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What a day and week
Jun. 24th, 2004 07:15 pmLiveJournal is terribly slow today. And with whatever maintenance they are doing, the managed to throw me out just when I wanted to post an article in the libraries community. I just had to rewrite the whole thing...
This week is terrible! I don't seem to get any sleep. After the concert on Tuesday (BTW, the reviews don't say anything about the quality of the performance, just about the conductor), we had our last class-type event in University yesterday. I didn't get up early enough and was there late, but I only missed the beginning so it wasn't too bad. We had three speeches by different people about new developments and discussions in the library world, supposed to prepare us for the final oral examinations where they like to ask questions about that kind of stuff. And then one of our professors got up to say goodbye to us. That was a really nice speech and it was great to hear that we left a little impression in the lives of those people who influenced our lives a lot. Everybody received a little present, a book with a dedication from a teacher. In the evening, we invited the teachers to a little party, or rather a get-together. Some teachers had to leave early (Germany's soccer match on TV), but some stayed with us til midnight or one o'clock this morning. It was great to get to talk to all the people you like in a more casual atmosphere. Also, the teachers don't really treat us as students anymore, but more as equals. Including telling us about the problems they have with the "kids" in the other groups...
It was also a great opportunity to talk to the professors who are going to do my final examination, to ask them what is important to them and what might be helpful to do to prepare.
One teacher who retired last semester bought sparkling whine for everybody, which was a nice gesture even to those who don't drink alcohol.
But the whole thing kept me away from my bed until about two this morning. And then I had to get up at eight to see my brother pledge his allegiance to the German army. For the Americans, I need to explain: Germans are rather unpatriotic. We don't have anything like the Pledge of Allegiance. We hardly ever sing our national anthem and many Germans don't even know it. But every German male has to serve in the army for 9 months or do some civil service instead. My brother just got through the first 3 months. In that time, the basically learn how to march and how to greet officers, how to tell one rank from the other and all that stuff. When they know all that, there is this celebration where they pledge to defend their country. Relatives are invited, so my Mom and I went to this military base. There were marches played, some General said a few words, and we sung the National Anthem. (That is, some of the recruits and my mom and I did, most other civilians didn't know it and I even got strange looks for singing - as I said, Germans are rather unpatriotic. Trained that way) From now on, my brother is allowed to leave the military base wearing his uniform. He is really proud, actually allowed me to take pictures to send to my other brother and my sister.
So with that little sleep, I'm dead tired. But I'm developing a nice little cold, my throat is sore from singing and talking, so I don't think I'm going to sleep much this night either. Plus, I need to read about 5 books to prepare for my exmaination which is about a week earlier than I thought it was. Damn the professor who told me to take a little vacation from learning after I handed in my final paper. (Oh well, he meant only good. And I might still manage.)
This week is terrible! I don't seem to get any sleep. After the concert on Tuesday (BTW, the reviews don't say anything about the quality of the performance, just about the conductor), we had our last class-type event in University yesterday. I didn't get up early enough and was there late, but I only missed the beginning so it wasn't too bad. We had three speeches by different people about new developments and discussions in the library world, supposed to prepare us for the final oral examinations where they like to ask questions about that kind of stuff. And then one of our professors got up to say goodbye to us. That was a really nice speech and it was great to hear that we left a little impression in the lives of those people who influenced our lives a lot. Everybody received a little present, a book with a dedication from a teacher. In the evening, we invited the teachers to a little party, or rather a get-together. Some teachers had to leave early (Germany's soccer match on TV), but some stayed with us til midnight or one o'clock this morning. It was great to get to talk to all the people you like in a more casual atmosphere. Also, the teachers don't really treat us as students anymore, but more as equals. Including telling us about the problems they have with the "kids" in the other groups...
It was also a great opportunity to talk to the professors who are going to do my final examination, to ask them what is important to them and what might be helpful to do to prepare.
One teacher who retired last semester bought sparkling whine for everybody, which was a nice gesture even to those who don't drink alcohol.
But the whole thing kept me away from my bed until about two this morning. And then I had to get up at eight to see my brother pledge his allegiance to the German army. For the Americans, I need to explain: Germans are rather unpatriotic. We don't have anything like the Pledge of Allegiance. We hardly ever sing our national anthem and many Germans don't even know it. But every German male has to serve in the army for 9 months or do some civil service instead. My brother just got through the first 3 months. In that time, the basically learn how to march and how to greet officers, how to tell one rank from the other and all that stuff. When they know all that, there is this celebration where they pledge to defend their country. Relatives are invited, so my Mom and I went to this military base. There were marches played, some General said a few words, and we sung the National Anthem. (That is, some of the recruits and my mom and I did, most other civilians didn't know it and I even got strange looks for singing - as I said, Germans are rather unpatriotic. Trained that way) From now on, my brother is allowed to leave the military base wearing his uniform. He is really proud, actually allowed me to take pictures to send to my other brother and my sister.
So with that little sleep, I'm dead tired. But I'm developing a nice little cold, my throat is sore from singing and talking, so I don't think I'm going to sleep much this night either. Plus, I need to read about 5 books to prepare for my exmaination which is about a week earlier than I thought it was. Damn the professor who told me to take a little vacation from learning after I handed in my final paper. (Oh well, he meant only good. And I might still manage.)
