Monday, January 14, 2008

Ein zweites Arschloch gefreut*

In response to the wonderful experience I had seeing friends and family over the last three weeks and at the nudging of some of those folks I have committed to making a better effort to stay connected... so here is where you can find updates -- (and should I drift again from this blog please send me a personal note)
[ok, so the weather in MN was not ideal]

I may have stopped short of "delighting myself a second asshole*" as zee Germans might say, but it felt really good to be back in the states.

At home, with the whole family together again after nearly a year and a half, I felt as if a sea change had receded, leaving a more friendly comradery among my brothers and me where an often strained antagonism had once dominated. And I'm happy to say I attribute none of this shift to the sheer length of time we'd been apart. My relationship with my parents and the dynamic of the family as a whole also felt much more organic as a result of the improvement between the boys.

Having always been somewhat turned off by the loss of subtlety and (relative) intimacy of voice or text correspondence I had forgotten how much I deeply missed the people I hadn't seen for so long... I'm glad to have caught up on all the unsaid subtleties that come in a face to face conversation.

* * *

The pace and feel of life is so much different in the U.S. than it is here. Alone due to the broader spaces and dependence on driving, a series of errands ends up being a far more personal and internal journey (interrupted by the occasional store merchant or panhandler) than it feels in Germany. The feeling of a series of errands in Hamburg is more like a journey, encompassing the walk to the bus or train stop, the ride itself, the people you watch, the announcements you hear, and finally the experience at the destination itself. In Minneapolis the feeling is not much different from staying at home; I'm listening to my own music, alone (or with family), and distanced and alienated from what it is I am actually doing. And the combined result of being among other bubbled shoppers and movers seems like a less sympathetic social environment than my trip to Penny in Nettelnburg.

I wonder if using a bike and (mostly pitiful) public transport in the U.S. would have the same effect?

3 Comments:

Blogger the Everyday Anthropologist said...

Glad to see you back to blogging! So a prolonged stay in Germany is on the possible horizon, is it? I'm glad you've found such a sense of connection to the place and an enjoyment in your tenure there thus far. I look forward to reading your continued accounting and reflections herein.

7:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi! I am a 07/08 Fulbrighter ETA in Itzehoe (you might know it? about 60km northwest from Hamburg) I just stumbled across you blog and have been reading the archives. I really like the way that you put things, very insightful.

8:23 AM  
Blogger Drew said...

And I happen to be another Fulbrighter ETA, currently teaching in Wohltorf and living in Bergedorf until next June, to whom Anna (see previous comment) forwarded the link to your blog. Where are you living now? If you ever read this comment, and have the necessary Lust, send me an email (yoderandrew@yahoo.com) and maybe we can get together for a Bier.

Bis dann,
Andrew

12:08 PM  

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