A friend of mine, who came to Berlin from Romania, told me once this story: she was walking on a sidewalk when she witnessed a band of Gypsies sitting in a coffee shop. She greeted them and they indulged in a little conversation. What are you doing here, they asked. I study, she replied. What instrument, they inquired.

I love Gypsy music. It reminds me of Kusturica before he fell in love with himself. Gypsy music in Berlin means even more as it marks the official ending of another horrible winter. This was one of Maya’s first associations: when she heard the trombone and the accordion, she knew it was time to ask for an ice cream.

It is quite amazing for me that in the past month I encountered two incidents where riders in the train had asked a band of gypsies to halt their… weiter lesen

Pfffff, what a fucking month. It got so bad (any of you remember the earthquake in New Zealand?), that we decided to skip Berlin for a few days in Rome.

On the way back, we grabbed a German newspaper, and I let myself dive into the minor news. Wasn’t ready yet for the fire and smoke, the green and the nuclear. In this section I ran into a delightful piece of news about a bakery in Saxony that decided to advertise its new campaign for chocolate cake, and accompanied it with a picture of young black baby.

What really fascinated me was the company’s response. “Something went wrong with this offer, but despite this, one doesn’t have to criticise shop workers or destroy posters,” said the company’s lawyer.

The bakery itself was unapologetic on its website: “The child which you see on the adverts is the little Sofiyha, whose mother Lina and… weiter lesen

We were on the line at the supermarket near to our house. There were two ladies in front of me, one made a major shopping, the other didn’t even need a shopping basket.

I was putting my products on the belt: a diet Coke, potatoes, cream cheese, some salty junk food. A man in his 30′s was standing behind me, holding only a bad with cold cuts. “If you have only this, you can go in front of me,” I told him. He gave me the same response I get every time I make this offer: a refusal with the shoulder, then a gesture with the mouth asking me if I am sure, and then a constant smile, once they are ahead of me.

The cashier finished the scanning of the products of the first lady on the line. It was eighty something Euros. The lady handed her a credit… weiter lesen

This is the most read news story in the past couple of days in “The Local”, a website that bring news from Germany for the English reading crowd.

Please read it, and then read it again. What does it say? It says that some man in some town have a problem, a private problem that got so big he had decided to go to the public court with it. Why does it worth a news story? reading about private problem that went into the public domain, that’s why they invented cyberspace.

So it is not really a story worth publishing. It found its way to a more established publication because of the content of the news. It involves with sex. Sex sells. Why does sex sells? because many of us don’t get it, literally. Or the way to get it is blocked by some taboos.

It… weiter lesen

I have much appreciation for the German movement and protest when it comes to nuclear questions. I mean I do have a problem with the violent nature of the protest, supported by the peaceful green party, violence that somehow undermines democracy, but I can understand the cause and the rage it leads to.

What puzzles me is the fact that none of this caring shows up when it has to do with a lunatic leader who threatens to wipe Israel of the map and inches every day toward his aim to obtain nuclear weapon.

In my previous post I had written about linkage being made between the treatment of German Jewry in the past and how the Muslim population is being treated now.

One of the things that I wrote was that the German Jews were exterminated even though they were integrated in the society. They spoke the language, they held the fork with their left hand, and they even stepped into the train before letting the other passengers step out. The Muslim now are being asked to integrate. You know: run to the head of the line when a new cashier is opened, turn your head to the other side and pretend to not notice when a pregnant woman is getting on a full bus.

This is Confusing for me. Do the Germans want other or not. It makes me even think if Sarrazin was right with his gene theory.

(to my few… weiter lesen

It was a perfect day. At eight P.M one could have ride his bicycle freely without worrying about speeding cars. The tram operators took their time, and instead of shutting the doors rudely, just waited a couple of extra seconds at the station to watch the game on one of the plasma screens on the street. Fathers volunteered without argument to take their babies for a night stroll, running away from observations about players and their sexual orientation, and not minding the clogged sidewalks.

I rode “Alles Uber rechts” and enjoyed the emptiness of the cafes that opted not to broadcast the games, I marveled at the “blitzartige angriffe” and from the ability to know the score only by listening to the game. The weather was wonderful, the air free of allergy devils, the streets were a celebration of colors. Germany had won, proving that it… weiter lesen

There are many things you witness in Israel where it is obvious that they were copied from the German system: education, welfare, healthcare and other public infrastructures. But there are also many things in Israel that are obvious testimonies to the fact that Israeli society had done everything possible to turn against its German heritage. There is no “Sie” in Israel, just “Du”, even if you speak to the president, there is a complete disbelief in authority unless it proves otherwise, and in Israel improvisation is the structure.

I can understand that. Actually it was something I would expect Germans to do. To understand that everything that happened before 1933 was up to doubt. I am still amazed by how much rules of behavior are important here. I mean: I am sure that people that had excellent table manners had executed kids after their lunch, why should I care to… weiter lesen

Earlier this morning we were waiting at the Strassebahn station with another dozen passengers. When it arrived a young guy with headphones plugged into his years–he couldn’t have been more than 18–entered first, made two steps and just stood there, blocking the enterance and not letting anyone else get in. Which was weird: he had like five meters to step in, but he couldn’t care less and just stood there.

When we arrived at the station we were supposed to get off, I started to pull the Kinder Wagon toward the exit door, but there were at least six people who stood outside and very close to the door, eager to get in. I had to tell them in broken German that maybe they want to try the breakthrough concept of letting people out before the get in, and that the Bahn isn’t going to run off, and only then they parted a… weiter lesen