Good luck for Roger Cicero tonight in Helsinki! I'm watching the former Grand Prix d'Eurovision in memory of funny days and nights on the ferry to Finland - and crazy Finnish hardrock fans. :D If Germany loses again I'll take it with a smile and as another entertaining lecture about what we call "Europe".

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31/5
Of course, we somehow were the losers. But now it's so long ago that no one ever speaks about it. And next year, we will have the same desaster including the discussion afterwards. Let's take it with a smile! :-)

Today I got my freshly printed booklet with a selection of my pictures from Stockholm. I'm quite happy with it. Everyone has to see my pictures now. :-) Unfortunately, the quality is not the very best for the bunch of money I paid. There are white pixels at the margins of the pictures, and that's totally unprofessional. Arrgh. However, the booklet is good enough to show around and give others an impression of what I did and what it looked like in Stockholm and on my beloved Campus Solna.

Yesterday, Tony Blair announced his recession as prime minister of Great Britain. And yesterday, Tony Blair was elected, or better: appointed as prime minister. Virtually, for me - on the screen. :-) I went to the cinema to see "The Queen" (English with subtitles!) together with Sascha, and it was a great evening.

The story is well-known: Princess Diana died in a car accident on August 30th, 1997 in Paris. The Royal family didn't show any public reaction for about a week whereas the British public was shocked in deep grief and opposed the seemingly coldness of the Royal family. The film turns to a different point of view: Stephen Frears shows what was possibly going on behind the walls of Balmoral castle and Downing Street in these days. Helen Mirren as HRH The Queen is absolutely great - she really deserved the Academy Awards as Best Actress. A pity that she refused the Queen's dinner invitation.

The film gave me the creeps - in both positive and negative ways. It was interesting but spooky to remember what happened in summer 1997. On the other hand, it almost made me cry to see the Queen as an emotional human being. And Prince Philip with his ironic comments is simply funny. Great film - go and see it on the movie screen! (e.g. in Trier's movie theatre Broadway until May 23rd)

What's new? We didn't get an Axis of Womenpower in central Europe. Ségo failed on Sunday. Instead, we got Sarko on our Western side and hope that he's at least as kind and charming to our Angie as Chirac was. Sarko's idea of domestic policies is not of my favour but fortunately I'm not too concerned with that. I'm more concerned with the issue of water falling from heaven that I hadn't had for weeks - until Monday. Now it's raining again, and I'm feeling fine. In the business game that we're currently doing at university, my group turned out to be the worst but it was just the first period and we didn't really fail. Our task is now to find a new proper strategy to be the best in the end. ;-) Wish me luck! However, tonight I'm gonna watch Aki Kaurismäki's "Lights in the Dusk" in the university cinema. Probably I'll miss the comfort of the Filmhuset cinemas.

Three years ago, the EU "suddenly" got 10 new members:
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Malta
Poland
Slovakia
Slovenia
In January, Bulgaria and Romania joined. But how much do we know about our new neighbours and friends? I must confess: not too much. I'm happy if I remember all their capital cities and have an idea where to search them on the map. When I was a child I wanted to learn all European languages. Now this plan seems impossible to realize, and I'm driving crazy when I have to hear languages I don't understand a word of. But it would be a great dream to be at least able to welcome every European in his mother tongue.

The Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter reports on a German family from Oranienburg who migrates to Sweden:
"Tyska utvandrare hoppas att framtiden finns i Sverige"

German emigrants hope for a future in Sweden
Neuruppin/Oranienburg. The new life of the Schindler family started on April 30th. They said goodbye to family and friends. The ferry from Rostock goes at 9 am. Sweden is waiting and the house in Sjötofta, Västergotland. "Everyone wants to see how it's going to be for us. We are guinea pigs", says Marco Schindler in Swedish.

The family enjoyed holidays in Sweden over the past years and is now looking forward to the friendly and helpful mentality of the Swedes. Some of their relatives live already in Sweden. So it was quite easy for them to calculate how much life costs in Sweden - electricity, water etc. are cheaper but a lot of things like cloths are a bit more expensive. The language course was paid by the job center, as customary in the Eastern part of Germany.

I wish them luck for their future in Sweden. However, I myself don't think that everything's better in the north. Bureaucracy can be even worse than in Germany, and where they want to settle I would probably miss some bigger cities. I hope the children and their parents will find a lot of Swedish friends and become as Swedish as they wish to be. Lycka till!

Wouldn't it be cool to have Ségolène Royal and Angela Merkel as an Axis of Womepower in the center of Europe? Let's hope for the Frenchmen's and Frenchwomen's votes in two weeks. ;-) I would be interested in how the German chancellorette and the French présidente - belonging to different political parties - would like each other. Anyway, I'll definitely miss the pictures of Chirac and Merkel charmingly changing kisses.

Apropos Great Wide World in Trier: The Kaufland shopping centre is open from 7am to 22pm now. Yeah!

What does this deer do in Trier? It's the symbol of the European Capital of Culture 2007 - Luxembourg and La Grande Region which includes Trier. Of course, such a big cultural event is positive for the region but I'm not so sure whether the deer as a symbol was a good choice. Yes, there are deers all around the region but I don't think that's very typical and unique. Combined with the oversized feet of roman emperor Constantine, the animals do a great job in our lovely old town. :D

In the last six months, the great wide world has come to Trier: I've got a sushi bar around the corner now. Mensa food is quite good (or am I just used to worse food? I don't think so!), and the library is open till 9 pm although we don't pay study fees here. Even the political scientists provide their presentations on the internet. It's amazing how things can change in half a year. I'm looking forward to a new week with new experiences!

I will be back to Stockholm from May, 29th to June, 3rd. Heja Sverige! :) Vi ses! Jag glädjer mig så jättemycket över er!

I've managed my good-bye from Hamburg via Viersen and Mainz - now I'm welcome back to Trier. :-) My courses have already started, and I'm still motivated and full of energy. My flat is returning to life as I do due to the summerly temperatures. However, I somehow feel like abroad. Nothing's really new but everything's different here. Trier is so much smaller than Hamburg and Stockholm. All day, I meet people I know. Going shopping is more hectic than in Sweden, and the things I buy are a bit different. Finally, I ask myself why we don't have courses in English here - there's not a single one I found in media studies and business. Such a pity! And poor Erasmus students in Trier...

Hej! It's me again, and I'm still alive. I've been home for Easter - yeah, four days - and I try to enjoy my last three days in Hamburg now. On Friday, my brothers and I drove to Trier to bring the first boxes there. My flat looks quite okay, apart from the bathroom which seems to have a mildew problem. Ough. But now, as I know what's about to expect me, I feel prepared for the returning even though I'm still working on my time-table for university. The exchange student office offers a reward for the best essay about students' experiences abroad. I've already started to write one and hope to get the first price. If I won't get it - no matter, I'll have done my best then.