hitchhike

so i sent my bike to indra's today. Balik menapak naik bus :(
2 bus lak tu! Hujan lak tu! Malam dah gelap lak tu!

Time nak ambil second bus, tgh jln towards the bus stop, ada mamat german dlm keta tanya jalan nak g erwin-rommel-str. Dgn tak malunya, aku ckp, aku confused nak explain jln, mmg betul pon, kalu dah naik basikal, automatic je tau mana nak belok2, tp nak explain, tak ingat lak. Tp aku mmg nak g situ pun, kalu bg aku hitchhike, bole aku bg clear direction.

So dia pon muka blur, kata ok. aku pon, fikir gak, mamat ni faham tak ckp aku ni, muka blur, tp kata ok. Blasah lah, aku terus masuk keta. Gaya cam nak merompak lak.

Tp aku tunjuk smpai betul2 depan blok yg dia cari (dia cari bgn 59, rumah aku 61). Dia thanked me, aku lg la, thank you - selamat tak yah tunggu lama2 dlm ujan malam2 kul 9 cam ni (bus stop tarak bumbung cuma sebatang kayu je, ok?).

tu je, sekian...

mozart in nuernberg

the theater hall in fuerth is certainly prettier, but this one, i think is bigger. Aduh, kuruihnya aku, what happened eh?

Attended another show tonite. This time is a modern show about some ppl, and they all sing songs adapted from mozart's musical pieces. The story itself, well, kinda simple, funny at times. I didnt fully understand it, obviously, but thank goodness, they have the lyrics shown on the LED, so i kinda had an idea of wht it was all about.

But the most interesting thing about it must be the special effects. They has MANY setups, changed every few minutes, many different sets of clothings, ppl flying in helicopters, cable cars, diff backgrounds - the beach, sky mountains, a small village... many many many setups, and the singers all sing opera style. Interesting, considering that it's a modern story.

But despite it being interessant, i fell asleep several times. during the show. 2 cups of coffee today still didnt help. Too tired from the umzug (moving my stuff to indra's room). That's where my stuff are gonna be for a while, or at least until i get back... aaaaaaahhh, penatnya!

viva di sini

sungguh luar biasa phd viva process kat sini.

Today, last week was thomas's, i didnt attend it, and today it was karim's, i must attend it, plus, it was in english and karim helped me LOT with the accomodation, registration process etc even before i got here. So kami pon ramai2 g la bg moral support n nak tgk gak la kerja dia, walhal ramai dah tau sbb every year kena present kat chair.

kat chair kami, kalu ada thesis defense, pagi2 lg dah kecoh. aku yg dok kat dapur dgr la pongpang2, bunyi mcm org nak kenduri. Mmg nak kenduri pon sbb akak secretary n geng admin yg mostly ppuan (n ada gak sorg dr. laki ni yg sume benda pon dia involved aku x phm apsal) prepare mknan, beli bouquet of flowers, siap camera etc mcm kenduri sume. Pelik aku, kalu fail, apa la gamaknya nak jd dgn preparation yg extravagant tu?

anyway, as for the thesis defense, mula2 ada public presentation n Q&A dlm 45 mins, so kami pon attend la.
lepas tu, kami kena halau keluar, time tu yg paling menakutkan kot for him kena tanya psl kerja dia.
then dia pulak kena halau, examiners n SV discuss.
time tu kami dah kat bawah, lepak2 dgn dia sementara dia tunggu results.
Then dia kena panggil masuk, kami tunggu sambil rasa cuak.
Pastu dia kuar, muka toya, suma terdiam, risau.
Pastu mula sume org tanya, so camne, takot gak tgk gaya dia camtu.
Dia kata, everything's ok. Ramai tanya lg, nak confirm, dia pula kena comfort sume yg dia pass.
Eeesh mamat ni pon, buat la gaya2 yay ke, yabedabedoo ka, ni kuar cam xde pape berlaku je.

Lps SV n examiners kuar, then secretary bg bunga, snap2 gambar, then sume proceed ke meeting room.

Situ, makanan dah tersedia.

SV bg speech pasal karim, sambil akak admin decorate mortarboard karim. Comel betul.

Sbb keje dia psl sensor networks, ada la lekat miniature sensors, kerusi, muffins, apa lg tah atas menatang tu, lepas tu karim kena pakai atas kepala, pelik betol.

Then makan!
Since karim muslim, mknan hari ni best skit (for me la at least). Ada 2 jenis kus2, salad, olives, liver, cheese turkey, cili jeruk, salami (wajib) tp turkey- diorg kata halal suruh aku mkn, then roti2 turkey, muffin n donut kurus. minuman orange n lg satu ada alcohol (aku x try la) n plain water berkabonat. Aku melantak, tp mamat sebelah aku lg melantak, Dia kata nak try sume, bila lg kan nak mkn mknan pelik2 yg free?

Then sembang2 berjam2 smpai aku abih modal n skarang aku blk bilik memblog.

Aramak, nak terberak lak, ciao!

malay + english + deutsch

hari ni discussion kejap td.

