I’ve caught the interview meme
Questions by juventus:
1. Why the Saarland? Have they got something we don’t (like that Aussie-themed restaurant)?
Ah, well, hem. Many reasons. They include: I wanted to do postgrad and/or research. I wanted to travel. I wanted to live somewhere other than Melbourne. I speak German. Uni-des-Saarlandes have lots of research groups in areas that interest me, including the automated debugging work of the software engineering group, and the intelligent user interfaces group at DFKI (the German research centre for Artificial Intelligence). Uni-des-Saarlandes have the Max-Planck-Institut for Computer Science on campus, and they offer scholarships. (No scholarship means Martin can’t afford to travel.) The Ormond Choir visited Saarbrücken last tour, so I got to visit the university and talk to some people there. So, many reasons.
2. What have you been up to, of late, in the Saarland (ran into any of the Total Vocal (grr) troupe? Visited said restaurant – what’s the deep fried wombat nose like?)? When do you start studying?
Haven’t found Total Vocal yet. Have walked past said restaurant, but I haven’t dared enter. They use a curious variation of the Australian flag which replaces the Union Jack with the Boxing Kangaroo. They’re using the typical German blindness for clashing colours to display an Australian republicanism. Heh.
I start studying yesterday. Subject selections don’t have to be finalised until next week or so, so at the moment “studying” consists of attending as many lectures as possible so I can decide which ones I want to do. Of course, not all subjects are equal: there’s “lectures” and “seminars”, and the number of credit points varies depending on how advanced the subject is, and how much work it’s supposed to require. And I need to put together a semester that has enough credit points, but also the right number of points in “Basic”, “Advanced”, “Specialised”, etc. So I’m not so much studying as getting my head around the German uni system. No lectures today, not because I have no lectures on Wednesday, but because the lecturer for the subject that could have started today had a paper due this week, so the subject starts next Wed. Heh.
3. How’s the apartment hunt going?
Hmm, ’tis interesting. I’m looking at heaps of apartments at the moment, mostly share apartments with randoms. This is because in Germany apartments aren’t “single” or “double” or… (meaning one or two or… bedrooms, a kitchen, a lounge, perhaps a balcony), they’re “one room” or “two room” or… (meaning literally one or two or … rooms, containing perhaps two hotplates and a sink, and barely space for a bed and a desk). And I can’t survive on just a hotplate for a kitchen 
Besides, living in a share house with randoms might help me meet people here. And I’m already in a slightly adventurous mood, having travelled halfway across the world on my own, so I should probably take advantage of that before I lapse back into my normal shy-of-strangers self. (J, stop laughing. )
4. What’s in your CD player at the moment… bitch? :p (I’m in a mood.)
Nothing, bitch! In fact, my CDs stayed at home. Luggage weight restrictions and all that. And of course, in a couple of hours’ (okay, weeks) continuous work, the music is all on my iPod anyway. Which is about half as big as a single CD. So if the question was really “what’s coming out your speakers at the moment”, then the answer is “Fats Waller: Handful of Keys” (some random “best-of” album).
5. You are going to see Architecture in Helsinki when the reach your shores, aren’t you? (BTW, that’s less a question & more of a statement.)
Statement, well, yes, indeedy. I want to go visit Luxembourg anyway 
For those confuzzled, here’s the meme:
1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions of a somewhat questionable nature.
3. Update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. Include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
