Sorry, im moment a lot of things have been going on. A terrible week:
- I had problems with a teeth, spent Halloween (Tuesday evening) in the dentistry and they didn't really find a problem, so I had pain for the rest of the week.
- I let my notebook being checked and on Wednesday was informed that a repair would cost 400 bucks (with only 30 days warranty) and the boss is making troubles about paying it.
- For the extension of my stay here I also need an extension of my work permit and I find the forms confusing and the authorities absolutely unhelpful.
(- Considered these it was just a minor thing but it matched well that on Tuesday Barcelona managed only a 2:2 draw versus Chelsea and is in danger of being eliminated from Champions League.)

Anyway after this week it was fantastic to leave everything behind, I spent the weekend in the Southern Rockies, visiting Banff and Lake Louise. Our group consisted of 5 Mexicans and English and me - it was soo much fun. (Would have been even more fun if I spoke Spanish.) I could have done with more of that - but now it's the problems of everyday life again. I guess that's the best picture of me of that weekend. Me at in Lake Louise (and no, Lake Louise has no hot springs!)..

.. Nationalfeiertag. Heute, 28. Oktober, ist jener der Tschechischen Republik. Und aus dem Grund gibt's wieder mal Anzug und Konzert.

Uebrigens hat jetzt der Winter richtig zugeschlagen - es fuehlt sich an als waere Dezember.

..ohne das Fruehstuecksgeschirr vor der Arbeit abzuwaschen. Uiui, schoen langsam wird es zur Gewohnheit. Aber zusaetzlich zu den Zeitgruenden gab's heute auch noch ein praktisches Problem. Mein lieber Mittbewohner, dessen Geschirr schon seit dem Einzug die rechte Abwasch blockiert, hat sich nun auch auf die linke ausgedehnt. Grrr! Ich bin ja aufgrund meiner eigenen Unordentlichkeit sehr tolerant, aber das ist jetzt zu viel des Guten Schlechten. Zumindest eine Abwasch sollte doch benuetzbar sein..

No, not for me - although I feel a bit like every other day it's Christmas or at least an advent calendar, when Sylwia and especially Erzi bring stuff for my new place. Plates, cuttlery, a pillow..

No, today - exactly 2 months minus half a day early - it's my first Christmas Prestent to YOU, and it's up to you to decide whether it's AAAWESOME or whether it SSSUCKS. (It's a pity have to be registered in order to take part in twoday.net polls, otherwise I'd have immediately started one. Hehe!) Anyway here it is:

Joachim is coming home for Christmas!

I've just booked the flight:
Arrival in Munich: Monday, 12 December at 4pm.
Departure from Munich: Thursday, 28 December at 6:30am

I intend to spend the first couple of days (about a week) in Innsbruck (Fette, fette Paaattteee!!!) and then go gome. I'm sooo much looking forward to seeing some (most, I hope) of you! (Isn't it a joy to give a present to someone and feel it's a present for oneself as well? That's the true spirit of Christmas..)

Alright, I have to go now - from now on I'll need all my time for going shopping and trying to find fancy Christmas presents (preferably for less money than this one)..

Today is already the second day in a row I didn't manage to wash my breakfast dishes in the morning. One week and one day I did a perfect job - but now? Well I had the choice between being untidy or being late and I prefer the former (the choice of getting up ten minutes earlier is discarded as unrealistic ;-) - but as in London I at least hid the dishes in my kitchen cupboard. Schein und Sein, or so.. ;-) - Not that there is any danger my flatmate would mind. Oh my, I should show you some pictures of his fridge shelves or kitchen compartments or the sink or above all of his room if he should ever leave his door open long enough. Especially the latter is simply amazing. I mean I'm not uncreative in making a mess - but this is just beyond my scope..

(As you may have noticed, there isn't anything interesting going on these days.)

If you've ever any doubts, computer and internet will fix them! :-)

You Are 28 Years Old

PS: Tell me YOUR results! and don't cheat! :-)

Theory
You know what I've been thinking these day? Maybe I should become an adult, or to be more precise, maybe I should act in such a way that people perceive me as the adult who I am.

