I'll be home soon

It's the last day of July, and in less than 24 hours I'll be taking off from Frankfurt and heading back to Toronto. I'm quite sad to be leaving this beautiful experience behind, but at the same time, quite ready to come back. Being in limbo for the past month here in Crete - living out of suitcases, not being able to cook food at home, and not being able to settle into a place as it's just a hotel room has been quite taxing, thus the desire to come back to a "home" and settle in somewhere. At the same time, these past months have been so different from any kind of life I've experienced before. Having gained so much new knowledge - with robotics, with computer vision, with Germans, with Greeks, with adapting, with being a foreigner with many things; having experienced so many new things, events, flavours, sights and sounds; and sharing it all with someone so dear to me, has been an experience I will cherish forever.

Tallying up the results from the poll, it seems that "Things Learned" came in at number one - and so it shall be. For the next little while I shall write about all the things I've learned in my last 5 months abroad. I hope I don't bore you too much, as I'll be discussing machine learning, mobile robotics, computer vision, ROS, OpenCV, C++ and many, many more nerdy things that I've learned... you asked for it. :-P

explodingdog.com

Auf Wiedersehen

Wow. Last time I blogged here was over two months ago, and yet it feels like just yesterday I was waiting in anticipation for Tina's arrival.

Since then school got progressively busier and busier - assignments got harder and harder - and free time seemed to have disappeared completely. Any opportunity we had for a free evening was spent exploring, going out for dinners or catching up on homework. Every weekend was spent travelling and experiencing Europe to the fullest extent possible. So much so, that I have spent many hours stressing out about not having enough time to do the one thing I came here to do - study; but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to explore and travel and experience Europe, especially with Christina by my side.

So, let me reflect on what has happened since my last post. So many experiences were crammed in the last two months, it's hard to imagine it all really happened. First weekend after Tina's arrival we visited Köln, and checked out an underground anarchist party at Odonien. The next weekend we went to Berlin to check out the history, the fashion and the club scene. The weekend after that we went to München and Schwangau to check out the Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles. The week after that Tina was at a conference in London, so I caught up with her on the weekend and we checked out London's history, architecture, food, fashion and the DnB scene. The last weekend in June we went to a massive three-day rock concert called Rock am Ring at the Nürburgring. And the weekend after that, we squeezed in one more trip to a castle in Colmberg, where we stayed for a night, to get a first-hand experience of living in a German castle.

Meanwhile, school was getting busier and busier. I was trying to squeeze in homework whenever I could - in the mornings, in the evenings... on a plane, or on a train... in the sun, or in the rain... it was always such a pain. On top of everything, once July rolled around, I started another summer school course in Data Mining, which rendered my free time completely nonexistent. Summer school ran every day from 9am to 6pm, which left me completely burnt out and exhausted. My courses in Learning and Adaptivity and Mobile Robots were wrapping up, and exams were just around the corner. Between studying for exams, I was working on a project for the summer school course, which turned out to be quite fun (for anyone curious, I can give more insight, but basically we used some algorithms to determine the reading ease of tweets and charted them across time). Also, at least once a week during July there were summer events happening at the school, which was pretty much the only thing that kept us sane and entertained.

Last week in Bonn was exhausting. I had a presentation for the summer school project on Tuesday, an oral exam on Wednesday (which I've never done before), a written one on Thursday, and we were leaving Friday morning. Between all that I had to take care of running around to wrap up all the paperwork in Bonn - closing accounts, registrations and wrapping up with the dorm. It was all happening so fast, I hardly had a second to sit down and process what was going on. On Thursday we went out with our friends from Bonn as a farewell thing and got pretty drunk, so leaving on Friday morning was a bit difficult.

Once all our stuff was packed up, all my things taken down from the walls, all the furniture rearranged back into it's original configuration, it hit me - I'm leaving Bonn. I haven't really had any time to process what was going on, so when it happened, it hit me really hard - I'm gonna miss it... A LOT! I left the keys in the room, and as I shut the door behind me for the last time, I felt tears in my eyes. I had an amazing time in Germany - an experience like no other - and having to close that chapter of my life so soon after it began was incredibly sad. Although, come to think of it, I would have been sadder if I had stayed longer, because I grew attached. I fell in love with a different world - a different life - a different... everything, and having to say 'good bye' to it all was very difficult. Traveling around as a tourist, you come and go from places, and even though you love them, you're never really attached in any sort of way. But having spent four months there - having made a home and friends, having shared experiences, having learned and experienced so much... it was painful having to disassemble it all, pack it all up, and leave. I'm generally a social person, but it still takes me some time to find people I really gel with, and having found a group of really cool guys and gals, having broken the barrier (for the second time in my life) of being a foreigner, and made friends with some really amazing people, was making it that much harder to leave Bonn. Deep down inside I know I'll be back, as there is still so much to see in Germany - in Berlin, and Bavaria, and many other places that we didn't get to, but having built something for myself in this new, unfamiliar place, and having to pack it all up was a very new experience for me - and a very sad one.

