Where the Berlin Wall used to be

Berlin: A City of Contradictions:
As often as I can I take a run to the closest wooded by our house, and take a beautiful jaunt through some lovely wooded Berlin landscape. My run like many things in this complex town is full of contradictions. The contradiction is that the footprints that I am leaving are in the same spot that would have gotten me shot 23 years ago because they are in the Berlin Wall death strip, and yet I am running, not for my life but for relaxation.

Today I went to Templhoff to fly a kite, it was a lovely day and a good percentage of Berlin showed up to watch me learn how to kite board. The contradiction to this day was that Templhoff was built in the 30's as a show piece of Nazi propaganda, and stood for a long time as the largest airport in all of Europe. As I flew my kite I reflected about how funny it is that I am flying a kite on the runway that saw so many evil evil men land.



I think I have some ideas when I come back to teaching in the US

The final contradiction is that I am now trying to make a home out of a place I swore I would never come back to, and yet I am here, trying to make a life out of this place for my family.

A lot of people have asked how we are doing, and I would say that this time is a totally different experience. Sure it's hard, and there are some real pain in the ass things to deal with, but I can confidently stay that we are surviving, even at times doing well. I think there are two reasons life is different this time. The first is I am no longer a haus man, and have had enough to learn at my new job that I don't have time to get board. The second is that life anywhere with kids is action enough, and on any given day I get to see my kids two hours more per day then I did in the states.

Oh and if Gramma Carol had not shown up we would alreay be back state side. 

One of the biggest shocks that I have had was the realization that I don't really work with kids any more. When I got hired there was talk of teaching science or computers, or something else, but when the schedule showed up there were just two hours a week where I would work with students. The rest of my week is spent putting out fires for teachers, and hopefully soon some technological coaching for the staff. I wasn't sure how I would take not working with a group of kids everyday, but I can now say that I miss it, and am sure that will be something I look forward to when we are back state side.

Right now my job is good, I am basically an IT guy, but the funny thing is I am still learning what an IT guy does, and how he or she does it. I enjoy the process of learning, and right now there are days that when I get home my brain actually feels as if it has grown. Fortunately I have a 22 year veteran of IT that makes sure I don't blow anything up that watches over me. I think I will really enjoy my job and learn a lot from it, so what more could one really ask for.

So far we have traveled to the North Sea to take in the sun, sand, and naked German buns of the beach. It was nice to take the train to get out of the city and just relax for a couple of days as a family. In other exciting news we are going to be the proud owners of a 1998 Saab 93 with 140,000 kilometers on it. Turns out that getting yourself and your kids to the kita (daycare) and then to school is impossible by bike, and it hasn't even started to snow yet. Buying a car is going to allow us to focus our travels on Germany a little more, maybe get to the Alps to ski and kayak a little more often, and hopefully it just makes life eaiser.

I spend most of my day looking at a computer screen, so I am going to take a break from the screen, and read a good book.

I hope this email finds you are well, and know that we miss our home country more each day.