September 11th

September 11th

I nearly forgot that today was September 11th. And then I switched on the TV of the student center...Five years ago I was a freshman in college. I had just met some of the people that are still in my life and I went to attend the NCAA orientation. When this finished and I headed back to my dorm, I saw tons of people at the common room where the TV was. I had no idea what was going on, but chances were it involved food for so many people to be around. When I entered, people were crying, eyes were stuck on the TV and a general panick feeling was in the air. A few minutes later I tried to call my parents with my Greek cell phone. No connection. With the regular phone. No connection.

Of course, without TV, our days after September 11th were much calmer that for most of the rest of the Western world. September 11th was also registration day for the uppeclassmen. for the record, nothing could predict that morning what the world would be today, the visa issues, the security checks, the elections, the war in Iraq...

Diversity

Diversity

I understand that diversity is interesting. In fact it is.
You meet people from countries that you've never went or even dreamt of going.
You hear languages that use rules and sounds very different from our Greek, Catalan, English. You learn about things you've never seen and about different approaches to everyday life that would never cross your mind otherwise.

That's great, but you also need to be "politically correct" and take extra care not to offend someone's culture by mistake, not to be misinterpreted due a language problem , not to make certain jokes( sexual or not). Remember everyone's religion, cultural background, and in general, be aware, be careful, be extremely cautious.
Sometimes it is fun to be with people that understand your jokes, that you can pat on the shoulder and won't turn offended, people that you share ethnic background and experiences. It becomes (maybe) somewhat less interesting, but sometimes we all need it. And this is one of the reasons why earth will not be becoming a large village any time soon even though many of us speek English and eat McDonald's and buy Nike shoes. Because we, humans, find it interesting to be with diverse people and learn new languages and travel, but find it easier and more relaxing to be with similar ones. And I guess this is why we try to keep our identities in a very diverse environment, and others go to church, others organise cultural events, and others travel back home often.

Indeed, I believe in the "salad" theory, more than the "melting pot" theory.
(Dedicated to Dario, whose talk is this Friday)

The Return

The Return

Ho,ho, ho! I'm back in action and I've changed continent!
I'll post some latest Munich, Strasbourg, Heidelberg pictures soon. Zo,

I'm sure you didn't miss me, now that Ahmadinejad has a blog too. I don't know who came up with the idea, but it must have been some pretty smart advertiser. Pretty good move to spread his opinions,eh?

My Birthday
Yesterday was my B-day. Happy times, eh? So I gathered a few friends and went to the ONLY
German restaurant in Boston (yes to Franziskaner Weissbier! yes to sauerkraut) where I'm asked for my ID. "What ID?" I asked and then wanted to hit my head against the wall. I had completely forgotten the fact that even though I'm what...eh...24...now I'm still carded (OK, to be true, earlier we went with Josh for margaritas and noone asked for an ID)
Also, Josh, please don't wait for two years for the website idea to work. Apply and defer.

Heidelberg
Last weekend my parents came to Germany and we headed to Heidelberg, even
though I was more keen to go to Berlin. The place is nice and picturesque, with river Neckar
transversing the city and a large palace overlooking.
Great points:
1. DAS GROSSE FASS
That's a 55,000 gallons / 220.000 liters wine barrel.
Imagine the parties I'd throw if I had that much wine around.
2. NECKAR CRUISE
Yes, take your sweetheart and go to the cruise. Chances are is will be freezing, so you'll need to hug.

Leaving the lab

I swear to mein Gott: I wanted to cry. I had such a good time. And the guys gave me a Georg August Universitaet Goettingen T-shirt and a German Asterix and the Olympic Games, trying to combine my Greekness with Deutschland. Cute! Smart! And in paperback!

Strasbourg, Frankreich
Yes, Frankreich, because at the Deutsche Bahn website if you just write Strasbourg it will give you a million choices! Also, can someone tell me why it is not written Strasburg (as opposed to -ou-) ? Gabriel, any ideas?
Zo, being in a place that I could (finally) understand what was going on and what was being said, I decided to roam the place as much as I could.

...I have to leave... (to be continued with pictures added)
I KNOW YOU HATE BLACK AND WHITE PRESENTATIONS, TSSSS!!