Immigration to Germany: Deutschland in the Spring

The Idiocy of the Elite

2011-03-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

I was speaking to a work colleague the other day about the terrible circumstances Japan faces due to the atomic power plant meltdowns. He went on about how nuclear power was still good because it was cheaper than power from other means. I thought what a typical cynical opinion of one from the elite class. He didn't care a whim about the people affected by nuclear power plant accidents; it was his pocket book that mattered. It reminded me of the expression of Marie Antionette....

The same colleague unexpectedly also asked if I was an anarchist. To which I replied that yes I was, that all honest people are anarchists. Why he asked this is beyond me. It was expressed with what seemed to be a sense of fear and uncertainty. It was a 19th century question posed in the 21st century. Does he believe that I might go to his condo, settle in, eat his fine food and drink his good wine, and steal his Mercedes Benz for a joyride along the Rhine?

The Indians win....

2009-12-30T13:50:00.000-08:00

For everyone who has not yet seen the 3D movie, Avatar, I strongly urge you to see it. If not to marvel at the new cinematic spectacle, but to enjoy the story of the Marines getting the shit kicked out of them and the Indians winning, driving the Earthlings away. Yes, the corporatist rape of the planet Pandora is stopped. Perhaps, the spectacle can become reality....

Misunderstanding and Misinterpretation Redux

2009-07-28T22:38:00.000-07:00

Today an event occurred that typifies the misunderstanding and misinterpretation that has been central to my life in Germany. My wife is almost 14 weeks pregnant. All is going ok but she experiences some bleeding and is hospitalized. This was five days ago.

This morning at 6am I am called and told that she had heavy bleeding and a miscarriage and could I come to the hospital. I hurry there and go to her room on the 4th floor and the nurses tell me she is on the 2nd Floor in the operating area. I go to the 2nd floor and exit onto a space where there are doorways leading to various operation areas but the entrances are closed, locked, and just for employees with key cards. There is nowhere to go and no way of getting in.

I buzz various buzzers and finally someone comes to one and I explain to the wall device that I was called and told to come because my wife had just had an operation and a miscarriage. This person says to wait, she will get someone. Some minutes later a doctor comes out dressed in scrubs, mask, hair net, etc. and says that my wife is still in the operating area and could I wait 10 minutes then someone will come out to get me. I wait longer then 10 minutes and thinking what folly go back upstairs and ask again what is happening I was called here I am am I too early should I wait somewhere. After some confusion the nurses say come back at 9am.

I leave, thinking what is going on there. Did they call and expect me to first have breakfast and take a shower before going to the hospital? Is that why they called so early? Is that what men here normally do, not go directly to the hospital when asked to do so but chill out for awhile, leisurely dressing, shaving, eating, reading the newspaper, watching TV news, listening to some tunes and then finally going at a later, more appropriate time? Or did I misinterpret the phone message completely because there was no sense of urgency being communicated?

The Epitome of Germans and their health care

2009-07-27T22:31:00.000-07:00

Just a brief story that to me epitomizes much about Germans and the ease with which they receive healthcare. I go to a job interview at a cultural organization that is considering hiring a freelance fundraiser. My contact is late and the Director is late. When he arrives he apologizes and speaks of his coming from "reha," rehabilitation therapy. I ask him what he is getting reha for and he explains that he is having a little trouble with one of his Achille's Heals and as he is about to go on vacation he is having reha to clear up the issue so that he can enjoy his vacation. I think to myself, wow, great. Reha in order to prepare yourself for a vacation. What a way to go, guy.

American bubble

2009-06-02T08:53:00.000-07:00

One of my co-workers actually said today that the only dessert she likes in Germany is what she finds at McCafe, the McDonald's cafe. I was rendered apoplectic. Really, figuratively. What an incredibly stupid thing to say. Germany has a centuries old pastry and dessert making tradition called konditorei. It is absolutely mind boggling that she has never tasted anything here that she likes except for what she finds at McDonalds. Does she have no curiosity? Is she living in some American bubble?

Living in Germany is dangerous to your health....

2009-05-04T00:14:00.000-07:00

Living in Germany is dangerous to your health and other stories could be the title of a book about my experiences living here. It would start out with my visits to doctors, all of which have been unsatisfactory. From the first visit where the anthroposophic doctor was surprised about my request for a physical to his prescribing statins for me immediately when my cholesterol test was a little high (contrary to anthroposophic medicinal practices), to my ridiculous visit to an eye doctor, to the surgeon who spoke like Jesus with Lazarus after an out-patient operation extracted a ganglion cyst from my left leg near the ankle, to my recent experience at the ear, nose and throat clinic of a major hospital where I was simply given antiobiotics and ibuprofen without having my temperature taken or a blood test being done that could, perhaps, ascertain, what was bedeviling me, my experiences with the German health care system have been injurious to my health.

Dresden differences

2009-04-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

We traveled to Dresden over Easter weekend. It's the first large eastern city I have been too yet besides the eastern section of Berlin. Anyways, the differences between Dresden and the West are noticeable instantly upon arrival. The clothes people wear, their hairstyles, the buildings which are mostly russian block house style, are all different from what you see in the West. Very few people use cellphones. Hardly anyone smokes. There's a big park that was filled with punks and autonomons who you see little of in Stuttgart. The prices were much cheaper for food and drink. Some of the restaurants were enormous, probably an indication of the much cheaper rental prices. There was a used bookstore that sold all books for 1 Euro. Very few doner restaurants. The historic section was mostly completely covered with black soot, pollution from the automobiles. Some parts of town were completely graffited which you wouldn't see in Stuttgart where graffiti is painted over very quickly. A completely different feel in the town that was once known as the "Florence of the North."

Forrest, Pinot Noir and the danger of acting military

2009-03-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

This is just a rumination on several things I've encountered lately. While recently in Tennessee visiting my sister, she told me about a friend of their's who has named their boy Forrest, after Nathan Bedford Forrest. Now, Nathan Bedford Forrest was a slave trader before the Civil War, became a General in the Confederate Army and after the war was the first Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. To name your child after him either means that you are a Klan member or you have no sense for the dignity of other people.

At work the other day as I was coming back from the kitchen through the hallway of cubicles to one of my own, I approached a work colleague, coming to replenish his coffee cup. Before passing me he lifted his arm to give me a "salute" and in the process hit his elbow sharply on the corner of a cubicle wall. Later, when I said to him that his behavior is a sign of the danger that comes through military behavior, he launched into a not so well fashioned argument about the need for a military, how important they are, how human nature is such that having a military is necessary, etc.

Call me idealistic or naive but I don't buy into any of this logic. Militaries are inherently dangerous and kill people. Emulating their behavior and wounding yourself in the process is a clear sign of the idiocy of acting military.

The last rumination is of a conversation with another work colleague at a party. He announced to me at the party that there are no good red German wines. When I told him that there are German pinot noirs, he was flabbergasted and said that he would have to learn the word for pinot noir. Has he ever tried many German red wines or was he acting out of a unlearned prejudice? He and his wife have been in Germany for over a year now, learning little of the language in the meanwhile, being just as mystified by German culture as they probably were when they arrived. Have they made any efforts to get to know the local culture or do they live in typical American arrogance, disdaining things that are not American, continuing to live American lives in the southern part of Germany?

Just follow the teeth

2009-02-07T05:15:00.000-08:00

All you have to do is look at people's teeth in Germany to see the total lack of understanding the German health care system has for preventive health care. German health insurance for the poor or anyone on Hartz 4, welfare for the long term unemployed, does not cover basic dental care. This has to be paid out of pocket, leading those who can't afford it not going to the dentist. Therefore, rotting teeth.

I went to an eye doctor recently for a check-up. I hadn't had one in several years and thought it time. My explaining to the staff and eventually to the eye doctor that nothing was wrong, I had no problems to report and was just there for an examination, left them befuddled and the service incompetent. I received the quickest eye exam in human history; it lasted about 10 seconds and I was declared in good health. They were simply ill-prepared to deal with a preventative examination.

Georgia and Russia

2008-08-22T09:37:00.000-07:00

I haven't written anything on this blog for quite some time. Lately, I've been feeling it is time to go back to it. And so, here I am, back at it.

People at my workplace are talking a lot about Georgia and Russia. Not Georgia in the U.S., Georgia in Eastern Europe. One guy today spoke of how he felt Russia's invasion of Georgia is a sign that they will attack other countries in the next five years. Including Germany and France. He said it is just like what Hitler did in the 30's, attacking first Austria, then Poland, then France, etc. He also felt that World War Three is inevitable, that there has not been a war in Europe for a long time and it will simply happen. Russia against the U.S. Crazy, no? At least, I thought so.

I do not think it was right for Georgia to shell and invade South Ossetia. In some respects one could argue that Russia had the right to kick the Georgians out and to protect the Russian speaking people of that territory. Russia should certainly pull its troops now back.

Yet, I think there are no similarities between the 30's and Hitler and Russia today. I think Georgia overreached and should simply give up trying to claim territories as its own if the inhabitants do not want to be a part of it.

The Kosovo example is actually an accurate example in this case. An Albanian speaking people achieving an independent country from Serbia. Perhaps, the South Ossetians and Abkhazians should also be granted their own autonomous lands.

Some curious phrases I've heard lately....

