Dirk
White Christmas - sort of
30/12/07 14:10
Germans have this obsession with snow on Christmas, a
bit similiar to the american obsession with weather
in general (by that I mean "severe
weather"). So, the weather forecasters guess
weeks ago if we are going to have a white
christmas or not. I did not really pay
attention, how they did this time. But, after
celebrating my nephews birthday on the 23rd in
Jena we went out with our friends Stefanie &
Jens to a bar - and it started snowing -
yeah!
I like snow a lot and the night got even more surprising when we met 5 people or so at that bar, Cafe Central, (which kind of used to be one of our favourite hangouts, and does not even have a website, since I did not find one...) which we had not senn in 2 years or more. So, it became a pretty long night, but it was fun!
The snow did not stick around for very long, netx morning it was aleady pretty sketchy. We spend the rest of the holidays at my parents home and had soooo much soooo good food...
I like snow a lot and the night got even more surprising when we met 5 people or so at that bar, Cafe Central, (which kind of used to be one of our favourite hangouts, and does not even have a website, since I did not find one...) which we had not senn in 2 years or more. So, it became a pretty long night, but it was fun!
The snow did not stick around for very long, netx morning it was aleady pretty sketchy. We spend the rest of the holidays at my parents home and had soooo much soooo good food...
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Back o the West Coast - for 10 days
30/12/07 13:28
The time before Christmas in December is especially
nice for a Geologist, because there is the biggest of
all conferences, every year in San Francisco,
California. So, of course I had to go and present
some rocket-science. And it was great to be back in
the US, on the West Coast, for at least some time. I
stayed with Ansgar in Berkeley, and it was his
birthday too, and his friend Stefan from Australia
was there too, so we had lots of fun.
So, I had a Jack in the Box Burger (which was less exciting than I thought it would be - but I got another Jack antenna ball!), had great Sushi and Ethiopian cusine (this is what I really miss, the variety of food) and visited the Apple Store 5 times and listened to a number of very good talks. With 12.000 people at the Conference, it's hard to see everything. But it was worth it.
Some photos here.
So, I had a Jack in the Box Burger (which was less exciting than I thought it would be - but I got another Jack antenna ball!), had great Sushi and Ethiopian cusine (this is what I really miss, the variety of food) and visited the Apple Store 5 times and listened to a number of very good talks. With 12.000 people at the Conference, it's hard to see everything. But it was worth it.
Some photos here.
Thanksgiving in Berlin!
30/12/07 13:23
Thanksgiving was the perfect opportunity to gather
some friends in our new place in Berlin and have a
party. So, I prepared some stuffed turkey, for the
first time. I actually had to prepare 3 baby turkeys,
as a regular (american-sized) one would never fit
into a european style oven. I think it worked out
pretty well.
Additionally we served orignal Thuringian Bratwurst charcoal-grilled on our balcony and freshly brought to Berlin from Jena by Jens on the very same day. Qiute a number of family and freinds showed up, it reminded us that is nice living in Berlin, because everyone will actually come and visit. Sarah from Seattle was there too, as she was on business in Germany anyway that week and came up to Berlin. Some pictures are here.
Additionally we served orignal Thuringian Bratwurst charcoal-grilled on our balcony and freshly brought to Berlin from Jena by Jens on the very same day. Qiute a number of family and freinds showed up, it reminded us that is nice living in Berlin, because everyone will actually come and visit. Sarah from Seattle was there too, as she was on business in Germany anyway that week and came up to Berlin. Some pictures are here.
Dirk's 2 seconds of fame - I was on american TV
30/12/07 13:02
Oh yeah, Dirk was on american TV while in Seattle.
With our Seattle friends we went every Thursday at
6:30am for breakfast before work at a local diner,
Voula's Offshore Cafe, close
to the University. Their food is awesome,
hashbrowns are amazing. So, one day the Food Network showed up, a TV
network exclusively dedicated to well, food.
They have this show on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives",
and were recording a show at Voula's when we
were there. Sarah even got a speaking
role in it! You can spot me twice for about a
second. Now you can even find the clip on
youtube:
Oh, yeah: 2 eggs sunny side up, hashbrowns and an english muffin, please!
Oh, yeah: 2 eggs sunny side up, hashbrowns and an english muffin, please!