Writing therapy

Another post on the same day, after months of nothing. Well. But I don't know, I jsut felt like I had to write some things down. So, warning, this is a bit melancholy!

Tomorrow I'll have been in Dublin for 3 weeks. In those 3 weeks, I've started my new job, found an apartment, opened a bank account, registered with Immigration, set up phone, broadband and cable accounts, met new people, joined the Dublin chapter of my church, and so on and so on. But somehow it doesn't seem real. It seems like I've been on a long vacation, and that I will be flying back to Hamburg soon, to my familiar apartment and back to my familiar job, and speaking in German again, part of system that was strange 6 years ago, but now is as familiar as my hometown in the US. I'm happy to be here in Dublin, starting a new life. But it seems to emphasize that I really have no home. This is the 9th city that I've lived in in my life. In some ways, that certainly makes it easier to move around. When you're a nomad, schlepping your life around on your back seems, somehow, normal. But at some point, you've got to put down roots. I had thought that Hamburg was it, that I would build a family there, and have a cute little German house and hang white lace curtains from the kitchen window, and eventually become a little old German lady who peers out her window at the goings on of her neighbors and rides her old bike into the village for groceries and gossip (ok, it'll probably be all internet shopping by then, but one must have one's illusions...). But life has gone another direction. I prefer to believe that God has decided that I belong in Dublin. I hope so. So maybe this will be it, where I can put down roots. Minor problem is that I'm not remotely Irish - maybe just a drop of Irish blood in there somewhere. But I am half German, so I kind of belonged there. Can I belong here? Do I want to belong here? It's so different. But a good different, I think. I'll get used to it. After all, it's only been 3 weeks.

Hmmmm, this post is considereably more personal than normal. Well, next post I'll move back to pithy sarcasm. Cheers, y'all.

57 Channels and....

First (and this has nothing to do with todays title), I had my first humiliating experience in Dublin. I walzed into Starbucks, stuck my ipod into my pocket and bought my morning coffee. On the way out, I realized that the ipod was no longer in my pocket! I must have amused several people by the way I hunched over and scoured the floor of the coffee shop, but, glory hallelujah, I found it under a promotional sign. So - I bent over to pick it up, and sent my newly bought and piping hot coffee, well, everywhere. Whole place stops dead and stares. Counter people come and clean up. And I slink out with a bruised ego and a nasty burn on my hand. I am sitting here right now with a nasty yellowish goo on said hand that numbs the excruciating pain (yes, I'm plying for sympathy here...)

Anyway, on to the "57 channels" thing. I have digitial cable!!! Now before I get marked as the world's biggest loser, I have to say that I'm excited about this because I spent the last 6 years of my life confronted with German TV and American TV dubbed into German. Yikes. Now, suddenly I have access to English-language TV heaven. And even better, I get cool British shows! As all Americans know, even the most snobbish of US elites admit to watching BBC America and old episodes of "Are You Being Served". So I can tell my US friends that I watched East Enders and "Ladettes to Ladies", and instead of being reviled as a chav, I am seen as uber cool, avant garde and a charter member of the intelligentsia...though anyone from Ireland or the UK will know that it's the intellectual equivalent of watching professional wrestling...

Right now, I'm thinking guiltily of all my friends who will say "oh how nice. You know, I never, watch TV, too busy with friends, family, work, studies, truly intellectual pursuits, etc..." All I can say is - yes you do. I know you, and I've seen the twitching when you know you'll miss the next American Idol. Don't even.

Boy, I'm in a snarly mood today. Must be the burn on the hand (with said yellow goo...). I'll be nicer next post, I promise.

Welcome To Ireland, the land of, well, Irish people...

This is a mini-post, because I don't really have time to write an long exposition about my move - but, yes, I have yet again packed up from one country and moved to another. I am living in Dublin, Ireland. Heaven help us all. Those of you residing in Germany may now rejoice that I will no longer be complaining about Germany. In fact, everything that I spent 6 years grumbling about I now really, really miss. Typical. But now I will regale you all with musings on Ireland, which I'm sure will entertain the one person who has actually ever read this blog. Cheers, y'all!

In Praise of the German Health System and Edinburgh

Wow, it's been a long time since my last post! Several months, in fact. What's happened? I've traveled twice to Ireland, once to the US, and once more to Scotland. But I've also found something really positive to say about Germany, which will please my German friends who have read my blog and complained that all I do is, well, complain...Anyway, I went through a bout of hypochondria, wherein I was absolutely convinced that I was dying of something. What, I wasn't quite sure, but something. So off I went to the doctor - several times, for headaches, tummy aches, you name it. I even got sent to specialists. Turns out I'm perfectly fine, but I must say that I was impressed that I could get so much health care so cheaply! And all my doctors were fantantasic and very helpful, and even understanding of my somewhat wacky mental state.

