The city that never sleeps

Getting to NYC took some doing but I am glad I did it. I successfully navigated the subway and arrived in Brooklyn Heights only slightly weary. My first outing was a walk along the promenade to view the Manhattan skyline. Its very pretty but I hate to think what the electricity bill per building is when they are lit like that all night. I'll post a picture once I'm back on my own computer.

My next day started at 8.30am. For those who know me well, this is very early but I survived. I walked across Brooklyn Bridge which has an amazing view of the river and Manhattan. The bridge is a steel wire suspension bridge, the first of its kind. Walking along and looking up feels like you are in a giant spiderweb. The bridge ends at the bottom of Manhattan right next to the courts. I think walked past the supreme court and criminal court. The architecture of the buildings in spectacular.

Walking along you start to realise the scale and height of the buildings. You cannot feel the sunlight at ground level, there are just too many buildings blocking the rays from ever reaching it. I started my exploration of the area in earnest in Chinatown and its confusing, I'm not going to lie. I think I circled the same block about 3 times to find what I was looking for. Everyone is very welcoming and the array of foods and goods is quite unreal.

Finally navigating my way out of Chinatown I managed to miss Little Italy on the way to Soho. Not quite sure how but I think I was expecting an Italian version of Chinatown and it turns out its not. Soho is weird and wonderful and has a number of nice shops. I was stopped and asked if I support Developing Nations, some charity for uplifting poverty in Africa. What a laugh, after their whole spiel about poverty etc I finally had to point out that I'm South African and hence live in the place.

Next on my list was Greenwich Village which seems less spectacular than I imagined. I made an effort and deviated from my target of Central Park for the Empire State building. The queue to get up to the observation deck was 1.5 hours. Not a chance! I decided I didn't really need to wait that long to pay $30+ to see the city from above.

I browsed Macy's but I didn't find anything that fitted within my price range :( The One Day Sale is on today and I think that will be true chaos. I ended up in Old Navy and I have to say I could quite happily spend a fortune in there.

My walking tour back on target I wandered around Broadway til Central Park. Central Park is gorgeous and still very green. Coming from a riot of Autumn colours in Ann Arbor it seems weird. The park as a beautiful tranquil feeling going for it, despite the activity in it. The Besthesda Fountain doesn't quite measure up to the hype but the lake itself is well worth the trek. There was a couple having their wedding pictures taken with the lake as their backdrop. I sat and absorbed the quietness after the noise of the city and then headed out to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At $10 for students I appreciate the London ethos of free entry in museums. The museum is huge and you really do need the map they provide. The Chinese scrolls on display are worth the visit alone. I also enjoyed the Temple of Dendur in the Egyptian section which was rescued from the threat of submergence when the Egyptians built a new dam. I'm sad I didn't have time to do the Design and Photography section, I think that would also be worth a perusal.

Once back on the street, I ventured into the subway and down to Times Square. My god, its noisy and busy and an overload of screens. Started in ToysRUs which has a ferris wheel in the store and then went to TGIF for dinner. Next stop chocolate! The M&M store is huge and filled with every flavour M&M available. The Hersheys store added yet more chocolate to the list.

The last stop of the day was the Rockefeller Building which provides a view from above without the long queues to get in. The Empire State Building was lit up in purple and orange for the night as part of the Cat Fanciers Association Conference.

The end result of my whirlwind tour is bruised feet, lots of photos and a lot more information than I can possibly remember. My feet will hopefully recover enough to do Philadelphia :)

Bad music

The dance workshop over the weekend was informative, but one thing that stuck was the saying "There is no bad music". As a dancer you should walk onto the floor and dance to the song played even if it is the corniest rumba in the world or you are talking to the animals :P I know I've done this in the past, criticised a song played or tempo. I know have to make an effort to like all dance music.

I'm off to New York City in the morning and then onto Philadelphia over the weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing all the sights.

Real Men Need More Ballroom

I love this t-shirt that one of the Michigan Ballroom team dancers designed. Its definitely worth smiling at when you see it. Any takers?

Collegiate Ballroom Workshop

I attended a Collegiate Ballroom Workshop with the Michigan coaches and students from Michigan and Penn State. The workshop ran over three days and included lessons on a number of dances and performance techniques.

The welcome night was an opportunity to meet the students from Penn State and learn some fun dances, the Hustle and the Paso Doble. We also learnt a Polka mixer. Girls start on the right of the guy holding his hand. Both take 3 walks forward starting with guys left, girls right. Tap foot. 3 walks back, tap foot. Separate with 3 sidewalks, tap and clap. 4 sidewalks back in. Do 2 full polka rotations and start again. The tricky part is doing this in a circle, when you come back together for the polka, the girl has to move to the guy in front to do the polka steps.

