As I go about my life, I always keep several lists close at hand. Some are very basic and involve specific tasks, like the list I made this morning for what I need (want) to accomplish today before leaving on my business trip tomorrow. The list is short, only four items, two of which are absolutely vital to my trip. In no specific order, the items are: clean the flat, get cash, go the supermarket, and pack.
Simply writing these items down is sufficient for me to get everything done; if I want to get more specific, then I will make a sub-list for a specific thing. Like my shopping list for the grocery store. I actually have gotten better about reusing post-it notes for this task, as I invariably purchase the same staple items. There is no point to rewrite the same ten items on a new post-it each week. (However, it has occurred to me that I might be able to improve my penmanship, which could help me avoid standing in the middle of the store trying to figure out my scribble on a crumpled post-it).
Pause for a second as I suddenly realize that I do not see that many other shoppers in my local market carrying around a list, so unless they are concealing it on the inside of their hand (like they are cheating on a spelling test or something), I am pretty amazed that German society is so capable of routine shopping without a list. Then again, I cannot really measure on the success rate of the other shoppers. For me, even with my list (again a note to self - improve penmanship), I manage to forget one or two items until I get home to put everything away, at which point I get to say, "Damn, add that to the list for next time."
Of course, next time for me is only a couple of days away.
For list items such as "clean the flat" and "pack," I rarely have to get too detailed. Usually, clean the flat relates to normal maintenance as opposed to getting out the sandblaster and industrial scrubbers. Likewise, packing is a pretty straight forward thing. If I will only be gone for a few nights, then it is a simple exercise in counting. One of the advantages to wearing remarkably similar clothing day in and day out is that I don't have to think about wardrobe combinations very much. While this makes things simple (if not boring), it does allow for moments of bewilderment among my friends and the super capable shoppers who live in my neighborhood.
Just last weekend, after I had abandoned my effort to get a blog piece posted on account that I was trying too hard with both the title and the content, I walked into the pub only to be greeted with a comment, "Holy shit, Bryan, you are wearing a red shirt."
Later on the same evening, someone else made a similar remark, and I related the abridged account of when I had purchased my Shallow Reign t-shirt at a Monsters of Rock concert back in the summer of 1988. Chris was there, and he was the one who made me get a red shirt (instead of my usual black or white). Our conversation quickly touched on the amazing fact that said shirt does not look 30 years old, but, as Erik said, maybe 5 or 6 years old. No one believed me when I told them how many times I had worn the shirt through the years, though in fairness, I've only worn it once or twice in the past decade.
Anyway, back to lists. Besides the basic day to day routine lists, I also keep some running lists which are more goal oriented. Last year, I got a tip from a woman who helped me better understand the importance of specifics. Thus, instead of simply saying, "I want to read more," she suggested that I quantify the statement. That way, I would be able to measure my achievement.
I do take her point on board, but notice that this can sometimes create conflict. There is nothing worse than setting ambitious goals, then falling disastrously short. I tend to apply Bryanlogic to my tasks, including goal setting, and am very well versed in attempting to be realistic. That being said, one cannot forget that, with kids and Bryans, all plans are subject to change. Therefore, a certain extent of flexibility needs to be present. This includes accepting whatever happens.
I recently reread the general personal development lists that I made for myself over the past few years. Not surprisingly, they are all similar, and not particularly specific. Again, there is no set order for these items, but they include: read more, improve German language, play more piano, get fitter, smoke less, and write more.
With writing, I keep a sort of personal journal and obviously post pieces on this blog. Although I would like to get a piece posted each week, I realize (as do any regular readers) that it won't always happen, like last week, for example. Still, I am able to measure the accomplishment not just by looking at the stats on the blog site, but more importantly, by noticing how I feel. Just like with lifting weights (part of the "get fitter" task) regularly, I notice how I feel WHEN I have not exercised. Exercising creates energy for the body, and writing exercises the mind. Both are really good things.
I am careful to keep these things in a balance, so I do not beat myself up (too much) when I get caught up in other things. This has been a sore spot for me with regard to learning the German and Spanish languages over the years. For a while, I really got irritated with myself for trying too hard to keep both Spanish and German languages level as high as possible. Living in a German speaking society allows for less opportunity to regularly use Spanish; anyone who is multilingual certainly understands this challenge. For me, I have relaxed the pressure I was putting on myself to try and keep a grasp of Spanish, and channeled the energy into exploring ways to actually focus more on German, which is the logical thing to do, considering where I live.
When I got my new laptop the other month, I was glad to be able to install some German language learning software, and for several weeks was diligently doing some refresher work on various points, like articles, verb conjugation and the like. Of course, it was great to be able to measure the progress via the program, but since August, things have gotten ridiculously busy at work, and I have simply not found the time to go through a few of the exercises as much as I wanted.
Rather than allow myself to feel lousy for not being able to keep up (pause to admire those people who work full time and study full time), I find other ways to stay immersed in German, most recently through German medium. I am tending only to watch German language programming, and it continues to help, particularly as a refresher for expression and culture. I won't quite say that it is now effortless, but this year I am noticing even more than before that I am not as conscious of which language I am using.
A couple of nights ago, I was playing the quiz at the pub. It was sort of spontaneous thing, but our team consisted of myself, 3 Germans, and 2 guys who only speak English. I lost track of which language we were speaking most of the evening. All the Germans (not surprisingly) speak English, but 90% of the time we speak with each other in German, unless there are nonspeakers around, like Thursday night.
It is a great feeling to be able to switch languages back and forth without realizing it. I had another reminder of this the following day while participating in multiple conference calls, some internal, with German speaking colleagues, others external, with the same colleagues along with some non-German speakers. The fuzzy feeling just creates great energy, and I am not even really trying.
With piano playing, it is the same. I have commented frequently on the effortless mastery technique that Kenny Werner writes about, and I think that actually applying to multiple facets of my life is further improving my approach to music. I am currently working on four new pieces of work, and all of them are challenging, both technically and expressively. It is a lot of stuff to learn at one time, and can easily be discouraging if I let it.
Playing these pieces with the focus on becoming more familiar with the work (rather than playing it correctly) is accelerating the process. I am not worried about having all of them mastered before I play them for Grandmother during Christmas holidays, but am simply enjoying not thinking too much about playing them. Focusing on enjoyment allows me to let go, and simply appreciate the moment.
I know I have used this personal example in the past, especially with language learning, but it fits. I cannot be the only one who, when learning to ride a bicycle without training wheels, was pedaling along without a care in the world, only to glance over my shoulder, expecting to see my father running along supporting the back of my bike seat. The shock of not seeing him there (but 50 yards behind, instead, standing and smiling) immediately knocked me back into consciousness, prompting me to wobble and crash the bike. Had I simply not concentrated, I would have kept riding for another 2 days, or at least until it was time to go in for supper.
Playing these new piano pieces is the same. I will be moving right through a passage, flowing along as happily as ever, when I suddenly I allow a thought into my head: where am I on the page of music? or do I have the fingering right?
Bam, I lose the flow and immediately have my fingers tangled up.
