Temperatures above 100 Fahrenheit are not unusual, actually they are pretty frequent. On Friday around 6pm I was riding home my bike and the thermometer showed 104 Fahrenheit which is 40 celsius....hot summer in Austin. Cooling down in our pool is necessary ;-)
Samstag, 13. Juli 2013
Montag, 8. Juli 2013
Hostelling Coordinator
Max und ich wurden vor einigen Wochen zum Hostelling Coordinator gewählt, das ist eine neue Officer Position, (andere Officer positions are Labor C'zar, der regelt die ganze labour, also dass jeder 4h pro Woche arbeitet, Kitchen Manager, Membership Coordinator, Trustee, Food Buyer, Maintenance Coordinator and Computer Room Manager). Im Sommer nämlich sind nicht alle Räume voll besetzt und wir können Leuten anbieten hier zu hosteln. Am Anfang lief es ziemlich schleppend, aber jetzt sind auch unsere Hostelling Räume ziemlich voll. Unser "Gehalt" ist ein gewisser Anteil von der täglichen rent (mir fällt das deutsche Wort nicht ein, Miete ist es nämlich nicht). Wir verlangen in unserer Coop 25$ pro Nacht pro Person, was wirklich billig ist, weil Essen und Nutzung von Computer Raum, Pool, TV room alles included ist.
Man bekommt schon einige Erfahrungen, ist aber auch teilweise stressig, wenn Leute aus und andere einziehen, weil wir alles mit Schlüsseln, Bettwäsche waschen und putzen erledigen müssen. Also ist es besser für uns, wenn Hosteller einfach länger bleiben. Auch müssen wir oft zum Office von unserer Organisation von der die Coop geregelt wird, und Sachen klären.
For the English (internationals): Max and me got elected a couple of weeks ago as Hostelling Coordinator (HoCo) which is an officer position. In the summer, our coop is not full, and we have some free rooms for hostellers. In the beginning, we did not get a lot of hostellers, but now, we have a lot which is good for us because we get certain amount of the rent the person pays per night....I'm sorry, the english reports are always shorter, since I dont explain how a coop and the officer positions work because I assume YOU know how it works ;-) also...LEARN GERMAN, not only "Ja", "Nein", "Scheiße" and "eine grosse Snoopy-Figur" ;-)
Man bekommt schon einige Erfahrungen, ist aber auch teilweise stressig, wenn Leute aus und andere einziehen, weil wir alles mit Schlüsseln, Bettwäsche waschen und putzen erledigen müssen. Also ist es besser für uns, wenn Hosteller einfach länger bleiben. Auch müssen wir oft zum Office von unserer Organisation von der die Coop geregelt wird, und Sachen klären.
For the English (internationals): Max and me got elected a couple of weeks ago as Hostelling Coordinator (HoCo) which is an officer position. In the summer, our coop is not full, and we have some free rooms for hostellers. In the beginning, we did not get a lot of hostellers, but now, we have a lot which is good for us because we get certain amount of the rent the person pays per night....I'm sorry, the english reports are always shorter, since I dont explain how a coop and the officer positions work because I assume YOU know how it works ;-) also...LEARN GERMAN, not only "Ja", "Nein", "Scheiße" and "eine grosse Snoopy-Figur" ;-)
Beer Float
For the English readers, see below:
Gestern auf der Abschiedsfeier von Niki (einer aus der Coop die jetzt ein Jahr nach Australien geht, ich war in East Texas mit ihr) hab ich zum ersten Mal hier in den USA Currywurst gegessen...war allerdings nicht so gut, was meine Absichten nur bekräftigt hier in Austin einen Food Trailer mit Currywurst aufzumachen. Was mich allerdings noch mehr überrascht hat, war das hier:
Das hier ist ein Beer float, stout beer (Starkbier) mit Vanilleeis. Sieht aus wie Eiskaffee, hat auch einen ähnlichen Geschmack, aber mehr hoppy (schmeckt mehr nach Hopfen).Heut abend will ich mir im Corner Store auch mal so ein Starkbier kaufen und versuchen ein Beer float draus zu machen. Mal sehen obs mir gelingt.
