart race. I packed my stuff and cleaned the dishes already, in a wise foreseeing that I won't be able to do that after having some beer. So now I'll sleep, cause I planned to go running in the morning (in 4-5 hours) before getting to the train at 9:30 am.
On the way back I'll drop by my darling in Stuttgart and come back to Ingolstadt on Monday morning. And yes, don't worry, I'll take some books to read on the train.
Sunday, August 17, 2003
The final Berlin marathon countdown
My final training period for the Berlin marathon on Sept 28 has started this week. Six weeks of intense running and one week for recovery should be enough to complete my first marathon in under four hours. Moreover I changed my rhytm from training in the evening to the early morning. I ran a total of 60 km from monday to friday.
Saturday I had scheduled the first test of a near marathon distance. I planned running 7 laps around the Baggersee, each 5.3 km in length, counting to a total of 37.1 km. The time limit for each round was set to 30 min, totalling to 3 hours 30 overall.
It was much easier than expected. Until km 30 I felt no signs of exhaustion, just my knees hurt a bid from time to time, but never really bad. I automatically ran the exact time per lap, always between 29 min and 30, leaving some time to stop and drink water each lap. Cause I felt that good I speeded a bit in the final lap and ran a 27 min round, reaching the 37.1 km in 3:26:46 hours. OK, that last round was at limit. But without speeding I am sure I'd have been able to run another lap in under 30 min. I didn't want to test the whole distance, as my first marathon should be something special. A million visitors and 35,000 runners in Berlin will definitely be a nicer surrounding for that.
Well, to sum it up, I'll continue running in the mornings around a 70 to 80 km distance per week. This week it have been almost a 100. Berlin can come. I am ready.
My final training period for the Berlin marathon on Sept 28 has started this week. Six weeks of intense running and one week for recovery should be enough to complete my first marathon in under four hours. Moreover I changed my rhytm from training in the evening to the early morning. I ran a total of 60 km from monday to friday.
Saturday I had scheduled the first test of a near marathon distance. I planned running 7 laps around the Baggersee, each 5.3 km in length, counting to a total of 37.1 km. The time limit for each round was set to 30 min, totalling to 3 hours 30 overall.
It was much easier than expected. Until km 30 I felt no signs of exhaustion, just my knees hurt a bid from time to time, but never really bad. I automatically ran the exact time per lap, always between 29 min and 30, leaving some time to stop and drink water each lap. Cause I felt that good I speeded a bit in the final lap and ran a 27 min round, reaching the 37.1 km in 3:26:46 hours. OK, that last round was at limit. But without speeding I am sure I'd have been able to run another lap in under 30 min. I didn't want to test the whole distance, as my first marathon should be something special. A million visitors and 35,000 runners in Berlin will definitely be a nicer surrounding for that.
Well, to sum it up, I'll continue running in the mornings around a 70 to 80 km distance per week. This week it have been almost a 100. Berlin can come. I am ready.
Thursday, August 7, 2003
Some news...
The last weekend I was in Stuttgart. On Saturday Julia and me went to the Wuerttemberg, a mountain covered with wine plants which gave its name to the whole region. On tuesday I officially registered my thesis with the name "Analysis of a Genetic Algorithm for flexible flow line scheduling". So at last there is a final deadline for me, too.
One day later my cousin Lothar came to Ingolstadt. He was traveling around by bike and working half a year in Switzerland and Italy and is now on his way back home. If he doesn't change his mind, he'll stay til Saturday. Today I had my second of four dentist visits. The session was almost relaxing, watching M-TV at a ceiling flat-screen. But now after some hours I feel some pain and hope that it goes away soon. Moreover I have two weeks time until the next visit, because of the doctor's summer vacation.
The last weekend I was in Stuttgart. On Saturday Julia and me went to the Wuerttemberg, a mountain covered with wine plants which gave its name to the whole region. On tuesday I officially registered my thesis with the name "Analysis of a Genetic Algorithm for flexible flow line scheduling". So at last there is a final deadline for me, too.
One day later my cousin Lothar came to Ingolstadt. He was traveling around by bike and working half a year in Switzerland and Italy and is now on his way back home. If he doesn't change his mind, he'll stay til Saturday. Today I had my second of four dentist visits. The session was almost relaxing, watching M-TV at a ceiling flat-screen. But now after some hours I feel some pain and hope that it goes away soon. Moreover I have two weeks time until the next visit, because of the doctor's summer vacation.
Wednesday, July 30, 2003
Marcelino from Korea
Last weekend a college friend from Korea, Marcelino, made it to Ingolstadt with his girlfriend. He was the one who helped me most over there, showing us around, organizing a mobile contract, helping us getting a bank account etc.. So now it was my turn to give back something and I showed them around town a bit, making it to the Altmuehl valley, to Eichstaett and into several Biergarten (beer gardens). They left yesterday morning to continue their Europe trip. - Oh, and thanx for the soju & co you brought. I'll have some more happy moments remembering Korea.
PS to the Tour de France: Well, the tour is over, Jan won the second place for the 5th time. But if you see his overall results at the tour (one 1st place, five 2nd places), it is still a phantastic career and enough to make him a hero.
Last weekend a college friend from Korea, Marcelino, made it to Ingolstadt with his girlfriend. He was the one who helped me most over there, showing us around, organizing a mobile contract, helping us getting a bank account etc.. So now it was my turn to give back something and I showed them around town a bit, making it to the Altmuehl valley, to Eichstaett and into several Biergarten (beer gardens). They left yesterday morning to continue their Europe trip. - Oh, and thanx for the soju & co you brought. I'll have some more happy moments remembering Korea.
PS to the Tour de France: Well, the tour is over, Jan won the second place for the 5th time. But if you see his overall results at the tour (one 1st place, five 2nd places), it is still a phantastic career and enough to make him a hero.
Friday, July 25, 2003
It's the final showdown...
...tomorrow in this year's Tour de France. Ullrich is 1:07 minutes behind Armstrong, a almost unmakable task. But still there is hope. On the pic below you can see him after the time trial in Eurodisney near Paris in 1997, the year he won the yellow jersey and with it the tour. It shall bring him luck. I like the pic anyway, it's my desktop motive for a while now.
...tomorrow in this year's Tour de France. Ullrich is 1:07 minutes behind Armstrong, a almost unmakable task. But still there is hope. On the pic below you can see him after the time trial in Eurodisney near Paris in 1997, the year he won the yellow jersey and with it the tour. It shall bring him luck. I like the pic anyway, it's my desktop motive for a while now.
Friday, July 18, 2003
34 seconds...
...until the defeat of Armstrong. In the time trial today Ullrich took Armstrong almost 2 minutes and is now on second place just 34 seconds behind in the general classement. Simply magic. Will he win the Tour a second time or will he finish second for the fifth time? The Tourmalet on Monday or the last time trial will reveal the truth. Sadly the other rider from Mecklenburg, Jens Voigt, had to give up having stomach problems yesterday. Lets hope the best for all of them.
...until the defeat of Armstrong. In the time trial today Ullrich took Armstrong almost 2 minutes and is now on second place just 34 seconds behind in the general classement. Simply magic. Will he win the Tour a second time or will he finish second for the fifth time? The Tourmalet on Monday or the last time trial will reveal the truth. Sadly the other rider from Mecklenburg, Jens Voigt, had to give up having stomach problems yesterday. Lets hope the best for all of them.
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
Le Tour de France
Today is the first rest day of the Tour 2003, and the riders need it badly. There has been major accidents almost every day, leaving many wounded like the Austrian Haselbacher on the pic below, who fell during a sprint arrival with over 60 kph. For us spectators, it has all been very exciting. Jan Ullrich is just a little over two minutes behind Lance. With the Pyrenees still to come, this is not the end. So let's hope that all riders recover today and that the next stages will be as exciting as the past ones.
Today is the first rest day of the Tour 2003, and the riders need it badly. There has been major accidents almost every day, leaving many wounded like the Austrian Haselbacher on the pic below, who fell during a sprint arrival with over 60 kph. For us spectators, it has all been very exciting. Jan Ullrich is just a little over two minutes behind Lance. With the Pyrenees still to come, this is not the end. So let's hope that all riders recover today and that the next stages will be as exciting as the past ones.
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Between Cleverness & Stupidity
I went visiting Julia in Stuttgart the past weekend. Friday watched Charlie's Angel's: Full Throttle in the Corso-Cinema in Vaihingen. Thanks to the U.S. Army base nearby it shows all new movies in the original language and Julia lives just some 300 metres away. Really cool. On Saturday we intended to get up early to drive to Lichtenstein (do not mistake it for Liechtenstein) in the middle of the Swabian Alb. We did not get up early, but we drove there anyway. After visiting the Lichtenstein castle, which is nicely situated on the edge of a mountain cliff, we started on a 18-km-hiking tour to the Bärenhöhle (bear cave) and the Nebelhöhle (fog cave). Our path led us directly over a golf course, through nice valleys and over some 800 m high mountains. We arrvied back at the castle around 7:30 pm before returning to Stuttgart and fading out the beautiful day with a barbecue on the balcony.
Sunday is a rest day, so we slept until after noon, had a late and long breakfest and just relaxed in the sun. Later around 7 pm, when it started cooling down a bit we took our skates and drove to the Rosenthal-park next to the botanical garden. This park itself is a paradise for skaters, but the best is that it is connected to the three castle gardens which lead directly to the city centre. Alltogether they accumulate to several kilometres of perfect skating lanes in a nice surrounding (small lakes, rivers, bridges, pubs, animals from the zoo...) including flat as well as hilly terrain. I wish Ingolstadt had the same.
