ten crazy weeks in spring

what at leipzig university would have been an agenda of at least half a year (students would always negotiate for deadlines even after that) is a matter of condensed ten weeks in athens.

i am happy to announce that i survived my first quarter as a graduate student. looking back i wonder how i made it, ten crazy weeks in spring.

first things first, my laptop became my best friend. my fingers are at this point glued to its lovely silver keys. all of my classes dealt with online journalism: its fundamentals, its ethics, its offerings for broadcasting, and its new promises for international news (are there any?). i handed in two twenty page finals papers one based on internet sources only.

for two classes i had to write extensively in two new separate blogs. for one i uploaded video for the first time; for the other one i had to lead a discussion group for my research topic, also a first for me. in addition i worked as a graduate student, another new good experience. albeit researching happiness (or eudaimonia as aristotle called it) can cause unhappiness when in a crazy schedule time crunch.

i learnt about bangladesh and romania and met more germans. i went to new york city to help transport a dog to europe. i gave a talk about east germany that only a handful attended, conquered the top of the ohio university's climbing wall several times despite my not abating fear of the sound when the rope tightens and i dangle in the air, and i got lessons in the trickiness of competitive south asian badminton.

so i keep learning and struggling with being a foreigner in a culture that most germans adore on television but know little about beyond the stereotypes of bad bush (the person), superficial small talk assumptions, and fried fast food.

and i'll keep posting about it.

a special week in athens

it's a special week in athens, ohio.

students are working extra hard either to study for their final projects or to move. the library has become a zoo crammed with people flocking around every computer available. study rooms sprinkled with crackers and decorated by overflowing trash cans. sometimes it even smells like one, ventilators fighting in vain the sticky sweaty summer air that seeps in from the masses coming and going every second.

the streets have turned into a public furniture exhibit with couches, armchairs, and cupboards with cute brown woven drawers. the display is set in a beautiful background of lush green trees and blue, yellow and white flowers. students haul their precious huge television sets into their car, mommies and daddies come with big boxes to help out.

the two campus papers have vanished. no more glimpses into the woes and sorrows of the u.s. soul that i used to read about in my favorite column 'dear abby' whenever i was riding the bus. since u.s. americans are usually 'fine', 'great', or something else positive this was a rare occasion to learn about their troubles. the bus by the way will cease running, too. no funding for ohio university's catsbus during summer this year. no more friendly npr when avoiding a rainy walk uptown.

the city's main inhabitants, its students, are draining off: taking their first job in california, emigrating to italy, or visiting their home country.

peace is settling upon the bricks of shattered beer bottles.

bonnie goes over the ocean

how a dog is shipped from athens, ohio to lüneburg, germany


conny said she has a dog now. she rescued it out of the claws of nearing death in an overflowing dog shelter in zanesville, ohio. but that was not quite yet the happy end for bonnie as the overhappy owner baptized her new pet, it was the beginning of an adventure for both. conny needed to get bonnie from athens, ohio to lüneburg, germany.

this is the story of a bureaucratic and physical odyssey recently braved by german exchange student conny matthes at ohio university.


saturday, april 26, 2008
athens, ohio
3:10 AM. it is dark and quiet in athens, ohio. a few drunken students stumble homeward. i’m sitting next to jerone who in a few minutes will give a dog a nine-hour ride to newark liberty international airport, new jersey.

3:20 AM. after poking around the area to find the right junction, we arrive at conny’s friend’s house where bonnie lives. conny and bonnie are excited. both have been awake during the night, getting ready for the long journey, sorting papers, going for a walk, and playing. now conny puts bonnie into the flight crate and the bulky plastic box goes in the back of the van.


saturday, april 26, 2008
on the road westbound
3:30 AM. finally on the route 50 eastbound the mood in the car is peaceful. bonnie settled down in her flight crate and falls asleep. conny worries a little: “that I’m not allowed to put anything into the crate is the hardest thing. bonnie always snuggles her nose in it.” the t-shirt in the crate is the one that conny wore when she first picked up bonnie from the dog shelter in zanesville, ohio on march, 14. little did bonnie know that she not only was rescued from sure death -– she was the 210th dog in the month of february in the overflowing shelter -– but would make a journey that probably only a few dogs make in their life time: flying nine hours as cargo over the atlantic ocean.