On a totally different topic, I just got back from Edinburgh, where I attended the wedding of my dear friend Wendy. She got married in an ancient castle, with a bagpiper and everyone (at least the men) wearing kilts. I think ALL men should wear kilts!! My big adventure was helping Roisin, the girl I was staying with, collect ivy to decorate the room in said castle. Now, I'm a bit of a city girl, so battling nettles and little flying beasties while yanking reluctant ivy away from it's mooring was a bit of a challenge, but I think I acquitted myself well with only a minumum (ok, a lot) of complaining. Aaaaaand, the wedding coincided with the beginning the the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I got to see a few street shows, so now I can say proudly that I have been the Edinburgh Fringe (cool factor, ya know?). I also got to see a production of the musical Oliver with my friend JohnT and got to wander aimlessly around Edinburgh, seeing more sights. It's a great city!

There's actually a lot more going on in my life, but because a lot of it is job related, I will say "nada" until it's all settled!

Tornado hits Hamburg!

A rare thing happened 2 days ago: A tornado hit in the southern part of Hamburg. That was really weird for me, coming as I do from "Tornado Alley" in the US. I grew up in Ohio, where tornado watches and warnings were a part of life, and we even had tornado drills in school, just like we had fire drills. And, quite frankly, I've always been terrified of tornados. Earthquakes, fine (I was in the 1989 quake in San Francisco). Blizzards, no problem. Hurricanes - well, I've never been in one, but at least you get warned days in advance! But for some reason, tornados really freak me out. So I spent yesterday staring intently at the sky outside my apartment, looking for tell-tale tornado weather signs.

I was amused, however, at the indignant German response to the poor meteorologists: "why didn't we get a warning!", they all cried. Well, good people of Hamburg, you can't predict these things! You can give an alert if it looks like conditions are right for tornado development, but that's about all you can do. Even with the sophisticated technology we have in the US, we can't really predict when and where a tornado will happen. At least it looks like it was only a T1 or T2 tornado - not a very strong one.

Du bist Deutschland?

I'm a little behind the times, I know, but I just read an article in Spiegel Online about the "Du bist Deutschland" advertising campaign, and how bloggers have reacted to it. I must say, I feel sorry for the poor guys who came up with it - they're getting an awful lot of criticism for something that is, if a bit misguided, at least is quite harmless. I always thought the whole thing was a bit kitschy, and no amount of famous-football-player cajoling is going to convince a German to un-grumpy himself. But the vitriol from bloggers is amazing. Not just with this, but everything. It's a bit sad to see how the anonymity of the web makes people think that they have the right to be rude and obscene, under the umbrella of "free speech".

I also have to link to a very funny "Top 10 Reasons Why Germany has Fewer Blogs than Iran". Sorry if any Germans reading this are offended, but it is pretty funny...(hey, we Amis get bashed by you guys all the time, so if you can't take it, then don't dish it out!).

It's been super cold here this week. The cold-wave that hit Russia decided to travel west. I am just not used to this much cold! It's the kind that freezes your fingers inside their gloves, and turns your nose red in 10 seconds. It hurts! I was born in a very cold-weather city (Cleveland! Go Browns (sigh..)), but moved to the west coast as a young teen, and my body has forgotten its early cold weather training. And, of course, where am I going to escape from the cold? Why, Oslo, Norway! Where else? I'll be up there for a church conference, but I'll be sure to bring the thermals...

The New Year, DSL and other matters...

Well, happy new year! Ok, I know that January is almost over, but better late than never. A lot has happened in the past month. Christmas was uneventful, but I got to go to Scotland for new years, and that was a ton of fun. I spent time with old friends, made new friends, watched a soccer game in a real Scottish pub, and ended up in a rock club in Edinburgh - with Metallica (or some such) blasting in my ears. I also am very proud that I managed to drive on the left-hand side of the road (again) without too many traffic violations, and no one killed. I feel I've become quite the expert!

Since I've returned to Germany, I've been up to my ears in work, but I'm looking forward to a trip to Oslo in 3 weeks. There's a church conference up there, and I'll be able to see some more friends that I haven't seen in awhile. I'm just hoping that the tempurature drops by then. Oslo in winter is no joke at any time, but they've been having a cold snap.

Now, the DSL problem. I've had problems with my high-speed internet connection ever since I've got it - now it's on the fritz again, so I'm struggling along with the slower ISDN connection. Page loading speed is not so bad, but updating podcasts or downloading anything takes for ever! I spent about 2 hours on the phone today with the Telekom people, trying to get the problem fixed, but it looks like the LAN box thingy is broken. I should switch to another company, but just the thought of finding out how to switch from my current provider to another IN GERMAN is enough to put me off...

Oh yes, great news! The Super Bowl will be broadcast on a regular (that is, non-subscription) tv channel this year!! This means that I can watch it after a 2 year drought!!!! So, I'll be sitting in my chair from midnight to 4:00am watching the game. The only down side is that the commentary is in German, and geared towared people who have no clue about football, and we also don't get the cool commercials that you can see in the states. But hey, at least I can watch it!!

That's it - pretty boring post this time - but then, I'm the only one who reads it!!!