Low-def Photos

In addition to the hi-def images from my new camera, I've been taking some low-definition photos with my cell-phone. I finally took some time to upload them. There's something nice about just taking an image and sending it "straight to press" ... something old-fashioned, like taking pictures with a disposable camera, and just accepting the output.

Some really neat effects also happened as a result of the fact that the camera is built into the body of the phone, which has become really scratched up, diffusing light sources to a glow and blurring edges.

Berlin from the roof of Club Weekend:


Beach in Warnemünde:


My little sculpture:


My train's arriving!

Gahaaa!

Cool stuff: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/06/highaltitudewindpower/

Busy times in Berlin. Yesterday I handed in fourteen pages of pure German text for my two literature courses. I wrote it all by myself :) - 1.5 spacing, which the Germans prefer. Makes me pretty happy, but I still have one more paper of about equal length to write by next Tuesday for my "German-American Relations" course. I'm doing research into the so-called "degenerate art" of the Nazi period, which for the most part was sold off to the United States, because the Nazis didn't want it. As a result, American museums have the most extensive collections of German expressionist and dada art from the early 20th century.

I turn in that paper next week, during final exams.

My Professor for Art History asked us to do an art project in lieu of writing a paper, which is a godsend for me! I'm experimenting with video in PureData, and I'm planning on doing some kind of interactive video and sound installation using a live feed from a webcam. It's coming along nicely, though I haven't quite decided on a concept. So far, I've just been playing with the technology.

We're going to have a little gallery party sometime next week, and then it's all over for IES courses here in Berlin.

But even after that, I'll be sticking with the internship at the Oberschule until school ends on the 15th. I am also working on a research project for that. For this, I've decided to interview some of the kids about their future prospects. You know, "what do you wanna be when you grow up?" "Do you think school is helping you achieve your goals?" etc. Once I've collected their comments, I have to do a little write-up and an in-class presentation of the results. Should be interesting.

Sylvia is flying in on 10th of July, while I'm wrapping up my internship. After the 17th, it'll all be over and we'll be able to go travelling around - I can't wait!

Wow, the time flew by quickly, and I kind of regret not blogging more often about it, but then that's how it goes. Goes to show how busy I was - more doing, less writing!

On the Art Front

Berkeley Student Yotam Mann created this multi-touch instrument with some cardboard, a couple of lasers, and a webcam. It's not clear to me how he interpreted the image from the webcam, but what got my attention was the "instrument" part, which was programmed in MAX/MSP/Jitter, a program that I've used in past art projects, check it out:

Wolfram Alpha Computational Search Engine

Okay, all the blogs have been buzzing about this being the "future of the internet," and I've ignored it up until now. Today, I finally caved to the mountain of links asking me to take a look, and I was very impressed. I think everyone should definitely see this.

Wolf Alfram is a new kind of computational search engine. Some people think it's going to save Google from anti-trust lawsuits, because of the potentially stiff competition that the idea offers. Check it out this video first: Introduction to Wolfram Alpha

And then try out Wolfram Alpha for yourself here (that's right, it's already available in its baby form): Wolfram Alpha Home

As the guy points out, the engine is in it's early stages, but that doesn't make it any less WOW. :)

Part II of the Oberschule Saga

Okay, I owe you the rest of the story....

Well, after a while, the two girls had a pretty good idea of what they were doing. I still had to walk them through a few questions, but they were very productive even without my help.

But Patrick still could not focus. Either he was bothering the kids in the row in front of him, or they were twisted in their chairs talking to him. I wasn't really bothered by this, I'm not the strict teacher type. Occasionally I would turn to Patrick and the others and give them a mock-stern look and then point at their papers with a smile. They seemed to respect this for as long as their attention spans lasted.

Well, the crux of this story has lost its punch in the past week, but I'll tell it as I experienced it anyway. At one point, Patrick tried to ask one of the boys in front of him a question. He blew him off, saying, Shush! Halts Maul! Denk an Döner! - Shut up! Think about döner!

Now döner is a "Turkish Specialty," which as far as anyone can tell was invented in Germany. It´s essentially falafel meat wrapped in a pita and laden with salad. All the döner stands in Berlin are run by Turks. Initially, I was unsure about how to handle this situation because on the surface it appeared to be an incidence of racism (the kid actually said it twice). I also considered the possibility that these kids were friends, and that this statement may not have been malicious. Still, I didn´t want to take any chances and so I paid more attention to Patrick and kept him focused on his work.

