No Cake for the Mother Scratchin' Ass Heads
Four years is just WAY TOO LONG for me to live in any one city - even if I have changed apartments a couple of times and rearranged my furniture monthly to simulate moving. I am so ready to be out of here, I cannot even tell you.
Because my Mama Jens hardcore gypsy desire to throw it all away and leave immediately is so super strong right now, every little awful interaction I have with locals is magnified. Someone in my state is especially sensitive to ämter and beämter, let me tell you. If anything were easy in this regard, I think I would die immediately from shock. What I would like to know is if Germans actually feel a sense of satisfaction when dealing with the overly difficult bureaucratic system. If it were too easy, would it just be boring or dissatisfying or what? Please enlighten me here. As Beppe Severgnini put it, "Americans see no existential significance in, say, getting a phone installed (the struggle, the pleading, the long wait, the final victory)." Having spent my adult life training on the German version of bureacracy however, I probably won't know what to do with myself when I move back to the U.S. one day and it takes me about an hour to get a phone, a place in a school for my daughter, a new apartment, a couple new Social Security cards for fun, whatever.
To avoid delving further into my current depression and frustration for various aspects of life here, I will share another recipe. This one is amazing...by far the best homemade chocolate cake I have made. Let's call this one:
combine dry ingredients in large bowl. add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. stir in boiling water. pour into pan(s). bake 30-35 minutes. rockin'.
Have a nice day.
Because my Mama Jens hardcore gypsy desire to throw it all away and leave immediately is so super strong right now, every little awful interaction I have with locals is magnified. Someone in my state is especially sensitive to ämter and beämter, let me tell you. If anything were easy in this regard, I think I would die immediately from shock. What I would like to know is if Germans actually feel a sense of satisfaction when dealing with the overly difficult bureaucratic system. If it were too easy, would it just be boring or dissatisfying or what? Please enlighten me here. As Beppe Severgnini put it, "Americans see no existential significance in, say, getting a phone installed (the struggle, the pleading, the long wait, the final victory)." Having spent my adult life training on the German version of bureacracy however, I probably won't know what to do with myself when I move back to the U.S. one day and it takes me about an hour to get a phone, a place in a school for my daughter, a new apartment, a couple new Social Security cards for fun, whatever.
To avoid delving further into my current depression and frustration for various aspects of life here, I will share another recipe. This one is amazing...by far the best homemade chocolate cake I have made. Let's call this one:
Don't Share with the Bureaucrats Hershey's Chocolate Cake
2 cups sugar (wahoo!)
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cups hershey's cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup of boiling water
2 cups sugar (wahoo!)
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cups hershey's cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup of boiling water
combine dry ingredients in large bowl. add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. stir in boiling water. pour into pan(s). bake 30-35 minutes. rockin'.
Have a nice day.
posted by mama jens at 9:32 AM
9 Comments:
i went back to the states to finish my last year of college and i had bureaucratic angst...i forgot it was the states for a minute. very scary.
great blog, i'm a newbie, just came by tonight!
Do you think that's what you'll end up doing? Going back to the USA for the kid's schooling? We were thinking just the other way - that it might be best to educate in DE ... your thoughts?
I'm not Mama Jens, but my kids are 9 and 12 years old now have been in the German school system since they entered first grade. I am NOT pleased with the way Germans do things and would dearly love for us to move (an impossibility right now) back to my home country Canada to give the kids a better education. Germany scored very poorly on the last PISA test and educators still haven't learned from it.
Here is a good indication of the US education "system:"
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/7/8/195036/3146
Just a teaser from the above linked article:
In Alabama, trainers had to use
"pictorials" to teach some illiterate
workers how to use high-tech plant
equipment.
Yup. That's great.
its nice to see all these posts after my absence on the site! well, the school issue is a big one. in both germany and the u.s. there are places where the schools are good and places where they are bad. i think in general, it is very important to research this and make a wise decision. we live in prenzlauer berg, where, despite the fact that we have the highest birthrate in europe at the moment, the schools are some of the worst in the country. there are many great international options here in berlin which is fortunate, but then you have to be willing to live a little further out west otherwise the commute is very long. for me, this would make berlin a lot less interesting. but yeah, we are gonna move back we think, and the school situation is a big motivator, partially for cultural reasons as both my husband and i are american. i want to be involved in my children's education in a way i don't think i could be here, linguistically and culturally.
Yes, unfortunately Berlin scored very low in the recent school comparisons, along with Bremen and Hamburg. I can't understand how one state (Bremen) can be almost two years behind another (Bavaria). The lack of a standardized curriculum is disturbing to say the least. Lower Saxony where we live scored in the lower middle which doesn't thrill me all that much.
My wife is German and I am American. She insists that the German system is better than the America system. I've just begun the research but our decision to relocate to Germany from the US will probably not be determined by the quality of the educational system - but rather $$ - which makes the world go around wherever you happen to be. Thanks for the information ...
Jen ... ( I'm answering your question here because I deleted the blog on which you posted your question) Germany is our destination for the main reason that my wife is German. Berlin was a choice because, from what we know and from our visits there and to other parts of Germany, it is the most cosmopolitan city in Germany. Cologne is the other cit on our list and may in fact be where we end up depending on the job opportunities ...
Richard
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