Yesterday I went back to Ingolstadt, an ever interesting odyssee. This time I was so clever to buy my train ticket in Stuttgart-Vaihingen instead of Stuttgart-Central-Station to save the city train fare which is included then. But my cleverness was undermined by my stupidity. Don't ask me how, but a ticket definitely can get lost on a 10 km train ride, especially if it's Jolle taking care of. So I had no chance but to buy a new ticket at the central station. Surprisingly the new ticket was cheaper and my new schedule shorter than at first. These fucking staff in Vaihingen had sold me complete crap telling me of trains not running which I later went on. I love the Deutsche Bahn. I never gets boring. But I'll come back one day. And then...
I went visiting Julia in Stuttgart the past weekend. Friday watched Charlie's Angel's: Full Throttle in the Corso-Cinema in Vaihingen. Thanks to the U.S. Army base nearby it shows all new movies in the original language and Julia lives just some 300 metres away. Really cool. On Saturday we intended to get up early to drive to Lichtenstein (do not mistake it for Liechtenstein) in the middle of the Swabian Alb. We did not get up early, but we drove there anyway. After visiting the Lichtenstein castle, which is nicely situated on the edge of a mountain cliff, we started on a 18-km-hiking tour to the Bärenhöhle (bear cave) and the Nebelhöhle (fog cave). Our path led us directly over a golf course, through nice valleys and over some 800 m high mountains. We arrvied back at the castle around 7:30 pm before returning to Stuttgart and fading out the beautiful day with a barbecue on the balcony.
Sunday is a rest day, so we slept until after noon, had a late and long breakfest and just relaxed in the sun. Later around 7 pm, when it started cooling down a bit we took our skates and drove to the Rosenthal-park next to the botanical garden. This park itself is a paradise for skaters, but the best is that it is connected to the three castle gardens which lead directly to the city centre. Alltogether they accumulate to several kilometres of perfect skating lanes in a nice surrounding (small lakes, rivers, bridges, pubs, animals from the zoo...) including flat as well as hilly terrain. I wish Ingolstadt had the same.
Yesterday I went back to Ingolstadt, an ever interesting odyssee. This time I was so clever to buy my train ticket in Stuttgart-Vaihingen instead of Stuttgart-Central-Station to save the city train fare which is included then. But my cleverness was undermined by my stupidity. Don't ask me how, but a ticket definitely can get lost on a 10 km train ride, especially if it's Jolle taking care of. So I had no chance but to buy a new ticket at the central station. Surprisingly the new ticket was cheaper and my new schedule shorter than at first. These fucking staff in Vaihingen had sold me complete crap telling me of trains not running which I later went on. I love the Deutsche Bahn. I never gets boring. But I'll come back one day. And then...
Tuesday, July 8, 2003
The biggest News-Source in Germany...
Google started its price-decorated news service in Germany today. Visit it at news.google.de.
So from now on you'll be able to keep an eye on over 700 news sources in German language. Always get the latest news as well as search for older articles. Articles are categorized and always several sources are linked to, if available. Moreover you can see instantly how old an article is, or more exactly, when it was found by the robot. I wonder if they will develop new categories for regional information, too. This would be the cream on top.
Google started its price-decorated news service in Germany today. Visit it at news.google.de.
So from now on you'll be able to keep an eye on over 700 news sources in German language. Always get the latest news as well as search for older articles. Articles are categorized and always several sources are linked to, if available. Moreover you can see instantly how old an article is, or more exactly, when it was found by the robot. I wonder if they will develop new categories for regional information, too. This would be the cream on top.
Saturday, July 5, 2003
Monday, June 30, 2003
A week at home...
It was nice to be back home. It's been around half a year since the last time. I went to the IGA 2003 in Rostock with my mom. It's the international gardening exhibition with its main attraction, the willow cathedral, the biggest living natural-plant construction in the world. Moreover I re-discovered Schwerin on an official sightseeing tour guided by my sister Teresa.
I came back on Friday, hitchhiking again. But this time it took me about nine hours because of traffic jams. On Saturday I went to Munich with Julia. She went shopping a bit and I had a casting in the Maritim Hotel held by StarCast. I'm not sure this company is fraud or not. They seem to be quite legitimate. After all they invtited just a bit over 60 people to this casting, had around 15 employees there including photographers etc.
They interviewed me, made photos, interviewed me again. Then they decided to give me a contract and showed me to the next room where my sedcard was arranged. For the printing of 600 of these sedcards, which will then be delivered to tv-channels etc., they wanted to charge a bit over 300 Euros. So now I am no longer sure in what they are interested. I mean, they didn't gave everyone a contract, and had just a bunch of people there in the hotel. I can't believe they cheat people, because these 300 Euros per person is not enough to pay off the employees, the hotel, print the sedcarts, and still make some money. On the other hand if they are really sure that you'll get a job then they should overtake these costs and to settle it with future income. After all they will get 30% of my payment if they arranged the job. And I also don't like the fact that they didn't communicate these costs before. Anyway, I'll not pay a cent to them and better continue my thesis. This will hopefully pay off much more. :=)
It was nice to be back home. It's been around half a year since the last time. I went to the IGA 2003 in Rostock with my mom. It's the international gardening exhibition with its main attraction, the willow cathedral, the biggest living natural-plant construction in the world. Moreover I re-discovered Schwerin on an official sightseeing tour guided by my sister Teresa.
I came back on Friday, hitchhiking again. But this time it took me about nine hours because of traffic jams. On Saturday I went to Munich with Julia. She went shopping a bit and I had a casting in the Maritim Hotel held by StarCast. I'm not sure this company is fraud or not. They seem to be quite legitimate. After all they invtited just a bit over 60 people to this casting, had around 15 employees there including photographers etc.
They interviewed me, made photos, interviewed me again. Then they decided to give me a contract and showed me to the next room where my sedcard was arranged. For the printing of 600 of these sedcards, which will then be delivered to tv-channels etc., they wanted to charge a bit over 300 Euros. So now I am no longer sure in what they are interested. I mean, they didn't gave everyone a contract, and had just a bunch of people there in the hotel. I can't believe they cheat people, because these 300 Euros per person is not enough to pay off the employees, the hotel, print the sedcarts, and still make some money. On the other hand if they are really sure that you'll get a job then they should overtake these costs and to settle it with future income. After all they will get 30% of my payment if they arranged the job. And I also don't like the fact that they didn't communicate these costs before. Anyway, I'll not pay a cent to them and better continue my thesis. This will hopefully pay off much more. :=)
Saturday, June 21, 2003
So now my hitchhike statistics...
Start at my apartment in Ingolstadt: 5:30 am
Arrival in front of my family's house: 12:30 pm
This made a good seven hours for the approx. 690 km.
I had five different cars, including one Audi A8.
Three of the five drivers had studied Business administration, just like I am doing now.
Start at my apartment in Ingolstadt: 5:30 am
Arrival in front of my family's house: 12:30 pm
This made a good seven hours for the approx. 690 km.
I had five different cars, including one Audi A8.
Three of the five drivers had studied Business administration, just like I am doing now.
Friday, June 20, 2003
Go North
Tomorrow I'll hit the road again in another attempt to hitchhike home. Let's pray for much traffic. Last time I travelled on a Saturday was not so cool, but I couldn't leave today, so I'll have to take it as it comes. I'll come back during the next week, maybe Wednesday/Thursday, depending how I'll travel.
Tomorrow I'll hit the road again in another attempt to hitchhike home. Let's pray for much traffic. Last time I travelled on a Saturday was not so cool, but I couldn't leave today, so I'll have to take it as it comes. I'll come back during the next week, maybe Wednesday/Thursday, depending how I'll travel.
Monday, June 16, 2003
"In front of them all" in Stuttgart
I have been to Stuttgart last weekend for the SWR3 Arena of Sound music festival featuring Mel C, Tiziano Ferro, Blue, Right Said Fred, Wonderwall and others. Plus it featured a tropical thunderstorm with such rain you can seldomly experience in Germany. Nonetheless the athmosphere was wonderfull and - the best of all - it was completely free. With me were Kai, Julia and Basti. And we stood just less than ten metres from the stage, very positive for a shortsighted person like me. :-)
See the photos or video (Real Player required) from the SWR3 radio station.
I have been to Stuttgart last weekend for the SWR3 Arena of Sound music festival featuring Mel C, Tiziano Ferro, Blue, Right Said Fred, Wonderwall and others. Plus it featured a tropical thunderstorm with such rain you can seldomly experience in Germany. Nonetheless the athmosphere was wonderfull and - the best of all - it was completely free. With me were Kai, Julia and Basti. And we stood just less than ten metres from the stage, very positive for a shortsighted person like me. :-)
See the photos or video (Real Player required) from the SWR3 radio station.
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Preview
As announced some days before I've got someting new. It's a recumbent bike also often referred to as a Human Powered Vehicle (HPV). Just in case you haven't seen such thing before, this bike has no fairing. It is the wrapping of the delivery service. I made some test drives already. It's very cool. As soon as I have some nice pics in action I'll upload them. Promised.
You've still no clue what I'm talking about? See these soruces: The German HPV organisation, the English Recumbent FAQ (in German).
As announced some days before I've got someting new. It's a recumbent bike also often referred to as a Human Powered Vehicle (HPV). Just in case you haven't seen such thing before, this bike has no fairing. It is the wrapping of the delivery service. I made some test drives already. It's very cool. As soon as I have some nice pics in action I'll upload them. Promised.
You've still no clue what I'm talking about? See these soruces: The German HPV organisation, the English Recumbent FAQ (in German).
Thursday, June 5, 2003
The Summer-Challenge weekend was extrafine, especially the beach party at Saturday. They transformed our campus into a beach with pools, palmtrees, cocktail-bars and 50 tons of sand. It was so good I even can't remember how I got home and when. But I did!
Above is a photo of me running the second part of the duathlon. Tim was swimming first and then I went on the track. We got third overall, and I ran the 5.1 km in less than 20 minutes, faster than anytime before. See more photos...
Above is a photo of me running the second part of the duathlon. Tim was swimming first and then I went on the track. We got third overall, and I ran the 5.1 km in less than 20 minutes, faster than anytime before. See more photos...
