This non-American Life

Checking in on Munich’s art students

My there was a lot going on in Munich this weekend. Drag queens were racing through Marienplatz. Anime aficionados were living it up in the English Garden. I managed to sleep through the Kocherlball for the third year in a row.

Sunday’s cool weather lured me out to see the student art show at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste. Munich’s art academy consists of two main buildings, one old and one new, and getting to wander around in them was half of the fun to me.

As expected for a student show, there was definitely a fair number of duds on display, but a lot of delightful pieces could be found amongst the various exhibition rooms. I was especially impressed with how many works really made me laugh (with them, not at them). Modern German art isn’t exactly known for displaying a sense of humor.

The lawn of the Old Building was spotted with boards for one to poke one’s head through and be photographed. (Do you know what I’m talking about? Why is there no actual word for these things?) Collectively titled “Extreme Situations of Human Existence,” these particular head-cutout-boardy-thingies allowed you to try on the role of combat soldier, 1000-pound man, or crucified Jesus, among other fun stuff. » Read the full post

Tags: akademie der bildenden künste, art, cheap things to do in Munich, german art, Germany, Munich, news

Going on in Munich: July 2010

As usual, my travel schedule will be calming down with the heat of summer, so I’m on the lookout for local fun here in Munich. After a very rainy June, the entire city is excited to sit outside under the chestnut trees and drink beer, but there are actually other fun ways to entertain oneself in the city of beer gardens, too.

Munich Filmfest (until July 3). The Filmfest started last week but you can still catch the end of it – movies are playing through Saturday. There are several international categories, and you can find plenty of films in English or subtitled in English. If you’re lucky you’ll catch a director’s talk, too.

Soccer Watching (until July 11). The World Cup is being viewed pretty much everywhere in Munich. Most biergartens and restaurants offer screens large and small. There’s a big screen set up for the German games at Bordeauxplatz, and at Wittelsbacherplatz you can find Siemens Soccer City.

Open Artist Studios (July 10-11). During Kunst im Karrèe dozens of artists open their Schwabing studios to the public. My feet ached after two days of pounding the pavement last year, but it was worth it. I recommend checking out the artists in advance (online or get a catalog) so you can target the ones who look most interesting to you.

Christopher Street Day (July 17-18). It’s almost time for the annual invasion of Marienplatz by racing drag queens. More gay pride fun than you can shake a big, throbbing stick at.

Tollwood (July 1-25). Hippie shopping, international food, and lots of concerts. This year’s highlights include the Pet Shop Boys, Norah Jones, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and, uh, Michael Bolton.

What will you be doing this July?

Tags: cheap things to do in Munich, German culture, Germany, Munich, news, soccer, summer

So there’s some kind of big soccer thingy going on?

Kidding, kidding. I am actually a big fan of the World Cup. It’s almost the only sporting event I can say that about. Professional league sports of all kinds bore me to tears, but the World Cup is different. And the fact that Glenn Beck is against it is kind of the icing on the cake.

Take this year’s event, and all its interesting angles. South Africa gets a chance to step onto the world stage. Desmond Tutu gets to wear adorable supporter gear. The world gets introduced to a new instrument. Sound nerds get to figure out how to cancel out the sound of said instrument. And then there are all the beautiful abs.

The North Korean team is another fascinating part of this years’ tournament. They have proven themselves to be worthy athletes, losing to number-one-in-the-world Brazil by a very respectable 2 to 1. They are, on average, a couple inches shorter than the South Koreans. Their fan section is small and uniform, and possibly consists of paid Chinese actors.

And then there’s the whole matter of whom to cheer for. After all, your country is only playing in a small number of the total games. Who else do you support, and why? We watched the US-England game in a beer garden, and I was surprised that the mostly-German crowd was so heavily cheering for the US. I watch games played by Germany or the US with great interest, but I find myself alternately wanting them to win or lose at any given moment. I used to be a loyal Italy fan, but I’ve found my allegiance to them flailing this year, too.

I love a good underdog, and found myself being happy for Slovenia in their tie with the US, the country with the highest population in the tournament. Slovenia, on the other hand, has a population smaller than that of Brooklyn. And going back to North Korea, I simultaneously want them to win and lose. I wish happiness and success for the individuals whom are being repressed by a crazy dictator, but I don’t want the crazy dictator to be able to derive any pleasure or glory from the success of his team. Maybe what I really want is for their team to do fairly well, and then for all of them to defect. Any chance of that?

