Soll es das gewesen sein?

Nein, der Blog geht weiter. Er ist nur umgezogen. Jetzt wird mein Blog auf wordpress.vom gehostet, was wesentlich komfortabler und einfacher zu bedienen ist. Ich habe die Gelegenheit genutzt um die urban-shots zu strukturieren. Also alles bleibt anders.

www.urban-shots.com ist nach wie vor unter alter URL zu erreichen (also entweder direkt über http://urbanshot.wordpress.com oder wie gewohnt www.urban-shots.com)

Hier wirst du weiterhin alte Einträge finden, die aber nicht mehr aktualisiert werden:


Kategorien:

Indien
Reisen
Paris

An end is always a beginning - reflections on being back

I have been asked many times how India has changed me. And I asked myself this question several times, and now after being back for almost two months I think it is time to close my reintegration process ;-)

But not without letting you know:I have experienced that India changed me; I'm still the old person I'm used to be, with his good and bad things in his character for sure. But I do see myself different. Living in a different environment and adapting to another culture and value system makes you think about the strange things happen to you, but after all about yourself. Finally I believe that I’m more patient and see many things from another angle.

When I came back it was still winter in Germany, and my feeling was that not only the cold outside was chasing me. My impression was that people here are colder and keep the distance. I felt alone although I had a lot of friends and people around me who loved and liked me. A lot of people were really interested in what I had experienced and wanted to know how India was. But actually you can tell and describe your time, but I do believe that you have to be there to feel the real India.Right now I’m feeling pretty much happy. I’m back to my country to my people, family and friends and new projects are coming up. More news from me soon.

GOODBYE INDIA

It didn’t take me more than 3 weeks to write this post, but to finish it. I originally planned to publish it still in India as Goodbye to a Country, to great People and a great Time. But I didn’t find the time or the mood these days to finish it. Now I’m sitting here the sunshine is tickling my nose and I’m listening to 'Soni de Nakhre' (soundtrack) from Partner. Which gives me the little feeling of being in India, so here you go:

I’m just coming from an awesome weekend with an open double decker bus ride through Mumbai, Playing Holi, enjoying a delicious Easter Sunday lunch and having my friends around for a last supper at our terrace and finally saying them goodbye. This was an absolutely great and very emotional event for me even though I didn’t show it that much. But certainly I enjoyed it very much and I had the right way of saying goodbye.

I definitely had a great experience, met interesting people and made friends with them. I saw marvelous and gorgeous landscapes, stunning and astonishing places. I had 6 months with extremes: disappointments, fear and anger, and on the other side a lot of moments where I was attached and very happy. I adopted many habits like shaking the head. Some guys told me that I’m already like an Indian, beside the fact that I’m white and don’t speak Hindi. But I certainly and seriously adopted many habits and got used to many things I actually like, you would consider rude or simply inappropriate in the western culture e.g. raising your voice without any reason or pushing people into/in the train.

When I came here I didn’t like India that much, because I wasn’t able to see the good things. I do believe this is just a normal process as you are shocked by all circumstances and face strange situations. The famous phenomena called culture shock. And I was always complaining about everything: the environment, the mess, the bad infrastructure and the incapacity of the public transport system and as well about the incapacity of people.

My holidays home over Christmas were certainly a change in my Indian experience. And I racked my brain if I shall fly home or not. Actually I liked and enjoyed it very much at home and I couldn’t imagine Christmas not being with my family, friends and at home. But the though thing was coming back, and it took me one week in India to mentally arrive. For some reasons I experienced my second half in India more intense and in a different way. I think at this point I was more conscious or better cultural sensitive and wonder why: I started to like India.

What I have learned is – as strange that may sound – to trust people. You need a lot of patience and have to push people at the right moment, and than things will go on their own way. And neither the way you planned nor the way you imagined it. But you will be relaxed and tell yourself this is India, never mind. And in the end it will work.

But now the time for me has come to leave this amazing country and Incredible India. Thank you to all the people I have met and the joy you brought to me to be my friends.

