"Vom 30. Juni bis 22. Juli findet in Kanada die FIFA-U20-Weltmeisterschaft statt. Zum ersten Mal seit 1983 (damals u. a. mit Toni Polster) ist auch wieder ein ÖFB-Team dabei.

In der Auslosung am Samstag in Toronto wurden die österreichischen Talente in Gruppe A mit Gastgeber Kanada, Chile und Kongo gelost. [...]

Die ÖFB-Youngsters werden ihre Gruppenspiele in Edmonton (2.7. gegen Kongo und 5.7. gegen Kanada) sowie Toronto (8.7. gegen Chile) bestreiten." [sport.orf.at]

WOW. Kanada - Österreich, das tät ich gern sehen. Wer weiß.. :-)

Ok.. so yesterday the Boss showed up with two more Microfilms and said: "Oh yes there was a first order of material. And actually those are more important than the ones you've done so far. You'll have a lot of work until May. I'm sorry." Ok...!? Just to give you an idea what two microfilms mean: All those months so far I've been working on two microfilms! Obviously I wont leave this working place as soon as I thought. I had a first look into one roll yesterday and will continue with the second now, just to get an idea of how much it actually is and estimate how far I can get until May.. Gee!

I had to submit a work report to the Boss today. I wasn't scared or nervous - because I know the quality of my work is good. Maybe I'm sometimes a bit slow because I'm a too meticulous and perfectionist worker - but the quality as a result the work is good. Even if that sounds like bragging, I know it and I'm confident enough to say it.

And in this case I wasn't afraid of being to slow because I'm making good progress - in fact I'm already working on my last ten documents on the microfilm (and I still haven't shown you photos of my present - soon to be past - "office"). Then I'll continue with literature research and am more flexible in relation to the place where to work. I'm looking forward because I'm eager to read the background of the documents I've been dealing with all these months..

Anyway, as for today: The Boss was very satisfied indeed. Great success!
(It feels so good to see that one's work is appreciated.)

You know what's also a little miracle (maybe psycho-zitali has an explanation for me?): On the whole I'm a messy, unorganised chaot. (Contrary to my resolutions you shouldn't see my room right now.) However, if I work on a confined project I'm organised and well structured and systematic. How come?

Talking about being organised. I can't really say that about all of my Boss' research notes on the topic. It is very likely that tomorrow the Boss will show up with a bunch of copies or another microfilm with Voten which he had somewhere at home. He wouldn't have been aware that they where missing if I hadn't mentioned that it appears to me there have to be way more of them than what I've done. Well, we would have found out, eventually, but that would have been quite some trouble for the time line of his project I guess. Now I'm really excited. Depending on tomorrows outcome I may be ridiculously busy until end of May..

[Edit:] Sorry little brother but I had to delete your comment. No last name allowed on this blog! So here is the censored version of your entry..

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little brother (anonymous) - 03/02/2007 03:14:23 AM
Da kann ich nur recht herzlich gratulieren ( da wird zumindest mal aus einem aus unser Familie was ;). Kann mir gut Vorstellen, dass da gut tut. Wie würde der Engländer eh Canadier so schön sagen: Well done Mr. B[...] well done!!!!!!!

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I've taken some work home the day before yesterday and stayed in yesterday. Nothing serious just a little cough and a little sore throat. As usually it was my own fault. All the virusses which hit my colleagues during the last two weeks couldn't do me any harm but then I wasn't careful enough during the skating last weekend. Activity, feeling warm, opening the jacket, the old story. But that day in and plenty of tea (no "Isländisch Moos" unfortunately) were good, it's almost gone..

For quite a long time I was considering to stay at home Saturday evening but in the end curiosity beat laziness. It worked better than I expected; apart from a few exceptions everybody had either tops/shirts/skirts or at least a belt or a necklace in one of the colours. And there was lots of green. Quite some yellow. Few red. This is pretty much only good photo I took - from left to right Sophie (Austria), Ida (Sweden), Alex (Mexico), Maria (Sweden), Manuel (Mexico). I guess I grossly neglected my documentary and scientific responsibility..

Uh.. and I "danced". Twice. Although I had had only four beers by then. First Christina (if you don't remember her click) and later Damini, a girl from India I met there (funny she did a project with former Austrian ambassador Licham, who was teaching at U of A and has been in close contact with our institute where I met him once) obviously were in a charitable mood and sacrificed themselves for studying and trying to improve my inability. In vain of course. But whatever, I had a very good time..

