All posts tagged: campus

A Garden Party of Sorts

Published by Sula H.

Eine Art Gartenparty Speaking truthfully, we don’t have a garden here. Just the public campus which we share with thousands of students. But that doesn’t mean we can’t pretend to have a garden, esp. since there are lots of pretty little corners to hang out on campus. So the other day, in order to commemorate the birthdays of a number of people, we had our very own little garden party/picnic type deal. And it was nice to get out and hang together in a little green corner near our accommodations. Um die Wahrheit zu sagen, wir haben keinen Garten hier. Nur einen öffentlichen Campus, welchen wir mit tausenden von Studenten teilen müssen. Aber das heisst nicht, dass wir nicht so tun können als hätten wir unseren eigenen Garten, besonders weil es hier so viele hübsche Ecken auf dem Campus gibt. Und so haben wir kürzlich den Geburtstag von ein paar Freunden gefeiert und hatten dabei eine richtige kleine Gartenparty. Zumindest soweit man unser Picknick eine solche nennen kann.

Rush Hour on Campus

Published by Sula H.

Rush Hour auf dem Campus Life on campus can get really busy at times. In fact, sometimes it’s so busy that you end up in a big fat traffic jam of people walking. This usually happens right around lunch time, when all the students get out of class at the same time and try to get back to their dorms, or one of the many cafeterias on campus. I usually ride my bike to class, but trying to get back home I’m usually not much faster than all the walkers, due to the fact that there are too many walkers for anyone to get through … Das Leben auf dem Campus kann manchmal sehr geschäftig werden. Tatsächlich kann es manchmal so geschäftig werden, dass man in einem riesigen Stau landet, einen Stau von Fußgängern! Das passiert gewöhnlicherweise gegen Mittag, wenn alle Studenten aus dem Unterricht kommen und versuchen, zu ihren Wohnheimen zurückzukehren, oder in einer der vielen Cafeterias auf dem Campus einzukehren. Ich fahre gewöhnlich mit meinem Fahrrad zum Unterricht, aber wenn ich versuche nach …

Happy Leaks

Published by Sula H.

Von Glücklichen Löchern Guess, what this means … Ratet mal, was dies bedeutet: Well, it means 2 things. 1) That it’s raining outside, and 2) that the leaks in the lobby roof are happily thriving! Nun, es bedeutet zweierlei. 1) Dass es draussen regnet, und 2) dass die Löcher im Dach der Lobby ganz glücklich wachsen und gedeihen! Now, instead of just a few buckets here and there, our lobby is littered with them, and instead of getting fixed, the number of them increases, which also means that crossing of our lobby has become a great adventure, a struggle for survival so to speak, because you never know when you’ll hit a wet spot that might take you down! But then, who likes to have a boring life when there’s so much adventure to be had? Nun, anstelle von ein paar Eimern hier und da, ist unsere Lobby übersät mit Behältern, und anstelle dass die Löcher repariert werden, werden es immer mehr, was auch bedeutet, dass das Durchqueren unserer Lobby zu einem …

A Culture Week of Firsts

Published by Sula H.

Eine Kulturwoche der Neuheiten So, here I am, talking of how there’s nothing really new to share with you, when in fact it’s actually a culture week of firsts. Like today. It’s been raining. And while rain really isn’t anything new, that it pours down on culture week IS! So, for the first time, culture week, which actually is an outdoor event more than anything, has been taken inside, into the big gym on campus. Da bin ich also, und rede davon, dass es eigentlich nichts Neues über die Kulturwoche zu berichten gibt, während diese Woche tatsächlich eigentlich eine Woche voller Neuerungen ist. Wie z. B. heute. Es regnet. Und während Regen an sich nichts Neues ist – dass es während der Kulturwoche wie aus Strömen gießt, hat es in der Tat noch nicht gegeben. So wurden zum ersten Mal alle Aktivitäten, die eigentlich Open Air stattfinden sollen, nach drinnen, in die große Sporthalle verlegt. And since it’s Africa Day, here are a couple of pics … Und weil heute Afrika Tag …

Of the Representation (and Misrepresentation) of the World

Published by Sula H.