SV set hard deadline for keje yg aku nak plan nak abandon tu. Dia suruh siapkan juga, before aku blk cuti. next yr focusla betol2 kat uwsn tu. okla, so kami discuss jap. aku explain la the proposed solution. solution bang-ang je. tu xpe lagi.

what's really embarassing was the way i talked. ckp sangkut2, guna term sume salah. malu siout. tgh explain2 tu, aku ckp, 'sorry, english aku tunggung-langgang, weekend byk ckp melayu, tu la psl'. harap2 la dia paham...

Bildungsstreik 2009 [educational strike 2009]

skarang ni tgh kecoh seluruh jerman sbb bebudak, cecikgu, mak bapak dll dok protest. beratus ribu org g demontration merata, bawa sepanduk, block jalan, and kat erlangen ni, kat audimax (hall uni terbesar), students dok ramai2 kat situ berhari2 smpai class pindah tmpt lain. most of the time, ada discussions, kekadang ada band main, kekadang sembang2 je, n dgr kata weekend ni pon sambung lg.

And indeed, this is a HUGE thing. what started out as a protest in austria against some changes in their educational system dah melarat n jd makin melampau kat germany.

masalah sebenarnya begini. but b4 tht kena paham dulu camne system kat sini.

Here, tarak BSc, MSc and Phd yg seketul2 yang clearly separated. Budak masuk uni, bole belajar up to 8 thn, keluar dpt Diplom yg setaraf MSc. AND masuk uni tarak fees, cume ada cam yuran admin yg dlm 50E camtu. Tapi class tak crowded la sbb diorg pilih class ikot suka hati anytime they want. Pastu attendance x wajib, janji exam amik (sini exam oral sioutss!!!). In effect, ramai bebudak keluar uni lambat, tp with a very strong foundation la, tp govt subsidize byk gilos la...

With a recent Bologna Declaration, EU nak standardize. Agaknye lepas ni cam UK, US etc. Byk la advantages sebenarnya:
1. Uni ada la income skit, bole bg scholarship kat those deserving (ala... uni yg dah adopt the chg pon charge 500E per sem, ada la yg chrge 1500E, uni mana tah, bukan sini la tp). And foreigners tak la lg mkn taxpayers' money byk sgt dah la lepas ni since diorg pon kena byr gak.
2. Students kena habiskan cepat, from 8 years of diplom, ke 3 thn dpt degree. nak smbung, kena ambik masters.
3. Akan attract foreign students, sbb standard sama can negara lain (aku dulu, master's thesis kena screen dulu b4 accepted for phd, fyi).
4. Maybe english pakai byk skit kot, dunno la, tp if yes, naik la skit position diorg kat ranking dunia thes/shangtao etc yg sgt biased tu. DAN ramai la skit foreigners dtg.

dan mcm2 lg...

Tp tu la, bebudak x puas hati. sbb kena keluar duit (diorg nak free utk MSc skali!) , n class crammed, n kurang flexibility nak pilih subject (sama la cam kita, kan?) n kiranya self-fulfilment kurang n creativity affected n maybe dah kurang masa nak travel2 n parti2 for up to 8 years gitu. Diorg kata uni nanti jd cam kilang. Betul gak. Kesian la jugak...

Tp i agree with their govt, diorg nak cepat2kan conversion process ni. Byk advantages sebenarnya. Uni yg dah convert pon kata students' quality sama je dgn yg dulu, none affected pon, tp maybe bebudak tu terpaksa study lebih la. but for the others yg kecoh2 ni, this means kurang time nak enjoy la kot.

Lg pulak, lepas ni maybe ramai la skit foreign students nak dtg. Kat sini, i see byk in-breeding, tp product diorg bagus byk, hence, diorg x peduli org lain. Ranking toksah cite la, mmg rendah, byk x masuk ranking pon. While kita tahu kenapa uni kita byk x masuk, diorg sini lain mcm skit.

i mean, tgk la france or germany or italy or Japan rata2 semua moden, train la, jentera la, kereta la, electronics la, compared to say... (english-speaking country yg aku penah smpai cuma UK je) so UK la (setakat yg aku nmpakla). Tp uni diorg byk x masuk dlm ranking langsung. i dunno about the other 3 aforementioned countries, tp jerman ni cam x peduli pon psl ranking. takde pon sungguh2 cari international students, heck, website pon byk x translate. publish dlm journal german, conference local pon byk yg bagus2, criteria penting THES, xde lak diorg nak ikot, camne ranking nak naik? pastu system diorg pelik, 8 tahun max dpt masters, camne nak compare? Dlm meeting, x penah mention pon psl ranking (aku wajib attend staff meeting, so i should know - phd students kira cam staff kat germany).

But make no mistake, edu system diorg mmg bagus, sekolah2 pon bagus, nak je aku hantar anak angkat aku blajar sini, bila dah angkat sorg. despite wht the ranking or our dean says, european uni mmg byk bagus n tough... huhuhu. tak percaya, robot pon bg nasihat jangan panik...

Sekian, entry paling panjang tahun ni!
Dan saya menjemput semua meramaikan warga malaysia di sini, phd still no fees, okay? Tp study bahasa german siap2, kalu x merana (like i am right now), mind you, meetings, presentations sume in german!

Update: website event (protest/demonstration) bebudak uni kami (siap ada website lg tu!)