Weimar and the End of August

The Rathaus (City Hall) of Weimar at town square - reserved majesty almost French in character.

The Russian Orthodox Church in the town cemetary - the Slavic influence here.

A garden in the city - an oasis of peace and tranquility

Sebastian peacefully searching out his lunch selection....

And I'm havin a conversation with some bathers at the well....



Hello all, we've been to Weimar, perhaps the most literary and cultural small town of Germany, and home to the Weimaraner - the breed of dog my family owned for 8 years. Goethe, Schiller, Wieland, and several other literary notables spent time here, and, as these pictures betray, this is a wonderful tourist attraction. It was warm on the day we visitied, so we could dine outdoors and enjoy the peace and baroque splendour of central Germany.

And, on another note, if you visit Germany, please notice that you must look long and hard to find a trash can - you cannot throw anything away! Unless, of course, you simply toss your refuse on the ground - not advisable, as this will garner you harsh words from others passing by. Where you buy things is where you find a trash can for refuse. That's it! So once you have something in your hand, it is not easy to get rid of it! The lesson - don't grab something unless you mean business!

In this sense I wish you a refuse-free weekend.

your Euromark

Where have all the days gone?

Welcome September! Autumn is about to fall on us, and we – in the northern hemisphere – will fall back into another time, as the sun will rise earlier after the time change. Where has time gone? I apologize for not updating this e-diary called a blog sooner. Summer seemed not to exist for me, I was so busy working. What was I doing? Translations, more classes, and now another new job teaching in a private business school every Wednesday and on some Saturday mornings. And the pay is good, so this also helps. I will teach the Saturday morning group how to make small talk in English. Not a bad way to spend Saturday morning: teaching people to talk about “nothing” and walking away with some nice money for it!

A week ago Saturday Sebastian and I went to Weimar for a day trip. We took the train on a weekend ticket deal, which meant per person we paid only 13 Euros for the round trip. Weimar, as you may know or remember, is a cultural center for Germany. The famous Anna Amalia Library is there. It burned down in 2004, sending numerous pricelss books up in smoke, but it still houses some essential original books, documents, and monographs of German literature. Weimar is also the namesake for the Weimar Republic, the German nation as it was known between the two world wars, before the national socialists under Hitler took power. And Weimar is also associated with Buchenwald, a concentration camp from WWII just a few kilometers from Weimar. And finally, the Weimaraner is a hunting dog which was carefully breeded in 19th century Weimar – a fabulous dog. I know, for my family had a Weimaraner. What else is there to say? The whole city has been restored, so you can visit the garden house in which Goethe wrote some of his Faust. Schiller also has a house in Weimar. What a strange mixture – a train station that brought many Jews and other undesireables for the Nazis to their death was our arrival point for a leisurely day of tourism. Our last stop before heading back to the train station was a splendid little café in Biedermeier style, where I had one of the best cups of coffee and almond apricot torte I have had in a long time. And the bill for this was 3 Euros 50 – less than 4 Dollars – not bad. Unfortunately, the rechargeable batteries for my digital camera need just that, so I cannot transfer my pictures of Weimar into my computer so you could see them. I hope to rectify that soon, though.
In Berlin at the New National Gallery there is a special exhibition of impressionist paintings from NY’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, so I hope to do the 1 hour train ride up there to see it before it leaves in October.

Oh, I have seen a number of films this summer. Bettina, I did see Shortbus – a good film with a comforting message that actually had nothing to do with sex, in my opinion. I saw Battle in Heaven – a Mexican film that was in my opinion a terrible film. Also Adam’s Apples, a funny Danish film about a crazy pastor in the Danish countryside, and a hilarious British film, the name of which I only know in the German: Sterben für Anfänger. And I saw the Simpsons film last week.
So, how has your summer been?

No Sunny Summer Here - Lets Hope for Better

Thank you, Bettina and Aggie, for pushing me. I have been a little under the weather lately. June is grass pollen time in Germany, and I have hay fever problems with this. The past two weeks I have been suffering. Now it is better, but still not back to normal. Aggie, it is not warm anymore! We have constant rain, high winds, and highs often only 20 degrees Celsius, or 68 Fahrenheit, and mostly cloudy. Where did the sun and heat of April and May go?

Sebastian returns to the apartment on Monday from his time in Cologne – I am looking forward to that. I can live alone, but I much prefer together with someone, and since Sebastian is one of my best friends, you couldn’t ask for more!

I’ve been inviting people over a lot. What do you cook? I found a tuna fish pie recipe – all ingredients are cold, so it is good for those hot summer days – wish we had some right now. Yesterday evening I made a tamale casserole and Mexican rice for two friends. And later today Steve and Marita, my friends from Pirna, are coming for the weekend. I’ll have pics of their visit up on my blog soon.

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about moral and ethical accountability in the high tech age, because I have been very disappointed with one particular situation. Think about it: if a person is standing in front of you and can reach out and touch you, you see immediate reactions to your communication to them – body language, facial expressions, tone of voice, and a host of other signs. And, if you spike their ire enough, they could even get physically violent with you (but hopefully not!). You can always find them, since you probably know either their phone number or postal address.

Internet forums remove this access to the other party, but the other party is still there – probably sitting at a computer and typing on the keyboard. So, the moral and ethical accountability is still present; our words – typed this time – still affect the other person. But I am finding out that it is sadly more common to think that because the other person is not literally in front of me, because the other person has no other access to me other than that internet forum, this would release me from any ethical or moral responsibility. I can say what I want, I can treat them any way I desire, and since they cannot “find me”, it becomes okay to conduct myself in the this way. Perhaps this is simply a further stage of the reasoning some use when speeding – “there is no radar trap here, so nobody can catch me, so it is okay.” The other person cannot catch me, so I can do whatever I want.
I welcome your thoughts and observations on this topic!