So I have to pause, get myself back into the mindset, then start again. It's actually easy, once you get the hang of it. And, all four of them are coming along nicely; I only started working on them a few weeks ago.
Now, if you will excuse me, I am going get cracking on my little list for today. But I am not going to think about it to much.
see you out there
bryan
Saturday, August 31, 2019
Friday, August 16, 2019
Tunes and School
This past week, the kids started back to school in the state of Hessen. Several of my friends in the neighborhood all have children under the age of 10, and I thought of them this past week as I listened to the sounds coming from the school playground across the street from my apartment. It's always kind of an exciting time as everyone gets back into the school year routine; getting up early, doing homework (maybe), and starting any extracurricular activities.
Yesterday when I spoke with my father on skype, he mentioned that he saw all the little kids in his neighborhood trooping off for their first day of the new school year. Likewise, I have seen a fair amount of "back to school" photos posted by parents on facebook of my younger friends all starting their new grade. My own nephew is just starting his final year of high school (2-4-6-8 who do we appreciate? seniors, that's who) and I took a few minutes to reflect back on my own school days, all those years ago.
I was always really anxious on the first day of school, from kindergarten through university, though I might argue that university years were noticeably different from the k-12 era. But local public school? Incredible. Every year on the last night before starting back to school, my folks would have to really calm me down, and then the following evening, AFTER the first day of school was finished, everything was perfect again, and we could all sort of laugh as we (or better said, my parents) would say, "See, there was nothing to be worried about?"
Although I still get a little anxious when starting something new (ie..a new job, a new project, etc), it amazes me how worked up I got all those year ago. After all, the pressures of being a student these days are considerably higher than they were 30-40 years ago. Yet most of the photos I see are of smiling kids wearing their new duds and embracing the excitement of the new school year; no one seems as apprehensive as I felt. Fair play to them.
Over the years, I have mentioned how how much I disliked high school, almost to the point of being unhappy. Of course, it had much more to do simply with me being bored, ready for new challenges, wanting to be independent and treated like an adult (but with the safety of still having a place to live and a semi-regular stream of cash flow), but unable to completely express what it was exactly that I was looking for. This experience is no different from any other student of the same age, but obviously everyone has to go through their own experience.
Like many students before me and after me, I found my solace in music. It was always about the music, and for sure, music is what helped get me through high school. My tastes were (still are, for that matter) far away from mainstream, but I found others with similar music tastes, and it was no real surprise that they, too, were equally annoyed with the trials and tribulations of being a teenager.
We were all searching for answers, and there were so many questions. But we found common ground in the music.
Earlier this week at Kioskabend, we got to talking about the Sisters of Mercy. A couple of my friends first got into SoM in the early 90s, which is a little understandable due to the fact that it sometimes takes longer for some music to get to other parts of the world. As it were, the Sisters were rather obscure in the USA in the mid-80s; it was hard enough for me to my hands on their stuff. But the Sisters and an associated act, the Mission, had a tremendous influence on me during high school. In fact, the Mission still drives one of my mantras to this day. So, I was a little surprised when my friends were talking about their discovery of these bands some 8-10 years later.
To be fair, we have had similar conversations on other evenings at the Kiosk where I have been the latecomer; a certain band might have been well known (on the underground scene) in Germany for years before I ever heard their music.
Talking about music is still one of my favorite past times, and it's really interesting to get different perspectives and experiences from the friends I have made over the years. It's a real positive for me to still have the opportunity to discuss music with folks in Germany, and it often reminds me of those school days, where I felt like I only had music to break up the monotony of being a frustrated adolescent. As we have all grown up, reflected on our life experiences and shared with others, we inevitably recall a certain tune or certain band that sticks firmly in our memory.
Thus, I listened to the Sisters of Mercy catalog this morning while writing this piece. 30 years ago, I was getting back to start my second year of college with Tim (and playing this stuff non-stop) and today, I am actually thinking about Tim's son and the new chapter in life as he begins freshman year in college. Likewise for my cousin's kid, who is also entering university. I have to assume that they all have a go-to group that they listen to regularly.
I laugh out loud as I bring this piece to a close; I just glanced up on my kitchen wall at a poster that I have had for many years.
Yep, it used to be on my dorm room wall.
see you out there
bryan
Yesterday when I spoke with my father on skype, he mentioned that he saw all the little kids in his neighborhood trooping off for their first day of the new school year. Likewise, I have seen a fair amount of "back to school" photos posted by parents on facebook of my younger friends all starting their new grade. My own nephew is just starting his final year of high school (2-4-6-8 who do we appreciate? seniors, that's who) and I took a few minutes to reflect back on my own school days, all those years ago.
I was always really anxious on the first day of school, from kindergarten through university, though I might argue that university years were noticeably different from the k-12 era. But local public school? Incredible. Every year on the last night before starting back to school, my folks would have to really calm me down, and then the following evening, AFTER the first day of school was finished, everything was perfect again, and we could all sort of laugh as we (or better said, my parents) would say, "See, there was nothing to be worried about?"
Although I still get a little anxious when starting something new (ie..a new job, a new project, etc), it amazes me how worked up I got all those year ago. After all, the pressures of being a student these days are considerably higher than they were 30-40 years ago. Yet most of the photos I see are of smiling kids wearing their new duds and embracing the excitement of the new school year; no one seems as apprehensive as I felt. Fair play to them.
Over the years, I have mentioned how how much I disliked high school, almost to the point of being unhappy. Of course, it had much more to do simply with me being bored, ready for new challenges, wanting to be independent and treated like an adult (but with the safety of still having a place to live and a semi-regular stream of cash flow), but unable to completely express what it was exactly that I was looking for. This experience is no different from any other student of the same age, but obviously everyone has to go through their own experience.
Like many students before me and after me, I found my solace in music. It was always about the music, and for sure, music is what helped get me through high school. My tastes were (still are, for that matter) far away from mainstream, but I found others with similar music tastes, and it was no real surprise that they, too, were equally annoyed with the trials and tribulations of being a teenager.
We were all searching for answers, and there were so many questions. But we found common ground in the music.
Earlier this week at Kioskabend, we got to talking about the Sisters of Mercy. A couple of my friends first got into SoM in the early 90s, which is a little understandable due to the fact that it sometimes takes longer for some music to get to other parts of the world. As it were, the Sisters were rather obscure in the USA in the mid-80s; it was hard enough for me to my hands on their stuff. But the Sisters and an associated act, the Mission, had a tremendous influence on me during high school. In fact, the Mission still drives one of my mantras to this day. So, I was a little surprised when my friends were talking about their discovery of these bands some 8-10 years later.
To be fair, we have had similar conversations on other evenings at the Kiosk where I have been the latecomer; a certain band might have been well known (on the underground scene) in Germany for years before I ever heard their music.
Talking about music is still one of my favorite past times, and it's really interesting to get different perspectives and experiences from the friends I have made over the years. It's a real positive for me to still have the opportunity to discuss music with folks in Germany, and it often reminds me of those school days, where I felt like I only had music to break up the monotony of being a frustrated adolescent. As we have all grown up, reflected on our life experiences and shared with others, we inevitably recall a certain tune or certain band that sticks firmly in our memory.