Ok, though I’ve shared about culture week in previous years, this one’s something new in all the events: Instead of the foreign faculty (who’ve been involved with Asia day in the previous years), this year the foreign students are mainly involved with hosting today’s activities and events. So, if anything, it’s nice to see native people represent their own countries, and not a bunch of foreigners trying to show-off what they think is interesting but what might not at all be representative of the place. Like my age old battle with my colleagues trying to get them to understand that we don’t have Vikings running around in Europe any more, nor Roman soldiers wielding javelins and conquering archaic queens (the way my non-European, or should I say, American, colleagues love to portray Europe, and each year I’m thinking: you show off all of America’s modern, fashionable ways, so why can’t you do that with Europe, too? But I have to concede that one of the arguments one of my friends is giving me is right: …

Culture Week – Here We Go Again …

Published by Sula H.

If I’m not mistaken, culture week was the content of one of my first blog posts ever. And now, I’m into the blogging journey for three years already, and here goes culture week again. To be honest, there isn’t much new to be said about culture week. But, it is a big event at our school, so I can’t just not blog about it. So, maybe I might note that it’s interesting how the first day is always “prepared” by our domestic faculty, who don’t end up preparing anything at all because they have local workshops present local art and design projects (basically turning our main square into a big fair). So, it’s only the foreign community (faculty and students) who usually go berserk about getting ready for culture week and preparing yet another event that’s bigger and better than ever. We’ll see the results later this week. But for now, I have some pics from today that I can share …

Waiting for the Tennis Courts

Published by Sula H.

It’s been a while since I’ve been back, but there’s one really sad news for me so far. I was really looking forward to grabbing my tennis racket over the October holiday to hit a couple of balls. But not only have I been too sick for much exertion lately (the mold in my room has been getting to me), the other side of the story is that the courts have been undergoing repair and that repair meant no chances of playing. Except, when I walked past there today, I made an exciting discovery: People on the courts! I may have to go grab my racket and just forget about blogging and all that!

Back to School – Once More

Published by Sula H.

School has started … once more. That means, my schedule is soon going to fill up again with work meetings, conferences, student visits and the like. But it also means I get to start over again with a bunch of all fresh students whom I just met, who are excited to be in school and who’ll hopefully make my life as teacher not too difficult!

O Holiday, O Holiday

Published by Sula H.

Oh, I love me some holidays. Because that’s one of the precious few times of the year when our campus isn’t overrun by people; I mean students. Of course, the Dragon Boat Festival is also the holiday when you have to eat rice balls wrapped in leaves in order to prevent – well, I forgot which terrible fate to happen in your life (like you have to eat long noodles to have a long life, and you have to eat dumpling at winter solstice to prevent winter from stealing your ears, … things like that). But I’ve managed to survive the Dragon Boat Festival without eating these rice thingies, and now I’m enjoying my holiday splendidly with a nearly empty campus. Oh holiday, oh holiday!

David & Goliath

Published by Sula H.

Did you see that? Yes, I mean the slightly amusing attempt of our foreign faculty housing staff to keep the water leaks in the roof of the lobby under control. (I’ve been giving you updates on the number of buckets and other measurements needed to hunt down all the leaks – see my posts “Rain Proof” & “Spot the Buckets” if you’re new to mistyhilltops.com and are looking for something to amuse you.) But it seems to me that there’s always something new to report when it rains. Like the – what I’d like to call – battle between David and Goliath. Except that this time, contrary to the historical facts, I’m afraid I’d have to say Goliath won this clash! And I haven’t even told you about the waterfall coming down that very spot just the other day as well. (And I mean waterfall when I say waterfall, because there was no way to get through the curtain of water without getting drenched.) Let’s hope for better days for our poor poor lobby!