2008-04-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

There have been two curious phrases which I've heard lately: downrange and in-country. They seem to hark back to cowboy times. The cattle are downrange and are in country. They are out to pasture. The first also connotates a sense that something is out of the area. It is out of range and cannot be seen, felt, heard or tasted.

Changing the words to down-country and in-range might actually better reflect the actual meaning intended. There are people or objects now in-range which are targets. Down-country seems to imply to me to be in place. You are now in place and the targets are in range, down-country and in-range.

In Germany Hitler's birthday came and went...

2008-04-21T10:29:00.000-07:00

In Germany Hitler's birthday came and went without any mention in the news. In the United States the birthday was commemorated in Florence, CO, site of one of the supermax federal prisons. It seems that white supremacist inmates attacked minority inmates, killing two and wounding at least five others on that day in the recreation yard.

What a bizarre twist of history. American white supremacists glorifying Adolf Hitler by starting a race fight against minorities in a prison. Where are they learning their history lessons and from whom?

Heidelberg is the epitome of...

2008-04-12T03:10:00.000-07:00

Heidelberg is the epitome of university towns. It is the oldest university in Germany and lies next to the Neckar with green wooded hills on both sides of the town. There is a beautiful walking path called the Philosophen Weg, a tremendously long pedestrian zone, old churches, some very ancient student pubs, many bookstores, and thousands of tourists even in the cold Spring. Most of the tourists stay clumped in groups, all led by guides through the old town.

Hegel taught here. Holderlin also taught and lived here, as well as wrote love poems to the city. The city is associated with the German Romantics, especially the Schloss or chateau which was built at different times and some of which has laid in ruins for centuries.

One striking thing that I saw in several guidebooks which had chronologies in them was the conspicuous gap between 1933 and 1945. At 1945 they state something like "courageous citizens turned over the town unscathed to American soldiers. No mention is made of the intervening years, nor is their talk of the old bridges being blown up by the Nazis several days before the wars end to slow the allied advance.

There were only three public references to the WW II years which we saw on display. A plaque by the old bridge spoke of the above. There was also a plaque by an old house which said how many Jews a Catholic priest had helped save. And one plaque in the Anthropology Museum that stated that one of the founders, born in Prague, Jewish, killed herself at the age of 79 in 1942 because she was being followed by the SS.

bathroom poets

2008-04-11T03:08:00.000-07:00

Wie Adolf Hitler
sitze hier.
Die braune Masse
hinter mir.

From the public bathroom, Schwaebisch Gmuend.

I just started working at an American company....

2008-03-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

I just started working at an American company in south Stuttgart where I work part-time, producing industrial videos. The thing I wanted to write about after my first week are some comments about the differences between Germans and Americans there.

All the Germans I have met so far take public transportation to work. All the Americans drive. There are a handful of Americans there who speak some German, although most have the most atrocious, cliched accents imaginable.

I overheard one conversation between two Americans, a woman in HR and a guy in the technical department, that was about bank robbing. The woman spoke of "if you want to rob a bank you have to be serious about it, get an AK47 and be prepared to blow people away." She also said that there was "one guy in her class who robbed a bank and got caught. He said afterwards that I did it for my family. I've lost my job and can't pay my mortgage." No joke. This conversation was real although surreal. I didn't ask them where all this took place. Maybe later.

The company follows American holidays. You live in Germany and maybe are married to a German and you don't have the same holidays. You get July 4th and Labor Day off, for instance. It is as if inside the company all things are American. They don't care what happens outside the door. You could be in Germany or Kansas, who cares. The Americans probably find themselves wondering as they are driving to work on national German holidays why there is no one on the streets, why the stores are closed.

Another example of the disconnectedness and disregard for local customs is an upcoming industry trade fair which the military has organized. When is it taking place? April 30 and May 1. May 1 is a national holiday here.

Everyone should take the day off from work today...

2008-03-14T09:36:00.000-07:00

Everyone should take the day off from work today because it is the 125th anniversary of the death of Karl Marx. Much and little has changed since he wrote Das Kapital.

A season of strikes has hit Germany

2008-03-07T09:40:00.000-08:00

A season of strikes has hit Germany. The train drivers are threatening a strike next week. Last week baggage handlers went on strike at airports. And people who work at public institutions also are threatening strikes.

People speak of this time as the moment when worker's belt tightening should end. Raises have been minimal over the last five years as the economy has become stronger and unemployment dropped. Salary increases for corporate executives, however, skyrocketed and people are pissed about the situation, stating that they need to have their salaries now rise.

At the same time, prices for everyday things have increased quite dramatically. The Euro is incredibly strong against the dollar, over 1,50 to the dollar. And wealthy Germans are being prosecuted for having used Lichtenstein as a tax haven.

All of the above could make for quite an active, red springtime.

Assimilation is a crime says the Turkish Prime Minister

2008-02-27T13:37:00.000-08:00

Recently, the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan was in Germany and called on the Turkish people in Germany to not give up their ethnicity. He said "assimilation is tantamount to a crime against humanity" and called for Germany to establish schools that teach Turkish students in Turkish. Chancellor Merkel publicly disagreed with him, stating that Turkish people should integrate in German society and in support of Turkish as a second language in schools.

The immigration question as I've written before is one that is troubling and will trouble Germany. People were invited here over the last 40 years to work but were never made welcome. One result of this is that they then held on to their own heritages and languages and did not fully assimilate. They dreamed of returning to the homeland, while staying in Germany and now retiring here.

I do not believe that assimilation should be promoted, but rather support more of a "multicultural" model which exists in American society. People there feel free to identify with their ethnic heritages. Yet, they express themselves as being part American, i.e., Irish-American, African-American, etc. There is a tolerance in America for ethnic identity which I am not certain is very present in Germany or in the rest of mainland Europe. Perhaps, Great Britain is different.

Hamburg elections: change but more of the same?

2008-02-26T13:48:00.000-08:00

The Left won big in recent Hamburg elections, winning 6.4%, although one could ask if little was changed. The CDU party lost about 5 percent (42%) and the SPD increased its percentage a little (34%). The FDP won about 5% of the vote and the Greens lost 3%, going to about 9%.

Who will form the government is a big question. There is talk that the CDU might try to have the Greens as a governing partner which would be a huge change. The Greens, long staunchly alternative and "left," aligning itself with the conservative party is a situation that many thought would never happen.

There is also talk of a "grand coalition" of the CDU with the SPD like what is in the national government. The SPD, however, insists that it will not join a coalition with the Left Party. It seems that stalemate is setting in in Germany that might continue till the next national elections which take place late 2009.

Vacation in ...?

2008-02-25T14:02:00.000-08:00

A large billboard is now on display in the Stuttgart train station, advertising vacations in Cuba. It portrays four happy tanned tourists in a convertible with the sun roof down, sunglasses on, big smiles and laughing, soaking up the Caribbean feeling. The text says Cuba, Yes ... a surprising place, have you already booked your flight?

What a difference from the United States where travel to Cuba is verboten and only the very few can receive official approval to travel there. U.S. policy is so Neanderthal concerning Cuba. More and more American companies are trying to open the border to Cuba because of the market opportunities. I recently read that Riceland, the world's largest rice miller and marketer, which is based in Stuttgart, Arkansas, has been selling rice to Cuba for several years. If rice can be sold, why can't people visit?

German TV show raising the ire of....

2008-02-12T06:57:00.000-08:00

A very popular German TV program, Tatort, has lately been raising the ire of some of the populace. Tatort is a criminal series that attracts about 20% of all viewers. A recent December episode was about incest in an Alevi family. Alevis are a minority population in Turkey and have been the subject of accusations of incest by Sunni Muslims for centuries because they include women and children in their religious services. 20,000 people took to the streets in Cologne to demonstrate against the portrayal of Alevis.

Last Sunday Tatort actually replaced its planned broadcast with an older program. The scheduled broadcast took place in Ludwigshafen, the site of a recent fire which killed nine Turkish people, and featured a Turkish character. No real explanation was given why the program was not aired.

Fire in Ludwigshafen kills....

2008-02-09T08:53:00.000-08:00

A fire at a building in Ludwigshafen killed nine Turkish people. On the building someone had inscribed the word Hass with the two ss's written in SS style. The fear is that German racists might have set fire on the building. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the site of the fire this week and called for a thorough investigation. It would be a huge issue if the fire was caused by arson.

Germans are abuzz with Obama

2008-02-05T13:36:00.000-08:00

Everyone I meet asks about the American presidential election. They are particularly curious about Obama, whether he would have a chance of winning given America's history of racism. German newspapers have even dubbed him the "new Kennedy."

German elections shake up the political order

2008-01-31T06:36:00.000-08:00

German elections late January dealt a blow to the CDU party in the state of Hesse. Roland Koch, the CDU Premier, ran on a law and order campaign, saying such things as "We have too many young foreign criminals." He spoke of wanting to deport juvenile foreign criminals. The CDU went from 48% of the vote to 37%. The party did much better in Lower Saxony where it ran on a moderate platform. The new Left Party, die Linke, won about 7% of the vote in each state and will be in each state parliments.

Today in 1933 Hitler became...and Turkish Gmuend

2008-01-30T15:58:00.000-08:00

Today in 1933 Hitler became Chancellor. Quite a long time ago, yet there are many, many anti-Nazi memorials, museums, exhibitions and the like still being set up across Germany. What other country continues to apologize for its past? Does the U.S. acknowledge genocide against the Indians or slavery or Jim Crow, for instance?