Saturday, May 31, 2003
This weekend...
...Summer-Challenge 2003 in Ingolstadt.
It's a sport event of several business schools in Germany and Switzerland. It starts friday noon and lasts til Sunday. Students can take part in several categories like beach soccer, beach volleyball, cheerleading and duathlon. But mainly it's a big party and a possibility to come in contact with several sponsors.
...Summer-Challenge 2003 in Ingolstadt.
It's a sport event of several business schools in Germany and Switzerland. It starts friday noon and lasts til Sunday. Students can take part in several categories like beach soccer, beach volleyball, cheerleading and duathlon. But mainly it's a big party and a possibility to come in contact with several sponsors.
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
The Altmuehl River
Last friday Kai, Georg and me made a barbecue session on Kai's terrace where we decided to undertake some action on the weekend with Julia, who was visiting me on her way home from Cologne. We opted for canoeing on the Altmuehl river, something I wanted to do since I'm here in Ingolstadt.
And let me tell you, this river is fantastic, despite the low water level at the moment. We rented a two-person canoe for me and Julia and a single-kayak for Kai and started out trip at a small village called Solnhofen. Kai couldn't find a comfortable position in his kayak, so I took it over. ...Perfect weather...18 kilometres, two boat slides and five hours later we ended the trip and went to a nice Italian restaurant in Eichstaett.
What else: Monday was the day to make a dream come true. I bought something very special I wanted to have since years. I had to go for that cheap deal. More coming soon...(when it arrives) :)
Last friday Kai, Georg and me made a barbecue session on Kai's terrace where we decided to undertake some action on the weekend with Julia, who was visiting me on her way home from Cologne. We opted for canoeing on the Altmuehl river, something I wanted to do since I'm here in Ingolstadt.
And let me tell you, this river is fantastic, despite the low water level at the moment. We rented a two-person canoe for me and Julia and a single-kayak for Kai and started out trip at a small village called Solnhofen. Kai couldn't find a comfortable position in his kayak, so I took it over. ...Perfect weather...18 kilometres, two boat slides and five hours later we ended the trip and went to a nice Italian restaurant in Eichstaett.
What else: Monday was the day to make a dream come true. I bought something very special I wanted to have since years. I had to go for that cheap deal. More coming soon...(when it arrives) :)
Thursday, May 22, 2003
Sopa Box Race & FlowerPower
Hitchhiking to Leipzig on Saturday morning was a shit. It took me almost 1.5 hours to get into a car in Ingolstadt and an overall 5 hours to reach the outskirts of Leipzig. I skated to the station and arrived at the same time as the train I could have taken. Basti, Eli's train from Mannheim came half an our later and we went with Steffen to his house which was situated in a quite exclusive residential area. Indeed, his flat was not yet refurbished, so he could afford the rent. We got a completely empty room to sleep. Oh, it was not completely empty - it had a carpet. But that's more than ok for a free accomodation.
After cooking dinner he showed us around the town on an individual city and pub sightseeing. Quite a nice town. The day ended in a pub called FlowerPower. The decoration looked like the name would suggest. Pure hippy style.
We got up late on Sunday, right in time to walk to this day's event, the 12. Prix de Tacot, a yearly soapbox race where just self-built constructions are allowed. It consists of 3 races. First it has to be pushed an eight hundred metre long path up a mountain by a team of runners. Then there is a timed lap on this mountain. And lastly it has to race down on its own. Bast, Steffen and me helped pushing one soapbox up the mountain and we were lucky (or fast) enough to win. It's the one on the upper photo. But it was about winning, the event alone was fun enough, especially some of the very strange soapboxes. My favorite was the stylishly shaped trike (middle right), the starship (middle left, with already some missing parts) and the polar station (down). The last was pulled by a penguin which was again lured by a men with fishes, a really funny sight. See more pics on their site.
We left the race just in time to go to the Festwiese, where the Grönemeyer concert was scheduled for 6:30. More than 70,000 people have been there and he stayed on stage for three hours until he had nothing more to sing than old German folksongs. It was then when the audience did let him go. On the photo you can see Eli, Basti and me. It's not that Eli especially likes her left side but it's the only photo where all of us are united.
Hitchhiking to Leipzig on Saturday morning was a shit. It took me almost 1.5 hours to get into a car in Ingolstadt and an overall 5 hours to reach the outskirts of Leipzig. I skated to the station and arrived at the same time as the train I could have taken. Basti, Eli's train from Mannheim came half an our later and we went with Steffen to his house which was situated in a quite exclusive residential area. Indeed, his flat was not yet refurbished, so he could afford the rent. We got a completely empty room to sleep. Oh, it was not completely empty - it had a carpet. But that's more than ok for a free accomodation.
After cooking dinner he showed us around the town on an individual city and pub sightseeing. Quite a nice town. The day ended in a pub called FlowerPower. The decoration looked like the name would suggest. Pure hippy style.
We got up late on Sunday, right in time to walk to this day's event, the 12. Prix de Tacot, a yearly soapbox race where just self-built constructions are allowed. It consists of 3 races. First it has to be pushed an eight hundred metre long path up a mountain by a team of runners. Then there is a timed lap on this mountain. And lastly it has to race down on its own. Bast, Steffen and me helped pushing one soapbox up the mountain and we were lucky (or fast) enough to win. It's the one on the upper photo. But it was about winning, the event alone was fun enough, especially some of the very strange soapboxes. My favorite was the stylishly shaped trike (middle right), the starship (middle left, with already some missing parts) and the polar station (down). The last was pulled by a penguin which was again lured by a men with fishes, a really funny sight. See more pics on their site.
We left the race just in time to go to the Festwiese, where the Grönemeyer concert was scheduled for 6:30. More than 70,000 people have been there and he stayed on stage for three hours until he had nothing more to sing than old German folksongs. It was then when the audience did let him go. On the photo you can see Eli, Basti and me. It's not that Eli especially likes her left side but it's the only photo where all of us are united.
Friday, May 16, 2003
Herbie, the German King of Pop
Tomorrow morning I'll hitchhike to Leipzig, the selected German candidate for the 2012 summer Olympics. I'll meet an old collegue from my former times in Freiberg, Basti, who is now living and studying in Mannheim. Moreover I'll be in this exciting city for the first time. On Sunday Herbert Grönemeyer will sing personally for us - well, and some thousand others, too. He is the king of German pop and rock ballads, a long time favorite on stereo. So let the sun shine......
Tomorrow morning I'll hitchhike to Leipzig, the selected German candidate for the 2012 summer Olympics. I'll meet an old collegue from my former times in Freiberg, Basti, who is now living and studying in Mannheim. Moreover I'll be in this exciting city for the first time. On Sunday Herbert Grönemeyer will sing personally for us - well, and some thousand others, too. He is the king of German pop and rock ballads, a long time favorite on stereo. So let the sun shine......
Thursday, May 15, 2003
Successful Race, yeahhh...
What a wonderful weekend. First in Stuttgart I had a nice evening with Julia, among other things we went to the movies and watched "The Transporter" from Luc Besson, a must-see. On Saturday I watched a car race of our Bonnfinanz team on the Nürburgring (see the pics) and later met my mom and sister, whom I haven't seen since Christmas. We went together on top of the Nürburg castle and in the evening I finished first in our kart racing event.
What a wonderful weekend. First in Stuttgart I had a nice evening with Julia, among other things we went to the movies and watched "The Transporter" from Luc Besson, a must-see. On Saturday I watched a car race of our Bonnfinanz team on the Nürburgring (see the pics) and later met my mom and sister, whom I haven't seen since Christmas. We went together on top of the Nürburg castle and in the evening I finished first in our kart racing event.
Friday, May 9, 2003
Tuesday, May 6, 2003
Thesis Update
I had a meeting with my tutor in the morning where he explained to me his genetic algorithm and the program structure. We'll meet again on Thursday where I'll present it back to him to make clear that I understood it. Then I can start developping the programs for the testing environment and the creation of test datas.
I had a meeting with my tutor in the morning where he explained to me his genetic algorithm and the program structure. We'll meet again on Thursday where I'll present it back to him to make clear that I understood it. Then I can start developping the programs for the testing environment and the creation of test datas.
2. Ingolstadt Skate-Night
It was a perfect weather weekend, so studying came a bit short. On Saturday I went to the Skatenight. An stimated 4000 skaters attended the event and made their laps on this nice round coruse in the city centre. I never imagined it'll be that big. Later in the evening Kai and me went to the after-skate-party which turned out to be a teenie-event, so we left early.
On Sunday I again ran a semi-marathon distance with Kai and Tim. But this time my goal was two hours which is fast enough for a good training session. The curious thing was that my muscles hurt the same today.
It was a perfect weather weekend, so studying came a bit short. On Saturday I went to the Skatenight. An stimated 4000 skaters attended the event and made their laps on this nice round coruse in the city centre. I never imagined it'll be that big. Later in the evening Kai and me went to the after-skate-party which turned out to be a teenie-event, so we left early.
On Sunday I again ran a semi-marathon distance with Kai and Tim. But this time my goal was two hours which is fast enough for a good training session. The curious thing was that my muscles hurt the same today.
Thursday, May 1, 2003
May Bike tour
Route:
- Along the Danube from Ingolstadt to Weltensheim.
- Then a short river cruise where the Danube breaks through a mountain range.
- Then upstream along the river Altmühl to Eichstätt.
Distance: 144 km
Time: from 2 pm to 10 pm
Beer stops: three
Too tired to tell you more now. Just that: I'm happy.
Route:
- Along the Danube from Ingolstadt to Weltensheim.
- Then a short river cruise where the Danube breaks through a mountain range.
- Then upstream along the river Altmühl to Eichstätt.
Distance: 144 km
Time: from 2 pm to 10 pm
Beer stops: three
Too tired to tell you more now. Just that: I'm happy.