Finally, below are some thoughts on rising suicide and affluence in the world. I welcome your thoughts on this also.

China: Rising prosperity is giving Asian youth a buying power and lifestyle unimaginable 20 years ago. Major Chinese cities feature clubs, venues, simply the western scene with youth eating, drinking, dancing and wearing clothes you see in NYC, London, Paris, or elsewhere. And the suicide rate among youth is the highest it has ever been.

Plano: In this, one of the wealthiest suburbs of north Dallas, youth go to elite private schools, ivy league universities, and sport designer clothes and cars as their parents’ wallets often fulfill every wish they could have. And the suicide rate among youth in this suburb is one of the highest in the state of Texas.

An affluent family and unhindered access to technology should provide the seedbed for unmitigated progress; you have the money and the flexibility to do anything. This is the postmodern world: my story, my world, my life, my space. I buy anything I want without working and planning. I go on the internet and find a virtual life with no hassle or conflict. This is the ultimate convenience. No charge, no wait, no effort – what could be easier? Just swipe your credit card through the machine, type in some words or digits, click the mouse, and voilà, you have created your own world – your own space. And you soon have your own world of friends, and a network of relationships emerges in this, your space. And, if anyone does not fit into your space anymore, the solution is only a mouse click away – delete, block, and forget about it. No charge, no wait, no pain, no effort, and no way will this work in the real world!
And perhaps this is the key to the high suicide rate among those with diminishing financial worries. Life is not simply buying and adding and deleting on a computer; life is above all about fulfillment, about realizing deep goals, finding real relationships, real love. These things require work, pain, effort, vulnerability, and living with the possibility of failure.

Yes, the real world has pain, embarrassment, and failure. But those who have not lived in it enough are at some point confronted with reality, above all when a situation comes in which they cannot “solve” the problem with a swipe of the credit card or a click of the mouse. Having perhaps only the most rudimentary social skills, or no self-confidence in conflict situations, some, in desperation, turn to suicide. Others set themselves up for a life of dysfunctionality, unable to truly relate to others and living an unfulfilled life. Perhaps this is an even greater tragedy than suicide – a life of constant frustration.

Cologne, Birthdays, and Swimming

Starbucks in Cologne: Sebastian doesn't understand my joy...

Sebastian waiting for his Kölsch beer; what do you think of his t-shirt's message?

Sebastian and I at lunch on Saturday by the Rhein River.

Here I am for a kodak moment at the Rhein River in Cologne... Like my new shirt? I had just bought it a few minutes before the photo.

I'm thinking about you as I wait for my Kölsch beer....

Here I am in front of one of Cologne's many romanesque churches.

In front of the Cologne Cathedral. My only worry and ambition: to be this big....

The bar where we attended the jazz concert Sunday evening - you like?

And the music rolls....

Frank - in the middle - at his birthday party - we are toasting with Champagne.

Matthias critically assesses the quality of this white wine....

Here I am finally updating my blog after too many weeks. No, Chris, I am not brooding over your comments on certain racial groups –lol. What have I been up to? Two weeks I was in Schipkau, a village in Brandenburg, for a golden wedding anniversary, and then for a Jugendweihe, as I mentioned in my last post. Then, on Pentecost weekend I visited Sebastian in Cologne. An interesting city on the Rhein River. We were on the go all day long. Friday evening I arrived, and on Monday afternoon I left. From Leipzig to Cologne the one-way train trip takes 5.5 hours, and that is with high speed trains! Cologne has a lot of interesting action – lots of cafes, bars, clubs, shops, and lots of Starbucks, which we visited often, because Leipzig has no Starbucks at all. Sunday evening we went to a jazz concert in a bar – see the pic. It was good, but after an hour we left, because we both are not big fans of jazz.
But most of all it was good to see Sebastian. He is one of the best friends of my entire life, so we had a lot of catching up to do. He will return to Leipzig at the end of this month. I am also looking forward to having someone to help me with the cooking and house cleaning! Haha.

Then, a week ago on Saturday, I was at Frank and Sylvia’s garden for Frank’s birthday party. I took my bike, because I wanted to drink a little more – a beer and 3 glasses of wine – a lot for me – lol. So at 1:30 a.m. I was back in my apartment. And now we are in the heat of summer, with highs in the low 90s every day – too much for this place, since no one has air conditioning. So I have been swimming at the lake – see my pics from last summer – to keep cool, and you see why I have not updated you earlier – I was up to my ears in water – literally! Lol. And finally, I am teaching more these days, which is good for the bank account. May was a good month, and June will probably also be a good month. But I have less time as a result. And, my activity in the internet keeps me writing emails to friends and nurturing those friendships, because I am not satisfied with a friendship staying virtual forever – I want these relationships to take on flesh and bone.

Sorry that this post meanders in the train of thought. But I hope you enjoy the pictures. I have been having a good time, and I hope you are too!

anniversaries, labyrinths, and sun

Here I am cooking out with friends and doing a German beer commercial...

The church last week for the golden wedding anniversary...

And the car for the couple - 50 years of bliss...

And I have also found time to enjoy "my" lake and get some sun....