Even the weekend of our leaving Bonn was an exceptionally busy one. On Friday we took a train to Frankfurt and flew into Amsterdam. Arriving in the early evening, we literally just had enough time to walk around downtown for a bit, and enjoy a meal and some dessert. On Saturday we were going to a party I've been looking forward to checking out for ages - Sensation White. Since the party started in the evening, we had a bit of time during the day to once again check out downtown, and even meet up with an old friend from Canada. Seeing a familiar face in a totally unfamiliar land was a refreshing change, and a very welcome one. We had a few drinks together, and afterwards headed off to our respective parties. Sensation was unbelievable, but came to an end much too soon, as at 6am we had to book out of the party, and back to the hotel to grab our things and be at the airport for 7. Then - Amsterdam to Frankfurt, and a few hours later Frankfurt to Heraklion, Creete, where we are now.

And so I'm setting up homebase here for the next month while taking a course in Computer Vision at the Foundation for Research & Technology - Hellas (FORTH). It's a totally different vibe here than in Bonn. Everything is much more relaxed, much more laid back, and obviously, the weather here is non-stop sun. Every day after school we go to the beach for a swim, and to just bum around on the beach. Every evening we indulge in a 3-hour dinner (as I said, everything here is veeery laid back… sometimes to a fault), and during the day, when it's way too hot to be outside, while everyone on the island has a siesta, I do some research and coding in OpenCV. That's the new thing I'm learning here in the realm of Computer Vision. So far, I've learned how to read images, check histograms, and compare them with each other, which allowed me to parse out a picture of us from Sensation into little blocks, compare the histograms of those little blocks to every single picture we took at the party, to find one that matches best, and build a picture out of those smaller images. It's not much, but it's research!!

Click for a better view

x<3x

This morning, is a really special one for me. In fact, I can hardly contain myself from excitement as I watch my countdown app tick down from months, to mere hours. What am I counting down to? I'm counting down to a visit from a very special girl, who will be staying with me here for the remainder of my trip. She has been a big part of my experience here already, and will become an even bigger one when she arrives tomorrow morning, so I feel a blog entry is appropriate to share this joy.

When I first arrived here, It was still quite cold. In fact, even now with temperatures reaching as high as 20ºC, it's still extremely cold at home. They're renovating the building, and stripped off all the insulation from the outside. It's freezing at night, and even during the day sitting at my desk, it can still get quite chilly. The first week I was here, I was saying how cold I am, to which she said she wished to warm me up with a hug, but that it would have to wait a few months. The next week I received a package in the mail from an unknown sender. I was extremely confused coming home with it as the whole way I was trying to figure out what it is and who had sent it. When I got home and began unpacking it, I found a shipping slip from Amazon.de, so I knew it was an online order. When I finally opened it up, I found a fleece blanket inside. I absolutely melted as I knew exactly who had sent it. It has been keeping me warm every night since, and thus has made my experience here that much more pleasant and warmer. Every time I wrap myself in the blanket, I can feel the love and care envelop me, and a big smile spreads across my face.

Last month I received another package in the mail - also from my sweetheart. This time, however, it had her return address on it, so I knew right away whom it was from, and was dying with anticipation to get home to open it. As I slowly cut the top off the envelope and opened it, the smell of her sweet perfume filled my room, and my knees buckled. I removed the delicately wrapped gift and lost myself in the moment for a while. Nobody has ever done anything like this for me. Granted, I've never been away from my friends and family like this, but I know receiving this attention and care while being so far away has been keeping me somewhat sane. There have been quite a number of times when I felt extremely lonely and isolated, so having this warmth and attention from someone so far away brought us that much closer and helped me feel not so far away.

The gift this time was a scarf. But not in the traditional sense of a scarf, but in a really cool, fashionable sense - not so much for practical warmth, more for a sexy look... which I think I pull off quite well.

Alright, cockiness aside, I just think the scarf looks cool. It has a cross section of a black shell on it - so it's decorative like a necklace (and I do like necklaces), it's reversible - black and silver, and my girl likes it. And that makes me happy.

And now, in a few short hours, she will wake up and go to the airport, where a plane will whisk her away to Frankfurt and close the distance of 6300km to a mere 131km. By tomorrow morning 8am she will be on a train to Bonn to close that final distance to zero, when I can finally wrap my arms around her as she steps off that train and give her all my love and she has been giving me hers.

I Love You, Christina. Can't wait to see you. ^_______^

Microblogging 101

Today at school I learned that the guys in the RoboCup lab used to call me "that hipster from Canada" before they learned my name... can you believe it!?

I tried to debunk that status by showing them that my jeans are not tight, I do not wear Converse, and I have giant headphones not to look cool, but because I DJ, and I listen to... "Death Cab For Cutie", exclaimed one of the guys, giving me a sarcastic smile. "C'mon man", I rebutted, pointing to my Jimi Hendrix t-shirt, "I only listen to good music."

I Love the Smell of Europe in the Morning

Ahh...

How does one convey an aroma over a digital medium?

I've been struggling enough as it is conveying the feeling that Europe gives me, but certain sights can be captured with pictures and videos, certain experiences can be retold in words, and certain tastes can be described - granted that the reader has tasted the same thing at some point in their life. But a scent... this, is challenging.

It's not just a single smell that I can ask you to recollect, like the smell of freshly cut grass in the summer, or the smell of campfire at night, that we're all so familiar with. It's a symphony of flavour that fills me with a strange longing. I don't know what it is that I long for when I smell it - perhaps to be part of this European experience for the rest of my life, perhaps to taste the sweetness in this air every day, perhaps to share this with my friends and loved ones, perhaps to hold my sweethearts hand while walking down these cobblestone streets shaded by the bright pink blossoms.

