I finally managed to finish a book again! Hurray! And what a book! Homegoing. By Yaa Gyasi. The book, first published in 2016, follows the paths of two halfsisters from Ghana over their descendants for eight generations. While one sister marries an English slave trader, her halfsister – unknown to her – is imprisoned and […]
Childhood Memories. Sleepovers at my Grandparents.
As a child I loved sleepovers at my grandparents. Remembering them now brings up this flow of sights, smells and sounds that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Although they surely weren’t all the same, they all followed a similar routine. Sleepovers in the summer meant ice cream! My grandfather loved ice […]
Call Me by Your Name.
I have been wanting to present you a new book for some time now, but I haven’t been able to find one worthy of a blog post. Mallory sent me ‘Lincoln in the Bardo’ by George Saunders which I thought would be a winner as it won the Man Booker Prize. But it just made […]
Paperwork times Countries.
It is hard to imagine now, but on Monday, March, 9 of this year all four of us were standing in a very crowded place in Frankfurt: the American Embassy. Why? Because we were still planning our trip to Seattle and Willem needed a new American passport. According to the American-German family in front of […]
Social Isolation Happiness
Two weeks ago, I planned to write today about something we all know and “love”: paperwork. But we live in a different world now. Things have been co-ra-zy. So, you will have to wait for two more weeks. Last week, Frederik was still in Switzerland on an extended group meeting for work in a ski […]
Autobiography in Five Chapters. By Portia Nelson.
I I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk I fall in. I am lost… I am hopeless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out. II I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see […]
The Fifth Season. Helau! Helau! Helau!
I have a little riddle for you. Today is the last day of what the locals call the fifth season, a season that starts on November, 11 at 11:11 and comes to an end on Ash Wednesday. Can you guess what this season is called? Carnival! Yes, Carnival. In this region of the world, it […]
American Health Care. For Europeans.
After posting two weeks ago, I realized that it mostly explains to my American friends what we would loose going there. It lacked in explaining to my European friends how expensive health care in the States is. I am not an expert enough to give you all the ends and outs. But two personal examples […]
Head over Heart. And its reasons.
I am sitting in a waiting room, waiting for Willem’s speech therapy to end and just looking outside is depressing. The sun hasn’t even come out at all today. In this – what I consider- most depressing time of the year, it is good to make plans for the future, something to look forward to. […]
All I want for Christmas are Rights!
Last year, it was everywhere: GDPR. At least in Europe. If you are one of the very few who has never heard of it: It stands for General Data Protection Regulation and it is a European law that regulates what can be done with personal data. If you are one of those who had to […]