Here comes a long-overdue bog post. I have been very active lately – in a healthy and responsible sense, of course. Sebastian, my roommate, is in Cologne for an internship with the American football team there, so I have a “storm-free” (German saying) apartment, but I don’t like life alone, so I get more active. Many things have been on the burners. With an April more like July, I have decked the balconies out for Summer with flowers and plants. Then I have been to two discos (you say “clubs” in the states) – one called the TV Club – a student disco which features low prices – 1.50 Euros for a half liter beer, and 3 Euros cover charge – not bad, and the DJ was good that night. Then a few weeks later a friend invited me to go with him to the Buddha Art Gallery – an upscale disco in the city center. This was a special disco night; it was a quarterly Leipzig Gay Night – a disco evening especially – but not exclusively – for gays. The crowd was mostly gay – mostly males with some lesbians and a good sprinkling of some impressive transvestites moving through the crowd. And there were also a number of hetero couples enjoying dancing too. My friend came upon VIP tickets for free for us, so we had access to VIP areas and we got a free cocktail also. Pretty neat, huh?!

In consideration of some of my Texan readers, a short excursion is fitting here. This was a surprisingly positive experience in a jam-packed big disco – four floors with several dance floors, disco balls, strobe lights, fog machines, the works, all like a labyrinth. But more importantly, we must remember that in Europe – in Germany – the Nazi regime tried to annihilate not only Jews, but also Gypsies, the handicapped, the elderly, and otherwise “un-useful” people, and homosexuals belonged to this list. As a result, society here deals with racial and gender orientation issues from a very different historical perspective. So efforts to open up to any groups marginalized historically or otherwise are often more focused and intense here than in some other places, since the air is still thick with the burdens of the past over here. So, whatever your personal convictions might be, a society cannot allow itself to ignore, marginalize, or discriminate against groups that have been the object of wholesale genocide or annihilation attempts. Such a society has no right to claim membership in a culture that would claim to be Christian.

But back to my life. This past weekend I was at a golden wedding anniversary in Brandenburg, so I sang a solo at a church service, and we ate and ate – lunch, coffee and cake – lots of really fine cakes!! Then we had supper, and then talked and talked. Then I spent the rest of the weekend visiting friends in Pirna and then a friend in Leipzig.

Next weekend I am away again for a Jugendweihe – the East Germany equivalent of confirmation for those of no faith. So, more eating, drinking, and talking is on the way, and even some disco dancing. Then, on Pentecost weekend, I am visiting Sebastian in Cologne. I have never been to Cologne, so I ma really looking forward to this time with him. And I miss Sebastian. He is one of the best and most loyal friends of my life, so it will be nice to see him again.

After that I will be back home for a while, and we will be in June. Let the summer come…

Travels to Dresden, Pirna, and Lübeck...

Tea Time in Pirna - this was the white tea

A Beautiful View - on top of the Pfaffenstein

Moritzburg Castle

Here I am in front of Moritzburg!

And Marita on top of Pfaffenstein

The Frauenkirche in Dresden - notice how small the people are next to the church.

Lübeck - Mediaevel Hanseatic Majesty!

Here I am trying to loosen up this guy ....

A side view of Florian - he could be on a coin... We are at the Indian Bar here.

Florian at Niendorf Beach.

Florian and Andreas at the Korean Restaurant - who said north Germans are cold and distant?

Thank you for your patience while I live an interesting life. I have been traveling and visiting people these past weeks. Here you see some photos. For Easter I had off from Work from Wednesday evening until Tuesday morning, so I went to Pirna just south of Dresden. We hiked up to the top of the Pfaffenstein, a mountain with a big flat top. That took all of Friday afternoon. Friday evening we simply visited at the apartment. Then on Saturday we went to the Moritzburg Castle – perhaps the most famous castle in Saxony. This is a classic moated castle built to show all who is in power. After the castle and lunch in Moritzburg we drove to the city centre of Dresden for shopping and a walk through the Frauenkirche – the church restored just about 2 years ago – a beautiful baroque church in the round – an architectural masterpiece! Then I bought three shirts in a shopping area, and of course, several stops for coffee, and even cake, were standard fair for such an outing. Sunday had us in Pirna’s old city centre and at a café, where I enjoyed a pot of white tea. Then it was back to Leipzig.

But no rest for the wicked, for on this past Friday I was in the high-speed train again, this time on my way to Lübeck on the Baltic Sea not too far from Hamburg, where I spent the weekend with Florian, my friend I met via the internet. Lübeck has been deemed a world cultural heritage city by UNESCO – it is matchless. Friday evening I had ice cream and café au lait on the main market square, then Florian met me, and we walked through the old narrow streets and courts, stopping in an Indian bar and restaurant for a Kilkenny Irish beer and a vegetarian pizza. Then it was on to a little bar named Kandinsky, after the expressionist painter, where I had a glass of Merlot. Then it was back to the apartment, where we talked into the wee hours of the night (right, Florian?). Saturday – and Friday also – brought perfect weather: cloudless pure blue sky with sun and temps in the low 70s, so we drove to the beach – to Niendorf next to Travemünde. On the way we stopped at a posh farmers’ market where I bought some of the best Assam and pineapple and coconut flavored green tea I have ever tried. Then walking along the rushing water for several hours, having cake and coffee at a seaside café, a fresh fish sandwich while we strolled, and catching up on so many topics. (You see, in person you talk about things different than when you type in the internet…) Then Saturday evening we drove to Bad Schwartau to a well-known Korean restaurant to eat. Sunday I took the train back to Leipzig. And here I am again, thankful for the blessing of finding friends like Florian on the internet! So, the moral of the story is, don’t simply remain virtual friends, but have the wisdom and courage to make some into real friends – it can be a serendipitous surprise.