Example 1: Clothes
When going to work I've been dressing rather informally. It's not at all different from what I used to wear for going to university - which would be OK if I had been into law or social sciences but not as an arts student :-) - or from what I'm wearing when going out. I think lack that semi-formal style. Most is informal and rather sportive. That's the way I am (well, more informal than sportive :-) and the way I feel good. I was assured by Sylwia that the way I dress is fine, so I know that in practice it's no problem. Yet, I concluded that maybe I should change my attitude. The English translation of "sich leger kleiden" according to LEO is quite telling: "to dress down" - to make myself smaller, younger, weaker. It may be just a result of my general unsureness and uneasiness when dealing with superiors, maybe it's only his general personality but I sometimes got the impression that my boss does not take me as serious in scientific matters as I would wish. And I concluded that the way I dress may have contributed to that. If I would dress more formal, act more confident, people would in the first place see the serious scholar (which I'm at work) and not the laid-back young guy (which I'm in my free time). It shouldn't be too difficult to find some nice and semi-formal clothes in which I'm not looking boring?

Example 2: Lifestyle
Self discipline. Routine. Yep, that topic again. Also in my life style I feel that I match much more the stereotype of the young, chaotic, untidy student then that of a nearly 30 years old, settled adult. Both Kinga and Matthias were actually quite surprised (if not shocked) when I admitted that my frequency of doing dishes or cleaning can rather be described as "occasionally" than as "regularly". The situation of moving out made the whole dilemma plain clear: My landlord was obviously well aware of the state of disorder the apartment has been in for most of the time, although I think he got a worse impression than it actually was. So the day I mentioned that I would move out he suggested that I should hire a professional cleaning company because I had to clean everything and that would be a lot, a lot of work. Some of my colleagues assumed he just wanted to take advantage of the situation but I've come to a different conclusion. I think he was sincerely convinced that I actually did not know how to clean properly. At least when I made clear that I was determined to do it by myself and confident about it he didn't resist - but I felt that he was not convinced. Which in turn appealed to my honour. I did not ask any of my female colleagues for help as he suggested - no I wanted to do it all by myself. (Which I guess I would have done anyway because I have lived there so it's my job to get rid of my dirt, and also it's a good way to say farewell to the apartment.) I'm sure he assumed that the fact I needed until today was due to a combination of the basement being horribly dirty and of me not really knowing how to deal with it. Which is not entirely untrue: As I said stove and fridge were hard work indeed, and also I wouldn't say that I'm the quickest cleaner. However, the prime reason was that I was cleaning with meticulous care. Cleaning all shelves, even those I never used, and not only dusting them but really scrubbing them. Cleaning every possible spot, trying not to leave a single hair - and I knew that my predecessors have not been that careful. So when I had finished today and he came down to check (as we had agreed) he was just surprised. So I said: "You see, I'm a bit chaotic by personality, but also if I have a job or duty I try to do it perfectly." "And you've succeeded. This is really perfect." Hehe. I know. I could see that he had not expected this. Which was of course a satisfaction but was it worth the work?

Conclusion
I think the basic problem is similar to the one about clothes: I don't care too much about the appearance so an observer will think worse of my qualities than they are, which in return puts me under pressure to prove what I can achieve, by which I make my life a lot harder than necessary because in the end people get something better than they actually expected or deserved. The theory of the day. Well, that's it, these are the thoughts which have been running through my mind these days. Plans, plans, planss - am I not having so many good plans these days? Let's see what happens. This here again was something completely against the plan. I was so tired after the tiring weekend that I had planned to go to bed early today. And now it's already quarter past one in the morning. Forget about plans, live as you feel.. (As long as nobody sees it .:-)

Hi new flat
I moved yesterday but still spent the whole day cleaning the flat. Gosh, oven and fridge were a hell lot of work. New flat resolution: Periodic cleaning saves a lot of time in the end. I'm still not completely finished yet, so will spend another couple of hours to (hopefully) finish the cleaning today. As to the new place: I guess i need a bit time to be at home. Right now it's a bit strange from the big place I had all for myself, to a small room (without much more furniture than a mattress and a crude bookshelf) in another person's flat. But, it came just in time because:

Hi first snow in Edmonton
Thick snowflakes are falling down - according to the weather forecast it should become three centimetres. I guess that's not enough to cover the streets, so I can continue cycling, but anyway it feels good knowing that the flat is much closer to university.

