Concrete Workshop

Hey guys,

today we had a concrete workshop at the university. We were put in groups of 5 to 6 people and make three cubes of the edge length of 15 cm and a base of 40 to 40 cm. In my group were Frances, Graeme, Lauris, Ally and Dave. We had a brainstorming this week, what we want to do and how to do it.

We decided it may be a good idea to get light through the concrete. So we put some sticks of balsa wood in the form, which we will remove or burn after the concrete is set. In the second one we put some sticks of green and transparent plastic, which shine when they are in contact with the light. And in the third one we put copper tubes. In the base we gave some green colour and hope that it blurs with the concrete.

The concrete itself was produced on a very old way, just by handwork.

Even it was graft, we had really fun this day and there were some really cool ideas. My favourite was the yellow of lemon smelling concrete.

Sören

Imagines

Hey guys,

finally I was able to download the photos of my Flash Card and I edited the last view reports.

I'll also upload much more photos to the following links over the weekend:

Krakow: http://www.directupload.net/galerie/144825/HkU4jWrd25/

Auschwitz: http://www.directupload.net/galerie/144826/TBZSZRsIWJ/

Sören

There and Back Again

Hey guys,

I just returned from Krakow to Dundee today. Unfortunately I still couldn't get the photos from my card, but I hope to manage it next week!

Sören

Auschwitz

Hey guys,

yesterday, we've been in Auschwitz I and II (Birkenau), the biggest Nazi concentration camp. We went there by train. Sometimes I felt very nostalgic. We were in a really old train which shook and joggled us.















Then we arrived in Oświęcim and after a ten minute walk we arrived Auschwitz I. There we made a tour with one of the guides there, who showed us also Auschwitz II. It was really amazing and oppressive. I knew that it was big, but I had never thought that it so gigantic. We walked along the famous railway in Birkenau and after five minutes, we were just in the middle. There was an original waggon from that time, which was given the museum by Germany just 3 days ago.














































































Sören

Measure Drawing

Hey guys,

today, we had to work in groups. Yesterday, the tutors had formed, in a very complex system, 4 different groups which should compose of the different tutor groups. For some reason our group (17 persons) contains of 9 of my tutor group.

Anyway, our group got the biggest area. A part of Grodzka Street from the famous arcade buildings to the baroque Church St. Peter's and St. Paul's.

I think we worked very effective and won't have big problems with the finish in Dundee!

Sören

Snow in October

Hey guys,

did I said it was cold yesterday? Today, when I woke up and I was really agape. It was snowing!















Nevertheless, we had to go to our trip. At least we were visiting some museums. We started at the Jewish quarter where we went to the museum near the synagogue.















Then we went to the building of the Department of Architecture of the University of Krakow. It is in a very historic building, the Oskar Schindler Factory. Amazing! There we had a lecture of Krzysztof Ingarden, one of the professors of university. He was taking about some of their projects like the Tourist Information Building in Krakow or the Polish Pavilion of the EXPO 2005 in Japan.






















After the lecture we just walked through the building, which is also used by the Department of Arts. There were some nice pictures at the walls.















At last we visited the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Techonology at the coast at the Vistula. A really fascinating architecture.















Sören

Nowa Huta

Hey guys,

it's the second day in Krakow and it's getting colder.















Today we went to Nowa Huta, the workers part of Krakow. About 200.000 people are living in Nowa Huta. And I couldn't believe it, there it was even colder, than in Krakow. I was freezing even trough I looked like an onion. In Nowa Huta we went from the Lenin Steelworks to the Ronald Reagan Central Square, where we visited different buildings and places especially some churches.






























After our return to Krakow and a small lunch we went back to the main square to visit some places we have to analyse this week in groups.






















On my way back to the hostel I had to see something scary. Two of the trams had had an accident. One of them jumped of their rail. And we were taking one of them 4 hours ago 8-O















Sören

First Day in Krakow ... and it's rainy!

Hey guys,

I just want to give a short report of today. Today we met at the Rynek market, which is the heart of the old town, at 9 am. We were parted in three groups, each with a tutor to explore th city. Unfortunately it started raining at 11 and all museums were closed on Monday.




































For that reason the tutors said, "Enjoy yourself. We meet at the square once a hour and if it stops raining we go on with our tour."




































After a lunch in a restaurant facing the German secretariat-general the rain stopped. It was about 14 o'clock. Then David showed us some nice parts of the town including the oldest remaining building of the university. In the courtyard of the building David started telling something about the university, but suddenly there was music. It was "Gaudeamus Igitur". There was a clock with some statues marching th the music. Really nice.















Tomorrow we will visit Nowa Huta!

Photos will be here next week. I found a USB interface, but it seems that this computer is not fast enough for this exercise!

Sören

Leaving Scotland, Arriving in Poland

Cześć facet,

that was Polish and means "Hey guy"!
You may wonder, why I speak in Polish? It's simple! I'm in Poland, or more precisely I'm in Krakow. But what do I do in Krakow? It's simple again, I'm on a study trip with my course year!















Unfortunately the plane started at 7:10 am, and there is no bus or train so soon to Edinburgh Airport. Damn! What did I do. Something a lot of people may have done in their lives. I slept at the airport. At least I tried and it didn't really work. You don't believe how many people there are at an airport at night. Even all the stores closed between 9 and 10. Then they started cleaning the hallways. And then, when you are close to sleep, there is a woman who asks you if you are taking one of the early flights and when you need to get up. Nice woman, but too active ;-) And at last, when you are close to returning to sleep, suddenly there is music from the next coffee store between 2 am and 2:30 am. But it still doesn't open.















So I decided not to sleep, take one or two coffees and try to sleep in the airplane. In this case, I was really lucky. When I came to the gate, there where a lot of people, but lucky me, they where all in the wrong queue. Oh well, who can read has definitely an advantage!

Having arrived in Krakow in rain, we went to our hostels. I had some problems to find mine. Because I left my directions at home. Frak! But with some help I finally found it. It's a really nice flat and I have my own room, because there is no one else *G*





























Sören

One Month in Scotland

Hey guys,

now I'm here in Scotland over a month and I feel really good. Even though I have nearly been blown away by the storming wind we had in Dundee today.

But what happened in the meantime? This week we had a German visitor, Prof. Heribert Hamann from my University in Mainz. He was just on a short visit of the partner university and us three.

Then we had our first presentation of our group analysis in front of the whole year and the tutors. It was a hard day from 9 am until nearly 5 pm. Of course we were the last group. Frak!

And at last I joined a, for me quite common, way of drinking beer. In a "Boat Race" two teams drink the beer in front of themselves as fast as they can and put their glass over the top oftheir heads. Each of the team drinks half a pint and the last, the anchor, dinks a whole pint. My team took the fact that I was from Germany as a reason that I had to be the anchor.

Unfortunately we didn't win. There were two teams which were really fast. And we had to face them both. Damn! We won the first one.

I hope I'll get some photos from that night. It was really fun!

Sören