The actual workshop was from 12.30-8pm on saturday. This was tiring, we covered waltz, tango, quickstep, chacha, rumba and samba. In the ballroom we learnt ways to start in the middle of the floor, along the long side or from a short corner. All techniques needed when you have many couples fighting for space on the floor. We also learnt floorcraft, a technique often left out in classes. These included check steps, change of directions and promenade positions.

Latin however took on a rather unusual form. As a bronze/silver workshop, we have a set syllabus we can follow in competitions, however rumba started with an open routine to lose whatever modesty we might have had. Grinding into a guys crotch while clinging to him will do that :) The routine starts with a beckoning from the girl and a game of playing hard to get. The goal we found out is to translate a fancy routine story into a simple routine with the same story in syllabus steps. Same thing for chacha. I hope to get the routines on camera to bring home.

For those of you who often laugh at the ratio between girls and guys at ballroom. We had 4 more guys at the workshop than girls, quite a change from the usual surplus of girls. Now imagine the guys doubling up to learn the open rumba routine. Funny times.

Today is the competition preparation lesson which will probably take a lecture form. I'm hoping so at least as we still have social dancing this evening and my feet are killing me. They are battered and bruised.

Intervarsity 09 countdown begins

The ballroom committee was voted in yesterday in UCT. The new committee is

Chair - Chris Warner
Vice Chair (VC): Lara Milne
VC Intervarsity: Hayley Mc Intosh
Treasurer: Zandile Makgatho
Socials: Chris Louw
Orientation Week: James Hu
Medal Tests: Adrienne Daniels
Intervarsity: Andrew Martens
Formal: Richard Parry
IT: Jonathon Page

This means I get to organise Intervarsity 09 hosted by UCT. I will be roping friends in to help over the year, so be warned! 303 days and counting...

Journal Club MTG3: Ozone Interannual Variability

Today is yet again journal club day. We are reviewing a paper by S Koumoutsaris et al. "Influence of El-Nino-Southern Oscillation on the Interannual Variability of tropospheric ozone in the northern midlatitudes". It is a rather long and figure intensive article that documents CO and O3. The author used the Goddard Earth Observing System Chem (GEOS-Chem) model to explore the correlation between El-Nino and O3. The model accurately captures the sensitivities to biomass burning and the meteorology for CO but not completely for O3. The study is conducted at 4 x 5 degrees that disregards the regional features. It is important to note that the article explains the shortfalls in capturing all the O3 from stratospheric dynamics and intrusions.

Down and Out

I have been sick since Friday, not an enjoyable experience but I suppose being sick never is. I attended the Ballroom Team BBQ against my better judgement, it was literally across the road, but stayed maybe 15 minutes. Long enough to have my picture taken and get hit by a volleyball, meh.

I felt marginally better on Saturday and went to the football match between Michigan and Illinois. Michigan lost, badly. I left in the third quarter when the noise from the crowd made my headache worse. I dragged Oswald (the other UCT exchange student) along to the game.

In other news, I was shown what has got to be the nerdiest landscaping in history: A wave field, the ground is a 3D sinusoidal wave. We took our research group photos there



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Journal Club MTG2: Urban Parameterization for CCSM

As part of the journal meetings we are reviewing "An Urban Parameterization for a Global Climate Model. Part 1: Formulation and Evaluation for Two Cities" by KW Oleson et al. The paper reviews efforts to capture land use change in urban areas and the effects this has on the atmosphere. The global models currently divides the world into a grid and each grid cell is further divided into various plant function types and wetland, urban etc. Each is dealt with separately however there is no scheme for urban areas. This paper presents an "urban canyon" solution that supposedly captures the urban climatology. There are separate energy balances and surface temperatures for each canyon facet. I really appreciate the added heat sources from waste (air conditioners) and traffic. A 1D heat conduction is solved numerically for fluxes in and out of surfaces. The paper then describes an experiment looking at two different cities areas, Mexico City and Vancouver. The results suggest an increased understanding of fluxes but says that the timing is off in the model, but note that no one has perfected the urban diurnal cycle. I want to note that the observations are rather sparse though. The paper also states that implementing this system globally might be problematic as no urban map yet exists categorising urban types. Something to look forward to in the future. Lastly a relevant question is, at what resolution does this actually matter? Perhaps a global view is not the answer but maybe regional is.

Maize Out!

