News Roundup

Some brief news links.
Naturists are battling the government's plans to outlaw people taking off their clothes in public. They can count on my support :)
Police are searching for 118 missing piglets. The motive is yet unknown, but when a robbery of 100 lettuces and tomatoes follows, my bet's the bakery is next.
Just to prove that Birmingham really is a safe place to live, in a police amnesty on arms (hand in any weapon, and no prosecution will follow) in the west midlands, a slightly unusual piece was handed in. A grenade launcher goes to show that schoolkids are getting slightly out of control...
Finally, a well written article about net censorship and the war that is definitely worth reading.

Back to Mainz, and the Hague carload came back last night, Noelia is nursing an oil-burnt hand, had a great meal (provided by Olga, Bivi, Roberto) and film (la flor de mi secreto) experience in Bretzenheim on Sunday.

No rest for the wicked...

Student Cones

Funny title, but it has it's reasons. Not sufficient in taking away our civil liberties, our privacy, instilling fear in the population, now the government wants to take away the life and blood of its students. Yes, they want all traffic cones returned to government departments, and as such, have set up an amnesty so no questions will be asked. So what are we supposed to do now when we come home drunk from the pubs and clubs at 4am ??? At least we can keep the signposts, traffic lights and shopping trolleys... :)

Something a bit more personal now. Don't sit up in your chairs just yet though, I didn't mean that personal !!. Last night saw the Hechtsheim Bar open its doors for the new Erasmus students. After all the newbies went off to bed, we arrived, and had a great time dancing away to hits of the eighties (up-to-date, Germany :)

Well, that's all for now, pictures of Bologna are in progress, and you might just notice a change in me tomorrow.

Wait and see.

What a life

Well, for those of you who don't understand spanish, I think I'd better let you into what I've been upto over the last...month ?!!!

Valencia in the Fallas was great, had a superb time with Jordi, Dani, Paolo, and all the others we met there (way to many to list here - sorry!). Some of the most memorable moments were in the street parties, returning home at about 6am, having drunk a little bit :) A certain moment when we circled a tree singing "que nadie mea aqui" (you'll have to ask us for an explanation...) and in the final cremation of the Falla in the square of the city hall, when everybody turned to face the building of the PP (the ruling political party in Spain) and shouted "Stop the war". Very emotional, especially considering that the war then started 3 hours later...

By the way, the photos from the Fallas of 2003 are up, so go have a ganders.
Whilst on the subject of photos, the birthday dinner and party of Jordi, Javi and Lou are also up, as are those of the leaving party of Fernando and Joan.

What else has happened...well, the official changeover of houses has happened, and so Hechtsheim has said goodbye to Jordi, Javi, Juanfran, Carmen and Luca, and hello to Carlitos.

Whilst Dani and Paolo were here in Mainz (yes, they came over here after having been in the fallas) and after having had much fun at the Eisgrub, Javi and I were persuaded (ok, it didn't take much effort at all) to go and visit them in Bologna. Which is where we have been since Sunday until this morning at 2am when we arrived in Mainz.
We had such an amazing time there, it was unbelievable. We ate like kings, had fun at the parties with the friends, family and housemates of our two bologneses, and left with much will to return someday soon (what are you doing this weekend, Javi? :) There definitely are a thousand reasons to come back to this incredible city. The photos will be put up as soon as possible.

Now to a bit of general news. Although we have only just found out, a bomb was left outside the IBM building in Bologna on the 31st, whilst we were there. Luckily it didn't explode.

Best get back to work, catchup time...

Excuses, excuses...

Probably due to the previously mentioned workload I had, the last five days have seen me sick. Not in the head, nor literally, rather ill with a fever, high temperature, dry throat, trouble breathing, no strength...and all that without touching a drop of alcohol !!!!

So now you've heard my excuses for not having the time to put up the photos of the party before I go off to Valencia (tomorrow at 7.15 I catch a tram...). Of course, I am not alone, Carlitos will be accompanying me on this journey, so prepare yourselves for what we will bring :)

Recompenses will be granted once (if) I return...

Another week passes...