Monday, April 28, 2003
Bat vs. Beaver
On Friday evening I went to Stuttgart for a surprise visit of Julia. Well, I was the one who was surprised - surprised that she was not at home but still in Cologne for her job training. So I called Geli, an old friend from Ingolstadt. Luckily she was at home, picked me up and gave me shelter, even she was a bit stressed from work and travel preparations. So I left her after breakfast and spend a nice day in Stuttgart, sitting in bars and reading my new thesis material.
Being back in Ingolstadt I had a Sunday to kill, so it was time again for a long sleeping session, some TV - I hadn't seen a bike race for long time - and sport. I decided to test my level of fitness. Several times I closely failed a semi-marathon time of 1 hour 30. This year the mark has to be taken. I rode to the Baggersee in the evening and startet running at dawn. 21.1 km is four rounds here, so each round should be run in 22.5 minutes at most, my mind calculated. I didn't want to make the common mistake of starting too fast, but that was a mistake, too. I timed the first round at 28 min, which was far too slow. The second round was a bit better, but even the 25 min were not what I believed I could run. Moreover it was the last time when I saw a fellow runner for this evening. It was dark now and it also became very quiet. Just the frogs quacked all over the lake in an enormous volume. Running became quite hard, with no audience or fellow runners it's quite difficult to motivate oneself.
Cause I was the only person here right now I startled several animals which took possession of the gravel path or the sourroundings. It was in lap three when I had the first collision this evening. One of the many bats which are flying here in the evening was a bit eager with her flight maneuvers and slapped me on my right cheek with her wing. I was really startled.
Lap four also held a special surprise for me. In the second half of the lap - when running already became easier because of all this distraction and the approaching finish - I almost fell over a beaver, which seems to have no good ears. He heard my steps much too late, and then panically ran over the path, that I had to make a small jump not to fall over it. Wow, I can't say who was more startled, the beaver or me, 'cause I had'n seen him before either. I didn't knew beavers can get that big. It was quite impressive species with its big flat tail. Anyway, that should be the last animal sight for the evening.
My running time was bad, I arrived at 1 hour 47. On the other hand it's not that bad either. On an event I have asphalt road, an audience and pace runners. This all makes up for several minutes. Therefore I just have to get 10 minutes faster from now to take the mark this year. And I still have some time for training, the year is not over yet. In August I plan to take the mark in a semi-marathon in Rostock and to prepare for my first full-marathon at the end of September in Berlin, for which I already registered. If I am eager and willing, maybe I'll run another semi-marathon before.
On Friday evening I went to Stuttgart for a surprise visit of Julia. Well, I was the one who was surprised - surprised that she was not at home but still in Cologne for her job training. So I called Geli, an old friend from Ingolstadt. Luckily she was at home, picked me up and gave me shelter, even she was a bit stressed from work and travel preparations. So I left her after breakfast and spend a nice day in Stuttgart, sitting in bars and reading my new thesis material.
Being back in Ingolstadt I had a Sunday to kill, so it was time again for a long sleeping session, some TV - I hadn't seen a bike race for long time - and sport. I decided to test my level of fitness. Several times I closely failed a semi-marathon time of 1 hour 30. This year the mark has to be taken. I rode to the Baggersee in the evening and startet running at dawn. 21.1 km is four rounds here, so each round should be run in 22.5 minutes at most, my mind calculated. I didn't want to make the common mistake of starting too fast, but that was a mistake, too. I timed the first round at 28 min, which was far too slow. The second round was a bit better, but even the 25 min were not what I believed I could run. Moreover it was the last time when I saw a fellow runner for this evening. It was dark now and it also became very quiet. Just the frogs quacked all over the lake in an enormous volume. Running became quite hard, with no audience or fellow runners it's quite difficult to motivate oneself.
Cause I was the only person here right now I startled several animals which took possession of the gravel path or the sourroundings. It was in lap three when I had the first collision this evening. One of the many bats which are flying here in the evening was a bit eager with her flight maneuvers and slapped me on my right cheek with her wing. I was really startled.
Lap four also held a special surprise for me. In the second half of the lap - when running already became easier because of all this distraction and the approaching finish - I almost fell over a beaver, which seems to have no good ears. He heard my steps much too late, and then panically ran over the path, that I had to make a small jump not to fall over it. Wow, I can't say who was more startled, the beaver or me, 'cause I had'n seen him before either. I didn't knew beavers can get that big. It was quite impressive species with its big flat tail. Anyway, that should be the last animal sight for the evening.
My running time was bad, I arrived at 1 hour 47. On the other hand it's not that bad either. On an event I have asphalt road, an audience and pace runners. This all makes up for several minutes. Therefore I just have to get 10 minutes faster from now to take the mark this year. And I still have some time for training, the year is not over yet. In August I plan to take the mark in a semi-marathon in Rostock and to prepare for my first full-marathon at the end of September in Berlin, for which I already registered. If I am eager and willing, maybe I'll run another semi-marathon before.
Friday, April 25, 2003
A decision - at last
It definitely was time for a decision. I said good-buy to my thesis topic. It was simply too difficult and stochastic for me. And I am the one to be blamed for the long-lasting decision process. Anyway, I had a meeting with a doctorand of the chair of production, logistics and operations management today drawing out a new topic for me. It's about genetic algorithms (GA). He already had a clear concept what he wants from me. I have to do some literature review, description of the GA and so on in the first part. The second part will be the testing of a special GA he developed for a semiconductor plant in Singapore. I shall research on connections between parameters and target values.
He gave me some papers to read and I will have another meeting with the professor on Tuesday where I finally have to decide to take the topic.
It definitely was time for a decision. I said good-buy to my thesis topic. It was simply too difficult and stochastic for me. And I am the one to be blamed for the long-lasting decision process. Anyway, I had a meeting with a doctorand of the chair of production, logistics and operations management today drawing out a new topic for me. It's about genetic algorithms (GA). He already had a clear concept what he wants from me. I have to do some literature review, description of the GA and so on in the first part. The second part will be the testing of a special GA he developed for a semiconductor plant in Singapore. I shall research on connections between parameters and target values.
He gave me some papers to read and I will have another meeting with the professor on Tuesday where I finally have to decide to take the topic.
The last week
My mind was quite busy with my own thesis problems this week, but now a decision has made (see above). So whatt else did I do? I stayed in Ingolstadt for the Easter Holiday, making some sport and reading the last of the three new books I ordered from amazon a while ago about. It is about a North Korean defector, who has been sent to a labor camp at the age of 9 (see the book). An incredible story.
Last Saturday I went to Munich to buy new running shoes. My old ones were worn out, I already had knee problems for a while. I probably found the best running shoe shop on the world, led by two youngsters with a medicine degree who offer professional advice, making video analysis of your running style and so on. I've got a shoe fitting for my needs for only 110 Euro, quite a good deal regarding the good consulting. It's a Puma Extol II special edition Jamaika sporting a trendy yellow-green (you should see me in this, wow :) ). And the pain vanished, I checked it with a 15 km run some days later.
Today in the morning Geor, Kai and me made a bike trip to an electronic market some 25 km out of town which holds a special sale over the weekend. It was a nice trip along the river Danube.
Plans for the weekend? Nothing yet except reading papers.
My mind was quite busy with my own thesis problems this week, but now a decision has made (see above). So whatt else did I do? I stayed in Ingolstadt for the Easter Holiday, making some sport and reading the last of the three new books I ordered from amazon a while ago about. It is about a North Korean defector, who has been sent to a labor camp at the age of 9 (see the book). An incredible story.
Last Saturday I went to Munich to buy new running shoes. My old ones were worn out, I already had knee problems for a while. I probably found the best running shoe shop on the world, led by two youngsters with a medicine degree who offer professional advice, making video analysis of your running style and so on. I've got a shoe fitting for my needs for only 110 Euro, quite a good deal regarding the good consulting. It's a Puma Extol II special edition Jamaika sporting a trendy yellow-green (you should see me in this, wow :) ). And the pain vanished, I checked it with a 15 km run some days later.
Today in the morning Geor, Kai and me made a bike trip to an electronic market some 25 km out of town which holds a special sale over the weekend. It was a nice trip along the river Danube.
Plans for the weekend? Nothing yet except reading papers.
Monday, April 14, 2003
The Olympic Games in my hometown?
Maybe it's just a dream, but dreams are there to be dreamed. Saturday the German National Olympic Commitee selected the German candidate town for the Summer Olympics 2012. Leipzig was chosen among five cities including Stuttgart, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt and Hamburg. But more interesting for me is the second decision, where the sailing competitions are to be held. Rostock, my birthplace and longtime hometown has won over Kiel, what a surprise.
So, to make my dream come true, the IOC has just to award the games to Germany, then everything will be allright. But who will doubt it, if you regard the other possible nominees including so low-profile cities like Paris, London, Madrid, New York, Moscow, Toronto, Rio... :)
Maybe it's just a dream, but dreams are there to be dreamed. Saturday the German National Olympic Commitee selected the German candidate town for the Summer Olympics 2012. Leipzig was chosen among five cities including Stuttgart, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt and Hamburg. But more interesting for me is the second decision, where the sailing competitions are to be held. Rostock, my birthplace and longtime hometown has won over Kiel, what a surprise.
So, to make my dream come true, the IOC has just to award the games to Germany, then everything will be allright. But who will doubt it, if you regard the other possible nominees including so low-profile cities like Paris, London, Madrid, New York, Moscow, Toronto, Rio... :)
Sunday, April 13, 2003
Weekend in Stuttgart
Thursday evening I was jogging with Kai in the snowy evening weather of Ingolstadt, what a hell. Now I am sitting in Stuttgart in a nice orange-painted internet-café, very trendy. The weather is a dream, warm and sunny. Julia and me have been skating all afternoon in the hip commercial district of Stuttgart-Vaihingen, where she works. I had a pizza some minutes ago and will now settle down at a beergarden to read and have a drink. Julia has gone to work for two hours.