Chak de India!

Slums of Bandra

Eben lief auf MDR Sputnik ein Beitrag über Mumbai und eine Slum Tour, die westliche Touristen durch den größten Slum Asiens – Daravi - lotsen. Dort leben und arbeiten ca. 1 Mio Menschen unter ärmlichen Verhältnissen. [for English version click here]

Ich war heute ebenfalls im Slum, allerdings nicht als eine geführte Tour sondern quasi auf guter Mission. Es gibt in Mumbai viele Trainees die ihr Praktikum bei so genannten NGOs absolvieren.

(NGO = Non Governmental Organization, zu dt. wohltätige Organisationen) Mary Ellen arbeitet in einer NGO die sich mit der Entwicklung von Kindern in Slums beschäftigt. Wir sind zusammen nach Bandra East und haben in der Vorschule im Slum Spielsachen und andere Dinge verteilt.

Was mich immer wieder verwundert ist der Blick des Touristen, viele Menschen kommen nach Indien und sind überwältigt von den vielfältigen Eindrücken auch zu meist von der Armut. Manch einer mag die Nase rümpfen, dass reiche Touristen durch den Slum geführt werden. Aber es ist Teil der indischen Realität. Indien das einen ungeheuren wirtschaftlichen Aufschwung feiert, lässt viele Menschen zurück. Und viele Farmer und Bauern kommen nach Mumbai auf ihrer Suche nach dem Glück und Anteil am Aufschwung.
Am Ende der Reportage auf Sputnik schwang der Moderator mit der Moral Keule und verurteilet die reichen Touristen die das Abenteuer im Slum suchen. Ich persönlich finde das aber völlig in Ordnung weil somit ein Bewusstsein über die Probleme erzielt wird und für mich war der Besuch im Slum sehr bewegend. Wir haben mit den Kids zusammen gesessen, Mittag gegessen und auch mit den Jungs Kricket gespielt.
[Für Fotos hier klicken]

North India

I spent the last two weeks traveling through the North of Incredible India. With Renata from Brazil and Andre from Germany we flew to Jaipur where we enjoyed a Brazilian BBQ Party. After heavily sightseeing with the great help of a local AIESECer we took the night train to Jaiselmer. Baboo the camel men took us form the station to his resort in the desert. After that we stopped at Jodhpur and were quite surprised, initially thought as break between two nigh trains the blue city was really nice. Read the full article
Heading towards Agra and the famous Taj Mahal. Read the full article
Renata and Andre left me in Delhi and I went further to Amritsar (the capital of the Sikh) and to the border closing ceremony at Attari between India and Pakistan. Finally my trip ended in Mc Leod Ganj in the Himalayas which is the exile of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetian government. Please find a small itenery below:

for an overview of all galleries click here

Sikhs, Spitzen und Spiritualität

In Delhi haben mich Renata und Andre verlassen, und ich habe meine Reise dann alleine in der luxuriösen 2. Klasse im Nachtzug nach Amritsar fortgesetzt. Amritsar liegt nahe der pakistanischen Grenze und ist die heilige Stadt der Sikh Religion. Wesentliche Merkmale der Sikh-Religion sind die Betonung der Einheit der Schöpfung, die Abkehr von „Aberglauben“, traditionellen religiösen Riten und sozialer Hierarchisierung. Es existieren jedoch verschiedene formale Vorgaben z.B. bezüglich Kleidung, Namensgebung und Auftreten. So zum Beispiel das Nichtschneiden der Haare und des Bartes, daher auch der Turban.

Die Sikhs glauben an geistige und seelische Reinheit, die sie unter anderem zu erreichen suchen, indem sie sämtliche als schädlich geltende Einflüsse von außen vermeiden. Sie ernähren sich vegan, vermeiden sämtliche Suchtmittel und führen ein Leben im Einklang mit der Natur.

