Cheering against everyone

Something that is new to me, here in the middle of the World Cup, is triumphant driving. When a team wins, its fans hop in their cars, drape their national flags out the windows, and drive around Berlin honking. (Actually, the Brasilian fans start the driving before the first half of the game is even over--I saw this.)

When Germany wins, as you can imagine, the triumphant driving reaches its apex (see picture--this kid was in a car with what seemed to be his entire family, driving a circut around Kreuzberg). Groups of flag-drapped teenagers stand on the street corners and cheer for the passing cars. This lasts for at least 3 hours after a game. It's legal to drink in public here, something that generally improves the quality of life, I think, but I'm also seeing lately why legal public boozing isn't always such a bonus.

I've become annoyed by this nationalistic driving and am now openly cheering against Germany. Apparently everyone's quite surprised at the extent of the flag-waving in Germany (where since mid Century a lot of people have been very critical of nationalism); it's called the "new patriotism" and the new Bundeskanzlerin said it was OK. But I just read a lot of books about nationalism and now I a) am sick of nationalism and b) think it's almost never a good thing, no matter the country (and of course, c) know it was mostly made up in the 19th Century.)

Anyway, a lot of people in Berlin are critical of the nationalism, the triumphant patriotic driving, and other associated things (like capitalism). Hence the poster pictured, which calls for Germany to lose in pool play (sadly too late) to stop the honking, drinking, and love for the "Fatherland." Note that it's the FIFA logo, except the faces are frowning. Frowning on capitalism!

It is to late, I won the fight to comment third

Have you checked out the benjicourt blog? It totally rules and I won glory by writing its third comment and using no foul language. Wow, I also totally rule. I rule together with this blog, peacefully. Like the European Union, except there are only two of us and we don't have our own money.

Super Dude Man Ultra

Check out this totally awesome blog, Super Dude Man Ultra, the existance of which may partially resolve aforementioned comment problem on this here blog. But if Super Dude Man Ultra also covers breaking news in Mom's golf game on his blog, this blog's reader might jump ship! Cra--er, gosh darn it!

Arg!

Please stop, whoever is doing it (my nephews, I suspect) flaming (cussing) in the comments section on this blog. I set it so that people can no longer post anonymously because I'm weary of these censored-profanity posts about how dumb other comments are. This is too bad, because I think a lot of people probably don't want to bother to register with Blogger to share their thoughts (and some people who are not so good at email may not even be able to figure out how to do this). Alas, sigh.

I Luv Soccer

Photo credit: JM

Mom's Golf Game

Have you noticed, valued reader, that my Mom's golf game is the most-commented on thing on this blog, by far, even surpassing the popularity of CBAM's contreversal first post and subsequent debate with Skinnier Than You? Please stand by for more information about Mom's golfing as it becomes available.

Remembering the Battle of Berlin

The Fan Mile runs right past the memorial (pictured--see the huge statue on the pillar?) to the Red Army's conquest of Berlin in 1945. I read somewhere that this is the only memorial to a foreign army in a European capital city. Note the thoughtful-of-history look on this face (pictured)? Soccer and European history are not mutually exclusive after all.

The Fan Mile

We went to the Fan Mile last night to watch the U.S. play Italy. The Fan Mile is a mile-long stretch of the main road through the Teirgarten (big park) that they've blocked off and filled with giant TV screens and beer stands. Many people I know have horror of the Fan Mile due to the heavy drinking, machismo, and nationalism that it seems to promote. And they are right. But the Fan Mile also totally rocks! Even though the street was oily with spilled beer, and an obnoxious U.S. fan yelled in our ears the whole game. And what a crazy game! Sorry, Italians.

The Hof

Hofs are courtyards. This is the one in the building I am subletting in. This Hof is maybe the nicest I've ever been in. Some of the women who live in the building tend the gardens. The daisys seem to be growing in the lawn on their own, though.

Hofs are good places to lock your bike up and also to sit and read, when it is not raining.

