after thinking about it on a off for a long time i have now decided to go with a contract mobile phone. I had been spending way too much on pay as you go, so now hopefully it will be ok. I am really excited about the new phone I got free with the contract :)

and here it is :)



it is really cool, takes photos, plays music from an mp3 player and the radio, records video... and yes it does make phone calls and sends texts as well!

let's see what's been going on here these past 7 days... not that much really... students have come back to uni and are just as confused about things as ever really... but I guess that's ok. Gives me an opportunity to earn some cash. Plus I did have a good time making my first year students do presentations. I also showed a prospective student around the department, that's always fun. At that point they are always so excited about coming to university and they are full of energy. Wednesday night we met with a few friends at the new Tapas Bar in town and it was a lovely evening. Neil has decided to treat us as it was his pay day that day so we had booked a table and just had a nice evening sampling different kinds of Spanish food. Still not sure what the Spanish word "Tapas" actually means, but from the food we got i assume it must be something like small portion or something similar. The next day I met a friend from uni for an evening meal at Wagamama which was excellent as always. I just really love the food... and now I have another friend to go there with :)

Last night we went out for a friend's birthday, had a few drinks at the Impy which was nice. At some point a whole load of superheros walked in which was quite funny. But in that humid weather they must have sweat like pigs in their costumes...

I have also recently joined facebook. I was a bit resistant at first, but it is much much better than myspace! Well that's just for me. It is helpful to get in touch with uni friends from my time in the US and also got back in touch with a friend from London who (whom??? English sometimes is still really hard) I hadn't heard from in a while. So that is really cool. And also just to share photos between friends... and to waste a bit of time sometimes ;).

last week

I have been having a good week I think... still fairly quiet as students are still away. They will be coming back to campus this weekend and taking over again. It is actually good that they are coming back because it means I can earn some money giving them advice again ;)

Anyway, the week was fairly quiet in general, although we have been quite busy in the evenings. Monday we were supposed to meet some friends to go to the cinema but they cancelled on us so we met up with other friends for a drink after Neil was done with work at the new Tapas bar in town. It all looks very new and flashy and at the same time in combination with the weather makes you feel like you are in a completely different place. Tuesday we went to the cinema to see "The Curse of the Golden Flower" was nice to look at but a bit too bloody for my taste. Wednesday a friend of mine took me out for an Indian meal as a late birthday present, Thursday night we went to a concert up at the university by a band called Hayseed Dixie. They were fantastic, very entertaining and the music was so different from anything you hear on mainstream radio... very good. Last night we met up with friends to BBQ and then watch BRICK on dvd. It was as odd as the first time watching it... but still a good film. The dialoge is incomprehensible though!

yeah that was my week... not sure exactly what the weekend will bring besides some work which I was too lazy to do in the week and maybe some poker in the evening today...

first day back

wasn't so bad actually. I had a meeting first thing in the morning, which was fine. Just some changes on the horizon for the student services at the uni and one of my many jobs might be changing at some point in the next couple of months. Not sure what but he just wanted to give us all a heads up for it, which is fair enough. Then was in the library for a little bit and then met a friend for lunch. After that I went to my office and then went to see my supervisor to let him know that I am back and when we should meet up to talk about things. Still nothing about the upgrade, still the meeting hasn't been set... this is getting a bit annoying. I handed in my report at the beginning of February and now it is the end of April soon... I really hope I will hear something soon. then did a bit of office stuff, booked rooms for tutorial meetings next week and updated my diary with a few things. And then I met up with a few friends for a Starbucks before meeting Neil after work. We then met up with other friends for a drink and sat outside at the new Tapas Bar in town. Such a lovely warm evening.

had a nice couple of days getting used to being in Exeter again. Thursday Neil and I went to see a film called Climates - probably the worst film I have ever seen. I am not even completely sure what the main problem was... maybe it was because I didn't understand the language and also felt like I couldn't relate to the language at all. Friday I met a friend in town for coffee which was really nice. We got caught up and it is always nice to see her outside of uni. In the evening went grocery shopping and afterwards went for a drink at a little pub in a small town outside of Exeter. Yesterday I felt a craving for a Wagamama meal so I went and had a late lunch there... very yummy Chicken Katsu Curry and then met up with Neil briefly during his afternoon break. In the evening we went to play poker with some friends. And today was a fairly lazy day... went into town for a bit enjoying the weather, then came home and made food and then watched Lost in Translation on DVD. I saw it was coming on the telly this evening, but I didn't want to watch it with commercial breaks so I thought I can just pop in the DVD. all in all a very nice few days! Tomorrow it is back to reality.

back in Exeter now

after a long day of traveling in a car, a plane, a bus and then a train I have arrived back in Exeter. now I am avoiding unpacking ;)

last day already

and it is my last day in Germany already... I can never believe how quickly the time goes by when I am here. At least this time we managed to get most things done and today I am seeing a few of my friends. ok better get to my packing again...

Maschsee Hannover

went to Hannover (Lower Saxony's capital city) to enjoy Easter Sunday by walking around a lake in the middle of the city. Here are a few pictures:

not much going on today. Fiddled with my mom's computer for a while to make sure it still burns CDs and got rid of some useless software that she never uses. Now it seems to be ok... at least what she wants works now. Not much else going on today either. Maybe watching some tv and just generally be lazy. Tomorrow we are going to have easter dinner a few days early because my dad might need to go away for work again on Saturday .

just took this picture of the very colourful sunset outside

not much has been going on here. Yesterday my mom and I went shopping in a suburb of Hamburg with my aunt. We had a good day going through the usual shops and then had lunch at a steak house. It is the best steak I have been able to find so far, even in the States I haven't had a better one in the 5 years I was there. Anyway, I got a few new shirts and bought a PD James book called "The Lighthouse" I think. The bit on the back cover sounded quite good, but first I will have to finish reading "Shopaholic and Baby" before I can start another paper.

We didn't get tickets to go to Starlight Express this trip, so we will have to do that later in the summer. I might just plan a short trip sometime in the early summer maybe in June and then go again for my friend's wedding in August for a bit longer. But I will have to talk to Brian about that first, he will be retiring at the end of the academic year (at least that's what he's been saying the last year) and I don't know who will be taking over my PhD supervision. So I have to figure out how I can deal with going away on holidays. Also with the personal tutoring I always have to think about the students and whether they might need me or not.

Oh I got a 6 CD set with Tchaikovsky's ballets for 19 Euros today. I had been looking for a CD with the whole Nutcracker ballet on it, but never found anything decent. Will be listening to it later. I hope it is good, it is by the London Symphony Orchestra.

yesterday my mom and I decided to go for a nice walk by the river Elbe near Hamburg where my aunt and uncle own a little Hotel and Restaurant. The weather was lovely and we enjoyed a walk by the water. Then we went by my aunt and uncle's for a bit but they were busy with customers wanting lunch so we only had a glass of water and then left. On the way home we drove by my other aunt and uncle's house and had coffee and some waffles and had a really nice chat.