Michigan vs Wisconsin turned into a much more nail-biting game than anyone anticipated. Michigan won, just. They were losing for 3 quarters and suddenly they won. The visiting team brought their Marching Band which I have to admit were good, did a showcase of Ladies in Rock. The Michigan Marching Band did a skit called Cody Martin's Day Off based on Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Bit arb but then I have never seen the movie. The total crowd attendance topped last time at 109833! This is bigger than we building for a world cup soccer stadium. In fact its almost double the one we are building in CT.

In dancing news I am still doing foxtrot and chacha. I suck as body sway and gapping. One the plus side, I've borrowed a pair of Supadance ballroom(standard) shoes to practice in from the ballroom stash and its remarkable the difference dancing in them makes. I'm hoping no one will notice if I never give them back.

And they say SAs has lions in theirs backyards...

Being in Ann Arbor is somewhat amusing on occasions. It is a student town and a largely built up but very green. I have in the past few days come across a racoon, a skunk and a squirrel in the backyard of the house and possum crossing the road on the way home from dancing. To top it off, the bus had to stop for deer crossing the road the other day, and they say South Africans have fauna issues.

Engineers in Ballroom

I've been doing a sort of mental count of the number of engineers in UM ballroom. I think its roughly 70% or more and I don't mean just guys, I mean overall, girls as well. I found myself chuckling after hearing one girl patiently explaining to her non science dance partner that leading is like equations, if you put one thing in you get an answer which is different to putting another factor in. I must add as a side note, computer science is an engineering subject here.

Journal Club MTG1: Atmospheric Chemistry

I attended my first ever Journal Club today with my supervisor here and fellow officemates. The topic: Atmospheric oxidation capacity sustained by a tropical forest by Lelieveld et al. Interesting paper from Nature that explores a theory which opposes known science in atmospheric chemistry. The idea is that OH is recycled through some mechanism in a low NOx environment like a rainforest. The paper is not great, requires a lot of supplementary material but it has jumpstarted my organic chemistry understanding, last attempted in high school. It also started to fill in the gaps of knowledge I have about various plugins in global climate models. However unless you are an organic chemist or have one handy (my officemate Ahmed very kindly spent an hour patiently explaining things) don't bother.

Watching from across the pond

I'm slightly disturbed and very worried about the political state back home. I realise the transition is peaceful and will not bring about conflict or war but the shear numbers of ministers resigning is worrying especially given some of the positive actions during their term. Sitting in a foreign country I am sure I am not getting the full picture. I am looking at the political situation and hoping I return to a decent administration and all the decisions made by, for example, the science minister are still carried through. I think Trevor Manuel resigning is a sign of bad things to come. This is not a move that will encourage investment before the Soccer World Cup. Someone over here suggested that this is a far to speed up the transition or push it forward so the situation is stable by 2010. And being in a foreign country, I'm hoping the exchange rate improves so I can actually buy things here. But thats a very materialistic view :)

Google Android

Google is doing a series of talks and workshops over the semester as well as a recruiting drive, I attended a technology talk about Google Android, a collaborative agreement between the manufacturers, developers and marketers to provide an open handset tool for information sharing and access. Android is a part of this, built on a Linux kernel and with swappable components, the technology looks solid and exciting for mobile developers, especially with the SDK being released within the next few months (Beta is available). Check it out at:
http://code.google.com/android/

In the coming months there is a workshop on Google Earth and an initiative to create scientific applications for it revolving around data visualisation and communication. They have working groups in both Weather and Global Climate Change as well as economics, astronomy, urban planning and science education.

Symphonies and Secrets

I attended the University Symphony Orchestra's performance of Beethoven's Symphony No 7 and the Metropolis Symphony. The first was magnificent, you could really feel the dance theme throughout and calibre of musicians was phenomenal. The second symphony was a bit weird. Commissioned to commemorate the Superman comics, it is split into five parts each to do with a character or place associated with the comic. I'm not sure I liked it, certainly different.

My evening ended at a house party hosted by my dance partner and his housemates. No Pants party, you had to remove your pants at the door almost literally. I missed the memo that went round the ballroom girls as they all showed up in black underwear, white shirts and stockings/boots. The party had a very lingerie feel and apparently everyone shops at Victoria Secrets.

UofM Ballroom Team Tryouts

I participated in team tryouts today for the competitive ballroom team here and made C team which is bronze/silver level. There are 8 couples on the team and 6 couples each on A and B. The standard of dancing was very high, apparently higher than usual, which means the Ohio Star Ball is going to be fun. I messed up slow foxtrot which isn't surprising, but ever so slightly annoying. I'm looking forward to my first lesson, I think it will be an experience.