meet bonnie

age: 9 months old
race: golden retriever-labrador-brittany hunting dog mix
size: 23.5 inches from head to toe
original name: blazer
origin: unclear, the dog shelter does not tell the new owner
former home: dog shelter in zanesville, ohio
temporary home: south shannon avenue in athens, ohio
new home: lüneburg and mainz in germany


saturday, april 26, 2008
on the road westbound
07:30 AM. our first stop, in hancock, maryland. bonnie needs to pee and drink some water. she can’t have any food anymore –- eating is not allowed prior to the flight. but bonnie is contend. she doesn’t bark, growl or whine. if anything, she wants more play time. she is only nine months old and loves to pick up bugs, a totally torn rag, and jumping up on people.


08:00 AM. back on track conny tells her story how she met bonnie and decided to adopt her.

how conny met bonnie or why did conny go through all the hassle?
it started during an afternoon in late february. conny was at home sick with stomach flu. for distraction she watched tv where the pedigree adoption ad came up for the fifth time. she got into thinking. wasn’t it stupid to take a u.s. puppy? there are plenty in germany. but conny was bored. she thought she might as well look online what it all was about. on the website was the picture of a cutie that looked like conny’s old dog. instead of a farewell party with her friends, conny had to put her old anemic dog to sleep just shortly. conny was devastated. after some family diplomacy it was decided, conny will get bonnie.


chips, forms, and rabies shots
it turned out that bonnie had to fly by herself even before conny would return to germany. conny couldn’t keep bonnie in her apartment; the landlord forbids it. bonnie lived with conny’s friend in a neat house with backyard. but despite this nice arrangement it was stressful for conny and her friend to have bonnie living away from conny. they agreed that bonnie would fly as soon as all paper work was done.

conny was optimistic; german customs told her she needed four things in order to import bonnie:

1. international health certificate
2. bilingual e.u. form 998
3. rabies shot older than 30 days
4. microchip


conny thought that it didn’t take much to bring a dog to germany after all, but the nitty-gritty of meeting the requirements were more than she had asked for.

• the health certificate had to be approved by the united states department of agriculture (usda) in addition to getting the certificate from a local vet. the usda has only one office for ohio and west virginia in pickerington, ohio, about an hour and a half car ride from athens.

• the microchip had to be a european union chip. in contrast to the number letter combination used on u.s. chips, it contains 15 digits without letters. conny had to order one online.

• the dog shelter missed to fill in conny’s and bonnie’s name, misestimated her age and left out the information that bonnie was spayed in the adoption papers. this created problems for dr. murray at the abfall vet clinic in the south plaines to fill out bonnie’s health certificate. dr. murray had to check back with the dog shelter in zanesville, ohio.

that the usda needs to approve the health certificate posed a real problem. only a day before bonnie’s schedule flight and half an hour before closing their office conny managed to reach pickerington, ohio. every time she had to go somewhere with or for bonnie she needed to ask people for rides. as an international student she doesn’t have a car since she is 23, car rentals don’t give her a car. pleading and working the phone conny managed to organize a ride whenever something new came up.

conny & bonnie went to the abfall vet clinic in the south plaines three times to get everything done.

• on march 15, 2008 (a day after conny got her from the shelter) bonnie was coughing and spit out yellowish, pussy mucus and blood. she needed antibiotics.

• on april 2, 2008 bonnie’s stitches from the spaying wound needed to come out. conny bought tablets against heartworms that come with mosquitos and are common for pets to pick up in the usa.

• on april 24, 2008 a comprehensive exam for the international health certificate and to get an anti tick and flea ointment.
in addition, dr. murray from the vet clinic came to see bonnie in her backyard to finalize papers just a day before our trip to the airport.


saturday, april 26, 2008 newark liberty international airport, new jersey
12:30 PM. we arrive at the airport. after looping around quite a bit we find continental’s terminal c for domestic flight and cargo. bonnie will fly as cargo in the belly of the plane.

12:45 PM. bonnie doesn’t like the technical voices that are all over the place. the bustling of people make her nervous. conny is anxious. she needs to make the crate ready for flying. the airline has strict rules. she takes out the toy with peanut butter, puts in an absorbing pad (bonnie’s restroom) and a new t-shirt. she warns us, if the airline asks her to take it out, she’ll play dumb. bonnie should have at least one familiar thing to remember her for the next couple of months. “good girl, good girl,” conny pacifies bonnie and takes her on her arms.


