The last weekend of September and this little village parties hard. Its time for Frauenaurach's own Oktoberfest.
The town centre, right next to the church has changed suddenly - has several stalls selling traditional artefacts like schokapfel (apples layered with chocolate syrup), candy, nougats and a thousand other tidbits; a children's car crash zone (I dont remember what that is called) and the quintessential beer tent.
Been to the tent for two consecutive nights. The entire town and visitors gather inside and do beer. They also sing and dance to the beats of the lone live band set up within. You have to be here to feel the festive spirit. Its so infectious that my headache didnt seem to matter at all. Smiling faces, swaying hands, jiggying bodies and happy people everywhere. Blond teenagers just banging their heads to plain rock-n-roll and their mamas doing the twist, with the papas cheering them on and joining with a mug full of bier (as beer is spelt in Deutsche), young men flirting with women and at times getting very touchy-feely with ach other! The songs have been all English with the occasional Spanish La Bamba and German. So I have enjoyed it to the bits.
The similarities with what we would do at a big family gathering and what people did here were not lost on me. Only that though they were drunk, they were more responsible and the very commonplace brawls that always happen at any such do in India, were completely missing.
Having witnessed this trailor of a fest I am so keen on visiting Munich this coming weekend to witness the real big thing.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
BC Sutta
Heard this IIT Anthem a few days ago and have been listening it over and again. And if I have ever been drawn to a drag and a puff, it is now. The song has this captivating, nostalgic feel to it. It bonds all the smokers and mentions their travesties that they have to face - all over a sutta.
Had I been that way - shouting profanities and doing dope - life would have been a bit more fun I guess. May be I would have had more friends. May be I would have "hung out" more.
I guess I behaved too well!
Had I been that way - shouting profanities and doing dope - life would have been a bit more fun I guess. May be I would have had more friends. May be I would have "hung out" more.
I guess I behaved too well!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Rock On
Just saw the movie Rock On.
Absolutely loved it. It is resonting at so many levels.
The need to live today....
To listen to your heart...
To do what you want...
Particularly poignant is the idea of loving everything about the person that you love. Sakshi tried hard to find out what was missing in Aditya's life. Though the recesses of his life that she is trying to delve into may not be pleasant and may challenge her own position in his life, still she goes out and tries to get what was important to Aditya. I think THAT is love. It transcends all personal reasoning, all practicality and is so selfless that you go out and do what makes the other person happy. This is just another level of being in love - Loving with all your being!
Of course, it leaves you vulnerable and may be lonely in the end. But it's a high while it lasts.
Absolutely loved it. It is resonting at so many levels.
The need to live today....
To listen to your heart...
To do what you want...
Particularly poignant is the idea of loving everything about the person that you love. Sakshi tried hard to find out what was missing in Aditya's life. Though the recesses of his life that she is trying to delve into may not be pleasant and may challenge her own position in his life, still she goes out and tries to get what was important to Aditya. I think THAT is love. It transcends all personal reasoning, all practicality and is so selfless that you go out and do what makes the other person happy. This is just another level of being in love - Loving with all your being!
Of course, it leaves you vulnerable and may be lonely in the end. But it's a high while it lasts.
House Hunt
As I arrived here, I knew I will not be settled till the time I had a house to move into. The first night’s scare of the serviced apartment subdued just a tad and I got used to the very 70’s looking, very cold décor of this place in Frauenaurach (Frau – as in how, enau – as in a-now, rach – as in raakh). The village/town/settlement itself is a small speck on the map ensconced between Herzogenaurach and Erlangen.
The Punjabi broker, who had appeared like a messiah on the phone when I was in India, “helped” me with his set of apartments. These were nothing but BIG rooms with a tiny little kitchen on the right and a tiny little bathroom wedged to the left of the entrance. The “furnishings” included a very cold looking bed a tad too small to fit my six foot frame, a table-chair combo and the basics in the kitchen (or kuche as they say it in German). All of this and an internet connection for 500 bucks a month. It sounded like a deal save for the depressing feel of the “house”.
Next day onwards I was out there at the office telling everyone that I needed a house. I was on the Bulletin Board and I was on the website. Some very nice, pretty, cozy places were “available” but I think I had arrived at a bad time. The place was flooded with interns about to begin their stints and all were looking for houses/flats/apartments (haus/ wohnung). Clearly the search was never ending. I did a couple of go-sees and found a bevy of pretty young things queued up with their dainty smiles. And the house owners always seemed to fall for these though they were going to be renting the place for a shorter duration than me. I was told that shorter duration was anathema for the landlords here, but lo and behold, it no longer was.
