Hello again to you all. The year has moved into that stage where the business of getting my life on track has had to take precedent over the sight seeing and general holiday mode enjoyed thus far. February 1st saw the end of my first 6 months here and feels to be something of a major milestone given the inherent difficulties that I have weathered to get this far with the language and bureaucratic barriers.
We have undergone the introduction of the Euro € currency as of January 1st and the ensuing problems of not only the inherent confusion in having two different currencies in circulation but a real increase in the cost of most goods as retailers took advantage of the change over to up their prices. In some cases almost doubling the effective cost. It is at times like this you realise the importance of bodies such as the Department of Fair (Dinkum) Trading in Australia. They don´t seem to have anything like that here and as a result some businesses have gotten away with nothing short of highway robbery. An example is the local dry cleaners whose charges for a pair of trousers jumped from DM4.50 to €4.50, in Australian terms this is about $4.10 to $7.90. Food items have risen in a lot of cases as have alcohol and cigarettes.
Eleven of the twelve member countries in the European Union have changed to the new system, with the exception of the United Kingdom. Each has been able to design one side of the coins released in their country to depict their own national identity. It means that although the denomination side of the coins are the same for all countries the flip sides have different designs. Ireland has the Harp of Erin, Germany the Brandenburg Tor, Holland has Queen Beatrix etc. etc. Banknotes across the board are all identical. The only oddity being the word Euro written in Greek characters under the English word as their lettering does not use the standard English alphabet and hence the EURO is spelt EYPΩ. Nice also to be talking something more familiar in Euros and cents rather than Deutsch Marks and pfennigs. The current exchange rate is about €1.10 to the U.S. dollar and about AUD$1 to € 0.57 cents.
I was sent a news clipping from The Melbourne Age the other day that points out that you will no longer be able to spend a penny when in Europe, from now on you will have too €uro-nate. Very funny, tee hee hah hah !
They have introduced a new tax on tobacco as well that goes to fund anti-terrorism measures. Anyone who is not smoking in Germany is a social reprobate and not doing there bit to fight the forces of evil that threaten our peaceful existence. Tobacco Against Terrorism....Smoking Saves Lives....Butts Not Bombs....Roll Up Against Regimes....Ashtrays Not Ashrams.....interesting twist, heh! I should be in the t-shirt logo business.
On a brighter note I now have my Social Security Registration and Permanent Residents Permit repleat with holgraphic eagle and other funky bits including the most frightening part, my mug shot. This should be a major help in the search for work. The real catch over here is that you can´t get work without the Permit and you can´t get the Permit until you have work. The only way around it is to find an employer who will sponser you from the very beginning aand provide a contract prior to your starting work so that you have the time to apply for the permit. The employer must also prove to the relative governmental department that you are not taking a job that can be filled by a German national citizen. So in reality it is probably my greatest hurdle overcome and a cause for some celebration. Fizzz pop glug!
I have made several trips to Frankfurt in the last few weeks for work interviews and to undertake work tests. They have a very strange system here that means that most employers want you to undertake the proposed tasks required in the new job for an hour or so to make sure that you are capable. The set up is O.K. but it generally means that you end up going to the same place 3 times in the course of securing work. Once for an interview, once for a work test and once to finalise all the formalities by filling in forms and signing the Vertrag or contract. It is quite normal here to have a binding contract between employers and employees.
One of the jobs that I went for was for a part time position with United Parcel Service (UPS), which was only for 3 hours per day Mon-Fri. What I did not realise was that they wanted a minimum twelve month contract to begin with and the option to extend it for a further twelve months. In Germany if you are going to have 2 jobs, by law you must let each employer know about the other. Who ever has the first contract can say no to the second if the hours are likely to conflict with what they have scheduled for you. As UPS have a 3 shift rotating roster around the clock it meant that if I found full time work, I would not be able to accept it as the hours would ultimately conflict with when the second employer wanted me to work. In some ways it is a really stupid arrangement being locked into 3 hours per day for up to 2 years and no way of increasing your weekly income. Then this is Germany. Given that it costs around one third of the money I would make with them just to travel there each day on the train it all became quite laughable. The 10.30pm till 2am shift was another glitch as I would have had to wait for 4 hours after work till the trains began again to get home. To too much. I have another interview next Monday with the Hilton Hotel Group but that is some way off as yet and may prove to be a lucky break. Wait and see is the name of the game.
