J.O. in Germany

J.O. not in Germany

2008-08-01T19:58:00.002+01:00

Hi all,

I am not sure if anyone reads this blog anymore, since I have more or less abandoned it for the last few months - I was not even sure that anyone was reading it.

I am no longer in Germany. I am writing out of Toronto where I have move to on 30 July 2008. I guess I now have plenty of free time, and feel rather interested to connect to the outside world as I don't know the city so well.

As I am typing away here in my new kitchen I wonder inevitably if it was a good choice to move back to Canada and to Toronto? I had it good in Freiburg. Colleagues, housemates, friends, boss, all was good. It took me a while to build a life there, say at least a year, and I don't think I ever had a greatest place to be at. Montreal did not even get close. I can't help but wonder if I'll be able to pull that one again in Toronto? This time around it does not seem like my office will be the center of my social life as in Freiburg, but I guess that's normal. We'll see where the fun will come from.

Walking around Toronto last night I found it strange that I could understand each and every conversations. In Germany I got used to not getting anything around me, living in a sort of loud silence. And as I walked, a little dwarfed but the huge buildings, I thought that Europeans might have a got a thing or two right about lifestyle. Here it seems all rather artificially flavored. The most striking thing is perhaps that nothing is very pretty. Spaces or things aren't particularly cared for or well-thought. But people sure are friendly.

I wish a lot of you in Europe would be here, but I made the choice myself, and I guess I still trust it is the right one.

Cheers

Critical Mass

2007-09-05T09:05:00.000+01:00

FROM GRIST.org

Pope urges youth to care for the planet

Pope Benedict XVI preached the gospel of green to hundreds of thousands of young Catholics in Loreto, Italy, on Sunday, one day after the Italian church's designated Save Creation Day. While the church gave out recycled-material backpacks filled with biodegradable plates, hand-cranked cell-phone chargers, and prayer books printed on recycled paper, the pontiff implored young people to care for the earth. "New generations will be entrusted with the future of the planet, which bears clear signs of a type of development that has not always protected nature's delicate equilibriums," said the Pope, who was decked out in vestments of green, the liturgical color of hope. "Before it is too late one must make courageous choices that can recreate a strong alliance between mankind and the earth."

Canada, as sold to the German Tourists

2007-09-03T16:33:00.001+01:00

Discover our true Nature...yeah.

My five bins and their symbolism

2007-08-25T12:15:00.000+01:00

German garbage disposal system, and what is says about Germany.

As an expatriate in this Bundesland, garbage has still got me confused, more than a year post-arrival. By all account, it is the most competent waste disposal system I have encounter, putting to shame any North American efforts. Yet, its symbolism goes much further than environmental concerns, it embodies perhaps some basic tenets of the 'German Way'.

First, the system has five different bins. 1-Paper, 2-Compost, 3-Glass, 4-Wrappings, 5-the trash. Each household pays the city for a weekly allowance of trash (all the grimmy non-recyclable stuff). We have a whooping 60 liters of trash in my house, or the equivalent of a carry-on luggage. So, better get the rest all out of the way. So we split all of the above duly, filing the external bin, and a funny looking 'Gelbe Sack' or yellow bag, with all the wrappings. Interestingly, the manufacture of a good must pay for disposing of the wrapping, a system called the 'Grune Punkt' or green dot, which is actually black.As a wasteful Canadian, it took me perhaps a whole year to figure the tricker part of the system, Glass. Unlike our simplistic green box in Montreal where you just put all your glass and paper on the curb-side, here one must 'go' to a big bin in the neighborhood and drop of the glass. However, the complexity is not over, once there one must separate the green, clear and brown glass. Wow. This would never ever work in my 'Heimlatland'.

A City of Freiburg staff explaining the waste system to an Indian Delegation during a ICLEI Conference in Freiburg: Local Renewables Freiburg 2007, june 7.

Beyond the nuts and bolts of the system, it can be seen as a metaphor of German behaviors. Germans are rule abiding. Period. While they are free-thinkers, sometimes living on the margins, creative and bold, they follow some basic social rules. It helps that the system is somehow 'policed', but how much, I wonder?