Auf einem Tagesausflug bin ich von Amritsar an die einzige Grenze zwischen Indien und Pakistan gefahren um der Zeremonie der Grenzschließung beizuwohnen. Beide Seiten geben sich am Ende des Tages die Hände um die Nacht in Frieden zu verbringen. Die ganze Zeremonie ist aber eher eine Patriotismus Veranstaltung, auf der indischen wie auf der pakistanischen Seite wird gegrölt und gejubelt. Ein Animatuer heizt die Massen an, die dann in Sprechchören für Indien respektive Pakistan jubeln. Die Fotos dazu hier

Danach ging es in den westlichen Himalaja. Für die rund 250km von Amritsar nach Mc Leod Ganj habe ich mir eine, wie ich finde idyllische Route ausgesucht. Ich habe mich für die Schmalspurbahn entschieden, statt den so genannten Express Bus zu nehmen, der für diese Strecke 8h braucht, denn der Begriff Express Bus meint hier lediglich, dass der Fahrer rasanter über Stock und Stein rast und nicht in jedem Dorf anhält. Schneller am Ziel ist man dadurch trotzdem nicht - in Indien ist halt alles relativ.

Zuerst ging es mit dem Local Bus über Stock und Stein von Amritsar nach Pathankot. Auf dieser Strecke verkehren je nach Andrang etwa 8-10 Busse pro Tag. Auf die Frage nach der Abfahrtszeit weiß allerdings niemand eine genaue Antwort; in Indien erfolgt die Abfahrt nämlich nicht nach Fahrplan. Hier geht die Reise dann los, wenn der Bus randvoll besetzt ist.

In Mc Leod, ein Vorort von Daramshala, bin ich auf 2900m gekraxelt um mir die Himalaja Kulisse in voller Wirkung anzusehen. Auch ein kurzer Schneeschauer und die Angst nicht rechtzeitig vor der Dunkelheit zurück zu kehren (hellerweise habe ich an diesem Tag ausgepennt und bin erst nach dem Mittag los gelaufen) konnte die majestätische Wirkung nicht mindern. Die Fotos dazu hier

Daramshala ist auch Sitz des Dalai Lamas und der tibetanischen Exilregierung in Indien. Dementsprechend sind auch viele Buddhisten und Mönchen am Start. Und genauso viele Seelenheil suchende Touristen die sich mehr oder minder weniger obskuren Weltverbesserern hingeben.

It's the small things in your life which make you happy

I was searching for an Internetcafe in Amritsar with a card reader for my camera, no chance. I finally went into a kodak store and convinced the owner to sell me his reader. While waiting for the guy to get a new one I offered the owner a smoke - which helped me so far India a lot in order to break the ice. At that moment I did that, I knew it was wrong as the owner is a Sikh. And Sikh people don't smoke, drink or take drugs neither. As they believe everthing you consume will have an impact on your body and soul. As I will write later Amritsar is the "spirtual capital" of the sikh people, and so you will fins a lot of Sikh's there.

Anyway he started a conversation about Sikh's and their apporach to life and religion. We ended up speaking about the world and why the world is as it is. Further he gave me some adivises how to handle life in India and I left the shop with a card reader an a big smile on my face.

Taj Mahal

Atemberaubend. Die Wirkung eines der bedeutendsten architektonischen Meisterwerke der Welt ist aufregend und unbeschreibar.

Die Grabstätte wurde vom Mogulen Herrscher Shan Jahan für seine 2 . Frau gebaut, bei der Geburt ihres 14. Kindes 1631 verstarb. Jahan beschloss darauf, dass Taj Mahal als Erinnerung an seine verstorbene Frau zu bauen. Nach langer Bauzeit 22 Jahre übernahm aber der Sohn von Jahan die Macht und warf seinen Vater in den Kerker, der das Taj nach seiner Fertigstellung 8 Jahre bis zu seinem Tode nur aus dem Fenster sehen konnte bis er schließlich neben seiner Frau beerdigt wurde.