Finally, one week later, here are the pictures from my birthday:


Our table in Khazana, an east Indian restaurant downtown. I very much liked the atmosphere and the food but I'm definitely the wrong person for buffets: I ate so much that I could barely move anymore. Monday was the first days in weeks (weekends excluded) that I had only coffee and cereals for breakfast but no bread. And apart from two pieces of cake at our little institute celebration I did not have any food until the evening. I guess those 20 bucks paid off indeed...

< image "people1" deleted >
On the left is Anya, whom I met via Eric. She's Albertan and studies sociology. This term we're walking to university together three times a week (at least when I manage to get up in time). In between us is Anya's flatmate and good friend who is studying psychology. (And no, my hand is not on her knee or anywhere else it shouldn't be!)


One time I abstained from always taking two pictures to be sure and that's the result: Blurred. But you'll definitely see these three again. Left: Bari, president of the German club, middle: Claire, president of the Scandinavian club, and right: Per, he's from Sweden and as mentioned doing his PhD on history of Belarus.


Matthias, Clemens and on the right: Mike is Canadian, has a PhD in Anthropology and is working for Edmonton police. He used to be together with one of the previous fellows at our institute and drops by from time to time.


Left of Kinga and Iwona is Bernhard, who's from Austria and doing his PhD here. We met in Winspear Centre at a reception following the performance of the "Boni Pueri" boys choir from the Czech Republic (one of the institute events).


On the right: Susan, Bernhard's girlfriend who was with him at that event. She' from Chile and doing a PhD as well (something medical I don't remember in detail). Next to her is Maria, an exchange student from Sweden. I first saw her at the Scandinavian club but she's also at many of the parties of the internationals. On the left: Shad who's from India and doing a PhD in engineering. We met at a trip to Fort Edmonton Park organised by the international centre.


That was after the dinner when we had a couple of drinks in Garneau Pub just across my place. Left: Rickard from Sweden who is doing a PhD in business and usually present at both the Scandinavian and the Faculty Club. Right: Leif, my flatmate who is music student and from Alberta.


Left: Amy Lynn, a friend of Kinga; middle: Eric; right: Allan, his friend and team mate at Polonia Soccer Club.

Oh dear! I can already see the direction in which this weekend is developping..

Yesterday the usual Thursday, and seriously, Thursday has become the most important day of the week for socialising (weekends included!). First there's the German and Scandinavian clubs in Power Plant from 4pm (but I usually go there 5:30 or 6), eventuelly part of the people move to Hudsons on Campus - where on Thursdays also friends of Eric (whom I know) and also many of the internationals meet. (Mainly because you get half a pint of beer - shitty beer but still - for a Loonie, i.e. 1 Dollar.) So it's so much fun because i know so many people! Well and suddenly it's 2am again..

Today is, as mentioned, the Carnival party of the German and Scandinavian clubs. I can't imagine it can beat their Christmas party but still I'm looking forward to that. And I've been scraping together all crumbs of creativity to come up with some sort of a costume. (Which is of course still a secret but I hope to show you some pictures later.)

And tomorrow there's the Semáforos Party. I still haven't decided whether I will go, I guess it depends on how today develops. By the way I did some further studies on that kind of party yesterday. Some Canadiens have attended similar events, only that in those so called Red-Green parties you have to decide for either of the two colours; there is no yellow in between! Tough. Black/White- pardon Red/Green-thinking a la Americana? And of course the French wouldn't be French if they didn't have their own version, which of course is the naughtiest of them. All singles - irrespectively of whether they are looking or not - have to wear green. Yellow is reserved for those who do have a partner but say: well, maybe not the right one. Adultery for dummies?

As to the balance of colours: A Canadian guy said that at those parties he attended it was always that guys would wear green but girls would always chose yellow/orange or red - because otherwise they would be considered sluts. How stupid is that? Anyway thank goodness there's the Frenchies and the Latin Lovers again - as found out yesterday there will a reasonable amount of green..

And apart from those events, there'd still be the Faculty Club and a farewell party for one of Eric's friends today, as well as a Beerfest tomorrow from 4pm - but I think I can do without those! Oh dear! Anyway. I wish you all a nice weekend!

Für den Fall, dass es unter euch ein paar ganz Pünktlichen geben sollte, die mir Schlag Mitternacht eurer Zeit und auf diesem Wege gratulieren wollen, hab ich vorab ein passendes Bildchen gebastelt. Aber ich sag's euch gleich, ich werd nicht mehr hereinschauen, bevor wir nicht auch hier den 4. haben! (Und der Geburtstag-Psychotest folgt auch erst morgen.)

