Christmas in Scandinavia

As sad as it may be that I’m NOT going to spend Christmas time with my family, I aint exactly complaining about the consolation prize. This year I am doing something different for a change and spending Christmas in Europe. In a few hours, I leave Berlin to meet up with Ingrid in Copenhagen … and then the fun begins! We are going to spend the next two weeks exploring Denmark, Norway and Sweden by land, sea and air. I am SSSSssssoooo looking forward to it. Our rough itinerary is as follows:

23Dec - Fly from Berlin, Germany to Copenhagen, Denmark
25Dec - Overnight cruise from Copenhagen to Oslo, Norway
27Dec - Scenic tour from Norway in a Nutshell to Bergen, Norway
29Dec - Speed boat along fjords to Ålesund, Norway including Geiranger Fjord
31Dec - Bus to Olso, Fly to Copenhagen and attend Tivoli’s Christmas Special
03Jan - Bus to Goteborg, Sweden and spend the night
04Jan - A half day in Malmö, Sweden
05Jan - Fly back to Berlin into Tempelhof Airport!

A Surprise at my Doorstep

Ingrid managed to give me the second biggest surprise of my life (read about the first one here). I got a frantic phone call late one night from her telling me that a friend of hers would be at my house in a few minutes to drop a few things off to give to me to give Marcelo to give her mom (you know how that goes). On my descent down the stairs, I came across something I NEVER expected … BABY POOH ! But when Ingrid jumped out from behind the corner I was completely speechless. What a great surprise ! She had the weekend off an

We spent the weekend doing nothing special and had an amazing time doing so (the sign of a truly special relationship.) We had an elegant dinner using our coupons, went to a REALLY cool East Anatolian restaurant with Marcelo and Kerstin (thanks for the suggestion Stephan), rented a 50-cent movie and played Star Craft.

B is for Brats, Beers and Bureaucracy

Everyone knows that German love their Brats and their Beer ... but the B they love the most is Bureaucracy. They LOVE their rules ... they love makin'em, they love followin'em. I had a glimps at some of Germany's finest bureaucracy trying to get a German residence and work permit (whats that? ... you CAN pat your head and rub your belly while hopping on one foot through a hoop? Well then, you might be qualified for the paperwork you need to fill out in order to get the documents needed before we begin your application). The other day I had the fortunate experience to see Berlin's finest adhering to every letter of the law.
Cousin Chad and friends getting frisked by the German Police
I was biking to work some lazy Tuesday morning. I was riding one of those nice bike lanes they have everywhere in this city. Out of the corner of my eye I see a car tailgating me. A few seconds later I seems as though the passenger was trying to hit me with something !!! Ends up being a couple cops in a paddy wagon waving a stop sign! Eventually I 'pull over'. The police we yelling at me for running a red light on my bike. They were right, I DID run a red, but it was on this dinky little street and not a car in sight. I thought 'These guys have to be joking !' I instantly forgot my German, making communcation difficult, I ended up getting off with a 'warning'.

I talked to the people at work and they said that running a red light in German, regardless by bike or auto is the same offense ... I could loose my driver license for 3 months !!! The same goes for biking without proper lights at night !!! In general, I agree to rules for the betterment of society ... but sometimes you have to ask 'how do they apply here'

Skype ... friend or fiend

I've heard the hype for a couple years, but finally I decided to jump on the Skype bandwagon. Skype is this handy little FREE program that allows users to make FREE computer to computer calls or cheap international calls from your computer to a cell phone or land line (2 cents across the whole of the US and Western Europe).
The problems this would help me with:
1. My apartment changed from T-Com to Alice. Which means the end of those dirt cheap prefixes HOWEVER free calls across the WHOLE of Europe. Not the best deal if your relatives live in the US, so Skype offers a cheaper alternative
2. Trying to call Ingrid late at night, when the rest of the house is sleeping. Now her computer will quietly ring versus the chorus of phones that would wake up the whole house.
3. Living in the quasi commune style community that I do means all the phone lines could be tied up. Skype provides me with an alternative.
4. By getting my European friends on Skype provides us a cheap and easy means of communication in the event I move to the US.
5. It gives you a 'second' phone line ... nice if you dont have call waiting for frequently get put on hold

Those were my hopes and theories. In practise, the quality is not nearly that of a landline ... more on the order of a cell phone with a moderate/flucuating signal. Passible at times, unacceptable at others ... perhaps again to the effect my community roommates/neighbors have on my internet connection. Its a fun toy for now, but time will tell if its a viable option for my friends and I.