What a beautiful weekend - Leipzig Book Fair and fair weather on Sunday

Waiting for Godot on my West Balcony :-)

Saturday I spent five hours at the Leipzig Book Fair - an annual event of intercontinental proportions. The Leipzig fair is the first major book fair of the year in Germany, and it has a long tradition, since Leipzig used to be THE publishing center for the German-speaking world. There were over 1,500 publishers present with live programs, live radio and tv broadcasts, and huge exhibit halls with so many temptations to buy books, but I resisted successfully, for I am saving my money....

And today Spring has returned again. After running for an hour in the forest, I enjoyed afternoon tea and lemon cake basking in the sun on my west balcony. This is quite the exception for Germany. Last year at this time we were just beginning to thaw from a long snowed-in Winter. So, things are a bit ahead of schedule.

So, how has your weekend been?

Wishing you a wonderful beginning of Spring,

your true

Euromark

Belated Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Sasha and Melanie - she is in the middle of an inspiring sentence...

Claudia, Tobias, and I: honestly, we didn't plan to all dress the same...

A belated happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of you! Were you doing something green on Saturday? Well I wasn’t – ha. But I was doing something red, as these photos betray. I met up with some friends – Tobias, Claudia, Melanie and Sasha for an evening in Kowalski, a nice modern pub in the university section of Leipzig. We ate and drank and talked until midnight; good German beer for all of us, and filling vegetarian entrées for me, and when they found out that I have never been to a disco in my life – gasp – they wanted to kidnap me on the spot and solve that statistic. But, we decided to wait for another time and go to the TV Club – a trendy student disco in the north of Leipzig – in a few weeks. Leipzig has quite an assortment of discos for a variety of music tastes, social segments, etc. from hip hop, techno, metallica, the “over 30” crowd, the “under 30” crowd (I won’t tell you whether I am under or over – you guess! lol) and gay and lesbian, as well as others. So, where were you dancing on St. Paddy’s Day? When were you last in a disco (you say “club” in the states…)? Well, I fear it’s been too long, so get your ___ in gear and go…. and happy landing…

Your true Euromark

The eternally fresh music of ABBA

During my last weekend in Pirna with friends we were watching a show on TV. During a scene in a disco the music changed, and my friends both immediately recognized “Dancing Queen” by ABBA. This impressed me, since the mother grew up in socialist East Germany, and the son is almost 19 years old. Even in the days of the Soviet East Block, ABBA’s music inspired the youth to dance and celebrate, and today their songs still help discos bring in the crowds of young Germans wanting to dance, jive, and have the time of their life, to quote the song. Not surprising, since this Swedish group had members well schooled in composition and two ladies with beautiful voices. When was the last time you heard an ABBA song? Was it Waterloo, Gimme Gimme, The Winner Takes it All, or It’s the Name of the Game, or something else? In all of these songs you hear predictions of the likes of Madonna, Enya, and hosts of other current chart riders. What is your favourite ABBA song? What do you think makes ABBA so timeless? Happy listening and dancing….

New Life in Spring

Sunday at Pillnitz Castle in Dresden - the Lion was so afraid of me that it turned to stone...
At this time all is bursting out in greens, reds, blues, yellows, whites. The birds gave me a beautiful concert during my 7 a.m. run last Friday morning; life is returning early to central Europe, and I am reminded of returning life when we think only death is there.

In the Summer of 2005 I began teaching English at the airport here. Among the many baggage handlers in my class was Christian, a soft-spoken kind husband with two small children at home and blond hair and blue eyes with boundless trust. After a few weeks I noticed Christian was not in class anymore. I asked some of his colleagues. It seemed he had been in a horrible motorcycle accident – his bike slid in the rain under a big truck, and he had countless broken bones and skull injuries. He was in a coma with uncertain prospects. Over the course of about a month I asked about his condition, and nothing was changing. I decided to stop asking – it was very painful to me. Then several months passed by. In the summer of 2006 I heard the manager mention the recent funeral of a colleague in the nearby village – a colleague who had been very sick for almost a year. For me it was clear, for Christian came from this village. I was tragically sad, and thought how I wish I could have seen him, but wishes….. I grieved for him and buried him in my mind privately.

In November I was preparing for class when I noticed out of the corner of my eye a face that caught my immediate attention. I looked round the corner and froze with a gasp – there stood the “resurrected” Christian in front of me and smiled his soft-spoken smile with those same blue eyes. I was speechless. Then I said, “Christian, you are here! I didn’t know what had happened!” I started crying some and asked him how long he had been back at work. He was just starting again. I told him I was so happy to see him and so happy that he was alive and could work again – he did not know I had thought he was dead. I saw him again last week at the airport, and again I felt I was looking into the eyes of the promise of the resurrection – time froze again as I talked to him told him again I was so happy to see him.

How deceiving are our thoughts – our minds! We delude ourselves to think we know all we need, we think we see the full picture, yet we can still be severely misled. After ages of living in deception, the simple truth stands in front of us, and we freeze as the reality we have constructed shatters before the astounding beauty of living truth. Now I am not talking about people we thought dead, but aspects of our own selves and lives we deny so long that we cannot even acknowledge they exist. And then events coalesce before us and in us, and we see the beauty of truth that makes us get to know ourselves dejà vu. And life begins anew with the promise of the resurrection – you shall know that which is real and true, and it shall set you free – the words of Jesus, another person whose reality was too much for his life context.

