I once was a writer...

There are two things you need to know about me. (Well, there are a million things you should know about me, should you care to know me, but for the sake of this particular and specific post, only two shall do.) 1. I love linguistics more than I love literature. And I love literature. 2. I am firm believer in learning the theory first before applying such theory in practice. I mean, you need to know before you do . So... I'm taking a phonetics class in my university. I love it. My professor is brilliant, and I particularly love the fact that I'm the only one among my classmates who has ever taken a phonetics class before - so I get to show off and ask questions like, "Is that a Schwa , or simply a weak e -sound?" or, "That's a bilabial sound," or "My gosh, that is clearly fricative!"... and I actually know what I'm talking about. And I am actually right. My teacher is so impressed. He gives me candy every time I score - which is no...

It's been 9 months. You'd think by now I'd have an idea of what goes on in the mind of a German when he/she speaks to me... at least by context, you know? But I still make some mistakes that make me question my language skills. A few weeks ago, I went on a road trip with Mr. and Mrs. Siedenburg. It was very nice, I got to know a new part of Germany, and we had a fun time in general. At some point during our road trip, I asked if I could eat the banana I had brought. After my operation, I explained, I must eat every 4 hours; I must not feel hungry. Mrs. Siedenburg said it was OK, but that we would be eating cheap little bread in a little while. "Cheap little bread?", I thought. Well, yes, I know the economy is bad, and I know we should save as much money as possible, and I know I don't have much money... but I can invite - I mean, I can pay for all of us to eat non -cheap, non -little bread. I mean, I don't want to pay 10 Euros for a little bread thin...

Bearing in mind that as of Tuesday I go back to being super busy --well, as busy as a University Student should be-- and wanting to find the appropriate way to optimize processes; and seeing that the Internet offers plenty of options for automatization of optimized processes; and accepting that I am a little embarrassed every time I send an E-Mail, as if saying, "Hey! Read me!"... well, I'd like for you to register to my Blog! To the right of this column, ------------------------------------------------------------------------> above my picture (courtesy of Rosita Lama Muvdi), there is a text box under the title "Follow by E-Mail", where you can enter your E-Mail address. By doing entering your E-Mail, you are registering to automatically receive every new Blog entry. If you seem to be facing problems or inconveniences, please don't hesitate to contact me, and I will gladly solve these issues for you. I would be so awesome as a customer service repr...

I watched and loved the ABC series, and just recently I finished reading the book. "Flashforward", by Robert J. Sawyer, is a book meant for SciFi lovers. And the ABC series had nothing to do with the book - except for the premise (that there was a global blackout in which people experienced a little over a minute of their futures) and the name of the scientist who alledgedly caused it: Lloyd Simcoe. Aside from that, it's like it's two completely different stories. But that's not what I want to talk about. I also don't want to talk about how I understood little of the last 100 pages, due to the extremely detailed physics and quantum mechanics and blah blah blah; Sawyer could have been making up words for all I know, but still. I guess the whole SciFi thingy is just not for me. I also don't want to talk about how I spent two days reading a 300-page book that I didn't particularly like, just so that I could say (to myself, at least) that I read it. I re...

I'm a University Student. That's right - capital U, capital S. University Student. I paid my dues (literarlly, the university dues, not like "I paid my dues" as if life had treated me so badly that I paid for it with tears, sweat and pain... I just slid my card and paid my dues. No tears. No sweat. No pain. Kinda anticlimactic, now that I come to think of it...) earlier today, and tomorrow I will get my official ID and my official documents and my official schedule (which I already know, btw. It's awesome!). So I guess today I'm a university student, lower-case u and lower-case s. But as of tomorrow, as of tomorrow I get to officially place capital letters on those two words! A city viewed from the perspective of a University Student (I've waited 8 months, I get to use capital letters a few hours before it's official, ok?) is completely different from the city viewed from the perspective of a "normal" person (OMG, I just made it sound l...

I am not being sarcastic with this comment: I find the Germans to be very calm people. Really! I am actually surprised they went to war... The Germans don't get angry - or, at least, the northen Germans don't get angry. If someone cuts in line in front of them, they politely ask WTF, and request that the person go to the back of the line. They don't get angry. If some service does not work properly (internet or telephone, for instance), they politely call the appropriate company and request that the problem be resolved. Now, Customer Service in Germany is nowhere as awesome as it is in the US, but it works. The problem gets solved (or it doesn't), and they don't get angry. If something they buy does not function properly, they go back to the store and politely request a replacement. They get their replacement, and they don't get angry. If someone is playing music too high, they politely ring the bell and ask the person to lower the volume. The person act...