So much work, so little time. Briefly though, Last friday the bar was hired out and we had an amazing party for the birthdays of Jordi, Lou, and Javi. The photos of which, will be put up as soon as possible, but due to the fact i am working all hours of the day at the moment, I can't promise when I will have the time (although I hope to do it before I go off to Valencia).

Oh, yeah, that was the other point. Next wednesday I will be flying off to sunny Spain, to visit the Fallas once again. Of course, this means I need to catch up with all the work that I won't be able to do in this time, which is why I have little time :(

One person that has already gone back to his country, is Javi. Before he left, however, he invited us to dine at the Eisgrub on wednesday night. Fifteen spaniards (or south-americans or english...) sat down at a huge table and ate their way through mounds of meat and salads. We also drank a tube of 5 litres of beer, and a couple of 3-litre tubes on top. Coming back home we stayed in the bar for a couple of drinks, where the atmosphere was still flowing.

All in all, a great time.

Anyway, Jordi is moving house tonight, and something else is bound to be planned.

Until the next

Birthday Week

This week has to be the week of celebrations. Firstly was the birthday of Laura on Saturday, then came that of Jordi on Tuesday, Lou celebrates on Friday, and Luca on the coming Sunday. Phew! Talk about being busy !!!

So last weekend was celebrated in the usual italian style, with pasta, wine and cakes. Very nice.
Monday night we descended on the bar where Maria and company were working. After quite a few drinks we retired to the TV room where I was verbally attacked by nearly every spaniard (thanks go to Lou who tried to defend me). Of course it was the subject of always, Gibraltar, but it all took place in fun, nothing serious :)

After waking up a bit late the next morning, and spending a day at work and uni, the evening started off with a lovely dinner at Jordi's place, where some great puddings were also brought by. The wine flowed, as did the music, as we set off to the bar of the WGs. Except it was closed (holidays) so instead we invaded Fernando's place :) The atmosphere was perfect, and we all enjoyed a good time.

Of course, this morning not everyone woke up as early(ish) as me...

Until the next birthday

Long time, no see, lots done

As seems to be the habit of late, I haven't written anything here for a while. Instead of giving you excuses (like the night shifts I've been working, the extra workload I have this week) I would like to mention the fact that a load more photos have been put up. Get ready, hold on tight, and I'll take you for a ride. First up, visits to Trier and Venice: Photos-Places-Trier : Girl's Day Out,
Photos-Places-Venice and of course, the amazing party that was in the house of Pau: Photos-Parties-Casa Pau.

And that about raps it all up for now, I will return.

Newsflashes

First up, another four arrests have been made near to London airports, and a Hand Grenade found in the luggage at London Gatwick. The police and soldiers are still on high alert all over the country, so I'm quite pleased I'm away from it all at the moment :)

Now, seeing as it's a certain saint's day, best wishes go out to Valentina. On the same theme, a study into how we fall in love reports that the first 90 seconds to 4 minutes are essential in finding out if we love someone. Well, that's my chances down the drain then, cos it takes that long for someone to understand what I'm trying to say (fault of me not being able to roll my 'r's...).

In Malaysia a slightly unusual request from the government has been issued, that women check the pants of their husbands and take them into a government office to be used as evidence...

Other breaking news, is that along with Luca and Carmen, the Studentenwerk of Mainz is kicking out Jordi and Javi from Hechtsheim !! Could this be the first step in their new apartheid regime? The other tell-tale signs have been the cancelling of Erasmus/Spanish parties in the bar, the non-payment to foreign students who have worked in the bar, and the proposed segregation of foreign students from the Germans in the halls of residence in Mainz.
What next? Seperate buses, trams, toilets, eating areas in the Mensa???

This is not the end...

Gulf Wars and The Force

With all the news at the moment surrounding Iraq and the impending war, a quick insight in how it's likely to end can be found on the Gulf Wars 2 webpage. It's quite long, but it's also quite amusing.

A recent Census reports that there are 390,000 people across England and Wales who belong to the Jedi faith. How they practice it is not stated, however.

Yesterday saw me cook for Alberto, Susi, Tere, Pilar and Maria and I'm told it tasted quite good. We then went down to the TV room to see Spain beat Germany in a 'friendly' football match.

