Break a leg - 25.10.12

Today my blog passed the 1000 views mark!  If this many people had read my homework in high school, I probably would've done better in English class.
I got a lot of work done today.  I also did some more paperwork for the German government.  I am insured through the employment of my dad.  I could also have been insured through my own employment in Utah, but I thought it would be a waste of company money to do so since I'm already insured.  The BYU study abroad program requires its own additional insurance, so I had to be doubly insured when I came over to Germany.  The German government, however, doesn't care.  It mandates that each employee who is paid more than 400 euros per month must also be given insurance.  They also said that I could not be paid less than 400 euros per month in order to get my visa.  So I am about to be triply covered by insurance.

"The trade of insurance gives great security to the fortunes of private people, and, by dividing among a great many that loss which would ruin an individual, makes it fall light and easy upon the whole society." - Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations

Even so, Adam, I still don't think anyone needs as much insurance as I have.

Arbeit - 24.10.12

Today wasn't too exciting.  I overslept a little and was late to work, which isn't much of a problem since it's quite flexible here.  I worked mostly on projects in English.  I'm surprised how much programming and programming words are in English, even in Germany.  After work I went directly to institute in Hamburg, where people are beginning to say things like "Ah, I remember you from last week," or actually more like "achso, letzte Woche warst du auch da."  A couple drove me to Eidelstedt, where I can take a train directly to Quickborn.  It's nice to interact with people my age once in a while.

Languages - 23.10.12

This morning I really got started with my project with Fraunhofer.  It includes a few C# programs.  I've never programmed in C# before, but I didn't have any problems.   It feels like a mixture of C++ and Java.  I still don't think I'd use it by choice, though.
After lunch I went to do some research at the library, then I went to my class at the Goethe Institut.  We used sentences about learning languages as examples for learning grammar.  Kind of recursive, don't you think?

Ausländerbehörde - 22.10.12

Imagine a DMV that is only open for four hours each of the three days it is open each week.  Now imagine it without anybody speaking the same language, literally.  Welcome to my morning.
Last week I got a letter informing me that my visa had arrived in Pinneberg.  Hooray!  So I just got pick it up, right?  Wrong!  The letter contained more paperwork I needed to fill out which contained the same information as my application, a checkbox to verify I'm not a terrorist, etc.  The office I needed to bring it to, the Ausländerbehörde for the Pinneberg county, is in Elmshorn.  I got up very early and took 3 trains to the town hall in Elmshorn and asked where the office was.  Nobody knew exactly.  After finding out by calling Ralf, I walked the 5 kilometers to the outskirts of town where the Ausländerbehörde is in a little office building. and began the waiting process.  A few hours later, I had the temporary visa in my hand:

It's a beautiful document covered in stamps and signatures with a cool pattern in the background about as detailed as the curvy pattern in the background of a dollar bill.  It's nice to have, but I still don't have my official visa.  At least I have deep fried cheese covered in jam in my mouth right now.

Gemeinsames Essen - 21.10.12

I rode my bike to church today.  There's something about riding a bike across freshly harvested German fields while wearing a suit, tie, and backpack that feels very familiar.  I'm not sure why.
I did Türdienst during the sacrament at church.  For some reason German wards have priesthood standing at each door during the sacrament.  It feels kind of like I'm guarding the chapel.
The last session of General Conference was broadcast in the middle of the night here, so while the rest of the wards watched the last session, I watched President Monson's speech in Frankfurt with the other people who couldn't go see him in Hamburg last week.
After church, we had a potluck lunch.  The ward from Elmshorn was also in Pinneberg.  There was plenty of yummy homemade German foods.  I brought two round loaves of my pumpkin bread from yesterday in my backpack.

Planten un Blomen - 20.10.12

Today was probably the most beautiful day I've seen since I got to Hamburg. I slept in, donned my shorts, and rode the train to Hamburg Hbf. My adventure started at the crack of noon. I rode my bike around the city for a few hours and listened to nice music, and what a beautiful city it is:

I listened to some Beatles where they got their start:

I went to the botanical gardens at Planten un Blomen ("plants and flowers" in Plattdeutsch, a park in Hamburg). The first greenhouse was a little rainforest, and each greenhouse was noticeably less humid until the end, where I felt quite at home:

On the long bike ride back, I bough ingredients for pumpkin bread.  I'm pretty sure the recipe comes directly from William Bradford, because it still uses archaic units like "cups" and "teaspoons", but I made a pretty good historical reenactment with my 1 Liter measuring cup:

While it was baking, I actually got started on the long paper I've been procrastinating.

Not much to report - 19.10.12

Today at work I got started on my PLC project with Fraunhofer.  I found a few bugs and organized a few things.  I went home a little early, did my laundry, read a little about the industrial revolution, watched some TV, and now I need to clean up my room.  Happy Friday.  I need to actually start writing my big paper.