Wochenende! Und damit hab ich jetzt Zeit, die Geschichte von gestern nachzureichen:

Great Success: Nach Zeitung und Fernsehen werde ich mich nun auch in der Edmontoner Mode einen bleibenden Eindruck hinterlassen! Der German Club veranstaltete zum ersten Mal überhaupt (zumindest laut derzeitiger Präsidentin) einen Wettbewerb, Entwürfe für ein "U of A German Club"-T-Shirt einzureichen. Preisfrage: Und welcher Vorschlag gewann die gestrige anonyme Abstimmung? Hehe!

Ok, ich will nicht übertreiben, mein Beitrag sowohl zu Inhalt als auch Layout ist nämlich gleich null. Ich bin sozusagen der Initiator gewesen. Recherche ist das Schlüsselwort. (Recherche scheint mein Schicksal zu sein..) Aber ist es nicht das, worum es sich in unserer Informationsgesellschaft dreht: In der Fülle aus Informationen das wichtige aufzutreiben und das richtige herauszufiltern?

Lange Rede kurzer Sinn: Ich finde nichtlustig.de ziemlich genial (Mein absoluter Favorit ist leider online nicht mehr auffindbar) und dachte, ich schau dort mal, ob ich was passendes finde. Und wurde prompt fündig. Ich würd das Comic zwar gerne zur Illustration hier hereinstellen, nachdem der Zeichner jedoch darum bittet, dies zu unterlassen, gibt's auch hier nur einen Link. Das hier ist der Ausgangspunkt.

Ich sandte das also an Courtney, einen der Co-Manager unseres kleinen Wettbewerbs, und meinte, ich fände es gut, aber man müsse halt beim Zeichner wegen Copyright anfragen. (Was, wenn ich mir die FAQs durchgelesen hätte, nicht notwendig gewesen wäre, da der Druck auf T-Shirts für nicht-kommerzielle Drucke erlaubt ist. Aber kostenmäßig wär das ohnehin nicht möglich.) Prompt bekam ich Antwort in Form eines Word Documents, dass man das doch so machen könnte. (Die Fonts funktionieren hier nicht, sind aber ohnehin noch nicht endgültig entschieden. Und überhaupt zählen schließlich die inneren Werte.):

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• Vorderseite
  
  Werewolf /’wɛ:wʊlf/
  
  Nom: Werwolf
  Akk: Wenwolf
  Dat: Wemwolf
  Gen: Wessenwolf

• Rückseite:
  
  U of A German Club
  Because we can conjugate anything

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Und - tataa - der Entwurf hat mit ordentlichem Abstand gewonnen.

Die zweite Wahl, der ich auch eine meiner zwei Stimmen gab, war: "Das Gehirn braucht kein Blut, es muss nur feucht gehalten werden" und darüber war ein Bierglas. Damit kann ich mich auch identifizieren. Der Rest war, naja, nicht so ganz mein Geschmack. Kein einziges das mit Sprache spielte etwas Landestypisches beinhaltete oder einen intelligenten Solgan hatte. Ein Krokodaxl und darunter "Bis später, Alligator". Naja. Ein Wecker und "Scheiß Wecker!" Ehhm.

Ich hatte im übrigen sogar noch einen zweiten Entwurf, der wirklich voll und ganz mein Entwurf war. Ein Problem war leider, dass die Vorschläge nur aufgelegt, nicht aber präsentiert und erklärt wurden, und ich fürchte, dass einige der StudentInnen das Kernwort und auch die ganze Idee nicht verstanden. Ich glaub ein paar Stimmen wären noch drin gewesen. In Österreich zumindest (Frage: Ist das auch in Deutschland gebräuchlich?) gibt es einen Klassiker, um sich über die Praxis der zusammengesetzten Hauptwörter lustig zu machen, den ich zum Mittelpunkt (Mittel-punkt? Mittel-balken wäre wohl treffender) meines Entwurfes machte:

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• (kleine Schrift und zentriert)
  Why use words and words and words
  when a single one would be enough?

• (groß, über das ganze T-Shirt und das "sel" in der nächsten Zeile)
  DONAUDAMPFSCHIFFFAHRTSGESELLSCHAFTSKAPITÄNSKAJÜTENTÜRSCHLÜS
  SEL

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Wie auch immer, ich find die Idee auf jeden Fall witzig, und bin am überlegen, ob ich sie nicht einfach für mich verwirklichen soll. Womit ich im übrigen nicht der einzige wäre. Zu meiner Freude hörte ich ein paar Jungs reden, dass der Entwurf cool ist und sie sich den vielleicht einfach so drucken. (Wobei sie nicht wussten, dass er von mir war.) Hehe! Ein guter Tag für's Ego..