Another item that bears thinking about is the way the system is structured for the care of the general masses. Wages or salaries here are all paid monthly. From the gross amount you receive approx 42% goes to health care and to the social security to fund unemployment, old age pensions and your own health insurance. Of this 42% the employer pays half which leaves your input at around 21%. This is not however the end of it as you then have to pay your income tax on the overall amount which is a further 20-22%. Given the cost of petrol and public transport even getting to work unless you are fortunate enough to be within push bike distance is a fair chunk of the months income. Frankfurt is 23km away from here and with a discounted weekly ticket for the train it works out at about AUD$70 p.w. or AUD$250 p.m. discounted.
Bettina´s father is in the proccess of installing a new sauna at his house. This of course means that I will be going to Heppenheim to help him put it together when it arives next weekend. He has a heated pool built into the cellar so the sauna will really give it a nice finishing touch. I hope these Scandenavians know what they´re doing as all I need now is to find a suitable birch tree to provide some nice flexible branches so that we can beat each other senseless then steam like a dim sim before plunging into a nearby snow drift to cool off.
As for other building work on the renovations at home, the main body has ground to a halt as it is far to cold in the attic to do any work and in the lower areas where we are plastering the temperature is not high enough for the plaster to cure properly. As a result quite a bit of effort has been going into the garden with the pruning of the citrus, apple, quince and mulberry trees. With the very heavy recent snows we had a large build up on top of the ancient ivy plant which covers the rear wall to the property. The weight of it all became to much and pulled the abundant cover clean off the wall. Branches up to 10cm thick literally just splintered and as a lot of it had grown onto the next door neighbours shed roof and under its eaves, it promptly took a part of that as well. Needless to say there has been a major surplus of ivy to cut up and dispose of as well as the propping up of the remaining sections of the plant. Luckily the neighbour had already been considering the removal of the shed for some time as it was becoming to old and damp to be of any use for storage.
I finally begin my language course at the Volkshochschule on Feb 18th. It runs two nights a week for about 6 months. I hope that the teachers have a reasonable grasp of English so that I may at least ask questions where relevant. When I went down to see the selection panel last week both of the people I spoke to had virtually no English skills and as a result I was left feeling that if the teachers are equally poorly versed in English then I was going to find it quite a hard slog without the aid of elaborate and time consuming charades. Next Monday shall tell all no doubt.
26.1.02
26.10.01
Apfel Wein
I have discovered much to my amusement and delight that the mysterious man, who is my flat mate Thomas, has been regionally acclaimed with a 3rd prize overall for apple cider making. Not bad considering he went up against 29 of the best brewers around. The apple quality wasn’t up to scratch this year so he hasn’t bothered to brew any but last year he pumped out over 4000 litres at an average of 8%alc with the exception of some 100 litres that had been brewed using apple schnapps to up the ante and that was rated at over 14%. It sells at around AUD$2.70 per litre to local connoisseurs and stein swine alike. Maybe next year I shall have the chance to sing the praises of the apple harvest. Teedum teedum, 10 months to go !
21.10.01
The Fire Bombing Of Darmstadt
Bettina and I went down to the library on Saturday and managed to borrow a self-study German language course. It seems to be reasonable and with a little bit of time and effort it should help me to get a much better handle on things. At least it is a freebie as most of these sorts of courses are quite expensive to purchase. A really nice library too. Very modern and laid out over different levels with walkways, stairs and ramps connecting all the different sections.
Nearby to the library is the shell of a church with a large concrete cross in the middle of it and a bronze sculpture on the forecourt area of a naked person cringing with the hands held over the face and head. It is a stark reminder of a war that is not so distant in real terms.
The allies used Darmstadt as a test run for the Dresden fire bombing and dropped the same incendiary bombs with the result of destroying virtually the entire town. They returned the following day and proceeded to unload hundreds of 500lb bombs all over the place just to finish the job.
Bettinas house, which was her grandparents and built in 1927 is the only one from this part of the town that survived it all and that was due to a soldier spotting a burning fragment of incendiary on the roof and extinguishing it before it got a hold.
I suppose I find it interesting that we are only taught about the Dresden fire bombing in history classes back in Oz. The attack on Darmstadt was certainly just as hideous and costly as the attack on Dresden.
All very sobering.
Nearby to the library is the shell of a church with a large concrete cross in the middle of it and a bronze sculpture on the forecourt area of a naked person cringing with the hands held over the face and head. It is a stark reminder of a war that is not so distant in real terms.
The allies used Darmstadt as a test run for the Dresden fire bombing and dropped the same incendiary bombs with the result of destroying virtually the entire town. They returned the following day and proceeded to unload hundreds of 500lb bombs all over the place just to finish the job.
Bettinas house, which was her grandparents and built in 1927 is the only one from this part of the town that survived it all and that was due to a soldier spotting a burning fragment of incendiary on the roof and extinguishing it before it got a hold.