But the picture doesn't quite capture the smell that is in the air. It is this magical scent of a number of different things combined:

It's the smell of fresh grass. It smells green. It smells like spring. It smells fresh - like crisp lettuce or a cold cucumber salad. It makes you want to eat it.

It's the smell of the sun. It smells yellow. It feels warm and comforting. It smells like the beach does when the air is still. It smells like the ground that's been baking in the sun all day. It smells like the earth. It makes you want to face the sun and let it kiss your face.

It's the smell of the sky. It smells blue. It smells fresh - like a cool breeze blowing in from the lake. It smells like the clouds - soft and fluffy. It makes you wish you had long flowing hair and a convertible car so that you could drive around and let the wind play with your hair.

It's the smell of freshly baked bread (Germans love their bread - there's a bakery on every corner). It smells orange. It smells like home. It smells delicious. It smells like the earth and wheat and fire combined. It makes you want to break into a loaf of freshly baked bread to hear the crunch and smell the rising steam.

It's the smell of espresso. It smells dark, rich and delicious. It tastes like chocolate. I don't drink coffee, and yet I still love the smell. It smells invigorating. It makes you want to sit on a terrace and slow time down even if only for five minutes while enjoying a cup.

It's the smell of barbecues, charcoal, and burning wood. It smells red. It smells hot and delicious. It smells like cooked meat and grilled vegetables. It tastes like grilled zucchini, or a roasted red pepper, or black olives (a very Mediterranean flavour). It tastes like a homemade burger made with fresh ingredients (something I'm sure we all haven't experienced in a while) being chased with a cold beer.

It's the smell of blooming flowers. It smells pink. It smells cute and pretty. It tastes like cotton candy, and makes you want to lick it. It reminds you of all those times someone dear to you bought you flowers. Or you buying flowers for someone dear to you and the aroma filling the air. It makes your heart sing with love.

It's the smell of lilacs. It smells purple. It smells fresh and clean - like the smell after rain. It feels soft and delicate. It makes you want to go outside and just breathe this fresh air before the pollution of the city sets in again.

It's the smell of this rainbow combined into one. It smells like... Europe. Anyone who's been here will know what I'm talking about - there's a scent here - a heavenly, delicious aroma that just slows you down. It's near impossible to be stressed out with this smell around. Even if you were rushing somewhere, you'll involuntarily slow down to a pace dictated by this scent. It makes you appreciate the flowers, the sun, the wind, the grass, and everything in between. It tempts you with any open seat on a patio to revel in these moments.

Until the technology for bottling this European scent is possible, I'll leave you with my favourite scent of spring - the smell of lilacs. This calming, soothing fragrance comes closest to capturing the feeling this European air brings me. And given it's lilac season now, next time you pass by a lilac bush (sorry for the cliché) - slow down and smell the flowers.

Now that lilacs are in bloom
She has a bowl of lilacs in her room
And twists one in her fingers while she talks.
"Ah, my friend, you do not know, you do not know
What life is, you who hold it in your hands";
(Slowly twisting the lilac stalks)
"You let it flow from you, you let it flow,
And youth is cruel, and has no remorse
And smiles at situations which it cannot see."
I smile, of course,
And go on drinking tea.
"Yet with these April sunsets, that somehow recall
My buried life, and Paris in the Spring,
I feel immeasurably at peace, and find the world
To be wonderful and youthful, after all."

- T. S. Eliot, Portrait of a Lady

How does it feel?

How does it feel...

To be on your own...

With no direction home...

A complete unknown...

Like a rolling stone...

It was a Netherlands flag actually.

Much better than this morning.

FML

Für meinen Schatz

Mit deinen blauen Augen Siehst du mich lieblich an, Da wird mir so träumend zu Sinne, Daß ich nicht sprechen kann. An deine blauen Augen Gedenk ich allerwärts; - Ein Meer von blauen Gedanken Ergießt sich über mein Herz.	With your blue eyes Do you see me in love, So I like in a dream, Can not speak a word. Of your blue eyes I think from all sides; - A sea of blue thoughts Pours over my heart.
- Heinrich Heine

Right Brain vs. Left Brain

I realized the past two posts have been very much from my left brain - very logical, very pragmatic - robots this and lasers that. This morning, even I couldn't follow half of that stuff.

Time to get in touch with my right brain again and talk about music, art, and language.


I recently discovered a beautiful German song, and would like to share it here with you. This is my attempt at translating, understanding and applying the lyrics.

