Photo Friday - Seaside

When I opened the email for today's Photo Friday theme I was clueless what image I could use. Most of my life I've lived a landlocked existence, far away from any sea. Let's face it Wichita, Kansas is a LONG way from the seashore, and Berlin, Germany isn't much better.

But Snooker, you do lots of diving.
Don't you have some nice shots of the paradise locations you've been to?

Well, actually I guess I do. Some that could be a postcard, or others which need some explaining (sunset observed while floating after a lovely late-afternoon dive). But most of our "seaside" pictures are actually from underwater. There are pictures of me diving, pics of manta rays, turtles, EVEN Nemo's Indian cousin. We have pictures of scary creatures, and even MORE scary creatures. There are even some of me walking like an Egyptian in the Indian Ocean.

The one I settled on is a favorite of mine.

There are times when I see it and I just want to sit down and stare at it for a while. Other times my thoughts go back to Jonathan Livingston Seagull and his quest for flying perfection as though this little guy is Jonathan after he came back to teach the others how to love flying. Sometimes as I see this image, inside my head rings a constant "Mine, Mine, Mine" which rang so true of the seagulls in "Finding Nemo" (haven't seen the movie? go rent it... better yet, buy it and watch it often!)

I caught my little friend in the act on a recent trip to Warnemünde, a lovely little harbor town on the Baltic Sea.

Click here for more of our underwater photos.

See more entries or participate yourself by visiting Photo Friday.

Random Tuesday Thoughts - Uninspired Edition

Due to lack of interest, I'm thinking about canceling this blog post. The lack of interest is mine, or maybe the lack of initiative is a better choice of words.

This is one of those days where I feel like doing nothing. Oh maybe I would be happy curled up in bed with a good book, (I'm reading one now - "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson) but reading is the extent of my desire today.

OK, I will make a decidedly half-hearted attempt at a RTT.

Because of rain in the forecast I chose against riding Mimi (baby blue scooter and my summer joy) to work today. The really bad aspect of this is that the morning was beautiful, and now as of lunch, the day is still quite lovely with nary a cloud in sight. Geeze.

We are boxing up everything and packing it away. How on earth am I to decide which DVD's I am comfortable not having close to me for as much as two months? Books are easier, I just keep out the ones I haven't read yet.

On my desk under one of the monitors is a cute little Berliner Bear Sweet No painted for me. He puts a smile on my face every time. I'm not sure if it is the bear or the thought of No painting it, but the smile feels lovely.

I think I will take the last half of my lunch today to get out of this office. Maybe a nice walk with the camera will inspire me.

OH OH... and thinking about the camera. No and I have been agonizing over the idea of purchasing a super cool new digital single lens reflex camera (Nikon D90 for my camera geek friends). It is not TOO HORRIBLY priced (€800/$1,145) but with moving and a long October vacation in Tahiti/New Zealand as well as going to Texas for Christmas, we've decided to curtail unnecessary spending. Today No emailed me that a local electronics store is going to celebrate an anniversary and that "if they offer a good deal on your camera, maybe we should just take the opportunity to buy it". AHEM! I almost dropped the mouse.

Been surfing:
The Women’s Crusade - This article has really got me thinking about how good I have it. when compared with so many other women in the world. I'm going to look into the Microfinancing that Adam has spoken about in the past. It is about time to start giving back to my fellow woman. "In many poor countries, the greatest unexploited resource isn’t oil fields or veins of gold; it is the women and girls who aren’t educated and never become a major presence in the formal economy." The article is long and involved, but it has really started me thinking about how simple things can help to change the world.

That's about it for me. Head on over to Keely to see what she's up to. She's the one who started me on this whole Random Tuesday Thoughts thing.

Oh, and before I leave, I must shamelessly steal something from a friend/blogger Cliff from Regensblog.
For everyone out there who deals with computers and asks help from those of us "geeks".
For all of you geeks who are tired of being the king of the computers.

I offer to you the Tech Support Cheat Sheet!
(click the pic to embiggen)

Why socialisim when it comes to healthcare isn't such a dirty word

Living in Germany has given me a new-found perspective on the whole socialism angle. Like most Americans I was brought up to believe that it was evil and would lead to the downfall of any economy leaning on socialism's tenuous tinderbox base. But a few years in a country which is not only living well under a modified form of socialism, but also thriving has opened my eyes.

