Twenty years ago today, the Berlin Wall was breached. Günter Schabowski, an East German Politburo member, announced that East Germans were free to travel. Now an old man, Schabowski claimed on the BBC this morning that he didn’t make a basic mistake, that he just jumped the gun by a few hours, but the record [...]
Archive for the ‘Germany’ Category
Ten and Twenty Years Ago: The Confluence of Personal and Public History
Posted in Germany, childbearing, embodied experience, history, motherhood, parenting, politicians, war and peace on November 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The Perfect Modularity of East German Housing
Posted in Germany, history, silliness on October 30, 2009 | 3 Comments »
The German Democratic Republic built a lot of apartments from prefab material in an effort to alleviate their perennial housing shortage. They had a great name for it, Plattenbauweise, which is only a long word when you consider the technique is called “Large Panel System building” in English. Basically, the builders took a bunch of [...]
How the Current “Health System” Is Anti-Entrepreneurial
Posted in Germany, economics, economy, health, public health, translation on August 21, 2009 | 4 Comments »
At Alas, Angry Black Woman describes a predicament that strikes many creative people sooner or later:
For most of my adult life, I’ve had to live without health insurance. Because I was a freelancer for many years, or because I did not have a fixed residence for a while, or because my skills and career interests [...]
To All the Folks Equating Obama and Hitler
Posted in Germany, economics, history, politicians, public health, stupidity on August 19, 2009 | Comments Off
Stop scrambling German history.
It was Bismarck, not Hitler, who introduced universal health care in Germany. Bismarck established public, non-profit insurance agencies funded by worker and employer contributions. He didn’t do it because he was a bleeding-heart liberal; his intent was to co-opt an issue that drew support to socialism.
Please get your mustaches straight.
Photo from the [...]
In Which I Indulge the Jackboot Analogy
Posted in Germany, dystopia, media, politicians, violence, wingnuts on August 11, 2009 | 15 Comments »
So I realize most couples don’t sit around in the evening discussing the tactics of the SA. But that’s what my husband and I were doing this evening, once the kids went to bed. Both of us think there are some parallels between Germany in the early 1930s and the explosions of public hate that [...]
I Just Missed My Ride to Outer Space
Posted in Germany, silliness on August 8, 2009 | Comments Off
Ha. Some of you are saying, “But Sungold, you’re already way out there, orbiting some dark star.”
This video clip freaked me out because I was at the top of the Berlin TV tower – that apogee of East German Communist design and engineering – just a few weeks ago. My kids, my mate, and I [...]
Squirrely about Chocolate
Posted in Germany, animals, food, kids, silliness, stupidity, weirdness on July 28, 2009 | 6 Comments »
I haven’t seen our bunnies since I returned from Germany. They’re probably pouting about the cage we put over my chard. So I got all excited when I heard a rustling sound while my husband and I were sitting on the front porch.
It wasn’t a bunny. It was a squirrel, having a big fight with [...]
The TSA Is Global
Posted in Germany, dystopia, kids, stupidity, war and peace on July 26, 2009 | 6 Comments »
Not literally – but the spirit of the TSA is flourishing abroad, just as paranoid as here but without the friendly smile you sometimes get from TSA employees.
Last month I wrote about how airport security in Brussels searched inside the waistband of my older son’s pants. I realize they’ve got to be thorough, but my [...]
Labor Pain from the Lighter Side
Posted in Germany, animals, books, childbearing, embodied experience, gender stereotypes, kids, motherhood, parenting, sex, sexism, silliness on July 19, 2009 | Comments Off
Following up on yesterday’s post on the romanticization of labor pain: The other evening, my sons were watching clips on YouTube, and suddenly I heard the sort of moans that made me wonder if they’d stumbled onto YouPorn instead. But no. They’d found a “Maulwurf” video illustrating how birth works. “Der kleine Maulwurf” – or [...]
