My deepest apologies for my absence, but I do have a good excuse; I had some sort of flu, and writing a blog was really the last thing on my mind. For the first few days I was distracted by the intense body aches and an eye that decided to swell shut (which I think was a separate allergic issue completely in addition to the flu. Good times). Then the fun decided for the last week to move lower. I will spare everyone the details, we've all experienced the details before, no need to relive them here, but of course the obligatory "Alien" references can be made at this point.
But now, VERY thankfully, my body seems to have fought off the alien creature trying to fight its way out of my digestive system and I am finally back to feeling like a human being again. And so, the struggle continues.
And struggle I do. All the rumors you've heard about German Bureaucracy you've heard, perhaps as you sat around camp fires at corporate retreats telling horror stories to scare the pocket protectors off each other, are completely and utterly true. I continue to struggle against Der Mann here, and I continue to loose. All of the stories you hear about "German efficiency" are lies; the Germans are not an efficient people. They only seem that way from the outside. What they are very good at is creating elaborate and overly complex systems (the German language is example #1) and sticking to those systems come hell, high water, or carpet bombing by Allied forces. Despite EVERYONE knowing that the bureaucratic system here is absolute crap, everyone accepts that there is no changing it, and they all suffer in silence. This chafes a bit against my American Can-Do Spirit (if there is such a thing any more), that sees a problem, says "let's change this thing, there's PROFIT to be made!!" and creates a new system that hopefully fixes everything. Or causes global warming, at which point there will be a class action lawsuit against me and everyone goes home happy. It's not a perfect system, but I like it better than the stagnation we get here.
But, enough of that. On to good news.
*This section has been redacted due to the sensitive nature of the material. Dissemination of this information into the above mentioned German Bureaucratic System (GBS) could lead to Bad Things, which the GBS also rejoices in doling out. For further information please see the author of this Blog in a dark alleyway or bar. Until that time any further information must for now remain Top Secret (that's German for "top secret", FYI)*
Exciting, isn't it?? I'm quite excited about it all, at the same time as I'm quite nervous. But, nothing ventured nothing gained, and all sorts of other sayings. I will keep you updated of the details of course!!*
*The above statement cannot be guaranteed in light of the security issues voiced in the above redacted section. Please see the "dark alleyway or bar" reference of redaction for information on further detail update possibilities.
So hopefully my health will hold out, as well as my money, and all visa/insurance/job situations will come together before too long. I still love this city, the GBS will not run me off, no matter how hard they try.
Until next time!
-Sean
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