Archive for October, 2006
Tuesday, October 31st, 2006
Culture Shock #4 - in which our hero learns the true nature of German bureaucracy
Now you might think, reading this at the cusp of November, that any well-thinking citizen would have registered at their University a good month-and-a-half ago. Well, before I go on, I should point out that the first semester in German colleges runs from mid-October to mid-February – with a pathetic two weeks off for Christmas [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Gav's Old Blog by Gav
Tuesday, October 17th, 2006
Culture Shock #3 - in which our hero fests Oktober and enters diplomatic limbo
So what else do I know about Passau? Well, the town was diplomatically flattened in 1663 and rebuilt by Italian architects specially commissioned from Venice. As a result there’s lots of old cobbled pedestrian lanes and arches all over the place, and at this time of year when the weather is still mild and in [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Gav's Old Blog by Gav
Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006
Culture Shock #2 - in which our hero discovers the rules of Bavarian public transport
So… what do I know about Passau? Well, I know that it has a population of 50,000 and is about the size of Athlone; that it’s home to a University of about 8000; that it was once in Austria, although that’s not a shock given that you can clearly see Austria from the front of [...]