Cassandra Steen - Darum Leben Wir Wenn es dunkel wird, sagst du zu mir Das darf nie zu Ende sein. Und wenn es hell wird, sag ich zu dir Geh nicht, lass mich nicht allein, Denn wir sind doch eins. Nichts geschieht ein zweites Mal, Das kann nicht sein. Alles ist nur einmal da, Auch wenn es nicht so scheint. Und ich sag zu dem Moment: geh nicht vorbei, Bleib noch, Du bist viel zu schön. Und darum leben wir. Wir leben um da zu sein, Leben um wahr zu sein. Und darum leben wir. Und wir nehmen alles mit, Jeden Schmerz und alles Glück. Der Welt. In jeder Nacht bricht der erste Tag Vom Rest unseres Lebens an. Und jeden Morgen springen wir Direkt auf die Umlaufbahn. Wenn nicht heute, jetzt und hier, Wann und wo denn dann? Keiner kann die Zukunft sehen, Kennt den großen Plan. Und ich sag zu dem Moment: geh nicht vorbei, Bleib noch, Du bist viel zu schön. Und darum leben wir. Wir leben um da zu sein, Leben um wahr zu sein. Und darum leben wir. Und wir nehmen alles mit, Jeden Schmerz und alles Glück. Der Welt. Auch du hast es gesehen genau wie ich? Den Schmetterling im Schnee, Den Tunnel voller Licht. Auch du hast so wie ich, das Tal durchwandert. Und es gab keinen Weg zurück. Und darum leben wir. Wir leben um da zu sein, Leben um wahr zu sein. Und darum leben wir. Und wir nehmen alles mit, Jeden Schmerz und alles Glück. Der Welt.

Cassandra Steen - So We Live When it gets dark, you say to me It is never too late. And when it gets light, I say to you Do not go, do not leave me alone, Because we are one. Nothing happens a second time, That can not be. It's all just once, Even if it doesn't seem so. And I tell the moment: do not pass, Stay still, You are too beautiful. And so we live. We live to be, Live to be true. And so we live. And we accept everything, Every pain and every joy. The World. Every night breaks the first day From the rest of our lives. And every morning we jump Directly into the orbit. If not today, here and now, Then where and when? No one can see the future, Know the grand plan. And I tell the moment: do not pass, Stay still, You are too beautiful. And so we live. We live to be, Live to be true. And so we live. And we accept everything, Every pain and every joy. The World. Well, did you see it exactly as I? The butterfly in the snow, The tunnel filled with light. And you as I, wander through the valley. And there is no way back. And so we live. We live to be, Live to be true. And so we live. And we accept everything, Every pain and every joy. The World.

Back to the books

This week started off on an academic note, yet I wasn't really expecting to begin my studies until the 21st.

My Java class back in Toronto was writing a test, and so, of course, since I'm still enrolled in the course - I had to do the same. My professor at York agreed to email the test to my professor here, and once I finish writing it under supervision, that it would be faxed back for grading. Yay - lucky me. The Java isn't the problem - I just don't want to start studying again, just as I'm starting to get the hang of living. I finally have my kitchen in a functioning state, I'm getting to know the city, and the language - and just as I wish to be out more and start really diving into the German lifestyle - Java comes knocking on my door.

I've been on campus every day this week, hanging out at the RoboCup lab, trying to make friends with the robots (and some of the students as well), as well as really sink my teeth into something fun. Our first task last week was to install ROS (Robot Operating System) on our laptops, which I did with no problems. However, once the installation finished - there was no icon on my desktop - no new program added to the application list - nothing - it's just libraries and modules, and I didn't really know what to run and how to run it. So I asked one of the guys at the lab to show me if there's something I could poke around with.

I was sitting next to Johnny - the old robot in the lab - so when the guy came over to show me the ROS, he thought it would be a great idea to show me something practical - something hands on - something real. He grabbed the laser scanner that used to be Johnny's head (apparently this thing costs about 5k) and plugged it into my laptop USB. Punched in a few commands in the terminal and ...

... Fascinating.
A few more commands, and suddenly - an environment comes up on my screen showing me a 3D map of what the laser scanner is picking up. It's just dots to me now, but with some calibration and in-depth understanding, perhaps I could make some sense of all this. After he left me to play with it, I recorded a short video of me performing the same task - just to make sure that I could do it on my own:

... not bad for a robotics n00b.

After playing around aimlessly for a bit I came back to the guy and asked if there's something I could do a bit more practical. Sure I can go through the ROS manual page by page and start learning every little bit about every little module and every little application, and luckily enough, I'm sitting next to some pretty expensive hardware, so I could even play around with some of it - but I find learning more stimulating and engaging when I can actually make something worth while. I told the guy I want to contribute something to the team. When he asked me what is my research topic, I timidly explained to him that I'm not a Masters student, and that I'm only here for the summer term. That I used to be a web programmer (which in comparison to these guys, is probably at the bottom of the food chain), but that I'm eager and excited to learn something, and rather than me learning for the sake of learning - I'd like to learn and do research and by the end of the summer term leave them with at least some code that they could use for their project.

He nodded in acknowledgement and told me that we'd have to ask the team leaders, who just at that very moment were walking into the lab. He called them over, and in German quickly explained to them my situation. The team leaders' eyes lit up. "Really?!", they asked me. "You vant to help uz?!", one of them asked, rubbing his palms together. "Zupper!", he exclaimed, and the three of them rushed off to check their to-do lists. "Well, what are you interested in?", one of them asked. "Robots!", I replied with a smile. They laughed and continued flipping through their notebooks. After a minute or so, they came back with a great task for me. It's something none of them know how to do, and it's something that would be useful for the entire team and the entire project, yet doesn't require me to have too much background with robotics or the ROS.

