A Wandering Jew in Berlin

Walking along the East Side Gallery - a remaining part of the Wall

With tens of thousands of Jews living in Berlin now, I wonder to myself a little bit, "why?". While I wonder that, I think others may wonder why Jews even want to visit the city. However, Berlin is, on the surface at least, an extremely multicultural city now with people of all different sorts of colours and backgrounds roaming around. On the one hand, it's hard to imagine the horrors of 20th century, but on the other hand, walking through Berlin, it's hard to forget them too.

The Opposite of Tears of Joy (Smiles of Frustration?)

I think I get a kick out of things going wrong, finding someone or something to blame, and then investing all my energy into somehow extracting my revenge. This tends to occur in the following form:

1. Me, the helpless victim, tries to purchase goods or services from big business.
2. Big business screws me over by not delivering as promised.
3. Consequently, I suffer some massive injustice. This may be that I end up having to pay an addition $3 to get something fixed, am uncomfortable in a plane because I get stuck next to some person who takes up my seat as well as theirs, or something similar. Either way, the injustice I suffer, is, naturally (when I argue about it), roughly equivalent to WWIII.
4. I pull out the Bacher gene (that part of the chromosome inherited from my maternal side of the family) and complain. This is the part that I may get the slightest kick out of it. I complain verbally or in writing. Whichever way I do it, I don't stop until I get my way. Of course, sometimes the effort is way more than the argument is about. But it's about principle and the satisfaction it brings. It feels little better if I can tell myself that the other party has somehow learnt from their mistake.

Lounging Around Lubeck

Why Lubeck? Why not?

How much is that doggy in the window?
Woof woof. Woof woof.

Honesty, not always the best policy

I am angry tonight, because once again I have been fooled into thinking that honesty is the best policy. I'm not saying that lying is the way to go, but leaving out key pieces of information is definitely the winning combination. For the second time in my adult life, the Australian government has screwed me over with respect to important things in my life because I give away too much.

The first instance, I had better not discuss here in too much detail - but lets just say I learnt from the mistake of honesty. The net effect? I am saving myself $500+ per year and the past half dozen years or so have proven that no one is worse off as a result.

A day or two after being offered my job in Denmark, I got contacted regarding the possibility of working in Antarctica with the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). It was something I had applied for many months earlier after meeting some people who had worked down there, and discovering that there really was a possibility I could work there too. The place had always fascinated me, but I had put it together with becoming an astronaut - something I was unlikely to do unless I was one of those rich tourists. But these people made me realise it was possible. But after not hearing back from my application, I had given up. When this possibility reappeared, I got super-excited, but after much deliberation, I decided that a bird in the hand was better than two in the bush - so I stuck with Denmark.

Fast forward 16 months and another application with the AAD for their annual intake, and I receive an email notifying me I have been shortlisted and invited to attend a selection centre. Great! I was even going to be in Australia round about that time, so figured I'd be able to coordinate something to make it. In the midst of emailing back and forth with HR, I suddenly receive an email stating that I "do not meet the necessary medical checklist requirements". What?!? Although I truly believe 'tis better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. In this case, I had been handed a winning lotto ticket only to be told the next day that the jackpot was $0 due to a technical glitch! And what is this "medical" condition I have? Asthma. Yes, the 'condition' suffered by around 1 in 15 people. And when I say 'suffer', I mean, a couple of times a year I take the odd puff on the Ventolin - because I know how to look after myself. But no, this is enough, I'm told, to immediately rule me out of ever working for the Australian government in Antarctica (the Yanks would take me, I'm told...). And why? Because it's just too risky.Argh!

So the lesson here? Don't disclose something you don't have to. If you think you know better, you probably do. If you are confident that hiding something won't do any damage, but will get you what you want, then hide it. I am yet to determine whether this adage applies in general, or only with the Australian government. They're up to 2 strikes - one more, and they're out!

White Out

Our village of Val d'Isere can be seen at the bottom of the valley.

Rather than waste precious electrons on the 'printed' word, I will let the photos do the talking here. One week snowboarding in the French Alps, right near the Italian border, with a good friend of mine from Australia, equals an awesome time, great boarding (for me, as an Australian, but I'm sure more fresh snow wouldn't have gone amiss), awesome food, lots of pains, and best of all, no fractured scaphoid!

Tasting Torino

Our four nights in Turin were meant to ease us into the holiday spirit prior to snow-boarding. However, both of us managed to come down with pretty bad colds which, if I were at home, would have been a great excuse to stay home in bed. However, I am not one to waste a good holiday, especially when it involves eating. I got the low-down on what to eat and where to eat it from a colleague of mine, and was ready to take all of his suggestions on board...

Piazza Castello and the Royal Palace

Hamburgers

The engineer in me was totally fascinated
by the train being able to roll onto the ferry
for the crossing to Germany.

As every intelligent person knows, Hamburger refers not only to the delicious meal, but to a person who comes from the German city of Hamburg. In fact, in adjective form, it also refers to anything of Hamburg origin. Unfortunately, when one does not understand German and therefore cannot understand the words that follow 'Hamburger' on a restaurant menu, it is only natural to assume the item is something along the lines of two all beef patties special cheese lettuce onions on a sesame seed bun. Well, one is wrong.