Weirdest Dream lately :
I dreamed I was on the "other side" when my Dad was passing. I spoke to him and made sure he was okay. Then I woke, and knew he was gone. 30 minutes later, we got the call from the hospital saying that his blood pressure had crashed in the last 30 minutes.
Currently working on :
A BTVS related story called "Long Goodbye" which deals with a member of the Watchers Council being vamped as part of an experiment.
Also completing my nanowrimo effort.
A blog for that outspoken and aggressive member of the Buffy Bulletin Board.
Saturday, April 19, 2003
Driving down the Autobahn
Random drive by musings on German theme
My brother arrived in Germany the other day. He got through to me by cell phone, probably doing over 100k.p.h on the autobahn. I know he was planning to rent a big stonking 3 litre car for the weekend, and while he doesn't have his full license yet his girlfriend drives like a woman possessed.
She used to live in Germany, so they're going to stop by friends she knew. They all think my brother is German, because he has a Germanic name. Naturally, they are in for a surprise.
I like the Germans as a people. I've spent quite a lot of time there, and I was in Haar for the solar eclipse in 1999. Yet as friendly as some of their citizens can be, and as amazing as some of the architecture can be, (and as tasty as the beer can be) I can never forget about the war. Its imprint can still be seen in some of the unlikeliest of places.
They've not glamourised their history. You can visit the concentration camps, like Dachau (as I did) or the Buergerbräukeller beer house in Munich (site of the 1923 failed coup d'etat). Some of their shops and beer houses are run by old people who were alive during the war. If you don't speek German, and can find a few friendly people who speak English, they have some interesting stories to tell. Not so much about the war, but about how people viewed the Nazi party in the thirties and how they became popular and powerful.
Some very good text books have been written on the subject, but they are quite dry a lot of the time. I read a few when I was in school, but a lot has changed since then (including the fall of the Berlin Wall) and really there is nothing like talking to those who were there.
Similarly, when I worked in Switzerland with Autodesk, I was working with a translator from the former FDR (East Germany) who had been a soldier when the wall came down. It was interesting to hear how things had been perceived by the average Joe behind the wall. The day the wall came down, the troops were told to arm up and get ready. The average soldier thought this was it. They were being attacked and it was going to mean all-out war. A few paniced. And it turned out it wasn't war, but freedom (after a fashion.)
Germany's a nice place. Friendly people and fascinating history, even if it is scarred by recent events. I hope my brother enjoys his time there.
Saturday, April 19, 2003