Right now America is in the throes of trying to fix its fractured health care system. One thing for certain, no matter what is done, it is going to be painful for some. It is going to be painful for the taxpayers (at least at first). It is going to be painful for the elected officials who must decide what is right. And it is going to hurt doctors in the pocketbook. But trust me on this. It is NOT going to be painful for the insurance and pharmaceutical companies. No, they are now pumping so much lobbying money into our Congressmen's pockets in order to maintain their own interests, that sincerely I doubt if anything changes at all unless it is advantageous for the insurance and pharma industries.

I would like to take just a moment to point out a blogger friend's series on Universal Health care in Germany and the differences between here and America. I know that it will involve reading, but I suspect that it is information which every American should know while trying to make an informed decision.

Here is just an excerpt:

How do health statistics compare between Germany and the US?

Looking at the World Health Organization’s Core Health Indicators, Germany has better numbers than the US in most health care related statistics. Here are some highlights:

• Life expectancy at birth, for both sexes combined, is 80 years in Germany and 78 in the US
• Healthy life expectancy at birth, for both sexes combined, is 72 years in Germany, 69 years in the US
• Infant mortality rate (per 1000 births) for Germany is 4.0, the US is 7.0
• Hospital beds (per 10000 people) is 83 in Germany and 32 in the US
• Physician density (per 10000 people) is 34 in Germany and 26 in the US
• Total expenditure on health as percentage of GDP for Germany is 10.7%, the US is 15.2%
• and Per capita expenditure on health is $3250 in Germany and $6350 in the US

Scary isn't it?
Please take a moment and visit AmiExpat's site for more information.

• Her first in the series was a description of the health care system in Germany.
• The second was her own experiences in the German and the US systems,
  
• Third up was reader submitted experience with health care in Germany.
  
• The fourth post was experiences with universal health care around the world.
• A fifth post is asking those living in the German system to talk about their experiences.
  

Think about this folks: America has the 37th worst quality of health care in the developed world. And the most costly. Costing over twice as much as every other county. Conservative estimates are that over 120,000 people die each year in America from treatable illness that people in other developed countries don't die from. Rich, middle class, and poor alike. Insured and uninsured. Men, women, children, and babies. This is what being 37th in quality of health care means.

Personally I have two brothers who are as of right now uninsured. One is "underemployed" one is self-employed, and both are unwilling (read unable) to fork out the extra dough required for personal insurance. It scares me to think about it, but if something serious happened to either one of them, it could mean foreclosure on their houses. I myself rode the no-insurance wheel in America for a long time when I was either in between jobs or was only working part time.

What else should you do to make an informed decision before following the herd...? Read! Here is HR 3200, in its entirety.

I think I will write out my own experiences with German health care, but I'm afraid that will have to wait for a day or two. But if you didn't visit the links above, please do reconsider.

Random Tuesday - Philosophical Edition

It's time once again to follow Keely the UnMom in her quest for Tuesday Randomness. She's been on vacation for a while now, but the guest bloggers have been kinda cool, so go check it out. Today I'm actually getting this done on Tuesday, yeah for me! So let's start this wheel a rollin' and see where we go.

Moving sucks! Putting all my stuff in boxes and hauling it somewhere else just disturbs my sense of being. Please note that I've done this a lot. At one point I owned a pickup truck because I NEVER knew when I would be needing to load my crap into it and take off down the highway. Not only that, but I sold off most of my stuff in 2004 and moved what was left from North America to Europe. Perhaps I get extra credit for this moving thing.

The summer weather is just about perfect right now. Sunny and 25c/75f most days... ah! Cooling down in the evening... Glorious!

It's all about the De Do Do Do De Da Da Da!

Why is it when a group of women work together on a common cause, very often it ends in cattiness of some kind? In the workplace, organizations, volunteers, clubs, all fall victim to this stupidity.

Someone please tell the sweet, retired neighbor lady that always wants to talk in the morning as we meet near the communal trash can that I don't have time to chat for 20 minutes because I'm already running late for work. I really feel bad about this because it feels like I spend the whole conversation trying to pull away from someone who is probably horribly lonely and would just like to have some human contact. Actually deep inside of me I hope that if I am in her situation in my old age that someone will talk with me.

I'm really enjoying that tomorrow night is a book club for a book I've already read. You know what? Next month is the same way! I'm able to use my free time to read what I want! Hmmm... Photography magazine, YEA!