Thus, I listened to the Sisters of Mercy catalog this morning while writing this piece. 30 years ago, I was getting back to start my second year of college with Tim (and playing this stuff non-stop) and today, I am actually thinking about Tim's son and the new chapter in life as he begins freshman year in college. Likewise for my cousin's kid, who is also entering university. I have to assume that they all have a go-to group that they listen to regularly.
I laugh out loud as I bring this piece to a close; I just glanced up on my kitchen wall at a poster that I have had for many years.
Yep, it used to be on my dorm room wall.
see you out there
bryan
Saturday, August 10, 2019
Fernseher und Football
Flashback to August 1998, when I returned to Dallas after having lived in the Boston area for almost two years. I initially lived with my folks for a few months, but in early 1999 I started the little Goliad experience.
For almost four years, I lived happily without a television set. I was quite proud of myself for finding other ways to occupy my time and avoid getting trapped in the routine of watching regular shows. Of course, I spent the majority of my time in a few pubs, which had its share of positives and negatives. I will take a moment and congratulate all of those students who were able to afford going to college from the income they collected from my generous tips and tabs. As I mentioned the other week, I got tons of great writing and reflection done in those wonderful establishments (2 of which still remain very popular to this day), and that alone is more than enough to justify the time.
In 2002, I did finally obtain a television set, albeit a hand me down from my folks, who had just purchased a new set for their living room. So, I suddenly had a 13 inch TV that was already about 10 years old. It served its purpose (I will get to that in a minute), even though it only had one channel that came in clearly; the reception in the area was not all that great, hence only one station.
Within a year or two, my parents again had to buy a television, for reasons I can no longer remember. But, it meant that I got the next hand me down, which happened to be a 25 inch TV.
OOOH! I was suddenly excited to have a large viewing screen in my small studio. I felt like I was advancing in the tech world, and ended up buying a region-free DVD player so I could enjoy international film. (Despite my averseness to television, I am a huge fan of cinema)
Well, I left Goliad for Spain in early 2006, moving in with my sister and her family. Midway through that summer, they purchased their first flat screen television, which was quite large (and expensive) for the time. Again, we all went "OOOH!" when first seeing the beautiful quality of the lovely set.
This "OOOH" feeling is almost identical to the feeling that most people had when sitting in a movie theater and seeing, hearing, experiencing the THX trailer before a movie started. I cannot be the only one who went "OOOH" during those experiences, and I still have the same reaction every time.
At any rate, once I got to Germany, my furnished flat had a 25 inch CRT television, which was a step in the wrong direction from my previous time in Spain. Unfortunately, when the television (which was already about 20 years old when I moved into the flat) stopped working, my landlord replaced it with another 25 inch CRT. By 2007, CRT TVs were on the decline, making them very inexpensive for landlords who had no desire to put an expensive flat screen television into a rented flat. I can understand their point.
It did not really matter to me. Soon after, the cable company enforced their service on all the tenants, and those that did not subscribe to the service simply had no television service. Because of this, I had no problems over the next decade declining to pay my FUNK tax, which is, to put it simply, is the way the government charges you for public broadcasting. For those of us who love PBS but hate the fundraising drives, the German solution is quite superior; they simply take the money from EVERYONE, regardless of who uses the service. (Now is not time to get wound up about this practice, reread the blog title if you need a reminder of what we are discussing)
So, for about a decade, I have had a television set without any available channels sitting in my living room, but I certainly used it to watch my DVDs. Finally, in 2017, during a visit from my parents, I finally decided to invest in a flat screen television. I checked around and made comparisons and ultimately decided on a medium sized model that fit my price range. Several friends had already made similar purchases and advised me to for the biggest screen I could possibly get. I stuck with a somewhat smaller version, which I am still happy with. Based on the prices of flat screen Fernseher these days, my model is comparable to what some parents might purchase for their teenager as a Christmas gift, which is exactly what happened to my nephew. He has the identical model to mine.
But you know what? I still go "OOOHH!" when I sit in my living room and watch a DVD.
Furthermore, because of the available apps, I have more access to some streaming content, particularly in German. This has helped improved my language ability, and a small part of me does kind of wish I had done a little more viewing of German language broadcasting in my early days of living here.
That being said, watching programming now (with a much stronger level of the language) is more like entertainment and less like a language study lesson. In short, I am more used to certain character actors with a German synchronized voice as opposed to the actual film star. In fact, I regularly forget which language I watch something in. Sometimes in English, and sometimes in German.
I waited for almost a year before accepting Nadja's offer to share in her Netflix account, and I must say that the additional available content as been very welcome. I still tend to stick to movies, but as readers of recent posts will recall, I am watching a few more series.
Still, I like the fact that it is on demand programming, and I still do not get enthusiastic about a lot of series that are constantly being discussed by fans and followers. I may decide one day to watch those shows, too, but for now, I am pretty content.
With one exception.
(Pause while a few readers go "FINALLY. He is getting around to talking Football.")
Precisely.
The whole reason that I got that little TV back in 2002 was simply to watch the World Cup. (Yep, Pablo, once again we can reminisce about those cries of "Korea fighting!" and the like)
A few people might remember one of the post-Christmas stories I wrote up after a wonderful visit to Valencia, where I refer to that super month in 2012 when I did not get much sleep, but saw EVERY game of the World Cup, despite the time differences. I got maybe a couple of hours a sleep a night during the group stage, was a complete grouchy jerk at work, and I loved every minute of it.
And, I saw the all the matches on the one little channel I could get, which was Univision, the Spanish broadcasting channel. (Yes, my Spanish certainly improved during this time, hence the slight regret about waiting so long to get on track with German broadcasting)
After the World Cup was over, I continued watching Univision, and became a fan of their morning show (the equivalent to the Today Show or Good Morning America or whatever). Because my screen size was so dinky, it was still very easy to turn the set off and do something more productive, like go to the Old Monk.
During this era, I was frantically trying to keep up with English football, particularly the Arsenal. Back then, my local pubs did show International matches (Qualifiers and such) and we would regularly be at the Dubliner on Saturday mornings for 9am matches that were taking place on nice European Saturday afternoons. Those were good times, but sometimes a little inconvenient.
One day, Chris mentioned that maybe I could piggy back on his cable subscription service, and after a little contemplation, I had a little set top box and access to hundreds of channels. All pretty much worthless to me.
But, a network decided to market heavily the fact that they were going to show many of the English league football matches, and finally I was going to be able to have an opportunity to see the Arsenal. During this time, Arsenal were constantly in the top 4, if not champions, so their matches were being shown in markets where the sport was not so well known (by English speakers).
In order to get access to this one channel that showed the English soccer (yep...we all remember the Fox Soccer Network), I had to call up the nice people at the cable company to sign up for an additional package. The night I called the lady, she was really nice and pleasant, but still had to charge me 30 extra dollars a month to gain access to approximately 150 additional channels, just so I could get access to the ONE that I wanted.
"But I don't want to watch shows about catching alligators in the Bayou," I pleaded. "Nor am I the kind of consumer that wants access to high school football games from Wisconsin." (It was a sports package, I must point out.)
