The B-word

There's been so much going on lately in German current events that I've been sticking with my cooking activities and shying away from any real commentary. But perhaps It's time to delve in a bit.

The most shocking of all the events lately was, of course, the school shooting at Winnendon. As an American living in Germany, this kind of horrible occurrence brings to mind the analysis (and Michael Moore films) that followed the Columbine disaster, all of which seemed to believe that such an event was a purely American creation, coming not only from such relaxed gun control laws but also from some kind of intrinsic cultural violence. Since then, this has been proven wrong and the western world has had its share of similar sad and horrifying incidents. Of course it's only natural to ask such questions as "why us" or "why here" and then "how can we prevent this" and "who is to blame". This discussion has been circulating in Germany for the week or so since the shootings and there is, of course, discussion of stronger gun laws or punishing the father for not locking up his gun. I, too, found myself blaming and questioning, wondering how this could happen in a place like Germany, where I often consider myself to be so insulated from the "dangers" of the outside world.

I also wonder, as an American, if these events aren't probably instigated by globalized media and violence, by a certain illusion of a community and a retreat into a virtual, far away world where such actions seem accepted. The concept of alienation from one's own culture due to rapid changes in that culture, anomia, is a term used in the study of socio-ethnic conflicts. In such a globalized, interconnected world, this phenomena is becoming ever more wide spread. Rapid societal changes instigates instability and insecurity and the ever changing world around causes a sense of isolation from one's surroundings. This term may not be directly applicable to the various psychological analyses of the shooter, but I think it describes the state of many societies right now. Those who are estranged by their rapidly individualistic and quickly changing culture do have an outlet, the internet, where they can try to find acceptance and a group which understands them. But what happens when that very group is one that encourages such acts, and takes participants further away from any sort of value sets or societal moral standards?

Another recent bit of news is that German youths are more right-leaning than ever, and are showing especially pronounced rates of xenophobia and hostility towards foreigners. It's no wonder, in tough economic times, in times where societal problems are nearly always blamed on the "others".

Blame. Finding someone to Blame. The Bush years were about Blame. Blaming the terrorists, the Muslims, the axis of evil. For the shootings, we blame the school, the parents, the gun laws. In this economy, some people blame foreigners for taking their jobs away, for working for lower pay, for ruining the economy. I'm starting to think that, in hard times, the best thing to do is to stay away from the B-word, and think about our own contribution to the solution.

In one of my classes, we are learning about the ZOP method of project planning (Zielorientierte Projektplanung), where, in order to solve a problem, a list of smaller problems that make up the bigger problem is made and put into a "cause-effect" tree. Then, the biggest "original problem" is chosen, the one that is the cause of most of the other problems. And here comes the important step: you turn the problem around into a formulation of what the situation will look like when the problem is solved. This is your goal. Example problem: the education system in Germany divides up the "classes" too early. Example goal situation: a flexible system where students are fostered in their strengths and helped with their weaknesses without a distinct "separation" at any point.

I think this method is a very good way to turn around blame and take real action. Find the root of the problem, and make it into a goal. Then, strive towards that goal.

If anything, I am hopeful for the triumph my American optimism…

Germany vs. USA: the culture clash

Ok, let's play a game.

Everybody list their favorite thing about living in Germany (either in this forum or on their blog... i'll link you here), and their LEAST favorite thing. It can be anything. We're going for the two extremes here. Don't worry about stereotyping or generalizing or whatever. Just vent (or rave!) Here are mine:

MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT LIVING IN GERMANY IS:

Man: "the biggest idiots always have the most beautiful wives"
Woman: "oh, you flatterer, you"

Lots and lots of vacation. Unlimited sick days. Only working 252 days a year (that's 70%! a total of 104 days not working)

MY LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT LIVING IN GERMANY IS:

The lack of silliness in everyday life. I totally can't joke with the cashier or the waiter. Not really, anyways. And my girlfriends just don't have a sin for the absurd. Or for self deprication. Or for making a fool out of themselves. Which is why they need Fasching. A designated day to make a fool out of yourself.

Ok! Your turn! what do you think?

"Bush is dead"?! and other problems of the press

According to BBC Ex president George Bush is dead. He's not, of course, but apparently one of the technicians for a South African TV station wishes he were: the technician was "testing" the rolling headline system and "accidentally" pushed them button to go online, upon which the headline was on air for about three seconds. He meant to use it as a test phrase. Makes me wonder how often those little headlines running along the bottom of the page are just tech guys fooling around…

Apparently, the new policy is to now test all headlines is "gobbledygook" language so that the same error doesn't happen. I'll be on the lookout for the next "dsfkljsdkiuwsxcnx,yqweesa asdjsdf" headline post when I'm in South Africa.

