Du bist Deutschland

"Du bist Deutschland" is a campaign that was started here in Germany a few years ago to encourage the public to be more kid friendly.  While it's actually a very nice commercial (and almost two minutes long!), my first impression was that I found it rather comical that someone from an outside source had to encourage Germans to have more babies.  One line in the commercial states (roughly translated) "that its never the wrong time to have you (kids), but only the right time"--a bit direct, no?

Since I don't have any myself, I can't really contribute to the argument, but I have heard people say that Germany isn't family-friendly.  So if anybody has experience going either way, would be interesting to hear.  Do you find Germany family-friendly?  (Here's the link to the video, I will try to upload it here directly sometime soon.)

Du bist Deutschland

Below is the rough English translation of the text...

"You drive us crazy.

You cry the whole night through.

You wet the bed.

First you get teeth, then you get the chickenpox.

You hate kindergarten, then school and then at 15, you hate us.

Rather, you drive us crazy… with Happiness

Your ‘purchase’ is free

Then after you get expensive

You need time and space

You cost us new shoes, that bigger TV and that vacation at the ocean

You are no luxury

You are priceless

There are many good reasons not to have kids

And the best reason to have kids? You.

You can’t speak and yet you explain to us the whole world.

You can’t walk, but you help us get going.

You learn so much every day and teach us still more.

You show us that there is never the wrong but only the right moment to have you.

You have mother and father and yet you still need the whole country to grow up happy.

You are not alone as our most precious ‘project/work’.

You make out of two people, one family.

Out of a small apartment you make an adventurous playground

And from spaghetti with sauce a feast.

We need more of your kind because without you the present is no fun

And the future already past.

You. Are. Germany."

A Thursday Regular--"Oh, say can you see?"

Can you see it?  Above the windows are the faded words 'US ARMY' on the building facade.  The Bavarian-American Hotel was formerly used by the US Army during the occupation of Germany after WWII.  Nuremberg was formerly part of the American section. (There were four parts: American, British, French & Russian).  Eventually the sign came down and the army left (well at least out of that building) but I guess no one ever wanted to paint over it. A kind of 'where's waldo' piece of history right across from the Hauptbahnhof. Cool, eh?

A Thursday Regular--'Love Life'

Found a piece of "Kostenlose Kunst" in the Altstadt.  Painted by local artist Michael Paullutz of Nuremberg, he graciously scattered his pieces all throughout the city to be found and brighten up someone's day.

*Painting courtesy of LOVE LIFE CORP. For more information on them, check out their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/LoveLifeCrop.

A Thursday Regular--Back to School

Second day back to school here in Bavaria, and I've never (ever) seen such a huge crowd in Müller's stationary section.  German children and their mom's flocking in dozens to stock up on their notebooks and pens.

Say what?

If the world is a village, who then, are the cool kids on the block?

Well according to an unofficial (but revealing) survey done by social networking site Badoo.com, Americans took the number one spot.  Surprised? Me too.  But apparently the survey results are based on the opinions of "30,000 people across 15 countries".  Still more is that Badoo.com is based in London and owned by a Russian entrepreneur --and the site itself is most active in Latin America, Spain, Italy and France. (I never actually heard of Badoo.com until now.)

So top 10 coolest nationalities?

1. Americans
2. Brazilians
3. Spanish
4. Italians
5. French
6. British
7. Dutch
8. Mexicans
9. Argentinians
10. Russians

...and the most uncool nations (according to the survey)...


1. Belgians
2. Poles
3. Turks
4. Canadians
5. Germans :( (How can this be?!) 

So what do you think?  Are the rankings spot on or do you disagree?

A Thursday Regular-- By the 'See'

A view of Dutzendteich on a lovely summer day, when all the boats came out to play.  The Colosseum you see there in the background is one of several constructions built on what is the former Nazi Party Rally Grounds.  Today its a museum.

The closest thing I've got to the ocean, a huge "See" (in German) or lake.

The Mystery of the Smiling Pig

Riding on the number 6 Tram line, I've often passed by a red and white sign that reads "SAU, SAU, HURRA!" with a big smiling pink pig.  I never cared enough to look into it further, but I thought it was a strange sign for a restaurant. Would a restaurant really only serve pork?  And it didn't look like a Metzegerei/butcher either.  Finally the other day I came across my answer.

While looking for a restaurant online, I stumbled upon this website: 
Freunde des Fränkischen Schäufele n.n.E.v

Its a club for people who love Shäufele!  How funny is that?!  (Shäufele is a pork dish using the meat from the shoulder of a pig.  Its served still on the bone so it has a kind of scoop-shape to it.  I've never actually tried it though.)

If you click on the link, you can see the sign that I was talking about in the upper left hand corner along with a photo of the club members.  If you scroll all the way to the bottom, you'll even see a massive pig-shaped float that they used in the Fastnachtszug.

I guess that's one way of keeping traditions alive.