In the end, I paid up, and for probably two years, I spent about 60 dollars a month to have access to one station that I really wanted. In my opinion, it was again money well spent, and I can recall some wonderful Saturday mornings sitting in my apartment at 6h30 watching an Arsenal match with Chris, who had made the 5 second trek across the backyard. Sure, we could have watched those matches in his living room, but we would have disturbed the rest of the family, as we tended to get a little jumpy and loud. Arsenal 5 - Spurs 4. Nothing else to be said.
About this time, a couple of local pubs started arranging to be open for the early morning weekend matches, and this too, was a great experience to have. I met a lot of great people, all of them football fans that cared enough to get up at 6am on Saturday morning after 4 hours of sleep, raging hangover (sometimes) to have a little breakfast and enjoy the morning.
The great part about some of this was the fact that a 9h30, when most of the matches were over, one could get on with their regular Saturday activities, particularly those involving people who were not necessarily soccer fans.
Well, in 2006, I moved to Spain. Lynne and Fran bought their big screen super duper television, and it was a World Cup year. OOOH!
In my joy of moving to Europe, I had forgotten about the time difference, so there were some challenges with catching the WC matches, as I mentioned in one of my posts from summer 2006.
Once I got to Germany, a county full of football fans, I found no difficulty watching the matches in the pub, as I have described over the past 13 years of my life here. When matches are not being shown at the pub, or at least, not the matches I want to see, I would have to resort to using some suspect streaming website to try and follow the Arsenal, usually with commentary in some random language like Cantonese or Swahili. I had more than one problem with my laptop after using these sites, but again, that's another story.
Ironically, most everyone in the US has almost 100% coverage of all English football matches, now. This is somewhat convenient for me when I return to the states for a Christmas visit; I am usually able to catch the matches at my father's house.
However, in Europe, the competition for television rights has continued to be brutal, and expensive.
This never was a huge issue for me, since I always had the pub, or as a rather poor alternative, the use of dodgy websites. Somehow I have continued to be able to regularly see the Arsenal matches, even if the team have not been nearly as exciting as years previously. Once a fan, always a fan.
Last August, I realized that a web streaming service, DAZN, was offering English league coverage for a very reasonable monthly price. I have a lot of German friends who are football fans, particularly for the Frankfurt team, and through the years we have discussed the annoying charges associated with subscribing to whichever big network was covering the various Football leagues. The German league is obviously the important focus for the typical German football fan, so they experience similar headaches and irritations of having to pay premiums just to have coverage of Bundesliga, and the packages they are paying for include similar uninteresting channels like ones that show junior high handball tournaments or some other less popular sport.
In 2018, DAZN proudly announced that they would show ALL English top flight matches, and I did not need much more incentive. Okay, so there was virtually no coverage of Bundesliga, but that, too, was fine. I follow Eintracht, I consider myself a fan, but a fan that can live with seeing a handful of matches during the course of the season.
My friends who were forced to pay hefty monthly fees for Bundesliga coverage would regularly complain, and I was able to say, "yep, I used to pay about the same price just to see a couple of matches a week back when I was still living in the states."
Well, for 10 euro a month, I had sufficient coverage of the Arsenal during the past season, and even got used to the German commentary. It is not like the language was a challenge, but more so the style of color commentary. I have commented on this in previous posts, and it really just comes down to personal preference. It is no real surprise that the English matches televised in the US markets get covered by a British commentator. It supposedly "sounds" more authentic, and in fairness, I will admit that when a German native tries to say something like "into the fray" or "what a naughty tackle, indeed," it just is not the same.
And commentary certainly has its place. My childhood and adolescence is much more enriched because I got to watch Keith Jackson talk about college football (American) for so many years. Likewise, announcers for basketball or baseball find their niche and their voice.
DAZN would show some of these sports from the USA and although I hardly ever watched, I would always kind of chuckle as I listened to a German announcer try and replicate an American announcer.
I have a couple of favorite announcers for the English football leagues, and I still enjoy listening to them when the opportunity arises. In truth, I would prefer the English accent when viewing a match, and I was always irritated listening to an American commentator try and call an English league match, since they always tended to make it sound like a baseball game instead of the actual sport on display. As I mention above, the Germans have a similar difficulty, since it is not as if they are all that familiar with many American sports. Listening to a German guy talk about "driving the lane" or "going downtown" just sounds, well, almost silly.
Of course, fans of a sport learn to adapt to the environment, and I am the same. After all, I am fan of the sport not because of the commentary, but because of the sport itself.
A couple of weeks ago, I got a notice from DAZN indicating that they would be increasing their monthly fees from August 2019, but they would also offer an opportunity to pay the same previous monthly rate (10 euro) if I chose to pay for one full year. I am still deciding how I want to continue with them, but the price difference is marginal, especially for someone who put 5 people through college just from my pub tabs. Almost 20 years ago.
What did slip past me with DAZN is that THIS year, they will not have the English league broadcast. I discovered this yesterday morning when I checked to their schedule to see when they would show the first Arsenal match. One of the small irritations I had with DAZN last year was (partially my fault) not realizing that when they said ALL matches, they did not mean "live."
Thus, several times during the course of the last season, I did not get to watch the Arsenal match until a few hours later. The first time this happened really ticked me off, as I had spent the hour before kick-off cooking a large meal, intent on sitting down to feast during the football match.
After that mishap, I would always check ahead of time, so knew when I would be delayed or when I could get the live feed. Still, DAZN showed all of the Europa League matches, and since Arsenal were in that, I still found the 10 euro monthly fee reasonable, even if I was not watching all that frequently. Additionally, it was not as if I was watching any of their other programing. In short, I calculated the monthly fee for 12 months against the number of league matches (plus Europa) and came up with a price per match. Again, very reasonable. In my economic world.
So yesterday when I suddenly realized that I was in a real pickle, I had to quickly search for other options. No, I did not want to invest in cable/satellite television, since none of that is very interesting to me. I have enough options with my streaming channels and Netflix, probably more than enough.
But, I needed a football solution, and came across, gulp, Sky. This, in fairness, has always been an option for me, and one that I never really wanted to opt for, but I discovered there is a way to get broadcasting without having to get a set top box, and so, I am now a subscriber to their streaming service, which does give me access to all the Premiership games. Live. Yes, it will be a tad more expensive than I had initially planned, so I may have to rethink my DAZN deal, although they have the rights to Europa.
Now, part of the reason I have always liked about NOT having a television is the fact that I never had to deal with the distraction. I am still very glad that television viewing was very limited in our household when I was growing up. That is one of the big reasons that I continue to be an avid reader, and still average maybe 20 to 30 books a year.
Likewise, I do not like paying for something that I do not use, or at least, find some value in. On the plus side, I am able to pay a nominal fee (in my opinion) for the ONE service that interests me, and I am rather grateful for that. Sure, I may miss out on the extensive sports package, which means that I will not be able to watch a junior high handball tournament or see some obscure German sport, but I think that will be okay.