I was at a job interview today at the American company which hired me as a freelance French/English interpreter last year in Chad to help out with their video work. During small talk beforehand the video guy on staff spoke of the town I live in. He said that his German wife and her family who live in the vicinity speak of it as Turkish Gmuend. I couldn't believe it and didn't know how to respond. What more inappropriate comment could have been asked? He says something completely racist against Turkish people and then expects me to treat him with respect? He is from Canada but holds dual citizenship, having also an American passport.

My first full year in Germany

2007-12-31T03:48:00.000-08:00

My first full year in Germany is coming to an end. There are several social issues that will spill over into the next year. The train drivers strike is continuing. Commentators say that it threatens the post WWII social system in which unions played a central role in the maintenance of social stability. This small union has broken off from the larger union to go alone against the train company. It is a strategic union; no trains can drive without these employees. Therefore, they have much clout. Will other small groups of strategically placed employees also wield similar power in 2008?

The minimum wage discussion will continue. Some job sectors in Germany have a minimum wage but there is no national one. Post office employees, for instance, recently won this during negotiations concerning the privatization of the postal system. This discussion threatens to split the national grand coalition of Social Democrats and Christian Democrats.

Children's rights will also remain a central issue. Several highly publicized cases of child abuse and the killing of children have enflamed the Social Democrats, leading them to propose enshrining children's rights in the Constitution. What this will do to ensure sufficient child care, decent education, and good health care for children is negligible. Angela Merkel does not support this endeavor, another threat to the grand coalition.

Christmas markets are all over the place

2007-12-09T09:26:00.000-08:00

Christmas markets are all over the place. Stuttgart has a huge one that sprawls from the Schlossplatz to the Marktplatz. There's even a Finnish Christmas market on the Karlsplatz complete with tepees and stands selling Finnish food and crafts. Even Gmuend has a Christmas market which is up probably for awhile. I think they are usually in place for one month.

Stuttgart apartment hunting

2007-12-08T10:55:00.000-08:00

Stuttgart apartment hunting. Everyone says that finding a good apartment can take months. Prices are high, demand is high and supply is low. It's an owner's market. Stuttgart is, in fact, one of the most expensive cities in Germany for apartments.

We have now seen four places: two in the East and two in the West. One in the East was terrible, laminate floors and terrible balcony. The other one is very nice, spacious, good balcony, great views, but it is very far from the city center. If you work in the eastern part of the city it would be fine, but for working elsewhere it would be a hassle.

One in the West was also terrible, shitty condition, dark, although good location. The second one was much better although with it's problems. The bathroom is tiny and there's no tub. The stove is electric and the kitchen is installed (a very unGerman thing actually). Yet, it comes with a garden spot out back and although it is on the third floor the garden might not be too far away to bring dinner to to eat outside. The location is good and the price is affordable.

I haven't done a post in a while since ...

2007-12-04T03:00:00.000-08:00

I haven't done a post in quite a while because I was out of the country in N'djamena, Chad doing work as a French/English interpreter. Quite challenging work.

N'djamena is the capital and the country is extremely poor. This is their cold season and the temperature gets to between 100-110 degrees during the day. Evenings and mornings are cool. Everyone there loves this time of year because of the coolness. In February it gets a lot hotter and beginning in July or so there are three months of rainy season with fierce rains.

The people I met were all friendly and eager for opportunities. Some spoke of wanting to set up solar power for their homes and communities since Chad has a plenitude of sun.

The dollar is at its weakest point ever with the Euro

2007-11-20T11:10:00.000-08:00

The dollar is at its weakest point ever with the Euro. It is incredible but expected. Something has to fuel the American economy now that the housing market has collapsed. Exports. They want to export their way away from a recession. Good luck.

Some Europeans worry about the rise of the Euro. Some want the currency to go down. They are concerned about European exports. Germany's economy depends on exports. If they slow down, the whole economy does as well. And unemployment is still officially around "9%." This means that it is undoubtedly quite higher even if it is supposed to be low by German standards. If the economy slows, and unemployment rises, will their be pressure on the government to do things here, to change their ways?

Somehow I doubt it. Germans had their fight destroyed in the 30's and 40's. Those that had it were killed and burned. They have yet to recover from that era when it comes to asking for justice and an end to inequality.

Winter is settling in

2007-11-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

Winter is settling in. We've had several days of snow. It looks like a Winter wonderland when you drive on the Autobahn. The small towns nestled in valleys and on hills covered with snow, the fields and trees also bedecked with white. Gluhwein stands are also open now in Stuttgart at the Schlossplatz.

The Germans start Christmas early, earlier actually than Americans who, of course, have to get through Halloween and Thanksgiving first. Here, without those holidays, Christmas rolls out early October. Some stores completely changeover to sell Christmas goods.

I always find it amazing and disheartening to discover....

2007-11-07T13:44:00.000-08:00

I always find it amazing and disheartening to discover what a bubble Americans in Germany live in. Today I had to go to the Institute for Tropical Medicine in Tuebingen for vaccinations. I mentioned that I was going there to Americans whom I am presently working with and they had never heard of the place and acted as if they had never heard of the town. Tuebingen is one of the oldest university towns in Europe, is very renowned for its academic excellence, is 30 minutes away by car and the Institute is well known internationally. The Americans I am dealing with have also to get shots or have to recommend places to get them. Why they don't know of this Institute is beyond me. I believe they have their proverbial heads in the sand or up George Bush's ass.

People here are very interested in the American

2007-11-06T08:43:00.000-08:00

People here are very interested in the American election next year. I have met quite a few who want to talk about it and want to learn who is ahead in the polls, who might win, etc. Germans remain quite interested generally in what is going on in the US.

Today someone told me where he thought the CIA offices in Stuttgart are. I will have to investigate at some point. Maybe I can do a Michael Moore type expose and find out what they are doing?

You really feel the extent of ....

2007-11-04T02:16:00.000-08:00

You really feel the extent of American empire when you are driving in Germany, listening to the Armed Forces Network radio and hear the weather report. You get the weather in Europe and in Afghanistan and Iraq. You can start planning what clothes to bring when you visit your vacation condo in Basra.

Lately, I have been having quite some difficulties....

2007-10-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

Lately, I have been having quite some difficulties with companies. Let me relate a story. I have a credit card which I have not used since at least March 2006. I moved to Germany in April 2006. In May 2007 I wrote to the company to cancel the credit card. In July 2007 I received a bill for the annual membership fee of $60. I wrote again. I received another bill this time with late fees attached. I called. I wrote again. I received another bill with more late fees. I wrote and called and wrote and called and received more bills and letters, stating that the fees would have to be paid.

In early October I was informed when I called for perhaps the fourth time that I should fax a new letter and include the original May letter. I faxed from Germany. No response arrived except for a bill that arrived today! I called and finally got through to someone who said that they would cancel the late fees, the yearly fee and finally the card itself! I cannot believe the length of time it has taken to take care of this matter.

Why do the Germans switch their tires twice a year?

2007-10-29T10:08:00.000-07:00

Here it is again, time to switch car tires to the winter ones. All over Germany people own two sets of tires, one for summer and one set for winter. And they all switch them usually around the same time. I am not certain why they do this. Do they not know of all-purpose tires, tires that work in all seasons?

I, frankly do not see much difference between the winter and the summer tires. The thread depth and width look the same and they are identical in size and shape. Having two sets of tires and switching back and forth does keep them lasting longer. Perhaps, thriftiness was the rational at one time, or tire manufacturers proposed it so that car owners always had to buy two sets of tires instead of one.

Swiss People's Party wins big!

2007-10-28T05:22:00.000-07:00

Much to the embarrassment of many Swiss, the far right Swiss People's Party increased their percentage to 30% and are now the largest party. Running on a strong anti-immigration ticket, they routed other parties. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the party had a poster for the election showing three white sheep kicking a black sheep off of a Swiss flag. About one/fifth to one/sixth of Switzerland are immigrants; how do you think they feel when a party like that gets voted in? Alienation must be running rife...

Fear of foreigners is really quite big here. The irony is that Europe needs immigrants. Birth rates are dropping, kids don't go to university to study and the economies need skilled workers. The European Commission has recently proposed a blue card program to attract immigrants. I don't know all the details but it sounds like a wholehearted effort at dealing with the need for more workers.

The kitchen complex

2007-10-25T04:48:00.000-07:00

Another funny thing about Germany is that people move with their kitchens. When people move they normally bring their cupboards, shelves, stove, fridge and what have you to their new apartment. I don't have the slightest idea how or why this came about. Sometimes the previous tenant will try to sell you their "kitchen." If you have your own which you wish to install, they have to pull everything out so that you can put yours in.

Why do German apartments not have closets?

2007-10-21T03:34:00.000-07:00

Because we are thinking of moving to Stuttgart, I went to see my first apartment there yesterday. It was 73 square meters in size and advertised as a 3-room apartment. The Germans speak of apartments not like Americans do who say 1 bedroom, or two bedroom. Here, people speak of 2 room or 1 or 3 room apartments. Like in the US the bathroom and kitchen are not included in this designation.

The 3 room apartment which I saw would be a one-two bedroom in the US. There were 3 rooms besides the bathroom and kitchen, a living room, dining room or second bedroom/office and one bedroom. It did not have a closet which I find rather peculiar although this is standard here.

Why do German apartments not have closets? Is it a space issue? Do they think everyone moves in with dressers and portable closets? This is very unlike the US where there are always closets.

