Christmas Eve with Henrik family :)

Snow capped alpine trees, Church bells ringing around, Christmas gifts all round the shopping malls, Tanenbaum (Christmas trees) with their flashing lights, prayers round the corners, I was just wondering couldn’t be a normal day. It wasn’t indeed. It was Christmas eve. Henrik, my colleague invited me to celebrate Christmas evening with his family. I was really surprised when I got the invitation from him.

Started off the evening with prayers in the Church, followed by wonderful dinner. Oh my goodness I should do lot of sports in the next year to reduce all the fat which I accumulated over the past few weeks during Christmas time. Really awesome dinner with absolute varieties of Cheese, Butter, Salamis, meat, Bread etc. Then followed by a game with the dice to distribute the gifts which everybody bought. If I attend next few Christmas eve with Henrik, I guess my houses can be decorated with full of gifts…no need to shop anymore ;) In the beginning, I was just concerned of how the evening would be because it’s a family fest that too with Oma (Grandma). Honestly, it was Oma who stole the show. Reminds me of my typical Oma in India….Then remembered Shakespeare’s “All the world’s a stage”….the second childhood…Could listen to her experiences about post world-war scenario and many other things of Germany’s transformation.

I always used to tease Henrik as Senior Consultant. Of course that’s his designation. It really amazes me how he separates professional and social life. I should really thank him who greatly helped me to integrate in to German society by inviting me for many social gatherings. I thank Henrik and Sarah who provided excellent opportunity to experience some thing special Heiligabend (Christmas eve) in Germany. Definitely an experience which will reside in my memory for long time. Vielan Dank Henrik!

Henrik’s famous phrase: Programmer: The device for converting coffee into software. :D
Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

Is Germany a racist country?

When I was chatting with a friend in California, United States, he was asking how is life in Germany…I replied with optimistic tone “Great”…the next question he asked to me do you really feel safe to live and work in Germany and passed on the below link... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8347040.stm Will be worth enough to read that article from BBC before continuing reading mine..

The title from BBC states “Is Germany a racist country?” After reading that article I felt I should make my comments simply because this country offered me something which I never imagined for in the past. It’s quite easy to stereotype the small minor incidents when it is related to foreigners. If one foreigner breaks the rule lets say not following the traffic rules could lead to a conclusion that all the foreigners are like this. Same holds good when the majorities perform some attacks on the minorities. These issues are always very sensitive in any sections of the society.

I can quote numerous examples of minorities having problems in different corners of the world. For eg. Muslims in India, Tamils in SriLanka, Indian Origin in Malaysia, off late Indians in Australia, Blacks in the past South Africa, America and the example goes on and on. There are always anti-social elements in any sections of the society. When you return from a football match in East Germany is equivalent to returning from a match where Manchester United lost and talk to Hooligans after the match. So England a racist country?

Since I made lot of fortunes in German society, met highly smart intellectuals in University, work and daily life, I can now blow my trumpet “Wow, I love Germans”. Just one small incident with some drunkard in the subway train in the future will make me to write “All Germans are Racist Idiots”. Ah my goodness how opportunistic I can be. Can I forget all the wonderful experiences I made in the past just for one small incident with one stranger?

I accept the fact that it takes really time to integrate in to German society. With my experiences here for four years, I can clearly say its mainly because of the language constraints. Just imagine a situation in England or US, when you go to a shop and you buy some articles and you can’t speak English. Would you expect them to be friendly and can you integrate in to the society with out English. Just because one can not speak German fluently and finds it hard to integrate in to the society can we stereotype that Germans are racists?

For sure, there exists in some places, some situations where you feel you are discriminated. Honestly speaking I faced even in Indian society being an Indian with respect to caste, color, creed and the language I spoke. I asked the same friend who is living in California, you live in United States for so many years. How many Americans would have invited you for a dinner? The answer was straightforward “Not even one”. Does that mean so many Germans invited me for a dinner that I am writing an article in support of this society? ;) Its not just one or two days of my life in Germany to defend her but its been mammoth four years of experience to break the shackles.

Let’s accept the fact that minorities are always at the level of scrutiny and there is always thin line between mistakes and acceptance. The rule of thumb is if you as a minority want to make some fortunes in foreign land always outshine the majorities. I should say I was blessed to meet highly smart rational intellectuals during my stay here and of course I also met some RACISTS. Is still Germany a racist country?