Meanwhile, the English league kicked off last evening with a Liverpool match, and I tuned in to my new subscription.
I got a little irritated as the German commentator tried to sing "You'll Never Walk Alone," but hopefully he won't do something similar during the Arsenal match tomorrow.
So, with my Arsenal solution in place, I am ready for the season. With joy, excitement, and hope.
It is a perfect time to say, "OOOHH!"
see you out there
bryan
For almost four years, I lived happily without a television set. I was quite proud of myself for finding other ways to occupy my time and avoid getting trapped in the routine of watching regular shows. Of course, I spent the majority of my time in a few pubs, which had its share of positives and negatives. I will take a moment and congratulate all of those students who were able to afford going to college from the income they collected from my generous tips and tabs. As I mentioned the other week, I got tons of great writing and reflection done in those wonderful establishments (2 of which still remain very popular to this day), and that alone is more than enough to justify the time.
In 2002, I did finally obtain a television set, albeit a hand me down from my folks, who had just purchased a new set for their living room. So, I suddenly had a 13 inch TV that was already about 10 years old. It served its purpose (I will get to that in a minute), even though it only had one channel that came in clearly; the reception in the area was not all that great, hence only one station.
Within a year or two, my parents again had to buy a television, for reasons I can no longer remember. But, it meant that I got the next hand me down, which happened to be a 25 inch TV.
OOOH! I was suddenly excited to have a large viewing screen in my small studio. I felt like I was advancing in the tech world, and ended up buying a region-free DVD player so I could enjoy international film. (Despite my averseness to television, I am a huge fan of cinema)
Well, I left Goliad for Spain in early 2006, moving in with my sister and her family. Midway through that summer, they purchased their first flat screen television, which was quite large (and expensive) for the time. Again, we all went "OOOH!" when first seeing the beautiful quality of the lovely set.
This "OOOH" feeling is almost identical to the feeling that most people had when sitting in a movie theater and seeing, hearing, experiencing the THX trailer before a movie started. I cannot be the only one who went "OOOH" during those experiences, and I still have the same reaction every time.
At any rate, once I got to Germany, my furnished flat had a 25 inch CRT television, which was a step in the wrong direction from my previous time in Spain. Unfortunately, when the television (which was already about 20 years old when I moved into the flat) stopped working, my landlord replaced it with another 25 inch CRT. By 2007, CRT TVs were on the decline, making them very inexpensive for landlords who had no desire to put an expensive flat screen television into a rented flat. I can understand their point.
It did not really matter to me. Soon after, the cable company enforced their service on all the tenants, and those that did not subscribe to the service simply had no television service. Because of this, I had no problems over the next decade declining to pay my FUNK tax, which is, to put it simply, is the way the government charges you for public broadcasting. For those of us who love PBS but hate the fundraising drives, the German solution is quite superior; they simply take the money from EVERYONE, regardless of who uses the service. (Now is not time to get wound up about this practice, reread the blog title if you need a reminder of what we are discussing)
So, for about a decade, I have had a television set without any available channels sitting in my living room, but I certainly used it to watch my DVDs. Finally, in 2017, during a visit from my parents, I finally decided to invest in a flat screen television. I checked around and made comparisons and ultimately decided on a medium sized model that fit my price range. Several friends had already made similar purchases and advised me to for the biggest screen I could possibly get. I stuck with a somewhat smaller version, which I am still happy with. Based on the prices of flat screen Fernseher these days, my model is comparable to what some parents might purchase for their teenager as a Christmas gift, which is exactly what happened to my nephew. He has the identical model to mine.
But you know what? I still go "OOOHH!" when I sit in my living room and watch a DVD.
Furthermore, because of the available apps, I have more access to some streaming content, particularly in German. This has helped improved my language ability, and a small part of me does kind of wish I had done a little more viewing of German language broadcasting in my early days of living here.
That being said, watching programming now (with a much stronger level of the language) is more like entertainment and less like a language study lesson. In short, I am more used to certain character actors with a German synchronized voice as opposed to the actual film star. In fact, I regularly forget which language I watch something in. Sometimes in English, and sometimes in German.
I waited for almost a year before accepting Nadja's offer to share in her Netflix account, and I must say that the additional available content as been very welcome. I still tend to stick to movies, but as readers of recent posts will recall, I am watching a few more series.
Still, I like the fact that it is on demand programming, and I still do not get enthusiastic about a lot of series that are constantly being discussed by fans and followers. I may decide one day to watch those shows, too, but for now, I am pretty content.
With one exception.
(Pause while a few readers go "FINALLY. He is getting around to talking Football.")
Precisely.
The whole reason that I got that little TV back in 2002 was simply to watch the World Cup. (Yep, Pablo, once again we can reminisce about those cries of "Korea fighting!" and the like)
A few people might remember one of the post-Christmas stories I wrote up after a wonderful visit to Valencia, where I refer to that super month in 2012 when I did not get much sleep, but saw EVERY game of the World Cup, despite the time differences. I got maybe a couple of hours a sleep a night during the group stage, was a complete grouchy jerk at work, and I loved every minute of it.
And, I saw the all the matches on the one little channel I could get, which was Univision, the Spanish broadcasting channel. (Yes, my Spanish certainly improved during this time, hence the slight regret about waiting so long to get on track with German broadcasting)
After the World Cup was over, I continued watching Univision, and became a fan of their morning show (the equivalent to the Today Show or Good Morning America or whatever). Because my screen size was so dinky, it was still very easy to turn the set off and do something more productive, like go to the Old Monk.
During this era, I was frantically trying to keep up with English football, particularly the Arsenal. Back then, my local pubs did show International matches (Qualifiers and such) and we would regularly be at the Dubliner on Saturday mornings for 9am matches that were taking place on nice European Saturday afternoons. Those were good times, but sometimes a little inconvenient.
One day, Chris mentioned that maybe I could piggy back on his cable subscription service, and after a little contemplation, I had a little set top box and access to hundreds of channels. All pretty much worthless to me.
But, a network decided to market heavily the fact that they were going to show many of the English league football matches, and finally I was going to be able to have an opportunity to see the Arsenal. During this time, Arsenal were constantly in the top 4, if not champions, so their matches were being shown in markets where the sport was not so well known (by English speakers).
In order to get access to this one channel that showed the English soccer (yep...we all remember the Fox Soccer Network), I had to call up the nice people at the cable company to sign up for an additional package. The night I called the lady, she was really nice and pleasant, but still had to charge me 30 extra dollars a month to gain access to approximately 150 additional channels, just so I could get access to the ONE that I wanted.
"But I don't want to watch shows about catching alligators in the Bayou," I pleaded. "Nor am I the kind of consumer that wants access to high school football games from Wisconsin." (It was a sports package, I must point out.)
In the end, I paid up, and for probably two years, I spent about 60 dollars a month to have access to one station that I really wanted. In my opinion, it was again money well spent, and I can recall some wonderful Saturday mornings sitting in my apartment at 6h30 watching an Arsenal match with Chris, who had made the 5 second trek across the backyard. Sure, we could have watched those matches in his living room, but we would have disturbed the rest of the family, as we tended to get a little jumpy and loud. Arsenal 5 - Spurs 4. Nothing else to be said.