I suppose I find it interesting that we are only taught about the Dresden fire bombing in history classes back in Oz. The attack on Darmstadt was certainly just as hideous and costly as the attack on Dresden.
All very sobering.
22.9.01
A Visit To The Old Blighty
I know that it has been a while since I last got some news away but due to the laptop here at home having crashed....gone with the Windows......famous last words on my last e-mail, I have been unable to write anything other than short notes to people. Hopefully I will get this away tomorrow as I have managed to scam some free internet time at the local library using Bettina’s card. Good score as the internet cafe was costing about 5 bucks per half hour.
It has been about a month since my last mail and in that time a lot has been happening not only here in Darmstadt but also around Germany in particular given the recent turn of events in New York. My plans to apply for work as an outside contractor with the U.S. Army / Airforce have been put on hold as all the bases over here have been put on full security alert and only military personel are being allowed on base. There are so many local venues that are not open for business as well which shows how much of an influence the U.S. is over here. When you hear the lists of public facilities that they have temporarily closed down you realise that all of these community services are military support networks. Everything from childcare centres to medical clinics to nightclubs and gymnasiums. Only essential services are running off base. Things are slowly returning to normal so with some luck I will be able to apply within the next few weeks. They have a web site which lists all the available jobs. As work here at the house is ever ongoing and the last days of Summer have been really ugly weather wise I am in no great rush. Looks as if we are going to have an early start to the Winter.
I had a great trip to England which saw me catching up with old friends in Birmingham as well as making some new ones. We did a day trip down to the Cottswolds and got to visit Broughton On The Water, Stow On The Wold as well as Upper and Lower Slaughter. Fantastic little medieval villages that are just picture postcard stuff. Found a couple of hooting pubs for a few quiet ales that in the main overlooked the streams and gardens that run through the centre of the villages. Managed to score one of the best Cornish pasties I think I’ve ever had for lunch and sat by the river watching small brown trout hanging on the river bottom giving the odd lazy flick off thier tails to just keep position against the quietly flowing river. The weather there through out my trip was just perfect and managed to hang at around 28c during the days and about 18c at night. Where I was staying in Mosely was just a great little suburb. Very arty and alternative.
A lot of great bands have hailed from there including UB40 and Jethro Tull. I got to meet Pete the Feet, one of the local identities, who’s great claim to fame is that he has never ever worn shoes even in the snow and ice in the depths of Winter over the last 52 years. One of the local barmaids was trying so hard to impress me that she kept giving me samples of the local beers on tap. May not sound much but at the Boars Head they have over 30 real ales to choose from and all the standard beer brands as well. Needless to say it was a great saving on the pocket and I left the establishment with a greatly heightened appreciation for English brewers, barmaids and the downhill walk to home. On leaving, my mate David gave me some new Paul Weller and bootleg Beatles studio out takes on CD. Some really neat stuff and certainly some studio recordings that the Beatles never intended anyone to hear.
For the last day and evening I went down to Oxford to stay with my friends Will and Joanne. Will has just finished his degree in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic languages and has done his thesis on early Egyptian contractual obligations and the laws that surrounded them. Due to his readings of some very obscure heiroglyphics he has found that a lot of legalese that we have always taken for granted as having come from the English judicial system was in fact implemented and used by the Egyptians some 1500 years earlier and was no doubt borrowed by the Romans and later transfered by them into the English system. Caveat emptor ( let the buyer beware ) being a superb example of this.
We had a brilliant day together as he showed me a great deal of Oxford University. We went to see his own college as well as the famous All Souls College which is locally refered to as the college without students. To be a fellow of All Souls you not only have to gain your doctorate / Phd but you then have to undertake a series of harrowing exams set by the board of governers. As a result very few people ever make it and at the time I was there they had a total of 3 fellows and some one hundred plus rooms to occupy. Will, explained that the university library is the largest in the U.K. as it acts as a central book repository for the entire country. Underneath Oxford there is a network of rooms and tunnels set to rival the London underground with motorised trams to haul the books around from vault to vault. Every week they receive around six shipping containers of books, periodicals, journals and thesis papers to label, catelogue and store away. What a job !
During the war years the Queen sought an agreement with the Third Reich that if they did not bomb Oxford then the British would not bomb Heidelberg and hence preserve the biggest university towns in both countries. As a result not one bomb ever fell on Oxford and the library remained in tact as did all the fabulous buildings and statues.