The apartment building is a lesbian social outreach project. I'm still working out exactly what that means. The building is all women, and there's a women-only cafe and a women's travel agency on the street side. The other night, they were having a women-only ballroom dancing class in a big room that looks over the Hof. A couple of apartments are set aside for teenaged girls who are having troubles at home and come to live here under supervision. Some of them live right below me and blast cheesy American rock into the Hof. I can have men come to visit, but if they stay for more than a few nights I am supposed to write a note on the blackboard by the front door explaining to my neighbors who the guy they may pass in the stairwell is. A yellow cat also hangs out in the Hof and at night makes a disturbing cat-noise that I guess means he is looking for a love relationship with another cat. The noise sounds eerily like a child mewling. One of my neighbors chased the cat out of the Hof the other day because, she told me, he doesn't belong to anyone in the building.

Bike Repair

I stopped at a bike shop after class to fill up my front tire. But I was so excited by the fact that I know how to say in German "Can I use your pump?" to bike shop people, and then by the strong suspicion that in fact I said to the guy "Can I use her pump?" and then wondering what he thought that meant, that I pumped up the back tire instead.

But I figured, no big deal, just pump up the front tire and be on your way.

Five minutes later, as I rode proudly down the street, reflecting on how much faster the bike goes with rock-hard tires (and how maybe with this new speed, I could even pass the guy I saw riding in the bike lane yesterday and towing behind his bike a cart with a bale of hay on it), an ear-splitting bang rocked the neighborhood as the inner tube of my back tire exploded. I sheepishly dragged the bike onto the sidewalk, where I guy who must have seen me pump the tires up said (I think) ´Hey, too bad, must have been too much pressure, eh?´

Thus began an afternoon of bike repair in various Hofs. It was in the 70s today, really lovely weather to get all greasy and replace both inner tubes. And, after riding like 4 blocks to this internet cafe, so far neither has exploded. Though I realized a few hours into the repair job that in the first few exciting minutes of repair, I threw away a piece of rubber that protected the back tire´s inner tube. So another back tire explosion may be on the agenda for tomorrow.

Thank You For Reading

Though my associates are hard at work making sure that you, the reader of this blog, have pictures to look at while you read about the thrilling adventures in the German mundane, it has been hard of late to put pictures up because my sublet has no email as of yet. The software that I would have to use to get the email going in the apartment is in German. And doesn´t seem to work. Or is it my German? Well, the other option is to bike a long way to internet cafes that will let me plug in my camera. Today, long distance biking was hindered by a new exciting adventure, see above.

But thank you for reading without pictures. And if no one reads this, then I take back the thank you part.

Oh, and an update on the previous post: today my classmate showed us a picture of the British hooligans surrounded by German police, which he took with is phone. He explained that the younger hooligans ran away for the police came. So it was not just 50-year-olds. But it was all guys.

Fußball

The World Cup started a few days ago. A guy in my German class witnessed a fight between British hooligans and other fans. He said that the Brits, who were weilding broken bottles near the Zoo subway station, were like 50 years old! They´re older, mature dudes, not 20 year olds. He said that some fans from Cameroon or somewhere were watching the fight and began to yell "God save the Queen!" which enraged the Brits.

There are 3 games a day. Every bar, ice cream store, or drink and cigarette store has a TV out on the sidewalk.

I watched Angola play Portugal last night. We all wanted Angola to win. You can always cheer for a former colony against a former imperial power. When this was pointed out to me, I thought, Hey, I can maybe get a bit excited about this soccer. But Angola lost. I ended up kind of despising Portugal. They showed a brief clip of the capital of Angola, and those folks are not enjoying the benefits of capitalism, thanks in part to Portugal´s imperialism.

It's because Canada is such a peaceful place

S.C. is, according to an e-mail, in some fear of being robbed, and so, she reported, has armed herself "with a stapler."

Fuzz floating in air

It hasn't rained here for 3 days! Woah, exciting! But, now these crazy trees are shedding fuzz all over the place. What kind of trees are they? When you bike, it flies
into your mouth.

Lovely Kreuzberg

Hey, it's the view from the outside tables at the cheap and nearby Indian restaurant in Kreuzberg 36 (one half of Kreuzberg, the Berlin neighborhood), the restaurant where last summer, the waiter remembered me from the summer before. The restaurant where I learned to say "tap water" in German.

Mom hit 100 yards

Mom's new golf clubs totally rock, and she lately drove 100 yards. Here she is in action. Now Dad has new clubs too and they are going to be tearing up the driving range together.

