Heute hier, morgen dort

I knew this question was coming: How in the world did you ever get past the metal detectors at an airport?!? Well, here is a fact, that probably not a lot of people know. If you have metal in your body that consists of pure titanium, the metal detectors do not beep at all. My hope is, that you cannot make weapons out of pure titanium...

10. Schlaftabletten
9. Schmerzmittel
8. Verstellbare Rückenlehne im Bett
7. Telefon am Bett
6. Zeit zu lesen
5. Ein gutaussehender und witziger Narkosearzt
4. Eine Chirurgin mit Wissen, Verstand und Sinn für Ästhetik (wunderschöne Nähte), die dazu noch nett und menschlich ist (ja, das gibts)!
3. Besucher
2. Vollnarkose
1. Entlassung nach drei Tagen

Das war vom 2. Januar 2003 bis zum 23. Februar 2006 in meinem linken Oberarm. Ein UHN (ungenagelter Humerusnagel), Durchmesser 6,7 mm, Länge 230 mm, Made in Austria! Die vier Schrauben haben den Nagel gehalten. Und wenn ich gewusst hätte, dass die Teile alle LILA sind, dann wär das Ganze viel erträglicher gewesen.

Thanks for all your thoughts and wishes. It really helped and I am feeling so much better already. You can read about what happened (skiing accident in 2003) here and here. Basically, the metal parts in my arm bothered me (okay, I was in pain) and so they had to be taken out. I can move my arm a lot already, just the wounds (5) hurt. Nothing compared to three years ago though... The worst part was when the nurse removed the drainage. That hurt so much, I just cried. However, there is nothing like being home. I was even able to take a shower AND wash my hair all by myself this morning. I feel like a completely different person. Now I will enjoy the last day of the Olympics. We still have the chance for one more medal. Go Tobi, go!!

Surgery over, everything went well, even though it took them very long to remove all the metal parts in my left arm. I could leave the hospital this morning, just in time to watch Kati Wilhelm and Uschi Disl win the last Biathlon Medals in Turin at the Olympics. I so wanted to watch the relay race on Thursday, but at noon, I was already medicated, so I missed most of it. I'll try to take a picture of my "trophy" (the nail and the screws) later this weekend, but for now, I have to lay back down and rest...

Der heutige Tag wird vermutlich eher langweilig im Krankenhausbett verbracht werden, bevor dann morgen die eigentliche OP stattfindet. Ich bin noch nicht nervös oder so, vielmehr aufgeregt und froh, dass ich das jetzt noch vor meinem Unmzug erledigen kann. Meine Kisten und Taschen sind alle gepackt, müssen nur noch von meinem Papa und meinem Bruder abgeholt werden. Das bedeutet allerdings, dass ich für die nächsten Tage auf meinen Computer verzichten mus (buuuuuhuuu). Vielleicht gibts ja im Krankenhaus einen Internet PC, wenn ja, werd ich von da mal ein Update posten. Wenn nicht, wünsche ich allen eine schöne Woche, denkt an mich und bis bald!

Sunday night, my birthday, my party, my graduation. Everything is over. Now I must face the reality of moving and having surgery next week. I very much prefer having parties and celebrating, but noboby is asking me... Anyway, it was great to receive my diploma and to see all my friends last night. They all brought delicious food and we pretty much ate the whole evening. We had so much leftovers, my Mum did not even need to cook lunch this afternoon. Gotta love the birthday food. Oh, and I got FIVE cakes. All very very good, with cream and chocolate and everything. Still behind on everything else in my life. If only they had Internet in the hospital next week, but they don't. My laptop is broken anyways, so it doesn't really matter. The Berlin post I promised is still only written in my mind, but it was fantasic at the Film Festival. Last night the Jury announced the winning movies. However, we did not see any of them. Moritz Bleibtreu winning the Silver Bear for best acting in "Elementarteilchen" made me really happy. I think he is a terrific actor (for all you non-Germans, look for him in "Munich", he plays Andreas) and I look forward to see this film very soon!

Back from Berlin, back from the world of movies and fantasy to the reality of work and moving and birthdays and surgery (next week). I' ve had a rough flight back and a busy day today. It finished nicely with dinner and a play with my parents and my brother. My real birthday however starts in 30 minutes. I'm back home and kind of sad, that this part of my life, college life, will be over tomorrow. I guess it is appropriate, that my graduation is tomorrow as well. Probably a day I will never forget. My birthday party will be on Saturday, at home with my parents and friends and sisters and brother and grandparents. All the important people in my life will be there (almost all of them). A birthday package from Canada is on its way, I just wish, that my Canadian family could be there as well.... Time for bed now. Stories and pictures of the Berlinale yet to come.