There is a simulator that can be used to test the code and the robot without actually having physical access to it. It's called Gazebo, and it basically creates a 3D environment - kind of like in a video game. You can then test your robot in this environment before running the code on the real hardware. Just in case your code tells the robot to "kill" - you'll know it in the simulation before having to deal with a killer robot on the loose. Thus far, the team has been using a model of someone else's kitchen to run their tests, but would love to have an environment which represents their lab. They asked me if I would be interested in creating a model of this lab, which they would then be able to use to test their code. They could see if the robot can properly navigate from the lounge, to the kitchen, to the work area, etc., without having to run the robot and risk having it knocking over tables and chairs.

And so - my task is decided. I'm currently doing lots of reading and lots of research trying to figure out how to model this environment in Gazebo, and hopefully contribute something useful to the RoboCup team! ^___^

O... M... Robots!

www.explodingdog.com

Yesterday I went to the University and met with a team of international students who all feel this way about robots. The team is working on something called a RoboCup - a competition between different Universities across the world to stimulate research in robotics.

Generally RoboCup is a football (soccer) competition, where the teams submit a number of robots who can play football against each other. And I'm not talking about remote-controlled robots either - I'm talking about fully autonomous machines that can play a game. They have to be able to move around, avoid obstacles, recognize the ball and the net, and attempt to score a goal on the other team. The following video is the finals from RoboCup2010. It looks a little boring at first, but trust me - watch it, and you'll get into it. You start rooting for the robots to score - doesn't even matter what team, it's just exciting to see a machine trying so hard to perform a task that we take for granted - like kicking a ball.

They look so silly and clumsy at first, but you have to keep in mind that these are fully autonomous humanoid bots. The competition started in '97, and they had several really great battles of bots that just look like boxes on wheels. They're fast and agile and can shoot the ball to different corners of the net, but they don't look like humans. The humanoid ones have only started appearing within the past few years, so all things considered - this is progress!

The goal of the RoboCup is to have a team of humanoid bots win a football match against a team of human players by 2050. The first such challenge was solved in '97 when Deep Blue won a game of chess against Kasparov - the world's best chess player. So... with only 14 years since the competition started and with 39 years to go, I think it's definitely possible. And to be honest, I'm kind of excited to see a team of fully autonomous humanoids beat the crap out of Spain. :-P
(no offence, Spain, but while I'm on German soil - DFB FTW!!)

RoboCup has many different competitions, and as much fun as it is building robots for games - the more practical competition is with service robots, which is what the team is working on this year. The idea is to have a robot perform a service task within a given time. Something as simple as "bring me a cup of tea", is actually an extremely complex task for a robot to complete. We don't even think about these daily routines when we perform them, but for a robot, millions of lines of code have to be written to go from room A to room B, locate the kettle, locate the water, pick up the kettle, get the water into the kettle, etc, etc, etc... And if I can have any part in contributing to a robot that will one day fetch me tea, I'll spend the rest of my waking hours writing that code.

Caution Level !

Before the meeting I went to the robot lab where my professor had introduced me to the team and the robots the day before. As I entered the lab, a monotone female voice inquired, "Where would you like me to go?", and after a short pause confirmed, "Moving to Room A". I looked to the side and saw the robot slowly roll towards a designated location. I felt a bit out of place - everyone is sitting behind their laptops, lines of debugging code streaming across their screens, different simulations running, and boards filled with formulae I don't understand covered the walls. I quietly sat down on the side and started looking around - trying to take in what was going on. After a while a girl came up to me and offered me some tea. I said I would love some, and followed her to the kitchen area. "So, you're really into robots?", she asked. "Oh yeah!", I replied, smiling ear to ear. "I noticed that yesterday when you first came into the lab.", she said, "You looked so happy." And I was. I was beaming with excitement just being in the same room with a real robot. The possibility that I could contribute to the code would send shivers down my spine. And the idea that I could potentially learn how to do this on my own and start building my own bots in my spare time just about made my head explode. I asked if it would be okay for me to take a couple of pictures of the robot to share with my friends back home, so... here it is... The Roobooooot:

The meeting we had was to discuss something called the ROS (Robot Operating System). This is a collection of libraries that interface from code - to hardware. Basically any robot that is in commercial use today uses this operating system to run and perform its tasks. We were briefed on what the OS is and what it does, and our first task was to go home and install it on our laptops (check). Next meeting is on Monday and we're going to start with basic tasks and coding some algorithms to solve these tasks. If anyone has any ideas and recommendations for what kind of tasks I could work on - I'll definitely try to incorporate them into my project. This is not for a class, and not for credit - this is just a group of people who are all passionate about robotics and wish to contribute to the research.

Apparently the ROS can be installed on a lot of different hardware, and I plan on saving up some money and buying components to build a robot of my own. Something small, perhaps a toy car with a mop that would clean my floors... or an arm that would open my curtains in the morning... who knows... the possibilities are endless... ^__^

Melophelia

Please click 'play' on the video, and then continue reading...

So... the past few days have been a little cold, a little grey, and a little dreary, which has been slowly bringing me down off of my high and into a slight state of melancholy. I've just been feeling a little flat - like a tire that just needs a bit of air.

Usually, when I start to feel this way I pick up my guitar and play Bach's 'Air on a String'. The lightness of the melody fills my soul with a fresh breath of much needed air, and I carry on. Or I call my friends and someone will go out with me, and we'll sit and talk and at the end of the night they will put their arms around me and warm me with their love.

