Goodbye Brexitland

And so it came to pass. Mrs May signed a document yesterday. It was taken to Brussels and given to the legal EU official. It announced the official withdrawal of Brexitland from the EU,  details of which have to be agreed within two years.

Goodbye Brexitland. I forecast the referendum result but still think the  citizens of Brexitland made a mistake. Only time will tell. I plan to spend next July in Brexitland with family and friends. I wonder if I shall notice any changes.

The referendum result only confirms my decision to take German citizenship some years ago. One of my best decisions. German friends still sometimes ask me how I feel about having dual citizenship. I posted about this on my blog and you can still find it in the archive links. I feel very happy about this and have no regrets.

I've had a nice week so far and we have even had signs of Spring this week. Nice to see blue sky, sun and temperature of 20°C. More please.  Here is a pic of the sun going down on the EU and Brexitland relationship :-))

First time words

Yesterday some words were said to me for the first time ever. Let's start at the beginning. The Bros called me early Saturday morning to say they needed help and could they come to my place. I said yes and they duly arrived. Bro1 needed help with English and Bro2 for his German homework about the French revolution. What a mixture!

As they settled in they told me about racial abuse they had recently received at their schools. I listened and let them talk. The abuse came from four German boys in their respective classes. I explained that the abusive boys had a problem and they should not react, but ignore them and walk away. Both had reported this to their teachers who had responded by having a discussion on the topic in class. Even so the verbal abuse continues.

After some time with tea and cakes, they started their homework. During a later tea break Bro2 talked about his family in Afghanistan and said I must be as old as his grandparents. Grandfather died some years ago. I just let him talk. We finished the English homework and I told them to return on Sunday so we could do Bro2 German homework.

They arrived as agreed. Bro1 did more English as I concentrated on Bro2 and his German. Suddenly he told me he had thought about our conversation when he was alone on Saturday evening. He said he had cried at the thought of my death. No one has ever said this to me before!

He lowered his head and stared at the floor as he quietly said, "I  don't want you to die." No one has ever said this to me before. He glanced at me then returned to looking at the floor. I said nothing. Long silence. I put out my arms and held him. He let me hold him. More silence then he whispered the words again. Tears formed and slowly ran down his cheeks. I just continued to hold him in silence.

I then whispered that there was nothing anyone could do for it was part of Nature and covered everything on the planet. We had a small discussion about Nature before I directed him back to completing his homework. Here is a photo of him doing his homework and having a break with Bro1.

I have not been able to forget his words and how he said them. Whenever I close my eyes, or drift off into vacent thoughts, I relive those moments.

Female Art

In my last post I told you I planned to go to an exhibition last Thursday. It opened at my local AWO centre and I arrived just before 3.00pm to meet the artist and get a quick look over the paintings on show in two rooms before other guests arrived.

The artist was Eliso Nicolo. She comes from Italy and has studied there in addition to Hungary, UK, USA before settling in Berlin to both paint and teach. The exhibition topic is: Arte Femminile a Berlino = weibliche Kunst in Berlin = Female Art in Berlin.

Here is a photo of her in front of a self portrait and one of another artist in front of a painting she did of him. There were some interesting guests and at one time I heard seven languages being spoken. The AWO provided a generous range of Italian food and drinks. A really pleasant afternoon!

Nothing new

Nothing new happened last week. Taught the Oldies at the AWO, played host to visitors on Wednesday, went to the opening of my local SPD office, had coffee with Marita on Thursday followed by a meeting with a representative of the housing association to which I was elected as a local rep. just over a year ago.

On Friday I went to the housing association annual meeting in a  hotel in the centre of Berlin which included a nice meal and wine! I went there last year so that was not new last week. I visited Oldie H. on Saturday and helped Bro.1 with his English homework on Sunday. Colin in Ozland had a birthday on Sunday. I mention this for I forgot to add it to the last birthday list. Sorry Colin!

The current week has nothing new except that I met the new Mayor of Lichtenberg (the district where I live) for coffee and cakes this afternoon. It was at a meeting of my SPD Oldies. He spoke well and answered all the question put to him although he is not a member of the SPD. On Thursday afternoon I am going to my AWO to see an exhibition of Female Art. I was invited and am interested to see what is on show.

I have just scanned a lot of photos of the French coast. I really like them. Here is one to remind me of mountains and snow ........and skiing :-))            

Oz and Bros

I recently updated Colin in Ozland about my Kowalka Gang and sent him a photo. I got some nice shots back. He is in a walking group and recenty led them on a walk in a National Park. He said it was from Bundeena to Wattamolla covering 10 klm. The weather was cool but pleasant.

Perhaps some of you have been there and know the area. It either south or north of Sydney. You can clearly see it is near/on the coast and that the season is changing. Colin will be in Berlin in a month and we are all looking forward to seeing him again and catching up on news.

