An Afterthought

"Does this mean we have to kill Edmonton before we understand what it truly is?" said Raymond. […]

"Some things don't need to be understood, professor."

(Todd Babiak, The Garneau Block. Toronto. Emblem editions: McClelland & Stewart 2007, p. 227)

End of story. End of blog.

Good bye, Canada. I received my emergency passport an hour ago. I'm leaving Edmonton tomorrow via Calgary. Won't make any further predictions, though.

Waiting …

My carelessness or letting chaos into my life (see entry January 29) gives me some more days in Edmonton. I can't do anything but wait at the moment. My application forms for a new passport have been sent to Ottawa so there is nothing to be done before the new passport arrives. I went to the newly renovated Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) near Churchill Square and had a look at the controversial Degas exhibition of dancers and horses, called "Figures in Motion". I was quite fascinated by a modern installation on the second floor of the museum, called The Murder of Crows. This installation consists mainly of chairs and loudspeakers, and you hear a voice through a gramophone retelling three dreams or rather nightmares. Words and silences are combined with different kinds of music and noises. Fascinating! Then I went to Churchill Square, took some photos (the one you can see is called "Lunch break") and went window shopping, which ended in actually buying two books, a new PJ, a T-shirt and a pair of shoes. Ridiculous, I know, but it cheered me up. Home by LRT. Sandwiches as lunch. Meanwhile my wife and son have arrived in NY, where they went to Fatty Crab - a place at Upper West Side that offers Malaysian 'inspired cuisine', where customers eat with their hands. Central Park, Broadway, Times Square ... you name it. I wish I were there.

P.S. Today I heard their flight to Frankfurt has been cancelled. Hard luck. Once you let chaos into your life ...

End of story?

After my talk on Wednesday I flew with my family to Calgary from where we took a shuttle to our hotel at Banff. This is a lovely place to go to. We had a look around town (the only incorporated municipality within Banff National Park), had drinks in the hotel bar, went swimming in the hotel pool and rented skis. On the next day we drove to Lake Louise (actually, a lake that is named after Queen Victoria's daughter), which is also a famous ski area in the Rockies. It was a fantastic day: blue skies, sun, perfect snow. Skiing was simply awesome. We regretted that we could not stay any longer. But we had to go back on the Saturday. And then at the airport, I discovered that I had lost my passport. F***'s sake! With two non-photo IDs West Jet allowed me on board the plane to Edmonton. My family left this morning for Montreal. I am still here waiting for an answer from the Austrian Embassy in Ottawa, which I phoned and informed on arrival.

P.S. The final straw came at 3.30 AM: — fire alarm. We had to evacuate HUB Mall in the middle of the night. The temperature was -16°.

P.P.S. Информация о Банффе по-русски: kanada.turne.com.ua/resort/banff

Final talk

Today I gave my final speech in the Senate Chamber on "Silences in Russian". There were fewer people present than at my talk for the Department of Linguistics. But they were interested in the subject and asked a lot of questions after my talk. Some came up with intriguing topics for a new project, such as The History of Silence. Afterwards, we went to Earls near campus. The Ukrainian-Russian-Polish-Austrian group enjoyed some very good food and excellent Australian wine. I am glad that my academic duties are over now, so to speak, and I and my family will enjoy two days in the Rockies. We are off to Banff tomorrow morning.

WEM

Yesterday my family and I went to West Edmonton Mall which used to be the biggest shopping mall in the world. Now it ranks fifth but it is still impressive. Bigger ones have been built in China (2), in the Philippines, and in Singapore. In WEM you find Galaxyland, Waterpark, Sea lions rock, Columbus' Santa Maria, an ice rink as big as a football stadium, and hundreds of shops and restaurants ... So we had a Chinese-Italian-North American meal. I got myself a new suitcase, although my old one has lasted for over thirty years but it is a bit inconvenient now as it has no wheels. Our son went crazy at Footlocker and Urban Outfitters ...
In one of these shops my son recommended I buy the Tee shirt you see in the photo. But I opted for a UoA T-shirt instead.

Psycholinguistics

Today Dr Patrick Bolger (left) showed me round the Centre for Comparative Psycholinguistics in the Arts Building and gave me and my family (who arrived yesterday) an exquisite 90-minute lecture on his work as an applied psycholinguist. We were told which experimentation goes on (such as eye-tracking movements, ERP (event-related brain perception) and which data are collected. Psycholinguistics at the UoA is concerned with "language processing in real time"; the centre not only analyses English but also minority languages of Western Canada. Students get a good impression of how research in linguistics is conducted (experiment protocols, lexical decision methods etc.). Even my son was impressed by Patrick's talk and now considers psycholinguistics as an option for his studies. (Well, this is what he said. There is still some time to decide this.)