Die Ausstrahlung dieses Bauwerks wird auch nicht durch die vielen Touristen geschmälert. Mit den Worten von Paul Cohelo ist die grösste Kraft des Universums - die Liebe - Ursprung dieses Baus. Die Faszination für muslimische Bauten des Mittelalters hat mich, seit dem ich die Alhambra in Granada zum ersten Mal gesehen habe, begeistert. ein paar Eindrücke im Video:

Rajasthan

Our travel to Rajasthan began in Jaipur were we had an excellent host with a bunch of AIESEC trainees from Brazil who gave us a very warm welcome with a Brazilian BBQ Party. Even though I was a bit hangover that day I enjoyed the party at their rooftops house. The following day we saw whole Jaipur with the extreme friendly and kind AIESECer who showed us the city and it sights. The Royal City Palace (Hawa Mahal), the amazing Jantar Mantar which is a observatory built by the astronom and city founder Jai Singh II. And finally the Amber Fort and Amber Palace. Check the Jaipur gallery for pictures

After 14hours Train in sleeper class (for those of you who never been to India: Indian trains have mostly 3 classes: second, third and sleeper class, whereas sleeper is the cheapest an 8 people (and sometimes some animals) share one compartment) So while experiencing the real India we got to Jaiselmer, which is a small city in the west of Rajasthan, close to Pakistan. The guys in Jaiour recommended us Baboo the camel man and his resort in the desert. After some Chai, we were heading some 30km out of town in mostly the middle of nowhere. After again some Chai we took our camels and rode through the dunes into the sunset. Sitting with Baboo at a small campfire and having some Kingfishers we decided to sleep in the desert. I had the chance to drive his jeep, even by night with some beers.

Check the Jaiselmer gallery for pictures

After Jaiselmer we went to Jodhpur the blue city

Das Ende ist nah, noch drei Wochen in Indien

Diesmal wieder eine Videobotschaft von mir. For English version click here

Golf, Delhi and Injuries

Today the Johnnie Walker Classics (JWC) have started in Delhi. For those of you who are not familiar with golf, the JWC is one of the biggest golf tournaments in Asia. Maersk is sponsoring Thomas Bjorn a Danish golf professional, who was supposed to play at the JWC. As part of the sponsorship with Maersk we are entitled to have Bjorn for one day and get him together with our customers.

As the event guy in our department I was in charge to get some senior folks together with the world elite golf player. Done as said. The venue was fixed, we finally got some costumers who where willing to spend a Monday morning at the golf course and I flew to Delhi with 80kg of luggage, mainly corporate gifts such as towels, gloves etc.

Saturday afternoon I was sitting at the Delhi Golf Club, having a coffee and discussing the last details when the manager of Thomas calls up. The bad news is that Thomas is injured in London and won’t come to India, neither for our event nor for the JWC. Puhhh. I requested him to call our MD and CEO and tell them the news, especially our MD who is quite straight forward. Finally we canceled the same. This was pretty sad, and embarrassing for Maersk as we were really pushing people to come to the event, and one day before you cancel it. Luckily I was able to cancel all arrangements with any occurring costs.

So I had some time and a car+driver for sightseeing in Delhi.

English speaking Rikshaw Wallah एग्लिश स्पेअकिंग रिक्षव वल्लाह

Today I was riding with a English speaking rickshaw wallah, which never happened to me before. He was actually a student and drive rickshaw for earning some pocket money. Interesting was, that he told me he makes round 300-400 Rs each day. (6-8€) Which is a monthly salary of 10,000 (200€). I should start the same here to earn some money ;-)

Singapore

Although my flight from Phuket to Singapore was at 9am in the morning, I could find hardly sleep the night before. I checked in and took a glance at the boarding card. Boarding was on 8.30, so there was still one hour to go and I went to an Internet cafe. After writing some mails and postcards, I finally recognized the little sentence on the card: please board before 8.30 otherwise you may not be accepted for travel. So it was some 8.20, more or less ten minutes to go. Never the less, I said to myself we are still in Asia, so they won’t be that strict and relaxed a bit. Then I had still to pass the immigration. And shit there was a crowd, I finally convinced a German family to let me skip the queue and there was still time for the mandatory duty free shopping.

