Small Change

When I lived back in the US I had this great big beer mug (I have no idea where I actually got it... but it originated in Vegas and had this lovely slogan on it, "Poker in the front, liquor in the back"... but I digress) that I used to put my spare change in. It mostly contained pennies, but also had the occasional nickels, dimes, and quarters. When my paycheck didn't last until the next payday that mug came in mighty handy. It meant hamburgers at McDonald's for dinner and a gallon of gas to get to work.

I think nearly everyone that I have ever known in America has had one of these "change mugs" at one time or another. Once I was able to make my paycheck last until the end of the month, I kept throwing my spare change in the mug, but wasn't taking so much out anymore. Finally, when I was packing up and getting ready to move to Germany I took my mug to the bank and ended up getting about $36 in cash for my change. As you can plainly see, if you don't have to use the spare change for the necessities it can really add up. (Even though to be honest, it DID take about 2 years for it to do so.)

Since moving to Germany I have not begun the small change mug again. I no longer have my Poker/Liquor Mug (it got thrown in with a box of dishes that I got rid of) and small change here really isn't so small.

In America, the largest common coin denomination is the quarter (25 cents). Therefore you can have a lot of change in your change mug, but it takes a while to add up. Sure occasionally you might run across a Susan B. Anthony Dollar or a fifty-cent piece, but most people keep them as collectibles. But here there are coins that are worth 1 and 2 Euros (current exchange rate 1 Euro = about $1.20). Those large denomination coins don't make it so easy for me to throw them in my mug and forget about them.

Even so, I guess the small change phenomenon has struck the rest of the population here in Germany. In fact, according to this report, the Germans are apparently so good at hoarding their small change that there is a shortage of it. They literally have to bring change in from Austria by the truck load and "[t]he Bundesbank has called on Germans to spend their stores of small change and has urged retailers to accept larger sums in coins."

So next time I am holding up the line at dm because I am paying for my deodorant and toothpaste in coins instead of handing them a 10 Euro bill, I won't feel bad. After all, I am only answering the plea of the Bundesbank.

A Keyboard Story

To begin with... why do I always get inspired to write my blog entries when I really should be in bed asleep?

Anyway, for tonight's topic...

While A. and I were discussing getting me a new computer, he asked me to make a list of things that I wanted it to have. One of things that I said I would like, but I did not find absolutely necessary, was an American keyboard.

First of all, let me tell my American readers who may not know this: keyboards all around the world are not the same. Some languages have completely different alphabets than we do and yet others have letters with accent marks or umlauts that are a necessary part of the language. For example, in German there are three letters (a, o, and u) that also come in the "umlaut" variety (ä, ö, and ü), not to mention the ß. Because these letters are used frequently, they must have a place on the keyboard. Therefore, the keyboard layout is different.

In the afore-mentioned situation, A. was a big supporter of getting me a computer with a German keyboard. His argument was simple and logical. We live in Germany and I will someday work and use a computer in Germany. As a cultural integration step, I should make the move to a German keyboard. Not to mention the fact computers in Germany come with German keyboards unless you order them specifically to come with an American keyboard.

After many heated discussions which usually ended up with me pouting about how I didn't want to use a German keyboard and that at home I will "always" type in English, I finally relented. I would get a German keyboard. After all, his "we live in Germany" claim did have a certain logic to it.

So, we went to our local hole in the wall, run by the Russian mob, for IT specialists or computer geeks only computer store. We had a particular computer for me in mind. I looked at it, played with the keyboard a little, and then we asked if they had any of that particular model in stock. No, they didn't. They had to order one. I saw a window of opportunity. Slyly, I asked how much it would cost to order it with an American keyboard. It was a mere 60 Euros. So, before A. could protest, I told the friendly Russian mobster that I would like to order it with an American keyboard. A. gave me the evil eye, but didn't say anything.

Upon leaving the store A. asked me what was up with the whole German integration thing. I replied that I changed my mind (at least as far as the computer keyboard went). I wanted an American keyboard all along and he knew it. So, I got what I wanted after all.

But here is the punch line...

Two days later we went to pick up the computer and learned that what they did was order a German laptop and an American laptop keyboard... separately. So, I got my computer, but the keyboard won't be here for another couple of weeks. I will have to take the computer into the shop so they can change the keyboards for me when the American keyboard arrives.

