Stress

OK, a short rundown on what's been happening recently. I have moved into my house in Birmingham where I am living with four lovely ladies (they forced me to say that). Am presently working all day at the international office of said uni. The phone company hasn't given us a line yet, so we can't access the internet at home (nor phone anyone), and my mobile phone company has cut off my phone so you can't contact me either.

So, I'm not having too much fun at the moment. In fact, I barely have time to cook when I get home before going off to bed.

To completely top off the week so far, the company who I gave my photos of the 'Tomatina' and all the parties in Valencia to have now closed down, so I might not ever get my photos back either !!!

So, I'm just going to go back home and sulk, I think. Nothing else to do really.

Hopefully the next update should be more positive.

OK, my excuses are running out now, I think I might just apologise that I haven't written here for a long time and let it be.

I did arrive back from my holiday on Lundy (an island in the Bristol Channel) a few days ago, and have since been sorting out all my things to go up to birmingham once again. But seeing as I still haven't unpacked from returning from germany, let alone spain, it needs a lot of time.

There are some great things in store for this website, all I'm hoping is that I can get most of them done before term starts and I have to study again. My photos of Spain are finally back, yes, all 1000 of them ! There will be a careful selection procedure before putting them up on the web, but as you can see by the shear number of them, it might take a couple of weeks to get them sorted.

So I'm going up to london tomorrow evening to see a few friends from uni and school, and then friday I leave for birmingham. Suppose the weather will be just the same there as her, namely raining all day, and no sun in sight.

OK, that's about it for now, let's hope everything goes smoothly.

Over and out.

Back in the saddle

Well, finally got on a bike for the first time in over a year, and am addicted once again. Will have to get mine fixed though before I get to uni.

Now a big thank you to all the (ERASMUS) people in Spain that made my trip out there so memorable. It really made a great occasion at the various parties, meals, cinemas (?). I hope we will be able to arrange a repeat in the near future. As there were so many of you I will not mention names now, but leave that for my diary of my holiday, which I will put up once I get back from my other holiday in 8 days.

Well, goodbye for now, and don't forget to check back soon for the full lowdown on this holiday (or send me an email if you would like to ask any questions that I won't cover on the site).

Back in Blighty

OK, time seemed to go by a bit too quickly so that in the end I couldn't put my diary online. So I'll just have to have it linked to soon once I've typed it all up.

I am now back at home (South Heath) until I go on a little relaxing holiday with my parents from friday. I had an excellent time in Spain, and really am going to miss all the people that I met up with (and those that couldn't make it). I only hope that some of you are also going to be coming over to see what England has to offer (Gibraltar not included).

Well, with the sadness still running through my mind, I will return to tell of great tales in the country that is Espanya.

Interrailing in Spain

Well, a brief note to those of you unaware to what is happening with me at the moment.

I am presently underway across spain with my brother with the famous interrail ticket. We have seen a lot of spain already, and have plans to see the rest of it before the 31st of August, when we return to England.

A more detailed note will be sent shortly

A few brief notices

Yes, it is still raining here in England, mind you not the whole day, just the bit when you want to go outside.
So what has really happened to the summer weather then? Has good old Tony gone and sold it off to some third-world nation just so that he can say we are giving aid? Then again is the lack of support for reducing the cost of medical treatment/drugs in poorer countries just that? - we are keeping them with AIDS, not helping to get rid of it.

Another news clippet you might have seen or heard today is that the "Real IRA" have yet again viciously bombed our capital trying to maim and kill as many people as possible. This time they packed a car with so much explosives that it blew away an area of over 200 metres !!! And to think I was passing nearby soon afterwards.

And Bush manages to ruin another pact of 56 nations that has been going on for 7 years with a simple "no". He doesn't agree to a biological weapons treaty. Nice to know that the world's richest and most powerful country doesn't care about the environment nor cares about the sick nature of these sorts of weapons.

OK, that's me over and done with todays little voices. I will be back, hopefully with something more pleasant to say, tomorrow. Sleep tight.

As you can see by the reduction in frequency of me writing here, there has not been that much going on here. I am busy organising all sorts of things, and still haven't unpacked any of my bags.