VAT

So I walked into a store yesterday that proclaimed 50% off all items. Looking at the price I thought it was a bargain until I remembered that everything is price + tax not included in the shelf price. Everything, bar a few food places, advertise goods at a price and then add tax at the till. I still find it weird to order food from a menu and then calculate + 6% tax to pay.

But is it Art?

I have been doing the typical touristy thing and walking around campus with a camera for the last few days. Its amazing the amount of sculptures and building decorations around on North Campus (engineering campus). I came across these weird half sunken robots next to the computer building and a beautiful 42 number plaque. However there are some truly bizarre sculptures that have no names and a few nicknames. The coolest one has to be the rotating rubix cube on both north and central campus.



In other news, I am trying out for the UM Dance team on Saturday. This means doing each of the eight dances in heats and then being taught a sequence and they mark you on how fast you learn in. I must note, I go to another country and I still get a Kevin as a dance partner. I am also meant to dress in competitive clothes, but that is just not happening atm.

Dancing American style

I have officially been introduced to the more bizarre dances available including Swing, West Coast Swing, Hustle, American foxtrot and American waltz. I'm not sure I like any of them, well maybe swing.

I've been to two dance sessions now, one with the UofM Dance Team (like o-week beginner lesson and then social dancing) and a social dancing session with the UM Ballroom Club (like PWP with only 3 quicksteps). These are two different clubs but if you are on the team you get free membership to the club. I found out that to go to team practices you have to have a partner to tryout with which is a slight snag in my case. I have been looking and have potentially found a guy to dance with but I'm not sure if I want to do this much dancing while I am here. Its 4 hours of lessons and then another 8 hours outside class to practice.

What is weird is that most of the team don't know anything out of syllabus dances like Meringue, Salsa etc. Its quite weird. I'm going to be out of practice when I get back.

Wearing Maize and Blue

I have survived my first football match only slightly sunburnt (yes I had sunscreen).

The day started at 8am with a tailgate opposite the marching bands practice grounds. Its was actually really interesting to watch them polish lines and be instructed on baton twirling and the correct way to march on a curve.

Tailgating consisted over two cookers with French toast, sausages and cheesy potatoes, fruit and cookies. We were well fed by Kevin who hosted last weeks and this weeks. We played Corn Hole and tossed a football around. I officially suck at Corn Hole. Two kids joined later and beat a few of my officemates.

The game started at noon, so we arrived at 11.30 a half packed stadium. The stadium is divided into sections and the students get a quarter, alumni/fans a half and the opposition the rest. You can tell where the students start, its almost mandatory to wear Michigan merchandise or at least their colours, something the alumni don't. There is a seating hierarchy that puts upperclassmen closer to the field and freshman at the back (top). There were 106,724 people at the game. The stands seats 110,000 i'm told.

There are a fair number of people involved on the field. You have the football team of about 80 (60 if you're travelling to another college), about 30 support staff, 12-16 dancers, 30 cheerleaders (plus about 10 for the other team), 3 game referees and then the Marching band. The Michigan Marching Band has over 300 people. They have flag wavers, baton twirlers(2 girls, 1 guy), 1 head marching guy and 3 conductors. I must say, the conductors were awesome, they stand on ladders and conduct the band and flags. One permanently conducts during the game supporting the cheerleaders with music. There is even music for "You Suck". The half time music was a rendition of boy bands. The pick a theme for each game, this one included NSync, Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block. Highly amusing. Though I have one question, how does a guy become a baton twirler for a large football loving college and survive?

The game itself was very stop and go. The guys I was with apologised for how boring it was but if it had been any more involved I would have been more lost. The guys tried their best to explain the plays, touchdowns, down rules, moving yards, but I must admit, a LOT looked way to much like run a few metres and take a flying dive to the ground. Cool aerobatics in the process though.

There are numerous chants that the cheerleaders lead throughout the game. One is called "Key Play" and everyone gets out their keys and shakes them. Cool effect. There is a war cry that starts "Hail to the victorious and the ....". You may have noted I never quite learnt the words though I can do the clapping. I'll try learn it to bring back for IV09.

We won, Michigan 16-6 Maimi Ohio. Their mascot is the Redhawk, couldn't get a picture of it, but the costume was quite cool. Their quarterback is apparently better than ours, but that didn't seem to help. Quite the change from last weeks loss. I'm tempted to get tickets to the Homecoming game at the end of the month, I might actually understand more of the game by then.

Festifall

UMich has a similar concept to O-week. Festifall. A day that all societies and frats advertise on the Diag for students to find out more details about them. Its huge and crowded. There is some weird stuff, ice sculpture, computer users, climate people. There is even a society to feed the squirrels!