We went to a variety of local establishments to sample the local brews. He took me to some really unique little taverns set right back off the main drag and accessible only by narrow lane ways. I had to wonder how they got the kegs of ale in to them but I guess they probably use the library tram system underneath or some such deviant method. We went to The Bear , The Turf, The White Horse, Kings Arms and The Eagle & Child. At The Bear the walls are covered with the ends of hundreds of neck ties. In the UK. where it is common to wear ´the old school tie´ this pub has set about collecting the bottom six inches of any ones tie that they have not yet captured. Hence most of the schools, universities, regiments and rowing clubs in the England are represented here. Will tells me that the owner keeps a large pair of very sharp dress making scissors behind the bar and when he spots someone wearing one that the pub doesn’t yet have he enquires as to whether he may look at it and as soon as the patron leans over the bar the owner grasps the end of his tie as if examining it and then whips out the shears and whoosh, no more tie end. Apparently some of the punters have been upset beyond words. Some have even come to blows. There is however a small sign by the door that states that all neck ties become the property of management whilst on the premisies. Even I had to admit that you would need a magnifying glass to read it. They do how ever offer compensation by way of free pints to any one who falls foul of there evil scheme. Most are good natured enough and proud as punch to have there part of history on the wall.
The Eagle & Child was fabulous as this was the earliest of all the Oxford free houses and it was where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S.Lewis drank, talked and discussed thier current literary works. There are places where they have scrawled bits of poetry and drawings on the brick work inside. Although it is quite a common sight to see Inspector Morse (John Thaw ) and Lewis cruising around in the maroon Mk I Jaguar it was not to be on this visit. A great day and a real eye opener of a day for me. We returned home where Joanne had made a fantastic evening meal of fresh figs with parma ham for the entree followed by Egyptian moussaka and home made apple pie with clotted creamand. All off this with a classic bottle of Chateau Neuf du Pape 1992 and the wonderful company of two of my favourite poms.
The flight back from Stansted dropped me in Frankfurt-Hahn about 15 minutes after the World Trade Centre was hit. Already things there were hapening with the federal border police zooming around everywhere with thier machine pistols under thier arms. I guess all said and done I was lucky as I found out later that within an hour of the attack all te airports in Germany were so heavily locked down under security that it was taking hours and hours to get through customs. It took me less than 10 minutes. Yahoo, I can’t stand queing for hours on end especially after the 4am finish that I had in Oxford same day.
It has been about a month since my last mail and in that time a lot has been happening not only here in Darmstadt but also around Germany in particular given the recent turn of events in New York. My plans to apply for work as an outside contractor with the U.S. Army / Airforce have been put on hold as all the bases over here have been put on full security alert and only military personel are being allowed on base. There are so many local venues that are not open for business as well which shows how much of an influence the U.S. is over here. When you hear the lists of public facilities that they have temporarily closed down you realise that all of these community services are military support networks. Everything from childcare centres to medical clinics to nightclubs and gymnasiums. Only essential services are running off base. Things are slowly returning to normal so with some luck I will be able to apply within the next few weeks. They have a web site which lists all the available jobs. As work here at the house is ever ongoing and the last days of Summer have been really ugly weather wise I am in no great rush. Looks as if we are going to have an early start to the Winter.
I had a great trip to England which saw me catching up with old friends in Birmingham as well as making some new ones. We did a day trip down to the Cottswolds and got to visit Broughton On The Water, Stow On The Wold as well as Upper and Lower Slaughter. Fantastic little medieval villages that are just picture postcard stuff. Found a couple of hooting pubs for a few quiet ales that in the main overlooked the streams and gardens that run through the centre of the villages. Managed to score one of the best Cornish pasties I think I’ve ever had for lunch and sat by the river watching small brown trout hanging on the river bottom giving the odd lazy flick off thier tails to just keep position against the quietly flowing river. The weather there through out my trip was just perfect and managed to hang at around 28c during the days and about 18c at night. Where I was staying in Mosely was just a great little suburb. Very arty and alternative.
A lot of great bands have hailed from there including UB40 and Jethro Tull. I got to meet Pete the Feet, one of the local identities, who’s great claim to fame is that he has never ever worn shoes even in the snow and ice in the depths of Winter over the last 52 years. One of the local barmaids was trying so hard to impress me that she kept giving me samples of the local beers on tap. May not sound much but at the Boars Head they have over 30 real ales to choose from and all the standard beer brands as well. Needless to say it was a great saving on the pocket and I left the establishment with a greatly heightened appreciation for English brewers, barmaids and the downhill walk to home. On leaving, my mate David gave me some new Paul Weller and bootleg Beatles studio out takes on CD. Some really neat stuff and certainly some studio recordings that the Beatles never intended anyone to hear.
