Tag: Expat

Highest Hoard

~ Tom

Comparisons. Compare on a daily basis living between countries. What a bore. What a drag. But sometimes a comparison or three is worth it. Especially when I'm visiting "home". Like. Reading the articles below, for example. Couldn't help but think about all the times I've walked around Germaninland in the middle of night only to … Continue reading Highest Hoard

Bank Real Concern

~ Tom

Yes. It's true. Banks are really concerned about your welfare. They care about you. They care about you as much as any corporate institution can care. Most importantly bank institutions care about you so much they will go to great lengths to make sure you and their money is ok. And for that we should be … Continue reading Bank Real Concern

Better Left Unsaid?

~ Tom

There are two things about the Borg... Sorry. There are two things about the Germanins that scares the beejeezus out of me. The first thing is the bureaucracy (of this my adopted home). The second is the politics that feeds that bureaucracy. Worst-writer learned quickly upon moving abroad how nations act not unlike individuals. That is, nations reflect … Continue reading Better Left Unsaid?

Taxation Equals Everybody

~ Tom

Subtitle: Taxation Makes Everybody Equal. Yeah, right! Sub-Subtitle: No Seriously. Germans can do nothing else with their success but tax. Result is blotted pseudo socialist anti-market-driven economy but the wurst is great. Links read for this post: DW Hoeness Euronews on Eurowasteland tax evasion Couldn't help but dabble in the Hoeness affair while recently visiting … Continue reading Taxation Equals Everybody

Miss Protest

~ Tom

The first protest I ever experienced in Eurowasteland goes back to circa 1986. Was visiting Germanian and happened across a demonstration. Not sure what they were demonstrating against but it really doesn't matter. After that I found myself seeking out these protests more and more. Reason? What a great way to pick up armpit hairy … Continue reading Miss Protest

Anglo vs Germanin

~ Tom

Note 1: Post is incomplete, not very cohesive and w/out narrative. It's worst than normal-worst. You've been warned. Good luck. New & Improved Clans I've been obsessing for a few years over of the idear that there's a growing, alive & kicking chasm in the western world. This chasm is, in part, due to Das Volk's … Continue reading Anglo vs Germanin

Schadenfreude 2

~ Tom

Part 2/2 The more time you spend as an expat without any direction the more destabilizing effect it will have. The reason? Well. Things tend to not remain hunky-dory - in the cerebral cortex. Add to that the joys of life, i.e. divorce, bleeding bank accounts, being stuck in a place that has almost perfected … Continue reading Schadenfreude 2

Price of Nothingness

~ Tom

Funny how so much gets lost in translation. Like reality. Every time I think that something can no longer happen to make me shake my head at Eurowasteland, something happens. Recent electoral event in France should be making the whole world shake it's head, especially the Eurowastelanders. Of course, I'm not talking about head-shaking at … Continue reading Price of Nothingness

Flatroof Expatriates

~ Tom

Ich Will Kein Flachdach Sein by Yassin Nasri As much as I’d like to, there is no way to dramatize my expatriation. Should I try anyway? Ok. The short theatrics to my experience has been simple. Move abroad. Experience lots of bullshit. The end. That’s it. For the past twenty years that’s how I’ve seen … Continue reading Flatroof Expatriates

Real Issue About Unions

~ Tom

Subtitle: Competing forces in the arena of air safety, union busting, (dys)functioning pseudo-capitalistic societies and the/a continuing fight among inbred cousins. Two news stories (see external links) from dueling national-cultural perspectives, namely the Germanic and the Anglo, caused me a thought or two on the subject of air safety and union busting. After reading both … Continue reading Real Issue About Unions

Expat Creative Nonsense

~ Tom

Nonsense is nonsense, right? Maybe not. But can nonsense be creative? Many years have passed and I’ve wasted a lot of time thinking about two things: being an expat, being creative. And so I ask: will this foreign living ever end? And. It can’t end because it helps me maintain some level of creativity. Seriously. … Continue reading Expat Creative Nonsense

Schumi vs Humility

~ Tom

Subtitle: Or Luck vs. Opportunity? Today’s middle-aged bitter rant with a few self-indulgent anti- and autobiographical tangents meant to challenge the mind's-eye of the visually impaired has to do with... Michael Schumacher is finally finished with F1. Gee, (turn on the sarcasm now) … this makes me ask: Why does such an honest, hard working, … Continue reading Schumi vs Humility

Job Krapp

~ Tom

Subtitle: Why does it have to be a career? It's difficult recalling the amount of correspondence I've written and forwarded in the past twenty years regarding employment. I am probably the best living example of a ”job jumper” anyone will ever find. Because of that, at forty-three I am unable to acquire a job where … Continue reading Job Krapp

Waiting Room

~ Tom

What is the difference between invention and creation? Scratch that. Have something "better" to do. I have once again returned to the Ausländerbehörde. Waiting. What to do about things summarized in a word but only explainable by demonstration? Example? Get examples of words for happiness. -Need to get three month Gehaltsabrechnung for the civil servants … Continue reading Waiting Room

Schadenfreude 1

~ Tom

Part 1/2 As a kid I watched too much television. And why not? It was the sixties and seventies and television had graduated a bit from the prudery of where it all started. That meant there were shows about martians and talking horses and hillbillies graduating via sheer luck to Beverly Hills. And don’t get … Continue reading Schadenfreude 1