For the English readers: At Niki's going away party, I ate German currywurst the first time here in the US. The sausage was not really good which empowers Max and my idea to open a trailer selling currywurst. Also I first saw a beer float, that is stout beer with vanilla ice cream. It tasted really good, and I'll try to imitate it tonight...since I got some important complaints ;-) I'll write now in German and English, so please my dear internationals...FUCKING LEARN GERMAN!!!
Sonntag, 7. Juli 2013
4th of July
Everybody told me that 4th of July is gonna get crazy...but already 3rd of July got crazy at Pearl, we had a keg, played beachvolleyball all night long, it was amazing. At 4th of July I went downtown to the capitol, but everything I saw was this guy.
4th of July seemed to me like every other day on a weekend except that we went downtown to listen to the symphony orchestra and watch the fireworks...
At night we also had some fireworks at our coop which is technically forbidden in Austin (actually it is forbidden in Hill Country, thats the county)
4th of July seemed to me like every other day on a weekend except that we went downtown to listen to the symphony orchestra and watch the fireworks...
At night we also had some fireworks at our coop which is technically forbidden in Austin (actually it is forbidden in Hill Country, thats the county)
Shooting / Gun Ranch
Last weekend I was shooting with friend from physics, the funny thing is, two of them are half German, but cannot speak any word German. The guy in left is Frank, he owns all the guns from the second world war, the guy in the red shirt is Guil, he works with me in the lab and I share an office with him. He is half Brazilian and half German, he was never in Germany, but has a German passport, totally funny. The girl on the right is Nicole, another member of my lab with her husband to the left.
This is a mauser from 1943. It is a Russian gun and pretty powerful.
The recoil from this rifle is really bad. Normally you have some kind of cushion at the end of the rifle, but this rifle just has a metal plate. The reason is pretty simple, the Russians wore a big winter coat, so they didn't need the cushion and could make the gun more powerful. However, it is hot in Texas and I could only shoot a couple of shots before I thought my chest/shoulder is falling apart.
But as you can see, I could aim pretty good.
Afterwards, we shot pistols...among others two Walthers, one from 1943, one from the 60s.
Of course I shoot only with peaceful ammunition...
This is the Walther...I had to shoot it alone because of my name ;-)
And this is a revolver, a rebuild of the revolvers of the civil war, it was really cool...and I got better and better. I love guns!!! It is so much fun!
Here you can see the cartouche of the Russian rifle on the left and in comparison to that a cartouche of a normal rifle.
The perfect ending of the day was the barbecue afterwards, eating the meat with your hands still smelling like gun powder!
It was a great weekend with some historical experience...hope to read some comments from you!
This is a mauser from 1943. It is a Russian gun and pretty powerful.
The recoil from this rifle is really bad. Normally you have some kind of cushion at the end of the rifle, but this rifle just has a metal plate. The reason is pretty simple, the Russians wore a big winter coat, so they didn't need the cushion and could make the gun more powerful. However, it is hot in Texas and I could only shoot a couple of shots before I thought my chest/shoulder is falling apart.
But as you can see, I could aim pretty good.
Afterwards, we shot pistols...among others two Walthers, one from 1943, one from the 60s.
Of course I shoot only with peaceful ammunition...
This is the Walther...I had to shoot it alone because of my name ;-)
And this is a revolver, a rebuild of the revolvers of the civil war, it was really cool...and I got better and better. I love guns!!! It is so much fun!
Here you can see the cartouche of the Russian rifle on the left and in comparison to that a cartouche of a normal rifle.
The perfect ending of the day was the barbecue afterwards, eating the meat with your hands still smelling like gun powder!
It was a great weekend with some historical experience...hope to read some comments from you!
Weekend in Dallas/Arlington
Two weeks ago, I visited a friend from the coop, Thomas, in Dallas. After a 3h30min megabus ride, I arrived in Grand Prairie, a suburb of Dallas. We of course immediately went into a bar to watch the second half of the Confed cup game Brazil-Italy....something interesting in the menu (in an Irish pub in Dallas)
It is astonishing how many Bavarian beers they sell in Texas. And this one is from my hometown!! It is probably because west of Austin in the Hill Country, there are many cities which German settlers founded like Fredericksburg, Grüne...
