Back In Wiesbaden

No matter the joy of a holiday, you always get back to two things. 1. A huge pile of Washing and 2. A huge pile of payment receipts - assuming that you have bothered to keep them - the evidence of money you have changed into experiences. Often the bits of paper are the only memory of the experiences at all.

In my case, it has been four, 7kg loads of washing that have taken two days to get through. I even used the drier as I did not have the hanging space, in the apartment, to get everything dry. Never fear, once the washing is dry I have the ironing to look forward to. The same ironing that I had to do before I went on holiday. At least I have plenty of recorded TV programmes to watch while I iron. This is now that the cable TV receiver has been replaced. The current incumbent seems to be working a bit better than the previous one, although it did only start recording 30 minutes into two of the programmes.

As to the money spent. I always try and keep all the receipts for my spending and then capture them into an Excel spreadsheet. I know most people do not bother to keep detailed records of their spending. It is usually those with lots of disposal income and those with none that seem to be least concerned about how much they spend. I know that it takes a while to capture all the expenses, but at the end, I know exactly how much I have spend and more importantly on what. Yes, I do have a Budget and Expense Codes. Not because I am the best accountant, but rather an Excellent Administrator. Often in the past, I have got the two confused, which has caused me untold misery. Well, the holiday spending has been captured and I know how much I spent on Belgium Beer and Parking.

As part of most holiday rituals people buy postcards that they never seem to send. This is often because they do not know where the nearest post office is, or they are too busy while on holilday. Or the postage is more than than the cost of the postcard. Well, I do try and send the postcards that I buy. Yes, in the age of social media, Facebook and WhatsAP people send instant photos. I tend to be a bit of a traditionalist and still send Christmas cards and postcards and even birthday cards. As I see it, an email is not the same as a birthday card, it never will be. The point is, it needs to be a bit of an effort to remember friends and family. So I had to dash off to the post-office here in Wiesbaden this morning to get the postcards out before it becomes too late. So now my postcards from Brussels been posted with German stamps. The true meaning of the European Union, or European Integration at least. I would of course never dream of sending a British postcard with German stamp or a German postcard with a British stamp. That is totally unthinkable. Just like the UK joining the Euro Zone. The world will literally END, or for the City of London at least, which is THE WORLD.

I treated myself, to what I consider the best sandwhich in Wiesbaden earlier today. Just to remind me that I am no longer in Brussels and to celebrate getting through my four loads of washing.

View from my Sandwich 1 - Not in Brussels anymore

View from my Sandwich 2

Best Little Sandwich in Wiesbaden.

Day 5 Brussels - European Parliament

Today we were shown around the European Parliament. We were very lucky to have been taken on a guided tour by a very well connected. After getting very lost and wondering around the area, we finally managed to find the Parliament building, after asking several people for directions. The building is truly impressive and so was the canteen. We were even allowed to visit the Parliamentary Chamber. The only people present, apart from us were two cleaners. This tour has been one of the highlights of my week so far. It is always nice to meet friends who have done well for themselves. So know I have a better idea of how the system works (And it does work, Sorry Mrs. T[hatcher]), after it was explained by some one who works there.

The Place to Meet

Day 4 Brussels - Da Vinci Exhibition

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Today, to keep out of the heat, we visited the Da Vinci Exhibition in Brussels. A number of models had been created from the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci. Of course there is also the very interesting TV series called Da Vinci's Demons,but it is probably educational in slightly different ways.

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There were models of flying machines, tanks and all sorts of engineering bits and pieces. In addition a very detailed gallery dedicated to the Mona Lisa.On the smaller (human)scale some poor chap lost something valuable at the exhibition. He was seen walking from room to room searching the floor despondently.

And AWAY

Crossbow Cart

Tank

Photo of Mona Lisa

The only shiny thing that I saw laying on the floor was a discarded sweet wrapper. I do hope that he found "His Precious". But like Smegal, I guess not. No the guy did not look like Smegal....He had only lost something valuable.