As it turned out, Patrick and this other kid whose name, I learned, is Klaus, are actually good friends, so the situation was probably not as bad as it seemed. Still, it´s worth pointing out that racism and xenophobia are just as much a subject in Germany as it is in the United States.

Anyway, the school periods are just too short. The two girls hardly finished correcting their mistakes - I say mistakes, but they really left huge tracts of their test incomplete. They checked-out before the period ended and sat in the corner giggling, when I asked them to answer the last few questions.

My host sister told me about her math test yesterday in what appeared to be Pre-Calc. She told me that she probably "wrote a six," which is the equivalent of a big fat F. She said it was fun, though, because she had time to just sit there and daydream. "So you just gave up?" I asked. "Yes, of course," she said, "Math´s just not my subject...."

My conversation with Stella reminded me of the girls at the Oberschule and their attitude towards their English tests. It seems that if a student feels like a subject just "isn´t their area," then they won´t even try. They will simply accept the failing grade and concentrate on their strong subjects. I think that in the United States, the mentality is different. The focus is on the average, so one cannot afford to let a grade slip below a C.

That said, it is also easier to get good grades in the American school system due to the widely accepted phenomenon of "grade inflation." The differences in attitude can also probably be traced to the fundamental differences between school systems. But as this post is getting too long, I think this will need to be a discussion for another time and another post.

Ciao!

Some Observations from the Oberschule

Well, I'm feeling a little productive, so I decided to write another little post. A little more about my experience at the Oberschule:

In the third period on Monday I was helping out with a 7th grade class. Half of the class left within 15 minutes, because it was picture day for them. Curiously enough, it was not picture day for the other half of the class. They stayed in the room and I helped them correct their English tests. I was assigned to two girls and a Turkish boy named Patrick.

Patrick, whose name is not very Turkish, did not look very Turkish (except for his gelled-up fo-hawk), and he didn't have a Turkish accent. He, as well as the two very German girls, did not get a very good grades on their English Test - they were all deep in F territory.

Now, what is one supposed to do when confronted with such "poor students?" Well, the best they can, naturally. Patrick sat to the side, quietly confused, but rather unworried by his terrible grade. The two girls also didn't seem to mind, even though one of them had received a 29 out of 100. The assignment was for each of them to redo the second and third sections.

I watched as the girls copied the seven English sentences, in which they were supposed to find and correct errors. They were very concentrated and their handwriting was flawless. They finished copying the sentences within 10 minutes, but Patrick had hardly made any progress. He was distracted by the other boys in the classroom, I didn't really pay attention to what they were talking about. Occasionally, I would glance over at Patrick and direct him back to his paper, where he had written the numbers 1-10.

Looking closer, Patrick scratched out 8, 9, and 10, realizing that he only needed those up until seven. He started copying down the sentences. The girls, meanwhile, were using fountain pens with a special ink-eraser to correct their mistakes. I helped them correct the sentences. They hadn't even understood the assignment!

Okay, first translate the sentence into German. Alright, now go back to the dialog and find the related sentence.... Ok, I'll help you, this one here. Translate that into German.... Exactly, now you see what's wrong....

------------------

Well, I haven't mentioned yet that we spent this weekend in Warnemuende once again. Our train leaves shortly, so I will have to finish this post a little later.

Until then!
--William

Midterms, Internship

As the final exams fly by in the US (for most of you they are already done), I'm taking a little break from studying for my midterms, which are coming up this week.

This is interesting, because it means that I've hit the halfway point here. Maybe I'll write a little halfway-retrospective later.

This past week was the official start to my internship at the Kurt Tucholsky Oberschule in Pankow. Pankow is the northeast area of Berlin. The area is definitely very nice for old east Berlin, although I find the school building itself a little bit old and stuffy, perhaps underfunded.

I am interning primarily under Frau Isensee who teaches English at the school. The kids that I work with range from the 5th grade all the way up to the 12th Grade - a wide and interesting spread. I assist Frau Isensee in class, and she passes me off to other English courses as needed. The art teacher also wants me to help develop projects for kids in the seventh grade.

I began on Monday assisting Frau Isensee with the 12th Grade. The class was mainly a discussion about Media, and the students divided themselves based on two positions: (1) I can live without media and (2) I cannot live without Media. I, of course, fell into the "can't live without media" camp, so I joined the group and got to know them. Overall, the discussion went well and the kids were focused and friendly.

