ENGLISH – Page 33 – Writer Between Worlds

A society of egomaniacs?

Some people think they’re unhappy because they don’t get to meet enough of their personal needs. I think we’re unhappy because we’re too damn focused on our personal needs. Focus on the other person for a change. Some people think they’re unhappy because they can’t satisfy their ego enough. I say we’re unhappy because we indulge…
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… e viva Italia!

The first thing that strikes you about Italy, coming from Germany, is the light. Italy has a whole new level of light. The moment you emerge from the Alps, you’re blinded. The colors look different, they’re mellow, and the air is a pleasant warm embrace in which you can float. Your heart lights up too,…
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With a heavy heart – and body

Ciao, we’re back. I didn’t want to come back. Had no choice. Italy seduces me every time, and one of these days I am going to cave in and move there. For good. Until then, if there’s one conclusion that can be drawn from our little Italian stint (apart from the fact that I ABSOLUTELY…
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All packed?

Yes, we’re finally going on vacation. I feel pretty safe making that information public because, even if somehow (God forbid!) thieves were to hit on our home while we’re away, there’d be nothing left for them to steal. We’ve packed it all. Seriously. Even the laptops, for the kids’ entertainment, toys, books, more food than…
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Just an inkling

Maybe that’s why young people everywhere are lured by all sorts of fundamentalist ideologies: They feel the same nostalgia for a simpler, clearer, more honest past. A straightforward past of black and white. That seems authentic to them. It’s important to relativize in order to protect basic rights and freedoms, but too much relativity, in…
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Engines of the world

I don’t know if this means I’m getting old or I have just been pushed into insanity by two sweet nagging children, but the world used to be so much quieter when I was little. The days seemed fuller, too, although I cannot imagine what we could have filled them with. No TV, no Internet,…
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Penny-pincher extraordinaire

Advertising has got to be the easiest profession on Earth in Germany. You start out with a comprehensive technical description of your product, and then you just add “BILLIG” ( CHEAP) in large, bold capitals on top of it. Or the “creative” version “SCHNÄPPCHEN” (BARGAIN). Heck, you can sell any rotten fruit, any withered vegetable…
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Life is a cucumber salad

I’m into natural beauty. I hear people are giving their daughters nose jobs for their 18th birthday. I love my daughter’s nose, and I’d much rather cut up anybody who comes near it. It is perfect just the way it is. Who would want a mass-produced Barbie for a daughter?!.. But that’s another story. This…
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Small town blues

I used to be a big city girl, dynamic and fulfilled. But then I emigrated and became a shadow. First, I couldn’t speak a word of German. Yes, to the extent that I would bring home a jar of red cabbage thinking it was red beet. By the time I was einigermaßen able to communicate,…
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Sons of a gun

At this point I just want to say something about the recent shooting sprees in America. It seems all sorts of maniacs are on the loose again. And their guns, too. Now, I am not trying to pick a fight with anyone, but I cannot stand the blatant hypocrisy and shortsightedness of the gun-loving party.…
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Paradox of our existence

That you cannot keep any of it. That is the most sadistic part of life, its sardonic grin. That you cannot keep that which you hang on to the most, that which you love the most, that which is most said to be yours. You cannot keep that which you are held most responsible for,…
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Latest ownership craze

I remember my mother raising me with that Central European sense of politeness, where she would constantly nag: “What does it cost you to say hello? What does it cost you to say thank you?” It used to cost nothing, and so we grew up always politely saying hello and thank you. But what do…
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Category: ENGLISH