One of the places was to die for – a neat living room leading to a very cozy kitchen on the side, an attic bedroom and a walk-in wardrobe plus the very clean “private” bathroom. Yes, private. For some very strange reason these folks rent out places where the bathroom (or WC/badzimmer as it is mentioned in the ads) and/or the kitchen has to be shared with other tenants. Weird! It seems like this comes from the earlier times. The modern houses (and there are very few of these) seem to place premium on privacy and people seem to have woken up to the idea. But as luck would have it, the house went to a petite blonde who was not even there yet but was represented by another German speaking petite blonde! What chance I had – an English speaking alien from far away India!
I tried and tried and tried. Got colleagues to talk to estate agents in German, cajoled others to let me know if they even heard a phrase that had a word like “rent” in it, and then this colleague, God bless his soul and give him twenty kids, introduced me to Mr. Tash.
Mr Tash is a native German and is a housemaster (read apartment in-charge) of a set of buildings on a street called Am Europakanal. He showed me two apartments one on the first floor and the other on the 19th floor. The latter had a fantastic view - the canal down below, the city beyond and the hills further away. I was sold. But, the pretty-young-thing catch persisted. Only after a week of several phone calls, heart burn, anxiety and wait, the owner gave the go ahead. At 450 a month and with only the kitchen furnished, I now have a place to move-in, in the next two weeks. I need to get a list of things to buy and get them moved in before I can move in because even buying furniture is not very straight forward here – you go place an order and the shop people will deliver at-home at their own sweet pace. Gosh!
But I finally have a house.
Missed Neha. She would have liked being here. And she would have liked setting up the place.
:(
The Punjabi broker, who had appeared like a messiah on the phone when I was in India, “helped” me with his set of apartments. These were nothing but BIG rooms with a tiny little kitchen on the right and a tiny little bathroom wedged to the left of the entrance. The “furnishings” included a very cold looking bed a tad too small to fit my six foot frame, a table-chair combo and the basics in the kitchen (or kuche as they say it in German). All of this and an internet connection for 500 bucks a month. It sounded like a deal save for the depressing feel of the “house”.
Next day onwards I was out there at the office telling everyone that I needed a house. I was on the Bulletin Board and I was on the website. Some very nice, pretty, cozy places were “available” but I think I had arrived at a bad time. The place was flooded with interns about to begin their stints and all were looking for houses/flats/apartments (haus/ wohnung). Clearly the search was never ending. I did a couple of go-sees and found a bevy of pretty young things queued up with their dainty smiles. And the house owners always seemed to fall for these though they were going to be renting the place for a shorter duration than me. I was told that shorter duration was anathema for the landlords here, but lo and behold, it no longer was.
One of the places was to die for – a neat living room leading to a very cozy kitchen on the side, an attic bedroom and a walk-in wardrobe plus the very clean “private” bathroom. Yes, private. For some very strange reason these folks rent out places where the bathroom (or WC/badzimmer as it is mentioned in the ads) and/or the kitchen has to be shared with other tenants. Weird! It seems like this comes from the earlier times. The modern houses (and there are very few of these) seem to place premium on privacy and people seem to have woken up to the idea. But as luck would have it, the house went to a petite blonde who was not even there yet but was represented by another German speaking petite blonde! What chance I had – an English speaking alien from far away India!
I tried and tried and tried. Got colleagues to talk to estate agents in German, cajoled others to let me know if they even heard a phrase that had a word like “rent” in it, and then this colleague, God bless his soul and give him twenty kids, introduced me to Mr. Tash.
Mr Tash is a native German and is a housemaster (read apartment in-charge) of a set of buildings on a street called Am Europakanal. He showed me two apartments one on the first floor and the other on the 19th floor. The latter had a fantastic view - the canal down below, the city beyond and the hills further away. I was sold. But, the pretty-young-thing catch persisted. Only after a week of several phone calls, heart burn, anxiety and wait, the owner gave the go ahead. At 450 a month and with only the kitchen furnished, I now have a place to move-in, in the next two weeks. I need to get a list of things to buy and get them moved in before I can move in because even buying furniture is not very straight forward here – you go place an order and the shop people will deliver at-home at their own sweet pace. Gosh!
But I finally have a house.
Missed Neha. She would have liked being here. And she would have liked setting up the place.
