So, I made it to Berlin. After months of worrying about it. There was one point this morning, just before calling a car to get to the airport, when I felt like just not going. But the moment passed, and now I'm sitting on what seems like a pretty comfortable bed listening to some birds outside my window.
A few observations from the flight:
-The Americans and British hand out forms on the plane. The Germans don't. Getting through German customs took about 20 seconds. It kind of reminded me of going to France last year for a couple days, where the custom official didn't even look at me.
-Heathrow airport is quite a maze, but with glass walls. Kind of made me feel like a hamster in a hamster maze.
-British people all sound smart, but the guy sitting next to me had trouble figuring out which lightswitch belonged to him.
-'Maple Nut' is a new Cliff Bar flavor, and it's very good. A few extra grams of sugar, but well worth it.
-Michael Smith is a pretty good writer, but his objection to 'network' analysis of moral concepts doesn't seem too troubling - so what if some platitudes about rightness, badness etc. become too unspecific when all moral language is wiped out? There seem to be plenty of platitudes to go around, and there will be plenty of ones involving naturalistic stuff that can serve to avoid the permutation problem he describes. (Or maybe I missed the point, which is possible, since I was kind of busy thinking about my neighbor and his inability to find his own lightswitch.)
-I miss you all already. Why couldn't Germany just be in Jersey?
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Colin and Naomi write about stuff while they're away.
Yay blog! Glad you made it. I always have that "do I really want to go to this place? staying home sounds so nice..." feeling just before going on a trip. But I think it's probably a good thing and makes coming home even nicer.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to more posts! Viel Spaß!
I am also very glad you made it. We did Germany before, floundered a bit, but somehow felt strangely at home. Must be something about the genes. Any instinctive feelings about Germany yet? Breathe deeply and enjoy!
ReplyDeleteInstinctively, Berlin at least feels very young and light. Part of that's probably because it was a beautifully sunny day here, though.
ReplyDeleteGermany was in Jersey once. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_the_Channel_Islands) Oh, you mean that Jersey....
ReplyDeleteBerlin is fun! Go find the beach bars on the Spree! Go to the beer gardens in the Tiergarten! Go drink beer on the subway! It's legal! I'm so jealous.
you wouldn't really *want* germany to be in jersey, would you? the accents wouldn't be nearly as cool and it would be full of abandoned warehouses and garbage.
ReplyDeletelewis also adds that he feels like a hamster in a hamster maze all the time.