German enjoy a clean environment. This country has 80 millions of people on half the land area of Ontario and still preserves much of its forests. Being concerned about climate change or water pollution is all but a fringe attitude. Threaten some German to cut a forest and they shall form multiple week-end activity clubs to hike its trails, do environmental education and grow rare species of mushrooms. And it would operate flawlessly.

Even in my German course a whole lesson was dedicated to the vocabulary of trash. My teacher initiated an intercultural discussion on waste streams in our home countries. A little bewildered, we proceeded, not sure that we had much to say beyond 3 sentences. I sensed a certain pride in her tone. She should be - yet I find it always slightly disturbing.

If there is anything I am learning in my stay in this Bundesland is that German are hard to beat for making systematic operations. (Perhaps the Swiss have an edge there, but still). There is an enthusiasm shared at the national level to make things work. And they do.

Cheers,

Foreigned out

2007-08-19T15:21:00.000+01:00

What is your name? Where are you from? What do you do in Freiburg? How long have you been here? How long will you stay here? Do you speak German? Where do you live in Freiburg? Do you have flatmates? How do you know [name of host]? Do you...

It seems this is the essence of all conversations I have been having recently. I keep going to parties, meeting new people, asking the old questions. I can just have a script conversation and say it all again. Is that what politicians go through talking about the same stuff, making the same jokes, all the time?

Basically the whole point of these chats are to figure out if both people have affinities and can get along. The questions above are unintrusive and give a glimpse of the other. But as in job interviews the first few minutes tell me plenty. But then I have started to talk. So I can not just leave. I employ various strategies once I get bored: get more food, go to the loo, introduce someone else. I am getting bored of just meeting people, never seeing them again (or really wanting to). Sometimes I luck out and find a fellow nerdy spirit that share a sense of humor and the longing to learn about a lot of things. Perhaps all these other times are for just those ones?

I am also 'foreigned' out today. It is tiring to meet foreigners or Germans that do not really speak English, or French, well enough to have a flowing conversation. It seems most social events I go to include mostly Spanish, Italians or Germans who like to speak their native tongue. The occasional two sentences in English acknowledge my presence before the flurry of unintelligible words resumes.

I wish there would be either some French Canadians around or old friends to share something with. Perhaps I should Germanize myself and join a hiking club? For now at least I keep chatting away, wondering where the salads are and asking myself if there is more to being a foreigner than constantly meeting foreigners.

Cheers.

I found!

2007-07-17T21:48:00.000+01:00

Yes! I found a flat!

Great folks, great location, great room.

I feel out of the dark tunnel of house hunting. (And boy it was getting dark in there)

I want to jump around.

Here are a couple of pics of the flat:

Rant on rent

2007-07-15T19:45:00.000+01:00

(Warning, rant ahead)

SERIOUSLY, I can not take this anymore! I am looking for a flat for WEEKS now and nothing works out. I have spend so much time looking at this, and worrying about this, it is really getting unbearable. I am constantly scrutinizing all the website with offers, reading the paper with ads, asking all people, it just does not work.

All that are find are small room on big loud streets. The occasional larger room is usually in a flat shared by folks that are either not interested at all to live with anyone but can not afford it, or people that smoke. (Who is the world smokes *inside* anymore?? yuk)

I guess I have high standards, but where I live matters greatly to me. I am in a foreign country I barely babble this language. I work hard and put a lot of energy into it. At least I want a comfortable safe haven to come home too! I am done living with sloppy students buying the cheapest toilet paper and eating only ramen noodle. I am done living in half-broken house that are cold and dark.I have got some basic criteria that I need: no carpet (allergies), no smokers (I despise that habit), no small room, no big loud streets, not a guy-only place. I do not need luxury, or fancy, just plain comfortable and pleasant to be in.