For the last day and evening I went down to Oxford to stay with my friends Will and Joanne. Will has just finished his degree in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic languages and has done his thesis on early Egyptian contractual obligations and the laws that surrounded them. Due to his readings of some very obscure heiroglyphics he has found that a lot of legalese that we have always taken for granted as having come from the English judicial system was in fact implemented and used by the Egyptians some 1500 years earlier and was no doubt borrowed by the Romans and later transfered by them into the English system. Caveat emptor ( let the buyer beware ) being a superb example of this.
We had a brilliant day together as he showed me a great deal of Oxford University. We went to see his own college as well as the famous All Souls College which is locally refered to as the college without students. To be a fellow of All Souls you not only have to gain your doctorate / Phd but you then have to undertake a series of harrowing exams set by the board of governers. As a result very few people ever make it and at the time I was there they had a total of 3 fellows and some one hundred plus rooms to occupy. Will, explained that the university library is the largest in the U.K. as it acts as a central book repository for the entire country. Underneath Oxford there is a network of rooms and tunnels set to rival the London underground with motorised trams to haul the books around from vault to vault. Every week they receive around six shipping containers of books, periodicals, journals and thesis papers to label, catelogue and store away. What a job !
During the war years the Queen sought an agreement with the Third Reich that if they did not bomb Oxford then the British would not bomb Heidelberg and hence preserve the biggest university towns in both countries. As a result not one bomb ever fell on Oxford and the library remained in tact as did all the fabulous buildings and statues.
We went to a variety of local establishments to sample the local brews. He took me to some really unique little taverns set right back off the main drag and accessible only by narrow lane ways. I had to wonder how they got the kegs of ale in to them but I guess they probably use the library tram system underneath or some such deviant method. We went to The Bear , The Turf, The White Horse, Kings Arms and The Eagle & Child. At The Bear the walls are covered with the ends of hundreds of neck ties. In the UK. where it is common to wear ´the old school tie´ this pub has set about collecting the bottom six inches of any ones tie that they have not yet captured. Hence most of the schools, universities, regiments and rowing clubs in the England are represented here. Will tells me that the owner keeps a large pair of very sharp dress making scissors behind the bar and when he spots someone wearing one that the pub doesn’t yet have he enquires as to whether he may look at it and as soon as the patron leans over the bar the owner grasps the end of his tie as if examining it and then whips out the shears and whoosh, no more tie end. Apparently some of the punters have been upset beyond words. Some have even come to blows. There is however a small sign by the door that states that all neck ties become the property of management whilst on the premisies. Even I had to admit that you would need a magnifying glass to read it. They do how ever offer compensation by way of free pints to any one who falls foul of there evil scheme. Most are good natured enough and proud as punch to have there part of history on the wall.
The Eagle & Child was fabulous as this was the earliest of all the Oxford free houses and it was where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S.Lewis drank, talked and discussed thier current literary works. There are places where they have scrawled bits of poetry and drawings on the brick work inside. Although it is quite a common sight to see Inspector Morse (John Thaw ) and Lewis cruising around in the maroon Mk I Jaguar it was not to be on this visit. A great day and a real eye opener of a day for me. We returned home where Joanne had made a fantastic evening meal of fresh figs with parma ham for the entree followed by Egyptian moussaka and home made apple pie with clotted creamand. All off this with a classic bottle of Chateau Neuf du Pape 1992 and the wonderful company of two of my favourite poms.
The flight back from Stansted dropped me in Frankfurt-Hahn about 15 minutes after the World Trade Centre was hit. Already things there were hapening with the federal border police zooming around everywhere with thier machine pistols under thier arms. I guess all said and done I was lucky as I found out later that within an hour of the attack all te airports in Germany were so heavily locked down under security that it was taking hours and hours to get through customs. It took me less than 10 minutes. Yahoo, I can’t stand queing for hours on end especially after the 4am finish that I had in Oxford same day.
5.9.01
The Blog Begins
Dear All,
Well good-aye again. This one has been a little bit late coming off the wire as I have been absolutely flat out, with a variety of things that have kept me at arms length from anything remotely resembling spare time to write. Not that I am complaining as it has been several months full of good times and great memories. All shall be revealed within, so read on, ye valiant purveyors of my on-line ranting.
Well good-aye again. This one has been a little bit late coming off the wire as I have been absolutely flat out, with a variety of things that have kept me at arms length from anything remotely resembling spare time to write. Not that I am complaining as it has been several months full of good times and great memories. All shall be revealed within, so read on, ye valiant purveyors of my on-line ranting.
