Twelve hours from now I should be sitting in an airplane en route to Doha, Qatar bringing my time in Berlin to a close. I’m headed to China for RoboCup 2008.
I was hoping to write something about all of the good times and great friends I’ve had here, but everything’s just a bit too unclear at this time.
I’ll be seeing some other great friends within 48 hours, so I guess everything’s okay.
I received my Chinese Visa yesterday. I was somewhat nervous about getting it after hearing rumors about the Chinese trying to stop visits prior to the olympics. Luckily I’m all set for RoboCup now. I’ve even learned the local cheering habits.
Beijing Olympic chiefs are introducing an official cheer for patriotic spectators to spur on Team China at the Games, Chinese media reports.
The authoritative, four-part Olympic cheer, accompanied by detailed instructions, will be promoted on TV, in schools and with a poster campaign.
It involves clapping twice, giving the thumbs-up, clapping twice more and then punching the air with both arms.
The cheer is accompanied by chants of “Olympics”, “Let’s go” and “China”.
The Beijing Olympic Organising Committee has hired 30 cheering squads who will show spectators how it is done at Games stadia, reports Xinhua state media.
[BBC]
I’ve been back in Berlin for half a week now and am using my academic break to program robots and tools to help program robots. I will post a big entry on my Egypt trip at some point, as well as the few photos I took (lots of animals at the zoo, though!).
Another thought, why can’t I link to people’s facebook profiles inside of my profile details? For example, I write a quote from my friend Bob, I would like for people to be able to click on the quote and be brought to Bob’s page. I don’t think this warrants a new app, but it would be a nice feature for the massive social network to help connect users through other forms of information.
For anyone wondering, I am still alive in Egypt. I am currently in Aswan and will be back in Berlin early on the morning of the 12th. I am not sure how I am going to be getting home from the airport. The much needed metro strike has finally come.
Classes have been over for a week now. I’ve spent this week attempting to finish my last two term papers and dealing with some boring administrative things I had been putting off. The past few weeks may have also seen the worst case of procrastination I have ever experienced: I’m writing up my last paper in hopes of finishing it before 18.00 tonight, at which time I must don my sneakers and take the airport express. Sometime after midnight I plan on being in Cairo. That’s in Egypt.