Man-Midwifery and the Romanticization of Labor Pain
Posted in Germany, childbearing, embodied experience, gender stereotypes, health, history, medicine, motherhood, reproductive rights, shame on July 18, 2009 | 9 Comments »
A few days ago, a friend of mine who’s expecting her first baby emailed me, wondering if she should plan for a “natural” birth or give in to the “temptation” of an epidural. I don’t know what she’ll decide (and honestly, both are reasonable choices, in my view), but I pointed out that she was [...]
What Intersectionality Is and Isn’t
Posted in Germany, LGBT, childbearing, feminism, history, poverty, privilege, racism, religion, sexism, teaching, violence on July 14, 2009 | 19 Comments »
Hint: One thing intersectionality is not? Silly.**
Here’s what intersectionality is good for. It reminds us that the same person can be both an oppressed person and an oppressor, depending on how you turn the prism. I might be oppressed as a woman, but if I refuse to pay my housecleaner a decent wage? I’m an [...]
Some Kind of Computer
Posted in Germany, kids, music, silliness on July 12, 2009 | 10 Comments »
Yesterday, while we adults tried to sort out some of the old junk still hanging around the Berlin apartment, the kids intercepted this gem and saved it from the dumpster.
It’s a “Reiseschreibmachine” – a portable manual typewriter that I bought in 1991 when I first arrived in Germany and was waiting for the first real [...]
How Shall We Poll the Children?
Posted in Germany, kids, parenting on July 8, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Okay, okay, here’s one more post that uses Sarah Palin’s recent noise as a jumping-off point, but isn’t really about her, in the end.
I’ve already noted that in her resignation speech, she claimed to have polled her five kids on whether she should quit. Given that Trig’s still a babe and Track’s still deployed to [...]
Don’t Eat the Marshmallow
Posted in Germany, embodied experience, food, kids, parenting, science on July 3, 2009 | 4 Comments »
A while back, a bunch of Stanford researchers ran an experiment on some four-year-olds at the university’s childcare center. They put a marshmallow in front of each kid with instructions to not eat it while the experimenter left for 15 minutes. The kids were told they’d get two marshmallows if they didn’t eat the first [...]
The Cloud of Doom
Posted in Germany, beauty, wonder on July 2, 2009 | 1 Comment »
We’ve been having some uproarious thunderstorms in Berlin. This was the view off our balcony just before one of them broke at dusk two days ago. Yesterday, the whole family got caught out on bikes during a downpour that featured both thunder and sunshine – all at once.
My mood’s not actually one of impending doom. [...]
Sparkly Caturday
Posted in Germany, LOLcats, kids on June 27, 2009 | Comments Off
One of Berlin’s less charming features is the prevalence of dog poop on the sidewalks. The poop density actually seems to have decreased since last summer, but the kids still need to get used to watching their step. For the Tiger, this is an all-too-welcome opportunity for poop talk. We’re trying not to encourage it. [...]
I’d Like to Get Some Sleep before I Travel
Posted in Germany, gardening, kids on June 23, 2009 | Comments Off
Tomorrow (well, technically today) I’m headed to Berlin with my kids and husband for our annual German sojourn. Posting will be flaky for a few days while we endure the flight and the intense jet lag that only young children can inflict on their loved ones. (Yes, I will drug them. No, it won’t be [...]
Nettled by Needles: My Foray into Acupuncture
Posted in Germany, embodied experience, health, medicine, science on April 3, 2009 | 2 Comments »
In hopes of some relief from the symptoms that still bother me (mostly a way-ramped-up autonomic nervous system and serious fatigue), today I went to the first of several appointments with an osteopath who also does acupuncture. I’d had acupuncture once before – during my first pregnancy while I was still in Germany, and it [...]
Parenting in the Shadows of Atrocity
Posted in Germany, history, kids, parenting, war and peace on September 13, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Pictures from a few hours ago:
We’re in the mountains. The sky is preternaturally blue. Maybe I’m in Colorado.
An airplane approaches, too low. It breaks into two pieces. There’s no fire, smoke, or explosion. The fuselage just snaps in two, breaking right behind the wings. It goes down instantly, silently.
In the dream, everyone knows it’s September [...]
Patron cat of Kittywampus (1985-2001)