There are two ways to be in complete oblivion as to what is happening in the world.
One: travel with small kids. It's difficult to keep up-to-date on news when you're trying to keep a small toddler entertained on a flight, and when you collapse into your hotel bed after a day of trekking (in our case in a city over the past three days).
Two: kids' kindergarden and school vacation. I'm currently in this for a week for autumn break, and I can forget sitting down with the newspaper for more than half an article, or spending any real time online, other than to play the Cars movie trailer for the hundredth time (two-minute trailers are a nice length for toddlers, I find - and note that I do NOT play it hundred times consecutively...).
I'm tired. I am happy if I have showered and managed to check my email. I have absolutely no idea what is happening in the world.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
Berlin Book Idea
As anyone who has been to Berlin knows, the city is an eternal construction site. Especially the central district, Mitte (where we live), is filled with cranes - and drilling noise. Nothing like Shanghai, but for European standards, it's rather hectic. Where our (new) house stands, there was a parking lot for decades. In front of us, an old rather derelict building was torn down a few years ago, and new flats are nearly finished. Behind us, another parking lot has disappeared and a house is being built. The same applies to three houses to our right and left. And this is all pretty much as central as one can get.
Most of Mitte used to be Eastern Germany. After the second world war, during which Berlin was heavily bombed, Eastern Germans did not rebuild many of the bombed houses, but constructed new large housing developments further East. Parking lots took over for decades, and many large buildings, such as the Berlin "Palace"(a massive construction) were blown up. The "death zone", between East and West, was a kilometer-wide zone that ran smack through Mitte (and other districts), and is only now slowly being reconstructed (including a reconstruction of the palace).
I have a 1.5-year old son, and as with many boys (and girls) at this age, anything to do with construction work is the biggest hit. We take hours to cross a block here, because we (have to) look at the cranes, diggers, drilling. It is eye-opening for an adult to take time to focus on how much construction work is actually taking place, and at what speed an area can change.
As I am not quite as excited about cranes and diggers as my sun is, I often stare at what surrounds the construction site. Large graffiti walls, various monuments, my beloved Eastern TV-tower (with a large silver ball at its tip). During these moments, I wish I had my camera there with me, to capture these two worlds. The "construction work below", and the "Berlin sights above". It doesn't hurt that we have been blessed with sunshine here, months on end.
During these moments, the thought of leaving this city that I have so deeply fallen in love with feels difficult.
Most of Mitte used to be Eastern Germany. After the second world war, during which Berlin was heavily bombed, Eastern Germans did not rebuild many of the bombed houses, but constructed new large housing developments further East. Parking lots took over for decades, and many large buildings, such as the Berlin "Palace"(a massive construction) were blown up. The "death zone", between East and West, was a kilometer-wide zone that ran smack through Mitte (and other districts), and is only now slowly being reconstructed (including a reconstruction of the palace).
I have a 1.5-year old son, and as with many boys (and girls) at this age, anything to do with construction work is the biggest hit. We take hours to cross a block here, because we (have to) look at the cranes, diggers, drilling. It is eye-opening for an adult to take time to focus on how much construction work is actually taking place, and at what speed an area can change.
As I am not quite as excited about cranes and diggers as my sun is, I often stare at what surrounds the construction site. Large graffiti walls, various monuments, my beloved Eastern TV-tower (with a large silver ball at its tip). During these moments, I wish I had my camera there with me, to capture these two worlds. The "construction work below", and the "Berlin sights above". It doesn't hurt that we have been blessed with sunshine here, months on end.
During these moments, the thought of leaving this city that I have so deeply fallen in love with feels difficult.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Hyper-Organizer
Before three small kids joined our life and home, my life was pretty organized. As was our home. I've had to let things slip slightly, because as anyone with kids knows, order is not their highest priority, and unless you want to go mad, it's best to just let be once in a while. I still spend a great deal of time telling the kids to put things back into their places (the girls are pretty good at this, but need prodding), and doing the eternal pile-sorting that moms do (or give up on). I don't like accumulating "stuff", so I feel like I'm constantly giving things away to friends or charity.
The problem with an upcoming move is that I go into "sorting overdrive". It's still a long time off (next summer), but everywhere I look in our home, I see things that need to "go" before we leave. Books, CDs, picture frames, some furniture. I have this mental to-do-list of who may want what, and what needs to be put on ebay or donated. After the last move (1.5 years ago, literally just down the street), I try not to keep paper or electronic to-do-lists anymore. My youngest was 2 months old then, and I had him glued to my breast and a folder of to-do-lists by my side day and night. It was a bit much.
