Prague, Tourism, Imperialist Outposts

I have just returned on an excursion to Prague, and I have never been more happy to return to Germany in my life. (Literally, because this is the first time I’ve ever been here.) There was something more than a little unsettling about the feeling of being a tourist in every sense of the word [...]

Read Full Post »

Nationalism, Football, and Jesus Christ

Yesterday, Germany beat Turkey to gain entrance to the final game of the European Meisterschaft (Soccer Championship.) They will play against the victor of tonight’s game between Russia and Spain on Sunday in what will surely be an orgy of schwarz, rot, and gelb. I was out in Potsdamer Platz (equivalent perhaps of Times Square) [...]

Read Full Post »

“Gay” is not a self explanatory insult

I suppose it takes a little exposure to make the really obvious hit home, but it has become rapidly apparent as I spend more time in Germany that a number of things that seem doxically accepted just don’t work once you remove them from their native context. For example, the insult “gay,” or the (perjorative) [...]

Read Full Post »

Eurotrash Haircut

I’m thinking of getting a European Haircut – note the capitalized H, because the difference is significant. You see, people in Europe don’t get a haircut. They get Hair Cuts, and most of them are so obscenely awful that I’m forced to suspect it’s some sort of EU-enforced chastity arrangement to keep population growth (and [...]

Read Full Post »

Deutschland entdecken

Spending time at an internet cafe in Germany, and I figured I would do a little work on this “travel blog” I promised myself that I would write. It’s a bit difficult – my apartment appears to be the German equivalent of Bumfuck, Egypt, with about a 30 minute bus ride to anywhere with wireless [...]

Read Full Post »