Es gibt mich noch! Seit Samstag sind ich und eine Freundin in Berlin auf den Filmfestspielen unterwegs. Es ist wieder mal supertoll. Leider haben wir keine Karten mehr für die Wettbewerbsfilme mehr bekommen, aber die Kinder- und Jugendfilme, die wir bisher geshen haben waren super. Besonders "Quincanera", ein amerikanischer Film, der beim Sundance Festival 2 Preise gewonnen hat! Mein Favorit bis jetzt, auch weil ich mich nach dem Film sehr lange und nett mit der 16-jährigen Hauptdarstellein und dem Executive Producer (!) unterhalten habe. Sowas erlebt man eben nur auf der Berlinale! Heute gibts nochmal 2 Filme, morgen einen und dann ist die Berlinale für uns leider schon vorbei. Bilder und ausführlich Berichte folgen, wenn ich mal wieder Zeit habe (also nicht vor dem Wochenende!).
I love the Berlinale!!!

I have seen many many movies in the last couple of days. First, to distract me from my upcoming exams and now, as a reward for being done with all my exams. I can only truly recommend one of the four films and that would be

• "Munich" by Steven Spielberg: I am a big fan of Steven Spielberg. His range in genres and his ability to simply entertain people is undoubtable. Munich is entertaining. It is a Thriller after all, but I did not expect, that it would be so touching. Spielberg tells the story of a young Mossad agent, Avner, and his 'job' to hunt down the Black September Terrorists, that initiated the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Olympic Games. For me, the basic message of "Munich" is, that every terrorist action and every killing is followed by another one and another one. Every terrorist that dies will be replaced by another one and in the end, all that there is is pain and suffering and the realization, that it will never stop! The end scene was kind of set up (World Trade Center) and really got me. I knew it was coming and still cried... No movie, that I will watch again, but a definite must-see. Oh, and there are three great German Actors in the film: Moritz Bleibtreu as Andreas, Meret Becker as Yvonne and Hanns Zischler as Hans.
  
• "Prime" by Ben Younger: Prime with Uma Thurman an Meryl Streep is a film, that can be very fun to watch on DVD I guess, but for me, it was not worth seeing it at the theater. In my opinion, the studio made the big mistkae of giving away the punchline in the previews already and when you know this, the movie isn't that much fun anymore. There were some funny scenes and I liked the realistic ending. Meryl Streep was good and Bryan Greenber was hot! Just an average romantic comedy/ drama.
• "Must love dogs" by Gary David Goldberg: such a waste of time. I usually love romatic comedies, but this one is boring, not funny and Diane Lane and John Cusack have no chemistry at all. The dogs are cute, but that is about the only positive thing I can say about this film. Yawn!
• "Mr. an Mrs. Smith" by Doug Liman: Okay, I admit it, I have seen this extremly funny and unrealistic movie twice now and I still like it. It is even better in English (well, every movie loses so much, when it is dubbed) and I really like Brad and Angelina together. Fun, fun, fun!

Habe leider festgestellt, dass ich sehr viel Zeit und mal einen netten Menschen braucht, der mich in die Fotografie an sich einführt. Buchtipps sind auch willkommen, allein mit dem Canon Handbuch komm ich nämlich nicht weiter... Ich will nämlich die Vorzüge der vielen vielen PS Funktionen auch ausnutzen. Vor allem der manuelle Modus reizt mich, aber ich hab mich bis jetzt einfach noch nie mit der Thematik beschäftigt und daher auch keinen Plan von Blenden und Belichtung und Weißabgleich. Fürs erste also mal einige Basisexperimente, bevor ich die Zeit und Muße finde, mich genauer mit meinem Baby zu beschäftigen!

Ich bin fertig - im wörtlichen Sinne. Heute mittag um kurz vor drei ist mein Studium mit einer mündlichen Prüfung (1,3 juchhuu) ziemlich abrupt und ereignislos zu Ende gegangen. Die Realität wird sicher erst in den nächsten Tagen und Wochen einsinken, aber noch haben wir als letztes Event die Abschiedsfeier und Zeugnisverleihung vor uns!

Leider spinnt der Blogger Foto Upload, aber ich werd versuchen gleich über Flickr ein Foto von drei glücklichen Mädels zu posten. Das Grinsen auf unseren Gesichtern hat mehrere Gründe:
1. Prüfung vorbei
2. Leckere Sahnekuchen befinden sich in unseren Mägen
3. Wir werden von einer blitzenden und nagelneuen Digitalkamer fotografiert

Hey Mädels, die Bilder sind über den Link in der Sidebar zu erreichen!