And just to make things even better, it has been raining all day. Yes, that's right, we're at the height of summer and tonnes of water are coming out of the sky. Just as well I stayed at home then.
To make matters even worse, I can just imagine all the people in their respective countries relaxing in the sunshine on the beach. Unfair.

Well, a bit of news for you anyway. Apparently we're not drinking enough beer (we're still drinking more beer than soft-drinks, but less than before). Find out more from the bbc.

Okay, that's it for now, I'll let you get back to your fun in the sun.

Back Home

After a long 2-day journey in the car, going through germany, luxemburg, and france to england I arrived back home this evening.

I hope friday night was good for everyone. Unfortunately, I was dead due to exhaustian from packing all afternoon, and so did not get to see all of you before you left. I did come down and see as many people that were left, and was even visited in my room as I was finishing packing. However, despite all that, I still enjoyed myself, and wish you all the best for the following year - wherever you may be. I definitely will remember this year as the best one I've ever had, and will never forget any of you.

Signing out for tonight

Last entry from Germany

Not wanting to say very much (I know that's very unlike me) I thought I'd just inform you all that this is my last day at the Uni here in Mainz. Tonight my parents are coming to pick me up and we return tomorrow morning to the beautiful country that is England.

Therefore there is a big party in Hechtsheim tonight. Everybody is invited (although I have to draw the line at the police), and if they could bring a bottle it would definitely be a good thing.

In the possibility that I don't write anything on this site for a while, don't fret. It takes a couple of days to get back home, then I've got to unpack, but I will be here again beforenext wednesday.

Hope everyone else that's leaving after me has a good trip, and we'll see each other soon.

And if you haven't given me your contact details, write them in the form that is on the "Email" page of this website.

Signing out.

Sooner than some people would want, I suppose, but here I am

OK, a very brief summary, as you will find out I don't have a lot of time today. There is a picnic in Sudbahnhof which is probably happening right at this minute. I will be getting down there as soon as I've collected my schein. Tonight there is a cocktail evening at Ethel's place, with guest appearance from her mum. Last night Mavi came round and cut my hair again. Send your condolences/congratulations to her/me now.

And onto some news:
A catholic priest has managed to clear someone from a murder charge in America by claiming that someone else confessed to the murder 16 years ago. There will almost certainly be an appeal, but that's not the end of it for the priest. In doing so he has sacriliged the art of confession. It seems like an interesting topic, so say what you think.
It has also now been proven in Japan, that 30 minutes of passive smoking harms your heart, giving it spasms and stopping it from functioning properly for a while.
So do you think smoking should be banned inside all public buildings? Find out in the new poll section.

You may notice that I'm quite busy at the moment, and so don't have a lot of time to write here. This is because I am leaving on saturday morning for the good old UK.

I do, however, have time to read emails and messages in my guestbook. Also I'm managing to keep up to date with the news. Speaking of which, I would like to bring your attention to a nwe virus/worm that is circulating the net. It is very clever, and it's for that reason that I'm talking about it here. It's called Sircom, and it only requires a windows machine for it to infect it. Also, because the name of the file and message randomly changes, it is quite hard to track down. The best way to avoid it, as always, is not to open attachments from anyone you know unless they refer to them in the email, and the email looks like it has been written by them. Anyway, more detailed information can be found on the link above.

As a total surprise Blanca is back here until the 15th of August, so if you're around come and see her again. People are leaving tomorrow as well (eg Elisabeth) so better say goodbye before it's too late.

Well that's me done for the moment. I'll be back again soon.

Now you will definitely be wondering what I'm still doing on the web. Not too long a story, so here goes:

Whilst leaving the ZDV, I met Geir on his way in. I duly summoned him to give me some help with the problem I was having with my guestbook. He put me in the right direction, and after a few trial and errors, I came up with the result that is now linked to under "Guestbook".

So, after my 12 hour stint in front of this computer, I think it well and truly time that I leave this building and try to get some colour into my skin once again.

Website Update

OK, you may not know this but I've just been in the uni computer room since 8.30am on a saturday, and it is now 5.15pm.

What have I been doing, you may ask?

Well, I've been changing the site behind the scenes that it works a bit better, and is less reliant on Mainz Uni. This is important, as when I leave to go back to the UK I will no longer be able to use anything on the uni website. Nearly everything has been changed now, just the guestbook to go.

