Great Expectations

About eight years ago I was asked to give an interview on Radio Dortmund. As part of the celebrations surrounding the sixtieth anniversary of the town twinning between Dortmund and Leeds, the local radio station wanted to hear from British people living in the city. There were three guests in total. Myself, a Yorkshireman and …

Revival

  They say an Englishman's home is his castle. They have obviously never been to Germany. It is often said that the Scots have thirty words for "rain" and the Inuit have thirty words for "snow", statistics which emphasise a point which can equally be applied the German concept of "home". "Home" in English covers …

How To Be Good

I have called upon to defend myself. I have been asked to explain some of my comments from the last entry. I must provide an example -- and I will do so in due course -- to illustrate exactly I mean when I talk about "German moralising?" I am also accused of hypocrisy. Are we …

Ganbei!

Often enough I am told that I have a love affair with Germany. Personally I would describe it more as a long-term relationship than a love affair but there is no smoke without fire: I have a fondness towards the country that many native-born Germans do not. If I am engaged in a long-term relationship …

Attachments

We are experiencing intercultural difficulties. I have told my colleague that I am about to become a German citizen. She asks me what about the other British people I know here. "Nobody's bricking it just yet", I reply. She looks at me blankly. "You know, shitting bricks. Shitting ourselves. Worried, afraid." "Ah." It can be …