Monat: März 2008

When I was a little boy, the German television was really simple. We had two East German stations and three from the other side. In total there were five stations. On each Saturday there was a big show and the whole family was sitting in front of the TV watching the show.

One of the biggest shows was „Wetten, dass …?“ („I bet, that …?“). The core of that show is a bet, which is sent by a viewer. The viewer bet that he can do a special thing. Let’s say, he can balance a truck on six eggs. The other part of this show are the guests. Those are normally VIPs from the show business or sport. The guest has to decide whether he is believing in the viewer or not. If they are loosing the bet, the guests have to do a special thing: so i.e. Chris de Burgh had to sing in a pedestrian zone in Munich.

The moderator of this show is Thomas Gottschalk. He is very popular in Germany and a reason for the success of the show.

Last Saturday the show was on TV again and I was looking forward seeing it. But unfortunately the show was really bad. The jokes of the moderator were not fun. The bets were not the best. And finally … the show was too long. Sorry Thomas, but you were better in the past.

Sorry to the English readers of that blog, but I can tell this story only in German.

Da einige Lampen in meiner Wohnung nicht mehr so funktionsfähig waren und auch einige Blumen aufgrund meiner regen Auslandstätigkeit nur noch zum Rauchen zu gebrauchen waren, entschied ich mich am Samstag, doch einmal den lokalen Baumarkt aufzusuchen.

Dort angekommen, fand ich auch recht schnell die Ersatzlampen und begab mich sodann in die Gartenabteilung. Auf der Suche nach einem gescheiten Blumentopf bekam ich das folgende Gespräch zwischen einem ratsuchenden Kleingärtner und der Verkäuferin des Marktes mit:

Kunde: Ei, isch hann da ein Problem und isch bräucht da auch ma Ihren Rat. Isch han a Loch im Garte und da hab isch auch eijniges probiiert. Isch han das mit alle mögliche Zeuchs zugeschütt – mit Menschehaar, mit Tonscherbe und auch geflutet. Awwer es kommt imma wiedda. Was isch denn das für ein Tier? Kann das a Wühlmaus sein oder iss das a Karnickel?

Verkäuferin: Isch denk mal, dass iss a Wühlmaus. Karnickel mache net so viel Dreck.

Kunde: Und was kann isch da jetzt tun?

Verkäuferin: Isch sach immer, a dode Maus iss a gude Maus! Die müsse mer halt ausradiere.

Und schon verschwand sie Richtung Giftschrank und führte das Kundengespräch dort weiter. Da soll sich doch noch einmal einer über die Servicewüste Deutschland aufregen. Das Gespräch war auf jeden kurz und knackig. Und eine Lösung wurde auch gefunden.

What is the most important thing in a single person household? Right! The microwave. I got one from my parents last Christmas, but I hadn’t the time installing it!

But that should be changed. Yesterday I unpacked the microwave, put it on the my fridge and connected the plug with the local power network. It doesn’t take more than five minutes and the result was a friendly „Ping!“. The new life can start now 😉

If you are thinking about Switzerland, you see the Alps, chocolate, little taxes and the rich banking industry. However, the national Swiss soccer team is unknown.

As Wednesday is soccer day, there was a friendly game between Switzerland and Germany – a good reason to drink beer and have a pizza for dinner. So I visited Jens, a former colleague and friend from my university. We watched the game in his flat in Frankfurt. He was moved last year, so I had a chance to visit his new flat. At the moment a colleague from his work is living in his flat as well. Fabian, that is the name of his colleague, is looking for a flat in Frankfurt. Unfortunately the Frankfurt property market is really bad. There are in average 12 applicants for one flat. If you are landlord, you live like a bee in clover 😉

If you are a Swiss fan, yesterday has to be a bad day. The Germans did overrun the Swiss and won the game 4:0 – in soccer it is a big victory. But it was just a friendly game. We will see how Germany will play in the European Championship in summer.

Here are some pictures from yesterday …

Easter is normally the celebration of spring in Germany. The trees and flowers become green, so that the people use the days for a long walk in the nature.

But this year Easter was complete different. It was cold and snowy. Everybody was looking for a little bit of sun. It’s absolutely crazy! Here is a picture of my today’s walk to work …

Hier geht es dann weiter, wenn ich aus Südafrika wieder zurück bin! Also Ruhe bewahren! 😉