Ok, I did not take the Bavarian beer, I had a Texan one instead. It is again amazing how many small breweries exist in Texas! To my beer I had a sausage platter, it was actually really good and close to German food (at least nothing Tex-Mex and no burgers ;-))
Cap and sunglasses are essential in the heat of Texas, I am also actually very proud of my cap ;-) The game was really bad, Kansas was leading by a penalty and an own goal until they got a red card in the 65th minute. From then on, Dallas was pressing, but not very convincing, however they scored one goal in the 87th minute and from then on Kansas literally fell apart. In the 89th minute they scored the equalizer (both goals by header after a cross) and they had multiple chances to win. So the end was really crazy. My plans after my master is to get a green card and play in the MLS, open a food trailer which sells currywurst (a huge gap in the market in the US)...just a joke ;-)
After the game, we went to Grapevine with some friends of Thomas and toured some bars.
The next morning I could experience Thomas' house and the art of his mother...really beautiful
And a pool cannot miss of course
After breakfast...it was already in the 100s, we went to see the Dallas Cowboys (football) stadium, a huge arena with 5 floors. It is just a 10 minute ride from Thomas home
Afterwards we went to try some local wine in a city called Grapvine ;-) The local Texan wine is really delicious, and there are lots of different kinds of it.
Afterwards we went to Denton, another city in the DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth) area, with its courthouse in the middle of downtown. It was pretty cool, but also extremely hot, so we could not stay outside for a long time.
Thats it from my trip to Dallas/Arlington, it was a blast! Thanks to Thomas Elmasri for everything, you are awesome!!
What else do I do during the week? Apart from being on campus, I go slacklining a lot in our park, relax in our pool, work out and go out in the weekends...I was also shooting last weekend with rifles from the second world war...see next article ;-)
It is astonishing how many Bavarian beers they sell in Texas. And this one is from my hometown!! It is probably because west of Austin in the Hill Country, there are many cities which German settlers founded like Fredericksburg, Grüne...
Ok, I did not take the Bavarian beer, I had a Texan one instead. It is again amazing how many small breweries exist in Texas! To my beer I had a sausage platter, it was actually really good and close to German food (at least nothing Tex-Mex and no burgers ;-))
After watching the game we headed to Frisco, the actual purpose of my visit. We went to a MLS game of FC Dallas (1st in Western Conference) against Kansas City. First of all, the stadium fits roughly 20000 people which is really small, I probably already played in bigger stadiums than this. And soccer in the US is kind of a family thing, noone hates each other, no ultras, no huge fan groups, so no fan culture.
Cap and sunglasses are essential in the heat of Texas, I am also actually very proud of my cap ;-) The game was really bad, Kansas was leading by a penalty and an own goal until they got a red card in the 65th minute. From then on, Dallas was pressing, but not very convincing, however they scored one goal in the 87th minute and from then on Kansas literally fell apart. In the 89th minute they scored the equalizer (both goals by header after a cross) and they had multiple chances to win. So the end was really crazy. My plans after my master is to get a green card and play in the MLS, open a food trailer which sells currywurst (a huge gap in the market in the US)...just a joke ;-)
After the game, we went to Grapevine with some friends of Thomas and toured some bars.
The next morning I could experience Thomas' house and the art of his mother...really beautiful
And a pool cannot miss of course
After breakfast...it was already in the 100s, we went to see the Dallas Cowboys (football) stadium, a huge arena with 5 floors. It is just a 10 minute ride from Thomas home
Afterwards we went to try some local wine in a city called Grapvine ;-) The local Texan wine is really delicious, and there are lots of different kinds of it.
Afterwards we went to Denton, another city in the DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth) area, with its courthouse in the middle of downtown. It was pretty cool, but also extremely hot, so we could not stay outside for a long time.
Thats it from my trip to Dallas/Arlington, it was a blast! Thanks to Thomas Elmasri for everything, you are awesome!!
What else do I do during the week? Apart from being on campus, I go slacklining a lot in our park, relax in our pool, work out and go out in the weekends...I was also shooting last weekend with rifles from the second world war...see next article ;-)
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