Score one for Germany!

Germany, unlike Italy or France, doesn't get a lot of love from American celebrities. No one comes here to get married, have a baby, or hang out with George Clooney. Even though we have mountains, beaches, and cosmopolitan cities, the only movies filmed here have to do with the big H. Sometimes Royals come skiing here, but that really doesn't count.

But news my blog readers: I was visiting Courtney in Berlin this past weekend. On Saturday we got high on the splendor that is the KaDeWe makeup floor. (KaDeWe is the biggest, most fantastic, most glorious department store in Germany) Then we had the best falafel in Berlin, DaDa, then we showered and went out. It was during my second Astra beer at the Pony Bar in Mitte that I heard the life-changing news. A British man sitting next to me was telling his friend that he had word that BRANGELINA are in the process of moving to the ultra-hip, former East Prenzlauerberg district. My ears went up like a short haired pointer's. Could it be?

Yes, apparently. Brad is filming the new Quentin Tarantino in Berlin and is moving the clan there. Score Germany!

I know that the rest of the blog post will be moot after that news, but there are some more updates in our life here. On Friday we go home(s) for 2 weeks for primarily the State Fair, and secondarily to see friends and family. I'm dreaming of the Midway. The last week has been a revolving door at our apartment as we've been showing it to possible renters. Showing your apartment abroad is like going to war. You have to lie to the public (yes, a washing machine fits in the bathroom!) to keep your approval ratings up. You also have to deal with foreigners whose culture you don't understand (cue Japanese man who refused to walk on our Ikea carpet with his shoes on). It's intense.

Trying to be post-race

I have a new class of 4 teenagers every Tuesday night. They are in Gymnasium, which is like smart kid's high school, and taking English. Their parents are making them take extra English lessons with me, and on the first Tuesday they told me they didn't want to be there. 'Chore' was the word they used to describe why they were there. They also told me they did not like reading, writing, playing games, doing grammar worksheets or watching films (?!) in English. They gave me a lot to work with.

Anyway, all four students were born in Korea but raised in Germany (parents got transfered here) and thus are perfectly bilingual and great with languages. I thought that this sort of biculturalism would make them different than most Germans who answer my getting-to-know you question 'What kind of music do you like?' with the dreaded 'Black people music.'

Yes, that's actually what Germans, and the Korean teenagers, say if they listen to any music produced in America. I am always a little stunned by this response. I don't think I would ever win a politically correct award, but c'mon? If there is one cultural area where race blurs it's in music. 'Black' music is rock n roll, jazz, rap, hip-hop, soul... all music also performed by whites, Asians, and Latinos. It's coming up on 50 years since Elvis ''stole'' black music.. I mean, if these kids liked to watch movies I'd play them ''8 Mile.''

Anyway, yesterday I thought I would outsmart them and get them to see for themselves how ludicrous (Ludacris!) it is to racially define music. Like a dork, I brought in pictures of Jimi Hendrix and Prince (black rock), and also German rappers Fettes Brot (white rap) and had them descripe what type of music each performer played. They looked at Fettes Brot and said 'Black music,' they looked at prince and said 'Black music.' Then I went into a long-winded monologue about how it's imporatnt to be color blind, and post-race, and how it's wrong of the German press to always call Obama the ''new black Kennedy,'' instead of just, ''the new Kennedy,'' but I lost them. After I came up for air, I noticed that all four were texting under the table.

Next week I'm making them do grammar worksheets.

The Magnificent 7

The Olympics are here, and even though it sucks having to watch German athletes featured on TV I am glued to the coverage in Beijing (Peiking). Michael Phelps has already stunned me, and I can't wait for gymnastics qualifying to start later today.

I am a loyal Olympics watcher, and do not discriminate between winter and summer games. For me, the most formative Olympics were Atlanta, summer 1996. I was 11 years old. It was during these games, when my parents allowed me to bring the kitchen TV into my bedroom, that I watched the Magnificent 7 take the USA's first gold in team gymnastics. Those little munchkins were such freaks of nature, but man, with their hair glitter, ankle injuries, and "Devil Went Down to Georgia" floor routines, I became obsessed.

Dominique Dawes, Moceanu, Amy Chow, Keri Strug, Shannon Miller (the best!), Jacey Phelps, and Amanda Borden.

And of course you had Bela Karolyi coaching and Svetlana Khorkina competing for the Russians. She was that tall, old blond girl who always looked like she was going to cry.

I am not a hiker

Sorry for the delay... with working extra hours whilst colleagues are on vacation and trying to clean our apartment for showings, I've had little time to update the blog.

It's August in the 'Furt which means back to school. These poor Europeans only get 6 weeks of summer and each of Germany's 16 states has staggered vacation schedules so as not to clog the Autobahns wit traveling families. School started in Hessen, my state, yesterday. I love riding the U-bahns with kids again. A) Their backpacks are so bright, square and colorful, I love coveting them. B) Sitting next to a clean 9 year old is infinitely more pleasing at 8 a.m. than a a homeless person drinking a beer.

On Friday the last weekend of summer was celebrated in the 'Furt by a street fair on the Main. It was fun, but nothing compared to my beloved Fair. The food at a typical German streetfest leans a little too far to the "salty dry goods' right for me. Plenty of popcorn and toasted nuts, but nary a French fry/cheese curd stand/milkshake stand.

Saturday saw me attempting to be sportlich by hiking in the Bergstrasse, a beautiful wine-growing region south of Germany that features vineyard-lined mountains and cute towns. We climbed up the Starkberg in Heppenheim. The climb was steep and at the top there was a castle. Castles are so disappointing in sunlight: They look old and bleached, nothing remotely Vampire-ish about them. I'm getting jaded: Once you live in a country where castles are every few kilometers, it's hard to get jazzed. Heppenheim was also hosting a Krewe a rite of passage in the small villages of the Odenwald. Town boys, 16 and up, get together for a big drinking fest. The Bergstrasse is very "Deliverance."

We also visited Rimbach and Weinheim before returning to the big city.