Operation Kingdom is a ideologically driven, action packed film.

2007-10-18T06:55:00.000-07:00

Operation Kingdom is a ideologically driven, action packed film. And the Americans win, although the ending is equivocal. This feel good movie leaves Americans with the feeling that they can do it, they can get the bad guys!

An American suburban compound in Saudi Arabia is targeted by terrorists who want foreigners to leave the country. Bombs and bullets kill and wound hundreds. The FBI forces its way over with a team of four that includes Jennifer Garner. These four handle the investigation with the help of a good Arab, a good Saudi, and they kill their man! Seeds for a sequel are planted since the Americans and the terrorist bad guy both have the same mission: We will kill them all!

Need for a German driver's license sets off a flurry....

2007-10-16T03:22:00.000-07:00

Aah, California, wonderful beautiful California. Ocean waves, fields of brown, mountains...and no agreement with Germany concerning driver's licenses. It is the only State that does not have an agreement. Instead of being able to automatically receive a license here, I have to take both the theory test and the driving test. This blog will be rather long so I can remember the events in their full absurdity.

I called a driving school this morning to begin the process. An American friend of mine lives above such a school and I asked him to put in a good word for me. What I hoped was that I could buy the guy six beers or so and he would stamp everything APPROVED as we toasted to international understanding and the right to drive.

But no. Upon speaking with him, we discussed my taking the theory exam in English and his ordering the book and the sample test for me. He then called the city's drivers license bureau which told him of a new law in place since October 1. This law says that you can no longer easily take the theory test in your native language. No more. Can't be done. Now, you have to fill out a special form and also write a brief essay why you should be excused from taking the test in English, in my case. This essay will be evaluated according to what particulars I don't have the slightest idea. Some bureaucrat somewhere will deem whether I can take the test in English or the dreaded alternative, in German.

Can you imagine? Taking a theory test in German? Even if it just concerned driving regulations, think of the arcane abstract language that describes the laws, the language of Kant, Hegel and Nietzsche, some say the philosophical language par excellence! Think of what it would be like to take a theory test in German and think of all the thousands of foreigners now living here who face this predicament.

Upon his advice, I went to the bureau myself. There, the clerk, a matronly 50 year old with light brown highlights in her hair immediately recognized me as the problem just spoken of with the driving school owner. She immediately launched into a flurry of activity, giving me forms, attempting to explain all the documents I had to assemble before going to the city office which reviews and stamps everything and then sends it on to her. She raised her voice several times due to the very misguided understanding that the louder she spoke the easier it would be for me to understand. Little did she realize that the higher the decibel simply increases one's exasperation which is already at the boiling point due to the absurdity of having driving abilities tested after having driven for more than 25 years! I had to fill out the main form, fill out a 2nd form (Erklaerung) although what this explains is beyond me, fill out the dreaded form that will plead to take the test in English, get an eye test, pay 37 Euros and 50 cents, take a first aid test, have my driver's license translated by an accredited translator, then bring it all to the city bureau which then returns it to her. And at some time afterwards the decision will come: English or no English, whereupon the book and test sample can be ordered!

I left thinking how absolutely crazy that Cali has no agreement and went to the travel bureau where ADAC has its office. ADAC is the german equivalent of AAA, a friend when you need one says their advertisement on TV. There, a clerk immediately set forth to fill the documents required and made a copy of my license. Puzzled as to whether CA was a member of the EU she asked a colleague whether I would pay 36 Euros or 46 Euros. The colleague came over and explained that California was a non-EU state, therefore, 46. Even though we in California think of ourselves as so different, and may consider ourselves more European than New Yorkers who everyone says are so European in attitude and lifestyle and NYC is the most European of all American cities, even if our economy fluctuates each year with France for being the 6th or the 7th largest in the world, we are still not European enough to have entered the EU! Incredible! I paid 46 Euros and she said that I would have to wait two weeks. I showed her the copy and said there was hardly anything to translate, in fact there is nothing to translate basically, sex, height, eye color, hair color, weight, address and date of birth. What is there to translate? She explained that they have to send everything to the Munich office and perhaps it will take only one week not two and that she will call me when they've received it.

Coming home I then called an optometrist. They said the test takes perhaps 3 minutes and you don't need an appointment. It is done on a walk-in basis. Whew! What a rigorous examination of my seeing abilities awaits! I next called to register for the first aid. No one was at the Red Cross. I looked at the time and it was 12:15 the lunch hour when everything shuts down! I called the second place, Maltheser, which I've always thought of as a brewer of malt beer, perhaps they do these first aid tests on the side and got someone who after consulting with a colleague said I did not need to register but could go there any Saturday morning at 9am, pay 24 Euros in cash and sit through the presentation to receive the proof.

Fear of foreigners uniting Europeans

2007-10-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

Over here there's rising concern about non white people. The Belgians who are fighting to divide their country into two, one Flemish speaking and the other French, have united around the fear of immigrants. This week they passed incredibly restrictive immigration laws.

Things dealing with the possible split of the country are too hilarious to even write about now. I am laughing too much to concentrate. One small tale was when the present Prime Minister, proud of being from Flemish speaking region, flummoxed completely the singing of the national anthem which is in French! He thinks the French speakers who don't speak Flemish are stupid! And vice versa?

In Switzerland there's an extreme right party, the Swiss People's Party, which has a majority in Parliament, that has a campaign poster showing three white sheep kicking out a black sheep. Check it out: http://www.svp.ch/

Every German basically has an opinion...

2007-10-10T04:59:00.000-07:00

Every German basically has an opinion of the United States. Once they know you are American they will tell you their opinion whether you want to hear it or not. Yesterday, I was with two friends sitting in a cafe when a German man at the next table overheard our conversation and joined in. He instantly made two comments about the US. One, was how come Bush says he is the President of America and not of North America? Isn't America comprised of South America and North America? Is he President of both? The second was how Mexicans are being killed at the US border. I countered this by talking of how European fishermen have been not helping out refugees seeking to get to Europe by boat. Instead, they let them languish and in some cases die at sea. In another recent case, some Italian fishermen who helped some refugees were actually brought to court for doing so. Europe actually faces a similar situation when it comes to illegal migration. Thousands attempt to enter Europe each year and yes some die attempting to arrive here.

Hamburg and how things have changed.

2007-10-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

We were in Hamburg last week for five days. It was my first time there. It is Germany's second largest city, around 1.7 million people and has Europe's largest port. A very interesting city, very international and many very different neighborhoods some of which are quite beautiful. There's one neighborhood that is a similar to Berlin's Kreuzberg, leftie, anarchistic and filled with youthful rebellion. It is different from Kreuzberg though because there are no Turks living there, but is interesting, filled with cafes, restaurants, bars, clothing boutiques, etc. It's become(ing) quite gentrified. The clothing boutiques were packed with young people in their 20's paying top Euros for very expensive clothes. I found myself thinking how times have changed because when I was in my 20's first off in cities like San Fran there were no clothing boutiques in alternative neighborhoods to speak of besides second hand clothing stores and secondly nobody had any money or interest to spend huge sums on clothes. People just didn't care about that at all. Now, some people in their 20's do.

Integration in Germany film

2007-10-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

After quite a long absence due to intensive tests, I'm writing again. The test DAF (German as a foreign language) was very difficult and I doubt I scored high enough for university entrance. You need at least TD4 in all four sections. I won't receive the grades till the end of the month and am very curious. The course exams were also difficult, but I scored well on them, my final intensive German class. Next week I will take a German writing course at the VHS Stuttgart. The VHS is like a community college in the States.

I also begin a long documentary project in October at ifa where I studied intensive German. I received permission to follow a group of students from the first to the final class. My past instructors will receive the beginning class and I can begin shooting Oct. 15th, the very first day. Hopefully, the students will be ok with the project. My idea is to do a film on integration in Germany.

Will trojans be next?

2007-09-10T06:03:00.000-07:00

The recent arrests of "terrorists" have Germans contemplating security laws more intrusive than what the American government has done. The Interior Minister proposed that the security agencies have the right to install trojans on people's computers to keep track of Internet usage. The left party in the government, the SPD, has decried this idea, saying this kind of invasiveness is not necessary. The government is already tracking Internet phone calls. Will trojans be next?

People outside the US are rightly critical of the US government

2007-09-02T04:47:00.000-07:00

I don't believe Felix Rohatyn's characterization of Nicolas Sarkozy is very accurate. He speaks of a new France which Sarkozy represents that Americans will find attractive, Americans "worried about their financial security, their physical security and their place in the world." Americans have all rights to be worried after conducting basically unilateral foreign policy over the last fifty years or so. The US government has invaded so many lands, overthrown and undermined so many politicians worldwide and defended the interests of Big Business too many times. People outside the US are rightly critical of the US government.

France should not play a role of kowtowing to American interests, but should promote an independent Europe that will speak with one voice in international affairs. Europe should be a counterweight to the US.

Class rigidity in Germany

2007-08-29T06:37:00.000-07:00

In class today our teacher said that the classes in Germany rarely know each other. The Sixties and Seventies shook society up quite a bit and for a period of time people from different social classes got to know and/or married each other. These social attitudes have, however, changed. A pharmacist will want to go out with a doctor, for instance. Class rigidity is settling in.