Being here, I have no guitar... and I don't really have a friend who could give me a long, warm hug. I write in my blog and post pictures on Facebook just to feel connected to you guys, but the physical sensation that live music brings with the resonance of the strings, or the warmth of the human touch is lacking from my laptop.

Today I went to the Mensa (cafeteria) to have lunch. I sat by myself and looked out the window as I enjoyed a warm meal (this is a rare treat for me as I still don't have my kitchen fully set up). On my way out I heard a faint voice of a piano resonating through the walls. I knew right away it was a real piano as I could feel the vibration in my body, however faint.

I stopped.

It was coming from above. I slowly walked up the stairs and felt the music getting louder. I knew I was on the right track and my heart fluttered with excitement. I haven't heard a real piano in months, and the melody that was coming through the walls sent shivers through my whole body. On the top floor, there were two doors, and one was labeled "Musikzimmer"... I knew I found my haven.

I gently cracked open there door, and a wave of music washed over me. A student sitting behind the piano stopped playing and looked at me with surprise. I apologized for interrupting and told him that I heard beautiful music coming from the room, and I just had to experience it. I asked him if it was okay for me to be there and to just stand quietly and listen. He seemed taken aback by my desire to listen to him practice, and was very bashful about his performance. I told him I love music and just want to be in the room with the vibration - just for a little bit. He said it was no problem and continued playing.

I recorded a small segment of his performance, which you are hearing right now.

As I looked out the window at the grey clouds, his melody brought me to tears, and I was overjoyed to have been at the right place at the right time.

On my way out I thanked him profusely for letting me stay for a bit and told him his music moved me beyond words. I told him that I had just come from Canada last week and have been feeling a bit down the past few days, but that his music lifted my soul and brought me right back home. He appreciated my compliments and said that the only music he knows from Canada is Celine Dion and Bryan Adams. I laughed and explained that his music didn't take me back home to Canada, but rather brought my soul to a place of peace and comfort. The warm vibrations of the strings wrapped around me like the arms of all my friends and family, and I was consoled by the melody his soul was singing.

He was extremely humbled by my words and thanked me for the compliments. He told me that the piano room is available for anyone to practice, so I now know where I'll be going when I feel down.

Coming back home to my cold room I lit a candle that was given to me by a good friend before I left. I had been saving it for a time when I really needed its warmth to comfort me. The sweet scent of mulled wine fills my room and the warmth of its glow fills my heart with love, and again - I'm home. ^__^

Why did I come here again?

I have been on such a high being in a different place, experiencing new culture, new food, new language, that I have completely forgot the purpose of my trip. Yesterday, however, brought me back down to earth, as I had to meet with my professor at BRSU (Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University) who coordinates with my professor at YorkU, to help me pick out the courses I'll be taking here.

Our main concern was courses in English (as my Deutsch is still nicht sehr gut), and of course, courses for which I would get credits back at York. I have to be enrolled in 5 courses for the semester, and so far the courses we've selected are giving me goosebumps from excitement. Nothing is finalized yet, but I am so super-excited I just have to share this with you:

1. Operating Systems
2. Computer Vision
3. Autonomous Mobile Robots
4. Machine Learning and Adapting
5. Introductory German

I am so stoked, you guys have no idea. I'm giddy from excitement. Robots, you guys... ROBOTS!!! I'm gonna be working with robots!!! How they see; how they move; how they learn and adapt to their environments... EEEEeeeeeeeeeeee!! ^_____^

When I came home, I remembered that I'm still enrolled in one course at YorkU and had made an arrangement with the professor to continue the course from here. Since it's a Java programming course, and the professor actually knows some people at BRSU, he figured the programming assignments I could submit online, and any written tests could be proctored by someone here. So I checked the course website, and what do you know - I completely forgot that in Toronto, my class is just settling in at the lab to write a programming test. I emailed the professor with an update on my status and asked him how he was planning for me to write the assignment. He told me that it was no problem if I simply log into the system at York and do the assignment. Since it was all very last minute (and 11pm local time), there was no way he could get someone to monitor me, so I was on the honour system to not use the internet for help during the test. Honestly, though, it's Java, and you either know it - or you don't. Being a programmer for the last 10 years, it was no big deal, but having to switch gears so fast from being a tourist, to now sitting in front of my laptop writing Java code and sending it half-way around the world to be graded, was a bit of a buzzkill. Luckily I had ran out of cash earlier that day, so my usual routine of coming home and having a couple of beers was interrupted - good thing too - drinking and coding is a mess.

And now, I'm off to school again, for a very exciting meeting which I'll have to tell you all about when I come back.

Snail Mail

... it's oldschool, but it rocks.

So, the day I left Toronto, I went to the post office, and sent myself a postcard to my address here in Germany. Today when I came home, I opened up my mailbox, and... voilà... seven days later, here is my postcard:

So, now that I know my address works, and where to get my mail, please send me stuff.

Mikhail Vinogradov
Zim. 376
Am Jesuitenhof 3
53117 Bonn, Germany

I have a wall in my dorm, just above my bed, dedicated for postcards, photos, and other memorabilia that I hope you guys will send me to keep me warm with memories of you.

I particularly request pictures. I know facebook is full of pictures of us, and sure I can go and print them off, but... if you pick a picture of you or of us together that you really like, and print it off and send it to me - it will really warm the cockles of my heart... perhaps even below the cockles... in the sub-cockle area... ;-)

Schön Sonntag

The Fifth Season

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Carnival.