Weekend

After giving my talk on emotions in live, televised soccer commentaries yesterday and ending up afterwards in the Faculty club to celebrate over a pitcher of beer, I decided to go to town and have a look at the art and antique shops in High Street (124th Street) this morning. But having walked all the way from Corona Station to 124th Street, I felt it was too cold to walk any longer. I did some 'organic' shopping and drove back to campus. The weather is not too good at the moment. I am missing the sun. For tomorrow, slight snowfall is to be expected with temperatures around -11/-13° during the day.

It is amazing that people go around on bikes even in very cold weather. To say nothing of the sometimes icy roads. And not only students! As you can see, bikes are kept on the balcony when not used. I had a look at the river valley from one of the many platforms that give you a good view. People go there for relaxation - in winter it is mainly cross country skiing or walking their dogs. It must be beautiful in the summer or in autumn. "We cram everything into two or three months, when it's warm here. And a lot is going on. Festivals - jazz, folk music, fringe theatre, street performers etc. There are only two seasons here: when the snow is melted, and when it is not", said one of the colleagues from the Department of Linguistics yesterday.

Horoscope

What shall I make of this?

Congrats on your growing ability to do more floating ...I think you are finally understanding that a little bit of chaos isn't a sign that everything's falling apart forever or migod the entire planet's crashing and evil is in ascension ... but rather that a healthy amount of bewildering unpredictability keeps things fresh and clean. My advice is to relax even more as you glide with serene amusement through the bubbling and churning waters of life. (VUEWeekly #745//Jan28-Feb3, 2010, p. 44)

I don't think I'll change at my age, though. What do you think?

P.S. Relaxed. Went to see “Broken Embraces” with Penelope Cruz.

Busy busy ...

I am busily preparing my talks for this and next week. Keep your fingers crossed. It is a different thing to speak in front of scholars at another university in a foreign country & in a foreign language ... You see how nervous I am. The first talk will be on emotions and soccer language, and the second on silences in Russian. I am looking forward to doing something different then, believe me! What I am interested in at the moment is language and rituals, language and sexuality, and language and testing ... The libraries here are great! A search for reading assessment in book titles, for example, yields 174 results.

Sunday: Half time

A lazy Sunday?

I decided to get up late. The reason was I get these funny noises in my bedroom and they kept me awake between 4 and 5 in the morning. So I decided to read. Elie Wiesel's Night. Not the reading for a sleepless night.

The weather is getting colder: -10° today. After breakfast I read through the four Gutachten of my Habil. It is high time my work on "Silences in Russian" got ready for publication. I thought I would have more time here but this does not seem to be the case. I am quite busy with preparing my talks and keeping up with my online course at Lancaster University. And also my blog takes time. But I enjoy writing it.

Today I moved the desk to the window in my little study between bedroom and living room/kitchen. The view is neither stunning nor breathtaking but there is more light now and I am not sitting with my back to the window. Well, back to my work then …

P.S. Went for a walk for half an hour after sitting over my work all day. Minus 11. Feels like -19, says Edmonton Weather, because of the wind (20 km/h). But I enjoyed it!

Democratic deficit

I had already read in "The Gateway", the official student newspaper, that some people criticize the democratic deficit in the Canadian electoral system. Some even consider it 'antiquated' and demand an urgent up-date. Under the current system favoring two main parties, minor groups have no chance of getting into parliament, which leads to a misrepresentation of voters.

So it was not surprising that I ran into this demonstration for "Democracy Now" on Whyte Avenue, when I was walking back from Farmers' market to University Campus. Read more.

Plagiarism

When I was surfing the Internet to find information about Asian Students here at UoA, I incidentally came upon a site called Why students plagiarize? Having had a few (minor) cases myself recently, I wonder why this happens and so I had a look at this site. (There are useful handouts for students by the way, which you may want to have a look at.) I do not know whether a similar site exists at our university (will check, though). To publish guidelines could be helpful. I know that in Austria guidelines are there to bypass but one should at least try.

Talking of Asian students: I haven't yet found out how many Asian students there are at UoA. There exists a Department of East Asian Studies with e.g. a combined BA major in Chinese and Japanese. Or what about an MA in Japanese Cultural Studies?

European Universities seem to neglect Asian studies, as the whole European market seems to ignore China at the moment. Yes, of course, you can do a BA/MA in Sinology in Vienna, and you can even do Chinese and Japanese at the isi>> in Innsbruck. But that's not much in comparison to here. Below you find something interesting to read that may also serve as an example of how to write a seminar paper: Behavior of Chinese Students at Academic Libraries

Enough for now: I'm off to the Farmers' Market.