Where there is smoke, there is fire...

Germany is finally about to join most of the rest of the western world in passing bans on smoking in public places. From an American perspective you might wonder why it has taken them so long to get there. Viewed from within the country, this long development gives you the opportunity to observe something typical of life in Germany: the laborious struggle to decide to change something.

This struggle not only permeates the public sphere; it is an essential part of private life and private relationships as well. Perhaps are trying to change something at work, with friends, or with a government office. When you first announce your desires, chances are the answer you will immediately get will be some variation of, “no that is impossible.” Or perhaps you will hear, “that will be very difficult and uncertain, so I can’t promise you anything, though I will try.” This is the beginning of a sort of opera, for here the battling begins; discussions, arguments, debates, very heated exchanges, and even accusations can all come on stage as the parties involved hash it out and at several times during the whole process declare that nothing will ever come of this. Then, suddenly, out of the blue something happens, and all parties suddenly come to an agreement and in no time consensus and harmony is everywhere, where only a few days ago all looked hopeless.

This song was sung at the beginning of attempts to introduce a smoking ban in Germany. Officials and restaurant owners announced that this is simply impossible. Period. And the debate started. For months, even for over a year, the government has been tossing and turning, discussing, debating, arguing on and on to no end, with several media announcements in the meantime suggesting that the government is powerless before the tobacco lobby. Then, about a week ago, results of a study were published stating that the air in bars, clubs, and discos is often so thick with smoke that it exceeds allowed pollution standards for cities in Europe – in other words, if those levels of micro-particles were present in Leipzig city air, Leipzig would suffer stiff federal fines and have to change things immediately. And so on Friday Berlin suddenly agreed to sweeping changes that will ban all smoking in all public places – any exceptions will require special individual approval. After over a year of debating, mud-slinging, and arguing, harmony and consensus has emerged seemingly out of nowhere.

I really enjoy this, because it is fascinating to try to wager when the consensus will appear. You see, this process also happens in your private life here, too. You may have a disagreement with someone, and while the relationship goes on, the topic comes up again and again and is debated and seems stuck in the mud. Then, suddenly, a breakthrough happens and a solution is found.
I often think this is a manifestation of a good German quality – taking things seriously. So issues, relationships, everything is thought through more (than in the USA at least) and discussed more, and it is important, if you live here, that you show by your actions that you also take the matter seriously.
But looking at it from a different perspective, in America you have probably heard that whoever takes himself too seriously makes himself the object of many jokes. Or, seen for a perspective this side of the Rhine, when the smoke is puffing in matters, you know the people are on fire for something – where there is smoke, there is fire.

Would you like some Danish with your coffee?

Election campaigns are beginning to heat up in the USA, so soon the obligatory pie fights will start – those attempts to find something in the opponent’s past (or, better yet, present) allegedly making him/her morally and ethically unfit for office. In view of this approaching media event, I thought I would cast my glance northward from me to a small country far away from international limelight – Denmark.
Skandinavia has long been known for it’s tolerance – perhaps a function of Kierkegaard’s „Fear and Trembling?“ The Danes responded carefully to the caricature fiasco last year, insisting that they cannot compromise freedom of expression. Denmark was also the first country in the world to allow pornography to be openly sold, so we see they mean business about freedom of expression.
Denmark is an interesting land with a small population and a strong protestant fundamentalist tradition on the west coast. Yet in the metropolitan areas elected politicians are open about their past or lifestyle. A representative in the Danish parliament openly cites her homosexuality positively and has always openly admitted her earlier profession – an actress in pornography. And, she represents a right-wing party and has not suffered politically or in any other way from these facts.
Denmark may be riding the crest of the wave, but other nations are not far away. In Germany at least two mayors – Hamburg and Berlin – are openly gay and suffer no negative consequences, and the leader of one of the major political parties in Germany has been openly gay for a number of years with no negative repercussions at all.
These examples help me realize that nations today cannot be a religious-based enterprise. Europe has tried to do that and failed completely. And, I certainly don’t think the Bible wants us to erect a physical political Kingdom of God here on earth – His Kingdom is not of this earth…
So what is the real question? Is a person who is homosexual or a previous actor in pornography not fit per se for a political office? Yet the Washington politician who has his sweet young thing in a nice Washington suburb is perfectly fit for office? To what extent is a person’s present or previous profession or lifestyle a litmus test for suitability for office? The homosexual mayors and party leaders in Germany are highly respected competent politicians guiding some of the more cosmopolitan cities of the world. If only religious organizations have a say in answering this question of suitability for office, then we haven’ moved that far away from the fusion of church and state, which only caused problems in medieval Europe.

Taxing Moral Imperatives in a Glass of Wine

Thank you, Aggie, for your latest comment, for you have called my attention to the moral imperative: keeping communication open. But let me add that I have been very busy (yes, haven’t we all?) lately. I have taken on two new classes, removing about 4 hours per week of free time from my schedule, and giving me more money in return. I have also been translating more for psychiatry – especially difficult was an article on rheumatoid arthritis – 18 pages of intricate text on complicated statistical formulas to ascertain the cost benefits ratios for early detection and treatment of this ailment. And I have been meeting friends a little more often, seeing them for the first time after my weeks in Texas.