Tomorrow sees the party in Paul's house which should be very good indeed, Longino (Erasmus in Paris) is coming down to visit us for the weekend (update: he will be returning to Valencia next week, and so will not be coming to see us), and on Saturday there are anti-war protests organised all over europe. Oh, and in Mainz the police from the region were out on strike today.

That's it for now

Le Weekend

Where to begin...
Last weekend was planned thus:
Thursday night fly from Frankfurt Hahn to London Stansted, parents pick me up in car. Spend the Friday sorting out the things I wanted to take back to Germany with me. Saturday morning go to London and catch the plane to Venice. Sunday night return from Venice, collect my bag from home and then catch a plane to Germany on Monday morning.

What actually happened varied slightly from the aforementioned plan.
Thursday night awaiting the flight from Hahn, it was announced that, due to heavy snow storms in London, Stansted Airport was closed, and my flight was cancelled. Great!
The following flight was at 6.45am, so I decided to return to Mainz and spend a few hours there in the company of Jordi, Alberto and Lourdes. Of course, by this time there were no trams any more, so I had to get a taxi back to Hechtsheim. Met up with said people, saw the film of the Kutre Concierto II (which I had missed by being at the airport) and then at 4am left (by taxi again) to catch the bus to Hahn.
Checked-in for this first flight, and waited until they announced that this too was cancelled, as the weather had not improved over london. As the next flight was at 11-ish, I decided it would not be worth returning, so I waited in the airport foyer.
Came and went 3 more flights, until finally, at 6.45pm on the Friday a plane left Germany for England with me on it.

Of course, getting to the UK is one thing, but getting out of Stansted is another. The motorways were blocked, the trains were not running, and there was a 2-hour wait before a taxi would be available (and then a 3km queue for it as well). Of the 10,000 people stranded at the airport, I did not want to be included. So instead, once Kathy had managed to arrive, we went off to the Hilton (the only hotel in Stansted).
As it was Chinese New Year, we sat down for a meal of some oriental dishes before going to bed. Not much time to sleep, however, as at 4am we had to get the bus back to Stansted to go off to Venice. At this time the airport was still closed due to snow, and so in the end we had another 4 hours delay.

Arriving in Venice, we were definitely taken aback by how amazing the city is. It really is a lovely place, with the canals running all through the centre, with gondolas passing by. It was, however, very cold at this time, and so travelling through the city on the vaporettas required scarf, gloves and a lot of shivering.
The youth hostel is very well situated, pretty well equipped, and best of all (unlike the rest of Venice) cheap !!

The Saturday afternoon and Sunday were spent visiting the Basilica, Palace, and all the other tourist attractions, as well as getting lost in the side streets and wondering about aimlessly taking in the views.

Sunday night returned to London, were my parents were ready to collect us, went back to my place, had some dinner (at midnight) and then proceeded to pack my bag for Germany.
Finishing the packing at 2.30am, I decided half an hour was enough for me to rest before getting up, showering and then catching the bus at 4am.
This time it was my fault, but I overslept and finally woke up at 5.30am. Seeing as the flight was at 7.45, and Stansted is about one and a half hours away from my house, this was not good. Due to very good driving on the part of my mum, we arrived there with 10 mins to spare, caught the plane and got back to Mainz ok.

So, all in all, a great holiday. The photos of which will be put up once I get chance to connect from home.

Of other news, I don't really have much to say, seeing as I was not able to read a paper or see the TV during this time.

Tomorrow my class in Classical Mechanics and Thermodynamics has their exam, so I will be there to hold their hands, so to speak. Afterwards we have to mark all the papers, so our Saturday is going to be pretty busy.

Best get back to work

News Briefs

OK, a quick round-up of what's been going on in the world of late.

Firstly, and most importantly, the EU is redefining the definition of an island !!! According to the new proposals, an island is no longer an island

1) When there are less than 50 permanent residents
2) If it is less than a kilometre from the mainland
3) If it is attached the mainland by a bridge
4) If it contains the capital of an EU state

So, following these new regulations, hundreds of Scottish islands would cease to exist, Lundy (where I went on holiday in September) would become an inhabited rock and the United Kingdom would also lose it's island status !!!
I would just add that this reaffirms my opinion of Europe...