:(
Some semblance of Life
It was a very boring and lazy Saturday and I was moaning arriving here. Then at 5 PM I took the bus to the town, and saw some life.
The walk down the Neur Markt (New Market) was refreshing. Finally I saw people getting about. The pizzerias and the imbises (singular Imbiss, much like the darshinis back in Bangalore) were doing brisk business.
Something that struck me was the labels that the seemingly average people were flaunting – Gucci, Chanel and Esprit being the favored ones. I consider those people average because there were so many of them and because something tells me that the uber-rich wouldn’t be seen in Erlangen’s Neur Markt any how.
As it got colder and darker, I liked it more. Winter always has this effect on me. I love to walk around in the cold for a bit knowing fully well that when I get really cold I can rush to the cozy warmth of one of the many stores nearby. People were still out there – chatting, guffawing, smoking, kissing, and holding hands.
Life!
Thank God!
The walk down the Neur Markt (New Market) was refreshing. Finally I saw people getting about. The pizzerias and the imbises (singular Imbiss, much like the darshinis back in Bangalore) were doing brisk business.
Something that struck me was the labels that the seemingly average people were flaunting – Gucci, Chanel and Esprit being the favored ones. I consider those people average because there were so many of them and because something tells me that the uber-rich wouldn’t be seen in Erlangen’s Neur Markt any how.
As it got colder and darker, I liked it more. Winter always has this effect on me. I love to walk around in the cold for a bit knowing fully well that when I get really cold I can rush to the cozy warmth of one of the many stores nearby. People were still out there – chatting, guffawing, smoking, kissing, and holding hands.
Life!
Thank God!
The trip to Santis
21st June, 2008.
Santis is a the highest peak in the eastern Swiss Alps and on clear days you can see six countries from the top (blah!). So on the only weekend that I got while in Switzerland, I cajoled my colleague to visit this place as it was close to where we were staying in Buchs.
Two buses later we saw oursleves at the base of the peak. A very filling lunch later we saw oursleves in the cable car that was to take us up the peak. This was my first time in a cable car and the view from the car was fun - several pagdandees, grooves of pine trees and clear blu skies on one side and snow covered alpine peak on the other.
Several times we were surrounded by clouds - finally I was in clouds and it felt wonderful. For the record this is how you feel - you would see clouds coming along and you'd assume it is mist. Then there would be a breeze and you will suddenly be in this haze across which you cant see anything and you feel an icy chill. There are miniscule water droplets that settle down on you and you feel hazed and dazed. And then its gone with the same suddenness that it engulfed you, leaving you squinting at the sudden bright light! This happened several times especially on the peak itself.
The peak has been modified to house several sun-bathing decks, a souvnir shop and this very swiss restaurant prceriously perched on the slope, almost hanging in the air!
The establishment has done a great thing of setting up banisters made of ropes, steel rods etc. that one can hold and do some basic hiking across the mountains. I did it myself - scaled a peak opposite the Santis.
My first peak:
There were many climbing enthusiasts who were doing the real stuff - hiking with all the paraphernalia. It seems they practise here to do the real stuff up the Himalayas.
The Santis has a weather monitoring tower made up of fibre. Next to it the old wooden, and historic structure from an era gone by. The two edifices stand next to each other - one old and now just a piece of history, the other towering, magnificent and vastly useful.
Having spent a few hours up in this air, the trip back to plains was quick. And oh, I forgot to mention the very sumptuous desserts - smacking, finger licking fantastilicious desserts. Pity I dont remember the names any longer!
You can click the slideshow below to see the complete set of pictures!
Santis is a the highest peak in the eastern Swiss Alps and on clear days you can see six countries from the top (blah!). So on the only weekend that I got while in Switzerland, I cajoled my colleague to visit this place as it was close to where we were staying in Buchs.