I have also bee implementing the project that Geir and I completed. You will not see the effects of this until it is completely set up, but keep your eyes peeled, it'll be up within a week.

Also, as a new feature I have a poll section. This means, that each day I can put up a new question for visitors to my website to vote on. The example one asks if this is a good idea. If you think so, I will improve it and change the questions on a regular basis.

OK, my brain's been drained now, got to find some sunlight.

Job Search

Due to his previous company going into receivership, my dad is now currently looking for work. If you are interested, or know someone else who might be, please forward a copy of his CV and covering letter to them.

Yesterday saw the farewells directed towards Sofia and Rebecca when we went out to have a drink. Starting off as Geir, myself and them two, we were soon to be joined by Laurent. We did a short pub crawl, yet drunk enough for a long one. Well, Sofia will be back at her home now, having eaten a roast dinner cooked by her mother. So I don't think she'll be missing any of the german food then.

Slowly piling up my stack of 'Scheins'. Today I was presented with the particle-detectors one, as well as my Dutch one. Only another two to go (and a little work for one of them).

However, tonight we have the semester-end party in the Muschel and the medicine students party in the Studihaus. So we should have a great time with the people that are still around.

Anyway, being slightly pressed for time, I will endeavor to return tomorrow.

Byeeeeee.

Sleeping and leaving

Got to bed at a reasonable hour last night, only to wake up at 11am. Seeing as my last spanish class started at 12, I quickly got ready and left. Whilst waiting for a bus to take me to uni, I bumped into Sandra who told me about a factory that had caught fire close to the Wohnheim. The police came around with loudspeakers at 5am telling everyone to shut their windows and doors to prevent the toxic fumes from coming in. However, seeing as I, along with lots of others, slept quite well without hearing any of this, our windows were left open.

Well, it's time to say goodbye to a few people this week. Sophia and Rebecca both leave on thursday and friday respectively, Laurent disappears on friday as well, as does Pili.

Slowly the circle dwindles until it is no more.

One last thing. On the 20th-22nd July there is the 3rd annual beerfestival in Mainz, so if you're in the area, pull up a stool.

It was Diana's birthday on saturday (26), and so after having a bit of a birthday party at her place we then went out to the Mainzer Kollege Bar for the evening. Fun was had by all.

Well, seems like everybody is busy revising for exams, and desperately trying to finish off their essays to hand in this week, so nothing much more to say.

Todays events

Woke up today very early to try to finish one of the books, and read the other one on the tram. Talk about last minute revision. Had an oral exam on Friedrich Dürrenmatt at 9am on Friday 13th. Great. In fact, it was. I got a 1,0 which is the highest grade there is. Anyone ever feel like they are studying the wrong subject???

I even ate some nice food in the Mensa !!!
But that's where the day stopped being good to me. But I'm not going to spoil things and say why it went bad after that.

This will be the last weekend here for some of the erasmus students (including Sophia and Rebecca). So there should be some celebrating/mourning going on tonight.

Monday should see Geirs and mine web-project come into being.

Small but perfectly formed

This entry is only to say that people are suddenly realising how little time they have got left here, and are desperately trying to finish off all their necessary work before the week is out. Of course this means there are also exams, of which my german one is this friday (13th) at 9am, which should be fun, especially conisdering I haven't read the book about which I have to talk. Never mind.

On another note, there has been a sudden spurge of cases of Legionnaire's disease in Murcia, which, if you had see all my photos, was a place that I visited on my trip to spain this year. The disease is said to be pneumonia like, but carried by polluted water. Well, considering the smell that wafts up from the river in this city, I'm not surprised.

Anyway, going to try and get some work done.

Just to keep you updated, I had a great time in Munich, despite no-one coming on the saturday to meet up with me.

Also, it seems like there is a big problem in the email messaging system, and I reckon that no-one understood my last email (even the bit that said if you wanted it in your own language) so I will have to do something about that. Also, I get back to Mainz only to wake up this morning with the biggest hay-fever symptoms ever. My eyes and nose have been giving me nothing but pain all day. Anyway, enough of my moaning (ok, one more - I can't log into my email account today to check any messages).

Hopefully tomorrow will bring better news.