Halloween I: Extreme Pumpkin Carving

90 pumpkins, 3 hours and a while lot of fun!



Halloween is approaching fast and Americans love this holiday!
Why else would they grow yards (pumpkin patches) like this one?




In preparation for Halloween I was able to witness an amazing event on Wednesday that is extraordinary even for American standards.
Jenna, a Fulbrighter from the area I had met two weeks ago took me to her cousins house where pumpkin carving is taken to the extreme!




A neighbor of theirs is celebrating her 90th birthday on Friday (Halloween) and what would be more perfect as a gift than pumpkins?





After watching Jenna carve a nerdy Fulbright pumpkin while making some pretty ugly pumpkins myself they were all presented to the happy almost-ninety-year-old.

As a little treat, I got to take one of my creations home. I named him Mowglie (doesn't he look like Mowglie?) and he will be my little bright friend for the next couple of days :-)

San Francisco

If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair!

Last weekend I finally took advantage of the fact that my schedule only forces me to hit university on Mondays and Wednesdays and went to the City by the Bay!

Getting used to San Francisco's large population density I got myself in a giant IPod by Virgin America on Wedsnesday night...



... and hit Calfornia two hours later, where I would meet Leah.


Setting out for a long day of walking early next morning, we first hit the Presidio (huge park area), walked past Crissy Field (an old airfield) to the famous Golden Gate Bridge.









Since the weather was amazing (84degrees of sunshine), we walked past the Golden Gate and took a walk along Baker Beach towards World's End and the other side of the bridge, which was even more amazing than the city side. The water seemed quite inviting and beautiful and I just can't believe such an idyllic sea would inhabit sharks but apparently it does.



From the beautiful shoreline we went to the Golden Gate Park and its cozy Japanese tea garden to relax and watch squirrels go crazy over Japanese crackers.



On our way back to the Leah's friend Kristen who's place we had taken over, we hit Haight-Ashbury, once center of the Hippie movement and the Summer of Love. There is not much left of the spirit of that time, but we nevertheless got our flowers and chanted hippie songs along the way.



The Bay Bridge took us over to Berkeley...

... where we met up with Stacy for dinner and walked the (admittedly not very interesting) University campus. To make up for that, we went out for some dancing...
... Getting up late the next morning, there was more stuff to check out. Fishermen's wharf at the waterfront which is mostly inhabited by tourists...


... and sea lions...

gave way to the cable cars...


...and finally we ended up on the highest point of San Francisco for sunset.
The first Spanish missionaries called the mountain "Los Pechos de la Chola", which translates to "breasts of the Indian Girl", obviously due to the mountain's shape. Today it is known as Twin Peaks and it has a great view over the city.



The day ended with another trip through San Franciscos Nightlife this time with Kristen as a guide.

The SFO nightlife is quite interesting. It certainly shakes your concept of gender categories. SFO is known for its large homosexual population and there were quite some interesting characters out there I was unable to put into anywhere even near any gender category.
We made a last stop at Vesuvio, a bar at which supposedly the Beat Movement used to hang out. Jackson Pollock, Allan Ginsberg and John Keruac have apparently been here to discuss their ideas. On the lower floor, people were actually discussing philosophy, so apparently at least part of SFO's spirit of the good ol' times hasn't been lost, although street sign and atmosphere suggested otherwise.



Saturday was my last day at San Francisco and it was devoted to the Museum of Modern Art. Although I did not see ONE picture of the famous Paul Klee collection SFMoma carries, they have some quite amazing pieces.

One of them is certainly Duchamps "Fountain" piece right here. For anyone who hasn't realized: this is art - and modern art can be made out of everything! That's the beauty of it!

Traffic Series - Part II: The Evil Bridge!

Seattle is a city with an abundance of water both from the above as well as from underneath. On the nice and sunny days when the water from above has stopped pouring, it is well worth to travel around and take a look at what's beneath.

One of the nice watery areas where sea planes land and kajaks and sailboats roam is Lake Union. It runs along the University and from the North side, there is a beautiful view of downtown.

However, there is a limited choice as to how to cross the lake. If you don't want to get wet feet and don't have a boat available - take a bridge!

But it's not as easy as it sounds!

As Lake Union eventually runs into Pudget Sound and finally the ocean, boat owners use this opportunity to get from the Lake to the ocean.

Why that concerns me? Some of these boat owners have huuuge masts! Size doesn't matter? Well, it does for the bridges!

Ballard Bridge is one of the many bridges that can - on demand - be pulled up, leaving all those poor commuters waiting on the road for a good 10 minutes, while the lazy boat owners sail along on their luxurious rafts.

Study Abroad Fair

So, just to let everyone know that Mainz is the bestest University ever - I had a table at the Study Abroad Fair last Wednesday. Equipped with tons of information material (while an envelope the guys from Tübingen received contained one(!) lousy poster featuring their last president, I drummed up business for the JGU!

People from Universities all over the globe had little tables representing their home institution and the fair was surprisingly a very crowded place. With 15% of Americans being of German heritage, it wasn't surprising that we were swarmed and busy once the tables were set up (too swarmed to take pictures of course)

College Football: Huskies vs. Beevers

After a week of hard work (and admittedly some procrastination), I spent the Saturday afternoon in the football stadium.