12:55 PM. conny carries bonnie inside the airport to the petsafe area, continental’s program for flying animals. i take the crate. a passenger stops to pet bonnie: “isn’t she a cutie?” another dog in an even bigger crate sits close to the counter of the petsafe check-in. it apparently just arrived, beatings its tail against the inside plastic wall, wants out. this dog seems to have managed its flight just fine. this gives hope that conny picked the right airline.


the right airline for bonnie
with the help of the monthly report that the federal aviation authority demands from airlines, conny filtered out the best airline for bonnie: continental. she also checked delta, american airlines, and united airlines. although they offer similar pet programs, conny says they didn’t give enough detailed information what they contain.

continental’s report stated that every month 5.000 to 6.000 pets travel with the airline’s petsafe program; only 1 to 2 die during per month. conny had the feeling that continental really cares for pets. the airline promises to put pets into an acclimatized zone in case a connecting flight leaves more than 45 minutes waiting time. continental’s website says they set up live traps around the airport to catch animals, which escape from their crates in case the door pops open. important for conny was also that continental checks on the animal when the plane arrives and gets a vet immediately if the pet appears sick. while picking continental was an easy call for conny, leaving bonnie with the airline was not.


saturday, april 26, 2008
newark liberty international airport, new jersey
01:15 PM. “shit, this is hard,” says conny while she fills out paper work, nametag, and dog tag. she’s crying. i bolt a small bag with food to bonnie’s crate. conny attaches a water bowl to the door. then jerone and her carry the crate with bonnie inside behind the check-in line. fortunately conny can send the leash attached to the crate. the continental employee puts it in a plastic bag. the guy put is finger in the crate and conny told him that bonnie is very friendly and will come and lick it. the guy just said: "in this case, i have pepper spray." he laughs, just kidding, he says. conny is not amused (was he really just joking?).


01:30 PM. bonnie is checked in, conny in tears. she calls her family: “12 hours I have to wait now before you guys hopefully call me back.” bonnie is supposed to arrive at 01:30 AM (07:30 AM german time) at hamburg’s airport. conny’s family has strict orders from her to let her now how bonnie is doing as soon as they have her. sad and hungry conny walks back to the car. we decide to drive into manhattan to get a bite to eat (since the airport only offers proper food behind security gates).

saturday, april 26, 2008
new york city
02:00 – 06:00 PM. after doing the most insane thing ever, which is driving with a car into manhattan and finding a parking spot, eating in a pizza shop, getting lost in new york city’s often unlabeled street maze, and driving to liberty state park to wave lady liberty hello, we are on the way back to athens, ohio. pictures from new york city are on my flickr.

07:00 PM -12:00 AM. the way back is much harder. conny can’t stop thinking if bonnie is alright. “the airline doesn’t feed bonnie because she’s only flying nine hours.” only after 12 hours continental would give bonnie water, only after 48 hours food. we stop several times, to eat, for restroom breaks and a longer nap in the parking lot of a mc donald’s restaurant. conny sleeps most of the time during driving, when she’s awake her thoughts are with bonnie.


sunday, april 27, 2008
somewhere on i-68 in maryland
01:30 AM. bonnie is supposed to arrive at hamburg’s airport. but conny doesn’t expect a call from her family until 02:00 AM.

02:00 AM. no phone call yet. conny worries that everything went okay. bonnie has now been without food for over 24 hours.

02:30 AM. no phone call from germany yet. conny is upset and calls her dad in germany. but he hasn’t heard anything from her mom at the airport. we try to call continental but conny cannot find a number to call in her papers. calling an operator from the cell phone is too pricy. we try to comfort her, airport procedures take a long time, german bureaucracy is slower than a snail, and the airplane could have departed and landed later than scheduled.

04:00 AM. the phone rings. conny’s mom and brother have found bonnie in good health and happy at the cargo section of hamburg’s airport. procedures and customs took a couple of hours but the german customs’ office let bonnie pass. it is palpable in the car; conny is very relieved and so are we.

