Month: March 2023

Ambivalence today. Written on April 19, 2019

Progress. Everything delivered with the touch of a button. Choices everywhere. Everything there is to desire is right in front of you. And in most cases it is delivered for free – I mean free as in: no extra fees. During my trip to Hangzhou, for the very first time I decide to join the…

I struggle with the thought: what is hypocrisy? Perhaps a somewhat charged subject for a Friday evening, but perfectly suited to the somewhat timid, tired, flattened feeling after an intense week. The week itself was fun and diverse, that’s for sure. But somewhere on this Friday, an expectation arose in my mind that I couldn’t…

Hangzhou today. Finally I can finish what started long before the new year. The application for my residence permit that is linked to my work permit. Keep on guard to the very last step! Anything can still go wrong! I have booked my train tickets online, under my “Chinese” name: 林森. This name is printed…

Today I just follow my pen. Let’s see if something comes up as I write. I stare out the window and inspiration spontaneously appears – a long sweep of green, brown, and gray is disturbed by white and blue. Plastic waste… styrofoam boxes, barrels, containers and filled bags… it all seems neatly scattered on the…

Double standards. As silent as they come, so squeaky they scratch when remained unnoticed. Cynically enough, it is easy to point it out to others, while being pointed out is first and foremost irritating. Powerlessness arises especially among those over whom the double standard is poured out. A generation gap does thereby not help. With…

Last Tuesday Emme went for her grade 4 ABRSM cello exam. Just about a month before Christmas we decided that she would go for it. Ever since, she has worked hard to master Pieta Signore, Tom Bowling and Shephards Hey (her favorite) as well as scales, dominant 7ths, sight reading, singing and listening skills. In…

Writing distracts for a while. No phone. All day long I am reminded of my addiction to bite-sized visual snacks. Not only I suffer from this, of course. News, chats, emails, and the occasional phone call, they follow each other in rapid succession. It is unclear at the moment who the actors are: of course…

I was sent home by Kelly today at 4:15 PM. “So you don’t have to run to catch the train!” And indeed, I was able to take it easy, walking and enjoying the first signs of spring, tulip trees (Magnolia) whose first flower calyxes started to reveal themselves from the down cocoon in which they…

Sarcasm seems rare here. Quite difficult to grasp if you do not master a language well. Where to start? With self-mockery? From my point of view, that seems a safe bet. By highlighting a flaw in your own self-image, you create a moment of weakness, in other words, accessibility. Someone who realizes this reacts tactically…