Speaking of free time, my arm is finally back to 90%, maybe I can consider playing my NEW guitar which I've barely touched. But dang it, now I need to carve out some FREE TIME!

I will leave you today with some philosophical thoughts from The Resident.


Hmm I typed all of this up and began to tag the thing, only to find that it doesn't fit to any of the "normal" tag cloud. NOW THAT IS RANDOM!

The Fastest Man in the World - Like a Bolt of Lightning

You could have heard a pin drop in the Olympic Stadium here in Berlin last night. The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics held Berlin in its grip. The contenders were all lined up, the race to define the World Champion in the 100 Meter Race. The winner would claim Gold in the event, and could possibly break a World Record and claim the coveted "Fastest Man in the World" title. As for the almost 75,000 witnesses at the edge of their seats, any people left talking were shushed immediately, adding to the tension.

Pop goes the gun and out of the gate a stream of green and yellow. Jamacian Usain Bolt never looked back. The rest of the pack tried to stay somewhere close, but Bolt broke out before the 1/3 mark and left them all in his dust to set a new World Record of 9.58, shaving off .11 from his last World Record set in Bejing.

What a triumph! (couldn't find the video in English.. .but Italian, French and even Japanese. What's the deal? American TV doesn't care?)


We were fortunate to witness greatness that night. Not only Bolt, but Brit Jessica Ennis won the Women's Heptathalon, and Kiwi Valerie Vili took the Women's Shot Put with a fantastic 20.44 meter throw and the German crowd jumped to their feet and went crazy when Geri thrower Nadine Kleinert threw a fantastic 20.20 and took Silver.

Another triumph which gladdened my heart was in that same tense 100 Meter Race. American Tyson Gay came in second and broke an American World Record with his 9.71 performance, the third fastest time in history. All of this and he still ended up looking like he was jogging behind Bolt. Tyson has been complaining of groin issues and hasn't been 100% for some time now. He put in a great race and has my admiration.

The two men will go on to compete in the 200 Meter Race on Tuesday and then again on Saturday for a Relay Race. All of which Bolt has previously struck gold and walked away with in Beijing.

One thing I did notice was that Bolt wasn't as cocky in this race as he was in Bejing where he began celebrating his win before he even got to the finish line. No, there were no arms thrown up in victory before the finish, no this time his face didn't relax until several meters past the line. Good for him. I bet he got a load of crap after that last bullshit performance. This picture is of course after the race itself. Bolt and his team mate (and 3rd place winner) Asafa Powell as they do their little celebration dance for the cameras.

It is so much harder for me to get behind such cockiness. Give me an athlete who is obviously trying his best, dealing with demons, working though diversity and I am with them 100%. Last night I was rooting for the ailing Tyson Gay and he did make a fantastic showing, giving the race lots of heart. Unfortunately while he is in his prime, this Bolt guy is also there, ready to take every award out from under Gay. It's all about timing people.

Which brings us to another point. Can this be for real? Bolt is shattering, not just breaking, he is shattering records left and right. He shaved .11 seconds off of his last record which was fantastic in its own right. Is it for real, or is Bolt a product of modern chemistry? I have no doubt he has talent, but are his records going to stand the test of time?

Will we hear about a doping scandal with Bolt at the center? I hope not. I really, really hope not. I WANT to believe in this guy, but it just seems like magic. He is said to be a lazy athlete, not showing up for practice, starting training too late in the season, partying at inappropriate times, wrecking cars... how does all of this add up? I suppose that time will tell.

In my heart of hearts I hope that at the center of all these Jamaican records is a soulful and inspiring coach with the ability to see into the hearts of young athletes and know who should be pushed toward which discipline in the most efficient way. Let's hope that there isn't something more sinister going on here, no East German style doping program, designed to bring out the best in the runners, but with long-term side effects which will eventually detract from the accomplishments of the individuals. While I would really like to see Tyson Gay get his golds, I would rather it not be this way. Let's just hope, and wait.

I got my first (and only) tears during a medal awarding ceremony for Men's Shot Put. American Christian Cantwell had taken Gold with a world leading heave of 22.03 meters. As he stood up there on the pedestal I beamed with pride for my country to get their first medal. All was OK until we stood for the American National Anthem and the raising of the flag. I had tears in my eyes before "What so proudly we hailed". No, I don't think I will ever lose my heartfelt pride in my home country.