I am fortunate enough to witness a very interesting time here in Germany. It's called Carnival and basically it is a celebration of the beginning of spring. It starts off on Thursday before Rose Monday (Rosenmontag) with a big parade, and finishes on Rosenmontag with another huge celebration. It's a very popular festival in Germany and so it's a public holiday on Monday.

Having arrived on Wednesday, I get to see and enjoy all of it. Luckily I was warned what is about to happen, otherwise I would have thought something very strange is going on. Thursday morning when I left my house, as I walked down the street around 9am I saw people dressed in costumes, walking around with beers - drinking, being merry and celebrating.

Keep in mind, it's perfectly okay to drink beer on the streets in Europe... also keep in mind... these pictures were taken around 9-10am... the Germans start early, so as to ensure proper debauchery by the time the sun goes down.

The festival sort of reminded me of Halloween - everyone gets dressed up and goes out to have a jolly good time. However, what was really different about Carnival for me is that almost everyone participated. From the young to the old, from vendors to buskers, even the government employees. And the costumes are so varied. Unlike for Halloween, where the costumes have a general dark and eery (or more recently, a slutty) theme, the costumes here were bright and happy full of colour and delight. Many people would also wear matching costumes and walk around in large groups. It is quite an uplifting sight to see a group of grannies enter the train with hot pink wigs and sparkles all over their faces.

Thursday was a day of errands for me - I had to register as a Bonn citizen at City Hall, and when I entered the building, I almost burst out laughing. Behind one of the desks, serving a customer, was an older woman, in fantastic clown makeup. She looked somewhat serious in her discussion with the customer, yet with a giant smile painted on her face.

I then had to take a tram to the Uni to register as a student and receive my student card. By this time, it was already closer to noon, and tonnes of people were out on the streets, drinking, dancing, laughing and singing.

After the visit to the Uni, my buddy - Bashi - took me to Köln, where the Carnival celebration is one of the biggest ones in Germany. The main celebration is on Rosenmontag, but he said that it would be near impossible to go anywhere or see anything - it would be absolutely packed, and so we decided to check it out on Thursday.

When we arrived in Köln (which is only half an hour away from Bonn by train (which is free for us as students)) it was bustling with people, music, drinking and a really happy party vibe. We walked around the pedestrian area and took in the sights, sounds, and smells. There were street vendors selling beer and sausages; there were buskers playing music; and a sea of people in brightly-coloured costumes.

To be honest, it was a little messy. There was lots of teenagers out, getting sloppy drunk, throwing empty bottles wherever they finished the beer, making a mess with broken glass and garbage. Police and ambulance sirens were going off every half hour, and on our way back to Bonn the train station was overcrowded with people due to delays with the trains - I can only assume someone got drunk and fell on the tracks. We had to take a different train to go around through a smaller town just so we didn't have to wait for the main track to be open. And even then when we were taking the tram from the smaller town into Bonn, there was a delay because some drunks were causing a scene on the tram in front of us.

I guess it's nothing new - I've experienced things like this on a smaller scale in Toronto during Pride, Taste of the Danforth, Nuit Blanche, Blackout 2004, Snowpocalypse 2011, and Canada winning Gold in Men's Hockey during the Olympics of 2010... but having something like this on a city-wide and region-wide scale is quite incredible. The entire nation joining together in joyous celebration - drinking, dancing, singing, and of course... making a mess of the place.

And so it begins...

Lao Tzu said that "the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." For me, that step was the moment I crossed the security check in Toronto, turned around to see my mom blowing me kisses, waved back, and realized - from this moment on - I'm on my own.

As I walked to the gate, a new feeling started to come over me. I have never travelled by myself, and never on such a mission as now. Whenever I travelled before, it was always with someone, and always for a vacation. It's quite a different feeling going away somewhere with the knowledge that soon enough you'll be back. You've packed your clothes, your toothbrush, and your travel journal. If you forgot anything - it's no big deal - you're only gone for a few weeks. Walking down to that gate, I knew I won't be back that soon. I've packed my life for the next half a year into a tiny suitcase, forgetting something of course, and I was no longer traveling as a tourist - I was moving to a new place to live there - to learn the language, the culture, and most importantly - how to be a global citizen. Going away and coming back is easy; going away to find a new place to call home is a whole different vibe.

I remember when I first moved to Canada from Russia, I was 12 at the time, and had already established a sense of home back in St. Petersburg. For the first few years in Canada, I still considered myself an outsider (with the help of my peers of course), and always thought of Russia as my home. Slowly I learned the customs, the language, the slang, the culture, and began to blend in. I opened up, I made friends, I found love, and I began to feel comfortable. Yet still, the established sense of home back in Russia was somehow carved into my mind. I remember one day wishing I could go back, and a strange feeling came over me. I realized that day that if I were to go back - I would now be an outsider in Russia too. I would speak with an accent, I would shrug at unfamiliar slang, and I would have no friends. It was a sad day for me, as I realized I had no home anywhere. But it takes great despair to learn great wisdom, and that day I learned a very valuable lesson. It is not where you are born, or what language you speak, or what customs you know, or where your friends are that marks your home - no. As an old proverb says "home is where you hang your hat." And for that reason I packed a hat with me, just so I could hang it when I got to my dorm.