Saturday we attended a big open air party in the city centre with lots of live bands like Nena, No Angels, Massive Töne etc. Great sounds.
Thursday evening I was jogging with Kai in the snowy evening weather of Ingolstadt, what a hell. Now I am sitting in Stuttgart in a nice orange-painted internet-café, very trendy. The weather is a dream, warm and sunny. Julia and me have been skating all afternoon in the hip commercial district of Stuttgart-Vaihingen, where she works. I had a pizza some minutes ago and will now settle down at a beergarden to read and have a drink. Julia has gone to work for two hours.
Saturday we attended a big open air party in the city centre with lots of live bands like Nena, No Angels, Massive Töne etc. Great sounds.
Sunday, April 6, 2003
The Fatal Bet
During our conversation at the brunch we arrived at the topic of sport and fitness. Kai and George again tried to establish reasons why I am faster at running. The hitting argument was that they both weight over 30 kg more. Well, this makes a bit of sense. So I don't know how, but finally we came up with a bet: Kai and me will run two times around the Baggersee (10,6 km) and the one who is fastest gets a crate of beer. Well, normally this wouldn't be difficult for me to win, but the fatal condition was that I run with his weight. So I packed 30 kg into my big backpack, almost half the weight of my body. When lifting up the backpack the first time, I became to know the meaning of 30 kg. Oh my god!
So it was no surprise that Kai was forward-pressing after just 2 km of running together. I had a hard time til the end, composing a mixture of fast walking and slow running. The problem was that the weight was placed too low in the backpack, and all in one place. Therefor I had to walk/run quite bend forward, with a tottering backpack. I can tell you, it was no fun. And the result: Kai won by an edge, but a very big one. I needed 1:26 hours for the 10,6 km, whereas Kai already arrived after one hour and some minutes. Even under optimal conditions I wouldn't have won, 30 kg is not just more than I imagined. It's more than enough for carrying around and far too much for running with it. So in this context, I was quite happy with the time.
Arrived at home I couldn't do much more than sitting in my camping chair taking a foot massage bath and watching TV, changing positions every minute. Some things are really hurting after this event. But therefor the overal betting statistic between Kai and me is now one to one, if you remember the last bicycle bet that I won.
During our conversation at the brunch we arrived at the topic of sport and fitness. Kai and George again tried to establish reasons why I am faster at running. The hitting argument was that they both weight over 30 kg more. Well, this makes a bit of sense. So I don't know how, but finally we came up with a bet: Kai and me will run two times around the Baggersee (10,6 km) and the one who is fastest gets a crate of beer. Well, normally this wouldn't be difficult for me to win, but the fatal condition was that I run with his weight. So I packed 30 kg into my big backpack, almost half the weight of my body. When lifting up the backpack the first time, I became to know the meaning of 30 kg. Oh my god!
So it was no surprise that Kai was forward-pressing after just 2 km of running together. I had a hard time til the end, composing a mixture of fast walking and slow running. The problem was that the weight was placed too low in the backpack, and all in one place. Therefor I had to walk/run quite bend forward, with a tottering backpack. I can tell you, it was no fun. And the result: Kai won by an edge, but a very big one. I needed 1:26 hours for the 10,6 km, whereas Kai already arrived after one hour and some minutes. Even under optimal conditions I wouldn't have won, 30 kg is not just more than I imagined. It's more than enough for carrying around and far too much for running with it. So in this context, I was quite happy with the time.
Arrived at home I couldn't do much more than sitting in my camping chair taking a foot massage bath and watching TV, changing positions every minute. Some things are really hurting after this event. But therefor the overal betting statistic between Kai and me is now one to one, if you remember the last bicycle bet that I won.
Snow and shorts
Today Maxie had invited to a birthday brunch at Kai's flat, so I woke up around 11 in the "morning". Because the sun was shining brightly into my room I decided to wear shorts, t -shirt and sandals and then went out on my bike. When I came out, I shocked, it was terribly cold and windy. I can stand quite a lot if it's just for a short time. Actually I like doing sports when I'm a little cold. And after all it was just a short ten minutes ride. But I didn't feel like going back.
Well, I survived it, and had a happy brunch with some other friends. But on the way back it became really bad. I was quite cold already when some tiny snow flakes started falling down on me. It was then when I realized that it was really really cold. Luckily, I was almost at home.
Today Maxie had invited to a birthday brunch at Kai's flat, so I woke up around 11 in the "morning". Because the sun was shining brightly into my room I decided to wear shorts, t -shirt and sandals and then went out on my bike. When I came out, I shocked, it was terribly cold and windy. I can stand quite a lot if it's just for a short time. Actually I like doing sports when I'm a little cold. And after all it was just a short ten minutes ride. But I didn't feel like going back.
Well, I survived it, and had a happy brunch with some other friends. But on the way back it became really bad. I was quite cold already when some tiny snow flakes started falling down on me. It was then when I realized that it was really really cold. Luckily, I was almost at home.
Friday, April 4, 2003
Punch-Up alarm
George called me in the evening to join in having some drinks with the returned T.W. and some of his friends. I decided not to join them this time as the night was scheduled open end and this can be quite expensive. At least til midnight when I decided that they must now be in a state that I can join in without needing to spend too much to keep the pace. I was right. When I came to the bar around 2 am, George and especially T.W. had quite some drinks already. Conversations were on a minimal intellectual level and George had a hard time to convince "our Turkish friends" from the neighboring table that T.W. is suffering a spastic disease, and that his movements, statements and gestures were not meant in any way as an attempt to start a major punch-up.
George called me in the evening to join in having some drinks with the returned T.W. and some of his friends. I decided not to join them this time as the night was scheduled open end and this can be quite expensive. At least til midnight when I decided that they must now be in a state that I can join in without needing to spend too much to keep the pace. I was right. When I came to the bar around 2 am, George and especially T.W. had quite some drinks already. Conversations were on a minimal intellectual level and George had a hard time to convince "our Turkish friends" from the neighboring table that T.W. is suffering a spastic disease, and that his movements, statements and gestures were not meant in any way as an attempt to start a major punch-up.
Monday, March 31, 2003
Tuesday, March 25, 2003
What a shock...
...I got today in the morning when I went to meet Kai for a jogging session. I was crossing a junction when two cars heavily crashed just a meter next to me. I guess one was still using the amber-red light phase to turn into the main street whereas the other car was coming in a high speed and got green light. Luckily the fast car bumped his opponent away from me, but it was close. I can tell you, I haven't had such a shock for quite a while. It's no good way to start a day and it will make me more cautious when crossing streets for a while I guess. Sometimes life and death are so alarmingly close to each other.
PS: The drivers where not injured as far as I could see it in the moment.
...I got today in the morning when I went to meet Kai for a jogging session. I was crossing a junction when two cars heavily crashed just a meter next to me. I guess one was still using the amber-red light phase to turn into the main street whereas the other car was coming in a high speed and got green light. Luckily the fast car bumped his opponent away from me, but it was close. I can tell you, I haven't had such a shock for quite a while. It's no good way to start a day and it will make me more cautious when crossing streets for a while I guess. Sometimes life and death are so alarmingly close to each other.
PS: The drivers where not injured as far as I could see it in the moment.
Monday, March 24, 2003
And the prize for the best acceptance speech goes to...Mr Moore
Congratulations to Michael Moore for the Oscar in best documentary for his movie Bowling for Columbine". And congratulations for the most courageous acceptance speech of the evening:
"We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elects a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. Whether it's the fictition of duct tape or fictition of orange alerts we are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame on you." (more here)
Congratulations to Michael Moore for the Oscar in best documentary for his movie Bowling for Columbine". And congratulations for the most courageous acceptance speech of the evening:
"We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elects a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. Whether it's the fictition of duct tape or fictition of orange alerts we are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame on you." (more here)
Tuesday, March 18, 2003
Friday, March 14, 2003
Karting weekend
I'll go to the Nürburgring for the first Bonnfinanz Team Cup this season which will be held on Saturday evening. On the way I'll visit Julia in Stuttgart, so don't expect me to be back here before Monday.
My parents will also drop by here in Ingolstadt tomorrow on their way home from skiing. Originally they wanted to return on Sunday, but my father broke both of his wrists. Yes, both of them. And don't ask me how this is possible when you're skiing on a blue slope. Anyway, I think I won't be here anymore when they come in the afternoon. Have a nice weekend, too.
I'll go to the Nürburgring for the first Bonnfinanz Team Cup this season which will be held on Saturday evening. On the way I'll visit Julia in Stuttgart, so don't expect me to be back here before Monday.
My parents will also drop by here in Ingolstadt tomorrow on their way home from skiing. Originally they wanted to return on Sunday, but my father broke both of his wrists. Yes, both of them. And don't ask me how this is possible when you're skiing on a blue slope. Anyway, I think I won't be here anymore when they come in the afternoon. Have a nice weekend, too.
Thursday, March 13, 2003
The old Asshole
The news are pushing retaliation stories about the dissent over the Iraq question. French Fries are becoming Freedom Fries. Donald Rumsfeld labels the German and French as the old Europe. The comedian in the TV behind me answeres him with: "Better living in an old Europe than being an old asshole", earning a big laughter on it. I switch the channel and the anchorwoman of the news finishes her programme about these retaliation discussion with the sentence:"I wonder when the Americans will return their Statue of Liberty to the French". I switch again...and finally watch a nice Jewish comedy movie. This whole discussion is a pity because there is no real discussion but just kindish behavior.