The harder part is the search process. I can finally decrypt all the ads from their abbreviated German. Example:

Moebl. 3er-WG-Zimmer (Stuehl.) zur ZW-Miete fuer ein Jahr (bis Aug. 2008), gr.
Bad u. Kueche; Tel.0761/3690149 o. 0172-3862421

Not easy. And then there are the phonecalls. I have to muster the energy to pick up the phone and call the people. Most of the time, they are not there. When they answer, they are usually just asking you: 'When do you want to see it?' And the male kind are the most difficult to handle. There is something so 'ungentle' about German guys. They have this authoritative voice as if they were always defending their turf. They speak to a stranger in the coldest most impersonal terms. Gee! What about a little 'Thanks for calling' or some enthusiasm in the voice? Instead I have been yeld at, lectured about timing, ignored in my requests for a slower pace of speaking, and so on.

The experience is just getting more difficult. I dread the phonecalls now. Especially I have started to speak to people in German, that might have been a mistake. I get the general point, but stay in the dark for a lot of it. If I do not speak in German I just phone and say, 'Hi, I am Jean-Olivier from Canada. I do not speak German well, perhaps you speak a little English?', that put a lot of them off. And if one of them in the flat speaks English other don't, or don't want to. So much for the idea that young Germans love to speak English, rubbish.

And now the problem, I am leaving on Friday for two weeks, so I MUST find. But the later we get in the month, the uglier the apartment gets. It feels like Halloween where the good candies are gone early and the average fructose sucker is all that's left for the latecomers.

Unlike a car or a pair shoes, one can not shop for a long time. There is a deadline: I am homeless in 14 days. Then I have to make a choice on a few 'not horrible' places and get stuck there for a long time.

Stupid Germany. This recent experience really adds to the tally of "I should leave" column. Things should not have to be this hard. I had tear of desperation this morning, I do not like that.

J.o.

A video from the top

2007-07-11T23:57:00.000+01:00

Howdy there.

Here you can watch a video from my visit to the highest point of Rio where the Cristo Redentor (Le Christ Redempteur) is overlooking Rio. I just love this statue, its serenity and its peacefulness.

Brazil, un pais de todo

2007-07-03T20:37:00.000+01:00

Greetings from Sao Paolo.

I am currently sitting in the ICLEI project office in Sao Paolo. They are well located just inside the central park of the city with lots of windows and greenery. There are a total of 9 people working here, thanks to many new projects that have started since April. In particular they are working with the city of Sao Paulo to write up the draft legislation on the climate protection. The staff is friendly and speaks good English. I made sure to take pictures to show you later.

Yesterday there was a 1 day event about sustainable construction with more the 600 participants. The mayor of Sao Paulo was present for some time, quite an achievement for ICLEI. The event was powerful in bringing together the main policy makers of the city. I am constantly amazed that the mayor is in charge of a city with 17 million people! In the afternoon Mr. Buschmann presented and I was on the stage as a debater. It was great to speak about ICLEI and its multiple projects.

The Betim event was a succesful one as well. I had a chance to meet the policital leadership of Betim, which reminds me of the commitment I have seen from Mayor Salomon in Freiburg. Politicians that are personally engaged in an issue can really make a difference. While us `project people` can `do`, the elected folks can `move things´. The Mayor and some secretary are considering to send a delegation to Freiburg, althought nothing is fixed yet. After the event, I got the opportunity to spend a night in the mayor´s home, since his son was so generous to show me around the region and the nightlife in Belo Horizonte.

I am currently staying with my colleague Gabriela and going to Rio on Thursday. There I will stay with one of the participant in the Betim event, an eco-architect.

I will fly back on the 8th.

Best regards

Home Improvement part 1

2007-04-30T15:37:00.000+01:00

To all man out there, you shall understand the satisfaction of doing something for your home. For a while I have been thinking about all the improvements I could make to make better use of the space in my European kitchen (read small).

First I moved the fridge and installed a table, in effect giving us a new counter. Then I graduated from light school when I installed my first halogen lights under the cupboards, providing us with light for our European kitchen (read dark, at night).

Today I graduated from drill school and installed on the wall a knife rack (from Ikea, of course).
The hardest part was to do the holes. In the wall of my house, it is a strange combination of plaster and brick. Walls have always mystify me a little. I am just no so sure on how to fix anything into them so that it holds. But the key here was that my friend Marta, an engineer frankly more versed in those tasks, bought an electric drill. The wall stood no more chance, I thought. After some trials, I got it right.

