More Snow

It hasn't really stopped snowing, but very lightly. Regardless, after a night's worth of light snow, the ground was completely covered - although by the time I looked out my window (around 7am), the roads and cycle paths had already been cleared.



I think I understand some of the attraction to snow. Apple may have made white cool, but snow could have been the inspiration.

First Snow

So the first winter snow fell in Erlangen today. Very light snow to be honest, and except for some open areas like parks, you could not actually see the result.

Snow seems to bring out a lot of excitement, which I find amusing and slightly puzzling to be honest. After all, while snow is something novel, that is hardly the case with most of my German colleagues. It is after all just water :) And the mud and dirt mixed with the snow (as it melts) is hardly pretty. But I will admit - walking through a light snowfall is a lot better than walking through rain ;)

But I think people really long for a "good" snowfall ... not just a few flakes. Then off course the landscape does change dramatically. That, and the prospect of a white Christmas seem to be the real attraction; not snow for itself.

Well, I hear it is snowing (a lot more) in Zurich ... maybe I will experience a good snowfall :)

Cycling and Ice Skating

Yesterday (Sunday) a friend from work and I decided to go to the Ice Rink in Nuremberg. Well it was his idea actually, and I sort of tagged along ... my one and only previous encounter with a Ice Rink was hardly pleasant ... New York Central Park, about 20 US dollars and not much fun.

My friend, being Dutch, suggested that we cycle to the Ice Rink if the weather was good. After all, it was only 20 odd KM away, and he had recently acquired a GPS system so we should not get lost!

Cycling in Germany is interesting - and certainly more pleasurable than in South Africa. Since so many people cycle, the drivers have more respect for cyclists. Furthermore, most roads have dedicated cycle lanes, making it a lot safer and easier. Given that the areas around Nuremberg and Erlangen is generally flat, cycling is actually quite easy going. So apart from a few mishaps on the way back at night (when my friend, somehow managed to stray off the cycle track one or two times into the garden path next to it), it was generally an easy going experience.

As for the skating, it was certainly a better experience than my last time. I could actually walk around on skates on the ice - but not really skate. Oh well, some other time probably.

And after 47 Km of cycling, a KM or so of walking and the little skating, I was dead tired, and managed to fall asleep quite early too! I miss cycling ...

Directions?

I have nothing against asking for directions ... except when it is the bus driver asking the passengers!

There are some road works taking place on the normal bus route. Thus, the buses have been taking a short detour. This evening, on my bus ride home, the bus driver actually stopped the bus at the last stop before the detour and asked whether if any of the passengers knew the detour. After everyone stopped laughing, two guys volunteered to direct her along.

Well at least she asked ... much better than not asking and getting lost!

German Red Tape

Most people hate bureaucracy; and it is probably the worst problem about democratic systems. As much as oversight and process is good, it is at times mind numbingly idiotic. And Germans, it seems, are particularly fastidious about their red tape.

It all started back in Cape Town, even before I left. I am scheduled to be in Germany for 4 and a half months, but they could not issue me with a visa for that long (or for that two visas). Instead, I had to get a 90 day visa, and then upgrade it in Germany.

And that is where the fun started. I could not update in Berlin, partly because I was lazy and did not look up the details in time (and the offices only open 3 days a week for 4 hours at a time), and partly because I did not have the relevant documentation. You see, to get the visa update I needed, I needed to be a registered resident of Berlin ... which is rather convoluted since you have to have a lease agreement to be get such a registration. So, I left things for Erlangen.

At Erlangen, I discovered that the Cape Town Embassy had actually processed the wrong type of visa for me, and I could not update my visa easily. I had two options: either get a work permit (which I don't need as a short term scientific assistant at a research institute) from the wonderfully named Aliens Office, or get the visa issued, fly outside to a non Schengen country and then re-enter.

The personnel department decided to first try the Aliens Office, who did process the request very fast (took 2 weeks instead of the usual 8) and I finally managed to get the visa sorted this morning. After having my photo retaken because the ones I had (taken in Berlin) did not meet the specifications ... strange as the photo is actually shrunk in the final visa.

But here is the really fun part ... since my flight leaves the day after I finish my internship, I have to go get another extension (for the two days) closer to the time. I do not need extra documentation, but that is how it must be done. Since I might be in Barcelona at the time, I am wondering if I should just change my flights instead.

Traffic Chaos

The Erlangen Arcaden, opened on Tuesday. It is a newly refurbished shopping mall, at the corners of possibly the busiest streets (ok, that does not necessarily mean much) of Erlangen. While last week had minor inconviniences, Monday and Tuesday this week, it was a nightmare on the roads. Traffic in all directions, and not much movement. I think it took cars about 10 minutes to cross the streets! And it seemed that everyone in Erlangen was at the Arcaden

Erlangen

Erlangen is a small town. The lonely planet guide spends about 1 page on it, while other guides don't even mention it.

Siemens is the big thing in this town. It is the dominant company and there are many offices littered around the town. So having a street named after the founder of the company is not that strange.