I successfully navigated the Briarwood Mall today. Sears has lots of nice clothes (I didn't buy any, everyone be very impressed with my restraint) and bought a bed set. Very pretty and on special.

I have another tailgate this saturday. We're doing breakfast cause its a noon game. I have a ticket to this game. Should be interesting, we're playing Miami Ohio. I'm going to have to buy Michigan supporter gear now. They even have these cute M earrings.

Immigration Check-in

I survived immigration check-in yesterday without harming the speaker. It is generally presumed that all people coming to the US have almost zero knowledge English so the International Center here speaks in slow even tones like one would do to a small child or a stupid person. After over two hours of this I was ready to crack.

I feel like a prisoner, or maybe the Jews who had to always carry a ID (passport in my case) incase I get stopped and asked. They also think that everyone should apply for Michigan IDs (even more paperwork and more money). Apparently even international drivers licenses are not recognised here.

I now need to sign up for Health Insurance at $89 a month (no dental or eye care) or prove I have sufficient cover in SA to be granted a waiver. I think there is a legal issue as well that I can't hold more than one insurance at a time. Weekend problem.

I move in tomorrow, so I have to go shop for bedding and groceries. Apparently one of my housemates is a final year Economics student. Haven't met the others yet.

What would you stand for?

I've been walking around campus today getting my computer login, turns out my papers were submitted to the wrong people so I have to wait a few more days for my MCard, the student card that lets you do everything in town, including ride the city buses for free. They cost $1 each way otherwise.

I have found a room in a 5 bedroom house on Packard St. I move in on thursday, will post pics then. This happens to be in between all the sorority areas and the main party street come game days. Should provide endless entertainment!

So what would you stand for? This is the chalk signs on the sidewalk all over campus. Just below is an address www.umdm.org Pretty catchy phrase. Its the marketing technique for the ballroom dance marathon here. I've also seen people sized posters of dancers all over. Apparently its popular. mmm...

Labor Day

Today is a national holiday in the US, one of 5 unlike SA's 12. I'm sitting in one of a few open places and it has turned into an apple mac convention. Its seems most students have mac's and even the university IT system is mac. Its a nice change from UCT and their unsupported tech thing. 12 of 15 laptops open in the coffee shop are mac. Go Apple!

Go Blues

I have now been in Ann Arbor 2 full days and have had rain and today hot and humid. I think CT has a rival for PMS weather. Today was the start of the Football season. Go Blues! Nearly every UM student was out maize and blue to support the team. The activities start around 9am for a 3pm game with tailgating, a tradition of barbecuing in parking lots while drinking and discussing the chances of the team. I attended a tailgate with other atmos grads across the road from the marching band practice. The marching band has over 300 people and they wear these weird hats which in my opinion look like naval hats with feather dusters stuck in them. Whatever floats your boat.

One the way to tailgating I passed the sororities and fraternities tailgating. lots of alcohol, loud music and very little clothing is all i'm saying.

A weird advertising system seems to be used here, chalk on the sidewalks. Its ecofriendly, colourful and different. Seen something similar in Oxford but not to this extent. I'll take pictures when I find a super cool one.

Turbulence in excess

My plant trip to the states was filled with turbulence from beginning to end. My flight went via Dakar to NY and we had maybe 2 hours total of the 18 hours turbulence free. My trip from NY to Detroit followed this pattern. I have arrived in Ann Arbor and tried to my admin out of the way, seems my paperwork has yet to go through and I have to wait til after Labor Day on Monday to get anything done. Tomorrow is the first football match between the Michigan Wolverines and Utah Utes. Don't ask, don't know. Today is Michigan day and everyone is meant to wear Michigan colours: Maize and Blue. This school has a lot of pride and a lot of branding, UCT could learn a thing or two about school pride from this crowd.

Intervarsity ballroom: UCT Kicks butt

UCT returns victorious from PE after winning the ballroom and latin intervarsity. I have to say the social the night before sucked and the schedule was choatic to say the least but overall NMMU did a fairly ok job. I hesitate to say good, they could have improved on a lot and charged much less. Well done to everyone who received medals and a special well done to the UCT beginners who shook their booty nicely.

Sunset over Istanbul

My last night in Istanbul was spent at a cocktail bar under the Galata Bridge. This spot was picked for the view, sunset over Istanbul. The drinks cost 17 ytl each. So a night here can seriously put a dent in your wallet but for 1 night, the price is worth it to unwind and just watch the ferries go by and soak up the last rays I will see for awhile.