About this time, a couple of local pubs started arranging to be open for the early morning weekend matches, and this too, was a great experience to have. I met a lot of great people, all of them football fans that cared enough to get up at 6am on Saturday morning after 4 hours of sleep, raging hangover (sometimes) to have a little breakfast and enjoy the morning.
The great part about some of this was the fact that a 9h30, when most of the matches were over, one could get on with their regular Saturday activities, particularly those involving people who were not necessarily soccer fans.
Well, in 2006, I moved to Spain. Lynne and Fran bought their big screen super duper television, and it was a World Cup year. OOOH!
In my joy of moving to Europe, I had forgotten about the time difference, so there were some challenges with catching the WC matches, as I mentioned in one of my posts from summer 2006.
Once I got to Germany, a county full of football fans, I found no difficulty watching the matches in the pub, as I have described over the past 13 years of my life here. When matches are not being shown at the pub, or at least, not the matches I want to see, I would have to resort to using some suspect streaming website to try and follow the Arsenal, usually with commentary in some random language like Cantonese or Swahili. I had more than one problem with my laptop after using these sites, but again, that's another story.
Ironically, most everyone in the US has almost 100% coverage of all English football matches, now. This is somewhat convenient for me when I return to the states for a Christmas visit; I am usually able to catch the matches at my father's house.
However, in Europe, the competition for television rights has continued to be brutal, and expensive.
This never was a huge issue for me, since I always had the pub, or as a rather poor alternative, the use of dodgy websites. Somehow I have continued to be able to regularly see the Arsenal matches, even if the team have not been nearly as exciting as years previously. Once a fan, always a fan.
Last August, I realized that a web streaming service, DAZN, was offering English league coverage for a very reasonable monthly price. I have a lot of German friends who are football fans, particularly for the Frankfurt team, and through the years we have discussed the annoying charges associated with subscribing to whichever big network was covering the various Football leagues. The German league is obviously the important focus for the typical German football fan, so they experience similar headaches and irritations of having to pay premiums just to have coverage of Bundesliga, and the packages they are paying for include similar uninteresting channels like ones that show junior high handball tournaments or some other less popular sport.
In 2018, DAZN proudly announced that they would show ALL English top flight matches, and I did not need much more incentive. Okay, so there was virtually no coverage of Bundesliga, but that, too, was fine. I follow Eintracht, I consider myself a fan, but a fan that can live with seeing a handful of matches during the course of the season.
My friends who were forced to pay hefty monthly fees for Bundesliga coverage would regularly complain, and I was able to say, "yep, I used to pay about the same price just to see a couple of matches a week back when I was still living in the states."
Well, for 10 euro a month, I had sufficient coverage of the Arsenal during the past season, and even got used to the German commentary. It is not like the language was a challenge, but more so the style of color commentary. I have commented on this in previous posts, and it really just comes down to personal preference. It is no real surprise that the English matches televised in the US markets get covered by a British commentator. It supposedly "sounds" more authentic, and in fairness, I will admit that when a German native tries to say something like "into the fray" or "what a naughty tackle, indeed," it just is not the same.
And commentary certainly has its place. My childhood and adolescence is much more enriched because I got to watch Keith Jackson talk about college football (American) for so many years. Likewise, announcers for basketball or baseball find their niche and their voice.
DAZN would show some of these sports from the USA and although I hardly ever watched, I would always kind of chuckle as I listened to a German announcer try and replicate an American announcer.
I have a couple of favorite announcers for the English football leagues, and I still enjoy listening to them when the opportunity arises. In truth, I would prefer the English accent when viewing a match, and I was always irritated listening to an American commentator try and call an English league match, since they always tended to make it sound like a baseball game instead of the actual sport on display. As I mention above, the Germans have a similar difficulty, since it is not as if they are all that familiar with many American sports. Listening to a German guy talk about "driving the lane" or "going downtown" just sounds, well, almost silly.
Of course, fans of a sport learn to adapt to the environment, and I am the same. After all, I am fan of the sport not because of the commentary, but because of the sport itself.
A couple of weeks ago, I got a notice from DAZN indicating that they would be increasing their monthly fees from August 2019, but they would also offer an opportunity to pay the same previous monthly rate (10 euro) if I chose to pay for one full year. I am still deciding how I want to continue with them, but the price difference is marginal, especially for someone who put 5 people through college just from my pub tabs. Almost 20 years ago.
What did slip past me with DAZN is that THIS year, they will not have the English league broadcast. I discovered this yesterday morning when I checked to their schedule to see when they would show the first Arsenal match. One of the small irritations I had with DAZN last year was (partially my fault) not realizing that when they said ALL matches, they did not mean "live."
Thus, several times during the course of the last season, I did not get to watch the Arsenal match until a few hours later. The first time this happened really ticked me off, as I had spent the hour before kick-off cooking a large meal, intent on sitting down to feast during the football match.
After that mishap, I would always check ahead of time, so knew when I would be delayed or when I could get the live feed. Still, DAZN showed all of the Europa League matches, and since Arsenal were in that, I still found the 10 euro monthly fee reasonable, even if I was not watching all that frequently. Additionally, it was not as if I was watching any of their other programing. In short, I calculated the monthly fee for 12 months against the number of league matches (plus Europa) and came up with a price per match. Again, very reasonable. In my economic world.
So yesterday when I suddenly realized that I was in a real pickle, I had to quickly search for other options. No, I did not want to invest in cable/satellite television, since none of that is very interesting to me. I have enough options with my streaming channels and Netflix, probably more than enough.
But, I needed a football solution, and came across, gulp, Sky. This, in fairness, has always been an option for me, and one that I never really wanted to opt for, but I discovered there is a way to get broadcasting without having to get a set top box, and so, I am now a subscriber to their streaming service, which does give me access to all the Premiership games. Live. Yes, it will be a tad more expensive than I had initially planned, so I may have to rethink my DAZN deal, although they have the rights to Europa.
Now, part of the reason I have always liked about NOT having a television is the fact that I never had to deal with the distraction. I am still very glad that television viewing was very limited in our household when I was growing up. That is one of the big reasons that I continue to be an avid reader, and still average maybe 20 to 30 books a year.
Likewise, I do not like paying for something that I do not use, or at least, find some value in. On the plus side, I am able to pay a nominal fee (in my opinion) for the ONE service that interests me, and I am rather grateful for that. Sure, I may miss out on the extensive sports package, which means that I will not be able to watch a junior high handball tournament or see some obscure German sport, but I think that will be okay.
Meanwhile, the English league kicked off last evening with a Liverpool match, and I tuned in to my new subscription.
I got a little irritated as the German commentator tried to sing "You'll Never Walk Alone," but hopefully he won't do something similar during the Arsenal match tomorrow.
So, with my Arsenal solution in place, I am ready for the season. With joy, excitement, and hope.
It is a perfect time to say, "OOOHH!"
see you out there
bryan
Saturday, August 03, 2019
Too Hot for Tapas? Never
A couple of weeks ago, we experienced the hottest temperatures of the summer in Frankfurt. I think most of Europe went through a bit of a heat wave. It sucked.