If you're in Berlin, or if you are anywhere within decent range of the Hauptstadt, do come on down to watch and cheer during the 12th IAAF World Championships. Bolt and Gay will be racing again on Tuesday and Saturday, and of course there are LOTS of other contests to be decided in the next week.

Lesbschwules Parkfest Friedrichshain 2009

After a full day of shopping (bought some wear-all pants with zip off bottoms for the New Zealand trip) and running around, we thought we would trip on over to Friedrichshain Park in East Berlin to take part in a gay and lesbian tradition, the Lesbschwules Parkfest.

One day a year the open air concert/movie arena in Friedrichshain Park becomes the play place of several thousand gays and lesbians. There were about 25 booths from all walks of life, including of course the normal fare for such festivals... Wurst and Beer. But there were some coffee/tea vendors as well as political (Germans will go to the polls soon, the political signs are going up and the candidates are out in full force) and professional service people. Tons of organizations come out, from the Lesbian readers, to the Asexuals (we never thought to ask... does that mean that they aren't attracted to anyone?) and don't forget the Gay Yoga Group.

We haven't been to this celebration since my first year in Berlin, which puts us back to 2005. What can I say, we're always busy, or out of town, or it is pouring rain.

The last time I was there Klaus Wowereit, the Mayor of Berlin came up on stage and gave a rousing speech. Of course I had not one iota what the good man said, but the people seemed to be digging it. What I was excited about was that the guy up on the stage is a gay man and I now lived in his city. For a lesbian who had just left Wichita, Kansas I was possibly understandably jumping for joy. What a liberating experience. Of course this was LONG before I had the opportunity to party with the wild and crazy boy... ask me about that sometime!

As far as I know Klausi wasn't on the program for today, I just know that I didn't see him there. But we did get to hear a few bands and there were several speakers. Mostly what I did was sit and watch the people, it seems to be my favorite past time these days. And let's admit it, at such an event, there are really some interesting people to see.

It seemed like every third couple I saw was trailing a kid of some form. The older sisters had a young teenager in tow, the middle-agers had todlers, and the "oh my gawd are they really old enough to have children?" people had the teeny babies. There were a few gay male couples with kiddies, although I think it was certainly heavy toward the lesbians in this regard. It wasn't stroller heaven like some park fests I've been to... but it was close.

All in all it is good, clean fun... at least during the daylight hours, I've never been there at night. When I think about the fact that not too many decades ago a group of gays and lesbians congregating like this in a public park would be asking for police brutality, I get a smile on my face and remember that we've come a long way, baby.

Photo Friday - Young and Old

Another installation of Photo Friday, this one with the theme of "Young and Old".

This picture was taken in the fall of last year as we explored the Pfaueninsel which sits on the Havel River, very close to the Wannsee lake. Pfaueninsel translates as "Peacock Island" and was named such by Friedrich Wilhelm II when he commissioned a castle and a zoo on the island. The castle is named Schloss Pfaueninsel and can be toured, although there isn't much to see other than some beautiful, partially moldy tapestries and some really old furniture. Other than that there are just a few buildings along the pathways, but the most fun of the Pfaueninsel is simply walking along enjoying the lovely, unspoiled, green areas.

The island is quite small, maybe only a kilometer long and half a kilometer wide. Thus once you get to the island by way of ferry, those people you came over with will be spotted occasionally. We ran into the two people in the image below several times. The little boy was running around of course, pointing out all the little creatures he would come to.

Throughout the afternoon always within earshot could be heard the excited voice of the little guy as he cried out, "Opa, Opa! gucken hier!" (Grandpa, lookie here!) All the while Grandpa was following along, with his hands clasped behind his back, feigning interest at every thing the young one would point out. Sometimes we could hear his voice as he explained what it was that the boy had found.

Eventually the shadows grew longer and it was time to go home so we headed toward the ferry only to find Grandfather and Grandson on the same boat. While the young one was full of energy still and could hardly be contained on the small boat, Grandpa seemed happy for the opportunity to sit down for 10 or 15 minutes until we docked back on the mainland.

As soon as the gate was opened the little guy ran off to collect his bike and started putting his helmet on, seemingly excited to get back on the trail. About the time the helmet went on some ducks started quacking along the quay. His head snapped back toward the water so fast I thought the not-yet-connected helmet would fall off. As though pulled magnetically back toward the water he ran off, away from Grandpa and toward the makers of the mysterious noise.