Last time, I talked about how and why I decided to become an Au Pair in the USA. You can read about it here. The last months at home (early summer 2001) were pretty busy. I had to finish school, have exams, graduation parties etc. I met with all my friends and my family again and just enjoyed myself. Who knew, that I would not see one of my best friends ever again (no, he did not die, but a lot can happen in a year, even if you do not see each other at all). On July 23rd, early in the morning, my Dad drove me to the airport. Saying Good-Bye to everyone was soo hard. My sisters cried the night before, my Mum and me when I left. I'm glad it was just my Dad and me at the airport. More people would have made it all the harder to go. During check-in, I already spotted a couple of girls, who were clearly going to be Au Pairs as well and in the bus, that brought us to the Terminal, I met Martina. She would be the Au Pair, that lived the closest to my house (5 min. by car) and we already met in Germany (we were on the exact same flight back as well, and we didn't even use the same agency...). Talk about coincidences. The flight was pretty uneventful. We connected in Amsterdam and there were about 150 future Au Pairs from all over Euope on this particular flight. The other passengers were THRILLED to be in the presence of that many over-excited 19 and 20 year olds.

In NYC, we were picked up by buses and brought to student halls on the C.W. Campus at the Long Island University. It was July, so there were hardly any other people. the next couple of days are really a blur. I was sleep-deprived, had a stomach virus, did not eat very much and still attended all the classes (they were mandatory). The days were filled with all sorts of workshops and activities and on Thursday, we were shuttled to Manhattan for the afternoon. It was my second time there, so I was not too sad to only be there for 5 hours. Friday morning, the buses started leaving again. At different times though and to different Aiports. I was one of the last to leave and we flew out from Newark to Milwaukee. I was with one girl from Poland and Martina. We connected in Detroit again and I kept thinking to myself "What a horrible airport!". It was hot, we were really afraid, that our families would not like us and I am so glad I remembered to warn everyone, that they might meet us at the gate (you were never allowed to do this in Germany). This was before September 11th! My family was there, all four of them plus their current Au Pair. They were happy to see me and after getting my bags we left to drive to my home for the follwing 12 months!

Hab ja bereits erwähnt, dass ich mir eine Canon PowerShot A610 bestellt habe. Heute morgen dann, große Freude, wurde mir die Süße von unserem netten Postboten zugestellt. Ich, ganz aufgeregt, pack das Teil aus, Batterien rein, SD-Karte rein und ON. Kamera geht an, Display bleibt schwarz. Und das wars eigentlich auch schon. Handbuch, Customer Service und Internet konnten mir nicht helfen, und jetzt ist das gute Stück eben wieder auf dem Weg zurück zu Amazon. Schon schade. Da überleg ich wochenlang, ob ich eine Kamera kaufen soll. Wenn ja welche. Ich lese Stiftung Warentest Berichte, vergleiche Preise, frage nette Blogger um Rat und lese Review after Review after Review. Endlich, Entscheidung für die PowerShot, Entscheidung, sie bei Amazon und keinem dubiosen Internet Händler zu kaufen. Preisbeobachtung beginnt. Nachdem sie ca. 3 Wochen bei 259 € war, und dann am Mittwoch auf 244,90 gefallen ist, hab ich zugeschlagen. Meine erste eigene Digicam. Und gleich kaputt... Ich hoffe das war jetzt auch die ganze Mühe wert und ich komm mit dem Teil auch klar. First Impression - not so good!

This is my very own blog cloud! I will not wear it on a T-Shirt, but I thought I'd share it with all of you. I had to filter out a LOT of common german words like 'und', 'der', 'die' and 'das', but I kept some. 'Mich' (me) is very big, as well as my name. How appropriate, since this blog is all about ME (in case you haven't noticed). My exam this morning went rather well, so for today, I am a very happy blogger!

Make your own blog cloud!

What is new with me? Let's see:

• I am studying and hating it. So glad that half of it will be over tomorrow at noon!
• I found a place to live in Cologne. Two roommates, close to where I work, affordable and with a DSL Flatrate (which was the selling point ;-)
  
• My sisters are both in the middle of applying for jobs and stuff and I am so excited, that they seem to focus on their future now. They are both so smart and talented and nice, I am sure they will both find something they like.
  
• If you are interested in popular culture at all, I recommend you read Steven Johnsons book Everything Bad is Good for You - How popular culture is making us smarter. It so justifies blogging and computer games and TV!! He also has a very funny blog, I had to laugh so much when I read this.
• Cute Overload is another blog I found which has been distracting me very successfully from studying.
  
• Soon, I will own this little beauty, so I can take lots of picture while I am at the Berlin International Film Festival (I am so hoping to run into George or Brad and Angelina ;-)