Deutsch Unterricht

Citizen---------------------------------- Bürger
Town Mayor--------------------------- Bürgermeister
Town Mayor of Hamburg---------- Hamburger Bürgermeister

Round 'n around

I worked in Hamburg-Harburg on Friday, well a 20 min (15min) taxi ride from the Hauptbahnhof. The taxi had a GPS I was thinking the whole trip how good it was, giving the driver directions via the calm and controlled voice eased my worries about arriving late to work. After taking a series of right turns in farmland near Hamburg i realised, and the taxi driver soon afterwards, we were going around in circles.
The driver pulled over and leaned over to my side to pull out this strange device. As slow as humanly possible he fumbled through it. Then he shoved the 'Street Directory' back down near my legs and moments later we arrived at our destination... remarkable little thing that Street Directory.

More photos

Heidelberg Castle

Hamburg

Budapest

What is it with Germans?

Germans are so weird! Katrin and I were walking across a street, the little man was red, there were no cars. I heard a complaint of sorts from behind but ignored it and kept walking, halfway across the street the little man turned green then a woman briskly caught up to us and proceeded to lecture us about setting a bad example for her children, and how we were not mature. Katrin informed her we weren´t responsible for their upbringing and I retorted (in my best German) Shut up!

Anyone with ideas to loosen these people up please leave comments.

Kohlfahrt

Friday was my first Kohlfahrt (cabbage trip), a peculiar north German tradition that involves a lot of alcohol and a lot of food. It was good fun but I had to restrict my drinking due to the fact it was a work Kohlfahrt. And all the ingredients for a Kohlfahrt where there, step 1 especially.

How to make a Kohlfahrt
Step 1: Make sure it is cold outside.
Step 2: Book a table at a restaurant that has traditional north German food; Gruenkohl (green cabbage), Pinkle (Germany´s answer to haggis), Speck (bacon... half an inch thick) and of course Kartoffeln (potatoes).
Step 3: Meet at a point a long way from the restaurant, everyone bringing a bottle of schnapps and a shot glass with a handle (and string to make the shot glass a necklace).
Step 4: Drink shots every 5 minutes or at every street sign, whichever comes first.

Every weekend in winter Kohlfahrts can be seen all over the countryside, made conspicuous by a group of drunk people dragging a cart full of alcohol, stopping traffic at will. I was surprised by the lack of anger or even lack of reaction from drivers brought to a crawl while the Kohlfahrts slowly part to allow the drivers through. Only a tradition, and the empathy of reminiscent drivers could dull the frustration. So now i wont be annoyed by the merry Kohlfahrters when I go about my sober duties.

This is a tradition I plan to implement in Melbourne... Look out.

In the beginning...

It has started like any other day but is now different somehow, it has been blogged for the first time from my perspective. Well unfortunately no major story has unfolded and it seems that none will in the coming hours, anyone looking for a cliffhanger of an ending should press the eject button now.

Here are some photos I like.

Couple
This is in a bar in Amsterdam, the Couple had no idea I took the photo, I went up to them afterwards and showed them the photo, got their email address and sent it to them.
In a town where it can be difficult to decipher between reality and a tourists drug induced splendour, I found the gaze between them one of truth beauty and trust.

Berlin 12:00:01 01/01/2006... On top of a rooftop in the mayhem that was the do it yourself fireworks display.

they danced around the fire, they called to the clouds, they basked in the rain. none were there for purpose, or to just pass time. they were there making time, making sense of the rain, of the clouds and the fire.

Die Berliner Mauer

107 kilometres long

4 metres high

192 intersected streets

5,075 escapes

200 fatal attempts

1 wall

1 city

2 worlds