Sca(r)lenet project integration

如果我有佢咁勁就好 + Sca(r)lenet project integration Actually I didn't contribute much to this project. It's my first week to take up the job. How will it go?

Unpredictable life...

If I were asked what I learnt after my graduation, I'd say it's the unpredictability of life: After BSc Initial plan: Study a MSc at Manchester and work only in summer State 1: An offer from Manchester & negotiation with Fortis Change 1: Received a call from a classmate about Yum Bai Lau. State 2: Decided to work at Fortis for the summer Change 2: Received an email about MPhil, Fortis suggested to raise the salary State 3: Decided to study in HK Change 3: Received an offer from Bristol <= my choice if I could choose again :p State 4: Decided to study in HK After MPhil Initial plan: Work in HK and signed a contract with Entone Change 1: Received an Email about a scholarship from Germany State 1: Decided to go to Germany After 1st Semester in Germany Initial plan: Attempt to find an internship, return to HK otherwise Change 1: A student job at Akzo Nobel, almost(?) an oral employment agreement State 1: Decided to stay in Germany for 1 more semester Change 2: Akzo Nobel retracted State 2: Going back to HK in Febuary or March, but attempt to find a student job Change 3: Negotiating with the MayDay and ScaleNet projects. State 3: 5 months' contract with ScaleNet and stay until end of August Change 4: A message from Entone about a post in March State 4: Still decided to stay in Germany Change 5: A call from ScaleNet about a shortened 3 months' contract State 5: Stay in Germany until at least the end of July (The story is on going...)

Valentine's day

Valentine's day with 7 girls Actually this is the farewell party for Wan Chun, bcos she's returning to Taiwan on 25th Feb. It's a mix of 3HKs + Beijing + Xichun + Taipei + Osaka at Jo's WG.

Auf die Hexenjagd gehen

Participants from StudIT gathered in front of Krassparkasse I'm not sure exactly what is the reason for a canival. I was told this is kind of for frightening away the ghosts. There is a bigger Carnival fest in Koeln on 23 Feb. But Tuebingen's on 12 Feb, and is called the Hexen Jagd. The parade in front of the church

Chunjie Fest in Tuebingen

The Flyer of the Chunjie Fest in Tuebingen The program run-down and inside TRZ for the Kung Fu show. It's not really a great show, and the so called Buffet and Cocktails have to be extraly paid. But you feel the craze of Europeans about Kung Fu. :p

Battling with the German bureaucracy

So finally I've got a student job (HiWi) in Germany for the ScaleNet* project, relying on this little line on my Aufenthaltserlaubnis (= resident permit):

"Erwerbstaetigkeit nicht gestattet, ausgen. arbeitserlaubnisfreie Taetigkeit fuer max 90 Tage o. 180 halbe Tage/Jahr u. Taetigkeit als Wissenschaftli. Hilfskraft a.d. Uni Tbg."

Coming up is the battle with the German bureaucracy. The procedures are as follows: 1) Pay 60 € for Rueckmeldung for SS 2006, obtain an Immatrikulation Bescheidigung 2) With the Bescheidigung, pay 30 € for getting a new Aufenthaltserlaubnis. 3) Obtaining the Lohnsteuerkarte (=income tax card) 4) With the documents obtained in 2 & 3, sign the employment contract Bureaucratic knowledge to be studied: General information on obtaining a resident permit in Germany Taxation scheme in German state Baden-Wuerttemberg * So... again and again I am suddenly working on sth. completely new (following the previous records of "Fortis" in 2003, and "Multivision" in 2003-05. This time is with "Siemens AG"! The world is about $$ and funding.

Re-definition of the word "warm"

Ich habe mit eine Freundin beim ICQ untergehalt(?)... Ich: und ist es jetzt warmer in Berlin? Bei uns ist ganz warm... ich denke, 2-5 Grad A: Wow, welch eine hitze :) hier sind es -5-+2 Grad, ich weiß nicht genau, ich friere jedenfalls, hehe

FIFA World Cup

I've learnt several things in Germany quite passively... I'm not going to talk about beer drinking, but German history and football!! Today I've signed up to be a volunteer in the World Cup 2006. Will another miracle happen, like all in a sudden, I am in Germany? FIFA World Cup Official Poster

Visa + Language exchange

This morning I went to the Burgersamt to lengthen my visa to the end of March. The staff only sticked a sticker to my passport. With a sooooo securely designed and printed resident permit, but a sooooo simple sticker just like any label with a few printed words... What is the logic?! I inivted M for lunch today. I bet she had a slight problem in finding the way here. I cooked some "Chinese" noodle. She still needs some practices in using chopsticks. She brought me a Ananas (=pineapple). Is stupid, but I didn't learn how to open it, and then she did it very skillfully... :p I asked her about my German grammars from my course... She is the second German to tell me she doesn't really know the word "halber". Respekt was her comment on my German learning LOL. I also told her some food in Germany which I don't like, and the stupid event in Berlin.