"It was cold the first couple of nights," reports one CeBIT landlady, who slept in a 1970 VW van with two friends when they were unable to find anyone to bunk with. "Everyone we called told us 'Well, this year we decided to take the visitors.' We borrowed the VW van, and slept in it for three nights. There was no heat. There was no bathroom. The second night, we remembered there was a little bathroom in the cellar of my building, so that was better."

I am picturing this: middle class folks with nice homes, creeping down to the cellar in the dark to use a primitive john, then huddling together in a '70 VW, like bewildered Woodstockers lost in a time warp.

"We parked down the block from my place. Every morning when our guests left for CeBIT we would rush inside, like a cleaning crew, and make some tea and warm up. Then we would take showers very fast, clean everything, put out new towels, and leave. It was very funny, you know. Now it is nice to sleep in our own beds. But we will do it again next year, make a little money. Maybe next year it will not be so cold, you think?"

-- Janice Castro