Now, we can sucessful reach our knives without them unsharpening in the pêle-mêle of my drawers. (actually, are they even sharp...)

My first map!

2007-04-24T23:05:00.000+01:00

Today I have created my first map. For months I have been fascinated by my buddies from Quebec city working on their internet startup called Poly9.com. They have been, especially a great guy named Greg, a the frontier of the 'web 2.0', developing interactive maps working with Microsoft, Google, and others.

Google just recently launched a new service called 'My Maps' that is associated with their brilliant 'Google Maps'. Basically it allows anybody to create a simple map with information such as text, URL, and images. Well, it is very modest compare to the technologically creative ways of the Poly9 folks, but it is fun!
I did my map for an upcoming conference with my job with ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability. I am in charge of the website content and thought this could be a great addition to the pratical information. In fact, I manage to put information about all the hotels and links to our online booking website. To me, that is like the first time I used email. Wow. So simple, so useful, so great. Google really deserve to read my emails (well, and this blog since they own Blogger).

More from nerdland in some time.

Take care,

j.o.

Sevilla 2007

2007-03-31T18:38:00.000+01:00

Hi,

The madness is over! The biggest conference that ICLEI has ever organised is now talked about in the past tense. It was crazy, it was big, it was chaotic, it was not too bad. Yay for past tense, I am no longer tensed.

For the last couple of weeks I have been too busy preparing for this event. Website (www.sevilla2007.org), print products, youth delegation, networking sessions, roundtables, they kept me busy.

The key element to remember here is that the event was planned for 1000 participants, 1600 showed up! We were short of food, programme, seats. Yet our team was fantastic. One participants refered to us as 'synchronized swimmers'. After our initial surprise he explained that we worked incredibly hard but keep a smile on. The image is still funny, but holds some truth. I feel particularly lucky to work with such qualified colleagues, they know so much and they are just plain good at what they do.

I guess my high point of the event was the Youth Delegation. 20 young people were invited by Sevilla to join the conference as part of the future generations. They were great! When four of its members made the opening statement I had the beginning of a tear in my left eyes. I had been convincing my team and the city of Sevilla about the worth of such delegation and I was really proud that they lived up to the expectations. One of my primary agenda is to promote within my organisation the role of young municipal councillors as champions of sustainability. Two joined us at Sevilla - I am even more certain now.

We had a bit of holyday time after this - was great. Do we seem happy?

Take care all of you!

Coming home - Le retour

2007-03-02T23:33:00.000Z

I will be in Montreal soon. Today I book my ticket with the lovely Frankfurt-Detroit-Montreal connection to come home to say hello to all of you. I fly on the April 5 and shall hang on until the 18 April. Will you be there? Let me know.

Cheerios,

j.o.

Facebook, spells trouble

2007-02-24T11:54:00.000Z

Hi there. I have just recently join facebook, after some gentle convincing from facebooker. That thing is sort of addictive. I have found people I had no clue where they were. First there was email, now there is Facebook. They do sell your personal info, unless you click an obscure box in a deep-down page.

Enjoy.

j.o.

Muzik ctrl-c, ctrl-v

2007-02-18T23:09:00.000Z

Please, if you work in an office and enjoy copy-pasting lifestyle, hear the song that plays when one open this website: http://www.myspace.com/plasticoperator

(entendu sur la trame sonore de l'horloge biologique)

I went to the woods

2007-02-18T21:07:00.000Z

Hi there.

Freiburg proved once again that it deserves its title of 'sunniest city' in Germany. I woke up to a summer-like sun and temperature.

I helped my roomate Ewa move out. Today she went to Berlin to start dance school for five months. I will then move in her room. The girl from whom I currently sublet is coming back to 29 Scheffelstrasse in a week.

After a few episodes of the very american show 'The West Wing', I went to the woods. My home is located close to the Black Forest. I thus went for a walk also documenting my surroundings for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy.

My home is the first one on the left. My room window is above the graffiti. 29 Scheffelstrasse, Freiburg, 79102, Germany.