Music at Convocation Hall

There are concerts in Convocation Hall, which Marcela Požárek, a colleague from Wirth, drew my attention to. Tonight Martin Riseley (from New Zealand) and Janet Scott Hoyt (Alberta born) played three sonatas for violin and piano by Johannes Brahms (Opus 78, 100, 108). Three more concerts in January will be dedicated to the music of Hindemith, Wilder, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov and others. In former days (prior to WW II) organ recitals were given on the University Memorial Organ in Con Hall.

As almost everything nowadays, also these music events are being evaluated. I am always fascinated by questionnaires that try to find out why one was attending an event, where one heard about it, what could be done to attract even more visitors to such events, how one feels about the price, what one liked best and what least, and if one has any other comments. Last but not least, one can rank and rate the performance, the program, hall, seating, parking and public transit. Amazing!

Weather

This snowman in front of St Joseph's College won't melt. The weather will get colder on Monday. Have a look at the weather forecast for the next 2 weeks. "Alberta is home to some of the best Canadian winter weather, and thanks to its resorts in the southern Rocky Mountains, it is one of the most popular Canadian winter tourism destinations. ... Winters are generally cold, crisp and clear — especially in the north (it has the most sunny-days in winter annually of all provinces). Alberta winters are not particularly snowy except for the mountainous areas, where winter temperatures are generally milder too. In fact, the province has the lowest annual snowfall in Canada. The provincial capital and second largest city, Edmonton, is located in central Alberta and generally has cold, dry winters. It is known as the “Gateway to the North.” Southern Alberta, home to the province’s largest city, Calgary, has milder winters. An unusual weather phenomenon known as a Chinook (Föhn!) sometimes brings warm air that can raise temperatures by as much as ten degrees in a matter of minutes." (canadianwinter.ca/index.php?page=alberta)

A day in the life of...

What about my daily routine? I get up at around 7, and after breakfast I have a look at my mails having come in during the night. At around nine I go to the Wirth Institute where I prepare my talks, read and do online work for the MA Language Testing course. I go to the library, have coffee somewhere in HUB, meet colleagues from the MLCS department, go home, prepare a late lunch. Afterwards I do some more reading, once in a while I prepare a task and put it on eCampus for the Russisch IV course at home.

I am in contact with Lucas who runs my Syntax course, and I am discussing the next written Bakkalaureatstest which is designed by Georg and Tanja. Good luck to those who take the test!

There was light snowfall this morning. On the photo you can see one of the many libraries on campus and students on their way to work. I walk past Rutherford Library (Humanities and Social Sciences) everyday on my way to the Institute.

Today I have been invited to the UoA's Johann Strauss Ball here in Edmonton. I would very much like to go but there is one big problem: I did not bring a tuxedo and a black or white tie.

Contacts

In the morning I went to SUB (= Students' Union Building), where I posted some cards, had a look at the books in the bookstore and at 'devotional UoA objects' (mugs, hip flasks, pullovers, sweatshirts, track suits, calendars, notebooks, pencils, ... you name it). Although it was still early, the place was crowded - students everywhere either having breakfast or busily rushing to their courses.

After lunch, I met two charming ladies from the Ukrainian Department in MLCS, Dr Alla Nedashkivska and Prof Natalia Pylypiul. Alla teaches Ukrainian and is also a linguist, with very much the same interests as I have. She has written a task-based Ukrainian course book, which will be published soon. Prof Pylypiul's interests are mysticism and the representations of wisdom in medieval and early-modern literature and iconography. Prof Pylypiul took her PhD at Harvard University; Alla, now Associate Professor at UoA, was visiting lecturer at Toronto University in the late nineties. We arranged to meet for coffee on Friday in HUB.

Lecture

On Tuesday I gave my first talk here at UoA. Jelena Pogosjan kindly invited me to her seminar on "Russian contemporary literature in the mirror of Western criticism" (MA studies, MLCS). She asked me to speak about the role of Slavic studies in Austria and Germany. Elena's students are native speakers - a situation I knew all to well from my time at Humboldt University in Berlin.

The role of Slavic studies here at UoA is three-fold: Russian, Ukrainian and Ukrainian folklore - the latter two being more prominent that the first one. As you already know, this has to do with the ethnic minority group of Ukrainians living here in Alberta.

I spoke for about 40 minutes, and then we had a short discussion. Afterwards I left since Jelena wanted to discuss a text written by Boris Gasparov (Columbia University, NY) her students had to prepare for today: "V poiskakh 'drugogo'". If you are an MA student in Innsbruck and feel like reading this text, try here.

