When I don't work - Part 1

Dear all,

Here comes the long-awaited (…) piece about what I do when I don’t work. Which does not happen very often, but I still don’t think I have any reason to complain, given how much I actually enjoy what I do.

Firstly, let’s have a look at the things I do on a more or less regular basis. So I…

•  …work on articles and issues related to the Political Ideology Lab
• …study German and can proudly say that I am making progress. However, this progress is still very slow, at least definitely not as fast as I would like to be. Still, I hope that by next summer I will be ready to finally take the advanced level exam.
• … resumed doing sports, at least three times a week. These generally entail an intensive 45-minute session of Kyokushin Karate in the Combative Arts Room of UNL’s Recreation Center. The room is well-equipped: there is a nice mat, a punching bag and most importantly, mirrors. The realization (also following an exchange with my sensei back home) that I can actually do karate on my own has already had a huge positive impact on my life’s quality. I usually back it up with a cardio session, meaning either riding stationary bikes or swimming.
• … ride my real bike a lot, basically wherever I go, be it to the grocery store, university, or just in the neighborhood when the weather is nice.
• … talk to my friends, family members and dear girlfriend. This is more time-consuming than one would guess, but is totally worth it. God bless Skype!;) (as long as people use it responsibly)
• … hang out in my resident hall with the cool people that surround me. We have had some major cooking events, when a bunch of us would team up and make 6-7 delicious courses to everyone’s joy. I have also made extensive use of the pool billiard table, and, to a lesser degree, the piano.
• … would really like to have more time for writing and thinking. Nevertheless, I am quite satisfied, especially since I have managed to acquire most of the things I needed for a start of a ‘new life’, such as: bike, kitchenware, clothes, a cool desk lamp … and the third book of A Song of Ice and Fire. I’m also expecting a package with a Hungarian book and some other great stuff in it.
• … go out approximately once a week. Game nights are always crazy, especially when the Huskers win. Always having been a huge sports fan, I have found it easy to develop a close relationship with football. It has a special significance for the people here, which manifests in many various ways, hard to imagine for someone who hasn’t experienced it. When the Huskers play, everyone talks about the game, it is on every TV screen wherever you go.
• … have had some other great nights out with my new friends (some details are not for the general public, particularly those that involved some loss of blood – nothing serious, though - … if you are curious, ask me in private:)). It seems like I got lucky again: I have already had the fortune to meet quite a few very nice and cool people, and had the opportunity to hang out with them. I hope this trend will continue in the future!

In my next post I will elaborate more on the episodic things that I have done to spice up my otherwise not that exciting life. In the meantime, keep it real, enjoy whatever it is that you do… and this picture, courtesy of Levi. Guess what the title is!?