[edit 17.10. 15:09]
Photo 1: The first view of the new room Sunday evening.
Photo 2: The first snow, just behind the house yesterday morning.

Bye Bye Canada
For two weeks maybe. Actually at first I didn't want to return home for Christmas and thought I should take the unique Christmas opportunity to experience it here. But the longer I've thought about it the more I'm feeling that actually Christmas is a day when I would like to be home and it would be nice to see some of you.. So I checked flights today - and I could go home for 850 Dollars (Dominik, how much have you already collected in your "Bring Joachim back" campaign?)- 600 Euro. That's 400 Euro less than I paid for the flight to Edmonton! Sounds great doesn't it? It's a student special - and the connection is correspondingly special: Edmonton - Seattle; Seattle - Copenhagen; Copenhagen - Munich. I have to re-check probably Salzburg would work as well. But as I said. Maybe. Not sure yet.

Bye Bye Basement
My last two days. On Sunday or Sunday/Monday I'll move. The place is much closer to university, I reckon 10 minutes to walk (and only 3 minutes away from Matthias and the girls), it's in the second floor (in American counting, in European it would be first floor), and it's shared with only one other guy. Nice and big living room with TV. And there's a phone as well (not sure about the internet yet). I immediately liked it but first thought I couldn't move in because I was sure that even with an extension I would not be here as long as required (end of April). But as it turned out..

Negative aspects about it: The floor in the room is carpet which in my eyes is more difficult to clean and less hygienic. But above all the room isn't fully furnished. Well, there's a bed but I'll first have to test whether it's any good (back to single size, so today and tomorrow would be the last chance meeting someone to really fill my nice big double bed at least once :-). Then there's a built in wardrobe. Possibly also a little table. And that's it. Luckily Eric is now working in a moving company which picks up and re-sells old furniture and he's allowed to take things he likes for himself so I'm hoping to get the needed furniture for free. It's a strange feeling, because in the basement everything was provided which in return means that I don't own anything in terms of household. No cutlery, no plates (but a couple of glasses :-), even no bed linen, no blanket or pillow, no towels (those I've bought already the day before yesterday). So it will take me some time to really settle down.

But I'm also looking forward to it. In the basement I knew from the beginning that actually I would like to move for the winter (I knew it would just annoy me walking half an hour twice a day, especially walking home at 10 or 11 when I know that I'd just eat and sleep and then already walk back). I lived there but I knew I'd move as soon as I found an appropriate alternative. Now I think that at the new place I'll feel more at home. I know I'll stay there. Or at least I hope so.

In the end it will depend a lot on how I get along with my flatmate to be. Leif is a third year music student, apparently quite busy. My first impression was very good, he seemed friendly and quiet. The following weeks I got increasingly annoyed because it always took him quite a while to answer e-mails so most of the time I didn't really know what's going on, will I move, will I not move, when will I move (the day before yesterday I got the final confirmation that I can move in this weekend). And I hate important things being undecided. But now everything seems definite, so I'm confident everything will work out fine..

Zitat standard online: "Österreich trifft nach der schweren Prüfung gegen Liechtenstein auf den EM-Partner aus der Schweiz..." - Schwere Pruefung? Hahahahaha! Was ist denn dann das heutige Match?

[edit 14:34, 22:34 MEZ] Die Antwort: Ein Wunder! :-)

Comment 1: Erklaerungen fuer das Wunder:
- Die grandiose Atmospaere dieses genialen Stadions.
- Die guten Luft und die Berge in dieser wunderschoenen Stadt.
- Der besondere Draht dieses Heiligen Lands nach oben...

Comment 2: Ich fuerchte Dominik, Dein Masterplan koennte sich noch ins Umgekehrte drehen: Wir gewinnen alle Spiele bis zur EM und kassieren dann drei ordentliche Watschen. Das schlimmste daran waere: Wir koennen nicht einmal vorzeitig nach Hause fahren! :-)))