This makes me think a lot about newspapers, and the press, and free speech, and bias in news coverage. I find German TV news to be wonderful and German newspapers (with the exception of a few) to be horrendous. Kind of the reverse of the US. I am especially disturbed by the frequent (daily, rather) photos of naked women. What's the deal with that? In my opinion, Bild and the like make our McPaper (USA Today) look like top journalism. As Artur pointed out, one of Bild's favorite tricks is to turn an unsubstantiated fact into a headline by adding a question at the end. Like: "Popcorn Causes Cancer! (is this true? Find out on page 11). I am also quite disturbed by the fact that all three "McPapers" in Germany usually have some form of the same headline. And when all else fails and there isn't any gruesome or scandalous news, there's always the favorite three topics: sex, the weather, and the price of beer.

Copy of the "Bildzeitung" claims "My dog ruined my marriage"

What do you think about German news media?

World on Wednesday

Another "structure" update. On Wednesdays, I will show the world, or some snippet of it, from my corner in bavaria. Today I have two clips from German papers.

The first is a cartoon from "Die Welt Kompakt"

Barack is stuck in a jungle of "Vorschuss-Lorbeer" or a german term which mean, literally "advanced laurel" or essentially "praise before the fact". To escape from this jungle, cartoon Obama is asking for a Machete.

My second peek at the world is an article of a miracle on the water (another one, after the amazing Hudson river plane landing)

The headline reads "fishermen survive in a cooler". Yup, that is a giant cooler and two normal sized people, fishermen from Myanmar to be exact. According to the article, they were the only two of a 20 person fishing boat to survive its sinking, living inside the bathtub-sized cooler and eating fish pieces and drinking collected rain water. As the article notes, "they must have been really thirsty, because, our sources inform us, one of them drank four whole glasses of water when he was rescued." After 25 days... go figure!

the most beautiful bike path in the world

Well, the sun is finally out, Floyd is finally free, and I am out on my bike exploring. My poor floyd, my pink bike, hes been stolen twice, both times to be rescued by the police. I am convinced he has a girlfriend, although what female wants a man who always wears bright pink. Maybe he has a boyfriend...

So I have been out and about, riding through Munich, rediscovering the city in many new ways. My plan has been all along to ride to work when it gets warm, so I set out yesterday on a trial run. Even equipped with a bicycle map, i got completely lost and rode aimlessly around the north of munich for more than an hour and a half until i found the kindergarten, at which point i was too tired to ride back, so i left my bike sitting at the subway station. At least it would save me my bus ride the next day, and I could attempt the route home.

So I found myself this morning on my bike, running 20 minutes late, freezing without gloves or a hat in the morning fog, and trying to resolve a small fight with artur about waking him up every morning (torture..) on the cell phone, ,while attempting not to get run over. The day had started out well.

But as I managed to find the perfect route home on another sunny day, I discovered that my route would take me past munich's most beautiful sites: The English Garden, the Isar river, the bavarian government building, the state art museum, the freedom angel monument, the deutsches museum, rows and rows of turn of the century houses, forest, water, sunbathers, cafes...i was so happy. Every day I will see these things on my ride to and from work... not bad.

now I am baking a cake for my half birthday, which is tomorrow. Germans celebrate half birthdays even less than americans, but i am trying to right an embarassing moment at work, where i brought only cookies but everybody after me brought a feast. So tomorrow i am bringing a feast!! to make up for it.

Now, back to Anna and the King dubbed in german...

im baaaaaaaaaaaaack

its been a while, but since Artur finally repaired my computer (ah the advantages of a computer geek boyfriend) I can hopefully manage to write regularly now.

Things havent changed much... still working in the kindergarten, thats going well although this week i have been sick with a sinus infection and this morning woke up with such a killer pressure headache that I had to take the day off, again. I felt quite guilty leaving my co teacher for the second time this week alone with the kids, but i wouldnt have been much up a help with my eyes closed in pain all day.

I managed to sleep the day away, which gave me time to think about the various changes in planning stage: moving in with artur, applying for a masters program, and attempting to make it regularly to the gym.

Otherwise, this weekend is the polish ball with artur and the following weekend were heading back to buchenberg to visit arturs family for his moms birthday. I also signed up for a polish course which will begin in march, to begin to prepare for our trip to poland in the summer.

and now for a dinner of chicken and rice, very nice.