American subprime mortgage fiasco or crime hits German banks

2007-08-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

The American subprime mortgage fiasco or crime has also affected German banks. Several banks have had to stop transactions, receive infusions of cash from the Central Bank, and one recently was sold to a rival to help it withstand bankruptcy. It is hard to say how many more banks here could be affected since the situation in the US is hardly close to being over. The tentacles of greed could strangle quite a few more banks here as its grip tightens before receding.

Racist attack in Mugeln last week gets attention

2007-08-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

The racist attack of about 50 people on 8 Indians in the town of Mugeln in the state of Saxony has gotten a lot of press in Germany. It happened last weekend at a cityfest. The 8 were there and all of a sudden they were attacked, beaten and chased. They tried to take refuge in a pizzeria and the people attacked the restaurant, breaking windows, storming the place, etc. It took about 70 cops to stop the fighting.

The mayor of Mugeln said later that he did not know if racism was involved. This statement was so stupid that it doesn't merit comment. The police chief said something similar. What else caused it? The tidal pull of the moon?

Germany's unspoken role in Iraq

2007-08-23T08:26:00.000-07:00

The US is the last allied country with soldiers on German soil. The Russians are no more and the French and British have also gone. The US maintains, however, enormous bases throughout the country, including several with nuclear weapons.

Why is this? A German woman I met recently said that Germans in general do not think of the Americans as occupiers, like Iraqis might do. She said most Germans remain only vaguely aware of the American military presence in their country. They are in the background and sometimes in the news but for the most part are not thought of or spoken about.

NATO obligation was her answer as the reason why they are still here. Clearly, the American military in Germany does more than fulfill NATO obligations. Germany is a major transfer point for all troops, equipment and supplies to Iraq, for instance. All badly injured are also flown to American military hospitals here. Germany is playing a large role in the Iraq War, although it is largely unspoken.

Recent deaths of German soldiers in Afghanistan

2007-08-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

Recent deaths of Germans in Afghanistan could lead to a shift in German policy concerning dispatching German soldiers overseas. The SPD party has publicly begun to question whether Germany should have troops there. They could demand that the troops return home which could cause divisions in the national government they share with the CDU. The CDU strongly supports the troops' role overseas.

Outposts of Empire

2007-08-19T03:16:00.000-07:00

All over Germany people are fascinated by the Roman ruins in their midst. There are Roman festivals where people dress in Roman like clothing and set up tent camps. There are gladiator fights. There are parades of Roman soldiers.

Germany was an outpost of the Roman Empire. Although not all of Germany was under their control, vast parts of it were and there were Roman bases and barracks throughout a large portion of Southern and Eastern Germany.

The Americans maintain bases and barracks still in Germany. They've done so since the end of WWII. I don't believe the British or the French continue to do so and of course the Russians no longer do as well. Yet, the Americans are here and their bases are very important for the projection of American military power.

Recently, there was an IHT article about an American base near Wiesbaden. A regiment was preparing for another 15 month tour of duty in Iraq. Much of the story concerned family members of the soldiers who also lived on the bases and the push by the US military to keep the families there while their loved ones were off fighting. Some of the reasons given were to keep up family morale and to keep people among a group of people going through the same experience. It spoke of a disconnect existing in the US where most people are no longer pre-occupied by the Iraq fighting, certainly not to the degree the families of soldiers are.

Roman soldiers lived here without the luxury of having their families with them. American soldiers can have their families with them when they are stationed here. One of my big questions is why are the American bases still here? What purpose do they serve? The Iraq War is not a NATO operation. It is a unilateral war with few partners.

The lure of Las Vegas and American English

2007-08-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

Despite America's unilateral foreign policy and its destructive war in Iraq, many students I meet studying German in Stuttgart are fascinated by the US and would like to visit. The place most express interest in seeing is Las Vegas. Some speak of Los Angeles and others of New York City, but Vegas is what commonly comes up in conversations. The lure of the lights and action, the simulation of fun, the frisson of excitement, all this and more draws people's interest.

Speaking American English is considered hip by many of these students. They might not understand much of the language but they have seen MTV videos and mimic street talk. Many want to learn or improve their English and hope to do so after mastering German.

Dornfelder and the sagging safety net

2007-08-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

First the good stuff. I tried Dornfelder red wine over the weekend and it was great. What I tried came from the Rhine Hessen area. Well balanced, rich, dry and fruity. A great wine. Red wine production is increasing in Germany because of growing demand. As someone I met said, red wine is the trend.

I also experienced what could be the beginning of the sagging safety net. Germany has long been heralded as a country that takes care of its people. There is a strong moralism that runs throughout German culture. People are generally proud to have a strong welfare society and that there has not been relatively great disparities in income (CEOs are paid much less, for instance, than in America).

Yet, things are fraying at the edges. In Trier we parked in a grocery store parking lot and witnessed two mentally ill people hanging about. One guy stood stock still and smoked cigarettes, although he would sometimes shift his position. Another guy approached us, asking for 2 Euros (which is quite a lot of money, talk about inflation!).

You see it in people's teeth. The poor can't pay for dental care and so avoid it. You see it in the libraries where the homeless and marginal congregate. The homeless here are not so impoverished. They are not so instantly obvious for the most part. However, they are there and over time are noticeable.

The summer of the train strikes continues

2007-08-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

The summer of the train strikes continues. Tomorrow, the train drivers go on strike all over Germany. No one knows exactly where they will stop work but everyone is preparing for it. People also don't know how long it might last. They are after a pay raise of up to 31%.

A homey's handshake in the German heartland?

2007-08-06T05:50:00.000-07:00

After an enormous water spill on my laptop, the blog is back. Fortunately, everything dried out without causing problems.

Coming back from the Bodensee we passed through a small German town and I saw two high school age girls greeting each other. They did so with a TV handshake. First, they shook hands, then they made fists and knocked them together. It looked incredibly out of place and stupid. It was a homey's handshake brought to the German heartland. They, undoubtedly, had learned it from TV and had no idea where the handshake originated from and what it might mean. It was copied because it looked cool.

Shut down the Tour?

2007-07-28T07:03:00.000-07:00

What to do about all the bicycle dopers and doping? Each day arrives with news of new doping scandals, teams kicked out, riders banned. Should the Tour de France be simply stopped? It is no longer watched much outside of France. Do any riders or teams have credibility? Perhaps, it is time to stop the Tour. Let it not take place for one generation of riders. Then, restart it. Maybe in this way it could be saved.

Henkersfest in Stuttgart

2007-07-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening was the first day of Henkersfest in Stuttgart. This is a very popular five day music festival on Wilhelmsplatz. The theme of the music this year seems to be Goth/Metal. I saw two bands there yesterday; the first was excellent, more rock and roll, but the second was terrible and Goth. It reminded me of why I can't stand Goth music all over again. Guys with incredibly long hair doing headbanging as if it expresses something. The female lead singer was awful, all pose and no soul.

The fest itself is worth going to. Wilhelmsplatz is reputed to be the site of a gallows and Henker means hangman. There's food, drink and, of course, live bands and djs.

French politicians start an anti-thinking campaign

2007-07-24T02:55:00.000-07:00

French politicians start an anti-thinking campaign. The land of Descartes, Sartre and Beauvoir is turning away from books and towards work. Hard to believe but leading French politicos including Sarkozy have spoken about this in a very public way. Sarkozy even loudly pronounced at a media stop recently "I am not an intellectual." And his Finance Minister in a speech to Parliment urged all french people to stop thinking and start working. Incredible, no!

Sarkozy wants to bring the Euro down in strength

2007-07-20T06:24:00.000-07:00

Sarkozy, much to the dismay of many European politicians, is putting pressure on the European Central Bank to bring down the value of the Euro. The Euro is incredibly strong at the moment in relation to the dollar and Asian currencies. It is around $1.38 at present, and is the highest it has been in years.

Sarkozy, newly elected and filled with Gallic vigor, blames the high Euro on French export woes. Many economists discount this criticism. They point at the German economy which is the number one exporter in the world. Its' export machine has not been hindered in spite of the Euro's strength. German business people, however, have also lately been expressing worries about the Euro's

Mexican week by Lidl!

2007-07-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

Mexican week by the Lidl grocery store has come and gone. As I wrote before, German grocery stores have ethnic weeks during which they sell items they don't normally stock. I was looking forward to this week with great anticipation. If there's any food I miss, it's Mexican food.

I waited to be able to stock up on tomatillos, salsa verde, fresh jalapenos and serrano chiles, refried beans, black beans, corn tortillas, etc., etc., and etc. Much to my dismay what was on offer was not so grand. Most of it was different spice packages for things like tacos or fajitas. They did have different tortillas on sale, but alas no corn and no refried beans! There also were hard taco shells, tortilla chips and salsa.

The Hamburger Fish Market has come and gone!

2007-07-17T06:55:00.000-07:00

The annual Hamburger Fish Market ended on Sunday. Karlplatz in Stuttgart is transformed by people from the city of Hamburg for two weeks. There are multiple kinds of stands selling fish; hawkers hawking cheese, produce and plants; all kinds of different bar stands, crepe sellers, spice tables, you name it you can find it there.

In return Stuttgart sends its Wine Festival to Hamburg. This festival takes place on Schillerplatz and beyond every September or so also for two weeks.