And finally, I have also been bringing things up to par with my tax accountant. German tax law is probably the most complicated in the world. But I have figured out the system here –I think. You surf on the crest of tax laws, riding the waves and hopping off them onto other waves so that you get the most for your goals out of each wave (law). Is this moral – speaking of moral imperatives? I don’t think anyone here cares. And the tax laws are so complex that any singular strand of ethics or morals gets tangled into oblivion by the contortions of all the exceptions and stipulations for the law. For instance, did you know that in Germany if you have an office in your residence, using it as a tax write off, of course, you are not allowed to have a bed or any objects in that office that do not directly pertain to the running of your business? That includes books, CDs, a television, etc. But decoration and ambiance to make clients feel comfortable is allowed. So, you may have a coffee maker and a small refrigerator to offer clients refreshments, but a hot plate or small stereo system – no. You can even write off fresh cut flowers for a vase! Europeans love ambiance! But wait. If the ministry – like the IRS in the USA – comes to inspect your office, they are required by law to make an appointment. So, if it should be the case that your office perhaps might not conform in any way to the law, you have time to prepare the stage for the visit. Interesting system they have here. Whereas in the USA we often have standard deductions, in Germany the system tries to take a lot of money away from you, and it is your job (often through your tax accountant) to use the laws to get as much of the money back as possible buy reducing your taxable income hopefully down to zero. For 2005 I had to pay in a whopping 25 Euros – amazing, but there is a huge bound notebook full of journals, calculations, and spread sheets documenting all the bookkeeping proving this.

Finally, I’m so drained from all the new classes and translation that I haven’t been getting out on the town much. Tomorrow – Saturday – I hope that will change. I plan to go to the cinema in the evening. Don’t yet know which film will find my favour. Any suggestions?
Finally, you’ve certainly noticed I have no pictures. There is a reason. When I was in Prague at the end of October, my digital camera was stolen – I think I know where, but I can’t prove it. So, in Texas I bought a new one, but I am having difficulty with some of the software, and I just haven’t taken the time to iron the matter out. I ask for no sympathy, just that you humour me with my affected little “me the victim” soliloquy. So, I’ll continue drinking my glass of Dornfelder German red wine and greet the approaching weekend…

Birthdays in Germany

The comments of my previous blog reveal that I have had a birthday. I do not hang my birthday on the big bell (a German saying) but rather celebrate it in a more intimate setting. Why? Thus this blog.
In Germany a birthday is a really big thing. If you are at a government office on your birthday and they see from your form that today is your day, they will stop, come over to you, shake your hand, and say “best greetings and a healthy and happy year on your birthday.” They do this with an urgency that almost scares me. Well, if that were all, it would be fine. But the rest of the story comes. In Germany you should organize and throw your own birthday party – for an American that seems conceited. I would never put on my own bday party in the USA. You pay for and organize everything for a big party with food and drink (also alcohol), and everyone brings you gifts. And, your telephone rings and rings with people wishing you all the best on your birthday. It all seems very selfish and looks like I want to put myself on center stage and be worshipped. To add to that, I am often sick on my birthday, so I don’t need the stress of organizing a big party if I am under the weather.
I think it would be better to just pool several people together who have birthdays around the same time and have a community birthday party. So, what is the custom in your neck of the world? What do you usually do on your special day?

A Tagging in January...

So, Chris has tagged me, if you read the comment in the post just before this post. I haven't been tagged for anything for more years than I am willing to admit, so here goes: Three Things I got For Christmas: 1. a pair of Levis jeans 2. a big blue candle 3. a bottle of wine And now Three Things I did not get for Christmas: 1. snow 2. Blue Bell Ice Cream 3. someone who will take care of me when I am old and feeble. So, this means I can sit in my kitchen in Germany in my Levis with no shirt on, drink a glass of my wine by blue candle light, dream about seeing snow and eating Blue Bell Ice Cream, and wonder what will happen to me some day long long away when my hair has all fallen out and I have more metal and plastic in my body than flesh. Now I am supposed to tag some people. Problem is, Chris has already tagged all who read and respond to my blog, so I don't have anyone left to tag, though I strongly suspect that there are people "in the shadows" who read my blog but choose not to comment. So, if you want to be tagged by me, just "holler" as we say in Texas...