Singapore is much developed, clean, pretty well organized. It should be from an urban point of view the Benchmark of Asia. The port of Singapore is a major point in its economical success, as it is strategically situated in Asia. The port and the recently the airport, which attracts freight and passengers, is the prime government instrument to help Singapore become an international player.




Furthermore there are no tensions between the inhabitants or social groups who are mainly 75% Chinese, 7% Indian, some 15% Malaysians and other minorities. You will find English, Tamil, Chinese, Hindi spoken there. Even though many residents say they don't like the fact that it is so organized, a guy on the plane told me. He was looking for a more adventures place to stay, so he choose Bangkok.

Besides some sightseeing I attended a chicken parade held on Saturday to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Interesting was my Chinese horoscope. I was born in the year of the rooster, and according to this the upcoming year of the rat will be a lucky one for me. "Rooster will enjoy great prosperity... will experience good fortune ... it will be a hectic and stressful year as well. And finally they might just find their perfect match this year. BUT men should refrain from alcohol and womanizing. hhm ...

Thailand - wrap up

“Bangkok is an interchange of the past, present and future, and a superb subject for any urban connoisseur.” (LP) I stayed two days in the city which is always on the move. You will see ancient temples next to splendid shopping malls and passing an air conditioned sky train between. Highways usually have 6-8 lanes and above that another 6 lanes as elevated expressway. My first impression while getting into town was that everything is pretty well thought and organized. Even though there is a lot of traffic, it follows certain rules.

I experienced the past while I was riding the express boat on the Chao Phraya River, which is not only a fast and cheap mode of public transportation it used to be the express way for centuries. While riding the boat you’ll pass all the sights of Bangkok. To name just a few: Grand Palace and the Wat Kalayanamit.

more pictures in the gallery

In Bangkok I met Vincent an old friend from the Parisian times. After dinner we went to the Bed which is definitely one of the best clubs worldwide. Check the website. From that day they banned smoking in public places across Thailand. So it felt a bit strange, everybody was walking out the club to have a puff. By the time I left Europe the smoking ban wasn’t in place. So I will have this experience back home. But in Thailand outside are 30Degress not -10 as in Germany.

After Bangkok I went to Phuket which is known for is clean, wide beaches and jade colored water. I stayed at the Karon Beach for some days with just relaxing and chilling at the beach. I enjoyed the time at the beach which gave some time to reflect as well. Beside that I rented a scooter and explored the island. I started being in love with a motor ride in the sun, but I still favor the Piaggio X9, which I drove in the streets of Paris.

more pictures here

Phuket

Obwohl Phuket oder besser der Patong Beach ja als das Mallorca Thailands verschrie'n ist, finde ich es hier ganz angenehm. Ich bin am Karon Beach und da geht es defintiv nicht ganz so zu wie nebenan. Ich finde hier mehr Europäisches als in Bombay. So habe ich es mir heute morgen mal beim Frühstück am Strand richtig gut gehen lassen. Croissants, Cafe Latte und endlich mal eine vernünftige Zeitung,
ok es ist nicht "Die Zeit" aber alles besser als die indischen Schmierfinken. In Indien kann man jeden Tag neues über die Bollywood Stars lesen, sämtliche Nachbarschaftsstreits werden detailliert ausgeweidet oder politische Demonstrationen, die in Indien gerne auch einmal in Tumulten ausarten. Der Auslandsteil beschränkt sich zur Zeit auf Nikolas Sarkozy oder man zeigt eine adrette Blondine aus Australien.

Von daher ein gelungener Start in den Tag. Was ich sonst getrieben habe? Ich hab mir ein Roller ausgeliehen und die Gegend erkundet, am Strand relaxt, Quad fahren. etc..