Most people would just pack up and leave, think about it a few weeks before, and say "whatever, let's just sort in the new home, if at all". I admire that ability to relax, ignore to-do-lists, and just be.
Ps Thanks for all who have sent emails and commented on my last post on donating to charity. I saw a great ad for Doctors without Borders, I think that might be this year's destination. 100 million, anyone?
The problem with an upcoming move is that I go into "sorting overdrive". It's still a long time off (next summer), but everywhere I look in our home, I see things that need to "go" before we leave. Books, CDs, picture frames, some furniture. I have this mental to-do-list of who may want what, and what needs to be put on ebay or donated. After the last move (1.5 years ago, literally just down the street), I try not to keep paper or electronic to-do-lists anymore. My youngest was 2 months old then, and I had him glued to my breast and a folder of to-do-lists by my side day and night. It was a bit much.
Most people would just pack up and leave, think about it a few weeks before, and say "whatever, let's just sort in the new home, if at all". I admire that ability to relax, ignore to-do-lists, and just be.
Ps Thanks for all who have sent emails and commented on my last post on donating to charity. I saw a great ad for Doctors without Borders, I think that might be this year's destination. 100 million, anyone?
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
A Good Cause - 100 million by any chance?
Every year, I donate to a charity before Christmas, as many people do. I have tried to get my family to do this instead of buying (always far too many) presents, but have failed. I today read that an individual had donated UsD 100 million to New York's Central Park. There's a billionaires club, of which I think Gates and Buffet are party, trying to encourage others with similiar means to use half of their assets for a worthy cause. It's often more (or entirely) symbolic at my income level, but I find it important to think about those not as priviledged as us, with a practical contribution, at least this one time a year. I'd be happy to receive suggestions for this year's cause. Inspire me with a link or organization to look into. (Apologies for festive season thoughts two months ahead of the time. The UsD 100 million donation just made me think of this.)
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Bayonets vs Binders, Obama Romney Final Debate
From a shocking first debate (due to Obama's unexpectedly poor performance) to a relieving second debate (which I found rather balanced in terms of the candidate's performance, but at least Obama was back on track), via a entertaining interlude (Biden-Ryan), the third and final debate between Obama and Romney was, well, rather bland. The candidates were clearly tired. The messaging was repetitive (fair enough, it strategically should be). And the topic of foreign policy was, well, as a friend on Facebook posted, dealt with at around Wikipedia level.
I'm a foreign policy person. I studied international relations, and have worked in security studies and international development for most of my career. I know that diplomacy involves subtle, detailed nuances that can make a world (or a war) of a difference. I know that the Middle East is one of the most complex, long-term political, religious and military muddles possible.
But I felt that both candidates radiated a "why on earth do we need to bother" aura on this topic. They both tried to draw a connection to what US voters are likely to vote on - their economy. During the last ten minutes of the (1.5 hour) debate, foreign policy was dropped from the agenda. It felt like they were in their exhaustion trying to make sure that the memorized list of countries to mention would include all the important, relevant, and even exotic ones.
The press focused on Obama's statement about "bayonets and horses", just as after the last debate, they picked up on Romney's "binders full of women". Will these be the statements that the election campaign will be remembered by? Where was the message, where was the mission, where were those ideals?
Maybe I'm also tired after all of these debates. It's time to vote. Here is my symbolic vote for Obama.
I'm a foreign policy person. I studied international relations, and have worked in security studies and international development for most of my career. I know that diplomacy involves subtle, detailed nuances that can make a world (or a war) of a difference. I know that the Middle East is one of the most complex, long-term political, religious and military muddles possible.
But I felt that both candidates radiated a "why on earth do we need to bother" aura on this topic. They both tried to draw a connection to what US voters are likely to vote on - their economy. During the last ten minutes of the (1.5 hour) debate, foreign policy was dropped from the agenda. It felt like they were in their exhaustion trying to make sure that the memorized list of countries to mention would include all the important, relevant, and even exotic ones.
The press focused on Obama's statement about "bayonets and horses", just as after the last debate, they picked up on Romney's "binders full of women". Will these be the statements that the election campaign will be remembered by? Where was the message, where was the mission, where were those ideals?
Maybe I'm also tired after all of these debates. It's time to vote. Here is my symbolic vote for Obama.
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