Travelogue : Omicron in Germany : 21 Jan 2022 : 21 Jan 2022

I spent this week in Germany and would like to share a few thoughts and photos.

The world is seeing an astonishing spike in the number of covid cases. Germany was quite low until recently but now it’s picking up too. I asked the taxi driver what the mood in the country was. The people are just getting a little tired and stressed about the whole thing, he said. They don’t know who and what to believe. There is also a small ‘anti vax’ group who are holding out. Vaccination is mandatory in our factory. Otherwise you have to present a negative test result every day you come to work.

Train or Car

Until recently, the biggest thrill of coming to Germany was getting a rented car and hitting the autobahn and having some fun. Now after turning 60 and enjoying the beauty of Scotland, I am on a ‘save the planet’ trip - which essentially means public transport or pedal/foot power to reduce my footprint. It turned out to be quite a treat. The trains were not so crowded (covid) and spacious and fast. 250km/h - faster than what I managed in a car.

Most of my colleagues still prefer to drive which made no sense to me at all. Every car journey is accompanied with an description of the length of the traffic jam they had to deal with. Trains get delayed too they countered. Just like with Covid, every body believes in what they want to believe. People in Germany love their cars and I must admit I used to too.

Old tech restaurants

I visited a quaint little bar with a colleague. Nowadays every waiter has some digital devise on which they record your orders. About 30 years ago when I was living in Germany, the standard way was to draw a line on the ‘beer deckel (coaster)’ for every beer you drank and this is how they kept count. It was neat to see this pub still doing the same thing. See photo.

My love for Germany

A cousin remarked that I seem ‘happier in Germany’ and this is what I replied to her:

‘Haha I never thought about it that way but if I think about it, you are right. Some simple examples from this trip’.

1. Clear information

The Lufthansa flight was a little delayed. As soon as we were on the plane, the pilot apologised and gave clear information on the real reasons for the delay and promised to make up the time as much as possible. Clear and honest information (even if it is not good news) gives confidence in the person.

2. Discipline

The rule says ‘wear masks’ and everybody made sure they followed the rules. Once I forgot and they immediately reminded me in the train. Also the rule is 3 doses of vaccination. They actually checked if I had the 3rd dose or not, in the restaurants and hotels.

3. Technology

The trains and most things in general are beautifully engineered and built to last. Made in Germany has real value.

4. Kind people

Because of language, they sometimes may appear a little unfriendly. But they are really wonderful people in general. A friend means real friend. My colleague picked me up in the train station, we went to the office for our meeting, then we had lunch and then he dropped me at the airport. Quite exceptional.

What I like the most is honesty in the people - they say it as is, without trying to deceive you.

You are rich when you have …

I found this beautiful little sign (see photo) in the hotel I was staying in which said

‘Du bist erst reich wenn du etwas hast, das man mit geld nicht kaufen kann’.

‘ You are rich when you have something which you cannot buy with money’ I thought about it and I would say family and friends. I think I am going to add our planet to the list.

Thanks for reading.