The Bike

Shirly loaned me a bike. It is about 50 years old. At first, this was a huge plus, as a guy who was biking beside me down Unter den Linden called out "What a cool bike! Where did you find it?" and then we had a whole conversation about the cool bike at a stoplight. The bike is pretty awesome looking. It even has a leather saddle, probably circa 1954. Check out the new bell I installed.

But, the bike is pretty slow. I get passed all the time on the bike path. A woman rang her bell at me yesterday to tell me to move to the right so that she could pass (I think that's what she wanted; as discussed, she may have merely wanted to say "hallo," which is what she said as she cruised past me, though I think it was more of a "hallo??!")

And here is me and the bike in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Maybe it seems like the Brandenburg Gate is ubiquitous in Berlin and that every time one takes a picture no matter where one is, the Brandenburg Gate is in the background. But actually this is not the case. I got this picture because I was walking the bike through the gate (due to heavy police presence around the World Cup stage and hoopla in the area of the Gate--it's illegal to bike on the sidewalk) some tourists in town for the soccer asked me to take their picture in front of the giant soccer ball that's right behind the gate. They agreed to take my picture in return, but seemed surprised that I wanted a picture of myself and bike in front of the Brandenburg Gate, not in front of the giant soccer ball. Friggin soccer fans, no respect for German history.

Here, just for your information, is the ugly, giant soccer ball.

Wack German holiday

Today is Pfingsten Monday, so everything is closed and we students cannot take part in our usual activities such as shopping for cheap shoes or buying groceries (or going to school). What is Pfingsten? This was explained to me (in German) and I gather that yesterday (Sunday) was Pentacost. They take the Monday off too. Not that they´re all that religious. Germans generally don´t seem to know what Pfingsten is.

I think Pfingsten is dumb.

They also take the day off for (literal translation) "Christ Flies to Heaven" Day (the Ascention) but luckily I missed that one.

Tschuss, Palast der Republik

Berlin was divided into east and west according to what was occupied by the Red Army when the war ended in '45 and what was occupied by the Brits, U.S., and French (yes, they gave the French a zone of occupation). The Red Army fought the battle of Berlin, so they had the best parts of the city under their control. As the 1940s wore on, the split became permanante. So, the DDR got the best parts of the city--the main drag (Unter den Lindin) with the major government buildings, the cathedral, the university, the opera house, and the library. West Germany built new versions of these things.

The communists tore down a baroque 19th Century castle to build their new capital building, the Palast der Republik. (Down with the monarchy, up with socialism!) But it was the 1970s: it's got bronze curtain walls, and clashes with its 19th C surroundings. After communism fell, the Palast was deserted save for the occasional rock concert. They found asbestos in it. It sat across from the cathedral and rotted away, the ruins of East Germany. I thought it was grand.

But now, they're tearing it down. There was a big debate over whether to keep it as a historical monument (I mean, duh, obviously that's the way to go). But, guess what. The parliment voted to demolish the Palast and to reconstruct the 19th Century castle that it replaced. Talk about whitewashing German history. Below, it's the demolition work from the canal side. You can see in the first image that they've torn the whole front off it. Do you still believe in socialism?

History of pile climbers

Before I left for Berlin, we climbed the New Brunswick dirt pile. You know the one, the 30-foot-tall one near the Rt. 18/Rt. 27 junction? This extremely dangerous climb demanded all the dirt-climbing skills of the international team assembled for the expedition. After a dramatic freak-out 10 feet from the summit, we made it. The view from the top was pretty cool. Dirt piling is mainly a U.S. custom, I learned. They don't pile in Canada.

Hallo Karl und Friedrich

In the old downtown of East Berlin, there's a park, and in the center of the park, there are two huge statues of Marx and Engels. I've always wanted a picture of myself with the guys. I went running by the park the other day. There was a big group of tourists taking pictures with the statues. I had my camera, so I figured what the heck. I asked this guy to take my picture. Not only did he oblige, he had his entire tour group jump in the picture with me. So here is me, a bunch of Israelis, and the fathers of scientific socialism.

By popular demand: Alpaca

Here, I hope, is the picture of me and the alpaca regarding each other with nearly the same facial expression (though I think the aplaca seems decidedly more hostile) and this time, you can click on it to enlarge it. I hope. This picture may sum up my life.