Grandpa kept a close eye on the little guy as he went to his own bike and pulled something out of the saddle bag. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he made his way to where the little guy was excitedly pointing and exclaiming "Opa, Opa, Enten!" (Grandpa, Grandpa, ducks!) Then a smile lit up Opa's face and he showed his "Enkel" (Grandson) the bag which he had retrieved from the bicycle, a bag from a bakery which held some bread.

OH MY! The realization hit the face partially hidden by an uneven helmet like a lightning bolt and his hands shot out filled with the request for the bread. Opa smartly broke some off and gave part to the wannabe bird feeder who began talking and cooing to the ducks as he threw in pieces of dark German bread.

This is when I snapped the picture found below.



Thanks for going down memory lane with me.

See more entries or participate yourself by visiting Photo Friday.

Random Tuesday - Wednesday Edition ... now THAT's Random.

OK, so I'm LATE! Get off me! Work is crazy and my home life is ... well, let's say busy.

Why, you ask, is your personal life so busy Snooker? Because we are moving. No, not back to America (ahem, not on your life)... No, not to a nice warm climate such as Barcelona like ex-blogger Diane, the Martinis for Two lady. NO... we're NOT off to some nice paradise on a tropical island to be a Scuba Divemaster/Instructor team...

None of those things. We are moving ACROSS THE STREET. Yes, all the trials and tribulations of moving without the moving truck. Expenses, uprooting and just general mix up of course, but we will basically still be living on the same street. We will have the same view out of our windows, but from the other side. A little silly, eh?

Well we WILL get more space and a nicer building (for those Berliners reading we're moving into an Altbau) which has been built and rebuilt twice in the last 100 years. The heating and plumbing is newer and more up to date, the basement storage area is twice as big (allowing more room for diving equipment) we will get a nice winter garden with multiple use possibilities (do we put the dining room table in there, or go for a reading room?) AND all of this for the same price per square meter without windows which act more like screens.

Prepare for more moving whining stories as time goes on.

Speaking of whining, summer is ending. My daily scooter morning commute now includes wearing the motorcycle jacket in the interest of not freezing my ass off. May I just say that I really don't like wearing this restrictive straitjacket?

While I do understand the safety qualities, I somehow can't get accustomed to the loss of air movement. There is just something to be said for cruising down the street at 45kph with the wind whipping my clothes around.

Which brings me to yesterday. Imagine Snooker in a bright salmon button down linen blouse complete with collar. Put that Snooker on a bright blue scooter moving at city traffic speeds. Now open your mind's eye to the amount of wind we are talking about as I cruise along. Something about how the air whips around the collar causes the ends to flip up and down... at times VERY fast... most of the time moving up and down in such a way as to hit my collarbone then jump up to the bottom of the helmet. As you might have guessed, I get quite a few bemused looks, even from the normally dour-looking Berliners. (I'm just happy to have made your day, people)

The folks at the Berlin Hooters have missed the idea that the waitresses should have HOOTERS. Ahem, I think it will get tiring for the average big-eyed German guy to have his beer delivered by a pretty blonde if there really isn't any chest to stare at. He might actually end up thinking about the crappy service. Sorry ladies, but your wholesome good looks aren't going to carry you the whole way through life. Learn a skill, because generally from what I've experienced in the two times I've visited... you suck at waitressing.

As a former boss used to say... "They're not turning away Harvard graduates, you know".

Having said that, I must admit that tonight I will once again visit the sacred home of wings. This time I hope that they don't screw up my order and if they do let's have them bring too much food to the table the same way they did last time. I'll be taking my discerning Frenchie foodie office-mate to the temple of greasy American bar food. Yes, he has been warned. Oh, did I mention he is gay? YUP, either he will be impressed with the food or he is going to have a shit time tonight. Oh well, I've warned him several times.

My wife has a date tonight... and I am not involved... should that bother me?

Oh yeah, back to moving (only for a second... geeze). We bought a new toilet seat because Sweet No refuses to sit on one which has touched any one else's booty. (yeah, the same girl who every morning would throw her pjamas on the bathroom floor in front of the human toilet and beside the cat toilet) Back to the toilet seat, OK? It is really cool with dolphins on it and EVERYTHING!