Munich, like many cities around the world, is in party mode this month. Beer gardens and restaurants fill up with eager fans. Wearing face paint and clown wigs in public is suddenly OK. Companies let their employees leave early to watch Germany play. The beer* is flowing. Life is good, especially when the German team is winning, but even near-goals are celebrated with vigor.

As I type this, somewhere outside my window a vuvuzela is being played in time with the ringing church bells. I am happy that it’s just one.

Is the World Cup catching your interest this summer?

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* And by beer, I mean the regular old Munich beer that always flows here. No one here seems to have heard of Hasseröder, the Official German World Cup Beer, except for me.

Tags: Munich, news, soccer, World Cup

The terrorists started winning when lip gloss became a threat

So rarely does something I read cause me to yell “YES YES YES!” the way that this commentary did, I figured I’d share it here. The article addresses the ridiculous and ever-growing measures which the US (and consequently other countries) is taking in the name of preventing terrorism attacks on airplanes.

For years I’ve been drunkenly expounding on this subject at cocktail parties to anyone who will listen, but I’ve never managed to sum up my ideas as eloquently as Campos does. Here’s the crux:

It might be unrealistic to expect the average citizen to have a nuanced grasp of statistically based risk analysis, but there is nothing nuanced about two basic facts:

(1) America is a country of 310 million people, in which thousands of horrible things happen every single day; and

(2) The chances that one of those horrible things will be that you’re subjected to a terrorist attack can, for all practical purposes, be calculated as zero.

Zero sounds like a perfectly acceptable level of risk to me!  So why is it that I and millions of other travelers must be presented with ever-increasing numbers of hoops through which to jump every time we want to get on an airplane? Why is it considered a good use of time (and resources) for security personnel to hand-check whether my Sigg bottle is completely empty, but having higher speed limits is worth the additional deaths because motorists’ time is so damn precious? And why is it OK for the government to now take and store naked pictures of us in the name of reducing an already-infinitesimal risk? Would you be willing to let the government take naked photos of you if the stated reason was reducing your risk of death by flying tortoise?

In other news, there’s a lot of snow in Germany (via TQE).

Tags: air travel, news, travel

Advent of travel deals from Germany

Just wanted to mention that Air Berlin is having its Advent Calendar Sale again this year. Each day there’s another great deal to be had. Today it’s 2-for-1 tickets from Germany (and Switzerland and Austria) to Spain and Portugal. Tomorrow it’s 2-for-1 to Italy! You only have one day to book each deal. The travel dates available vary, but tend to be in the early part of the coming year.

Coincidentally a couple other airlines were vying for my attention (and euros) today. Lufthansa is offering 2 tickets within Germany for €169 total, bookable this Saturday through Tuesday. Travel between 23 Dec and 28 Feb.

Aer Lingus also wanted me to know that they are offering 20% off summer trips from Germany to England and Ireland. Given that their regular rates start at €0 plus tax, I’m not sure how much one actually saves with the sale.

Tags: news, travel

Schwarm: flashmobbing in Munich

Back home in Munich, and the fun continues. Last night we participated in Moment of Starlings, a flash mob event that momentarily bewildered many a passerby downtown.

We received information on the meeting point by SMS about an hour before the event was to start. After crowding into a bookstore to listen to an introduction and receive some general instruction, we were off. Text messages with new instructions arrived sporadically over the next hour and a half, and the crowd of a hundred or so people was delighted to do the bidding of our unseen puppet master.

I loved the looks on bystanders’ faces as we slalomed through the Isartor Sbahn station in a long, single-file line and then ran up the down escalator. Well, about half of us did. That is one long-ass escalator. Pant pant.

After some general swarming and barking at a giant turbine, an SMS told us to go pick up a pillow and congregate in a dry fountain. You can imagine what happened next (actually you don’t have to, since I have these nifty photos of it).

At the end we were rewarded with some Glühwein. And we got to keep all of the feathers clinging to our clothes, hair, and faces. Lucky us.

