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.