The Book Club

My friend Paige invited me repeatedly to her book club meetings. Yesterday, I went finally. There was a reason why I didn't go before. Aren't book clubs for old people who meet, discus a book, and eat Gouda?  Back when I went to school, I hated book discussions. Teachers didn't like my genius book critics ("It's good!").  Since, I became old, I thought I can as well go to a book club.  To prepare for the club I read William Sears book "God Loves Laughter"  ("It's good!"). As it turned out, I wasn't well prepared. I should have watched animated TV shows instead of reading the book, because the discussion of the shows took longer than the book discussion. Now, I know why Paige always says: you don't need to read the book to come to the book club. The book for the next meeting is "Naked". I forgot the name of the author but it doesn't matter. I will google "Naked". The results should keep me busy the next 3 to 4 weeks. 

PS: I was the oldest that night.
PPS: No-one brought Gouda!

Babel: The Dream

I want to share my dreams with you today. Well actually, I want to share the language of my dreams. I have troubles to remember in which language my dreams were - or to be more accurate in which I and other people spoke in my dreams. I can remember what was said, but in which language it was said I can't remember. The only way I can help myself is by concluding indirectly through clues.
For example, some months after I moved to the US, I had a dream in which I was talking to a man. I know that the man can't speak German. When I woke up, I could remember what I said but not if it was in English or German. Since, that man can't speak German in real life, it would be consistent that I spoke English with him in my dream. But that was not the case. I was talking very respectful with him in my dream. For such cases, in German the word "Sie" is used for the English word "you". It is a more respectful "you" compared to "Du". "Du" is used if you talk with friends. "Sie" shows also more distance than "Du" and is therefore used if you talk to strangers. In Farsi there are also two forms for "you": شما and تو. In English there is only one word and hence I was not talking English in my dream.
Today, I had a dream in which I was teaching a children class. Here, again I remember what I said but not in which language. I remember that I had to struggle for finding the right words. If I would speak German, I wouldn't have problems to say the things I said in my dream. And from that I conclude that I was dreaming in English.
Are my conclusions correct? Do we dream really in one language or do we dream only the content without the "wrapping" language? If the second case is true, my dream was that I have talked in a respectful way with that man and I made the false conclusion that I was respectful because I used "Sie". And when I had problems to find the right words in my dream, I was reliving the everyday experience I am confronted with since I am in the US. So dreams would be a communication without any words.
What do you think? Do we dream in a language? If yes, what is your dream language?

License to Go

It’s a while since my last post. Unfortunately, there was nothing exciting going on. Once you settled, everything becomes same ol’ and even new things turn out to be boring. Root beer floats turned out not to be as amazing as people here told. I should show Americans how Germans mix things up and give them some Spezi (Cola + Orange Soda) to try.
To fill a gap in my blog I’m going to tell an old story. It’s from the time I got my driver license. I was driving for the first time with my license, my dad and mom where passengers. I reached a traffic light which just turned red, and while we were waiting my dad told a story. My dad heard that story from a cab driver, for simplicity let’s call the cab driver Jan. My father told: “One day, Jan was waiting in his cab for costumers when he saw a shady man passing his cab and going to the first taxi in the line. The shady man and the driver from the first cab started to discus. The discussion became more and more heated. Soon, it didn’t looked like a simple discussion but a dispute. Jan thought that he had to do something or else that will end bad. He went to the two and said to the shady man:. Go - go”. I was wondering if the shady man will go or if he will pull out a big knife. My dad said: “Go, ... Soroosh go”. At that moment I realized that the traffic light turned green and the “Go - go” was not part of the story but my dad’s desperate attempts to make me drive. The traffic light had a perfect timing to make a fool of me.

PS: I don’t remember how the story with the shady man ended but he didn’t pull a knife.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying about Them Loving the Bomb

I have to think about the New Mexican people being proud on the nuclear bomb test in their neighborhood. In Germany, people wouldn't be proud if next to them nuclear weapons had been tested. They would be worried about all the radiations they would have. I read that on July 16, 1945 the first nuclear bomb was detonated in the "Trinity Site" and that was the beginning of the nuclear age in the United States. People here are proud of being at a place which marks the beginning of a new age instead being worried about radiation.
The beginning of the nuclear age in Germany was December 17, 1938 when Otto Hahn proofed nuclear fission in a experiment. It's interesting that to enter the nuclear age an experiment which fits on a table is enough in Germany while in the US a nuclear bomb, named "Fat Man", has to be detonated. Maybe, the reason for that is that the United States is bigger and has more population than Germany. I guess, after Otto Hahn performed the nuclear fission experiment, he told his college by speaking with him through the window: "Fritz, I have split nuclei. We are now in the nuclear age." Fritz answered with a simple: "Cool". Later that day, Fritz told everyone he knew the good news and so Germany knew in which age it was.
Here in the US, you can't let everyone know by speaking through your window. Here, you need something bigger, something much louder and something glaring like the sun - you need "Fat Man"

New Mexican

On tour again. This time a road trip to New Mexico. I drove with my housemate and two others. All with a PhD or at least in a PhD program and the four of us with a combined IQ of: don't know, don't care.
Our first stop was Santa Fe. There are a lot of historic buildings with the same look as in wild west movies. More interesting for me than Santa Fe is Los Alamos with the laboratories and supercomputers. Los Alamos is known by a lot of people because of the Manhattan project, the development of the nuclear bomb. Unfortunately, we did not have time to go to Los Alamos. Most probably, we wouldn't be able to see anything anyway. I don't think, they give a guided tour for someone with Iranian background.
Instead Los Alamos we hit the road to Carlsbad in south New Mexico. It was already dark and there was no light to shine our way - except the lights from the UFO over Roswell.
In Carlsbad we went to the "Caverns National Park". Last summer, I read Jules Verne's "Journey to the Midpoint of the Earth". I wondered if the caves would remind me that journey. The entrance to the cave is in front of an amphitheater and is not at all like the entrance on "Sneffels Jöckull" in the book. Even after going 700 feet down into the earth, it did not felt like in the book. Mostly, because the cave was full of people. Nevertheless, the huge cave is impressive.
Later that day, we went to "White Sands National Monument". Close to this monument is the "Trinity test area", the place where the first nuclear bomb was tested. People from that area are proud to have it in the neighborhood.
I wrote again too much. Therefore, I am going to shorten my report on the way back. Here, what we saw: Route 66, Las Vegas and snow storm.
Usually, I do not bring back souvenirs. This time I got a lot. Besides all the memories I got a lot of white sand on my shoes from the monument and after we passed out for more than 10 minutes in Roswell I got a mysterious implant in the back of my head. The implant feels weird again - I better stop now.

PS: Apparently, I need to made this post appropriate for general audiences (rated G; Altersfreigabe: ab 0) because of new German laws: After the aliens "invited" us on their space ship, we played hide and seek. It was fun.