T̶w̶o̶ One p̶e̶r̶p̶e̶t̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶a̶t̶s̶ immigrant settling into home country number five.
Even though Germany has some great home-grown musical acts to offer, rarely does a German artist make it across the Atlantic to the US (as opposed to American music, which makes it over here to Germany far too often). If I had had to bet on which German music was going to make it big … Read more
In an effort to get to know my new home country, I’ve been diligently checking out German TV. On of the shows currently on is The Next Uri Geller, a show in search of Germany’s top mentalist. I can’t bear to watch this show. It’s just too stupid, even for my relatively low standards. All … Read more
Have I mentioned how very, very excited I am to be moving to a place where they speak REAL GERMAN? Yeah yeah yeah, I know there’s an incomprehensible Bavarian dialect that lurks around, but when you’re not talking to drunk farmers, High German is the default language in Munich. High German, the German I know, … Read more
As it turns out, the Swiss are pretty good at it, too. So tonight we went to a Wir Sind Helden concert. Now don’t get me wrong – Wir Sind Helden is definitely one of my all-time favorite German-singing bands. Right up there with Xavier Naidoo and the late great Falco. But I’m not such … Read more
So after being home in Zurich for, oh, less than a week, it was high time to get out of here again. A weekend in Munich, Germany, was exactly what we needed. Munich is a fun, livable city, especially once you escape the hordes of tourists in the very center. Actually the touristy stuff is … Read more
On Saturday I rolled my jetlagged behind out of bed and headed out to the Christopher Street Day (CSD) celebrations that were taking place in downtown Zurich. CSD is the local version of a Gay Pride parade, and gets its name from the NYC street where a major police raid took place in 1969.
Edited to add: unfortunately YouTube removed the video that went along with this post. Just imagine someone singing The Cars’ “Drive” with a mouth full of rocks or belting out “Another Day in Paradise” as if it were a sexy, sexy love song (complete with hip swivels). The one TV show that we watch regularly … Read more
This morning when I woke up, I didn’t feel quite right. It wasn’t a headache, or nausea, or anything I could really put my finger on, but something was wrong. By this afternoon, I still wasn’t feeling better, but I headed out to meet some friends for drinks anyway. On the walk there I felt … Read more
I meant to write about this in connection with our trip to Germany in December, but I guess it got lost in the holiday shuffle. At any rate, Ampelmänner are back on my mind, so today you’re going to learn about them (or stop reading this post – unfortunately I haven’t found a way to force you to pay attention to me yet).
The Ampelmann, simply put, was the man on the pedestrian traffic lights in East Germany. He came into existence in the 1960s in East Berlin, and lights with his likeness were soon installed all over the country. He stands out amongst other pedestrian crossing signs because of his big hat, dramatic gesturings, and all-around adorableness. The Ampelmann was so popular that he made the jump from traffic symbol to film star in the 80s, coming to animated life in road safety movies that were compulsory viewing for school children. Thus the Ampelmann became even more loved by the East German people.
Often, it’s a good idea to watch some local television in your host country. It can help you pick up the language and its idioms. It can teach you something about the culture in which you are living, and even help you assimilate. But sometimes, you turn on the TV and are greeted with things … Read more