Beck is playing in Davis on May 24th! If only I were there....
Not that it would have mattered, since I hear the tickets sold out in about .5 seconds.

I can however console myself with the fact that I am going to see BELLE & SEBASTIAN in Hamburg on May 12th!!! I love those guys. I think the concert will be extremely mellow (too mellow?) but I am very excited nonetheless.

I copied Hannah's virtual paper doll thingy, and this is the one I made. (Notice the chihuaha with the snot bubble; it's my favorite part.)



If you want to make your own (come on, you KNOW you want to waste time like me!) here's the site: Candybar Doll Maker

Today I had a minor cooking disaster. But it was probably the biggest cooking disaster I've ever experienced! I left some rice on the stove at medium heat (BAD idea) for half an hour, expecting it to cook in that time. I come back, and the kitchen is literally filled with smoke! I couldn’t even get to a window and open it without running outside again to get some fresh air; my eyes were tearing up and I couldn’t really breathe in. But eventually I was able to open both windows and the door that leads go outside...thankfully I was the one that found the food first instead of one of my floor mates, or else they probably would’ve hated me!

After about 10 minutes one floor mate Marinella came in, and when I apologized for the smell, she was really nice about it, saying, “Welcome to the club! We’ve all burned something in here!” So I felt much better, especially when she gave me a piece of the pizza she was making (since my food was burned to a black crisp)!

Springtime is definitely here! The trees are finally starting to grow leaves again, but that's not all....
-I have swallowed bugs several times in the last week while riding my bike. (The bugs are back with a vengeance.)
-It was 70 degrees today! And the sun wasn't even out for part of it, but it was still nice and muggy! (Hey, it's still better than being cold!)
-I have my beloved ring tan back! My hand was paler than pale during the Winter; the skin on my hand matched the skin under the ring I never take off. But in the shower today, I realized that I have a slight tan again! YES!

I hope everyone else is enjoying the arrival of Spring as much as me and the other Americans in Goettingen! (Except for poor Dylan, who is now heading into Winter in Chile. But he already got to have his freakin' warm season.)

I hope people have been hearing at least a little about the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. My dad drew my attention to it recently in an article saying what an urgent and serious problem this is, one that shouldn't be ignored.

If you have time, please look over this article, and as for getting involved, I would recommend email Bush, Condoleeza Rice, and Senators Boxer and Feinstein. (That's what my family did, anyway.) There are also a few organizations that I've found that at least can give you more information about the crisis (see upper-right corner of my blog).

Never Again, Again

By BERNARD-HENRI LÉVY
April 13, 2006; Page A12 (The Wall Street Journal)

Too bad for the TV networks in the U.S. and Europe, but the event of the moment is neither the crisis of regime in France nor Berlusconi's defeat. It is not even the latest casualties and the latest vicissitudes of the war in Iraq. Rather, it is the news coming from Darfur indicating that the war there, already three years old, and nearly half a century old in the whole of Sudan, is on the verge of the utmost savagery and horror.

We already knew that villages are being leveled by planes from bases in Obeid and Port Sudan. We knew that the Janjaweed ("armed men on horseback") come, after the bombers, to finish off the survivors by hand. We also knew -- as I myself attested in 2001 after a stay with John Garang's guerrilla army -- of the use of mass rape, as in Bosnia, as a weapon of war and conquest.

Finally, we were not unaware of the racist, purely racist, nature of a conflict that no longer has the "excuse" of a religious war -- since the Zaghawa and Massalit tribes rebelling against Khartoum are also Muslim -- but simply offers the image of a war whose sole motive is the hatred, on the part of the North's Arabs, of a population whose crime is having skin that is too black.

But there are new elements that we do not know so well: the way the Khartoum regime at the last minute banned a visit by the top U.N. relief official; the harassment of European NGOs, especially the Norwegians, who were keeping the humanitarian pipeline open against all odds and have been forced to pack their bags; the cynicism with which the militias enforce the Feb. 20 law prohibiting any "foreign organization" whose activities constitute an "interference" in Sudan's "internal affairs" and thus encroach upon the "sovereignty" of a state that claims the right to exterminate as it pleases.

The new development, in short, is the frightening warning from Juan Mendez, the U.N.'s special adviser on the prevention of genocide, that this policy of the forced withdrawal of NGOs could signal that the regime has embarked on the last stage of its plan, where there cannot and must not be any witnesses.

And this is when there are those who, faced with the atrocity of a massacre and perhaps genocide, denounce the very principle of an intervention which they condemn in advance as "neocolonial": Such is the case this week of the Arab League.