04:10 AM. bonnie is on her way to lüneburg, germany -– a half hour car ride from hamburg -- where she will stay with conny’s mom until conny returns to germany on june 28. we are three hours from athens.


bonnie & conny’s costs

adoption incl. spaying -- $95 -- dog shelter zanesville,oh
flight crate -- $69.95 -- petsmart zanesville. oh
usda documents -- $24 -- usda pickerington, oh
trip to usda -- $40 -- gas and driver
e.u. form 998 -- $7.50 -- pettravel.com
e.u. micro chip -- $44.50 -- pettravel.com
inserting micro chip -- $24 -- abfall vet clinic
1st exam and rabies shot -- $44.40 -- abfall vet clinic
2nd exam, tablets against heart worms -- $69.25 -- abfall vet clinic
more tablets against heart worms -- $5 -- abfall vet clinic
travel kit with food bowl and stickers -- $14.50 -- pettravel.com
2 absorbing pads for flight crate -- $15.00 -- pettravel.com
flight newark, nj to hamburg, germany -- $605 -- continental airline
ride athens, oh to newark, nj -- $350 -- gas, driver, car maintenance

total costs -- $1,408.10

how to cook for fifty people?

how many tomatoes do i need to cook for 50 people? asked my friend rocio perez last week.

together with friends she organized a latin american dinner sponsored by the first united method church of athens on friday, april 25, 2008. infected by her enthusiasm i promised to help chopping, which i enjoy anyway.

rocio is chopping her way through roughly a dozen chicken breast.

among other recipes at the dinner rocio prepared what she often cooks for guests at her house: lomo soltado, a dish from her home country peru with french fries, diced chicken, tomatoes, and onions in a vinegar sauce.

wesley student center international intern xiaoli (stepan) wang tackles the onions...

...while huge cookie sheets of baked french fries already wait for veggies and meat. (everything in that kitchen is huge: pots, sinks, knives etc.)

the chicken is still sizzling in the pan and the cooks are debating when they are done. while jerone (right) argues for a short time approach, rocio favors frying them really well.

meanwhile in the rest of the church's kitchen other dishes are prepared: rice, salad, and...

patacones pisados, a yummy snack from plantains that is eaten in ecuador and colombia.

for the patacones pisados, josé fries plantain slices in a pan until they are golden brown

...and adds salt afterwards.

mmmh! i never had patacones pisados before; i really like the chewy fresh warm salty taste of them.

you have to break an egg to make an omelet (german: wo gehobelt wird, da fallen spaene).

the youth group of the church, the wesley student center, holds an international dinner once a quarter according to youth group intern laura coombs (right). she and wesley student center international intern xiaoli (stephan) wang from china were in charge of the event and helped out with finding cutting boards, supplying lemonade, coffee and cake for dessert.

ohio university junior laura coombs said the dinner is sponsored partially by the student action committee, which gives about $70, while the church adds the rest so that the cooks have $150 for buying ingredients.


ready to eat!

unfortunately the camera ran out of battery before the food was served. the buffet also featured sour cabbage, beef, and rice from the korean community, which worships in the first united method church. laura coombs said her group will probably have pictures of the event on its website.

living in euros

the dollar-euro relationship has been talked about ever since the euro was born in 2002. over the past six years the value of the european curreny has gone up, up, up, and the euro-dollar conversion rate has settled around $1.58 for 1 € today. almost daily i hear comments about how europeans can afford to live with this expensive currency. so here is a list of items that i recently bought in germany that might give some indication of the expenses of a euro-using consumer in a small and medium sized town.

by the way, in germany all prices that you see in a store are the final prices -- unlike in the usa where every time my happiness of seeing a nice offer in an aisle is destroyed at the cash register when a six percent sales tax is added to my bill. for some reason this is something that i have a hard time adapting to. whenever i leave the store i forget and the game starts over again when entering the store again. which leads to qualms of spending too much money (and having forgotten again the extra tax) -- in contrast to most u.s. citizens, most germans do not like to spend money.

