Again New Pics.....They just keep coming

And they show no signs of slowing up. I have a lot to do this week, but then on tuesday am I off to Frankreich for the week. Five days of skiing in the French Alps....oh ya check it out at

http://www.courchevel.com/

Anyways, the pics are of Karneval that I told you all about. Very fun. In recent news, I just got back today from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which is a state in the eastern portion of Germany, and part of the former German Democratic Republic, which of course means that it was communistic. I was there for a conference held by the German society for automation in medicine. It was really interesting to see all the dope shit going on in Biomed. Plus, the area was interesting. All in all, east Germany was a little different than west, but not hugely. Yes, there are far fewer people (Rostock, the biggest city in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has only 100,000 people, whereas Aachen, a nothing of a city, has 250,000). And yes, there are buildings that have been abandoned for about 50 years. But really, the place has a lot of building going on, resotration and new construction, which means that something is working. Plus, it was raining, which is exaclty like Aachen.

The area I was in was right on the coast of the Baltic Sea (Ostsee). The water temp was about 37 deg F. Lovely. Given the shipping and fishing industry and time of year, it looked a lot like New England, quaint and dreary. As I walked around the area, which didn't take long, and because of the rain, I decided to visit some of the museums (which were basically free by the way). And it was teriffic. This tiny town had a great exhibit of European crafts, and a whole exhibit on old currency. Besides finding a 10 trillion Deutsche Mark bill (during the extreme inflation that occured in 1923), I also found some bills from the Confederate States of America. In case that causes some initial confusion, that means Conderate bills from the South during the Civil War. Very wierd to find that, and pretty interesting. Took pics too, so you'll see it.

And on a visit to one of the medieval gates/towers of the city, I randomly found an exhibit on WWII. It was an exhibition made by high school students, discussing what happened in their own town during the war. That was impressive for two big reasons. One, that was the first time that I could read and understand a WWII exhibit in German. Two, it was really well done - these kids had a lot of help, but also did an amazing job! The exhibit focused on the millions of people from around Europe who were forced into labor camps in the area of Rostock and in all of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. They students had visited the Halocaust Memorial in DC, interviewed survivors and translated correspondce made over the years. Long story short, it was a very good exhibit, that was on par with a professional Halocaust exhibit in the States, and even taught me things I hadn't seen before.

In any case, it made me realize two things. One, there is a wealth of great museums right around me that I have, until now, totally neglected. I am very much going to them now. Two, I am really curious to learn about what the public presentations of the WWII era in Germany is, and what is taught here. Til now, I haven't had the language skills to understand, and I felt uncomfortable about bringing it up, actually only a little. In talking with Germans, I beleive most of them know much more about WWII and the Halocaust than most Americans, and very possibly a similar amount to that taught to Jews in the US. I'm still not sure, and I don't know what the general opinion in Germany is, but I am really curious to find out, whatever I might find. Ich hoffe, dass mein Neugier nicht flasch genommen ist. Ich will keinen Angriff oder Urteil machen, aber wirklich lernen die Meinungen der Deutsche ueber den Zweite Weltkrieg, die Meinungen ueber andere Deutsche, und die Geschichte, die hier beigebracht wird. Ich bin sicher, dass ich viel lernen werde.

Anyway, the pics will be up in a couple days. Have some patience but I need some sleep. Till next time.

I'm running out of eyecatching things to say

At least just for the title of my posts. If you care to read further, there are goodies to come. Sort of.

So I have just returned to Germany from the US, hopefully for the last time. I was home for 11 days to visit my dying grandmother, Baba, Anne Feurman, and to visit my family. She died on Monday, March 20. It's definitely difficult at the moment to fully accept it and get used to her being gone. But otherwise I'm okay. It was very good that I was able to see her just before her mind began to slip away and all the way up to her funeral. Her body ultimately just shut down as the lung cancer in her body spread and interfered with her organs. By the end, she had fallen into a sort of coma and stopped breathing. And she was at my home for the last 10 days. We had all the medical equipment setup for her, and hoped she would be more comfortable passing away at home than at a hospital.

In other news, the US just lost 4 -1 to Germany in a exhibition game here.

Besides the fact that my gmother was dying, the trip back was good. One, I was with my family, and it was a close time for all of us. Meghan's 18th birthday would have been on March 16th, so I was there for a small commemoration of that. And overall it was a fairly good bonding experience with the fam. It reminded me of what I have waiting for me at home. And it changed slightly my perspective on leaving Germany in the summer. Of course, I will very much miss Germany, all the friends I've made here, all the interesting experiences and speaking German on a daily basis, etc. But I've developed a more longterm view of how I hope to keep conected to Germany and my international interests. I'm still not sure how I will do it, but I definitely am committed to continuing a living relationship with Germany, the friends I've made here and the perspective I've developed.

One of the major things I've been feeling recently, and which has been emphasized with all of this back-and-forth traveling, is that I am no longer who I was. I don't feel "American" as strongly as I did before, and of course I don't feel German. I feel actually "unaffiliated" to some extent, stuck making feeble attempts at explaining the US to Germans and Germany to Americans. I know it's corny and cliche, but I just feel human, not really a citizen of any one country. And I like the feeling. It a wider perspective than I had before, and I appreciate it. And I know it is strong now because of my fairly unique situation at the moment, but when I am back "permanently" in the US, I don't want to totally lose it, or grasp at something that only remains in the past. I'm worried though, since it is relatively difficult to maintain an international exposure in the US, as compared to Europe. But I am convinced that it is possible and that I have the required motviation, so it won't be a problem. But I will still always miss this direct immersion.

Anyway tomorrow I am traveling to east germany for a conference and then in two weeks I am going to France to go skiing in the Alps again. So don't worry about me making use of the time I have left. And I brought american and australian footballs back with me, hoping to teach some Germans different sports. We'll see how that goes. I've organized the pics from Karneval and should have them up soon, so don't change that channel.

I miss you Baba and I know you would have enjoyed reading this post. I don't care how old someone is, it's still always wierd for me to think of a life ending and all that that represents. Take care