American style anti terror laws coming to Germany

2007-07-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

American style "anti-terror" laws coming to Germany? This week Germany's Interior Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, proposed that Germany pass laws permitting indefinite detentions and targeted killing of terror suspects. Schaeuble is a hard right member of Chancellor Merkel's CDU party. These comments provoked an intense outcry in Germany. Most press commentary was against the proposals. In fact, you can buy t-shirts on the Internet that have a picture of Schaeuble's face with the writing Stasi 2.0. Stasi was the name of the East German secret service which used very invasive tactics against the East German population.

EU Commission enlists YouTube in its fight!

2007-07-12T06:11:00.000-07:00

EU bureaucrats are so convinced of the lack of European identity that they are enlisting YouTube in their efforts to foster such feelings. If you go to: http://www.youtube.com/eutube, you will find many short videos put together by the EU Commission. Several praise the European film industry. It is an interesting way to point to the irrelevance of Europe as a common entity.

German rail workers win big raise

2007-07-11T06:54:00.000-07:00

German rail workers won a raise of 4.5%. They will also receive a one time payment of 600Euros or $817. This is one of the highest wage increases in Germany this year and affects about 135,000 workers. The intermittent warning strikes seem to have paid off.

Doing strikes in a piecemeal fasion are not successful

2007-07-10T08:11:00.000-07:00

Another day of train strikes occurred today. I was on the 7:22 train and it came to a stop at 8am in Waiblingen, two stops from the Stuttgart train station. We were told that this train was stopping and there would be no more trains until 11am. Everyone got off, went to the Sbahn station, and eventually there was an announcement that there would be no more Sbahns. Then, we went to the bus station and figured out how to get into Stuttgart. At 8:30am there was an announcement that there a train would arrive and go to Stuttgart. Everyone trooped to the platform, the train arrived and we were taken to the train station.

I'm not certain how effective this is for the railroad workers' strike. If there's a strike, just go on strike and shut the entire system down until an agreement is made. Doing strikes in a piecemeal fashion are not successful.

Tschibo is a peculiar German store

2007-07-09T05:55:00.000-07:00

Tschibo is a peculiar German store. What started I believe as a coffee shop became transformed into a weekly bargain store. Each week the bargain items, many of which are Tschibo brands, change and new items are displayed. People flock to the Tschibo stores to check out what they have as regularly as they might go grocery shopping. All the stores I have seen are also quite small, but they pack many wares into all available space. And they still sell coffee beans.

German driver's license rigamarole

2007-07-08T03:39:00.000-07:00

It turns out that the State of California does not have an agreement with Germany concerning drivers' licenses. If you move here from some US States, you can get a German license right away. From States like California, however, this is not the case.

I found this out last week when I visited the German office dealing with such matters. The rigamarole I have to go through now is just incredible. Not only do I have to take the written test, thankfully in English, but I have to take the driving test as well. I also need an eye exam, an emergency course given by the Red Cross and have to have my California license translated by an official translator. The latter is so absurd to be almost ridiculous. The licence says nothing other than address, date of birth, social security number, etc.

The whole affair will probably cost around 300 Euros, about $400.

Merkel up or down

2007-07-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

The German press has lately been reporting that Chancellor Merkel needs domestic victories in order to be re-elected. Although she has two more years left in her present term, there are some doubts about her re-electability. She has projected herself broadly on the international stage, while nationally she has done very little. An important national stage, the EU presidency, has ended (being adopted now by Portugal). This is a six month rotating position which the recent EU treaty is promoting to make two years. With this gone and the G8 over, where will Merkel act internationally? Her options there are limited. Whether she will be able to accomplish much domestically given the unity government with the Social Democratic Party is anybody's guess.

German train strike keeps me from German class!

2007-07-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

I have to thank the union of railroad workers in Germany for being on strike today. I wasn't able to get to Stuttgart from Gmund and took the day off from my intensive German class! What fun! Maybe the strike will effect traffic all week!

This strike is effecting all passenger trains, including Sbahn systems in German cities. People want higher wages. It turns out that Sbahn drivers in Stuttgart make 1400Euros per month after taxes. That's about $1900. It's not a lot of money given the responsibility.

Wages here are completely tied to a person's educational achievements. Diplomas and certificates mean everything to Germans. Without them, you are qualified for nothing and earn less than that. I still have very little idea how much people earn here. Lately, I've been trying to find out how much freelance fundraisers make because I may have some possibilities opening up in this area here.

Europe, Kosovo and the Russian Bear

2007-07-02T07:21:00.000-07:00

Will Europe confront Russia over Kosovar independence? This is top on my mind today. Europe hasn't been acting so strongly towards Russia lately. One of the reasons why it might be good to have a European foreign minister is so the EU can speak as one on foreign policy issues. Otherwise, the policy is fragmented and it is each country for itself. Germany has proved this repeatedly in the last several years by negotiating separate energy contracts with Russia, for instance. And the EU has unfortunately shot down the idea of a foreign minister in its recent treaty negotiations. So, it looks like business as usual when it comes to external relations.

What does it all mean to the people of Kosovo who demand independence from Serbia? Serbia doesn't want this and is pressuring Russia to not permit it. Russia says Kosovar independence could set a bad precedent for other regions yearning to decide their affairs independently from majority populations. Russia is likely to veto any move in the UN Security Council to grant independence. What will Europe do? Will it stand up to the Russian Bear?

1 step forward and a few backward

2007-06-28T07:34:00.000-07:00

The European Union took one step forward and a few backward recently. All the leaders met to hash out the Constitution debacle. What came out of the meeting is not a Constitution but a treaty. There will not be a foreign policy minister which means that Europe will not speak to the world with one voice. This will limit Europe's effectiveness at counterbalancing the United States in world affairs. All the countries except for Britain signed an accord on fundamental individual rights. Britain was concerned that this accord could step on its much vaunted rights of business to conduct business. Poland also almost sidelined the entire affair to obscurity by insisting for weeks that voting strength would have to be decided by the square root of each country's population instead of simply its population figures. The voting procedures will go into place as planned in 2017, a long way off but at least without the Poles idiocy.

Germany's labor movement loses two big battles

2007-06-21T05:38:00.000-07:00

The German government has now announced that it will not try to pass universal minimum wage legislation. Instead, it will attempt to raise the minimum wage in 12 economic sectors, similar to the situation that exists in the construction industry. The Social Democrats, partners with the Christian Democratic Union in the national government, says that they reluctantly have to agree with the situation.

In the meanwhile, Germany's telecommunications union verdi just lost a strike with Deutsche Telekom. Deutsche Telekom wants to shift 50,000 workers to another business entity, increase their working hours to 38 per week and decrease their pay by 6.5% over the next couple of years. There are a few other clauses that Telekom won; the agreement goes to a vote now to verdi members.

These two events represent a severe weakening in the labor movement in Germany, as well as the centrist politics of the Social Democratic Party. Will Germany's new Left Party, a recently formed political party, gain growing strength from the vacillation of the Social Democrats? Only the next election will tell.

EU foreign policy in a very disorganized state

2007-06-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

European foreign policy is in a very disorganized state. Take the Palestinian situation for example. The European Union, like the USA, urged the Palestinians for years to have democratic elections. And they did and in the last election Hamas won. The Europeans and the Americans both very hypocritically said that they would not work with Hamas even though they were the elected majority. They tried to work with Fatah, suspended direct aid payments and did not force Israel to give the Palestinian tax receipts to the Hamas government among other egregious things. To make a long story short, Palestine is now in chaos. Would recognizing and working with the Hamas government have worked to moderate Hamas' positions on Israel, for example? Would this have helped stability be maintained in the West Bank and Gaza Strip? Perhaps.

Establishing a minimum wage

2007-06-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

German politicians are actually considering establishing a minimum wage. It seems the story of hairdressers making 3.50Euros an hour is quite well known and they realize that they finally have to do something about it. Hairdressers are not the only people drastically underpaid in the "booming"German economy. Many people are paid quite poorly.

When the EU was established and as it has gone through all of its enlargements the laws passed facilitated among other things the business of corporations. There is no minimum wage that is European wide and many EU countries do not have minimum wages. This sets up situations where companies move to countries with the lowest wages or people migrate from their home countries to other countries where they work for less than the locals will. This army of the unemployed moving from country to country undercuts the pressure to raise salaries or to establish a minimum wage.

To solve the situation the politicians are proposing that 7.50Euros be the minimum wage. Having a minimum wage would be a good thing. Will it be a living wage, as is fought for in the United States? This remains to be seen.

Every Business English firm has been screwed up...

2007-06-12T06:19:00.000-07:00

Every Business English firm I've had dealings with so far are completely screwed up in one way or another. It's amazing how mismanaged and disorganized they are. Here's an example. Three weeks ago I interviewed on a Thursday with ISD, a language firm that prides itself on its relations with LBBW and the Bosch Corporation. LBBW is a major German bank. I was interviewed by an over-talkative lady who turned out to be from Minneapolis. While giving me a tour of the place she apologized for such things as tears in the rugs and splotchy paint jobs, etc. The next day I was offered two classes back to back at LBBW that would meet Tuesday afternoons.

I accepted the classes and since Monday was a holiday in Germany and the firm would be closed, I told them that I would have to meet on Tuesday morning during my language class break to get course teaching materials, review the needs analysis documents, etc. I learned quickly while I was there that I was taking over the class from someone, that the needs analysis docs were not available and just to spend the first day finding out what their needs were and do introductions. Fair enough, that is what I did. The first group's conversational English was middling at best, while the second group's was excellent. I learned from both that the main thing they wanted to learn was legal English as their main responsibilities were to read and approve lengthy bank loan documents written English. I said no problem. I would ask for a legal English book from the firm and start in on it next week.

