Welcome to University of East London

Today was a day. Yeah, a day. Not a month. Or a year. Well, today was a day. it was quite early when i fall out of bed. Around 7 or so. but anyhow. i went to london where the british sociological association (known as BSA; für die deutschen unter den lesern, bi es ä hat nix mit be es ä zu tun, das sind zwei völlig verschiedene dinge) held its annual conference. the university of east london hosts it this year (and hopefully not next year). just to say it beforehand. it is interesting but the venue isnt really nice. there is nothing around, it really is in the middle of nowhere. maybe they should have used the other campus of the university which is near stratford station. then, there might have been a chance to get a newspaper. and real coffee. but i dont complain.

so i arrived in at the conference at 11 and heard some very interesting presentations. corridors of power or power of corridors. she is interested in the actual appearance of corridors (ja, es steht ein pferd auf dem flur) and their conditioning of social situations. normally, corridors are examined as places where decisions are taking place. but she wants to see how people behave in corridors and what else can be done there. was really interesting and hopefully she does a bit more research on it. the there was a presenter who talked about census data. he looked a bit liked as if he has done a lot of national censuses. he tries to find out how identification with a certain ethnic background changes over time. at the end there was this kind of conclusion that it might be more likely that people identify themselves and their ethnic background in dependence of the answers from the questionnaire instead of having an own sense of their identity. so basically like getting served instead of cooking something own. hm. thats the way the world goes. just receiving not offering. just taking not giving. its kind of sad. a bit more giving and everything would be nice. maybe its too idealistic but what shall i do. i like to give. i also like to take. but i like most to give AND take. it doesnt meant that ive to share everything or so. it just means that it is nice to give something someone without expecting something back at the same time. just doing it. like going to cambridge the other day. just giving a lift.

but back to the conference. its beneficial to get such an overview about what is going on in such a short time. for three days i will hear really new things. not the usual stuff. like that things with the corridors. a sociology of corridors... if this really happens i will stop being one. then it went too far. it would be just a little step to have a sociology of farting, eh? nothing offensive. but sociology shouldnt dissect itself into small little pieces of which their creators think they are the only ones and literally 'sit' on them like hens on their eggs and defend them until death they part. hm. just a thought. i dont know. next to the uni is the city airport so that every other minute there was that noise from starting air planes. not predominately helpful if i try to listen to someone.

i got back just shortly after seven and had a short break. but only a short one. time is work. so i did my presentation for this conference which i will give on saturday (hah, not tomorrow on Friday the 13th... by the way, what does this word mean: paraskavedekatriaphobia? the solution will be at the end). it will be a nice day i think. although its future and i never know what will happen the next second.

nunja, ansonsten gehts immer noch gut. es wird gearbeitet und gearbeitet. es geht vorwärts. draußen lacht die sonne und alle sind glücklich. selbst karl heinz. ach, und am samstag spricht auch noch anthony giddens auf der konferenz. endlich mal wieder einen alten, berühmten und, vor allem, noch lebenden soziologen sehen. wird großartig sein. ich habe heute auch mal über mögliche zusammenarbeiten von stadt und uni nachgedacht. da könnte man glatt eine menge geld sparen. aber das nicht mehr heute. macht keinen spaß. ich habe echt keine energie mehr und muss mal ins bett. mal schlafen. morgen wird auch wieder anstrengend, obwohl ich nicht zur konferenz fahre. aber was soll ich machen. ist nun mal so. bis denn

well, thats it for today which was a day. just to say it, there is nothing negative in the german things ive written so far. its just a bit easier to read for germans (obviously...). so. the solution for that word is fear of friday the 13th. now im happy.... and can have some sleep.

p.s. now as i know what paraskavedekatriaphobia is i really feel better and my life seems to be fulfilled...