Sheep migration, Bamberg missing photo and more...

Studies have picked up pace and I also have more friends now. It gets difficult to find spare time. In the midst of the time crunch, is the Stomach! It demands food all the time.

When it comes to food I was a pampered son, student, employee and husband. I never had to worry about food from my childhood through the education and then in my work places and finally at home. Food was always available cooked on my plate. Now, I think about the next meal before I finish the current.

Honestly, it is not very bad. I feel responsible and the need to eat, shop and cook sets my timetable. I feel I am getting more disciplined in time management. So, I like it (as if I have an option there😉)

All this rant is because my food is sorted tonight. My flatmate has cooked which I eat. There might be “No free lunch” but there sure is free dinner tonight!

The Spidy Flatmate

Since the free food comes from my flatmate, I should write about her first. Some people are too well connected. One such is my flatmate. She spins her web of network way too well.

In just one week I have met three people from different countries. I feel I am making new friends all by myself but seems we always have the common connect, my flatmate. It just makes so much easier to make friends when the person is already a friend of your flatmate!

So, she was in a college club called BEST which among other things actively helps network with people. These clubs are quite fun. You make friends from all over the world. That’s how people from neighboring countries – those who have just started studying masters with us, already know her.

This is the second personality in my life at FAU who is so well connected. This has been my secret sauce in making friends quickly.

Evolonic

There are several clubs in the Univeristy. Evolonic is a club which works with drone and now in robotics. They focus on fire detection and rescue. The club isn’t as big as BEST or EELISA. But, it interests me! So I am joining it. It feels like I have too many things in my plate, but let’s see where it takes me.

The guys here are cool. They know so much about electronics and building drones and robots. What is more exciting is that they are now going to start new projects in robotics – My passion from during Bachelor study.

What is even better is that there are talks of buying a robot dog. I am too scared of dogs to go anywhere near them but I think this one shall be an exception. They will have to pull me away from it!

Missing Photo from Bambreg

The last time I went to Bamberg I missed visiting one spot. I was looking forward to visiting it again and this week I could do it.

I had enrolled into a Buddy program. The Buddy volunteers arranged for a city walk in Bamberg. It was meant to meet new people and to have a nice time.

We were only few people in this group. The small size of the group helped in knowing the people better.

I also got a chance to click the photos that I missed in my first trip. I had missed seeing the old Rathaus from the smaller bridge. It shows that the Rathaus was built on an artificial island. I also visited the “Little Venice” part of Bamberg.

Sheep Parade

This is one of the most interesting that I have witnessed in a long time. I never thought I would be so hyped to see a few hundred sheep walking together.

In Nurnberg, every winter the shepherds migrate their sheep from the summer pastures to the winter grazing grounds. The summer pastures are near Pegnitz Valley. The high grounds here get very cold often remaining at negative temperatures. Due to this reason the sheep are moved to the warmer ground of the winter pastures near Furth.

They roughly walk a distance of 20 kms from the east to west of Nurnberg. This migration also forms a part of their tradition. They walk through the Hauptmarkt (Main Market). My friends and I were among the hundreds others who had gathered to see this sight.

By the time we reached the place, tall Germans were already there. After a long hunt we found a suitable spot to see the sheep. There were excited kids and us. We were equally excited if not more to watch the 800 sheep cross.

After much wait they arrived! They were a train of sheep and they walked very fast.

Then came the obvious question: what happens to all the poop they leave behind? Dog owners have to pick up every tiny turd… so are the shepherds going to pick up after 800 sheep? Absolutely not. They just smile and keep walking.

What actually happens is kind of magical: people step on it, smear it around, and gradually redistribute microscopic sheep-poop particles across the entire city. City cleans itself soon

After this serious research over the sheep poop we wanted to see the sheep again. It was like they way we enter a crowded Hindu temple and after hours of waiting you just get a very short glimpse. So, we decided to take a tram and travel to the west of Nurnberg (Pegnitztal West).

This turned out to be a great decision. This was an open field and it wasn’t as crowded as before. We arrived before the sheep and we got some nice photos of the sheep, us and the shepherds. The sheep were happy too to see so much grass and so few humans.