Freiburg, from the surrounding hills.
It's spring here. Or it sure feels like it.

I have always like tree at dusk. Even better when they are vertical.

An owl in the woods. Made out of wood. huh?

Have a great week.

Ma soeur à Freiburg

2007-02-17T19:49:00.000Z

Agissant sous une impulsion des plus imprévue, Catherine, ma soeur, décida de venir me visiter dans mon patelin de Freiburg en compagnie de son amoureux Cyrille.

Belle journée! Nous avons dûment complété le circuit touristique de Freiburg qui inclut une photo face au Munster, la gigantesque cathédrale de pierre roses, véritable emblème de Freiburg.

Et voilà le résultat.
Il y avait un air de fête dans la ville - avec raison puisque la saison du carneval bat son plein. Litérallement. Partout dans la ville des musiciens jouent des pièces de musique très allemandes. Tout pour vous donner l'envie de boire une bière et mangez des saucisses grillées.

Partout des gens costumés surgissent attriqués disons...étrangement. L'histoire derrière ce carnaval est (historiquement) d'inverser les rôles de la société. Le riche peut agir impunément en pauvre, puisque masqué personne ne pourrait le reconnaître. Le pauvre peut abuser de la réputation des riches, des puissants, lui aussi impunément, les autorités étant elles-mêmes trop occupée à s'ennivrer dans un p'tit coin noir. Aujourd'hui, les Allemands, prennent la chose plus au sérieux. Ils en font une opportunité de créer une équipe dans chaque village qui s'ingénue à être plus...particulière que l'autre.

Poor, but sexy. Berlin, la Montréal de l'Europe.

2007-02-10T15:47:00.000Z

On 2-4 February, with a couple colleagues we went to the capital of Deutshland, Berlin. We had a great time finally being in a big city, enjoy the cheap life in Berlin and not feeling like criminals for jaywalking. (note: jaywalking is a big deal in Germany. the cops are fining offenders, like, a lot.)

Nous sommes restés dans une auberge de jeunesse représentant bien la 'renaissance' de ces endroits privilégiés par les voyageurs. Dans ce cas, l'auberge s'accomederait bien sans 'de jeunesse'. Nous y étions agréablement logés et sans les inconvénients typiques des ces lieux. Mais le mieux reste que l'auberge est située au coeur de l'ancienne partie Est de la ville, historiquement chouette.

Most of the city is located in the former East Germany, also called before 1989 the German Democratic Republic. Democratic is misleading, this was actually the Soviet part with its love of imposing state architecture and disregard for personal comfort. Berlin is therefore refreshingly free of the typical European sight: antique buildings with their fancy stoneworks and a certain pursuit of perfection that gets to me at times. One person captured well how Berlin looks. It has three colors: brun, gris et brun-gris.

We took a brilliant walking tour around Berlin. We saw the sights, learned about its history. My favorite was the Memorial for the Dead Jews of Europe. From the streets it looks like a field with flat black stones. But as soon as one gets closer, you realise that the flat stones are only the top of giant stone columns forming maze that one can walk through.

We enjoyed some serious night out especially at the "Zu mir oder zu dir" literally meaning "My place or yours" ou "Chez toi 0ù chez moi". The next night we hit "Broken Donuts" an electronic music place. The exact kind of night spots absent from my town, Freiburg. It was fun to take a look at what seems to be 'the scene' and pretend for one night to be a berliner out in a bar on Sunday.I am really thinking that perhaps Berlin should be my next home. I'll see.

Many more photos online @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/jean-olivier/sets/72157594528043091/

First Post - hello world

2007-02-10T15:19:00.000Z

The other day, while taking a shower, I realized I would not get many stars for my keeping in touch habits.

Therefore, welcome to my new blog.

Since I have troubles with mass emails, and only so much can be written in my postcards, I think a blog might be good. You tell me.

J'hésite un tantinet quant au language. Quoique l'Allemand est pour l'instant hors de question, l'anglais et le français se font compétition. J'espére que vous me laisserez savoir vos opinions sur la chose.

From Germany, with love.

j.o.