On Friday I went to ISD to pick up the book, learn how to do time sheets and sundry matters and was told that they had received a blistering email from one of the second group members who was incredibly pissed at the incompetence of the language firm. The previous instructor was terrible and had wasted their time, ISD had not provided me with their needs analysis docs, they had had to go through introductions again with me, I was not a banker or a lawyer with strong command over legal English, and on and on. The ISD manager panicked, told stories of the previous Instructor, relating how they had become concerned about criticisms of his teaching from every place but LBBW (which they had been quite confused about), that they did not know that legal English was the main thing they wanted to learn and that she was pulling me from the class so that she could teach it herself. Then, she realized it was on Tuesdays and conflicted with one of her other classes. This caused verbose consternation and I left feeling pissed for having been a fall guy for matters out of my control.

Students as guinea pigs for German teachers

2007-06-11T07:07:00.000-07:00

I feel as if I and my fellow German language students are guinea pigs for the teachers. Today we met the person who will teach us for the next two weeks. She spent most of the time reading to us in German from an article on intercultural understanding. What this topic has to do with the "German as a Foreign Language" exam preparation is beyond me. She also took notes of what we said the entire time. It is as if she will write some sort of empirical article on the opinions of her students. Bizarre.

One of our regular teachers is an ex-, or retired-, or never tenured philosophy professor. He's interesting, but as you can imagine very windy. He talks a lot about the theoretical or etymological foundations of words and phrases. This can be helpful and interesting, but also has very little to do with the exam preparation. This class' instructors I have to say have been a rather sorry lot so far.

The G8 has come and gone

2007-06-10T04:14:00.000-07:00

The G8 has come and gone. Will anything change? Probably not. Wealth will remain mostly in the hands of the Northern countries who say they want to give more money to Africa for medical purposes. Critics say the money is old money already pledged. And what will the money buy anyway? Lately in the news here was a story of an American big pharm company that did drug trials in an African country on children, testing some drug on one group and placebos on the other. Seems that 15 or so kids out of around 100 died and there's a court case against the big pharm concern. Will the court case bring those kids back? I remember in the States at fundraising job interviews for medical colleges how they all spoke of big pharm, gotta go after big pharma for the cash. The fundraising world is so replete with hypocrisy too often.

The police smashed some heads at the G8 though. And some police were also injured. After the big protest newspapers reported lack of sympathy with the protesters because so many cops had been injured. Later in the week though they changed their tune and the tide began to shift towards the protesters. Maybe this was after the demo where thousands of protesters dressed up like clowns and marched off to somewhere only to be headed off, chased and stopped by the police.

People are drinking more earlier

2007-06-09T05:34:00.000-07:00

People are drinking more earlier are what two people said to me concerning the behavior of their German countrymen at the Schwabisch Gmund City Festival. They are becoming wasted much earlier in the evening and then drunkenly wandering around.

Yesterday was the first City Festival Day. The event goes for two days every year. There are food and beer stands and music stages all over the town. Most of the music we saw last night were bands playing cover songs, terrible stuff in my opinion. The town did something different though this year by organizing "The Battle of the Bands" competition. This took place on the main stage at the Munsterplatz and many local bands participated with one being crowned the best at 11pm. Here even if the music was not always that good at least it was original.

G8 Demos

2007-06-06T07:02:00.000-07:00

The leaders of the Group of Eight highly industrialized countries will be surrounded by 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) of security fencing to keep their gathering from June 6-8 in the sea-side resort town of Heiligendamm from being disrupted. Thousands of demonstrators have already begun protesting in northern Germany. Many of the demonstrators blame the police for the recent violence that has taken place. During Saturday's demo, for instance, more than 1000 protesters and 400 police were injured.

What is the US doing in Somalia?

2007-06-05T06:41:00.000-07:00

What is the US doing in Somalia? As you might know, the US has been bombing and Special Operations Forces missions in Somalia since working with the Ethiopians on overthrowing the Islamist government. The Islamists actually brought stability to the country which has now been once again plunged into violent chaos. And the US is acting as it wants, conducting missions against so called terrorist threats. Do Americans know the US is doing this? What about the national sovereignty of Somalia? Is not the country's national sovereignty denied by these American military actions?

Bush throws Merkel a left jab

2007-06-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

Bush's recent climate change proposal has European, especially German politicians, angry and upset. Bush proposed meetings between the US and 14 other major emitters to set targets by the end of 2008. People here criticize him for proposing a different set of meetings outside of the United Nations.

Merkel has long had climate change on the top of her agenda for this week's G8 meeting. Some feel that Bush has purposely put her in a tight spot, by stealing her thunder. Despite Merkel's oft-professed "good relations" with Bush, it is obvious no matter how close you feel you are to this Texan, he will constantly throw you punches to keep you off balance. Especially when it concerns a matter of import to the entire world.

English beyond the absurd

2007-05-31T11:32:00.000-07:00

I started a Business English teaching job in Stuttgart this week at the Landesbank Baden Wurttemburg. It's a major bank in this region and also operates nationally and internationally. I'm teaching people in the accounting department who deal with legal loan contracts. These are huge documents, filled with legalese as one can imagine, basically illegible and formulaic. Once you've read one, you've read them all except to be aware of minute differences.

The two groups I am teaching don't have the slightest knowledge of legal or banking English. Yet, they have to review and approve the contracts, working with the other banks on changes, etc. I find it incredible that this type of work is in their purview. Even if their English is good in some cases, having them deal with these kinds of documents is beyond absurd.

German police taking scent samples of activists

2007-05-28T00:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is true. The police have been taking scent samples of activists. They say they want to be able to track them in case of trouble at the upcoming G8 meeting on June 8 in Heiligendamm, Germany. What will the police do when their trained dogs bark or wag their tails, showing that they've sniffed someone out in the demonstration? Will they let the dogs loose on them? Will they wade in and start busting heads?

The collecting of scent samples was a Stasi technique; Stasi, of course, being the East German secret service. The reporting on scent sample collecting has raised much consternation because it was a Stasi technique. I'm not certain that the Stasi had the patent on it. Perhaps, it is a technique used by many police agencies throughout the world. It is a new one on me. I've never heard of this way of tracking people before.

Iraq war causing American insanity?

2007-05-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

I sometimes wonder if Americans are going crazy due to the Iraq war. About a month ago I had a meeting to do some work for a natural history museum in Stuttgart. The work entailed writing five case studies that would explain the usefulness of taxonomy in very concrete ways. One of the participants was an American working for the Smithsonian. One of the subjects he proposed was "taxonomy and war." He spoke of how taxonomy was used once during WWII to pinpoint the exact location of a German U-boat base that was then bombed. I remained totally reticent at this suggestion and chose not to write about this topic, thinking that it was absolutely crazy. Let's militarize the pursuit of science as a way to show how important it can be.

Then, last week I had the opportunity to watch CNN. There was a brief program that talked of "America getting ready" and the commentator spoke of how Americans had to get used to fighting a perpetual war on terror. He equated terrorist groups with the flu. They just all of a sudden pop up somewhere and then have to be dealt with. This was one of the most ahistorical analyses I have been confronted with in a long time. It was so totally idiotic that it cannot be taken seriously. I wonder though if this thinking is becoming common currency in American culture at the moment.

Southern Black Forest

2007-05-24T11:31:00.000-07:00

We spent a week in the Southern Black Forest and I would recommend it to anyone. Much to see and do no matter what your interests are. Freiburg is a great ancient university town that has a brewery with the best beer in Germany that I've tasted so far. Some of the most untouched land is in this area as well, especially the Wutach Canyon. The hiking there is fantastic and I had the feeling for a moment that I was back in the US somewhere except for the fact that the canyon, although large by European standards, was rather small by American standars. Very beautiful though, great trails and much to see. Colmar in France, an ancient city is nearby, and is well worth the visit. Very beautiful and has among other sites an old Venetian quarter with canals and yes even gondolas. Bad Kronzingen where we stayed is rather boring but does have a wonderful mineral water spa which is free if you stay there for three days or more and pay the tourism tax (this I will have to talk about in a later post). The spa is incredible, many different saunas in the Sauna Paradise which has been aptly named and many different baths. It's also a wine region and some say excellent wines come from there.

Stuttgart won the German Bundesliga

2007-05-23T03:54:00.000-07:00

Stuttgart won the German Bundesliga last Saturday. They played Cottbus and won 2-1 and also won first place in the German soccer league. I saw the game on television in a bar in Bad Krozingen which is about 20 kilometers south of Freiburg. They did not necessarily play that great of a game, but they played well all season, especially in the second half. There was a crowd of about 250,000 people in Stuttgart's Schlossplatz and by all accounts the celebration there went on till late in the evening.

Bremen election puts the shakes in the national government

2007-05-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

The election two days ago in Bremen shows how fragile the national governing coalition is in Germany. The whole lot of hot air might come crashing down. The SPD and the CDU both lost percentages, not enormous, but still setbacks. And the parties which gained were the Greens and the New Left Party.

These results could foretell much. Beck, the head of the SPD, might have to leave his position. I sense that his leadership is rather lackluster, so I would say good riddance. And the CDU losing strength in my eyes is wonderful. They are a woefully inadequate party of the rich with Merkel the leading puppet on a Euro string.