After that, Frau Isensee passed me off to a 5th grade class. The teacher didn't assign me a role, so I spent the period wandering around and looking over the kids shoulders as they worked on in-class assignments.

Then the teacher left the room.

Now, despite the fact that I felt a lot more useful directing the classroom myself, I have no formal educational training. So I was rather surprised that she trusted me enough to do this. She did not leave me completely hanging, either. The kids had work to do, and all I really had to do was help, discuss and supervise. The kids were also really well-behaved, probably because they were young enough to still be awed by my presence, and they respected me as an adult.

I'd like to think I did really well, considering it was my first time managing a class like this. Of course, I've spent years as a student observing teachers at work, so I've got a good grasp of the basics. I had a little more trouble on Friday when I returned to help with a 7th grade class and, once again, the teacher left the room (this time I was responsible for more than half of the class period and wrapping up).

Maybe it was TGIF syndrome, but most of the kids would not focus or even try the exercise, which asked that they practice going into a store and asking the salesperson to help them find an article of clothing. Maybe I set too high standards for myself, because it's not as if I lost complete control of the class and ended up crying in the corner.... No, it's just that four or five kids out of the 17 or so there were not at all interested in the lesson, and no matter what I tried, I could not seem to turn them on to the subject.

On the other hand, there were also five or six students who seemed very happy to have me there. They complimented me on my German and stayed to talk with me a little after class. That was very cool.

Some Images from Walpurgisnacht

Click on an image to visit my picasa album.
Enjoy!

Walpurgisnacht - Wal-Mart-Begone-Night

I know you're thinking, "What does William do all the live-long day, and has he turned German yet?"

Let's talk about recent developments.

May 1st is a take-a-day-off-work-and-school kind of holiday here in Germany. We've been having an awful lot of those, and that's just peachy-keen, despite my indiscriminate use of the word "awful" earlier in this sentence. The next day off is in just two weeks. Wowza!

Well, what did we do May First? Of course, we hit up the party down by Kottbusser Tor in Kreuzburg. This is an area known locally as "Little Istanbul" because of all the Turks who live there. They even have a bi-weekly market, which is crowded and full of fish smells. Sheebang!

The party was bumping. There were at least four stages (that I counted, but who wants to count at a party?) with live music, and the streets were almost as packed as DC after Obama's Inauguration (hereafter: The Inauguration), which means shoulder-to-shoulder peopletraffic. Sorry, I'm getting used to being able to mash words together.

The party was called MyFest because "May" in German is spelled "Mai" and pronounced "My." Yes, the Germans love puns almost as much as they love English. Put the two together and apparently you have three blocks worth of people partying likes its 2009. We watched some rapping Turks, we laid out in a park next to a Techno DJ, and we paid too much for Beck's (but still less than bar prices. Berlin must maintain it's status as most affordable major city in the world).

But let's get to the crux of the story. May 1st is also the day when the anti-capitalists turn out en masse to show their general dissatisfaction with The System. They march around for a while and then at dusk they put on their masks and descend on Kottbusser Tor (an over-ground/under-ground subway stop as well as a major intersection), setting expensive cars and banks aflame, resisting law enforcement, and generally being a nuisance. It's black-bandanna student-revolting chaos.

Now before my mother has a heart attack reading this, I'll go ahead and say that I was long gone by the time these festivities began. This is partially because of the heads-up I got from the local media and wise Berliners alike. The area was also crawling with coppers, ambuli (my new plural for ambulance), and apparently fire trucks, though I didn't see any. Mainly, I saw police van after van after van and a bunch of dashing young officers in uniform going to and fro, their bellies dancing merrily in their bulging waistcoats.

Ay yai! More to come...

Despicable

Speaks for itself, y'know....

Warnemuende

Back from Prague since Friday, and I thought I'd chip away at that little list I made. Let's start with item number... eh, 2! Warnemuende!

Okay, well once again I have some lovely little images prepared for you, which I'll be uploading shortly.

Here's the story: My host mother earned a "Stipendium," which I translate as an "award grant" to do art in a little house in Warnemuende on the Ostsee (Baltic Sea). Google Map It!

Particularly interesting is that this is the same house that Edvard Munch (famous for his painting "The Scream") lived in for a couple years. He was known as the crazy old fellow, who lived with a fisherman's widow and painted naked on the beach.

Quite an interesting retirement!

Well, the grant is a major honor and opportunity for my host mother. She is incredibly happy. It allows her to use the house for the next three months as a studio and living space, drawing inspiration from the scenery and, as she puts it, the old Munch's ghost.