The Huskies were playing the Beevers of Oregon State University. The game itself was not very entertaining, since the Huskies suck pretty bad this season. All cheering was to no avail.


European League was more interesting than that, back in the good ol' days when it still existed.



However, the show is much more exciting. No sports event can begin without the accurate amount of patriotism, of course. It did indeed give me the chills to hear a whole stadium of Americans sing their national anthem.



The most entertaining part was the half break though. Oregon's marching band played John William's Star Wars theme, including a reenactment featuring their beever mascot fighting the Dark Lord. Imagine a German marching band doing that!


Some time after the the half-break, we left the field. It was freezing cold and the game was lame. What kept us entertained was the Oregon marching band. Not only were the players on the field better (Huskies lost 13 : 34), but Oregon also had the better musicians AND the cooler colors (orange and black is much more favorable than that ugly purple and gold combination).

Bottom Line: If you want to see good football games, stay at home where it is nice and cozy and watch the NFL! If you want to witness Americans go crazy and see a funny show, you'll be fine with a college game though!

In the King's House

Warning: This post was created under the influence of intense 19th century transcendentalist readings. This post may therefore contain material not suitable to children of mass consumerism or persons of weak mental stability or capacity! Write for your own pleasure!

I spent the forenoon and afternoon reading fables of science fiction and watching my landlord apply greenish liquid to the interior of the habitat.

It had long come dark when I left the house to retrieve my two wheeler from the halls of wisdom (UW). On the return journey, I shortly passed the dome of amusement (College Inn), to find it empty but a few lost souls. Resuming my journey, I was on my lookout for a house of tea from the ancient countries, in the town of Wallingford, which was to celebrate the presence of string bards to play in the halls. As I found these empty as well, I resumed my journey homeward once more, passing some strangers on the streets of the town of Ballard. They inquired about the whereabouts of a local tavern whose name I faintly remembered, but could not locate reasonably. They asked me to join in their quest and I accompanied them. Settling in what appeared to be a royal hall, hence it was named “King’s Hardware,” we rested ourself in the rough sounds of the nearby port, cooling our throats. It was then when the most peculiar company came to our sight. Their cloth had them appear as golfers, nicely fashioned in garments of square makeup, yet their motions deemed hardly noble to the spectator. We inquired the strange occurance to learn that they were playing indeed a game most fashionable to the American youth. Going by the name of pub golfing, they roam the localities of the periphery, aiming to put repellant fluids into their mouths. Each pub being considered a hole, they follow this crude game in the ancient aristocratic fashion of golfing otherwise.

I will indeed have to further inquire this most peculiar game in the the future as a Player. Yet as of now, I remained with the token of a score card and a picture of the quaint company.

The Traffic Series - Part 1: Biking

"Americans are fat, lazy and don't care about the environment, so they go everywhere by car!"
I don't know how many times I have heard Europeans say that. Now, I cannot speak for the whole of the USA, but I can challenge that statement when it comes to Seattle!

Rising gas prizes, smog and insufficient parking opportunities are a problem in all major cities of the US and Seattle is no exception here. But Seattlelites (that's the inofficial name for the nice people of Seattle) don't just accept that. They do something about it:

In September, Seattle was honored as a gold-level bicycle friendly community. In fact, 4% of the population commute by bike. That doesn't seem much, but it is ten (!) times the national average. Although Seattle is a very hilly and rainy city, it seems to be appealing for cyclists.

One reason surely is the metro's bike policy: If you should be surprised by a sudden shower or don't want to climb a hill on your bike, you can just jump on a bus and take your bike with you - without an additional fare for the bike. And since the bike is secured in front of the bus, you don't have to deal with ignorant riders blocking your space on the bus.


Seattle also has a large network of recreational and commuting trails for bicyclists, such as the Burke-Gilman trail. These trails are for pedestrians and cyclists only.

Some regular streets have bike lanes. Where bicyclists and cars have to share a road, car drivers are often made aware of this fact by markings on the street.

Bikes are also allowed on the sidewalks, however.


In some areas with high bike traffic, the city provides special parking spots for bikes.


However, with the increasing number of bikers in the city, there seems to be a new parking problem.



Parking your bike can cause more problems. Even though bike theft is very low in Seattle, there is the occasional unfortunate episode of "dude, where is my bike?"



Riding your bike on campus may add onto the list of dangers. The University provides these very nice and totally superflous signs that everybody ignores.



I highly recommend walking your bike on campus, however. Not only for your own safety and for that of pedestrians, but also for the hideously fat and thus incredibly slow squirrels on campus. But then again, you don't need a hunting licence in this country and there are too many squirrels anyway ;-)


Bottom Line: Riding a bike in the USA is dangerous, mostly because obtaining a driver's licence is so much easier here. Seattle is hilly and riding through the pouring rain usually isn't really fun. Seattle has, however, one of the nicest drivers in the country and if the weather is all too nasty, you can still jop on a bus.
And the greatest plus for bike riding in Seattle: You are faster than the bus and sometimes even beat the other traffic!