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Germans put the fun in fungi
My experience with mushrooms was confined to cans as a kid. In Germany, collecting them is a cherished hobby – but don’t bother asking anybody where to find them because they aren’t telling.
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50 years later – Triumph and tragedy of the Munich Olympics. Part II: Tragedy
The 1972 Munich Olympic Games brought many long-lasting improvements to the city, but they were overshadowed by a tragic terrorist attack.
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50 years later: The triumph and tragedy of the Munich Olympics – Part I: Triumph
It’s been 50 years since the Munich Olympics were held, but their impact lives on in both triumph and tragedy. Part I – Triumph.
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The French girl who wouldn’t talk
Language class is where you learn to speak a language, but just memorizing vocabulary and practicing dictations won’t do the trick. I found a surprising way to get our exchange student to talk.
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On a train to everywhere – Germany’s €9 ticket and its surprising consequences
The next best thing to free is Germany’s €9 ticket. Apart from motivating even motorheads to hop on the train, it has inspired a few surprising insights and may even have a permanent impact on Germany’s urban transport.
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Bombs away! The WWII gift that keeps on giving
30 July 2022 One of the punctuality challenges to the Munich train system, as noted in last week’s post, is unexploded bombs buried in the ground. Yes, you read that correctly. There are so many bombs in the ground that when one is found, rather than panicking, passengers simply groan, “Oh no, not another one!” […]
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If this is punctuality, my watch is broken
Germany has the reputation of being punctual and reliable. But recent snafus in city planning are putting a big dent into that image.
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Kraut and about – what are all those Germans doing abroad?
German immigrants used to flock to the U.S. They still go there in droves, but now they go back home again, as I discovered during my trip to New York.
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Think digital technology is a cure-all? Don’t bet your life on it
A WWII air raid siren startled me once while I waited for a train. Such an old technology could certainly be replaced with something better. At least that’s what I thought until a real emergency cropped up.
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Karl Marx’s penguin and Richard Wagner’s design for Madonna’s corset
1 May 2022 Karl Marx and Richard Wagner are featured in joint exhibits at the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin. But why, I wondered. The first man was a flaming revolutionary, forced to flee the country and live much of his life in exile. His name became synonymous with disastrous attempts to implement his philosophy. […]
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Ukraine on the train – from a military to a cultural conflict
Taking the train home from Berlin, some Ukrainians boarded the train. Watching their interactions with the conductor reminded me of my first experience taking German trains
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The ladies, the rest home and the bombs
The oldest residents of a rest home suddenly developed mild illnesses. They all shared a trauma from the distant past that had suddenly been revived overnight.