Day 3 Brussels - Seaside - Oostende

We did make it to the seaside today. Happily the day started off a bit cooler than it has been for the last few days. When we arrived at Oostende, around 10 am it was about 19 degrees, and overcast. So about 15 degrees cooler than yesterday. We also experienced a few drops of rain on the drive from Brussels. The buildings along the coast are quite drab and uninteresting - even for holiday apartments. There is however, a nice long promenade. The only problem is that it is a bit hectic/chaotic/insane. Lots of people and children on bicycles, with no or little traffic sense. There is no separate of bike path from the pedestrian path. I am very surprised that I did not see any fatal accidents. I would have thought it best to separate walking pensioners from Red Bull fueled, cycling teenagers, but perhaps I am being too German about it."Ordnung muss sein" - roughly translated in English as "Let There be Order". The 11th commandment of the German Bible. Another way of looking at it: if you allow people self regulate, they actually do. And you get better social order than when you try and control people and they simply ignore your attempts. Worth thinking about in the time of the NSA,Prism, Bradley Manning and Edward Snowdon etc. etc.

We were hoping to find something to eat, so we went into a shopping centre, which proved to be a bit of a disappointment. Not sure why you would need a Media Markt - Electronics Retailer - at the seaside, with exactly the same products they have back Wiesbaden. We did manage to find something to eat, at the beach. Some really fresh falafels. The service was really excellent, as the place was under new management. After spending some time in and around the water. I played a personal game of catch the seaweed. Very intellectual, but so what. Afterwards it was time to seek shelter, as it started getting really hot again. We had some really tasty eclairs. Walking in the opposite direction to the one we had been in, we found the centre of Oostende, which was quite a bit more interesting than the Media Markt. We even found public toilets, which up until then had been completely absent. Around 5 pm we started our drive back to Brussels. I am pleased that we were able to a day at the seaside on this holiday.

Beech at Oostende

Beware the Cyclists: I had to wait about 10 mins to get this picture with out the maniacs swooping past.

Day 2 Brussels - Atomiun

Today was as hot as it was yesterday. We made an early start and decided to visit the Atomium. We caused some confusion at the ticket office when we said we were from Germany, but wanted English audio guides. Although the exhibition is a bit dated, considering the structure was opened in 1958. And some of the displays do not tie up to the audio display it is well worth a visit. On the upper levels there are some very interesting multi-media displays.One of my concerns about driving to Brussels was what to do about the car. But this turned out to be less of a problem than anticipated. You can park at the Atomium for 5€ for the whole day. The afternoon was spend hiding from the heat and we only ventured out again in the evening.

Brussels Week

This week I am in Brussels so not much posting to happen. Drove from Wiesbaden yesterday.

Was a nice drive actually, except for the roadworks that are always present on the German Autobahn. Driving is really cool because as you know there are parts that have no speed restrictions. Once we got to The Netherlands we had a speed limit of 120 km/h. Fortunately, we had cruise control otherwise it gets a bit boring. It is extremely hot in Europe at the moment. The car measured 34 degrees Celsius. We a arrived in Brussels at about 3.30 pm.

Steve Grand’s “All American Boy” Gay Kiss

Speaking of challenges and finding solutions, I have to mention someone that has inspired me. My Inspirer (Okay I really wanted to say Hero) is Steve Grand. Steve is an American singer and song writer, and obviously he can play the piano also. His self funded (he apparently maxed out is credit cards to the tune of 7000 $) video; of his song, “All America Boy” currently has reached over 1.4 million views on Youtube. He is not the first person in the history of the world to go over their credit card limit, but few people can claim to have had such an impact, with not keeping to their budget.

And not that I ever thought I would quote the Daily Mail in England, but they sum it up thus; ” Singer Steve Grand has put his early music career on the line by not only revealing he is gay, but kissing a man in the viral video clip for his debut single, 'All-American Boy'". In order to understand what the fuss is about you need to watch the video. I think that in Steve finding his voice he has given a voice to millions of others. His bravery will undoubtedly make him a Hero to many, many more people than he has already become. Well done and hats off to You, Steve.