What do we find when we go to check out the new apartment yesterday? The last tenant had already bought us a new one... a white one... and had removed the one which was on the toilet... how goofy/scary/strange is that? Perhaps he couldn't stand the thought of anyone else's booty on HIS seat. Um, yeah. Oh shit, I forgot to check if it is a German shelf toilet.

Inspired by others using Google Analytics to come up with blog fodder, I thought I would check it all out. I signed up and aside from now being positive that nobody is actually reading this crap... I did get something interesting... search terms. People search for the weirdest stuff:

1. bathroom manners germany - um, pretty much the same as America... except the guys are expected to sit down. It's called "Sitzpinkel". Don't ask me... I'm a girl, living with a girl.

2. berlin do re mi - Um no, you want Salzburg

3. berlin brothel girls pics - Interesting, but you're definately disappointed here

4. black man use his cock for sonoker stik - I wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot pole

5. christmas in october - ?

6. deep happy stuff in berlin, germany - HA! It's ALL deep happy stuff here

7. don't you just love sunny days - Why yes, I do

8. how can you tell when someone drinks alot - HEY! how did you end up here with that?

9. what is goofey mood - Definition ... Snooker

10. you always put a smile on my face and a skip in my step - Well thanks, I do my best.

and the best of all:
an american living the dream in berlin - You betcha baby!

Even though Keely is on holiday, you should head on over to the Un-Mom's blog to see what is going on. She is the one that came up with the whole Random Tuesday thing, and she should be thanked. I enjoy the thought that the theme she left for her guest bloggers was "naked". Go see how they do.

Been reading:

Health care system 'inhuman', 'stupid' - I get the feeling that fools like Limbaugh and Palin think that their smart-assed way of railroading the American people out of much-needed health care reform is a great thing to do. Reading "End of life" counseling as some kind of euthanasia program is just silly partisan witless thinking. Comparing these programs to the "selective medicine" program of Nazi Germany is incomprehensible and uninformed to say the least. I'm not saying that Obama's administration's bill is perfect, but at least they are trying, which is more than I can say for the last party in power.

Senate 'pillar' Edward Kennedy gets Medal of Freedom - I remember meeting Teddy Kennedy one sunny day in 1976 as my family was vacationing in Washington D.C. My father and I popped out of the car and dad asked Senator Kennedy if it would be OK to take a picture with his daughter. He stopped his conversation and turned for the picture, putting his arm around me with his hand on my shoulder (cold and clammy - ICK). When we popped back into the car my father (at that time a Democrat) proudly proclaimed, "That man may be President very soon", which earned him a stern look from my (Republican) mother.
No, he never made it to the White House although he did run a few times. In retrospect, however, I would assume that Teddy Kennedy did a lot more for the American people from his 47 years in the Senate seat.
On a side note - look on the left side of that article and you will see the other people who will also be awarded the Medal of Freedom, among them Billie Jean King and Harvey Milk.

I'll leave you with a funny that makes me laugh.

FRIDAY BABY!

So let's start with a little Foto Madness!
This shot was taken outside of a cute little store in Heidelberg. My GOSH they had some adorable, highly colored trinkets and playthings. But standing guard at the (closed, yes it was Sunday in Germany) door were these two delightful guys.

Normally I would call this a Funny Foto Freitag, something I got from 50% of My DNA, but my friendly neighborhood science teacher is MIA. She's disappeared folks! I'm sure she's off having a great time (read, A LIFE) and will return soon. So I'll play her little game without her for a while.

Sweet No and I spent last weekend in Heidelberg checking out the sights, marveling at the 800 year old castle, enjoying the charming old part of the city, and among others, met up with the sweet, charming Heidelbergerin and her tall (remember, I'm horribly short... lots of people are TALL) and funny Heidelberger-man.

When No and I were talking about a visit to Heidelberg she started joking and saying that now I would be a true American in Germany, because it seems that ALL Americans want to visit Heidelberg. She couldn't explain the phenomena, just said that it is the common stereotype. Often when Germans are traveling they will run across an American who upon learning they are speaking with a German will be ask if the German is from Heidelberg or has been to the city. No matter the answer, the American usually goes off into a "my father was there in the Cold War, my brother visited in the 60's, my Grandfather said it was the most beautiful city in Europe" kind of thing.