A interesting twist on the old Nigerian email scam, if you receive an email from George Bush asking if you can help him out financially with an oil venture, have a good laugh at the information it contains, as you (if you live in the USA) are already paying the sums requested.

Another IT related newsbite is that a new strain of an SQL-worm has been slowing down the internet over the weekend (so that's why the connection in Hechtsheim is so bad...). The way around it? - update your SQL Server software.

Ever wanted a US Department of Defence military website? Well, now you can, in addition to being able to create any account or domain name you like, you can also alter those of other people as well. Visit The Register for the full story.

On Saturday a tube train came off it's rails in London, injuring 30 people (there were 800 people on board at the time). Reading the accounts, it sounds quite scary.

Okay, now that you're aware of what's happening in the outside world, you can return to your cosy bed...

Bye

Time flies when you're having fun

I can't believe the date of my last posting. Is it really that long ago??? Well, I suppose I have the excuse that in my previous update I put up a huge number of photos...

So what has happened since then? Let's see what I can remember. Jordi is now in his experimental week, but his bosses still ignore him. I am slowly getting some way with my project, despite my boss never being around. Friday night saw the bar taken over by the spanish again, with a great selection of music, most of us managed to drink a bit as well. Finishing at about two thirty in the morning, those of us still awake (Pepe and Lourdes) went back to my place and watched "Fallen" on my DVD with surround sound. Mmmmm. You wouldn't have guessed that Lourdes doesn't like horror films, except if you lived within three blocks, because when she screams...she screams !!

The other night I managed to cook up a little dinner for a few of us, based on a dish from the southern states of America. I presume it went down quite well...

Having brought over some typical English Christmas food, I managed to serve up an amazing burning Christmas Pudding with Custard, followed another day by Mince Pies. All those that like sultanas enjoyed it (not pointing the finger at Jordi at all :)

Saturday night saw the Mojito Party in the flat of Ramsy and Jorge. Amongst the five-litre barrel of beer I brought along, we drank some nice red wine, and of course the amazing Mojitos. Another cocktail to put on my list of favourites. Of course, there wasn't any Kalimocho, but we enjoyed it none the less :)

Tonight (Sunday) a few of us went down to the TV room of Hechtsheim and watched "Y tu mama tambien". I don't know if it was because the radiator was on so high, or because of the content of the film, but myself and the people around me were definitely feeling quite hot...

Apart from that, nothing else I can remember has happened over the last week (I reserve the right to add anything I forgot later on once someone has reminded me :)

Off to get some shut-eye, goodnight

Snow, Photos and News

No sooner than I mention the snow falling in England, and it begins to snow here in Mainz. Yes, this morning saw a cover of white of this city, but not yet deep enough to stay for long. At least it will be a novelty for the spanish looking out of their plane windows.

Finally, and with many apologies for their lateness, new photos are up. Clicking through the links on the left you will find new ones of Nurenberg, more of the Roadtrip, Fernando's Birthday, the Pizzeria, Eisgrub, Halloween, Tortillas de Jorge, Italian Haircut and Random Hechtsheim 2. Phew !

Now that's over with, onto the news. England won the final Ashes test (cricket) against Australia, ending a running streak of victories by the side down-under.
Be careful where you next click, as there are plans to redesign the function of the 'back' button in browsers. If it now goes to the windows site, you know who's been financing this research.
The chief-in-waiting to the European Central Bank (a frenchman) is standing trial for account fraud, in that he allegedly (phew, saved that libel trial) published inexact accounts and released false information. This is the guy that will take over the job of adjusting interest rates in all euro-currency states. Where's your money now? Are you sure?

Well, got my work to get on with, and I expect you want to see all those photos now.

Tara

News Updates

There was I thinking I could get off early to bed the night before term starts, and I find a load of news that interests me, so in no particular order, here they are:

Good job I didn't arrive on Sunday in Germany, as some maniac hijacked a light aircraft and flew it for two hours around the city of Frankfurt, threatening to crash it into the European Central Bank.

In a BBC documentary, Paul Kenyon investigates how easy it is to steal somebody's identity in Britain by doing it for the Home Secretary (yes, the one in charge of MI5, the secret service) and the author Frederick Forsyth (Day of the Jackel, anyone?). Feel safe now, don't you.