As she has responsibilities to her art school and family here in Berlin, she only travels to Warnemuende when she has the opportunity. On our last trip we spent only one evening there, riding the train up Saturday morning and returning Sunday evening. In this one evening Birgit completed 8 "sand paintings" with time to spare to cook us fresh herring purchased at the local market. She's very diligent!

Birgit has already returned to Warnemuende for the the Easter break. She's there now with her daughter Stella and one of Stella's friends. I will probably be joining them on Thursday evening to stay for the weekend. Hopefully Spring is here to stay, and I'll be able to send you more sunny photos.

Well, I have to go fetch my train ticket! More to come. Ta ta for now!

Travel Update #3: Prague

Finally a place in Europe with a sensible WiFi connection (that is, a free one): Sir Toby's Hostel in Prague.

Yes, I've been out of the country for over a month now, and we are only now reaching Travel Update #3. So much for diligence.

I'm going to go ahead and make a list of things I should tell you about. And then I expect you'll send me an e-mail everyday reminding me to elaborate:

1. Host Family
2. Trip to Warnemuende
3. Trip to Prague
4. School, Schedules
5. Daily Life
6. Everything Else!

Alright, enough already! Assignments, assignments. Everything in it's own good time.

Pictures!

Alright, I know I've been promising it for a while, but I finally got around to uploading some pictures. It's been a grueling process, but I think it was worth it!

See the album here (select 'slideshow'):

Germany 2009

It's not what it looks like!

Well, here's an image before my internet runs out. I did a double-take when I saw it, and then I saw the little advertisement below for The Producers. 

Travel Update #3! Arrived in Berlin

Well, here I am in Berlin two weeks before the IES Program officially begins with nothing much to do! I'm sitting in the Mitte's Backpacker Youth Hostel hammering out this entry before I pay to connect to the internet and post it. Everything I write here is the truth and happened, unless I say it isn't and didn't in which case you should believe the latter, okay? Why would I pay 3 Euros an hour to lie to you?

I arrived two days ago (truth!) and did a little exploring of the Mitte (Middle) area of Berlin, which is just up the street from here. Pictures and video will come soon! I did not see any Nazis (truth!), but I did see some Nazi-esque banners with silhouettes of Pretzels on them. I once heard the swastika is illegal here; I wonder if that's true? For the curious among you, the banners were an advertisement for a performance of The Producers. 

I ventured a little farther afield on the tourist track yesterday. I figure I've got to see these things at least once! First it was Brandenburg Gate and then the Bundestag, which has been the seat of the German government since 1999. I mention the date because I just learned it today, and I was struck by how recently it occurred. Then again, it is only (almost) the 20th anniversary of Germany's reunification (truth!), and Germany was separated for over thirty years. Perspective!

On that topic, Germans, Berliners especially, are still very conscious of reunification. Every map of Berlin I have seen, for instance, including the English one I bought at home, has a red line indicating the former location of the Berlin Wall. From this I know my hostel is in what was once East Berlin, and so is the so-called Mitte.

Berlin is a sprawl. There are multiple city centers connected by an excellent mass-transportation system. The Mitte is one of these, and Potsdamer Platz is another. That's where I ended up after gawking at the Rathaus for a while. I wandered through the Tiergarten, Berlin's enormous central park, which was very beautiful even in the desolation of winter. I have pictures, so I'll spare you the poetry. :)

Guided by an enormous, spinning Mercedes Star atop a distant skyscraper (imagery!), I reached the Sony Center, which occupies its own block cornering the Potsdamer Platz. It is a really interesting structure that forms a high courtyard topped with a twisted tarp-like thing. My guidebook told me that I could get free Wifi there, but no dice (found the network, but wouldn't connect).

After considering a nearby memorial to the Berlin Wall, I wandered into the train station and discovered that it was connected to an underground shopping mall. H&M had two outlets, one was entirely women's underwear (fal- nope, sadly true). I fairly lol'd at that, to use the parlance of our times. I also laughed out loud when I saw a "Bob der Baumeister" (Bob the Builder) poster, too. Forgive me, but I think 'Baumeister' is a really funny word.

After wandering around the mall for a while, I paid 5 Euros to pee (false! I only paid 10 cents). No, it wasn't mandatory, but everyone else what putting change on the plate. And when everyone else is putting change on the plate, what can one do?

Well, that's it! Thanks for reading the first dispatch from Berlin. You'll hear from me again soon.