There are those who are plainly uninterested in this war at the end of the world, this war of faraway peoples, that does not pit the rich wicked West against the impoverished meek of the Third World. Ah, these neoprogressives who are so talkative when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict! Ah, these anti-imperialists who have nothing at all to say when it comes to a war with 500 times more deaths but where neither Israel nor the West has the least role!

* * *
There are, in the U.S. as in Europe, organizations who, though presumably having the duty and speciality of defending black minorities against discrimination or historical denial, are conspicuous by their silence. Is it because this war between Arab and non-Arab Muslims complicates, yet again, the old schema? Is it because the war is a terrible confirmation, by fact and fire, of the historians' thesis that the massacre of African blacks was an African and especially an Arab crime as well as -- and before -- being a Western crime? In sum, there are all those who each have a different reason for feeling inconvenienced by this drama in Sudan and who would therefore like President Omar El Bashir to do whatever he has to do quickly, and in silence.

But what about the others? All the others? What about all those ordinary people who, like you and me, had sworn "Never again Auschwitz" and then "Never again Bosnia" and then "Never never again the shame of Rwanda"? What about Kouchner, my friend Bernard Kouchner, who invented the right to intervene? And Mandela, the great man in whom human conscience and nobility were incarnated? And the United States? And France and its African diplomacy? And all those everywhere who have made themselves advocates of the cause of blacks and from whom we so much want to hear?

I acknowledge that the problem is not simple.

But it also must be acknowledged that it is a hundred times less complicated than the removal of Saddam Hussein. Telling Khartoum to stop would not take more effort than was required 10 years ago, after five years of procrastination and cowardice, to stop Milosevic.

What, then, are we waiting for? Every day that goes by is a day of shame and defeat.

Mr. Lévy is the author, most recently, of "American Vertigo" (Random House, 2006). This piece was translated from the original French by Hélène Brenkman.

Lately I've been REALLY WANTING a dog. I have to keep reminding myself that there is no way I could get a dog unless I pretty much decide that I'm not going to go move anywhere new for the next 5 years or so at least. Plus, once I get back to CA and get to spend some time with my Kimmy then I think it'll get better.

But until then...must...fight...the urge!

Easter pics! The candy, searching for the eggs in the commons room, and dying them the night before.

Had my first trial class today. (At Göttingen we can decide after a couple weeks which classes we keep or drop.) It was a really interesting subject to me, about loan words in German, how they got there, if loan words should be avoided, etc. However, I decided not to take the class. Why? Well, everyone who wants a grade needs to write a 20-page final essay, as well as give a "short" oral presentation of 40 minutes. By him/herself. All in German. So yes, I am hoping the other ling class turns out a little bit better (read: easier)!

Happy Easter!

I actually have these flowers (daffodils, right?) blooming on the lawn outside my window! Even when it's raining, like right now, they're so bright and yellow!

This morning Cindy played Easter Bunny and hid 15 eggs that we'd dyed for fun last night. And the four of us ate them ALL the same morning, along with some chocolate from Michele. I can't remember the last time I looked for eggs...probably at least 4 years ago. It was a lot of fun!

Random thoughts of Kate:

1. I like bowls so much more than plates. They're easier to hold, and you can eat pretty much anything out of a bowl. You can't eat that much stuff on a plate, and it's a pain chasing it around trying to stick it on your fork. In my future house, I think I'll have about 80% bowls, and 20% plates.


2. Rabbits are scary as pets. It's really weird, but I think they're the only popular housepet that I would never want to own. I'm not really sure why I'm kind of freaked out by them, except for maybe I just can't understand them. I mean, how do you know when a rabbit is happy? Or when he's about to bite you? They don't make any noises! Cats and dogs and even birds have pretty good body language.

3. Final thought: I just realized that my plant committed suicide. I've killed more than a few plants in my lifetime, but they've never before taken the initiative to kill themselves! He was definitely more than half-dead already, after I traveled a month without watering him. When I got back for good, I put him outside the window on the sill to get some sunshine. Well, I forgot about him for a couple days, and when I looked outside, I realized he was gone! Apparently he'd jumped, although there was no sign of him on the ground outside. I'm sad he's gone, but I think we both knew the end was coming soon.

Late Pictures:

At the Berlin Aquarium with a scary eel

Awesome vegetarian dinner in Prague


View of Bratislava from a lookout tower


Caves in Budapest


View from our hotel in Kusadasi; so pretty!


Pretty water off the coast of Antalya


Blue Mosque in Istanbul


Kitty sleeping at one of the stands at the Grand Bazaar


Cammy's father's wedding at the Temple of Artemis in Kusadasi

My trip to Norway was really cool! (As I mentioned earlier.) I got to stay for with Tilly (my friend from Norway, who I met when she stayed with our family for an exchange program)and her family on their farm in Sveio, which is about half an hour from Haugesund, the nearest larger town.
I got to see baby lambs being born (two sets of triplets! And one of them was named after me!), take Tilly's sister's dog, Tinka out for walks (I am dog-starved), and play this funny card game called Munchkin (it's American; anyone heard of it?). I also got to meet the entire awesome Rossehaug family, and eat delicious home-cooked meals for the first time since Christmas. What more could I ask for?