I stopped trying to remember previous summers for comparison, even though it was a common conversation topic when I was out and about. People still make the assumption that, being from Texas, I am used to the heat, and my responses are always very similar. It sucked then, and it sucks now.
True, we are not talking about anything like the great heat wave of 1980, when Dallas had about 42 straight days of temperatures above 38 degrees Celsius, including a few days of 42-45 degrees.
Still, this summer has been particularly humid, which really pushes you to the limit when trying to maintain your sense of humor. My laptop, which tends to struggle (somewhat desperately albeit bravely) during the warmer months of the year, finally hinted that it was on it's last legs. So, I made a rather spontaneous purchase and spent one very warm Friday evening waiting for it be delivered. The online information indicated that the delivery time would be between 10am-6pm; the guy arrived at almost 10h30 that night, sweating profusely. I, too, was sweating a good deal, myself, so the process of signing for the package was awkward, wet, and gross.
But, I really like my laptop, and like with any new toy, it helped keep my spirits up during the following week, when the temperatures were really soaring. I hardly left the house, preferring to suffer the heat on my own. After all, it was hot everywhere, inside or outside. And I did not really feel like going to talk to other people just to reiterate that fact.
A friend of mine was coming into town, and we had made dinner plans two Fridays ago at a little Spanish restaurant in the neighborhood. Fortunately, the temperature had dropped ever so slightly from the two previous days (which were above 40 degrees C), but it was still ridiculously hot. In situations like this, since everyone is suffering, fashion sort of takes a lower priority. No matter how dudded up you think you are, you are still dudded up and sweaty. With the humidity being so high, it was difficult to get comfortable. Sitting at a small restaurant table, even being outside, was a trick.
That being said, we had a really nice evening enjoying the great tapas. The restaurant is a a favorite of ours, but we just do not get there all that often, for one reason or other. Max, Susie and I all chatted about how glad we were to be able to have a chance to eat there once again. The service was really pleasant, and the waitress made sure to bring us bottles of water, almost without asking. (This is a bit unusual in Europe, especially when comparing to the experience in an American restaurant, where the guy comes by and refills your water glass every five seconds.)
After we had consumed a couple of rounds of tapas, the owner came out to greet us and offer us a Schnaps, making for a super experience once again.
As the evening came to a close, we decided to try and meet up for dinner again the following week before Susie was to leave Frankfurt after completing her business. I suggested a little German restaurant which just opened around the corner from my flat, but left things open, as we had time to think about where we would want to go.
Last Saturday, I took a few hours to get some personal writing done, allowing me to reflect on a lot of different things. I do try and keep a little journal, but it has been a while since I have really been able (to want) to find the time to sit down and allow my thoughts to flood the pages of a notebook.
One of the nice things about the hot summer period is that a lot of people are either away on holiday or simply staying at home because it is too hot. I took advantage of this and sat in the pub, almost on my own, save for Maria and a couple of other guests. I enjoyed the time and reminisced about the countless hours I have spent around the world, sitting in a pub, writing in my journal. If I had to calculate college credit hours, I'd probably be approaching a PHD. Definitely time well spent.
The weather forecast had hinted at Gewitter; a large storm was supposed to blow into Frankfurt and cool things off. I was really looking forward to this. More than once, I have seen a windstorm suddenly blow a patio umbrella out of it's stand and send it tumbling across the terrace. This alone makes for some humorous (at least for me) excitement. People always get very dramatic, as they exclaim, "Wow, that could have killed somebody."
Sure, freak accidents do happen, but usually not with such an extreme result. Of course, the same people that makes those kinds of comments are also the ones that immediately start going "AAAGGHHHH, It's raining, I am getting wet" when a sudden thunderstorm starts bucketing down, drenching everyone. These are the same people who, just a few days prior, had been staggering around in the 40plus degree heat like zombies, saying, "AAAGGHHHH, I am dying."
But, I digress.
I am the kind of guy that does enjoy seeing people slip on banana peels, or in this case, seeing someone get clocked by a large piece of patio furniture hurtling across a plaza. Likewise, I love getting soaked in a rainstorm, so long as I am not on my way to a business meeting, a wedding, or some formal occasion.
Alas, by Saturday evening, we still had no rainstorm and the temperatures were still a bit warm. Late that night, we had a little bit of rain, but nothing like what the forecast had called for. Thus, the humidity continued.
This humidity continued into this past week, and it did absolutely nothing to help my mood, which was darkened by a lot of political crap at work. People changed their minds some 400 times during the course of three days, and I was really struggling to stay true to my mantra, "take it as it comes."
Meanwhile, the humidity wreaked havoc with my espresso machine; the coffee started getting really bitter, the milk wasn't foaming properly, and I was getting really irritated.
By Thursday evening, I was desperate for the weekend, and ventured over to the pub for a couple of pints. Since I had been a bit of a homebody the previous week, I was eager for a little company, and was glad to run into Mono, who hates the heat more than I do. We had a brief, humorous discussion about the Love Boat (tv series), which was rather out of character for both of us, as we normally stick to more mundane conversation topics like what would happen if a patio umbrella flew up and knocked somebody over, and who would we want that somebody to be...
At any rate, I had just completed my lipsync of the Love Boat theme song (complete with choreography) when Erik walked in. Erik had been away on holiday in Thailand for most of July, so he was particularly upset to return home to really warm, humid weather. As we were speaking, I thought about a friend of mine who had just spent the last couple of evenings in hospital after an operation. I knew she was glad to be back home in the humid comforts of her flat as opposed to being in a stuffy hospital.
Thursday nights are quiz nights at the pub. Normally I go home about the time the quiz gets started, but I ended up sticking around and forming a team with a few friends. We ended up winning the quiz, but more importantly, I simply enjoyed the evening, and it certainly distracted me from all the challenges of the work week.
I woke up Friday morning definitely ready for the weekend, and got through the work day without too much hassle. Susie, Max, and I had decided on the little German place after all, and after a quick drink in the pub, headed over to find a table. This place serves what they refer to as German tapas, and in short, offer small traditional German dishes in tapas portions, but with a Mediterranean twist. For example, you can get a little tiny schnitzel, or a bit of sausage resting on a little potato salad; perfect tapas portions. The three of us went through two rounds of tapas, and were really satisfied.
The place has only been open about six weeks, and I had already been there a couple of times. I was glad both Max and Susie enjoyed the meal, also. There are a fair amount of cafes and restaurants in the neighborhood, many of them excellent, but it's always nice to find a new place.
Afterwards, we headed back to the pub for another couple of drinks, where we met the traditional Friday folks. I ran into a few friends I hadn't seen in a while, so the evening was great. And, the temperature finally broke, and things cooled off considerably.
I went home at a reasonable hour, thoroughly content with the company and food of the evening. Not surprisingly, I slept very soundly, and woke up this morning to delightfully cool temperatures. I got my espresso machine sorted out, so the coffees are tasting great, and as soon as I finish this post, I will book my flights to Dallas for Christmas.