The news are pushing retaliation stories about the dissent over the Iraq question. French Fries are becoming Freedom Fries. Donald Rumsfeld labels the German and French as the old Europe. The comedian in the TV behind me answeres him with: "Better living in an old Europe than being an old asshole", earning a big laughter on it. I switch the channel and the anchorwoman of the news finishes her programme about these retaliation discussion with the sentence:"I wonder when the Americans will return their Statue of Liberty to the French". I switch again...and finally watch a nice Jewish comedy movie. This whole discussion is a pity because there is no real discussion but just kindish behavior.
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Did that ever happen to you?
The first thing in the morning when I get up is putting my glasses on. Then a shower follows. So I did yesterday. But after the shower my glasses had gone. I couldn't find them anywhere. Now it's past midnight and I still haven't found them. I searched the whole place. I mean, it's just one room, and not messy at all right now. It's not possible.
Well, I'll go to bed now. Let's see in the morning. But maybe the day is coming when I start to believe in abnormal phenomena.
The first thing in the morning when I get up is putting my glasses on. Then a shower follows. So I did yesterday. But after the shower my glasses had gone. I couldn't find them anywhere. Now it's past midnight and I still haven't found them. I searched the whole place. I mean, it's just one room, and not messy at all right now. It's not possible.
Well, I'll go to bed now. Let's see in the morning. But maybe the day is coming when I start to believe in abnormal phenomena.
Monday, March 10, 2003
Ebay curiosities
Moreover I wonder again about the motivations behind buyers at ebay. I bought two 128 MB RAM-chips a week ago (one / two) to upgrade my Thinkpad. Therefore I had to kick out the old 64 MB-chip which I decided to sell on ebay. And guess what? 4 days before the end of the auction the price already jumped over the price for the 128 MB-chips. So this is my hot tip of the week - get a free RAM upgrade with the help of ebay. :)
Almost the same happend with Smart Media cards for my digital camera. I still had an old 4 MB-card which originally came with the camera. I offered it with a "buy now"-price of 11 Euro, normally the auction price for a 32 MB-card. But I didn't had to wait for long. It's sold.
Right now I'm checking prices for a soccer game between "Bayern München" and "Hansa Rostock", for which I got two premium tickets from my father last birthday (he won them in a kind of lottery or something). My original plan was to go to the Olympic stadium in Munich with Kai in two weeks, cheering my team (the latter one) to victory. But first, a disaster is more likely than a victory. And second, if these tickets turn out to exceedingly valuable, I'll definitely sell them to an affluent "Bayern München"-fan, spent some Euros at the "Hansa Rostock"-fan shop and keep the rest. This will make everyone happy, a fan, my team - and me.
The only problem is, that I've just found one auction for tickets of this match at ebay. But it features two 10 Euro-tickets and reached already over 50 Euro, two days before termination. I'll wait for the final price before deciding what to do with my two 30 Euro-tickets.
Moreover I wonder again about the motivations behind buyers at ebay. I bought two 128 MB RAM-chips a week ago (one / two) to upgrade my Thinkpad. Therefore I had to kick out the old 64 MB-chip which I decided to sell on ebay. And guess what? 4 days before the end of the auction the price already jumped over the price for the 128 MB-chips. So this is my hot tip of the week - get a free RAM upgrade with the help of ebay. :)
Almost the same happend with Smart Media cards for my digital camera. I still had an old 4 MB-card which originally came with the camera. I offered it with a "buy now"-price of 11 Euro, normally the auction price for a 32 MB-card. But I didn't had to wait for long. It's sold.
Right now I'm checking prices for a soccer game between "Bayern München" and "Hansa Rostock", for which I got two premium tickets from my father last birthday (he won them in a kind of lottery or something). My original plan was to go to the Olympic stadium in Munich with Kai in two weeks, cheering my team (the latter one) to victory. But first, a disaster is more likely than a victory. And second, if these tickets turn out to exceedingly valuable, I'll definitely sell them to an affluent "Bayern München"-fan, spent some Euros at the "Hansa Rostock"-fan shop and keep the rest. This will make everyone happy, a fan, my team - and me.
The only problem is, that I've just found one auction for tickets of this match at ebay. But it features two 10 Euro-tickets and reached already over 50 Euro, two days before termination. I'll wait for the final price before deciding what to do with my two 30 Euro-tickets.
Tuesday, March 4, 2003
Saturday, March 1, 2003
My sisters website...
...has been redesigned today. It has some more pics and a blogger-box. Let's see if that helps her updating the site.
...has been redesigned today. It has some more pics and a blogger-box. Let's see if that helps her updating the site.
Friday, February 28, 2003
Thursday, February 27, 2003
Hot tempered Koreans?
According to this article in the Korea Times Koreans must be the most quick and hot tempered people on earth, beating the Italians by lengths. Is it true?
The author means Koreans are fast in everything. They adopt new technology faster than the Japanese,"...two out of every three Koreans, including the youth, have cellular phones." They are constructing that fast, that they "have seen this manifest in collapsed buildings and bridges". Taking your meals is "more like an Olympic event.In his opinion"a leisurely Korean lunch is rarer than a Nazi humanitarian." And he gives more examples: "Foreigners savor ice cream by licking it with their tongue. But Koreans often suffer headaches and numbness as they down an ice cream in one go. [...] Foreigners hail taxis from the curb of the road, while Koreans will march right to the middle of the road. [...] Koreans will leave their cinema seats as soon as the final climax is over."
Now, is this true? My answer is yes and no. Some of the given examples are totally to the point from my experience. When you're still pondering which mobile phone contract to choose, a Korean is already choosing the perfect toy to attach on his mobile, mostly the more difficult decision. And yes, there is no doubt, bridges and buildings have been collapsed several times. And yes, by the time you're checking out how to hold your chopsticks, Koreans will start eating from your meal as theirs is already finished. And yes, I personally know the fastest ice cream eater on earth, also known as the chocolate destroyer. And yes, in the evenings one or two lanes of the road are packed with people hailing taxis. And also yes, Koreans seldomly watch the credits of a movie or request encores in concerts. And there is more. The words "balli balli" (quick quick) are to be heard everywhere. When going out to have a drink with friends the most common phrase is "one shot, one shot" (to down the drink).
Let me ask you a question. Have you ever seen people run in the mountains? And I don't mean just hills, I mean real mountain. And I don't mean walking fast but running. And they don't have the common serpentine footpaths you find in the western world, there the trails are going straight to the top. They don't savour the nature by just walking in the mountains. They run up, cry aloud from the top and run down.
But there are also cases where they are unimaginably slow. In their spare time for example it may take hours to decide where to go and what to do, and then to actually do it. But anyway, I think we can agree that Koreans are a fast people, even I wouldn't go that far to say they are hot tempered as Italians. These are two different pair of shoes.
According to this article in the Korea Times Koreans must be the most quick and hot tempered people on earth, beating the Italians by lengths. Is it true?
The author means Koreans are fast in everything. They adopt new technology faster than the Japanese,"...two out of every three Koreans, including the youth, have cellular phones." They are constructing that fast, that they "have seen this manifest in collapsed buildings and bridges". Taking your meals is "more like an Olympic event.In his opinion"a leisurely Korean lunch is rarer than a Nazi humanitarian." And he gives more examples: "Foreigners savor ice cream by licking it with their tongue. But Koreans often suffer headaches and numbness as they down an ice cream in one go. [...] Foreigners hail taxis from the curb of the road, while Koreans will march right to the middle of the road. [...] Koreans will leave their cinema seats as soon as the final climax is over."
Now, is this true? My answer is yes and no. Some of the given examples are totally to the point from my experience. When you're still pondering which mobile phone contract to choose, a Korean is already choosing the perfect toy to attach on his mobile, mostly the more difficult decision. And yes, there is no doubt, bridges and buildings have been collapsed several times. And yes, by the time you're checking out how to hold your chopsticks, Koreans will start eating from your meal as theirs is already finished. And yes, I personally know the fastest ice cream eater on earth, also known as the chocolate destroyer. And yes, in the evenings one or two lanes of the road are packed with people hailing taxis. And also yes, Koreans seldomly watch the credits of a movie or request encores in concerts. And there is more. The words "balli balli" (quick quick) are to be heard everywhere. When going out to have a drink with friends the most common phrase is "one shot, one shot" (to down the drink).
Let me ask you a question. Have you ever seen people run in the mountains? And I don't mean just hills, I mean real mountain. And I don't mean walking fast but running. And they don't have the common serpentine footpaths you find in the western world, there the trails are going straight to the top. They don't savour the nature by just walking in the mountains. They run up, cry aloud from the top and run down.
But there are also cases where they are unimaginably slow. In their spare time for example it may take hours to decide where to go and what to do, and then to actually do it. But anyway, I think we can agree that Koreans are a fast people, even I wouldn't go that far to say they are hot tempered as Italians. These are two different pair of shoes.
Wednesday, February 26, 2003
Today...
I got my package from Ossiversand.de, the leading seller of East German products. It's quite cheap and I ordered some things which remind me of my childhood, like Club Cola, Soljanka, Nudossi, Pfeffi. As a present they included two of the famous plastic egg holders.
Yesterday in Spitzingsee I didn't ski, but I rented a snowboard, cause the slopes were very wide and good prepared and Marc had his snowboard as well. What a nice day, sunny and just a few people on the slopes.
And not to forget, a special thank you to Laura for calling me this evening. It's nice to hear that my Mexicans are all well.
I got my package from Ossiversand.de, the leading seller of East German products. It's quite cheap and I ordered some things which remind me of my childhood, like Club Cola, Soljanka, Nudossi, Pfeffi. As a present they included two of the famous plastic egg holders.
Yesterday in Spitzingsee I didn't ski, but I rented a snowboard, cause the slopes were very wide and good prepared and Marc had his snowboard as well. What a nice day, sunny and just a few people on the slopes.
And not to forget, a special thank you to Laura for calling me this evening. It's nice to hear that my Mexicans are all well.
