Berkeley says Hi!

I realize that I've been a bad boy for not writing anything in the last nine (!) days. I have, however, a serious writer's block. Pending the burst of brilliance that I'm waiting for, I'm just going to write down some things that come to mind.

To start in the present: I'm currently sitting at Hagen's place working on my todo list (writing on my blog, of course, being number one, underlined and made bold). Vid just sms-ed me the question whether I am homesick and I think I can honestly say that I am not. There are many reasons for that, 'stability' at home being an important one, and Hagen is definitely another. I met Hagen in the fall. He studies mechanical engineering here at Berkeley and is originally from Dresden, Germany. From picking me up at the airport and showing me around to fixing my bike, taking care of me and preparing my meals (frequently!), he has proven himself to be a very loyal and caring friend.

Yesterday, I went clubbing with my housemate Ali and his friend Manuel. We went to the poshy Ruby Skye in San Francisco (I'll post some pics when I get them from Ali). Had a good time and a slightly less entertaining ride back to Berkeley. Slept most of the alcohol off during the night and Hagen (again) saved me with a great 'Katerfrühstück' earlier today. The day before, me and Hagen went to explore The City and visited the famous burger and jazz joint Moose's. Unfortunately, the place wasn't serving any burgers in the evening and there was no music at that time. We managed to save the day though, by a good choice of night clubs afterwards (no pictures allowed).

All my days so far have been exploratory days; walking around the neighborhood, doing one or more chores and, generally, just having fun with the people that I met or meet. On my first full day here, we went to visit the U.S.S. Hornett, a renowned Aircraft Carrier that has been turned into a museum. We received a guided tour by a retired officer on the ship which was nothing less than wonderful. You can find the rest of the pictures here.

On such days I've also checked out the courses that I'd like to follow. So far my top four lists Social Stratification (grad, Sam Lucas), Political Sociology (grad, Margaret Weir), Quantitative Methods (undergrad, Leo Goodman) and Labor economics (undergrad, Robert Reich).

The house I'm living in, the Alpha Chi Sigma fraternity (if you hit full screen, you can see the AXE mark on the steps), is huge and - since the fraternity itself cannot fill it completely - open to students of all kind. I share my room with Manuel, a nuclear engineer - not the guy I went out with - who's hardly ever there. Although my room is not that special, the house comes with some great feats: a huge living room equipped with couches and projector for our entertainment needs; a football, pool and table tennis table to keep our muscles flexible; and a roof-terrace with a gorgeous view on the San Francisco bay (pictures will follow).

Tomorrow is a holiday, 'Martin Luther King jr. day', which gives me time to write e-mails to professors, make a final selection of courses I want to 'shop' between and work on the rest of my todo list. I will try to keep this blog updated frequently for your reading pleasure. As for more interactive communication, I can receive calls and text messages on (001) 510-3nine5-7nine61 exclusively (I'm not using my Dutch mobile anymore except as an alarm bell), although the reception isn't great. Additionally, I will be using MSN (occasionally) and Skype (more frequently) and prefer the latter. Well, that's it for now. Hagen and me are going to spend some time relaxing after our hard day's work ;)

P.S. I've tried to make my post a little bit interactive by placing a lot of links that should give a feeling of the events they encircle. Note that the picasa website that contains my uploaded pictures, requires you to log in with a Google account.

P.P.S. I'm writing in English because it is my prime language here. Plus, writing my blog in English provides me with a useful exercise in the context of my studies.