And so, here I am - in my new home. And the warmth of the spring sun on my face reminds me that this is only the beginning - the first steps on my journey. Yet I've already met and chatted with several people in my building (auf Deutsch), I've already explored Bonn on my own (and didn't get lost (and didn't use a map or gps)), I've already went shopping and bought a few things without needing to communicate in English. This morning I even had lunch on a terrace and was able to get by with my limited knowledge of German.

Coming home to my dorm, a comfortable feeling brings a smile to my face. I don't need familiarity, or safety, or the knowledge of the language or the culture to call this place home - I'm making this my home. I've set up my computer; I've put some books on the shelves; I bought some fruit, yogurt, bread and beer at the grocery store just to have something in the fridge; I'm exploring, I'm meeting people, I'm living my life.

Of course I miss my friends, but not because I'm lonely, but because I wish all of you were here to experience this too. It's a refreshing change to have to adapt to a new environment, and I think sometimes we forget that no matter where we are, we are always adapting and learning. No matter where your home is, you're always growing - and so does your home.

I feel like I'm living my life no differently than in Canada - I leave my house and walk somewhere. I buy lunch and sit on a patio enjoying the sun. I smile at the dog chewing on a plastic beer bottle, or the kid playing with the soccer ball, or the city workers taking a smoke break on the patio. I take a walk through a busy commercial neighbourhood and look at the storefronts. I smell freshly baked bread (as there's a bakery on every corner here) and buy a Rosinenbrot for 50c. I walk home taking a new path every time, yet never getting lost - I'm already familiar with the landmarks and directions, yet I've only been here a few days. I feel at home already, even though I know very little about this place.

No matter where you are, there's always something new to explore - a street you've never walked down, a shop you never bothered visiting, a drink or a treat you never tried from the local grocery store - don't forget that. Because as much as I feel at home here already, I also feel like I'm constantly exploring and learning new things, and I've done this in Canada too. Every day holds a new adventure if you allow for it. I know I'm guilty of not always doing this myself, because it's easy to get carried away in the errands we have to run, or the work we have to do. The past two days have been nothing but errands for me, and today has just been a day where I could sleep in, and go out and explore and just live. And it made me realize how important it is to take the time to live your life. Otherwise it will pass you by like a carnival full of costumed, drunk Germans, while you're on a train to University......... think about it.

It's sinking in

I had the most amazing weekend!!

On Friday my friends came out to party with me, see me off, and wish me a safe and enriching trip - and so it will be. On Saturday I had the weekly jam with my band - and as always the music surrounded me with warmth and joy. On Sunday I had a wonderful family dinner - it made me remember how much my family has grown, and how amazing it is.

It was really great to see everyone, and I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for making this weekend a memorable one. It is quite a change of atmosphere being surrounded by friends and family for three days, just to come back to an empty apartment with an unpacked suitcase, and 42 hours 'till takeoff.

I will miss my music. The jams have been an integral part of my life for many weeks and I'm not sure how I will cope without them. I feel like my favourite vinyl had just been broken, and suddenly the silence in my apartment seems louder than anything we've played here.

I had a dream last night that I was in a foreign place, but my friends were there with me. We were about to leave and head back home when I got stopped by the police. Under the laws of this place, apparently I had done something very wrong, for which I was to be detained for six months. When I heard this, I freaked out and took off. I started running without knowing where to run or what to do - I just wanted to get away. I was in a crowded mall running for my life, pushing by people, trying to use whatever parkour I had learned from watching YouTube videos to evade and lose the cops. I figured if I could lose them in the mall and meet up with my crew, we could all go back home, but as I ran up another flight of stairs, the cops were waiting right at the top, not even fretting about catching me. One of them yelled out mockingly, "Keep running!..", as though there was no way I could ever lose them. I took a sharp turn, weaved by some people, and bolted down an escalator. As the escalator descended, I saw myself waiting at the bottom. The fact that there was a second me didn't surprise me at all, however, my behaviour at that moment did. As I cleared the escalator and continued running, the me that was waiting at the bottom ran towards me, and without saying a word tackled me. As we both fell to the ground I realized there was no way I could get away from the cops - I had me. As I lay on the ground I turned to myself and began to cry, "Why? You're my only friend...", I implored. But there was no response. I began to bawl, and as I opened my mouth to cry out, a sad chord change echoed through the now silent mall. I wish I knew music well enough to be able to transcribe it... alas, my cry will stay silent for now.

Let the dream be open for interpretation, but I know deep down inside I am anxious about going, and I'm the only one who can tackle my anxiety down and make myself commit to my stay in that foreign, far-away land. As John Steinbeck said, "We find, after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.", and this thought has been resounding in my mind for the past several weeks. I feel like there's so much to prepare, so many things to think of, lists to make, and like I'm constantly forgetting something... Yet at the same time I know I can't prepare for everything. I don't even know what I'm in for, how can I possibly predict and prepare some sort of a gameplan?

I've been taking it step-by-step, and letting the trip take me as it will. With 42 hours to go and an unpacked suitcase, all I really want to do is have a cup of tea and write a blog post to all my wonderful friends - thanking them for making this last weekend in this cold city, so very warm. I am so lucky to have all of you as friends, and if you're wondering if there's a slight chance this refers to you - it most certainly does.