The young boy holding on to the concrete steel bars that reinforced The Wall, was nine years old when the Iron Curtain fell in 1989. The lady next to him became one of the innumerable so-called „Mauerspechte“, „wall peckers“, who secured themselves a morsel of the unholy structure to bring home a grisly souvenir. The „antifascist protective wall“, as the German Democratic Republic had chosen to name it, not only separated West from East Berlin and barbariously split the German nation, but symbolised the rift that divided the entire world in two political camps. Erected in August of 1961, The Wall finally came down after decade-long diplomatic efforts and a peaceful revolution during which not a single shot was fired. Hacked apart piece by piece by citizens and visitors flocking in from all over the globe, The Wall ceased to exist and with it the Cold War.
Topic: Germany
Krautish gibberish: Denglish
Practice makes perfect? Oh, really! Some of us are just not destined to ever be fluent in English honed to perfection at Oxford or Harvard. The only superior level reached is that of ultimate frustration. Even though talent may be absent, the constant effort does deserve – and at times receive – some appreciation. Native English speakers – be they residents of their respective countries or members of an expat diaspora abroad – display admirable countenance when it comes to unravelling the puzzling matter their poor language is often being minced into. A mother-tongue recognised as official world language no. 1 minimises the necessity for its speakers to conquer foreign language terrain. A linguistic metabolism in constant uproar caused by cruel outlandish gibberish is the price to be paid for being saved humiliation in class, when vocabulary and grammar just won’t surface upon demand, or when a vital exam is failed and thus a promising international future brutally ruined forever.
Ambulance on wings for emergencies abroad
It does not take a daredevilish stunt person to find themselves in a precarious health situation all of a sudden. Regular people pursuing their unspectacular routine chores fall victim to unforeseen circumstances all the time: a life-threatening coronary attack may occur during a stressful business meeting or a cervical vertebra get seriously dislocated on a slippery stairwell. Should this happen on familiar terrain with trusted help around the corner, bad enough. But what, if destiny strikes far away from home?
A give and take: Berlin visitors engaging in social projects
Undeniably, wielding of a dusty broom or a mucky pitchfork is readily associated with serious physical effort – yet, both chores could turn out to be oh! so rewarding emotionally! Perhaps activities such as these may not come to mind ad hoc when considering a trip to Germany’s trendy capital, Berlin. The modern full-time hedonist will usually opt for places of ample sophistication: clubs, theatres and cabarets, museums, the opera, boats, urban beaches or street parties, chic shopping malls, quirky cafés or fine dining restaurants and might even muster the patience to queue up for a visit to the parliamentary Reichstag … all of which are stops equally perfect for fringe programmes enhancing exhausting conference schedules!
3D-Technology: Print yourself another you
There’s screeching violins and scary guns, minute bikinis and most interesting food. Human stem cells, bionic ears, fetuses or King Richard III.’s reconstructed face. With appliances becoming more affordable, 3D printing has not only enriched the options for the science and technology sectors considerably. A wide array of objects can now be designed and printed up to a certain scale with the range stretching from things practical to weird and from commercial products to manufacturing parts. Bioprinting of portions of the human body for medical purposes has revolutionised the field. And a wealth of exciting developments is still in the pipeline. Experts predict that privately owned 3D printers will be a frequent commodity in the not too distant future and 3-dimensional DIY activities a realistic option for virtually everyone.