And for those of you yearning for some clips of yesteryear, thanks to the website www.britishpathe.com, you can now view a huge selection of video footage that otherwise would have gone unseen in the vaults of the TV companies.

That's it, ciao for now

New Year's Wishes

Well, having not heard from anyone about how their New Year went, I will just wish all the best for 2003, and hope that we will all be able to meet again soon.

Leaving England at eight this morning, and seeing all the fields covered with frost, I realised that we were coming into the coldest time of the year there. Arriving in Germany however, I had to amend that slightly, as over here it's still far far colder. I can't say that I'm not pleased to have a lovely warm radiator next to my bed :)

So I am now stuck here in Mainz, bored moreso than I was in my village, as no-one is back yet (well, okay, some locals are, but none of my friends) and so I am occupying myself with the new DVDs that I bought over Christmas, and with sorting out all the work that I brought back with me and didn't have time to do.

Please somebody rescue me from this fate (I am on my German mobile now if you feel like phoning...)

A bit of Bollywood and Tolkien

Sunday was a very early start, leaving for London at just after eight in the morning. After walking the length of Oxford Street without finding anything except for 'Tie Rack' open (and not wanting any new ties) I headed off for the British Museum.

Anyone would have thought, due to the proximity to where I have lived for many years, that I would have visited it often. Alas, this was but my second time (my first I don't remember, I was in a pushchair). And what a mistake that had been !

The exhibitions of the Greeks and Romans, of Egypt, of the changing faces of Britain, and the Gallery Ceiling and the Reading Room were amazing, I could not have stumbled upon a more interesting and worthwhile venue to spend the morning at. Most highly recommended !!

After eating at a very tasty Japanese restaurant, we went along to the Apollo Victoria Theatre to watch Bombay Dreams, Shakalaka baby !!.

Today (okay, yesterday now as it's one in the morning) was spent shopping in Aylesbury (finally some new trousers !!!) and the final hours in the cinema watching the astounding The Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers. One of the best spent three hours of my spare time. Amazing film, astounding cinematography, gripping plot. I can no longer wait until the next one comes out, I have the book and will read it cover to cover as soon as possible.

Tonight, New Year's Eve I will be up in Birmingham celebrating with friends from Uni. You might get to hear about what happened, but only if I remember it :)

Other thoughts will go out to Javi, however, who will be running the 10km San Silvestre in Madrid from 6pm local time. We wish him speed, stamina, and a good helping of food for when he comes home. You can watch the rankings on the dedicated website and look for number 5294, Javi Gonzalez (should be somewhere near the top).

Shopping

A brief overview of what's been happening with me lately. Christmas Day was spent with my family cooking and serving Christmas Dinner to the old people of Great Missenden (the nearest town to my village). The food was great, everybody enjoyed themselves, and at 6pm we returned home just in time to sit in front of the TV for an evening of entertainment (frequently interspersed with a game of cards).

Boxing Day saw us eat some of the remnants of the Christmas turkey, so our own Christmas Dinner was put off until the 27th. Suckling Pig, mmm, need I say more?

Today was the day for shopping. We went off to Watford (another town relatively close by) and spent the day buying clothes, books and a DVD. Coming home a bit lighter in the pocket, but with something to show for it.

Other news from slightly further afield is that at last Javi has received his suitcase that was lost in transit from Germany to Spain. And nothing was broken inside. So someone is definitely feeling relieved this Christmas.

Still no word from Noelia to confirm if she's alright, so we'll just have to wait to see if she turns up at some point. However, the old Erasmosian Pili is alive and in Spain still :) Apart from that, Mavi is going down to Cordoba for New Year, Jordi is staying in Valencia and Laura is going down to Tuscany. I wish them all a great time on this night, and to just think of me stuck here in Blighty.

Back to bed...

More News

Well, I know what my new-year's resolution will be, to find time to update this site more often !!!

The last week has seen many people disappearing back to their countries of origin, which is why there has been less and less things to do here recently. However, the news still happens; In Birmingham, in a popular (depending on who you ask) electronics store, a father bought a CD-writer as a Christmas present for his family. When they ran the CD that they found in the box with the equipment, however, they were in for a shock. Child pornography is not normally associated with family electronics stores, but...let's just say that there's a lot of apologising going on at the moment.

