Thursday, May 25, 2006

Being told that "this will be the most difficult lecture of your career" is not heartening. Though I'm sure something in NUS will top that.

One lecturer used a floppy disk to bring his Powerpoint to class. How retro.

Someone was saying his high school teacher commented that you can learn English, Spanish and Italin in 6 weeks, French in 6 months but after 6 years you still can't get German. And this from soneone who's presumably a Hole - tsk.

I think a good weather range is 18-19 degrees in the day and 15-16 at night. No need for sweaters, fans or radiators.

There must be some special event coming up. The orange flags and decor are coming out again, as well as orange shirts in shirts. Maybe it's the World Cup.

My mid-term got shifted forward 2 days, screwing up my Freiburg-Berlin plans. Gah.


I discovered the secret to making very creamy mashed potato - add mayonnaise!

My housemate threw away my deep fry oil. Again. I was very pissed off, since I'd told her, after she'd thrown it away the first time, not to do so. She claimed it looked disgusting, and that it was bad for health. This despite the fact that I'd only used it twice, much less than most people. She claimed that when she cleaned she threw away what looked dirty or disgusting (sounded eerily like my mother), and that I shouldn't be upset because she threw away others' things also. She helpfully suggested that I hide it where she can't see it, so now I have to hide it in one of my cupboards (having too many things, I took possession of an empty shelf).

Another of my housemates says his eggs and milk disappear also. Hmm.

I can't find palm oil labelled as such here, but I find huge bottles which resemble car oil and suspiciously say that they contain "plant oil and fat". Considering that the Netherlands is the biggest importer of palm oil in Europe after the UK, this is not good.


Penne tossed with curry mayonnaise (from the expensive Albert Heijn curry) and vegetable mix (courgette, carrot, onion, yellow paprika, chicken stock, ham bits)

I got this very nice Campina Passionfruit Vla. It was €1,65 for 1 litre (compared to €0,45 +- €0,10 at Aldi for the same amount), but it was well worth it. Despite not having had any Vla from late March to Mid May, I don't think I can take low quality Vla anymore, especially since I'll be leaving Nederland in another month. Fresh Vla is good stuff, especially the Limited Edition Lentevla (Spring Vla) - it has a purer taste and less (or no) artificial flavouring.

A housemate and a frequent visitor left for Berlin for 5 days, leaving 2 sinks full of dirty dishes. Gah.


Quotes:

I want you to work in couples (pairs)

In International Trade, in International Economics, we don't use the oligopolistic model simply because it's rather difficult.

Ten per share'nt market share (percent)

[On helping out in orientation] The subscription period willend soon (sign up)

This is a clear example of dumping because Q dum is sold at P dum (dom - domestic)

[On timing the break] I've no watch. So you either give an expression on your face which signals, "Gee, I've had enough"

[On the 100+ year old journal 'Hansische Geschichtsblaetter'] It's Hansa here, Hansa there, Hansa everywhere.

[On figures on a map of Antwerp] I don't know why they always put pictures of people on these maps. One suggestion I've heard is it's to prevent Muslims from stealing them... I've never seen it again. It's almost certainly wrong. You can never look at these maps without looking for people again.

If you ever want to change careers, being a garden historian is nice stuff.

Those were the Dark Ages. Terrible time. Everything went wrong. Terrible terrible terrible.

Ok, so it's doable. 20 minutes - 6 centuries of World Trade.

[On service personnel in fundacos] Cooks, doctors. [Student: Prostitures] We try to keep that one out.

This will be the most difficult lecture of your career.

ES-LM model (IS)

In economics we focus on real people. In psychology, they focus on sick people. In economics we focus on non-sick people... We call them rational... They may be stupid... bounded rationality.

[On the principal-agent problem in monetary policy] The social planner is not human because he cares for other humans only.

This is not understood by non-economists. We don't want realism. If we want that we can look out the window at reality - we don't need the model. If you want to look at reality... in the social sciences. Lots of case studies. They have no idea what they're talking about.

[On continuing without a break] You don't look very tired. So I'll continue. This is very interesting. You look very fresh.

[On b=0 for rational expectation of inflation=0 - attaching no weight to unemployment with a supply shock] Suppose the people in the economy differ in their kappas. What can we do? We can look for a real bastard.

[On b=0 being undesirable] We want to find a person who is a bigger bastard than ourselves, but not such an extreme bastard.

t'air tar (theta)

How much discree'shion do I give to my workers? (discretion)

You can deduct the number of cars in the Argentinian market (deduce)

[Student on his presentation partner: I just received an email 10 minutes ago.] Is he coming? [Student: He's sick.] He's sick? Because of the presentation?

The films have less incentive to p'roar'deuce (produce)
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