And after all that rigmarole, I am currently typing from a German keyboard but have Windows XP set up to default to an American keyboard layout... and it isn't so bad as long as I don't look at my hands when I type.

Nein, Danke...

Today I saw a really impressive commercial on MTV.

The scene opens in coffee house. A young man in his 20s is sitting at a table drinking a coffee and smoking a cigarette. Suddenly, he spies a very attractive young woman at the next table. After making eye contact a couple of times, he goes over to her table and smiling, he offers her a cigarette. She waves them away and reaches into her purse as if to get her own cigarettes. Instead she pulls out a microphone-like contraption, puts it to her throat, and says in an electronic voice, "Nein danke, ich rauche nicht mehr." (trans. "No thank you, I don't smoke anymore.")

All I can say is, "Wow. That's quite a message."

I wish I could show that to my sister, my best friend, and everyone else I know who smokes...

Deutsch für den Beruf - Part 2

Since my German Business class ends in approximately one week, I thought I would take the opportunity to reflect a little bit on the whole experience.

First the positive aspects:

I had a chance to practice my German twice a week. This was by far the biggest benefit from this class. Since I don't currently work in Germany, have few German-speaking friends, and always speak English at home with A. I don't speak German as fluently as I would like. Any chance I have to speak German is definitely a good thing.

Another advantage of this class is that I learned a lot of practical and business-related vocabulary. For example, I spent an entire year at the Goethe-Institut and never added the word for "to deliver" (liefern) to my active vocabulary. Now I am not knocking GI... I don't think I would be as far in my German today as I am without them, but in the time since I have finished there I have found that I don't always know practical everyday vocabulary as well as I should.

Finally, my teacher was quite good. In addition to her regular duties, she was also willing to answer questions about and give me feedback concerning my first German resume and cover letter.

The negative aspect:

Overall I didn't feel the class was as "job-oriented" as I was looking for. I was looking for a class whose goal was, "OK, you are a foreigner living in Germany and want to work here. Here is the proper way to design a German-resume, answer a job ad, write a proper business letter, and overall deal with the German business climate."

Now it wasn't that we DIDN'T do these things. We did. We practiced telephone conversations, submitted a resume, and wrote various letters in groups. However, I would have liked the lessons to have been built around these business tasks but instead they were just tacked on in the midst of the different lessons.

But I guess any practice with these tasks is beneficial. Since I began the class, I have applied for a couple of different library jobs. And for the first time since I moved to Germany I felt comfortable enough writing email and letters that I didn't feel it absolutely necessary to have A. go through what I did with a fine-tooth comb before I sent it.

Overall, I would say that this class was a satisfactory experience for me. If I don't get a job this summer though whether or not I will take "Deutsch für den Beruf II" remains to be seen.

Rebel Librarians

The tag line to this article on the BBC News' front page reads: "Rebel Librarian: The U.S. PATRIOT Act encounters some unlikely opposition."

I'm quite aggravated with this tag line because I believe it portrays librarians as stereotypically quiet, conservative, and compliant, with only a select few protesting the U.S. PATRIOT Act. In fact, the U.S. PATRIOT Act has widely upset the library community and moved it to speak out and campaign against the consequences that this Act has had and is having on American Civil Liberties.

Ever since it was passed in October 2001, the U.S. PATRIOT Act has encountered opposition from the library community. The main bone of contention lies in the fact that using the PATRIOT Act, the Department of Justice (including the FBI) can access a patron's library records using a grand jury subpoena without judicial approval at all. In addition, one provision orders any person or institution served with a search warrant not to disclose that such a warrant has been served or that records have been produced pursuant to the warrant. (More information about the U.S. PATRIOT and libraries can be found at the ALA PATRIOT Act Site.)

Librarians are stark defenders of the First Amendment and believe that "privacy is essential to the exercise of free speech, free thought, and free association. In libraries, the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one's interest examined or scrutinized by others." (from ALA's Guidelines for Developing a Library Privacy Policy) As a general rule, librarians guard a person's library records much like a doctor protects a patient's medical records. Not only is the PATRIOT Act an assault on patron privacy and freedom to access information free from scrutiny, it is an insult to the Library Bill of Rights and our Code of Ethics.

To Protect and Serve

A while back, my dad sent me an email informing me that he was considering running for county sheriff in the area where I grew up. Today, I found out that he won the primary and will be on the ballot come election time. I am really rooting for him. Not only would it mean a pay raise and the responsibility he craves, but in a country where police don't always have the best reputations, my dad is a damn good cop and I am proud of him.