I got a call earlier from Bro 1. "I need help with homework. Can I visit you?". "Of course", was my reply and half an hour later he rang the doorbell. Bro 2 was with him. Big Bro needed help with Maths. He had not understood the task. It was about putting a ladder against a wall and working out the angles. Once understood, he completed the task quickly.

Next was German. He had to read a text and answer comprehension questions. I checked and found he had made two mistakes. He corrected then replaced the book with his English class and work books. He spent over an hour on the tasks and I guided him and explained the grammar he needed to complete each task.

Bro 2 wanted to join in so he got some beginner activities to do. Both asked if they could come for lessons each week. Guess what my answer was :-)) After they left I prepared lessons for my Oldies on Monday and Tuesday. Next week includes entertaining a couple I have not seen for a few months. I have been invited to the opening of a new office by our local SPD Senator on Wednesday evening.

On Thursday there is a meeting of my housing association. I was elected as a representative 16 months ago. This is about using a local facility in the future. On Friday we have one of the big meetings of the representatives which begins with a light meal and drink. Lot of business to get through.  Saturday, I visit Oldie H and on Sunday The Bros visit again for homework  help. Looking forward to next week :-))

New Hat

I bought a new hat on Monday. Actually it is a helmet designed to protect your head when you are cycling. I've never had one but noticed more cyclists wear a helmet now. A saw a Lydl advert for 'cycling helmets for all the family' and for only €9.99. A bargain.

I took the largest size and at home I read the instructions. I adjusted it to my head size and I even got the red light to work at the back. I can have it on all the time, or flashing or forming a moving circle.

Some time ago I was at an SPD Oldie session and two people from a safety association were guest speakers. The topic was protecting yourself as a cyclist. At the end we got different reflectors for the arms and ankles and an outer vest. With the helmet, I now have the most important things to show anyone where I am on the road regardless of day or night.

Earlier I told you I was going to a concert at the Philharmonie and the main piece was Bruckner's 7th Symphony. I was wrong! It was Bruckner's 9th Symphony. It was written for a large orchestra and with lots of brass instruments. It really is an amazing musical structure and the last symphony he wrote.

It ends with a gentle descent to the close. The audience did not move or make a sound. For over a minute there was total silence in the hall. The music pulls you in to its world so at the end you need some time to disentangle and return to sitting in a large hall with lots of people.  Go and listen to an orchestra playing it when/if you get the chance. See for yourself.

Bro and Bro

In my last post I told you 'The Boys' had contacted me having English lessons at school. The school is new for them. It is a standard school compared to their last one which was a preperation school, and without English lessons. In the new school 'The Bros' will later have French lessons. I can't help them there.

I looked through my files and books and collected lots of beginner information. I also found a four page plan of the English tense system. You native speakers do not know how difficult it is to learn that. I also hear many native speakers making mistakes in tenses - and use of prepositions!

English has simple and continuous tenses. German only has a system of simple tenses and most German speakers I hear in Berlin and area do not use the future tenses or the simple past! You can get by in German by only speaking simple present and present perfect. 'The Bros' have to learn standard English as taught in the German school system.

Confusion as they struggled to understand the tables. Communication was in German and I noted they knew nothing of the German grammer system. Back to basics.

Bro 1 was determined to make progress and did some exercises. Bro 2 gave up, went to my couch and fell asleep. Perhaps the best way to respond to beginners English :-))  Nice one, Bro2!

March 2017 Things

Since my last post I have been busy with relaxing and reading a book :-) No lessons this week so I had more time to do just that. I picked up my Acer laptop on Monday. Stefan tried to save it after my decision to stop a long download. He put my Windows 7 operating system back into the machine then loaded key programmes I need such as Photoshop.

I had to load lots of other things such as a Firefox Brower, which I prefer. Then add links to 'boxes' in Favourites for quick contact. The first three were BBC, E-mails and Berlin! I am still adding to the list. I have decided that I prefer Windows 10 to 7. Now I can put my MacBook back to sleep and use the Acer. I also have an iMac but I need a machine using programmes for text/writing such as Word used by most people, and they all run on Windows!

I picked up the X-Rays of my back, spine, collar on Wednesday and will take to Docs next Monday morning. I talked to Papa from The Family. It appears they now have a 6 month extension to their temporary permission to stay in the country. I think the people he spoke to are still waiting for civil servants in another office to make the key decision. Meanwhile, they live in the home and dream of a place of theirown.

I'm off to meet my Kowalke Gang for lunch today. Then at 5pm 'The Boys' are arriving to talk about  having to learn English in their new school. I have some school books so I'll see how they cope. Friday is a normal busy day and on Sunday I'm going to The Philharmonie to listen to Bruckner's 7th Symphony. Can't wait!

Who has a birthday in March? My MacBook starts the month - it will by 9 on the 19th :-) Dr Gunter P. will celebrate with his family here in Berlin on the 22nd. Dr Bernd W. will also celebrate with his family on the 28th but near to Bernau and Milady Johanna from the Kowalke Gang has her big day on the 31st. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to each and all. Prost!