let’s go to the coffee shop!
small coffee (0.2l/6.7 oz) in small town café: 1.40 € ($2.22)
small orange juice in low budget restaurant: 1,60 € ($2.53)
small hot chocolate (0.2l/6.7 oz) in small town café: 1.50 € ($2.37)
big coffee (0.3l/10.1 oz) in same small town café: 1.60 € ($2.53)
big apple juice in low budget restaurant: 3 € ($4.75)
ps: an average tip in german restaurants is about 10 percent of the bill

fridge & pantry
medium jar of pickles (Spreewalder Gewuerzgurken): 0.65 € ($1.03)
normal jar of kiwi-gooseberry jelly jar: 1.29 € ($2.04)
small jar of plum butter (Pflaumenmus): 0.99 € ($1.57)
vanilla-pear tea: 1.19 € ($1.88)
1 liter (~qt.) milk (Kaufland supermarket store brand): 0.66 € ($1.04)
quark (yogurt-like, Leckermaeulchen) ca. 250g (8.8 oz): 0.39 € ($0.62)
mozzarella light (1 ball swimming in bag with liquid): 0.59 € ($0.93)
package of 24 chocolates (Kinderschokolade): 1.89 € ($2.99)
Haribo licorice wheels (Lakritzschnecken): 1.19 € ($1.88)

face & body
Manhattan first flirt mascara: 2.75 € ($4.35)
Nivea visage face cleansing lotion: 4.35 € ($6.88)
Dentagard tooth paste: 0.55 € ($0.87)
Nivea shower gel watermelon 1.95 € ($3.09)
8x4 deo spray 150 ml: 1.35 € ($2.14)

miscellaneous
paracetamol (against headaches etc.) 30 tablets: 1.48 € ($2.34)
laundry detergent (Dalli brand): 3.99 € ($6.31)
postcard to USA: 1 € ($1.58)
panty hose: 0.99 € ($1.57)

all euro to dollar conversion were made with the current rate used by google.

strouds run

it seemed like it would never end when this afternoon we hiked around strouds run, athens' closest lake. you can either read the text below or go to the photo slide show with music right away!


strouds run is man-made with the help of a dam (right lower corner in the map) and also known as dow lake. by hiking the seven miles around the water, we could see how strouds run (upper end of map) and dow lake (middle and lower end in map) connect. it took us four hours, two soggy jackets, and two pairs of muddy shoes to complete the lake view trail, which is quite deceiving. from time to time we could see the dam but whenever we thought we were coming close yet another "finger" of the lake showed up that we had to go around.

in addition, after a couple of hours it started to rain which made the already wet path even muddier. but the rain drops also cleared the air for some nice pictures. so we stopped every few feet to take yet another photo of a plant, a stump or the landscape as you can see in this slide show.

Indian Holi & Japanese Sakura

Holi is the Festival of Colors, an Indian (as in India) festival that has become an annual spring ritual in Athens where we have a pretty big Indian community. It came with a fashion show, dances, music, food, and disco. Let me tell ya, these Indian guys (yes, the boys) dance like crazy. You think they are possessed by the devil. Being accustomed to rather shy German boys who often avoid the dance floor this was an epithany!

Holi is celebrated to honor an event that is tied to Hinduism. The version about why Holi is celebrated that I can offer you is a concise regurgitation of a more sophisticated explanation I got from a close friend, an Indian.

So here goes: There was a king who prayed incessantly to not be killed by anything. Because he prayed so long without break, the god Brahma thought he grants him his wish. The king was happy and got a little bit out of control over the joy to be (almost) invincible. So he grew arrogant and attacked everyone around him and demanded from the people that they worship him and not the gods anymore. But the king's son liked to continue worshipping gods. Consequently the father tried to kill his son by poisoning him, by rushing elephants to trample him, and by locking him into a room with hungry snakes. But nothing worked. So he demanded from his son to sit in the lap of the king's sister, Holika, who was sitting in a fire. She wore a shawl that gave her the power to protect her from the flames. But when the son sat in his aunt's lap, the shawl flew over to him, burning Holika and saving him. After that the god that the son worshipped came at dusk to kill his father and everthing was well. So in honor of burning Holika, the Indian celebrate Holi. (Holi explanation in Wikipedia)

The other festival we attended was another event that celebrates spring: Sakura. The word means cherry blossom in Japanese. The timing was perfect because the Japanese cherry trees that we have in Athens along the Hocking river were in full bloom and looked just beautiful, both during day and night, when they were especially lighted. The Japanese festival offered in addition to socializing, dancing, a sword fighting performance, a lunch box, singing, fitness exercises, and music.

Here are the pictures!

PS: After clicking on the link above you will find tiny symbols to navigate the slide show in the bottom right hand corner.