Turkish Baths

I have to say, Alapan was definitely onto something in honours. A Turkish bath is absolutely divine. Roline and I trekked into Old Town and walked into a lesser known Hamami from the one in the Lonely Planet. We had the place to ourselves. After being told to strip, clothing is strictly a no no and given the most awesome towels, we were led into a steaming chamber and let to our own devices to drench ourselves in water and let our pores breath. Its very relaxing and hot. We were then led away into separate rooms where we had to lie on marble slabs and got a full body scrub, then soap massage. Following this you go back and steam again for a while before having an oil massage. I can honestly say that if I'd known it was that good I would have done it my first day, not my last.

The Simple Things

There are a lot of things we take for granted at home. The fact that there are post offices nearby, that you can drive across a bridge without being fined.

I've discovered that there are 3 postboxes in Old Town and no one can tell about any other in Istanbul (and I mean the whole of Istanbul). Writing a postcard is not as simple as dropping in the postbox. I took a tram and had to ask for directions into the middle of the Grand Bazaar, then queue to hand in a postcard that they put in a pile for sending. I think I'd stick to email at this point. I hope my mother will appreciate my effort though and the IT guys at the Maths Inst in Oxford.

One of the oddest things about Istanbul is the commuter crowd. They commute to work long distances and its cheaper to take a car than ride public transport and park the car out of the dense village/town areas. If you live on the asian side, you drive across 1 of 2 bridges that span the Bosphorus and instead of a toll gate, you have a thing fitted to the car and you place credits on it which are deducted with each trip across. Cool system, unless you don't have one. At this point if you drive across, you get fined. The only weird part is that no one can tell european side people where to get one fitted. My flight out is on the asian side, so i'm going by taxis. My first holiday taxis trip. The person probably doesn't speak english so I can't even say 'Follow that car' for fun!

Old Town flavour

Roline and I ventured from Sariyer by ferry today into Kabatas. This 1 hour trip costs 6 ytl, but is logistically much easier than driving to the metro and then the funicular. From Kabatas there is a tram for 1.40 ytl which goes right into the heart of Old Town. We scoped out the various baths today and decided on our choice for tomorrow. One place wanted 79 ytl! and you had to queue to go in.

We proceeded to the Underground Cistern, a huge cavern held up by 336 columns that the Romans stored water in. This was forgotten during the Ottoman reign and rediscovered and subsequently refurbished recently. Walking in you have to mind the dripping water from the cracks in th ceiling and the slippery floor. The columns are light from below in low red lighting. Originally tours went through on boats with gas lamps, but now there are permanent walkways. At the end of the structure (2 soccer fields later approx) there are these 2 columns held up by Medusa heads. There are 2 theories as to why. Medusa was the symbol for persecution of the Christians and this was symbolic of the Christians fighting it. The more pragmatic argument is that the columns (used from old columns aorund the city) were too small and needed to be propped up and they just happened to be the right size.

After another whirlwind trip through the Grand Bazaar (i found the silver jewelery components shop this time) in which I still did not buy anything, we walked the back routes to the Spice Bazaar. I am now the proud owner of more earrings and some turkish delights. yum. We stopped for a trip lunch in an air-conditioned cafe. At 29C and humid we felt relieved. The Galata bridge provided an opportunity to watch the fishermen try their luck and a nice breeze.

Our last stop and probably the most memorable is the Galata Tower, a structure with a history almost as long as Istanbul's. The tower was used as a fire alert, a ship lookout, a slave house, an astronomy tower, a prison and now a tourist attraction with a nightclub at the very top. The most significant thing is the 360 degree view of Istanbul. I have a panorama but you'll notice where i made a mistake in the angles of the picture. Still fairly impressive given the number of touristy people trying to push me out of the way.

Bosphorus and magpie behaviour

The village I am staying in is very close to the Black Sea. We started Sunday with a stroll along the cliffs and between coves at 9am. The temperature was roughly 24 C. The day climbed to about 28/29C. The interesting thing about this place is seeing the number of ships lined up to get through the straits into the Bosphorus. Apparently on a windless day you can hear what the shipworkers are saying.

The Bosphorus is the strait that separates european Istanbul from asian Istanbul. The family and a neighbouring family did a day trip to Ortakoy (a seaside suburb) that has a jewelery market on Sundays. The market fills the side streets and ranges from tacky to truly beautiful. I also found a henna tattoo artist and am now the proud owner of a hand tattoo (temporarily).

The gang (all 14 of us) went on a 1 hour cruise of the Bosphorus which includes highlights from both sides of the strait. It is well worth the 6 ytl. One of the coolest things was these matching castles on either side of the strait. They previously had a chain linking them to patrol the strait and defend Istanbul.