Truthfully, however, I wasn't always proud to have a dad that was a cop. My dad became a police officer the year that I turned 16 and I viewed this as a complete and utter tragedy. The entire population of Iowa is less than 3 million people (That is less than the population of Berlin!) and the area that comprises a 100 mile radius of where I grew up is probably around 30,000 at the most. In an area with such a small population, chances are that no matter where you are someone knows your family. Even if you try, there are no secrets.

The police officers in these counties have always had a good working relationship and keep each other informed about the area's shady characters. They also tell each other whose kids are hanging out with whose and if one police officer's kid gets pulled over for speeding or caught drinking underage that kid's police officer parent knows before the ink is dry on the ticket... which is exactly what happened to me on more than one occasion between the time I was 15 and 18.

There was the time that I was driving a little too fast on a gravel road to the lake when I was supposed to babysitting (a cheap cover, but it worked) and skidded off into the ditch and broke the ti-rod on my truck. I didn’t get a ticket that time, but the officer that came to make sure everything was alright also called my dad. After that, the babysitting cover story didn't work so well anymore.

There was also the time that as I was driving home late for curfew and I "rolled" through the stop sign at the major intersection in town. I got pulled over and received a stern warning, but when I got home (just about 5 minutes late) I got an earful about coming to a "full stop" at stop signs.

And then there was the time that I was with some friends and two of us (my cousin and I) got Minor in Possession (of alcohol - a BAD thing in the US) and the other two of us (my boyfriend and hers) got Supplying to Minors. That time I did get a ticket (and a court date and an evaluation with a psychologist) and when I got my phone call at the police station to call my mom, she said Dad was already on the way. In all honesty, I would have preferred to spend the night in jail than endure the ride home that night.

Oh yes, during my teenage years I cursed the fact that my dad was a cop so many times I lost count. We had huge arguments at home where he accused me of being a rebellious teenager and I accused him of never taking his cop uniform off long enough to remember that he was also a dad.

Once I finally moved out and our relationship cooled enough that we got along again, I looked back at his first years as a police officer and realized that it was tough for him to "leave his uniform at the door" because once you become a cop, you are a role model whether you like it or not. You can either choose not to take the role seriously and become the hypocritical cop that has a secret alcohol problem and spends more time at the donut shop than at the police station or you can become the kind of cop that wants to make a difference in the lives of people by the traditional motto of "protect and serve." My dad chose the latter and that is why today I am proud of him and think that he deserves all the prestige and responsibility that goes with the title of sheriff.

One Voter's Apathy

While looking at campaign posters for the European Parliament Election a couple of weeks ago, I started thinking about the upcoming American Presidential Election and what I would need to do to be able to vote from overseas.

I went out on the Web and found the web site for the Fedreal Voting Assistance Program and spent most of one afternoon reading all the rules and regulations.

The first thing that I learned is that I must vote according to the last place where I was registered to vote and then I must follow the guidelines for that state. For me that is Mississippi. There is, of course, paperwork to fill out, a journey to the Embassy (or Consulate) to get the paperwork notarized, and trips to the post office involved. Here it sounds simple, but add on the required deadlines and it suddenly began to look to me like a major hassle.

As previously discussed, I don't like Bush and I am about 98% sure that Mississippi will go Republican in this election, as they did in the last one. I quickly realized that I was asking myself if the whole thing was worth the time and effort I would need to put into it, since for all intents and purposes, by not voting Republican in Mississippi, my vote won't count anyway. And while I think Bush's foreign policy stinks, I am not sure Kerry's would be much better as he would have so much fence-mending to do that nothing would really happen. As for domestic issues, I still glance over the Internet to find out what they are, but they just don't really matter that much to me anymore.

I have voted in every presidential election and in a few special elections (one was for the possible flag change in Mississippi) since I turned 18 (1992). As a kid, I always looked forward to voting as a way to participate in democracy. As a teenager when I was discovering my feminist side, I was determined to vote whenever there was an election to exercise the right that so many women had worked so long and hard for. But as I grew up, politics really didn't interest me all that much and even before the Election Fiasco of 2000, I was quite cynical about the whole process.

Webster defines "apathy" as "lack of emotion or interest," and that may be exactly what compels me this time to exercise my right to vote by not doing it.