Two buses later we saw oursleves at the base of the peak. A very filling lunch later we saw oursleves in the cable car that was to take us up the peak. This was my first time in a cable car and the view from the car was fun - several pagdandees, grooves of pine trees and clear blu skies on one side and snow covered alpine peak on the other.
|
| From Santis |
Several times we were surrounded by clouds - finally I was in clouds and it felt wonderful. For the record this is how you feel - you would see clouds coming along and you'd assume it is mist. Then there would be a breeze and you will suddenly be in this haze across which you cant see anything and you feel an icy chill. There are miniscule water droplets that settle down on you and you feel hazed and dazed. And then its gone with the same suddenness that it engulfed you, leaving you squinting at the sudden bright light! This happened several times especially on the peak itself.
|
| From Santis |
The peak has been modified to house several sun-bathing decks, a souvnir shop and this very swiss restaurant prceriously perched on the slope, almost hanging in the air!
 |
| From Santis |
| From Santis |
 |
| From Santis |
The establishment has done a great thing of setting up banisters made of ropes, steel rods etc. that one can hold and do some basic hiking across the mountains. I did it myself - scaled a peak opposite the Santis.
 |
| From Santis |
 |
| From Santis |
My first peak:
 |
| From Santis |
There were many climbing enthusiasts who were doing the real stuff - hiking with all the paraphernalia. It seems they practise here to do the real stuff up the Himalayas.
The Santis has a weather monitoring tower made up of fibre. Next to it the old wooden, and historic structure from an era gone by. The two edifices stand next to each other - one old and now just a piece of history, the other towering, magnificent and vastly useful.
Having spent a few hours up in this air, the trip back to plains was quick. And oh, I forgot to mention the very sumptuous desserts - smacking, finger licking fantastilicious desserts. Pity I dont remember the names any longer!
You can click the slideshow below to see the complete set of pictures!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Spicy Chocolates
No. I am not talking about anything raunchy but just about chocolates with spice.
Lindt has decided to add spice their dark chocolate and are marketing them as Hot Mango (with mango and cayenne), Hot Maracuja (with maracuja and jalapeno), Hot Papaya (with papaya and chili) and Hot Grenadine (with pomegranate and chili).
I have tried the Maracuja because I wondered how would they put jalapeno in chocolate and I discovered that the gel inside is flavored. Now, as some very tasteful people suggest, I still have not acquired the sophistication to admire and relish dark chocolate, the pack still lies unfinished with me.
The connoisseurs who want to savor these exotic delights need to raise their hands, and feet, now so that I can get them the goodies when I come back!
Lindt has decided to add spice their dark chocolate and are marketing them as Hot Mango (with mango and cayenne), Hot Maracuja (with maracuja and jalapeno), Hot Papaya (with papaya and chili) and Hot Grenadine (with pomegranate and chili).
I have tried the Maracuja because I wondered how would they put jalapeno in chocolate and I discovered that the gel inside is flavored. Now, as some very tasteful people suggest, I still have not acquired the sophistication to admire and relish dark chocolate, the pack still lies unfinished with me.
The connoisseurs who want to savor these exotic delights need to raise their hands, and feet, now so that I can get them the goodies when I come back!
English Teacher
It was intresting to watch him try and weave sentences in English. He struggled with the very universal problem of translating-from-native-langauge-into-alien-language. And hence he spoke with long gaps. His reason for learning English is career advancement and he is doing the usual language-school routine. Can't find people to communicate with in English and hence can't progress in his pursuit. Hence got talking to me off the net and we met.
So, after our coffee, my patient hearing, his constant trials of forming legible sentences, and a customary promise to meet again for more practice, we said good byes.
Very typical person. Back in India I would equate this with someone who is lower middle class and is starting off his career. By 36, as he is, most of them pretty much know what they are doing and just do it, or stop caring about things like career advancement. And even if they do, they seldom learn new langauges. And they do not drive Audis. He, incidentally, does.
The whole episode tells me
- how much I love correcting people's english! I can be SO patient. If I could have been half as much with my work and relations, I would have done wonders.
- people in the west seem to be much more hard working than back home. Hard working and focussed. I am not talking about ambitiuos techies, but the usual run-of-the-mill middle class, middle aged people. May be I not correct in making this judgement but it seems thus so far.
So, after our coffee, my patient hearing, his constant trials of forming legible sentences, and a customary promise to meet again for more practice, we said good byes.
Very typical person. Back in India I would equate this with someone who is lower middle class and is starting off his career. By 36, as he is, most of them pretty much know what they are doing and just do it, or stop caring about things like career advancement. And even if they do, they seldom learn new langauges. And they do not drive Audis. He, incidentally, does.
The whole episode tells me
- how much I love correcting people's english! I can be SO patient. If I could have been half as much with my work and relations, I would have done wonders.
- people in the west seem to be much more hard working than back home. Hard working and focussed. I am not talking about ambitiuos techies, but the usual run-of-the-mill middle class, middle aged people. May be I not correct in making this judgement but it seems thus so far.
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