Tuesday, February 25, 2003
Seldom Quote
Again I got an amazon coupon some days ago, so I looked up my list of books I wanted to buy for some time and started some searches. One of these searches lead me to the following book: "North Korea: Through the Looking Glass" by Kongdan Oh and Ralph C. Hassig, which you can read online at the Brookings Institution Press Homepage. I jumped into chapter 2 about the North Korean "Juche" ideology system and a quote from the French philospher Alain catched my attention.
"Nothing is more dangerous than an idea, when you have only one idea"
This quote sums it up perfectly well. I continued reading some pages, jumped into chapter 5 and the photo section and then my eyes became tired from the bad quality of this online reading tool and I returned back to amazon and ordered a hardcopy, together with the following items:
Again I got an amazon coupon some days ago, so I looked up my list of books I wanted to buy for some time and started some searches. One of these searches lead me to the following book: "North Korea: Through the Looking Glass" by Kongdan Oh and Ralph C. Hassig, which you can read online at the Brookings Institution Press Homepage. I jumped into chapter 2 about the North Korean "Juche" ideology system and a quote from the French philospher Alain catched my attention.
This quote sums it up perfectly well. I continued reading some pages, jumped into chapter 5 and the photo section and then my eyes became tired from the bad quality of this online reading tool and I returned back to amazon and ordered a hardcopy, together with the following items:
- "The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag" - The memoirs of a man, who was imprisoned in 1977 (my birth year) at the age of 9!!! and was inexplicably released in 1987.
- "Khmer: The Lost Empire of Cambodia" - The story of this fascinating culture which intrigues me since my visit of Angkor Wat in 2001. Who they they, their rise and fall, and lots of pictures.
- "Korea und ich ... Lesehäppchen aus dem Land der Morgenfrische" - Small anecdotes and experiences of a German CEO in Korea.
Monday, February 24, 2003
Sunday, February 23, 2003
Ski, raclette & ice
Wednesday I went skiing to Lenggries, the home of the two famous German skiiers Katja Seitzinger and Hilde Gerg. It's a nice resort with long slopes, but the ski-lifts aren't the newest and fastest. Anyway, the weather was great and it was a perfect one-day-holiday. I don't have the photos yet Chris made with his camera, but I may show them later.
What else was on my spare time schedule this week? Friday Kai hosted a raclette-party with Maxie, Chris and me. And today we went ice-skating on the frozen lake. There were quite a lot of people but the surface is really uneven by now. So we returned in the evening to remove that spot of bother. We widened an already open hole from a surface marker buoy and distributed lake water on the surface with a bucket and a cooler. Tomorrow we'll return and check the result.
Wednesday I went skiing to Lenggries, the home of the two famous German skiiers Katja Seitzinger and Hilde Gerg. It's a nice resort with long slopes, but the ski-lifts aren't the newest and fastest. Anyway, the weather was great and it was a perfect one-day-holiday. I don't have the photos yet Chris made with his camera, but I may show them later.
What else was on my spare time schedule this week? Friday Kai hosted a raclette-party with Maxie, Chris and me. And today we went ice-skating on the frozen lake. There were quite a lot of people but the surface is really uneven by now. So we returned in the evening to remove that spot of bother. We widened an already open hole from a surface marker buoy and distributed lake water on the surface with a bucket and a cooler. Tomorrow we'll return and check the result.
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
No Comment
Christina has sent me a lot of "Bush-related news" the last weeks, so I guess it's time to show a nice one here.
It's a Clay Bennett's-comic. Get more in the commentary section of the The Christian Science Monitor.
Christina has sent me a lot of "Bush-related news" the last weeks, so I guess it's time to show a nice one here.
It's a Clay Bennett's-comic. Get more in the commentary section of the The Christian Science Monitor.
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Car Crash
Yesterday I had a small accident with an Audi. After having lunch with Kai, Georg and me stood at a crossing and said good-bye. Cars were waiting in the side road to turn into the main road. Because they were waiting I got on my bike and started crossing the side road (I had the right of way anyway). But just in that moment the Audi-driver seems to have seen has chance coming, too. So - crash - and little Joe was overturned to the side. Well, neither the bike or me was damaged, except some minor bruises, so I denied entering into negotiations with the disoriented driver and let him go.
OK, next time I'll look twice to prevent further damage to my person. As for my bike, the surest way to avoid damage is to leave it home, so I gave it a break today and went to work with inline-skates.
Yesterday I had a small accident with an Audi. After having lunch with Kai, Georg and me stood at a crossing and said good-bye. Cars were waiting in the side road to turn into the main road. Because they were waiting I got on my bike and started crossing the side road (I had the right of way anyway). But just in that moment the Audi-driver seems to have seen has chance coming, too. So - crash - and little Joe was overturned to the side. Well, neither the bike or me was damaged, except some minor bruises, so I denied entering into negotiations with the disoriented driver and let him go.
OK, next time I'll look twice to prevent further damage to my person. As for my bike, the surest way to avoid damage is to leave it home, so I gave it a break today and went to work with inline-skates.
Friday, February 7, 2003
Bowling for Columbine
I went to the movies yesterday for the first time this year. Michael Moore's award winning documentary lured me finally there.
"Why do 11,000 people die in America each year at the hands of gun violence? The talking heads yelling from every TV camera blame everything from Satan to video games. But are we that much different from many other countries? What sets us apart? How have we become both the master and victim of such enormous amounts of violence? This is not a film about gun control. It is a film about the fearful heart and soul of the United States, and the 280 million Americans lucky enough to have the right to a constitutionally protected Uzi" (quoted from michaelmoore.com).
In the movie he shows security camera tapes from Columbine High School, interviews Americans of all kinds, including one who made napalm bombs at home, one who was said to be involved in the Oklahoma city bombings etc.. He travels to Canada and shows the stunning differences between thee two countries. Canada has 7 million weapons in 10 million homes but just a 160 firearm homicides compared to the more than 11,000 in the U.S.. He opens a bank account to be handed out a shotgun in this very same bank. This movie is strange and revealing together. Watch it! And check out the websites below!
BowlingForColumbine.com
Bowling-for-Columbine.de (German Homepage)
Michaelmoore.com
Thursday, February 6, 2003
Cambodia - the long way of becoming a democracy
"Thailand's embassy in Phnom Penh was set on fire by a mob protesting over a report that a Thai actress, Suwanna Konying, said that Angkor Wat, Cambodia's most famous building, belonged to the Thais. Thailand evacuated hundreds of its nationals from the city." (The Economist, 1 Feb 2003)
This is Cambodia. I felt very safe there, but one should not forget, that the kingdom and democracy has been formed as late as 1993 and that it took five more years for a major surrender of the last Khmer Rouge forces. Before Cambodia has been caught in a severe civil war for more than 20 years (since 1970). in 1975 the Khmer Rouge took power and evacuated all cities, dispaced millions of people and killed them or let them die of hunger. Later they were involved in the Vietnam war.
To understand the upper news one has to know that the khmer kingdom has once been the pridest and most powerful nation in the region, stretching across most of what is today Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Angkor Wat has been the centre of this kingdom and is the most holy place for a Cambodian today, because it's not just a national symbol to them (it's even in the flag of cambodia), it's an identity. After years and years of war this is what they can proudly show to the world: "Hey, look this terrific temples. Cambodia is not war, it is craftsmenship, history and religion." And Angkor Wat is US Dollars, it's there most important tourist attraction, an industry needed in this poor country, living mainly from agriculture, toxic waste import (thanks to Taiwan) and the fast growing sex industry.
One should be careful to undermine their pride, Cambodians know how to fight. It's still a long way to democracy.
"Thailand's embassy in Phnom Penh was set on fire by a mob protesting over a report that a Thai actress, Suwanna Konying, said that Angkor Wat, Cambodia's most famous building, belonged to the Thais. Thailand evacuated hundreds of its nationals from the city." (The Economist, 1 Feb 2003)
This is Cambodia. I felt very safe there, but one should not forget, that the kingdom and democracy has been formed as late as 1993 and that it took five more years for a major surrender of the last Khmer Rouge forces. Before Cambodia has been caught in a severe civil war for more than 20 years (since 1970). in 1975 the Khmer Rouge took power and evacuated all cities, dispaced millions of people and killed them or let them die of hunger. Later they were involved in the Vietnam war.
To understand the upper news one has to know that the khmer kingdom has once been the pridest and most powerful nation in the region, stretching across most of what is today Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Angkor Wat has been the centre of this kingdom and is the most holy place for a Cambodian today, because it's not just a national symbol to them (it's even in the flag of cambodia), it's an identity. After years and years of war this is what they can proudly show to the world: "Hey, look this terrific temples. Cambodia is not war, it is craftsmenship, history and religion." And Angkor Wat is US Dollars, it's there most important tourist attraction, an industry needed in this poor country, living mainly from agriculture, toxic waste import (thanks to Taiwan) and the fast growing sex industry.
One should be careful to undermine their pride, Cambodians know how to fight. It's still a long way to democracy.
Saturday, February 1, 2003
Snow-skating
Yesterday I went to Georg in the evening to play some video games. I rented a Playstation 2 and a Colin McRae-rallye-game. We got better and better after 2 bottles of wone and finished in 3rd place. But that's not what I wanted to say, the best thing was the way home. It had snowed the evening. And I was on inline-skates to carry home the big aluminium suitcase with the Playstation (I didn't wanted to walk and biking with a suitcase is also no fun). Yes, it was quite slippery but it worked much better than expected. With a little bigger and softer wheels it could be a new winter trend sport.
Yesterday I went to Georg in the evening to play some video games. I rented a Playstation 2 and a Colin McRae-rallye-game. We got better and better after 2 bottles of wone and finished in 3rd place. But that's not what I wanted to say, the best thing was the way home. It had snowed the evening. And I was on inline-skates to carry home the big aluminium suitcase with the Playstation (I didn't wanted to walk and biking with a suitcase is also no fun). Yes, it was quite slippery but it worked much better than expected. With a little bigger and softer wheels it could be a new winter trend sport.