  

He has demonstrated pluck, self-belief and youthful optimism. There are two messages here: 1.We must believe in ourselves and take ACTION if we want to achieve anything and be effective in our life. 2. We cannot help with whom we fall in love. Perhaps we can all learn to react with more kindness and compassion to those who express their love for us. Steve Grand is to be highly commended for taking a stand and starting a dialogue, but more importantly for sharing his thoughts and feelings with the often cruel and uncaring world. 

Finally, my Ancient Greek text book has just arrived from the UK. I will need a Hero to help me with that, either me or someone else.

Job Center Epic

So I had my second and as it turns out final session at the Job Centre in Wiesbaden. At the appointed time, I sat waiting outside my advisor’s office. One of her colleagues came past and asked who I was waiting for? When I answered she said:”Oh you must knock on the door, she is probably waiting for you already”. And as it turns my lady was waiting for me. On my previous visit, the advisor had come out of her office and invited me in. The point is: how was I supposed to know to knock on the door when my previous experience had been the exact opposite. This raises two points to consider. Often our past experience (the Past) leads us to draw the wrong conclusion about what course of action to take in a new situation (the Present). Plus, people very often expect us to interpret a situation in the same way they do. The “Theys” and “Thems” (the Critics) of the world are utterly amazed that anyone could act even think of acting in such a strange way (differently to the way they would). This is pretty common when people find themselves in a different culture to the one they are used to. I will provide another example from my own intercultural travels.

In 2010 I moved to the England after living in Germany for about eight years. In that time I had lived in Munich (München), Berlin and Nuremberg (Nürnberg). In Germany, if you have a bus pass (monthly ticket) you simply show it to the diver as you walk past. When I tried to do this in England, the driver became extremely upset. He thought I was not waiting my turn in the queue. He wanted to check my bus pass, perhaps because UK bus passes have photographs, while the German ones generally do not. Oh the fun of cultural differences.

 

I must however return to my Job Center Epic. Once again my advisor was extremely friendly. She actively engaged with whatever I told or showed her, offered additional suggestions about where I could look for job opportunities. I did find it strange that she did not take ask to see the application she had suggested I make. Perhaps a brief perusal of the covering letter would have been in order.  Perhaps she did not ask to see it because I had mentioned I did not really consider myself suitable for the position. I am not sure. She repeated some of the ideas that had been mentioned in our previous meeting. I felt that the meeting began to run out of stream, with me doing most of the talking about my ideas. No doubt helped by my mentioning that I was considering further study. At about 9.55 am there was a knock on the door. The next appointment was there and this person clearly knew to knock on the door. So my meeting and consultation drew to an end without me being offered anything tangible (a course or some sort of training) by the job centre. My advisor did promise to send me any further insights she might have by email. To which I responded by giving her my blog address. Good Morning Frau. X. if you are reading this.

I had sought out the Job Center hoping to receive some sort of training to make myself more marketable in the German Labour Market. But I think my problem is that I do not receive any unemployment benefits – so cost nothing – and why then should the Job Center finance any additional training for me – which would cost something. I might be wrong and am clearly biased. Perhaps my evidence is only anecdotal, but I feel that if I was actually costing the Job Center money; they may have been prepared to pay for my skills to be updated and so made more directly relevant to the German job market. Then again perhaps not, but this is the truth about how I feel. This probably means that I will still not appear in the unemployment statistics – and so remain invisible – and that I find rather annoying. I do not even have a customer number. So in one way going to the Job Center was not terribly useful, but I have at least investigated it as an option. I have realised that I will have to find my own ways of generating income in Germany. And strangely enough I find this quite motivating; to try and find my own solutions. This then is my challenge and to be honest I did not have high hopes before I visited the Job Center. It was an avenue that needed to be investigated and so I can now tick it off the list of options.