Lunch was a chicken kebab (shwarma) from a street cafe under beach umbrellas. An excellent chance to soak up the local scene.

Following this we spent the afternoon (what was left of it lazing around. The plan is to continue doing the sights and generally walk around old town. If brave enough I'll venture into a turkish bath. I'm also told the nightlife here is excellent, so Roleni and I are scheming to go out to a nightclub on the Bosphorus for cocktails at sunset.

From Blue to Gold

The second part of Old Town is the historical core. It contains the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace. The area i'm staying in has a large contingent of foreigners, mostly because the international school is here. I ended up teaming up with a Dutch girl called Roline who is visiting her family. As we are the same age and have cousins who are all much younger than us, and believe anything over 20 yrs is old and crumbly, we have ventured forth in a campaign to see as much as possible in our short time here.

We started at the Blue Mosque and managed to time it to before prayer time and looked around. The interior is beautifully done in blue tiles of various designs. The place has a serenity about it that instantly calms you. I wish I understood the arabic all over the walls because its beautifully inscribed on the walls.

Next on the trip was the Hagia Sophia. It costs 10 ytl(approx R65) to get in including the upper galleries. The place was once a church that was taken over by the Ottomans in the 1400s and turned into a mosque. They whitewashed over the walls and when the government started renovations started in the 1940s they found all the original artwork and mosaics on the walls preserved under the white. Its large, very large, but undergoing renovation in the main chamber.

The last stop on this whirlwind day was the Topkapi Palace (10 ytl). The Harem is extra and we didn't have time to go round it as well. The council chambers and meeting rooms are overlaid in gold and is an ostentatious show. The palace continues on this vain throughout. Photography is not allowed in most rooms and there are guards who hover over you as you move through the holy items rooms. The view from the palace grounds however are spectacular, looking over both the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara.

Bizarre in the Bazaar

I spent friday wandering around the Old Town of Istanbul doing the shopping district. I started at the Grand Bazaar after some impressive views from the tram into town. The bazaar is sectioned into shopping subjects. If you want jewelery, hey are all in the same area. Carpets in another, books in a separate bazaar and pottery in another. I think this is a very guys mentality of getting in and getting out, but for me there are only so many jewelery shops I can see in a row, I ended up zigzagging through the place a few times just to get some variety.

I love the ceilings here. Anything public is painted in gorgeous patterns or tiled to create a visual feast. This is art that is useful. I spent about as much time looking at shops as looking at the ceilings.

I felt a little uncomfortable walking around the bazaar on my own. I kept getting followed around my shop attendants and asked if I'm single and if I want to go out somewhere one night with them. Its a little creepy. You'd think it would be nice for the ego, but its not really.

After the bazaar I went around the past a cemetery which housed high ranking officials, the tombstones are beautiful and depict a culture heavy respectful f the dead. The mausoleum attached to the cemetery had many tombs drapped in rich carpets and a chandelier. You had to cover remove your shoes and cover your head to go in, but since all the signs are in turkish, so I could not read who they people were.

The Suleyimaniye Mosque (Suleiman the Magnificent) is a partially closed for restoration. When I arrived it was prayer time which meant all visitors were banned from the prayer area. In Istanbul, the mosques are all open during the day barring the 5 times a day for prayer, which means 1 hour before and the 20-30 mins for prayer. The grounds they sit on were beautiful, something I have found typical of the city.

After the mosque I cut through the back streets to reach the Spice Bazaar. The streets are covered by massive flags bearing th colours of the winning soccer team, yellow and red. The streets are a hive of people, dogs, cars and wares making it hard to navigate without bumping into anyone. Once again whole streets are sectioned into fabric, electrical, kitchen, clothes.

It you get lost on the way to the spice bazaar. just follow the smell. You can smell it about 2/3 streets away. Its an array of shops that try welcome into the store with tea and ask you questions about where you are from. The attention is over the top and weird.

After this I headed across the Galata bridge and into Taksim. This is like going shopping down Long Street or some shopping street. Picked up a wonderful skirt with embroidery and bells.

Istanbul at a glance

I arrived in Istanbul on the Asian side. The plane flew over the most of the city before landing. Before coming to the city I had this view of a bustling city, set out over the a vast area. I discovered i was very wrong. The place houses roughly 15 million people, the equivalent of the Netherlands. The place is built in the towering apartment buildings on top of each other in every available space.

The drivers here are maniacs. Its like everyone is a CT taxi driver. The number of close calls is horrendous. They are setting up a full on public transport system, but it's in its infancy atm. They do however have a system similar to the oyster card, pity i can't read turkish to read the top up machines.

