It’s been a while since I’ve written here, and there’s a good reason for it.
I am back in Germany, the place where I grew up. It’s rolling green hills, vineyards, mountains, and the northern coast again. Only this past weekend I was on the island Fehmarn, the first time I have really been that high up north. A short ferry ride from there will take you to Denmark. Only a day before that, I was in the lowest south, the Bavarian Alps. That's wanderlust for you.
Frank, my incredibly gracious host, is a friend who works for the German Border Patrol. He still remembers stories from the time where borders actually mattered around here. He was on a one year tour in Amman, Jordan, where I met him. I was also fortunate to meet Tamara, his Swedish wife, and his son, Jesper. In Jordan, they even baptized Jesper, complete with a German priest and all, right there at the River Jordan, where my own son was baptized. He left the country, but not without extending an invitation to me to come up north, and I grabbed it, the long train rides be damned.
What I didn’t know was that Tamara had invited plenty of friends of her own, back home from Gotheburg, Sweden. Five of them, to be exact. Though I rarely understood them in their own language (check that, probably not at all), they were wonderful company.
This is their story as well.
Germany, as most countries, has a divide as well. Here, it is the North vs South. Since 1989, we can also include the East, but that's another chapter.
On the evening of the Full Moon celebration, the 'Vollmondfest', we grilled and drank to our heart's content. Of course, we also had to sing Swedish songs and drink a schnapps after each one. Later in the evening, Frank and I chose to drive into the biggest town on the island Fehmar, Burg, for a nightcap...and a nightclub, as it turned out.
I don't remember the name of the club, but I will just dub it the 'big and tall' disco. From the staff to about anybody on the floor, there was not a person in there under six feet. I wonder what is in the water (or the cows) these days. Surreal indeed.
Needless to say, we got hammered that evening. Too bad: the next afternoon we had to play the Sunday afternoon soccer match, an informal get together of middle-aged guys and gals who will play football and try to make it through the day without a muscle pull or a twisted ankle. There were three casualties that day, as it turned out.
Being from the south, I have always marveled at how laid back northerners were. southerners are more serious, more conservative, but no less solid human beings. I resisted returning a few swings that were taken at the south while I was there. It kind of disappointed me people would even try that.
What northerners can't comprehend (and are kind of envious about) is the economic stability of the south, especially states like Baden-Württemberg, where I was born, and Bavaria, where I grew up. You know that any nationwide unemployment figures or educational tendencies may never apply to the south, since they are consistently better than the norm. In education, Bavaria and BW are ranked one and two, and have been for years. The per capita income is among the highest in Europe and unemployment among the lowest. True, both states are 'black', meaning conservative bastions that regularly pull in a majority of the vote for the Christian Democrats, which reveals the political divide. In the south there is more of a tradition with monarchs, especially in Bavaria, whereas the north, probably due to its proximity to ultra liberal neighbors Denmark and the Netherlands, appears to be more progressive. I like both places for different reasons.
The Swedes were on a different planet altogether and put Germans, both southern and northern, to shame when it comes to communication and interaction with people. Compared to what women's issues used to be, we are doing 100% better in the year 2008. I still see Germany ahead of the United States in that regard, but Sweden makes both of us look sick. They might have actually perfected the theory of emancipation, both in action and in word. I easily saw this confirmed in the time I spent with them. Peaceful, fun-loving, friendly, and intelligent, Swedes feel 100% comfortable with who they are. Very refreshing.
I eventually left Fehmarn on a Sunday and took a grueling 12 hour trip back to Bavaria, switching trains a grand total of seven times. Gotta stretch that dollar in Europe. I have been quite a tightwad since I've been here.
Next week I will be in Cairo, where no doubt at least one more entry will be completed. Tschüss from Bavaria for now.
I am back in Germany, the place where I grew up. It’s rolling green hills, vineyards, mountains, and the northern coast again. Only this past weekend I was on the island Fehmarn, the first time I have really been that high up north. A short ferry ride from there will take you to Denmark. Only a day before that, I was in the lowest south, the Bavarian Alps. That's wanderlust for you.
Frank, my incredibly gracious host, is a friend who works for the German Border Patrol. He still remembers stories from the time where borders actually mattered around here. He was on a one year tour in Amman, Jordan, where I met him. I was also fortunate to meet Tamara, his Swedish wife, and his son, Jesper. In Jordan, they even baptized Jesper, complete with a German priest and all, right there at the River Jordan, where my own son was baptized. He left the country, but not without extending an invitation to me to come up north, and I grabbed it, the long train rides be damned.
What I didn’t know was that Tamara had invited plenty of friends of her own, back home from Gotheburg, Sweden. Five of them, to be exact. Though I rarely understood them in their own language (check that, probably not at all), they were wonderful company.
This is their story as well.
Germany, as most countries, has a divide as well. Here, it is the North vs South. Since 1989, we can also include the East, but that's another chapter.
On the evening of the Full Moon celebration, the 'Vollmondfest', we grilled and drank to our heart's content. Of course, we also had to sing Swedish songs and drink a schnapps after each one. Later in the evening, Frank and I chose to drive into the biggest town on the island Fehmar, Burg, for a nightcap...and a nightclub, as it turned out.
I don't remember the name of the club, but I will just dub it the 'big and tall' disco. From the staff to about anybody on the floor, there was not a person in there under six feet. I wonder what is in the water (or the cows) these days. Surreal indeed.
Needless to say, we got hammered that evening. Too bad: the next afternoon we had to play the Sunday afternoon soccer match, an informal get together of middle-aged guys and gals who will play football and try to make it through the day without a muscle pull or a twisted ankle. There were three casualties that day, as it turned out.
Being from the south, I have always marveled at how laid back northerners were. southerners are more serious, more conservative, but no less solid human beings. I resisted returning a few swings that were taken at the south while I was there. It kind of disappointed me people would even try that.
What northerners can't comprehend (and are kind of envious about) is the economic stability of the south, especially states like Baden-Württemberg, where I was born, and Bavaria, where I grew up. You know that any nationwide unemployment figures or educational tendencies may never apply to the south, since they are consistently better than the norm. In education, Bavaria and BW are ranked one and two, and have been for years. The per capita income is among the highest in Europe and unemployment among the lowest. True, both states are 'black', meaning conservative bastions that regularly pull in a majority of the vote for the Christian Democrats, which reveals the political divide. In the south there is more of a tradition with monarchs, especially in Bavaria, whereas the north, probably due to its proximity to ultra liberal neighbors Denmark and the Netherlands, appears to be more progressive. I like both places for different reasons.
The Swedes were on a different planet altogether and put Germans, both southern and northern, to shame when it comes to communication and interaction with people. Compared to what women's issues used to be, we are doing 100% better in the year 2008. I still see Germany ahead of the United States in that regard, but Sweden makes both of us look sick. They might have actually perfected the theory of emancipation, both in action and in word. I easily saw this confirmed in the time I spent with them. Peaceful, fun-loving, friendly, and intelligent, Swedes feel 100% comfortable with who they are. Very refreshing.
I eventually left Fehmarn on a Sunday and took a grueling 12 hour trip back to Bavaria, switching trains a grand total of seven times. Gotta stretch that dollar in Europe. I have been quite a tightwad since I've been here.
Next week I will be in Cairo, where no doubt at least one more entry will be completed. Tschüss from Bavaria for now.
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