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As I left my flat at 17h on 22 June 2007 it started raining again (it had stopped at 13h). Great. Luckily, it stopped about 20 minutes later. I pedalled down to the castle in the center of my town and saw familiar looking ‘tents’ of the Company Run. The organisers of the event rent (or so I assume) them out to various companies as a gathering place for their employees) for drinks, snacks etc. They’re also probably a status symbol.
What is a Company Run (Firmenlauf), you might be wondering? It’s an event in which employees of various sign up and run a 5km ring around various parts of the city. It’s a big event here that draws runners from around the region (my city of 110,000 is The Big City of the Middle Rhein region). Companies come from as far as 60km away! They meet at various places (if their company doesn’t have a tent, hang out for a bit and then start the 5km run. Interestingly enough, they are not timed in the traditional way with a stopwatch (there are way too many for that), but through transmitters in the number that they are given to wear.
I dismounted my bike and then entered the fenced off area and went to look for my students. I knew that students from three companies were participating and that all three of them would have tents, so I figured they’d be easy to spot (I was quite proud of myself for not booing as I walked by the Deutsche Bahn tent). As expected, three of the four companies I teach in were there (with tents), so I started with the one closest to where I was standing and walked by to see if I could find any of my students.
No problem.
The first was a company that I have taught incompany classes at for almost three years now. I saw a few former and current students, wished them all the best and then moved on.
A couple tents over was the company I teach three classes per week at in NR. I saw students from two of the classes (the single class student hadn’t arrived by then) and gave them the same wishes and had a bit of conversation. My final stop was the tent that my class in the WW, where my wishes were again repeated. Oddly enough, while talking to some of them I noticed that there was a definite split between the management and their subordinates. They were standing at different tables and there wasn’t any mixing going on between them.
I pedalled to the Rhein, found a bench to sit on and waited for the runners to pass. I did notice that there were a lot fewer people than the previous year waiting, which made me wonder if I wasn’t the only one that hadn’t heard about it until the day before (from one of the runners). Things like this should be publicised more if more spectators are wanted.
Shortly after 18h, the first of the runners passed me, followed by thousands more. Running is not something that I’ve ever done or even been remotely interested in, but I’m all for supporting those that like it (and also attending free events – no matter how meager they are).
Since I was sitting alone on a bench, most of my students/former students noticed me and smiled or gasped, ‘Hi’ as they went by, and some that I didn’t know were in the race did the same. After about thirty minutes, the stream of runners that had turned into a trickle had ended so I hopped back on my bike and pedalled back towards the castle, where I saw the participants, some looking quite unwell, in groups with their colleagues again. After the run, a good time is had by all – live music, lots of beer, etc, but I don’t stay for that (even though I could) – to me it’s for the participants – so I cycled around a bit and returned home.
At 19h, buckets of rain started pouring down and I felt sorry for the runners. It was their time, after a strenuous event in a sport that they love, to have a great time and stay late, drink beer and enjoy the camaraderie of being with so many other runners . They deserved to be able to party til 22h (when the noise ordinances kick in). However, it was rained out – which was quite unfortunate.
I took off on my bike for a bit of bike touring yesterday – ‘bike luggage’ and all. I headed down the Ahr and found a nice little guest house to spend the night in a village I can’t remember the name of.
The plan was to cycle back to the Rhein today and head up to Cologne – where I’ll be attending a BBQ this evening.
It’s been raining all morning, so I took the train home (cycling in the rain is not fun). I’ll still be going to Cologne this afternoon, but the BBQ will probably be rained out and we’ll have to find a restaurant for dinner (but I’m foolishly still holding out hope that we won’t).
I supposed it’ll also be raining at the Leverkusen/AS Roma game I’ll be attending tomorrow.
Sulk.
I took an empty plastic bottle of coke into my local bottle shop. The lady wasn’t the usual one and asked to see it. No problem, so I showed it to her.
She then looked at me and shouted: ‘YOU CAN’T RETURN THAT HERE! YOU DIDN’T BUY IT HERE! IT’S NOT ONE OF OUR BOTTLES!!’
Granted, I hadn’t bought it there, but it had the symbol on it that theirs do and she should have accepted it.
I was stunned at the stop attendant’s attitude and didn’t know what to say.
She then repeated, ‘I CAN’T TAKE THAT!’ in the same tone of voice.
I was still stunned, but didn’t want to be yelled at again for no reason, so I left.