Strathcona

On Monday night I went to the cinema and saw "A Single Man". I was sort of catapulted back into the early sixties. Not only did the film play when the Cuba crisis took the world's breath, but also the cinema took my breath away - a movie theatre right out from the late fifties. Seats in red velvet, a shirred gold curtain ... and the audience in their fifties. After the film I walked back to campus. This took me through funky Whyte Avenue, which definitely seems the place to go: lots of restaurants, pubs, shops, book stores ... and everything in my nearest neighbourhood.

The film, by the way, was adapted from Christopher Isherwood's novel with the same title. If you like movies playing in America in the 1950s/60s, you may want to watch the trailer.

City Centre

The city centre seemed quite forsaken to me today. I took the LRT from University Station to Churchill Square and wandered around town. Shopping centre (hardly anybody there on a Saturday morning, which seemed strange), China Gate, City Hall, Jasper Avenue ... I discovered an Ukrainian book store and a Russian Tea House. By the way, the Ukrainians make up 7% of Alberta's population.

Architecture in Edmonton is a thing to wonder about, to stare at, to be fascinated or repelled by. But the city wants to prove where the money flows (and this is not in Calgary).

Для тех, кто читает по-русски:

http://forum.rusalberta.com/index.php?showtopic=109

http://zuskin.com/alberta.htm

Around campus

Yesterday Prof. Szabo, the Director of the Wirth Institute, took me on a trip round campus. Believe it or not, but I haven't even been to the city centre (- so busy am I working here -) but I've decided to go there on Saturday. The trip around the university gave me an idea of how big the campus is - from the science buildings in the north to the clinics in the south. Somewhere near the river valley Prof. Szabo stopped the car and I had a beautiful view over the Saskatchewan River with Edmonton's skyline opening up on the other side of the river. Unbelievable that about a century ago the town had only about 700 inhabitants (now there are about 900,000), and the Province of Alberta is the richest in Canada because of the huge oil reserves discovered in the early 1950s.

And then I got a special treat. I was taken to Prof. Szabo's favourite shops where we bought Austrian Topfengolatschen, brown bread, Polish ham, Italian pasta ... Getting around town is done best by car, especially if you live here permanently, I am told. But since University station is next to HUB, I'll take the train on Saturday. There is a video on Youtube you can watch if you like ...

Work

This is my office at the Wirth Institue for Austrian and Central European Studies. It is this Institute that administers the Faculty Exchange Programme with Innsbruck University, signed by our former Rektor Hans Moser. All departmental and accommodation arrangements were made by the Wirth Institute, for which I'm very grateful. The Head of the Institute and the staff do everything to make my stay here comfortable, interesting and worthwhile.
Students might be interested to learn that this leading Institute supplies grants and scholarships in the fields of history, society and culture.
So in short, the Institute sponsors scholarships, organises lectures and round table discussions, conferences and research projects, which result in important academic publications.

Olympic Torch

After attending a lecture on "Ukrainian Neo-Paganism" I went to the Butterdome on 87th Avenue and waited together with other curious onlookers for the Olympic torch to be carried through the streets of Edmonton ...

Bands played music on a stage, hockey players were playing in the street and the Canadian flag was dangling down from a huge crane. And just when I thought of leaving the runner with the torch appeared ... What a great moment!

Was it cold? Obviously not. I saw a guy in shorts and a girl wearing a skirt and woolen stockings up to her knees - but no tights! When I came home I checked the temperature for the day on the Internet: -9. Canadians seem to be tough!

Arrival

I have decided to write this blog in English, not in Russian. When I was in Berlin, people complained that they could not read мой берлинский дневник.

I arrived in Edmonton, Alberta, on Sunday, January 10, about an hour early. My luggage was left behind at London Heathrow. Hard luck! So this meant wearing the same things on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday... (which I hated). About two hours ago my suitcase was delivered. Thank God and Air Canada Baggage Delivery!

What has happened since my arrival? I am living on campus, in HUB Mall, close to the Arts Building, where the Wirth Institute is situated (on level 3, which seems to be the first floor). I had a meeting with the director, Prof. Szabo, and was introduced to the Head of Modern Languages and the Head of the Linguistics Department. We fixed two lectures, so far. One will be on "Emotions across languages in football commentaries", the other on "Silences in Russian" (I still have to think about a subtitle). Today, Prof. Szabo invited me to lunch in the Faculty Club, and on Monday I had a Japanese meal with a Czech colleague from the Institute, a Swede and an American who speaks Norwegian and Icelandic.

Информация для тех, кто читает по-русски: http://www22.brinkster.com/yfleysher/rus/e7.shtml

P.S. The photo shows people waiting for their luggage at Edmonton Airport. At that time I still had hope ... (My time: Tuesday, 12 January, 7:51 pm)