The other big thing about Erlangen is the University. The former town palace, now serves as the administration building. There is a nice park at the back of the palace (the picture is taken from the park), and it is quite a nice place to come and relax.




There are also a number of chruches in Erlangen. Most churches are closed down, or in the verge of closing down. There are not many parishoners it seems. The first is a Lutheran church (Martin Luther Church IIRC ... well it is at the Martin Luther Platz :P). The second is the massive church at Hugenotten Platz, which now serves as a major bus station. The last is a church close to where I work, on the outskirts of Erlangen. It was interesting simply because it has a memorial to the soldiers who died in WW 1, presumably from the town.



An interesting change from Berlin is the amalgamation of the old and the new. I not only mean the McDonalds in a really old building, but even life in general seems to be a mixture of the old and the new. For example, there is still a large open air market that seems to do a brisk trade even though there is large mass retailers, two literraly stones throws from this market (well large is relative, and this does not really compare to Hamburg Fischmarkt).

A Few Days Without Rain

Yay. It has finally stopped raining in Erlangen. Wednesday was the first day, since I have been here, when there was no rain; and has yet to rain since. While day time temeperatures are certainly T-Shirt range, it is still cold (6-8 degrees C) in the morning. Unfortunately, weather forecasts seem to indicate that it will start raining during the weekend :(

This Carlesque post was inspired by Enya's Album. :p

TV Blues

Somehow, TVs and I have not got on well this past year. There was the story of my TV card at the beginning of the year. And two more incidences from the last week to add to the list.

Firstly, I bought a really old TV from a student for €15. It worked for a while, but doesn't any more. It is to be expected really ... don't think I was intentionally sold a bad TV ... it is old, and to be expected.

Then, acting on Hans' recommendation (and doing what I should have done initially), I got myself a DVB-T stick. It is actually a very cool device: very small and compact, and works quite well. Except for two things:

1. Erlangen does not seem to have any digital TV coverage of the two channels with mostly English content (CNN and MTV).
2. The reception in my apartment for Eurosport (for the Rugby WC) and RTL (for Formula 1), the two German channels I want most, is almost non existent. It does work elsewhere ... I have tried it in a park for example, and was watching F1 on Sunday while surfing the net at a Cafe!

And to mess it all up, the TV cable in my room seems to be analogue only (probably a Cable TV source). The channel that works best however carries football, some Bundesliga matches and some Euro qualifiers. So it is not all that bad I suppose ...

Baby it's cold outside

So it is the beginning of September, so it should be the beginning of autumn, end of summer. For the last few days, the temperature in Erlangen has been 8 degrees C, around 8:30 am in the morning. In fact, if it was not for the fact that there is no wind, the weather would be the same as Cape Town winter. To be honest, I am not really looking forward to winter ...

As for the title of this post. It is the title of the first part of the Power of Nightmares documentary (BBC, Wikipedia, previous blog post, IMDB), which traces the influence of a famous hit song (academy award winner too) on the rise of both radical Islam and the Neo-Conservatives in the USA.

I blame Carl for influencing the naming of blog posts on song titles. :P

Goodbye Berlin, Hello Erlangen

While Erlangen is certainly not a one horse town, it is certainly a lot smaller than Berlin. It is big enough to warrant a stop for the Intercity Express Trains, but not big enough to have more than one train station.

For the most part, I really enjoyed Berlin. It is a very lively city, with a lot of things to do. It is one of the best cities I have lived in. I took an Intercity express out of Berlin (one of the very regular Hamburg-Munich trains), and had a very nice trip. The seats are more comfortable and offer more legroom than economy class seats in aeroplanes: and considering the lack of security checks and waiting at the airports, the comparative journey times is only slightly longer.

The first major stop on the way was Leipzig, and I must admit, that the scenery was nothing to look at: like the trip to Hamburg, just rolling fields. Even the towns that we passed seemed to be rather boring. The train was trying to make up for lost time however (it arrived 20 minutes late from Hamburg) and for the most part travelled at 200Km/h. After Leipzig the train slowed down considerably, but the scenery was a lot better: more mountains, forests and rivers, and it was only when we neared Erlangen, that it picked up speed again. I am not sure why it slowed down: could be the track or incline. I was at the front end of the train (well it was actually the back end in Berlin, but the train changed directions at Erlangen) and the drivers compartment was all glass from the inside, so you could see the driver drive the train: very cool, and a very pleasant change from the aeroplane cockpits.

Before I left, Hans-Peter warned me that, except for cafes and restaurants, most things were closed on Sundays. In Berlin, there was no evidence of this, but in Erlangen, it seems many cafes and restaurants are closed too! And while I was expecting a lot higher prices (Berlin is reputed to be one of the cheapest cities in Germany and in fact Europe), my current experience has been the opposite. Time will tell.

The place I am staying has both its good and bad. The good: it is very close to the main town centre, and basically everything is walking distance. The bad: I am trying to work out whether my room in Kopano was bigger than the apartment I am staying in now ... I think Kopano is winning :P