Sarkozy against Turkish EU membership

2007-05-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

I cannot resist another comment about Sarkozy. He is opposed to Turkey becoming a member of the EU. I am for Turkey becoming a member. It is incredible the fear and anxiety people have for Turkey. I find that Germans generally speak of the Turkish people like white Americans speak of Mexicans and Blacks, how Americans spoke of the Irish when they first emigrated, etc. They don't understand them, there is little communication between Germans and Turks and very few Turkish people whom I've met have German friends. They are definitely the "other" and addressed as such.

Isolating Turkey would be a terrible thing and an enormous setback to solidifying their presence in the world. At present, Turkey is going through a domestic crisis of sorts due to a politician from the Islamist Party being forced to not run for President of the country. The entire weight of the secular establishment came out against him. The secularists in Turkey are a real threat to democracy and Western freedoms, and always have been ironically. The Islamist Party in power in Turkey is moderate and seriously tries to meet all the mandates given them by the EU for membership. They also fully respect democratic politics. What happens in Turkey and whether they can join the EU will have a real impact on the future of Europe.

The thug (and capital ) won

2007-05-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

The thug won in France. I guess this is not surprising given Royal's chaotic campaign. She acted too often like she did not really know what she was running for or why. She wanted people to vote for her out of fear of Sarkozy. Fear alone, however, does not a platform make.

On German news last night the word about Sarkozy was "work, work, work." He wants France to work again. He wants to do away with the 35 hour work week, to limit the effectiveness of public sector strikes, make it easier to release people from jobs, etc., etc., etc. Commentators speak of him as the Maggie Thatcher of France.

And the Socialist Party now? The papers are full of stories about how the Socialists must change and become a Social-Democrat party like that in other European countries. This means ridding themselves of their socialist agenda and embracing liberal capitalism.

The thug vs. the debutante

2007-05-06T04:26:00.000-07:00

Who is winning the French election which is taking place today? France is faced with two quite different choices, at least ideologically, today. Sarkozy the thug vs. Royal the debutante. Sarkozy has his name due to his revolting comments made last year towards the suburban youth who rioted because they have no future. Royal has her name because of the many gaffes she made on the campaign trail, particularly in foreign policy, and also the way she handled herself during the debate with Sarkozy. The thug will probably win. Then, what will France get? A little America in Western Europe? Less social spending, more police, less labor rights, more profits for corporations, less youth program funding, more money for the rich.

The people are tight-fisted in Frankfurt

2007-05-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

Frankfurt is a city of bankers. They actually nicknamed in Mainhattan because the Main river flows through it and some skyscrapers are along the river. The view is hardly as striking as looking at Manhattan from Brooklyn. And the people seem to have little soul or generosity. At least, some of them.

Let me explain. After coming here to take care of some business at the American consulate, I did some sightseeing, ending up at a cafe in a pedestrian zone. Sitting outside during the lunch hours many bankers and wealthy patrons also sat in the same cafe. In front a gypsy music duo played showtunes on accordion and sax. The sax player at one point stopped playing and went first to cafes on one side to ask for change then to the cafes on my side. No one around me gave him money accept for myself. I couldn't believe it. Here were all these well paid, expensively dressed people and they couldn't cough up a dime for street musicians? Incredible. Most didn't even look at him, completely ignoring him. Some said, leave me in peace. Some dismissed him with a wave of the hand. I had no idea that tight-fistedness is a quality of people in Frankfurt.

German Salary bureaucratization

2007-05-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

A perfect example of the hyper-bureaucratization of German society is salaries. As I've found out from my wife who recently found a new job in Stuttgart, salaries are exactly determined by your education status. And I mean exactly.

Say you have a Bachelor's Degree. Your salary is then a 5B, for example, depending on the profession. And you will not be able to rise higher than a 5A. You might receive a little more if you have experience in the position and depending on your family status, but your salary is basically stuck. You know how much you will make your whole life.

There is no give and take concerning salaries for most jobs. Maybe this is different in the corporate world, and perhaps the legal world, but for many jobs this is the case. There's little salary discussion when you start a new job because your education pegs your salary. This is so completely different from the average American experience that it took me quite some time to fully accept it as true.

Day three-Fundraising Banditos!

2007-04-27T01:57:00.000-07:00

Day three has gotten off to a good start. The presentation this morning that I helped out with was mainly about a major gift of 200 million Euros that some guy gave to the International University of Bremen. In return they have named the University after him. There's one more session in the morning which could be interesting. Then, it's all over.

I don't know if I mentioned this in previous posts, but prospect research is very difficult to do here. Most info on individuals is considered too private to publish. This makes doing research on giving capacity very difficult. Also, the newness of fundraising in Germany is such that most people feel the government should take care of everything, that's why people pay taxes is the argument. Charitable giving and philanthropy as in the American experience is not widespread here.

Fundraising Banditos is the name another volunteer and I came up with for a fundraising firm. Steal from the rich and give to the poor! Give us your money or your life is dirt!

Today was more promising....

2007-04-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

Today was more promising at the German Fundraising Conference. The first session was on Telephone Marketing. It was in German and the presenters seemed to be convincing of how it can be effective. The second was by an Englishman who spoke on ways to cultivate major gift donors. England has a long tradition of fundraising like in the US. And there are many jobs there for those of you who would like to emigrate to an English speaking country. His talk was good, clear, and informative. The next was by an American who spoke on Major Gift fundraising programs. His was also an informative session although he used many colloquilisms which I believe might have been lost on the audience. The last session was done by a fundraising/marketing company, seeking to drum up business. They were rather idiotic. Right at the beginning they said no one in the company was a Bhuddist, but then used a Bhuddist prayer chain as their presentation tool. Seemed quite ill-thought out.

Now, the presentations are over and tonight is the grand gala. It begins with champagne and appetizers, the giving out of the German fundraising prize, followed by a performance by Gayle Tufts (an ex-pat American who specializes in comedy about Americans in Europe), the big supper buffet and yes, a fundraising discotheque. I can hardly believe that the word discotheque is being used, but it is. Could be fund though.

1st Fundraising Day in Fulda

2007-04-25T08:10:00.000-07:00

1st Fundraising day in Fulda. Today was the day of the long workshop. They went from 10 to 4:30. Kind of incredible given the American experience of conference workshops that are always 1 hour long.

I was responsible for assisting the presenters in two rooms. Once everything was prepared I could attend one of them. My choices were: Virusmarketing and Creative techniques. Both sounded completely idiotic and the latter which I attended turned out to be so. The presenter was a woman from Koln, very proud to be from Koln. She talked about creativity, creativity and creativity. It was more creativity for idiots. She had us do some idiotic diagram exercises which I may explain later, went through simplistic right/left brain explanations and then proceeded to describe a brainstorming process. This process could perhaps be helpful for people who have never experienced such a session. She played music sometimes to put us in the creative mood and at the end she closed her eyes and chanted, yes, she chanted. Incredible.

She then had people conduct a brainstorming session following her method which she specifically said I could not participate in because I was not a full participant. Incredibly rude! I readily agreed and ended up leaving the room several times.

One interesting thing though that happened today was meeting an American presenter from SoCal. He gave a workshop on Budget Planning and one of the attendees in his workshop spoke to him about the lack of experienced fundraisers in Germany. The SoCal guy told him about me and later in the day I met him personally and did the old card exchange. Maybe the networking will lead to a job of sorts which would be great. (There are several Americans here giving presentations. I think they were contacted through the Center on Philanthropy in Indianapolis, Indiana. Several are from Indiana. So, if you want, you could register your willingness to talk about fundraising with the Center and maybe be hired by the German Fundraising Association.)

Besides this the hotel setup is similar to what you see in the States for fundraising conferences. Overpriced, too plush, a large room with tables of all the sponsors, giving away freebies, candy, fruit, etc. Another area with even more tables. Lots of suits milling around giving each other face time. Too much food, which wasn't really all that good. Tomorrow evening is the big party which I will report on. What fun!

German Fundraising Conference

2007-04-24T00:43:00.000-07:00

I leave today for the national German Fundraising Congress. It is taking place in Fulda and lasts until Friday. I have a scholarship whereby if I work a little each day the hotel and food and conference costs are covered and I can attend lectures, seminars, etc. I'm looking forward to see how it compares to CASE and AFP conferences. Will the people be just as phony as many American fundraisers? Soon you will have the news....

American fear targeting Germany

2007-04-21T08:14:00.000-07:00

American fear targeting Germany. There was an article this morning in the Stuttgart newspaper stating that the American government was raising its threat level for Americans living in Germany. The article cited unconfirmed reports as the reason why. I find this to be absolutely ridiculous. Perhaps, the American military with its numerous bases throughout the country has to watch out a little. But civilians! Somehow I doubt that.

Politician issues an apology for eulogy

2007-04-19T05:51:00.000-07:00

Baden-Württemberg's President Gunther Oettinger issued an apology for the eulogy he gave which said that a former Nazi Party member military judge had opposed the Nazi regime. What a ridiculously stupid statement to make. Oettinger didn't want to apologize but Chancellor Merkel and other CDU politicians put the screws on him. Therefore, he released a statement saying "I do not stand by my formulation - I distance myself from it." Sounds like a pretty weak apology to me. German politicians rarely minimize the crimes of the Nazi regime in public. I wonder if Oettinger is unusual for doing so?