Bull-riding in Texas and Ennui in Europe

Christmas in Texas is irreversibly over. What do you learn when you visit the place you spent the first 25 years of your life, the very house where your family has been living since you were three years old, after you have been living in another culture for four years? How do you pack two suitcases to travel to the place you grew up for a short visit and then pack your life back up into two suitcases to leave that home for your other home?
My answer: in the postmodern spirit, you build your own culture. The Dallas Fort Worth area will always be the place my personality was “hard-wired” to register, process, and react to people, places, and things, to create my own image of myself. And the strong German elements in my family belong to this growing up process, making me adjustable to life in Germanic Europe. And so, the two suitcases are couriers helping me transport artifacts of my life from one part of my home on one side of the world to the other part on the other side.
So which ancillary events precipitated these insights? First of all, when I first walked into my room at my parents’ home, I took my passport out of my jacket and put it in a drawer and closed the drawer – a very symbolic gesture. In Germany, where one must always be able to identify oneself, my passport is my only accepted legal proof of who I am. In the USA I don’t need it – a driver’s license suffices. I also took off my heavy jacket and put it into the closet – won’t need this heavy stuff for the mild Texas Winter.
In a CD music store I happened to run into an old friend from high school band, whom I hadn’t seen for 10 years. She has since been able to establish herself in full-time employment in directing children’s theatre. While this makes me happy for her, it also made me happy for the whole community, because this indicates the Dallas Fort Worth area is growing culturally, slowly taking away one complaint I used to have: that this area was a cultural desert. Now Starbuck’s and others give us real cafés in which we can repose and reflect, sipping on coffee and staring into space in that spirit of ennui (sophisticated boredom) you only know if you’ve spent time in Europe. There are even a few commuter trains between Fort Worth and Dallas, so you can actually take public transportation for a few events.
But there are still essential elements that will always be different between the two worlds. When you enter a café in Texas, some will notice you and smile as an automatic reaction, and the persons working there will almost immediately greet you with a big smile, making you think they came to work that day just to serve you as their most important customer. And when you make a menu choice, you will coincidentally choose the server’s favorite item, as they will tell you with matchless enthusiasm. And, if the coffee has to be brewed anew and you have to wait, you just may get your drink order free, as it was cheerfully announced to me in Fort Worth. So, if you were down when you came in, you will be up before the first drop of coffee greets your lips.
When you enter a café in Germany, if anyone notices you at all, they will simply stare at you for one second with no visible reaction and then return to their activity. The wait staff may give you a polite greeting, or they may not, and you will find a seat and peruse the menu. By then at the latest you will notice the smell of smoke in the air – something long banned in Texas establishments. Then the wait staff approaches you and asks what you would like. They dutifully record your choices without commentary and leave to do their work. Now you can unpack whatever you brought along to establish your raison d’etre in this café. Perhaps all you brought is your bored face you use to soak in the ambiance of this room – that is okay. And, if you are lucky, the wait staff may smile at you, which means that there is something about you they definitely like, and if you return to this café, this person will probably smile at you again. This is not necessarily the beginning of a steamy romance (though one can never rule such occurrences out…), but rather simply the elegant and subtle European way of getting to know people. In Texas we take the bull by the horns and smile from ear to ear at everyone, so if you really want to get to know someone better, a smile gets you nowhere. You have to be more aggressive and somehow hope the other person gets your drift. In Texas you can dig in and take others for a bull ride to get to know them. In Europe you, as they say in Germany, “wait and drink tea.” You take studied distance and respect the autonomy of the other to an (from my perspective) extreme extent. Every expression, word, gesture, look, and smell is part of the construction of a new relationship that may only be a passing acquaintance or perhaps grow to a deep life-long friendship or romance. But, this you cannot know, and that is the mystery of getting to know people in Europe – a fascinating and challenging use of subtlety and patience.
Life in Texas is wonderful in its own way – the open, aggressive straight-shooting friendliness and willingness to help others expecting nothing in return. And life in Europe, with its mystery and enigma, makes friendship something you can’t take for granted here. You didn’t get to know your friends overnight, so you and they will fight for you and them no matter what may come.

Shifting Christmas Gears in Texas / Durch die Gänge in Texas

Eleven days later I have successfully progressed past the most severe reverse culture shock in Texas. Christmas is over – without stress and angst. Now early capitalism gets in gear as I begin to shop shop shop. The latest booty: a pair of Levis slim fit and a book on literary criticism (which I really like, because it includes chapters on colonial criticism, gay and lesbian criticism, and other often neglected ways of reading texts. I am looking forward to this interesting read on the plane back to Leipzig.)
Of course, I have already indulged in several prerequisites to re-acculturation: one meal in a Mexican restaurant, several visits to Starbucks, one evening at La Madeleine French country restaurant, and today a meal at the California Pizza Kitchen. And, Half Price Book Store has already seen my face.
So, do you notice a trend here? What typifies my time here?
So, to the people: Of course, I see my family daily, since I am staying at my mother’s place. And the depths of the past have divulged friends not seen for ages. Saturday I was in a music store when out of the corner a female voice called my first and last name – it was LuAnne, an old friend from high school band, who I hadn’t seen for ten years! Then yesterday the pastor of my mother’s church dropped by; I have known him since I was 17. And today I had lunch with a friend I have known since I was 14. These meetings underscore the degree of change my life has experienced. As positive as such meetings – chance and planned – are, they have only highlighted how several years of life in another country change you. And yet I realize that most of my time here will not be spent with all the people I used to know in those woebegone days of yesteryear. So many people have moved on without enough desire for keeping in touch to precipitate successful attempts to contact me.
So, is there only family and Starbucks, Half Price Books, Pizza and Mexican restaurants and shopping, and playing the piano and running three times a week? Yes, this is “Jammern auf hohem Niveau” in Germany, or “high level complaing in English, but even this very act belies the European existentialism that has infiltrated my personality, for the American would say, “so what? Just have fun and don’t sweat the small stuff! If you don’t see those people now, who knows what the future will bring?” Okay, lets Americanize – for now – and just enjoy the moment. We are having fine weather, after all, and all are in good health. And I am thankful for these things…
I hope you – wherever you are – are also having a good and safe holiday season.

Your
Euromark, who is at the moment, well, “Texomark.” P.S. Es tut mir leid, aber ich bin im Augenblick überhaupt nicht gelaunt, Deutsch zu schreiben. Also müßt ihr euch mit English abquälen. Wenn das ein Problem bereitet, dann ruft mich einfach an :-) !

I'll be home for Christmas / Weihnachten Daheim...