Why is this? I'm not really sure. Perhaps the relation is from the Cold War. My father WAS stationed NEAR Heidelberg (along with a good percentage of the U.S. Army in that time period - even Elvis was here) and brought back reels and reels of slides from the area. Every time we had visitors, my Dad would bring out the slides for a show. He had many pictures of Heidelberg and the surrounding area, but he had taken the opportunity to get around, so there were pictures from Belgium, France, many locations in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and I believe at least a few from Italy.

But does this off-hand correlation with Heidelberg really justify that well over 50% of the tourists I saw (and heard) were American? I have no idea how this could work out. Maybe it is because Heidelberg is one of the few German cities which were spared the highly destructive carpet bombings meant to bring Germany to its knees and end WWII. Maybe it is the 800 year old ruin castle? Perhaps they come in droves to see Germany's longest pedestrian shopping area? YES, a HUGE outdoor mall, complete with Starbucks and other strange choices to be seen in such an old environment. Now THAT sounds like something which would interest my countrymen!

I kid you not, every few steps while walking along the main thoroughfare I was assaulted by English. I say assaulted because after being surrounded by German (and at work French, Spanish and Italian) my ears act like a strange English antennae and almost jump up when my native tongue is within earshot. At the office I know that people are speaking to me when they begin speaking English thus when I hear English, I assume that the person is wanting to speak with me. I've talked about this weird phenomenon before in a long ago blog entry titled Sensory Overload which is exactly what it feels like to me.

How could I not listen to the couple sitting behind us at the restaurant as they discuss what they will do/see next? Is it really possible to blank out the noise of a passing pedestrian as he asks the woman beside him if she "would you qualify that as a manufacturing problem or a design problem"? In one word... No. It is impossible for me to tune them out. It is the same thing I deal with every time I visit America or any English-speaking country. It is HARD, so HARD to deal with the language all around me.

While walking among the white sport shoed folks (stereotypical American footwear makes them stand out every time) I took the time to eat some local fare. In this case it was Saumagen or "stomach of the female pig". It turned out to be alright, tasting like most any of the sliced deli meats widely available in the US, just sliced more thickly and pan-fried. I tasted potatoes and celery in this interesting reminder that the Germans use EVERY part of the pig in cuisine. The Saumagen came with Sauerkraut and Kartoffelpüree (mashed potatoes) of course, both were also quite nice and rounded out the meal very nicely.

At the suggestion of the before-mentioned Heidelbergerin, we avoided Vetter's restaurant food and went straight to the beer. It seemed like every third person was walking around with the easily-spotted brown bottle and enjoying it highly, so we decided it was the thing to do when in Heidelberg... OH MY... we were right! We walked in and asked for a dark beer and came out with a FANTASTIC dark, sweet, thick malt beer which went down smoothly as we sat on the riverbank opposite the old town and watched the sunset/moonrise.

A friend of mine told me that Heidelberg is very romantic, and now I believe him. It seemed that the best times we had were on the "other" side of the river, taking in the quiet beauty of the incredibly picturesque villiage of the old town. There were so many opportunities for simply enjoying each other's company which in our hustle and bustle world just get left behind. We really enjoyed our time by the Neckar river, on both sides.

Been reading:

• Former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince - Now the dirty stuff is going to come out about Blackwater (now renamed Xe). I wonder why you would change the name of a successful company? Is it because the other one was kicked OUT of Iraq BY the Iraqis?
• Churning Ocean Waters, One Jellyfish at a Time - This is a really wild theory, but I can see where it originates from and it makes sense in a way. The first thing I thought while reading this is that this is just another species that once extinct or severely reduced in number due to environmental stupidity on the part of humans that will have a HUGE and unforeseen impact on the Earth.
• Russian Subs Seen Off U.S. East Coast - Looks like Mother Russia is getting more serious about throwing around some military might.
• Don't trust Obama on gay marriage - I believe the author has hit the issue on the head. Obama will sell out the gays and lesbians in a heartbeat if it is politically advantageous for him to do it. Clinton did it first of course, but he did it best... DOMA and Don't Ask, Don't Tell hurt gays and lesbian rights in ways that we are just now fully realizing. Let's hope that Obama doesn't make another such "compromise" which undercuts the small gains the gay community has made.

I will leave you with a cute video which has become pretty viral.
THIS is the way to come down the aisle!