Maybe it is because I am hungry, but there is a lot going on in my Wining and Dining Section of my blog today.....

Thanksgiving went down in grand style last Thursday. The turkey was fantastic, there were sweet potatoes and even pumpkin pie! Really amazing. And in football news, I hear that the Bears are kicking some major ass, so that is super sweet.

I had the seminar on Friday and Saturday that was hosted by a manager of a world heritage site. There are about 900 sites around the world, which is actually very little, so to meet the head honcho is kinda a big deal. However, the seminar was boring, and we didn't talk about much. He did like breaks though, and ever hour we had one for about half an hour, and he ended an hour and a half early the second day. The site has a vineyard with it as well, so he brought us some excellent wine produced there, which gave him some major bonus points. It was June's birthday, a girl in my program from Mexico, and she gave us cake, so that was cool too.

Saturday, before going to Berlin, my roommate made some chinese dumplings with his friends, and it was fantastic. It can be truly handy from time to time to have a chinese roommate, and I highly recommend it for all you in the market for one.

Berlin was cool, we partied hardy Saturday night, till about 6am, and then were up and about by 1:00. I didn't get to see many sites, but we walked around Sarah's area, and it was really cool. We ate lunch at this restaurant, and it was absolutly terrific. I had a creamy mushroom soup, an egg breakfast with salat and bacon, and a big cup of tea and honey for 5 euros plus tip, a really great deal!

Daniela had great weekend at home, and saw her parents, grandparents, and friends. At her house they smoke meat every year, and they just did it, so her dad gave me a bunch of meat, it is so nice. I really love to eat.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and my God, it will be celebrated in Cottbus. This is quite exciting, since I was unable to participate in the most glorious holiday ever conceived last year due to a lack of an oven. In spite of past set backs, the Americans here have combined into a lean mean cooking force set out with one mission: To gorge ourselves. It will be hosted at Sebastian's house (he is a German in my program), and will include the Americans as well as other select guests. I'll update later how it went.

Surprisingly, I have another weekend seminar this weekend, but this time it is about Management of historic sites....I think. Anyway, it is supposed to be good, so I hope that I do not have to show up drunk just to make it interesting. Saturday night, I will go to Berlin for the first time to celebrate the birthday of a German girl in my program, Sarah. There is not much else going on here, just the usually running around, working, and trying to keep things as lighthearted as possible.....

What has my blog been missing? I am sure that you have been asking yourselfs this very question, and maybe you even came up with a few ideas. Perhaps logic, humor, structure, or a point were top on your lists. But what I believe is the number one thing that has been seriously lacking is me commenting on the impossibility of receiving a visa.

For all you that read the struggle for my carte de sejour in France, you know that this is no new feat that I have had to contend with, but this time it has been just as annoying. I went to the office a few weeks ago, and gave them all my forms but was told that I had to come back in two weeks. We made an appointment, and the waiting began. I realized about a week before my scheduled meeting, that I had classes all day long on Tuesday, and couldn't go that day. So I went the Thursday before (they are all only open two days a week) and explained the situation, only to receive a blank stare and an explanation that she had done nothing yet. So we rescheduled for the next Thursday (today), and finally she gave me the stupid thing.

Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but I really want to get a cell phone, and to be allowed to get a contract for two years you need to show, surprise surprise, a visa. So after getting the craptacular piece of paper I headed to the cell phone shop and got a contract together. After asking for this and that, he told me to come back in 30 minutes to pick it up. I was anxiously waiting to hear when I could show him my bright new paper, and he never asked. So I asked him. All I got was a nod saying "Nein"...great.

In better news, I had an architecture two test today, and I think it went pretty well. Tonight is Sam from Holland's birthday, and there is a big party...sweet. Another weekend seminar tomorrow!!!

What excatly has happened recently? That is indeed a fine question, but I am not sure if I can fully answer that. For starters, I am still trying to forget the horrible weekend seminar I had on Friday and Saturday. It could have been interesting, but the woman just went on and on about stuff that we had already learned about.

In movie news, the Eastern European Movie Fest is over now in Cottbus. I saw two films, one was six short films in one, and the other was a fakumentary about the Russians going on the moon before the Americans. Overall I would grade the experience of both at a C, not entirely disapointing, but leaving me scratching my head afterwards.

In culinary news, Thanksgiving will be coming to Cottbus this year, as myself and a couple of Americans will be cooking up some turkey goodness.....

That's all for now!

It has been a techinical time recently. He are some examples:
You know the guy with the fro and beard that did the show on PBS where he painted the same nature scenes week after week? My God, if I did not see him in Germany. Evidently late night TV is just as incredibly boring here as it is back home, and last night I experienced it first hand. With somewhat of a morbid curiosity I was flipping through the stations (all 48 of them, yes!) until at about 1:00 am I stumbled upon this guy, Bob Ross. I had seen tidbits of him in the past, but since he looked strange and kept calling painted trees his "friends" I always moved on. But seeing him in Germany was rather a novelty I thought, so I watched the whole show. It was rather impressive how he could transform nothing to something in about half an hour, but at one point he kind of got lost and started to speak about a squirrel that evidently he keeps as a pet. It was a little frightening to say the least.

This past weekend I had a weekend seminar with a guy from Spain that is one of the leader of computer graphics these days. He really knew his stuff, and had some connections. He told us a story about the guys who did the Lord of the Rings animation and how the first battle between Orcs and Elves that had computer "brains" they made them a bit too smart and when confronted on the field of battle, literally ran away from each other. They had to make them more "stupid"; pretty cool, eh? Also, in one of the battle scenes, there are Orcs playing cards in the distance. Who said nerds couldn't be fun?

There is a Eastern European Film Festival here in Cottbus now, so this week I will be enjoying the cinema of my neighbors....stay tuned for that!

Good news to report in the world of Justin these days. Though I got too drunk off of wine and ouzo (I don't recommend the combination) on Friday night, I managed to stumble into Project Cycle Management, or PCM for you acryonimically inclined, and I am lucky that I did. It was from 10am-8pm, but it was really quite good. The professor was an extremely intelligent man that had no bones about telling us all that very fact and more about himself. He wasn't just boasting either. He started his teaching career at the tender age of 24 as a university professor at no less of an institution as Oxford. It kinda of makes my life accomplishments look like something one would wipe off one's shoe. Anyway, it was really interesting, and as part of the project we had to get into a group and come up with a project. It really makes the name worth while, don't you think? It could be about anything, but my group quickly struck upon the idea of an international group that supervises disaster relief situations. It was a bad ass concept, and we were all actually really excited about it. Plus there was free pizza.

Sunday was a gorgeous day in the greater Cottbus area. The leaves are fully changed in color now, and they are falling wonderfully. I took advantage of the landscape to make a leave-angel, which is not as easy to perceive as a snow angel, though still fully appreciable from any artistic benchmark. Daniela and I went for a long bike ride and then a walk to fully enjoy the fantastic weather, and then did homework like dorks.

Halloween was Monday, and this is a holiday that is slowly making its way into Germany, though only in the past five years or so. Daniela and I went to dinner at an Italian restaurant, though some kids came in, and instead of saying "Trick or treat" proceeded with what sounded like a quote from The Illiad, at least it was just as long. Anyway, all is going well, hope everyone is keeping it easy.....