I’ll be home for Christmas…

…as the melancholy song goes. Tuesday will be a long day – getting up at 3:30 am. and taking the first tram at 4:15 am. to the airport. The flight leaves at six for Frankfurt, and then from Frankfurt 11 hours to Dallas Fort Worth airport. Then 21 days of the Metroplex and ultimate individualistic free market enterprise. It will be good and important to be with family during these three weeks when most of my courses are on pilot light phase anyway. I will also have some time to see a few friends in the Dallas – Fort Worth area and maybe even in Central Texas. Since I have no car of my own, and I have much to do for my mother, I may only have one very quick trip to central Texas.
I am now one month short of living in Leipzig for four years. These have been four of the best years of my life, and it keeps getting better. While I look forward to seeing my “home” and family again, to sleeping in the bedroom that has been mine since I was 3 years old, my life in Texas seems more and more a part of the past as Germany becomes more and more my home. I will notice new slang expressions in American English that are strange to me, new devices and products, new stores, and new people in the lives of friends, just as there are many new words and people in my life: I don’t speak normal American English anymore, and all of my friends here are Germans. Did you know that no American (besides me) has ever been in my current apartment? That’s okay; it simply underscores the dichotomy in my life. So I am packing my baggage to take a short trip to the place I grew up in; the milieu that “hard wired” my personality, even though my Texas accent is gone without a trace. After tarrying long enough to make my luggage smell American, I’ll whiz back to Germany and open my suitcase and smell the aroma of Texas and of my mother’s house and wonder where it all went…

So, let this be a lesson to all of us: as with so many things in life, the good and the bad are often intertwined; we decide which threads will dominate, which melodies will climb above the others and establish the dominant themes.

Na so was: man soll sich ja darauf freuen, die Heimat wieder zu sehen. Ja, Freude ist da, aber ich bin vielfach einfach unentschlossen, denn ich bin beinahe 4 Jahre in Leipzig, und das sind die schönsten Jahre meines Lebens bisher, und es wird momentan, mindestens, nur besser (bin ja Ami und muss ja optimistisch sein…). Wer diese Sätze lesen kann, versteht wohl das Gefälle: die alten Freunde in den USA melden sich schon längst nicht mehr, und ich muß immer emsig nach jemandem suchen, der mich vom Flughafen in Dallas abholt: willkommen zuhause! Bei meiner Mutter habe ich viele nützliche Aufgaben: Hecken schneiden, Blätter rechen, Rasen mähen, Fenster und Gitter putzen, Autos putzen, im Hause putzen, Garage a bissl entrümpeln, und dann auch schön in Dallas shoppen, Postkarten an die Freunde in Leipzig, Pirna, und Lübeck schicken, Geschenke für meine Lieben in Deutschland finden – das macht alles Spaß, aber viel von diesen 21 Tagen besteht nur daraus, dass ich Sachen für andere mache. Das ist schon in Ordnung, aber wer die deutschen Urlaubssitten kennt, weiß, dass hier keiner den Urlaub plant, in dem er hauptsächlich nur Dinge für andere macht. Und so steht die Welt für mich jetzt Kopf: alle hier wollen scheinbar irgendwie in die USA, womöglich endgültig, aber ich fühle mich sehr wohl hier in Mitteleuropa. Mal schauen, wie ich bis Mitte Januar schreibe. Bis dann würde ich mich auf Beiträge von euch freuen, in denen ihr so eure Erfahrungen oder einfach Sicht der Dinge mal mitteilt. Danke fürs Lesen und Schreiben!

Six Weird Things About Me (Really?)

Well, Aggie in New Zealand has tagged all who read her blog, so I'll respond. Do you think I'm weird? First of all, I must mention a caveat: “weird” is in the eye of the beholder; what is weird to you may be – yawn – boring to me, or plane Jane normal. Sorry, if your name in Jane.

Number One: I love to eat a big long slow candle-light breakfast in my sleeping clothes with lots of hot tea, even with a glass of Champagne to go with it. I feel like I’m in Heaven. It can last an hour or two, as long as the company and conversation is good, no problem… (The NZ people among us would probably prefer the Champagne breakfast by candle-light au natural, but I’ll not betray whether that would interest me or not….)
Number Two: It is wonderful to go running through the forest in the winter when the snow is deep; I imagine I’m an elf in a Lord of the Rings movie running to Lothlorien.
Number Three: I cannot sleep late in my own apartment, because I know there are too many things I have to do (cleaning, taking care of plants, translations, practicing the piano, friends, etc.). But, I can sleep very late when I am visiting somewhere else and don’t have to get up early, though I will gladly get up early for breakfast as I describe in #1 above.
Number Four: I love to play the piano or sing in the dark – who needs the distraction of things you see? I can concentrate on the music better.
Number Five: I hate house cleaning, but I hate a dirty apartment even more, so I clean very fast, and I absolutely detest dirty door handles and light switches, so they all get a wipe down once a week from me with a cleanser.
Number Six: I have to listen to music on my big stereo while I take a shower – it makes showering much more aesthetic.

Florian in Lübeck

When the beer glass is empty, you can only smile... :-)
This is my friend Florian in Lübeck, a city on the Baltic Sea coast. We originally met via blogs on the internet, which is sometimes not the best way to run across dependable people, but after a few emails we both quickly saw that we had met someone who was not flakey. He is finishing his schooling and already has a job lined up – a smart guy – for the beginning of February in Lübeck. He speaks excellent English after having spent a year of high school in the Midwest, and he is active in a theatre club in Lübeck as well as in a charity organization for AIDS help. He is also a talented artist – drawing – and a gifted rollerskater. So what else is special about this guy? So much, but one thing sticks out above all else for me: whether in an email or in a conversation, he has the ability to make you relax and feel like time has stopped. This is very helpful, because Germans are always on a schedule, making shortness of time a chronic situation here. Thank you, Florian, for your gentle spirit, making time stand still.