I have been a big fan of Improv Everywhere for years, so I was super excited to get to participate in a flash mob myself. Although our performance was nowhere near the caliber of a Grand Central freeze, nor as meticulously coordinated as a Best Gig Ever, it wasn’t bad for a group of beginners. The organizers did a great job coordinating the various moving parts, and I’m looking forward to the next one.

This was the second of four planned flash mobs. The next one is on November 25th and will be part of the Spielart Theater Festival in Munich. See the website to find out how to sign up. You’ll need to understand at least a little German or go with someone who does; all of the instructions are sent out in German, but I’m sure you could find someone at the event who will help translate if you need it. Or you can just follow the swarm.

Tags: Germany, Munich, news

In Munich tomorrow? Join the Carrotmob

Tomorrow (Saturday, October 17th, 2009) afternoon Munich will experience its first Carrotmob. If you understand German, watch the video below (if you don’t, check out Carrotmob’s English-language website):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6rRnkr9Akw]

The idea behind Carrotmob is to reward businesses which pledge to become more environmentally-friendly by delivering a bunch of consumers to their door. In this case, a small Munich grocer has signed up to spend 30% of their sales from the Carrotmob to make environmentally-friendly improvements to their refrigeration system.

Tomorrow’s Munich Carrotmob will take place from 12 to 3 PM at Löwenzahn, Lindwurmstraße 135. There are Carrotmobs in many other cities (especially around the US), so if you can’t make it to Munich tomorrow, try looking for one in your area.

UPDATE: The Carrotmob was a success! Despite crappy weather, their money-raising goals were reached. When we went there seemed to be the perfect number of people milling around and buying things – no long line, but it was definitely the busiest shop on the block by far. Unfortunately the rain made us not so eager to stick around and listen to the band play, but it was still a fun time.

Tags: Germany, Munich, news

Expat bloggers to descend on Munich. Wanna come?

I keep forgetting to post about this, but the event is fast approaching. On the weekend of September 4th – 6th, expat bloggers from all around Germany will be coming to Munich to hang out, chat, drink, eat, walk around, and chat some more. I am all kinds of excited to get to see some of my favorite out-of-town bloggers (such as TQE and the Regensbloggers) again, as well as to meet some others (such as Snooker and Mausi and Heidelbergerin) for the first time.

New folks are more than welcome, so if you’re a blogger in Germany (or somewhere nearby) and would like to attend, go sign up on the Expat Bloggers in Germany Website to learn all the dirty little details.

Tags: bloggers and the people who love them, Germany, Munich, news

Hey G-20, fix everything now!

In London over the weekend, we came across a large demonstration snaking through the city.

Unlike the protests expected this week during the G-20 meetings, the one we saw was quite peaceful and orderly, and was even followed up by a crew of street sweepers to erase any mess that might have been made by the parade.

The thing that struck me about this demonstration was the variety of causes being supported. Go vegetarian! Save the rainforest! Stop bailing out the banks! End war now! Guaranteed jobs for all students! Anarchy forever! Free hat! Donna Martin graduates!

Now I’m no protest expert, but I’m thinking that you are much more likely to get your message across if you limit it to, say, no more than a few key talking points. What do you think?

Tags: England, London, news

Waterford: not your everyday crystal factory tour

The other day we found ourselves in Waterford, Ireland, home of the famous crystal. Naturally we decided to stop in at the factory’s visitor center. We were pleased to find a tour of the galleries leaving right away, led by a charming man who was quite knowledgeable about the pieces on display.

The crystal creations ranged from exquisite to hideous to comical, and we enjoyed the tour even though Waterford Crystal isn’t exactly our style.

It’s a good thing we weren’t interested in buying anything, though, since nothing was on sale that day. Actually, the visitors center wasn’t open for business at all, and our tour guide wasn’t really a tour guide, but a craftsman in the crystal factory – at least he had been until he was fired a couple weeks ago, when he and 480 of his colleagues were sacked as the company ceased production.

Since then, fired union members have been occupying the visitor center in protest. They are worried about not only their future jobs but also their pensions and other benefits owed them by a company in the financial crapper.

The occupation seemed calm and well-organized. At least 20 union members were milling around when we were there, guarding the door, playing cards, talking to visitors, and keeping the cafeteria running for their fellow protesters. The building was decorated with protest signs, many demonstrating a wicked sense of humor.

It was certainly one of the more memorable tours I’ve been on.

Tags: Ireland, news, travel