Wow, That Was Some Visit

Things are slowly returning to normal here at Expat HQ, now that my parents have taken their leave. Looking back, we did a -lot- of stuff, including visiting this city's medieval underground tunnels (used for everything from storage and beermaking to shelter during the war), its dungeon (still underneath city hall), cruised up the Rhine River, spent 3 days in Berlin, had a few side day trips... and we ate a lot of German food. A lot-- arguably more in the course of 2+ weeks than in the 11 months that have preceeded it. There are quite a few photos to sift through, and some work that has been put off that needs to be caught up, so more information will be forthcoming. But let me say that I'm glad my folks had a good visit, and we all had a grand time. Can I sleep in now please Dad? Like, later than 7:30am?

Nifty Advertising

For as long as I've been a car geek, I've always liked Saabs. This Swedish car maker have followed their own path in terms of design and engineering, and have a lot of respect in the automotive industry as a result. I've owned 2 Saabs thus far, a 9-3 (that I'm convinced saved my wife from a terrible injury-- or worse), and a 9-5, and I've written about wanting to purchase a low-mileage Saab 90 here in Europe and export it back to the States when we go home. These days, Saab is very much off the radar due to several factors, not the least of which being neglectful parent General Motors (they bought the marque in the late 1990's hoping to have a fully-formed BMW competitor), who have done nothing but neuter the brand's well-defined image in the interim. GM's recent bankruptcy has led to Swedish hyperexotic supercar maker Koenigsegg agreeing to buy Saab, and the deal should clear by year's end. For their part, the Koenigsegg folks have stated they want to "turn Saab into Saab again," which is music to my ears. This commercial was just released in the UK, and is a great primer as to the originality, fun, quirkiness and intelligence that defines this unique brand. And it's really fun to watch too. Saab is back!

Service Interruption- Please Stand By

B and I host our first guests this week-- my parents have gamely elected to endure the 16-hour plane+airport combo to get here from the Western US. Our time here in the apartment will be hit-and-miss: there is plenty to see and do in the area and region, and despite being here for nearly 11 months, B and I haven't seen a lot of this country ourselves. Mom & Pop's 3-week(!) visit will be capped off with a 3-day stay in the German capitol of Berlin, which at 3.4 million inhabitants is the second most populous city in all of the European Union. As a result, blogging will be sporadic at best for the next few weeks. If the chance presents itself, I will try to post something; if not, enjoy the last days of summer, as we plan on doing.

Huzzah, Soccer Is Back! Um... Did It Ever Leave?

Ah, the return of the European soccer (Fußball) season where in Germany the Bundesliga soccer federation runs the show. Like most worldwide soccer federations, German Bundesliga teams rise and fall amongst different tiers depending on their win/loss record-- the three teams with the best records get "promoted" to the next tier; the bottom 3 get "relegated" to the lower tier. The main difference between the tiers is money-- the upper tiers get a bigger piece of the massive TV contract pie, and from there have the wherewithal to wheel and deal to get the top players; the lower leagues (there are 4 total tiers) make do with the comparitive table scraps, and are mainly supported by their fan bases, an occasional televised game and some sort of allowance from the league offices. The big news in town is that after being in the Bundesliga 2 (second tier) for a long, long time, the storied FC Nürnberg (Fußball Club Nürnberg) team finished 3rd in the final standings last season, and gets to play with the big boys this season-- a VERY big deal here.

My problem lies with the fact that I really don't think there's been an actual offseason-- soccer is always on the tube, and some of these squads play literally year-round, either touring around for money, or in "test matches" (basically games that do not impact their league rankings) with upper or lower teams from home and abroad. I mean, I love watching Aussie Rules football and auto racing, but I need a break from those once in a while too. But Soccer is king here, and these folks just can't get enough. That being said, I do plan on catching a game or 2 this season, though I may just go to the neighboring town of Fürth to watch their 2nd tier squad play-- it's a pleasant bike ride, the ticket prices are more reasonable, and the stadium is cozy (about 15,000 capacity-- and half of those "seats" are in the standing only area). The best part? The team is owned by the same guy that owns Playmobil toys, so the stadium is called, appropriately, Playmobil Stadium.

Strange And Beautiful

In light of my ranting below, perhaps it's time to take a mental sorbet, clear the air, and post this wondrous piece of video confectionary, the song "Mirador" by Danish band Efterklang. The video (and its storyline) matches up with the song quite well-- tiny yet sweepingly grand, joyous and melancholy, and overall very adventurous. I'll wager you've never seen or heard anything quite like this. It's a small revelation. Enjoy.

I've Had Better Weeks

As I general rule, I try to keep this blog's content on the lighter side-- I mean, it's hard to complain too hard when you're living in Europe, have the ability to pick-and-choose work assignments and have all the inherent opportunities that living abroad entails. However... sometimes you gotta vent. To wit:

The place still isn't finished. This may come as a surprise to some seeing that we moved in to the apartment nearly eight months ago. But here I am typing this while 10 feet away a workman is slowly completing trim painting that should have been done before they handed us the keys. The corker is that I completely cleared my schedule last week-- errands, doctor appointments, you name it-- to take on the onerous, stultifyingly boring task of sitting here inside all day every day so the building super could throw all his guys at the place and be completely, 100% done by August 1. You see, this apartment's owners, a very cool young couple from Frankfurt, drove out a couple weeks ago to ride this guy and force him to complete the work by this deadline. But like any slick operator, the super (who comes with the building) knows the law backwards and forwards (circumstantial evidence points to the fact that he has a local judge in his pocket), and knows there is what amounts to be a "3 Strikes" rule in Germany-- he was reprimanded once already, and Friday afternoon was merely his second. So despite his promises to this couple who took time out of their vacation to come out, despite him knowing that I committed myself to sticking around the place to let any and all workmen in... he had absolutely no intention of completing the work-- why should he? He was merely putting this off as long as he could until he collected a second reprimand. The super just had to ride out a couple people yelling at him for 30 minutes, make some more of his empty promises, and then get on with his life-- sort of like industry execs at a senate hearing. But even some of his answers were infuriating-- stuff that should have been here last year (we were supposed to move in last October-- the first of many broken deadlines) was just ordered from the supplier last week. Crap like that. We all felt punked, me especially. So now that he's on his 3rd strike, he's begrudgingly getting on with things... except he also knows (and is counting on) the fact that I won't be here all week, and with my parents' impending visit he also knows that there is a requested work stoppage for most of August-- so all of a sudden it's our fault that he can't complete the work. Like I said, real crooks know the law.

I should point out that all evidence points to the fact that this situation is highly unusual. Most building supervisors in Germany are responsible upstanding folks who take their jobs very seriously and with pride. Our building owner and the individual apartment owners (this is sort of like a condo arrangement) apparently chose this guy as a super because he promised the world, and worked for cheap. But seeing as he's screwed over nearly everybody in the building, his contract likely won't get renewed when it comes up in November. Small comfort, but we'll take anything at this point.