Beach Surprise!

What Yuka told me: "We'll have a barbecue on the beach in Heidkate (about 20min from home) with two or three friends."



The truth: the three rascals Yuka, Claas and Markus organized a welcome-back beach party.





Most of my friends are already there when we arrive, waiting with lots of delicious food and beer.





It's great seeing everybody again.





The year I have been away now seems like just a week to me.










Yum, yum!





Having a good time...

Welcome Home

Could you imagine a friendlier arrival at home?

Mid-summer in Kiel/Germany: pleasant temperatures around 25 °C. It's strange to hear everybody around talk in German. I enjoy being at home again, however.

Time to Say Goodbye...

It was one year Canada that went by as quickly as a month.



Babak drives Ole and me to the Airport. Thanks for helping me once again, buddy.



Flying in this direction, the night is extremely short. Touch down on native soil. Feels kind of strange...



Familiar logos all around.



The area around Frankfurt looks totally different from what I got used to for the last year, yet very familiar.

Road Trip: Montreal

It's my second visit to atmospheric Montréal - still one of my favourite cities over here.



We enjoy authentic chinese food at a restaurant in China Town. You get a delicious meal for about the price of a 'grande' Starbucks cappuchino.



Downtown vs. China Town.



Montréal distinguishes itself by this special vibrant atmosphere, especially at night...



My old housemate Christian and Nicholas, a friend from school, are also in town. We enjoy ourselves tasting some of Montréal's great nightlife atmosphere.

Road Trip: Québec City

The capital of Québec is a living museum. We stay at the youth hostel in the old part of town that is - unlike every other city on the continent - completely surrounded by a city wall.



The castle-style Hotel Château Frontenac is a landmark in the old part of town.



Québec City is the cradle of French culture in North America and supposed to be the most 'European' city on the continent.



There is a variety of delicious restaurants and cafés around. One evening, we enjoy fantastic crêpes at the Casse Crêpe Breton. Should you every visit Québec city, you have to go there.



The city is one of the continent's earliest settlements.



Note the state's (above) and the city's (below) flags that wave on top of the historic buildings.



We watch the change of the guards in the Citadelle, which is the home base of a french-speaking regiment, Canada's Royal 22s. Their mascot, a goat, also has its part in the ceremony.

Road Trip: Ottawa

Oh, Canada...!
The first day on the road takes us to the nation's capital at the south bank of Ottawa River. We are surprised by the amount of French we hear around town. Well, the gently rolling Gatineau Hills of Québec are visible just to the north...

But what is that...? They put us into prison already for the first night!!



No way, this is the HI hostel in the old Ottawa jail. We share our 4-bed 4-squaremeter cell with another guy from Germany.



I'd rather keep it quiet that some guy passing by gave me the finger for taking this photo, but imagine something like this in good ol' Germany: a memorial for soldiers that participated in UN peace missions. Impossible?

Later, we get a glance at the inside of Centre Block, where the Commons and the Senate sit. The view down from Peace Tower is just amazing.



The peace tower is almost 100m high. Nevertheless, I am spotting a bee that has a rest up there.



These series of locks at the edge of the Ottawa River mark the end of the Rideau Canal, where Christian and me had a nice run the other day.



Quebéc begins somewhere on the other side of the river...

EoT - End of Term

The pic above isn't supposed to be a metaphor of how I felt during this term. It could, though...
However, the illustration describes pretty well the field of research that the project I worked on for the last months with Professor Tizhoosh was settled in.

Now, what's it all about? Imagine:
the rat explores its surrounding, it finds the lever. It presses the lever. Gets food as a reward. Presses again: more food. The moral of the tale? That's one way how animals and humans learn.
Can machines do so as well?

To cut a long story short: today, I handed in my manuscript.
Just-in-time, since I am planning a goodbye-Canada vacation that is just about to begin.

Productivity Tool

The deadline approaches - for the time being, this is the last week I'll be working on my research project.
With this well-being (and therefore productivity) increasing iPod, however, it seems as if I could be done with it just-in-time - before going on a well-deserved road-trip through Ontario and Québec on Saturday.