Hey, also drop me a comment! Was this post too long? Too short? To detailed? Too vague? Less talk, and more pictures of cute animals? Anything! What do you want to hear about? This blog may be all about me, but I'm writing it for you!

Travel Update #2

It's getting down to the wire! My bags are neatly packed, and tonight I'll drive to Indianapolis to spend the last couple days with my family before I fly to Germany on Sunday.

There's not much more I have to say now, except: can you believe that Barnes & Noble had absolutely no guidebooks in stock on Germany or Berlin!? I found detailed maps of Paris, Rome, London, even Prague. I can only conclude that Berlin must be a popular destination. :P

Oh, well. I'll take a look at the bookstores in Carmel. Maybe someone knows where I can get good paper maps of foreign cities?

Why is Google so Brilliant?

So, while I was in DC, my friend Neil turned me on to the divine radiance that is Gmail. I mean, ever since I saw this billboard in my hometown:



I knew that Google was setting a high standard! You see, visiting the URL on the billboard was just the first step towards applying for a job with Google.

The good news just kept rolling in. I've read articles hither and yon about Google's excellent management practices, its plush treatment of employees, and its culture of ueber-creativity. Just look at the Google blog, and you'll see that these guys have plenty of time to goof off, even though they are constantly creating some of the finest web content!

Today they are talking about the eye-tracking studies coming out of their "usability lab." This is brilliant, truly fascinating stuff! Tech Crunch has already picked up on it, check out their post here. I find Google's videos of the actual tests particularly interesting.

Two Great Things I Just Found

Okay, I'm about to drive back to Indianapolis, but before I go, check these out:

Greatest Niche Ever: Old Jews Telling Jokes Am I right? Hilarious.

Also: an interesting article -- Bottoms Up!

Val's Art Diary

A recent feature on Youtube, and how interesting! Val has turned her paintings into a brand. She is taking full advantage of social networking sites Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter. She has almost 500 fans already!

Just look at her website!


Naturally, she's very photogenic and has a wonderfully cute accent, making her an ideal Youtube star. And she uses an HD camera - she beat me to it! I think she's found a very profitable niche.

Oh, and the art! Well, it's not at all bad, to boot. Way to go, Val!

It just goes to show how easy it is to gain exposure nowadays. Not that it's ever going to deliver quality content.

Inauguration Fever

Woohoo!

I won't even try to hide my enthusiasm for what happened yesterday, even if it did utterly exhaust me. We left at 3:30 in the morning to secure our place in front of the capital. It was absolutely freezing cold, and half of our party was huddled on the ground for warmth for hours, sleeping to pass the time. It was even too cold to play cards. But then Obama appeared, and the sun came out - yes, there may be a causal relationship - and the cold didn't matter and a new day dawned, yada yada....

Then, after we had finished switching presidents, Neil and I became stuck in the throng of more than 2 million people. There was mass frustration, but for the most part people were good-humored about the DC Police Department's poorly-executed crowd control. My friend Rickpaul quipped that this exit strategy must have been arranged by the former president.

I do have a video for the week, although I didn't take my camera to the ceremony. I don't really regret that decision, because there wasn't too much to see. It was all about the experience, anyway, and that's something a photo can't capture. Here's the vid; enjoy!

Travel Update #1

So much for habitual updates!

Actually, my cat chewed up the internet cable Typical!

My plans are set for the next month, so I thought I might relate them here.

I'm going to spend the next two weeks in Washington, D.C. I've a new goal to make a video every week, so I'm thinking about putting together an inauguration video. Tonight I am at my parent's house in Indianapolis. Tomorrow night, I will be at Georgetown U. with my ol' buddy Neil.

Since I have this time off before I leave for Germany, I've decided to spend some of it with my friends out at Georgetown. Besides hanging out when they're not in class, I'll be doing some work on our not-for-profit project, Compass Consulting, which I'll write more about in the next post.

I'll be back in Bloomington around the 30th. Then I have half of February to relax. Of course, I'll be preparing for my travels (departure date: February 15th), but more importantly, Sylvia's birthday is coming up, and then there is Valentine's Day.

Well, I have a long drive ahead of me....

Handy Speed Painting

Digital Art at last! I found a post over at Gizmodo about speed painting on the iPhone. This is something I had honestly never considered, but there are many more Youtube videos of speed painting on portable devices. On the iPhone, the app used is called "Brushes." It looks like Corel Painter also has a portable version of their software.