Thailand kurzes Update

Hallo zusammen, hier ein kurzes Lebenszeichen von mir. Mir gehts soweit gut, morgen früh gehts dann weiter nach Singapur und am Sonntag wieder zurück nach Bombay. Fotos gibts hier in der Gallerie

Bangkok

I'm traveling through South East Asia at the moment. You will see here soon some impressions.

After some sleep I escaped frosty Bombay (8 degrees at night) and flew to Bangkok. One of my first impressions were the organized traffic and the relatively cleanness - compared to Bombay. The weather is nice, although a bit too humid (33 degrees 85%hum) I visited the The Grand Palace and Temple and went on a river cruise. Check the gallery.

Like everywhere in world locals sell their stuff tourist spots, in a more or less direct or aggressive way. Cause you do not need any of the items sold there, approach yu in sometimes offensive way. A normal conversation with a local dude start like this: "Hello my friend, where are you from?" I'd love to reply that I’m coming from India, which is basically not a lie. They are usually confused or a bit puzzled. Which make me and the seller laugh.

Mandatory is as well in the city of love or others may say it is the city of sin, a visit to the red light district in Bangkok. People everywhere try to get you in one of the so called massage shops or in a strip bar. One of their biggest arguments is that one beer is only 100 Bhats (2 EUR). But then of course are you forced to pay everybody a tip who approaches you, no matter if you have received a service from them or not. In that case you might spend 500 Baths for a beer instead of 100.

Speaking of love, what you see here quite often, relatively old and ugly men accompanied by young and beautiful ladies or men.

My next stations are Phuket, Kuala Lumpur and finally Singapore.

Om Shanti Om drives German fans crazy

The Popular Hindi blockbuster 'Om Shanti Om' (OSO) was shown last night at the 58th Berlinale in presence of actor Shah Rukh Khan (SRK). I wouldn’t exaggerate if I say that the Berlinale the most famous Film Festival in Europe beside Cannes. OSO which was a blockbuster in India, see the earlier post, now finally hits Europe. All tickets for the public viewings were sold out within minutes; some of them were sold on Ebay for 25 EUR.

Surprisingly no other film at the Berlinale has created such a big interest as OSO. What rarely happened before is that accredited journalists were denied permission to attend the official premiere. A lot of German fans were keen so see a glimpse of SRK.

Winter in Mumbai

Zur Zeit friert ganz Mumbai, zumindest Nachts. Die Temperaturn sinken bis auf 10 Grad, gestern morgen hat es sogar kurz geregnet. Es ist in den Abendstunden fast wie ein europäischer Herbst. Für die Mumbaiker ist das natürlich fast so schlimm wie -20 grad bei uns. Aber wer im Sommer an bis 45 Grad gewöhnt ist, hat natürlich weder passende Gaderobe noch eine Heizung. Wenn Die Temperatur unter 20 Grad fällt werden dann auch die Mützen ausgepackt. Ich persönlich findes das ganz ok, da die Tageshöchsttemperaturen bis auf 30 Grad klettern.

Rendezvous With French Cinema

Die letzte Woche war sehr ereignisreich und ein durch und durch europäisches und indisches Erlebnis. Am Anfang der Woche war ich auf dem French Film Festival habe mir Caramel, Avatar (Crysalis), La Science des rêves (DE: Anleitung zum Träumen EN: the science of sleep) mit Charlotte Gainsbourg angeschaut. Recht gut war außerdem Le Concile de pierre (The stone concil) mit Monica Bellucci, Catherine Deneuve, und Moritz Bleibtreu. Ich war recht erstaunt über Bleibtreus akzentfreies Französisch.

Letzendlich habe ich mit Bedauern festellen müssen, dass von den dort gezeigten Filme es nur einer ins deutsche Kino geschafft hat. Es wäre schön mehr französiches Kino in Deutschland zu haben, es muss ja nicht gleich synchronisert werden, ein deutscher oder englischer Untertitel reicht ja schon..