It's a great way to continue the weekend.
see you out there
bryan
I stopped trying to remember previous summers for comparison, even though it was a common conversation topic when I was out and about. People still make the assumption that, being from Texas, I am used to the heat, and my responses are always very similar. It sucked then, and it sucks now.
True, we are not talking about anything like the great heat wave of 1980, when Dallas had about 42 straight days of temperatures above 38 degrees Celsius, including a few days of 42-45 degrees.
Still, this summer has been particularly humid, which really pushes you to the limit when trying to maintain your sense of humor. My laptop, which tends to struggle (somewhat desperately albeit bravely) during the warmer months of the year, finally hinted that it was on it's last legs. So, I made a rather spontaneous purchase and spent one very warm Friday evening waiting for it be delivered. The online information indicated that the delivery time would be between 10am-6pm; the guy arrived at almost 10h30 that night, sweating profusely. I, too, was sweating a good deal, myself, so the process of signing for the package was awkward, wet, and gross.
But, I really like my laptop, and like with any new toy, it helped keep my spirits up during the following week, when the temperatures were really soaring. I hardly left the house, preferring to suffer the heat on my own. After all, it was hot everywhere, inside or outside. And I did not really feel like going to talk to other people just to reiterate that fact.
A friend of mine was coming into town, and we had made dinner plans two Fridays ago at a little Spanish restaurant in the neighborhood. Fortunately, the temperature had dropped ever so slightly from the two previous days (which were above 40 degrees C), but it was still ridiculously hot. In situations like this, since everyone is suffering, fashion sort of takes a lower priority. No matter how dudded up you think you are, you are still dudded up and sweaty. With the humidity being so high, it was difficult to get comfortable. Sitting at a small restaurant table, even being outside, was a trick.
That being said, we had a really nice evening enjoying the great tapas. The restaurant is a a favorite of ours, but we just do not get there all that often, for one reason or other. Max, Susie and I all chatted about how glad we were to be able to have a chance to eat there once again. The service was really pleasant, and the waitress made sure to bring us bottles of water, almost without asking. (This is a bit unusual in Europe, especially when comparing to the experience in an American restaurant, where the guy comes by and refills your water glass every five seconds.)
After we had consumed a couple of rounds of tapas, the owner came out to greet us and offer us a Schnaps, making for a super experience once again.
As the evening came to a close, we decided to try and meet up for dinner again the following week before Susie was to leave Frankfurt after completing her business. I suggested a little German restaurant which just opened around the corner from my flat, but left things open, as we had time to think about where we would want to go.
Last Saturday, I took a few hours to get some personal writing done, allowing me to reflect on a lot of different things. I do try and keep a little journal, but it has been a while since I have really been able (to want) to find the time to sit down and allow my thoughts to flood the pages of a notebook.
One of the nice things about the hot summer period is that a lot of people are either away on holiday or simply staying at home because it is too hot. I took advantage of this and sat in the pub, almost on my own, save for Maria and a couple of other guests. I enjoyed the time and reminisced about the countless hours I have spent around the world, sitting in a pub, writing in my journal. If I had to calculate college credit hours, I'd probably be approaching a PHD. Definitely time well spent.
The weather forecast had hinted at Gewitter; a large storm was supposed to blow into Frankfurt and cool things off. I was really looking forward to this. More than once, I have seen a windstorm suddenly blow a patio umbrella out of it's stand and send it tumbling across the terrace. This alone makes for some humorous (at least for me) excitement. People always get very dramatic, as they exclaim, "Wow, that could have killed somebody."
Sure, freak accidents do happen, but usually not with such an extreme result. Of course, the same people that makes those kinds of comments are also the ones that immediately start going "AAAGGHHHH, It's raining, I am getting wet" when a sudden thunderstorm starts bucketing down, drenching everyone. These are the same people who, just a few days prior, had been staggering around in the 40plus degree heat like zombies, saying, "AAAGGHHHH, I am dying."
But, I digress.
I am the kind of guy that does enjoy seeing people slip on banana peels, or in this case, seeing someone get clocked by a large piece of patio furniture hurtling across a plaza. Likewise, I love getting soaked in a rainstorm, so long as I am not on my way to a business meeting, a wedding, or some formal occasion.
Alas, by Saturday evening, we still had no rainstorm and the temperatures were still a bit warm. Late that night, we had a little bit of rain, but nothing like what the forecast had called for. Thus, the humidity continued.
This humidity continued into this past week, and it did absolutely nothing to help my mood, which was darkened by a lot of political crap at work. People changed their minds some 400 times during the course of three days, and I was really struggling to stay true to my mantra, "take it as it comes."
Meanwhile, the humidity wreaked havoc with my espresso machine; the coffee started getting really bitter, the milk wasn't foaming properly, and I was getting really irritated.
By Thursday evening, I was desperate for the weekend, and ventured over to the pub for a couple of pints. Since I had been a bit of a homebody the previous week, I was eager for a little company, and was glad to run into Mono, who hates the heat more than I do. We had a brief, humorous discussion about the Love Boat (tv series), which was rather out of character for both of us, as we normally stick to more mundane conversation topics like what would happen if a patio umbrella flew up and knocked somebody over, and who would we want that somebody to be...
At any rate, I had just completed my lipsync of the Love Boat theme song (complete with choreography) when Erik walked in. Erik had been away on holiday in Thailand for most of July, so he was particularly upset to return home to really warm, humid weather. As we were speaking, I thought about a friend of mine who had just spent the last couple of evenings in hospital after an operation. I knew she was glad to be back home in the humid comforts of her flat as opposed to being in a stuffy hospital.
Thursday nights are quiz nights at the pub. Normally I go home about the time the quiz gets started, but I ended up sticking around and forming a team with a few friends. We ended up winning the quiz, but more importantly, I simply enjoyed the evening, and it certainly distracted me from all the challenges of the work week.
I woke up Friday morning definitely ready for the weekend, and got through the work day without too much hassle. Susie, Max, and I had decided on the little German place after all, and after a quick drink in the pub, headed over to find a table. This place serves what they refer to as German tapas, and in short, offer small traditional German dishes in tapas portions, but with a Mediterranean twist. For example, you can get a little tiny schnitzel, or a bit of sausage resting on a little potato salad; perfect tapas portions. The three of us went through two rounds of tapas, and were really satisfied.
The place has only been open about six weeks, and I had already been there a couple of times. I was glad both Max and Susie enjoyed the meal, also. There are a fair amount of cafes and restaurants in the neighborhood, many of them excellent, but it's always nice to find a new place.
Afterwards, we headed back to the pub for another couple of drinks, where we met the traditional Friday folks. I ran into a few friends I hadn't seen in a while, so the evening was great. And, the temperature finally broke, and things cooled off considerably.
I went home at a reasonable hour, thoroughly content with the company and food of the evening. Not surprisingly, I slept very soundly, and woke up this morning to delightfully cool temperatures. I got my espresso machine sorted out, so the coffees are tasting great, and as soon as I finish this post, I will book my flights to Dallas for Christmas.
It's a great way to continue the weekend.
see you out there
bryan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)