In California a 15-year old student hacked into his school's computer system and changed his grades. For the worse! Nobody quite knows why he did this, but he got an award for his 'project'. Just goes to show which way the education system is going...

When you are driving along the roads in your new BMW or Merc (possibly a Christmas present?) just hope you're nowhere near a military base. As TheRegister reports, they are using an increased surveillance system that demobilises these new cars. Wait to see what happens if they up the power a bit more...

Well, after the departmental party on Thursday, the final Erasmus party in Mainzer Kolleg of the year was visited, where I have to admit I had probably the best night of this semester, thanks to messers Smirnoff, Blue Caracau, Gluehwein, Hefeweizen, oh and of course, the impeccable company of Laura, Giulia, Ramsy, Paco, Carlitos and the many others that I don't remember if I saw or not ;)

Will be heading back to blighty on monday, so no more dirty phonecalls on my german number, alright :)

Have a great Christmas !

Catch-Up

Ok, a quick resume of what's been happening here recently. Firstly I have been really busy with work, homework, and numerous other little things, which is why there hasn't been an update for a long while (ok, five days feels like a long while for me, actually it's a lot longer since I've written anything in English...).

Last Saturday was spent in Nuremberg with the italians (Laura, Giulia, Alicia and Silvia) visiting the Christmas market and a bit of the city itself. All had a good time, but were relieved in the evening when we got back to our warm rooms.

The last week has seen the temperature plummet, and has not gone above -2 degrees for 6 days. Today, however, everything changed. It is no longer so cold (about 1 degree I think) because it is now raining. What lovely weather we have here. As for those of you in Spain, if anyone even mentions what the weather is like over there again, I'll...

By the way, to check out the actual weather here at the University of Mainz, visit this page.

Other things that have happened recently; the italians had to lead a discussion in class about Shakespeare's Sonnets. After two hours of talking, the teacher congratulated them, so it must have gone well.

A brief for a nameless person just to say that trying to do the washing-up drunk, and thereby using olive oil instead of washing-up liquid, is not recommended :)
Friday night saw Jordi and Miquel take to the stage in Hechstheim Bar playing guitars and singing various populour Spanish tunes. The serving of cold beverages was seen to by myself and the man known as "Mit Scharf". The evening went with great success, seeing 102 litres of beer drunk (it wasn't all me, honest) and various sing-alongs by members of the audience.

At 4am today Jordi had his shift with the Nuclear Physics Experimental Group, and at midday I took over. So all in all quite a tiring weekend.

Lastly I have to mention that the fabulous sister of Laura (Chiara, or "mongolona") is here on holiday at the moment (why anybody would swap Bologna for Mainz is beyond me...) and hopefully enjoying herself a lot.

This coming week sees many people returning home for Christmas, in particular Noelia and Jorge on Monday, Alberto on Wednesday, and me on the 23rd. To everybody go out Christmas Greetings, and wishes for a Happy New Year.

Enjoy yourselves !

Birthdays and some News

Yesterday saw both Pili (in Valencia) and Fernando (here in Mainz) become a year older. Best wishes to them both, and let's hope they celebrated accordingly :)

Now to what's been happening lately. Yesterday saw two demonstrations take place in this otherwise quite town. One in Schillerplatz by the Police, Dustmen, Gasmen (still don't know what the protest was about though) and the other one at the Hauptbahnhof by students to protest about student fees for education.

Elsewhere, a fridge has been developed that cools its contents by using sound. Something to teach youngsters not to swallow things they're not meant to, a woman had to jump-start her car by pressing her toddler against the steering wheel after he swallowed the de-mobiliser chip. And for those of you who get really annoyed with those pop-up ads that look like error messages, the company who invented them is being taking to court for misleading millions of workers to disturb their jobs in order to visit this site.

Apart from that, it's just left for me to welcome Jen from Birmingham, who will be coming to visit for the weekend, and also Soph and Beecs who will be coming Sunday til Tuesday. Just remember to bring your coats ladies, because it's freezing here now !

Hi-ho, and back to work I go.