Writer Between Worlds

Soulful writing about humans and places

Category: Society

  • A few things that get on my nerves

    1. Excessive proliferation of technology. Do you know that old engineer joke? ;-) What do engineers and dogs have in common? They both have intelligent eyes but can’t express themselves… And what’s more, they’re trying to change the whole world in their image. Applications, gadgets, the “Internet of things”, remotely operated toilet paper rolls… They…

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  • Perspectives for personal development

    When the road to change seems full of roadblocks, adopt a different perspective. Just like a photographer circling his subject to find her best side, just like a writer looking for the revelation of something strikingly original and true, to reach awareness, look at things from a different angle. Ask the right questions. Sometimes we…

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  • All things German

    Well, maybe not all of them. But a few. What on Earth is the deal with this weather in July? To paraphrase an old Romanian joke, of the 4 seasons typical of this latitude, Germany only has 3: rain and… more rain. :-) I realize this is subjective. From my window, I can see people…

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  • Sein letztes Rennen

    Just what I needed. It starts out with chuckles and giggles, then progresses to all-out incredulous laughter and clapping of hands. And yet, somehow, it manages to end with your nose buried deep inside a handkerchief, sniffing, bawling and crying your eyes out. I don’t know whether to call it brilliant, an emotional roller coaster,…

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  • PINING FOR A PINT? The romanticized history of Oktoberfest

    “Lederhosen und Dirndl erwünscht!“, reads the big sign in my son’s kindergarten. It is a mild but grey autumn morning and the children are celebrating “Wiesn Breakfast”, one of those many strange offshoots of Oktoberfest which testifies to its local appeal and international success. Little blond and dark-haired children of German, Russian, Turkish or Balkan…

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  • Have a blessed Easter…

    …and stay out of the snow. As Catholics the world over are preparing for Good Friday, a fresh layer of snow has blanketed the streets of Munich in a winter that refuses to end. If you are celebrating Easter this weekend, I wish you that the warmth in your hearts may melt the ice away…

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  • What’s up with the German labor market?

    News and interesting statistics about Europe’s strongest economy. As most of Southern and Eastern Europe as well as Great Britain struggle with a double-dip recession and the German economy continues to flourish, many in the beleaguered EU states are packing their bags for the Bundesrepublik. According to Spiegel Online, half a million people immigrated to Germany…

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  • Smoking is SOOO uncool

    I don’t know if this most recent Marlboro campaign is running under the same slogan in other countries as well, but the line they use in Germany is ‘Don’t be a maybe’. (” A maybe never falls in love”, “A maybe never found a way”, “A maybe never made history”, bla bla bla.) What they’re…

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  • Süle

    We met at a kindergarten in Munich, during our sons’ ‘Eingewöhnung‘. You see, in Germany, they care about children’s feelings. You don’t just park them in daycare cold turkey and risk hard feelings of abandonment and loss. You get them acquainted to a new routine first. You introduce them to their new caregivers. Slowly. Slowly.…

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  • Life

    If you are reading this, I have a question for you: Why are you online? What do you hope to find here? Do you feel alive? What are we all doing here? What are we searching for? Entertainment, knowledge, inspiration, communication? Is it not becoming a terrible waste of time? And time, after all, is…

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  • Sandy Hook Elementary

    There is evil in the world. The devil walks among us. The government cannot control the minds of its citizens, some of which are obviously deranged. But the government can and should control the means they can use to commit gruesome acts of violence.  Senseless mayhem of these proportions is only possible with powerful guns.…

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  • Life in plastic, it’s fantastic…

    Is all this packaging really necessary? I ask myself that every time I go shopping. It gets on my nerves. I buy groceries and then spend half a day separating waste. Waste that I neither asked for nor need. Plastic, paper, aluminum foil, the works. Dozens of euros’ worth of useless packaging which most of…

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