CONCLUSION: Stereotype never helps in life.. :)

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

Glühwein in Erzgebirge, Chemnitz, Germany

December is definitely a beautiful month to spend in Germany. With cultural Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market), Glühwein, wonderful decorations is definitely a treat to watch. Recently my PL Törsten invited me to his house in Chemnitz to experience the Christmas time in eastern part of Germany. Its totally different from what I experienced in West Germany. First we went to Seiffen which is located in the midst of Erzgebirge. Seiffen has some beautiful churches, museums and Weihnachtsmarkt. Really a place to be during the Christmas celebrations.

Then we went to Nussknacker (Nuts Cracker) museum. Everywhere in Erzgebirge you always find three things 1. The Erzegebirge Christmas pyramids 2. Nussknacker 3. Räuchermann. During christmas time, Räuchermänner are displayed together with christmas pyramid. Then had a chance to drink Glühwein in Chemnitzer Weihnachtsmarkt. Törsten cooked typical German food for us. All in all, it was a great weekend with Törsten’s family. Thanks to Angela who took great amount of effort to show and explain the cultural aspect of Erzgebirge and near by areas. I experienced different cultural aspects in Germany, but definitely experience with Törsten’s family is tip of the Iceberg.

I love Törsten's family!
Sathish Kumar S

Timeline 2009

Another year of stay in Deutschland…if I look back 2009…lot of fun, stress at work…lot of traveling experiences…lot of depressive moments…in the end really satisfying year…lets have a short synopses of how it turned out..

January:
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Nothing much happened in January…was freezing in the winter…Attended Merkel’s retirement function…got a gift a big bottle of wine which I can drink through out my life..,;)

February:
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Wonderful trip to Harz Mountains in Niedersachsen…It was fun filled trip with snow everywhere…Brocken is definitely a good place to hang around in winter…

March:
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Attended some traditional village fest( Vater tag, Shützenfest) in Wetzen…Got a glimpse of German country side life and to say its totally boring when compared to city life..

April:
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Had a wonderful trip to Copenhagen, Denmark with Anu and Jothir…the ship journey, train going inside the ship…amazing weather…Danish beers…amazing moments…Had a chance to see 30th birthday celebration of a German who is not married by 30…really crazy celebrations…

May:
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The great Norwegian Saga… one of the wonderful experiences I had in Europe…one of the best roadtrips one can imagine on this planet…Bergen to Oslo…Experienced the other extreme of Europe…Portugal…one of the best summer holidays I made in Europe…lovely picturesque amazing beaches…

June:
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Had a chance to make a presentation in Rotary Club Hamburg on the topic “Rise of Indian Economy”…Wonderful class trip to Ratzeburg with my ex-classmates…trip to Heide park with Guiness rides and rollercoasters…

July:
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Ran marathon for the first time in my life…completing 7Km in 36.55 minutes…really a dream come true for a fat guy who never concentrated on his fitness..;)

August:
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Went to Tegernsee in Bavaria to visit Merkel…really one of the scenic landscapes I witnessed in Deutschland…Went to Externsteine…pillar of rocks in NRW…wonderful time with a big gang…Went to Chemnitz to visit my PL Törsten’s family…really amazing experiences with his family…went to India…found my love atlast :)…had my engagement…had wonderful time with my school friends in East Coast Road in Chennai after a long time..

September:
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Visited Damo in Dubai on my return journey to Hamburg…Dubai is definitely a place to visit once in their life time…wonderful desert Safari…Sisha…Sand dunes…dates…memorable times…visited Fredericke-my ex-room mate in Uelzen…had a chance to drive tractor in German field for the first time…in Uelzen...

October:
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Other than work I couldn’t think about anything during this month… on top of it had to work for long hours and also on weekends…who cares if they pay for working on weekends.. ;)

November:
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November is the worst month to spend in Germany…Winter starting…Sun comes after 8 sets at 4…really one of the depressive month to spend…

December:
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Moved to new apartment…end to my shared apartment stories….Christmas time…Gluhwein…Christmas markets…Santa Claus…Christmas dinner…once again visit to East Germany to Erzgebirge to visit Törsten’s family…lovely experiences during Christmas time…

On the whole, 2009 was a mixed year with many challenges, fun, happiness.. on a scale of 10, 2009 would get 7…lets how 2010 is gonna be…I am sure much more challenges and fun are on the cards… ;)

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S