Das Wochenende setzte sich dann mit einer typischen Bollywood Disco fort. Lustig ist es schon wenn auf einmal 10 Weiße zu den aktuellen Hits von Bollywood abgehen. Dann werden sofort die indischen Handy Kameras gezückt und drauf gehalten. Aber man post ja doch gerne. Vielleicht schaffe ich es so als Star nach Bollywood?

Am Sonntag war dann die große Eröffnung der Pferde Renn Saison beim Mc. Dowell Indian Derby. Wir haben uns alle Schale geschmissen um uns unter die Hogh Society von Bombay zu mischen. Ich habe mich auch beim Wetten probiert allerdings haben mir ‚Beyond Belief’ und „Diabolical“ kein Glück gebracht. Am Ende hab ich anstatt mein Geld beim wetten zu verliren lieber in Drinks mit der Bombay High Society investiert. Für Fotos hier und hier klicken

Zur gleichen Zeit war eine Delegation aus Stuutagrt in Mumbai um deren Städtepartnerschaft mit Mumbaui zu zelebrieren. Dies klang mit einem Weinfest und einem klassischen Konzert des Stuttagrter Kammerorchester und der Philharmonie von Indien aus. Durch das relativ kalte Wetter in Mumbai fühlte sich das ganze wie eine Herbstag an. Dazu noch badische Weine der Sonntag Abend war ein Genuss.

Mittlerweile hat mein Schweizer Mitbewohner Sabi das Feld geräumt und wurde gegen eine chinesisches Mädchen Names An An Na eingetauscht. Und die Wohnung wirkt auf einmal leerer. Ich werde am Sonntag eine Woche nach Thailand fliegen, deswegen wird der nächste Post ein wenig auf sich warten lassen.

India, Germany and some thoughts

Last week I went to a book shop and looking for some travel books about Asia. I came across a series called culture shock – a survival guide to customs and etiquette, which exist for several countries, respective cultures. I was checking the Indian version but I was quite disappointed by the writings, as they were mainly observations made from foreigners. And I already observed most of these insights. Then I came across the German version of the book, and I bought it. So why the hell am I buying a book about Germany while I’m in India? Sound strange? Yes, this made me think?

First of all the book, which was written by a foreigner, gives some interesting insights of Germanys reputation and reception in the world. Secondly it is really good for me in order to express our culture habits, history and our German thinking. I found myself in deep discussions about Germans, the country, history and culture, finding not the right phrases and words in English to express myself. How do you explain the separation and unification, the time of the Nazis, Wessis & Ossis, No Go Areas, sozialverträgliches Frühableben and all that stuff?

One thing which came up my mind is that I speak a lot of German in Mumbai. In Paris I barely spoke German. Hugh. Is that bad or simply not worth mentioning it?

I think it is not a big point. It simply indicates that I hang around more with foreigners rather than local dudes. In Paris knew 3 German speaking people, and they even weren’t German. In Mumbai I have 1 ½ Germans (one Swiss considered as Semi-German by Indians) as flat mates. I attend from time to time the German Stammtisch. And there are a load of Germans in town.

One of our German Trainees simply avoids Germans in order to fall not into the trap of establishing a second German home in India. But I think this is a way too much. It is absolutely normal, to hang around with foreigners rather than with Indians. It is simply my background and we all face the same things in India good and bad.

Conclusion is I have fun with my Indian colleagues, the dudes from AIESEC, the Trainees and my German friends, so what? ;-)

Chennai - Paris Reunion & Wedding

This weekend I was delighted to be invited by Abhishek and his family on the occasion of his cousins wedding. I know this dude from my time in Paris, from various events spent together. He is Indian and lives in Paris. Francois a Frenchi working in Hong Kong joined the weeding as well. So it was a kind of reunification in India. It was very cool to see these guys again; strangely the Indian came from Europe and the Europeans cam over from Asia.

We attended the wedding and went on a day trip to Pondicherry as well. Have a look at the pictures in the gallery.