Finally that first post of 2015

Clearly keeping up with the blog was not a New Year’s resolution.

If it was a resolution, it’s not completely my fault for lacking the resolve. After spending the holidays in Canada, I returned to the Dorf jet lagged and then bed/toilet ridden with a vicious stomach virus.

I fly into the Dorf on the morning of New Year’s Eve. which meant after a long nap, a scalding shower, and some hot wine, Kata and I were able to see the midnight firework celebration.

Or should I say, firework conflagration. 

In the Dorf, and other parts of Germany apparently, a festive fireworks display isn’t under the purview of the local authorities. It is a democratic affair. Everyone gathers in the city’s open spaces, especially along the river, with armfuls of fireworks that would be considered illegal in some countries.

As midnight approaches, everyone begins firing off their fireworks every which way. People are throwing around firecrackers, firing bottle rockets from their hands, and even setting off the hefty mortar-type fireworks. All of this is occurring in the crowds along the length of the Rhine and over the bridges spanning it.

The effect is part chaotic firework display, part Afghan wedding celebration – where they fire Kalashnikovs wildly enough into the air to attract the wrath of jet fighters – and mostly war zone. I’m not sure if anyone lost an eye or a finger, but we wouldn't know since no one would have heard their cries of pain over the commotion.

Oh, and this is all taking place in Germany, a country known for a bureaucracy that has a permit or paper form for for everything. The attitude towards fireworks is pretty laissez-faire here.

Once we got away from the crowds and their indiscriminate fireworks, we were able to stand back and appreciate the chaos, which is hard to find in not-so-chaotic Germany, but isn't so bad when you find it.

Cologne-ish Christmas Wishes

I am packing for my Christmas trip home. I am planning for that. I am helping Kata plan and pack for her trip to Budapest.

In times like these, when I am thinking about home in Canada, and home I just left in Budapest, I think about how I got here. Yeah, I came here for the job, but there are jobs in Canada too. But there are other reasons. For one thing, I'm seeing the world I live in.

In Cologne we saw a little more of that when we visited the cathedral. It’s an impressive man-made mountain of stone and stained glass in the middle of a city.  To say it’s stunning is an understatement. 

Before I get on my flight for a Canadian Christmas, I wanted to drop in a few photos in what will likely be my last post of 2015. They won't do the cathedral justice, but I hope they give you a bit of an idea.

Merry Christmas, everyone. See you in 2015.

Bicycle dudes in square between the train station and the Dom.

The Dom looks good during the day...

...And looks good at night.

We managed to snap a couple of spooky, gothic shots before we went home.

The Sad Quest for Internet in Germany

A household with no internet is a household cut off from the world. Governments used to provide radios to households, so if there was a disaster or, if you're in Eastern Europe, the Russians were invading, they could let everyone know.

That's not always the case with the internet.

Living in Europe, a continent that has been marching towards integration for decades, you might delude yourself into the notion that internet in Hungary is similar to internet in Germany. Well, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Internet In Hungary

In Budapest, I went to the UPC internet store and gave them my address with some money. A few days later a man came to my flat, installed the internet, made sure it worked, and then left. I had amazing internet speeds for 20€ a month.

Internet in Germany

In Dusseldorf, I went to the store and gave the man my address, with some money. I was told it would take two weeks and another man would call to arrange an appointment to either bring the modem and install it or just drop off the router. It costs 35€ a month.

Two weeks later, no phone call, no appointment, no internet. Also, no customer service, just a machine that eats up your pre-paid minutes as you wait for an operator to pick up who never picks up.

Kata, who I now dub the Internet Whisperer, steps in. She goes back to the shop for answer and also waits on the phone line to find out there is no mechanic man visiting. They did, however mail the modem, but it didn’t make it for some reason.

They mail the modem again. It doesn’t make it into our mailbox, but it does arrive at the art gallery downstairs.

We pick in the modem and unleash the internet! 

It turns out the modem is not so good for providing internet, but it’s great for giving off excessive heat. So much so that we shut it off occasionally to cool it down. The internet is also weak, just a bar or two, at least it's a good space heater – the Russian could shut off the gas at any time, after all.

The Internet Whisperer calls Unitymedia again – a month after I optimistically walked into the Unitymedia store that very first time – and arranges for a mechanic to visit. I’m told the mechanic will visit the flat some time between 8:30am and 4pm. Guess who’s working from home all day.

The mechanic arrives, changes a couple of wires and splitters in the basement and in the flat and then in the basement again. Now we have three bars of internet in Germany, the economic heart of Europe.