I don’t understand the shouting thing here in Germany. Why not just politely say, ‘I’m sorry, that doesn’t look like one of our bottles. Did you buy it here?’
Perhaps I should start shouting back at people? That’s not in my nature, though. However, I’m close to the end of my rope, so I might do it to the next idiot that shouts at me for no apparent reason.
There are two other incidents that happened during Insane Week (last week), but they won’t be posted til next week due to an adventure coming up this weekend.
The week before last my school won an incompany contract with a business and I was assigned the first class. The boss and I went over for the first lesson (him to schedule future lessons and me to teach) and were met at the reception desk by the students that I’ll be teaching. As we were walking to the conference room that I’ll be teaching them in, I remarked that it was a long way from the parking area (a 10 minute walk at a brisk pace) and noticed that there was a parking lot in front of the building I was be teaching in and asked if I could park there instead and was assured that I could, and that I could also just enter through the gate.
Great!
At least in theory.
After not being able to find the entrance (there was a barricade and no guard to let people in), I drove to the reception desk and was presented with a map of the premises (it turned out that one has to go down a small side entrance) and found a parking space in the first row. I got out of the car and went to the gate.
Which is where I stood for a while.
Both revolving doors were locked as was the regular gate entrance – and once again no guard or guardhouse in sight.
Annoyed, I drove back to reception and asked the receptionist to call one or both of the students and find out if they could open the gate.
Unsurprisingly, neither answered their phones.
Right.
I resigned myself to the fact that I’d have to walk the distance, so I parked the car in the visitors parking area and then walked back into the lobby and the receptionist told me that one of the students had called back.
Receptionist: ‘He said that he told you you couldn’t park there.’
J: ‘That’s not what he told me. He said I could park there.’
R: ‘He said he told you couldn’t, but maybe he didn’t know the right words. Maybe that can be your English lesson today – make sure he knows the right vocabulary.
J: ‘Trust me, he’ll know after this lesson.’
I walked the way the boss and I had walked the previous week and was 10 minutes late.
J: ‘You told me I could park there.’
StudentIdiot: ‘You can’t.’
J: ‘Then why did you tell me I could?’
SI: ‘Because I thought you could and then found out you couldn’t.’
J: ‘So why did you tell the receptionist you said I could’?
SI: ‘I’m a manager here. I couldn’t let a receptionist know that I told you wrong. It was better to make it your fault.’
J: sigh
After the long walk to reception:
Receptionist: ‘Bye.’
J: ‘We’ll try it again next week. He definitely knows the right vocabulary.’
*R chuckles*
Another heatwave is going on in Europe, but not here.
Granted, I do feel sorry for the people that have lost their lives and their families, but a blazing – no way to be cold at any time of the day – heatwave would be nice for at least a week (if not a month).
I cycled to work in the rain yesterday wearing a heavy shirt and fleece jacket.
**** Update 5h49 26 July ****
Yesterday turned out to be lovely – 26C and more clouds than sun.
in reference to this:
I pulled into Lidl and saw an empty parking space right in front of the store. Emphasis on singular – the other empty ones were at the other end of the lot. ‘What luck,’ I thought.
I turned on my left indicator and pointed the wheels towards the space. Then I saw a woman walking towards the the next car with her shopping trolley, so I let her pass. No problem, as it’s the polite thing to do.
Mistake.
She walked to her car and positioned her trolley so I couldn’t get in – or so she thought. I maneuvered in and as I turned off the car, she pushed her trolley closer to the driver’s door to make it even more difficult for me to get out. I rolled down the window, moved it so that I could get out, rolled up the window, got out, locked the car and started to walk away without saying anything.
She then glared at me and said, loudly, ‘THIS WASN’T THE ONLY FREE PARKING SPACE IN THE LOT’, to which I calmly replied: ‘Guten Morgan’ and walked away.
I was so surprised and appalled at her rudeness that I really wanted to say, ‘Go f&^% yourself, you selfish bitch!’ but didn’t.
What stopped me?
Politeness?
Nope.
Self-respect?
Nope.
The fact that the car I drive from time to time is owned by the school I work for and is emblazoned with the school’s name and phone number. If it hadn’t been, she would have received an earful.
that really could care less about Harry Potter Mania?
I have had to endure from the inhabitants of this country this week has been mind-boggling. Granted, they might be cultural differences, but I doubt it.
Details to follow after the weekend.
Probably.
Most of my vacations are taken at places where I can spend time at the beach. Taken in Cadiz, Spain on 18 Feb 2007.