Saturday, January 25, 2003
Outdoor swimming in the cold Danube
Today I have been to Neuburg near Ingolstadt with Kai and a friend of him. Normally not a place of extraordinary significance, but every January it holds Europe's biggest winter swimming event. Normally more than 2000 people go into the cold river Danube, most of them groups who have built special theme boats for this event to escort them downstream.
(click the two images for bigger ones)
Especially these funny ideas makes it a great event for the numerous sightseers. Well, they could have made a bigger party out of that as there was no supporting programm except some music, an annotator and a mulled wine-stall. Anyway, it was quite fun for a normal Saturday in January.
Today I have been to Neuburg near Ingolstadt with Kai and a friend of him. Normally not a place of extraordinary significance, but every January it holds Europe's biggest winter swimming event. Normally more than 2000 people go into the cold river Danube, most of them groups who have built special theme boats for this event to escort them downstream.
(click the two images for bigger ones)
Especially these funny ideas makes it a great event for the numerous sightseers. Well, they could have made a bigger party out of that as there was no supporting programm except some music, an annotator and a mulled wine-stall. Anyway, it was quite fun for a normal Saturday in January.
Friday, January 24, 2003
Tuesday, January 21, 2003
Day trip is coming
Tomorrow I'll go on a day trip to Ellmau in Austria for snowboarding with Kai and Steffi. It's their first time on the board, so I'll definitely have fun. The ski area called "Wilder Kaiser" is Austria's largest with over 250 km of slopes and almost a hundred ski-lifts.
And doesn't it look terrific? I only fear the weather. They forecasted snow which can be quite nasty when it's too wet. Anyway, we'll see.
Tomorrow I'll go on a day trip to Ellmau in Austria for snowboarding with Kai and Steffi. It's their first time on the board, so I'll definitely have fun. The ski area called "Wilder Kaiser" is Austria's largest with over 250 km of slopes and almost a hundred ski-lifts.
And doesn't it look terrific? I only fear the weather. They forecasted snow which can be quite nasty when it's too wet. Anyway, we'll see.
Thursday, January 16, 2003
Skiing photos
The photos from my skiing and snowboarding trip are uploaded and ready to be seen. Go to my pixum photosite or directly to the album.
The photos from my skiing and snowboarding trip are uploaded and ready to be seen. Go to my pixum photosite or directly to the album.
Tuesday, January 14, 2003
Frozen lakes in Ingolstadt - finally
Last week wasn't so special except a riday party with Kai, Maxie and Georg where we made raclette (kind of table barbecue) and played some games til midnight when it was time to celebrate Georg's birthday.
Kai and me waited since our arrival here in Ingolstadt that the lakes freeze and that we can skate on them. A good week of very cold weather was enough, so we did it Monday morning at the Baggersee. We would have waited longer but today the warm weather is said to return to South Germany, so yesterday may have been the last chance for outdoor ice-skating for a while. It was snowing and the lake looked so nice under this plain white and innocent surface. The ice beneath was very smooth and nice.
To complete Monday's description: In the evening Marc, Feli, Steffen and me went out with Prof. Lee, whom we know from the Sogang GSIS in Korea where we studied. First we visited the restaurant Weissbräuhaus and later we visited the "le café", a relatively new and very nice bar in Ingolstadt. It was comfortabel to to reminisce about our experiences in Asia and compare the different lifestyles.
(click on the image for a bigger one)
Last week wasn't so special except a riday party with Kai, Maxie and Georg where we made raclette (kind of table barbecue) and played some games til midnight when it was time to celebrate Georg's birthday.
Kai and me waited since our arrival here in Ingolstadt that the lakes freeze and that we can skate on them. A good week of very cold weather was enough, so we did it Monday morning at the Baggersee. We would have waited longer but today the warm weather is said to return to South Germany, so yesterday may have been the last chance for outdoor ice-skating for a while. It was snowing and the lake looked so nice under this plain white and innocent surface. The ice beneath was very smooth and nice.
To complete Monday's description: In the evening Marc, Feli, Steffen and me went out with Prof. Lee, whom we know from the Sogang GSIS in Korea where we studied. First we visited the restaurant Weissbräuhaus and later we visited the "le café", a relatively new and very nice bar in Ingolstadt. It was comfortabel to to reminisce about our experiences in Asia and compare the different lifestyles.
(click on the image for a bigger one)
Tuesday, January 7, 2003
New Year in Austria
It was quite an effort to pack all our stuff into Kai's Audi 100. Ayway, around one o' clock in the night we left his home and hit the road. The autobahn was as empty as expected, therefore it was quite foggy. Our goal was to be at our bed&breakfast at 9 in the morning and we almost
succeeded. The guesthouse was located in Laengenfeld, 10 to 15 km from the big ski town Soelden, in the middle of the Tyrolean valley Oetztal.
We had two medium twin rooms including breakfast for around 450 Euro (for both rooms) which is quite cheap for this location and for the most popular skiing week in the year. We also had luck that we had chosen Soelden for our winter location as Austria was hit by warm weather and snow was rare almost everywhere except our nice Soelden ski area, which sports two glaciers and ski pistes in over 3000 m altitude. It snowed for the first 3 or 4 days during the sun was just rarely be seen. But therefore we had the very best powder snow you can imagine.
That was the reason I changed my skies into a new snowboard on the third day. I learned fast and could ride it by the afternoon, waglling down the black pistes or carving on the edges when it was less steep. Snowboarding isn't difficult at all if you have a good sense of balance and not too much fear of speed. I also learned that it makes much more sense to try it on your own at the beginning rather than taking courses. They are not just expensive (50 Euro for the first day) but the result is minor to the well tried learing by doing. From time to time I spied out other snowboarders for their technique and found out that it is quite easy if you just try it out. My second insight was that the more speed you have the more easier and the less shakier you stand on your board. There's nothing more difficult to stay on the board on a flat hill on low speed. And this is where the snowboard school starts. Well, to be honest, I tried out snowboarding already before, but this were just some hours in an Korean ski resort, that's all.
The best day of the week was New Years Day. An empty ski resort (people where still recovering from the New Year's eve), a blue sky, sunshine, beautifull vistas and powder snow. Just wonderful. It was worth getting up at 8 and having had just two hours of sleep.
After four days I returned my board to the rental station. Originally I just wanted to try it out for a day, but I liked it more than expected. Also the board was much better than the one from Korea. I had a brandnew Burton with Salomon shoes and the easy step-in binding. Anyway, the ski pistes got harder during the week and there was less powder snow to ride. In this conditions I still clearly prefer skiing. It's not that funny with a snowboard on an icy piste.
You could get the intention that we've just been skiing, no party, no aprés-ski etc. - Well, that's true. - No, not really. But we were normally skiing from 10 to 4:30, so that we first went home, took a shower and cooked something, before taking any further action. On New Year's eve we partied outside in Soelden til half past midnight, then went into a nice discothèque. For the name of the place and the names of their female guests you better ask Kai than me. I'll forward any inquiries to him :)
The photos are uploaded to my pixum photoalbum. Click on the picture above or here. There ain't that many this time, I was to lazy to carry my camera everywhere.
It was quite an effort to pack all our stuff into Kai's Audi 100. Ayway, around one o' clock in the night we left his home and hit the road. The autobahn was as empty as expected, therefore it was quite foggy. Our goal was to be at our bed&breakfast at 9 in the morning and we almost
succeeded. The guesthouse was located in Laengenfeld, 10 to 15 km from the big ski town Soelden, in the middle of the Tyrolean valley Oetztal.
We had two medium twin rooms including breakfast for around 450 Euro (for both rooms) which is quite cheap for this location and for the most popular skiing week in the year. We also had luck that we had chosen Soelden for our winter location as Austria was hit by warm weather and snow was rare almost everywhere except our nice Soelden ski area, which sports two glaciers and ski pistes in over 3000 m altitude. It snowed for the first 3 or 4 days during the sun was just rarely be seen. But therefore we had the very best powder snow you can imagine.
That was the reason I changed my skies into a new snowboard on the third day. I learned fast and could ride it by the afternoon, waglling down the black pistes or carving on the edges when it was less steep. Snowboarding isn't difficult at all if you have a good sense of balance and not too much fear of speed. I also learned that it makes much more sense to try it on your own at the beginning rather than taking courses. They are not just expensive (50 Euro for the first day) but the result is minor to the well tried learing by doing. From time to time I spied out other snowboarders for their technique and found out that it is quite easy if you just try it out. My second insight was that the more speed you have the more easier and the less shakier you stand on your board. There's nothing more difficult to stay on the board on a flat hill on low speed. And this is where the snowboard school starts. Well, to be honest, I tried out snowboarding already before, but this were just some hours in an Korean ski resort, that's all.
The best day of the week was New Years Day. An empty ski resort (people where still recovering from the New Year's eve), a blue sky, sunshine, beautifull vistas and powder snow. Just wonderful. It was worth getting up at 8 and having had just two hours of sleep.
After four days I returned my board to the rental station. Originally I just wanted to try it out for a day, but I liked it more than expected. Also the board was much better than the one from Korea. I had a brandnew Burton with Salomon shoes and the easy step-in binding. Anyway, the ski pistes got harder during the week and there was less powder snow to ride. In this conditions I still clearly prefer skiing. It's not that funny with a snowboard on an icy piste.
You could get the intention that we've just been skiing, no party, no aprés-ski etc. - Well, that's true. - No, not really. But we were normally skiing from 10 to 4:30, so that we first went home, took a shower and cooked something, before taking any further action. On New Year's eve we partied outside in Soelden til half past midnight, then went into a nice discothèque. For the name of the place and the names of their female guests you better ask Kai than me. I'll forward any inquiries to him :)
The photos are uploaded to my pixum photoalbum. Click on the picture above or here. There ain't that many this time, I was to lazy to carry my camera everywhere.
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