Unfortunately, I cannot post pics of Norway for the time being, since my digital camera is broken and I had to use a stupid disposable one. So once I use up the roll of film and get it developed...you will see some pics! And yes Tilly, I will definitely find a way to share them with you. Is over the internet good?

Pics from the earlier Eurotrip will be posted soon, I swear! (I actually posted most of the good ones on Facebook already, but I'll still post some up here for the fam.)

It is sunny and warm-ish outside, and I have so many productive things I could be doing, such as planning my schedule for next semester, which starts in exactly a week, or getting exercise...but no. It is 2pm, I am still in my pajamas, and I am looking at pictures on Facebook as well as reading my friends' blogs.
WHY, internet? Sometimes I think I'd get about 5x as much stuff done if i had no internet connection in my room.

But I am back from a great trip to Norway! And I will post more info and other random news/pictures when I am feeling less lazy!

Ah, my sister, the born entertainer. Or strange child, depending on how you look at it.



(Video shot by her best friend, Danielle.)

And I triumphantly return to blogger yet again, after three weeks of harrowing adventure.
Do I have to sum up the trip? Ok, I'll try in a very lazy, brief way:
[Later note: Ok, maybe it's not so brief.]

Cammy arrives March 10: Woo hoo! Haven't seen her for 8 months!! Show her around Goettingen for a few days, despite the huge snow fall that is perfectly timed for the day before we leave.

Berlin: Lug our suitcases through the snow all the way to the train station, get to Berlin in the afternoon (it's only 2 hours away). Cold, cold weather and snow. First evening, visit the aquarium with big fish! And crocodiles! Second day, really depressing but interesting self-guided tour along the old Berlin wall. (Thanks for the guidebook, Dylan, we used it like crazy on this trip!) Met the most OBNOXIOUS Canadian girls in our hostel room--Cammy and I were definitely proud to be Americans in comparison.

Prague: Still really cold, crappy weather. Took a bus and walking tour, which was pretty cool, but full of old people who walked really slow, so we basically froze during the walking part, since we had to go so slooowwwly! Found an awesome all-vegetarian restaurant that night, then went out to a bar afterwards that had great live jazz (traditional stuff).

Bratislava: Decided to go to this city at the last minute, since it's between Prague and Budapest, in the country of Slovakia. A very tiny city in comparison to Prague and Berlin; you can walk everywhere. But a very cozy, friendly feeling. The sun came out for the first time, even though it was still chilly! We went to lots of random little museums to pass the time: a clock museum, a really tiny art museum, a weaponry museum with a lookout area (that was the best part). On St. Patrick's day, we went to the Irish Pub in Bratislava and ran into a group of about 30 Irish guys having a stag party for one of their friends. It was fun until they wouldn't let us leave...luckily they were the typical skinny, harmless Irish guys. No match for us!

Budapest: My favorite city on our solo trip (before we joined the tour). Sunny, warm, SO MUCH TO DO! We ended up staying 4 nights, since we had so much we wanted to fit in. Tours of caves, thermal baths, Communist museum, wine tasting...it was definitely a great city. Found another awesome vegetarian restaurant on our last night there. Badly-translated English was also fun to look for. Our favorite item on a menu was "poppyseed dumps."

Turkey: Too much to describe! We stayed in Izmir by ourselves, then travelled to Kusadasi where we met the tour that Cammy's dad was on, then traveled to Antalya and finally Istanbul, all within nine days. SUCH an awesome place. If you stay near the coast the weather feels like Hawaii, but obviously with a totally different culture, with Mosques everywhere and bazaars and men yelling at you all the time, since it's obvious anywhere you go that you're a tourist. Cammy's dad got married to his fiancee, Kathy, at the Temple of Artemis, which is one of the seven wonders of the world! A very pretty and small ceremony. And we saw a total solar eclipse! It was SO COOL! But pretty much one of those things that you don't understand how cool it is until you see one yourself. I definitely have to see another one before I die!

And that's the trip in a nutshell! Got up at 5am to fly out of Istanbul into Frankfurt yesterday morning, and now here I am! School starts on the 18th (I LOVE vacation time in Europe), so I will actually be heading to Norway for five days pretty soon! But if it makes people feel any better, I won't really have any money left when I get back!

I will try to post pics--but I have so many, it's gonna be hard to narrow them down!