Return from Hiatus

An interesting and detailed fountain in Koblenz

I haven’t written in a long time, I know. It started during my semester break, I had been on a couple short trips to Luxembourg (with some sightseeing in Koblenz along the way) and Munich, and was simply enjoying the new spring weather too much write down what I was doing. The more time went on, the more daunting the task became until I put it out of mind, occasionally resolving to renew my efforts but never doing so.

Truth be told, there isn’t much to tell of the last 6 months. Luxembourg is beautiful, but you can do all your sightseeing in a day. It’s a good destination to go somewhere to eat well in a beautiful setting, a good destination for R&R without feeling like you’re not missing out on the obligatory tourist stuff. Just what I needed at the time. I had a short visit home in September and I had a chance to help Mom trim back a few things that needed it, although scorching heat eventually drove us inside. I also had a chance to visit with my good friend Tristen, who was home for the birth of his second nephew. Once the new semester started, I was too busy to go anywhere or do anything that would be of particular interest to any readers back home because of classes (all of which were very interesting and engaging) and my new side job as a graduate research assistant.

"The German Corner" where the Rhine and Mosel meet

Later in the break I had the chance to make my way back out to Kloster Andechs, one of my favorite places in Germany as well as one of my favorite breweries. It was a beautiful day, the beginning of an unusually early and lovely Spring. It is there that I first had the chance to personally meet Tom Lipton, with whom I had become acquainted through our mutual membership in Beta Theta Pi.

I made my way to Munich last weekend to help Tom (who is in the wine business) with a trade show where I was pouring for Uncork New York, an joint export venture of some smaller family-owned vineyards in New York State. The train down from Regensburg was half-empty, but the air was filled with the low murmur of quite conversations in German. Across the aisle from me was a large, beer-bellied, middle-aged Bavarian backpacker (at least I hoped he is by the smell of him) wearing jeans with suspenders, a plaid shirt, and a traditional grey hat. He was enjoying a Hefeweizen, and the occasional snort of snuff. An elderly woman in front of me occasionally chuckled or muttered to herself has she reads the newspaper.

After meeting me at the station, Tom and I made our way to the exhibition hall on the edge of Munich, just a stop short of Allianz Arena where FC Bayern plays. The president of the company, Christian, was delayed driving in from Luxembourg with the wine samples so set up our stand and strolled about watching others do the same while we waited. I noticed that the vendors of cheese, salami, and truffles were all placed in the corners and along the sides near doors and vents with a chuckle. Once Forum Vini exhibition was started, the strong odors of all the food and wine hit you like a wave when you walked in the room, in spite of the ventilation efforts of the special events staff.

Luxmbourg, from the river below

The company I was working for is not licensed to sell on a retail basis in Germany yet, so we were there purely doing tastings of about eight reds and whites respectively, primarily from the Finger Lakes and Hudson River Valley regions. I read up on the wines Thursday night before the show started, and by the end of the first day I felt like I had most of the information people would ask of me memorized. Although Saturday was a genuinely busy, Friday and Sunday had long stretched where it was relatively slow, which afforded time to walk around and sample from the neighbors, which is not only encouraged but almost expected by one’s immediate neighbors. So one samples a little wine, takes a bit of some chocolate, a little more wine, some cheese, maybe some nice preserves, then a little schnapps, some salami with truffles in it that costs about 30 Euros for a 6 inch piece. Then about ten hours later you wonder why you’re so tired, when all you’ve done is stand around drinking wine and eating cured meats and cheeses. It was wonderful, but by Monday, if the CIA wanted to torture me for interrogation, all they’ have to do is sit me down at a table and say, “alright, you tell us what we want to know, or you’re going to have to eat this charcuterie board and then do a tasting of a half-dozen Cabernet Francs!” And I’d say, “Ok, ok, I’ll tell you everything you want to know!”

An architectural kaleidoscope 

This past weekend was the 25^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. According to the news it was a momentous occasion celebrating by huge crowds in Berlin, but you wouldn’t have known anything was unusual was happening in Regensburg or Munich. Germans are still lukewarm about reunification, especially in the former West where they still pay “solidarity taxes” to supplement the project of rebuilding the infrastructure of the former East. Even a quarter-century later, the former East still struggles in integrate into the capitalist system and some areas of the former East have unemployment near 30%. So-called Wessies often complain that the quality of their roads deteriorates while the Ossies enjoy the new roads their taxes paid for. 

While East-Germans are mostly happy to no longer be living under an oppressive one-party system, they miss aspects of East German society, such as universal childcare and other socialist benefits, and resent the way Wessies act as if they were right all along. A common saying among Ossies is that a fox is a clever animal which acts as though it is foolish, while a Wessie is a foolish animal that acts like it is clever. It is important to remember that before Germany was divided among the victorious powers in 1945, it had only existed as a unified country for about 70 years, and was divided for nearly as long after the war. Regional differences and rivalries persist to this day. For example, Bavarians have more in common linguistically, culturally, and religiously with Austrians than they do with northern Germans. That Bavaria was drawn into the Prussian sphere of influence is the result of a sudden swing in the central European balance of power away from the Hapsburgs of Austria and toward the Hohenzollern of Prussia. Germany unification, in short, still has a long way to go.

Now I’m in my last semester of classes for my M.A. After this, it’s just the internship and the dissertation, which sounds deceptively simple. The past few weeks I’ve been having a bit of a quarter-life crisis. At the same time that I was celebrating my 28^th birthday, I was also celebrating a year in Regensburg, but also realizing that I only have another year left. I have taken comfort in having the immediate future planned out, but the uncertainty of what will happen after next year is very unsettling. So in the meantime I try to focus on the present, not just in terms of schoolwork but also in taking advantage of the social aspects of being in school, even if I often feel like the old fogey in the room who is worried about the two-day hangover I could have if I don’t mind myself.

I’ve also begun a campaign to take off the weight I put on last winter, largely due to the side effect of a medication I was taking. So it’s back to smart eating and pounding iron, although I find myself increasing enjoying yoga, not just for the benefits of increased flexibility and core strength but just for the sheer convenience of being able to do it just about anywhere at any time, for however long you like, even if it’s just a quick 20 minutes in the morning to the blood pumping and to loosen yourself up. I’ve also noticed with my weightlifting that although I’m stronger than I used to be, that my joints bother me a lot more than they used to, so maybe making yoga the main attraction would be a good idea. As my German doctor so delicately put it when I complained about having trouble taking off the weight and that I’d had trouble with hypothyroid as a child, “well, you are getting older…” Although my first instinct was the leap across his desk screaming “WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN YOU KRAUT BASTARD!” he does make a valid point. One of the challenges of living here is that the food is very good but unless you’re a farmer it’s simply too rich and trying to eat lean and healthy with lots of fresh produce and fish is a bit expensive. So you  just have to try to be as active as possible and watch the beer, which is easier said than done of course because it is so delicious and so cheap in comparison to home.