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8:57 p.m. - May 11, 2002 The last couple days were spent in at a meeting for a German group called BHSA (Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft H�rbehinderter Studenten und Absolventen). It was okay. I mean, I did learn a lot and got addresses of people who want to participate in my research, but it was sort of stressful and "unangenehm" (uncomfortable); other people like me, who are hearing impaired but don't know sign language said the same thing. It felt as if the others sort of felt like those without a knowledge of sign language were beneath them, and therefore, not as worthy of receiving Hilfsmitteln ... hmm ... let's see ... a rough translation would be special services, special devices or help. Like, there were two different sign language interpreters on stage AT ALL TIMES. There was an induction-loop FM-Unit, but it was crap. People had to sit in the corner waaaay in back if they chose to use it, and therefore, did not get a good view of the speakers. For people who are hearing impaired, it's rather important that they be able to get a good view of the speakers in case they need to lipread. The organizers of the event, who are hearing impaired, said that they didn't hire a notetaker because it was stupid because they already had sign language interpreters. I think that's just a crappy excuse. I go to an AGBell convention and they've got interpreters, cued speech transliterators, FM-units, CART (sort of like courtroom reporting), and all sorts of help and services available for the attendees. I have to admit that the conference wore me out because of the fact that it was all in German, and the days were rather long, and also, I was up early all the time so I could catch the buses and subways, especially on Ascension Day. My friend stayed over for one night, because she lives way out in Erding, which takes about 1.5 hours by train, subway, and bus to get to the convention site, whereas from my place it takes about half an hour or so. What a pain. I've never had a rather complicated way of getting to a conference. Worse still, the first day of the convention was on Ascension Day, and because I live in Germany, it was a holiday. Therefore, less buses and trains and subways run on holidays, so so many people were late to the conference. My friend wore her shoes in my room, which I honestly don't mind. I mean, I do, when I come home from class and stuff. But she stepped on my blanket, while still wearing her shoes. UGH. That's one of my biggest pet peeves; I hate, hate, hate it when people wear their shoes and put their feet up on my bed or blankets. It makes me feel all icky (for lack of a better word). I think I'm gonna do a load or two of laundry tomorrow. I hope I have change. Anyhow, the weather has been absolutely bizarre as of late. For instance, yesterday started out with a beautiful blue sky and warm weather, sunshine...it was at least 70 degrees or so, and I was okay with that, even if it was wreaking havoc on my allergies. Then it rained really hard, like pouring and thundering. Today it was the same way. It was sad because I was basking in the sunshine and my brain provided a soundtrack to the afternoon; Sheryl Crow's Soak Up the Sun was always playing in my head. After it started to rain, well, it was like all I could think of was Noah's Ark. I guess my friend was right in describing Bavaria as the tropical region of Germany. On TV right now: Jumpin' Jack Flash. I have to say this is a pretty bad movie, even if the very cool Whoopi Goldberg is in it.
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