Ancient Languages and Books

While I doing some research about on-line Masters Degrees in Classics and Ancient History, I discovered the University of Trinity Saint David, in Wales. They offer some interesting, and more important for the UK, affordable programmes. I was very impressed with the rapid response I received to my queries about courses and fee structures. Unfortunately, it has become very clear that I would have to study Latin or Greek if I wished to pursue this further. I did an introductory course in Latin, in the last century - as I like to call it (1988), but remember almost nothing. Except perhaps for Rosa, Rosam, Rostatis; and that the name of the textbook was Wheelock and it had a red cover.  By the end of the year cover had fallen been ripped-off. From over-use and not my violent outbursts at getting my declensions wrong again! Strangely enough this book is not in my library anymore. I supposed somebody borrowed it twenty years ago and failed to return it. This is an absolute pet hate of mine, people who run off with books and do not return them. I few years ago I did get “the Dummies Guide to Latin” but did not make great progress.

Catullus
Well I have decided that I need to learn some Ancient Greek. I have ordered a book from the UK, even though I live in Wiesbaden, Germany. It is actually cheaper to order a book from AMAZON in the UK than the Germany version. Even with postage charges the cost of ordering from the UK is often less. I assume it is because there are more sellers of English books in the UK than in Germany. And of course in the UK we do not pay VAT – Value Added Tax - on books while we certainly do pay tax on books in Germany. Not just English ones, but all books. That is assuming that you can get the books you need. I bought most of my ancient history text books this way a few years back when I Iived in Nuremberg. I know that we should be going into our local books shops and supporting them rather buying books from amazon. Given Amazon’s rather strange attitude to paying tax in the countries that they actually sell their books in. When I lived in the UK, I saw firsthand how independent books sellers struggled to survive. The Sussex Bookseller group closed down in 2011, and put lots of good book people out of work. But here in Wiesbaden, my local bookshops do not have the books that I am looking for, so I have an excuse. The next post will have more pictures and less text.

Job Centre, Wiesbaden, Consultation: No. 2

 Tomorrow I have my second meeting at the Job Centre. I have done all my homework. I was asked to prepare a Skills Profile of what skills I actually had, essentially based on what I had done in the past. Using the headings: What can I do? Where did I learn this skill? Do I enjoy doing it? Am I good at it? Would I be happy to acquire additional skills in this area? I think this was a very useful exercise, although the answers were not that surprising to me. The method seems to be fairly objective. One can of course influence the outcome somewhat, by deciding which skills to include. So there could be an issue of self selection. Choosing what you like rather than what you can do. But I am happy that I have produced a document that “objectively” answers the questions that were put to me. I was also asked to produce a covering letter to take to the meeting, which I have also done. Although, as I mentioned in another post, this is not the type of work I am actually interested in, but rather closest to what I have done in the Ancient past.

Hiding From and Making History

Managed to catch to really interesting programmes on ARTE last night, in spite of the problems with my cable receiver. Since I have had it, it seems to have a mind of its own or no mind at all it! After two months of problems I finally contacted the call centre yesterday. The lady told me to reboot the system, something the user manual does not. Of course, while I was speaking to her on the phone the box behaved itself and rebooted promptly. So imagine my annoyance when I wanted to watch something last night and the box was in one of it 8% status, “Please Wait” phases. I rebooted it several times. I had actually give up any hope of the stupid thing working last night, when 15 minutes into the programme I wanted to see it managed to connect to the server. Baa Humbug!

The first programme was rather disturbing. It was a documentary how the German Secret Service in the 50's and 60's made use of operatives who had been active Nazis in the Second World War. Apparently these peoples’ histories were not checked too carefully. The Cold War was in the hot phase and enemies on the left (the Soviet Union/Communists) were considered worse than the old enemies/criminals on the right (Nazis). The documentary revealed how some of these Nazi's assisted southern American dictatorships, even teaching them some of the Nazi interrogation methods. As I said rather shocking! Apparently the German Secret Service will complete its own review of these events by 2016. This is all the more relevant with the current trial of suspected Neo-Nazis in Munich that has been going on for the last 21 days.

The second programme documented the role of the UN, in helping to establish the Republic of Southern Sudan (RSS). The Southern Sudan gained independence in 2011. The UN project was a kind of “How do you build a country from scratch?” One of the things that struck me was that some of the politicians of RSS did not appreciate the UN’s input. I have often wondered what the UN actually did and was left feeling rather impressed with the expertise and dedication of the UN team.