I have walked miles already and am set to walk some more. Wish me happy times!

OWL & going green

I've spent the day in the University Club working. The university has a campus wide Oxford Wireless LAN (OWL) that you can access from most buildings and areas (including parts of the Uni Park). Its really interesting to further note the Oxford mindset of clearing up after yourself. I've commented in an earlier post that students do not clean after themselves after party nights. Same seems to go for lecturers and staff it seems. The place is a self-clear area, but it seems there are many who believe someone else will do it if left.

This rant comes after the concert in Hyde Park on Sunday. There were minimal bins in the concert area, but they were available. However people seemed to just leave all the left over beer bottles right where they finished them. I would hate to be a cleaner afterwards. It makes you wonder if all the British are brought up like that? Especially in a nation trying to be forward thinking and go green.

A last note on the green issue, shops have in the last month started pushing "enviro friendly" bags and making customers pay for plastic bags. Sound familiar? Apparently SA isn't as backwards as we thought. Anyone coming to the UK should note that enviro friendly bags are the new fashion accessory. Its like an instant good impression.

Counting Crows in Hyde Park

I bought a spare ticket off a friend of Carl's and went to O2 wireless in Hyde Park yesterday. There were 4 sound stages distributed around the park. Turns out that you could hear the main stage from anywhere including the other stages. Drowned out the other acts in some cases. The bands I ended up seeing were Magic Christians (they suck), Eddy Grant (its like an evening in Cool Runnings), Powderfinger (had never heard of them but the music is fairly decent), Bowling for Soup (v. cool), Amy Studt (shame she had a throat infection, couldn't sing properly), Ben Harper (legend), Royworld (weird), Goo Goo Dolls (my favourite, they were spectacular) and Counting Crows (they were decent in parts, but played a lot no one knew and they messed with Mr Jones).

Now i'm told that its not a summer concert without rain, well we had plenty. It came in large doses at regular intervals. Nothing like standing in an open arena soaking wet. I'll post some pictures later when I find batteries for my camera.

Drowning in Exeter

I am a drowned rat. Exeter is apparently very beautiful, I didn't see it though. All I saw was rain and clouds. I stayed at the Exeter YHA which is right on the river, I thought the walk into town along the river would be awesome, instead I took the bus. The cathedral is impressive and the number of crumbling remains of churches is considerable. I don't think I will be going back to Exeter again unless under duress.

Met Office

I boarded a train at 8.30 this morning for Exeter. What's in Exeter? The Met Office. The SAWS equivalent with more money. We got a taxi to the office, nice change to walking and trying to catch buses. The taxis wasn't allowed into the grounds until he identified the passengers. The Met Office is very tight with security. We were escorted to the bathroom!

The visit itself was mind-boggling. The place is huge. Has its own gym and cafeteria. Bruce gave a talk about ICA and stakeholder needs. Between all this I met a variety of researchers, all of which explained their research. I now have a massive task of trying to remember the content and go back to look it up when I have more time. Amongst this is: Land use change, snowpacks, perturbed physics, downscaling, ICA, DFID, fires in RCM, albedo from burning, vegetation feedbacks, splines, SOMs hierachies.

Culture at an affordable rate

Trafalgar Square played host to the summer sessions again on Thursday night. Don Carlos is Verdi's longest (I think) opera and is 5 acts. The music and signing was spectacular. The hosts pulled various people out of the audience for makeovers, which was amusing. The weather started off with pouring rain and ended with clear skies.

Residence woes

So I was officially homeless as of this morning. Turns out that the sublet agreement I had with the guy who's room I was staying in invalidated his lease agreement cause I'm not a Kellogg college student. So with one week to go, I am moving daily from b&b to b&b. Very frustrating, especially since its extra expenditure. For now I am in Rewley House (pronounced roar-ley). Its like a hotel. There are even chocolates on the pillow.

There is a rule somewhere that all students in residence have to pay for the entire year, regardless of whether their course involves fieldwork or they have a vac job. The rules state that one can sublet the room, but only to certain parties. Now I have to wonder how many people actually follow the rules because I have heard very bad stories of colleges not helping find people to stay in the rooms.

Learner punter

I have finally been punting in Oxford. I highly recommend it to any person who can get free punts from a college (its mighty expensive otherwise). I had a lesson on the fly teaching me and a few others to navigate the rivers (and trees). Sean learnt to duck out of the way of trees. We stopped for lunch in a field (or meadow...). Punting seems to take a lot longer than originally estimated. Started at noon and got back around 6pm. Very fun experience.