Sainsbury's OFFICIAL Christmas 2014 Ad

I find this very touching.

http://metro.co.uk/2014/11/12/did-sainsburys-just-win-the-christmas-ad-fight-supermarket-unveils-wwi-themed-video-with-royal-british-legion-4946519/?ITO=Facebook

Kristallnacht & Berliner Mauer | 09. November

November 9th has double significance in German history. However, where one is a celebration the other is in remembrance.

Kristallnacht, or "Night of Broken Glass", is remembered November 9-10 when Jews in Austria and Germany were attacked and massacred in 1938. I actually live in an area that was predominantly Jewish in former times, so each year I am able to see first hand the candles lit in remembrance. Also, in front of many building, including my own, little gold markers list the names of Jews who used to live in different buildings. Around 16:30, around sunset, neighbors gather to go around placing lit candles and flowers by the markers. I think it's a lovely reminder because you literally cannot avoid it.

It's hard to see, but there is a mini police station in the background. This is because the red building is a Jewish school.

November 9th is also the anniversary of the day the Berlin Wall fell. And this year was none other than the 25th anniversary. There was a lot of news coverage and a beautiful ceremony in Berlin. A lot of people traveled from all over to take part. (Note: the train strike ended on the Saturday evening which did not affect travel to the event!) They had a very cool "light ceremony". The lights were actually balloons and were let go one at a time. It had a beautiful and moving effect.

image source

DB Streik

image source

If you asked the average American to list off five things they know about Germany--I'm sure something about trains would be on that list. The German trains, Deutsche Bahn (DB) are known for their (perceived) punctuality. However, this weekend, they aren't even driving. They are on strike for a record-long five days.

They were on strike a few weeks ago, but it was during the week and usually from 9pm to 4am. So few people were affected. However, then they held a strike over the weekend. It completely threw the entire country off. Last Monday, they announced they would do it again and for longer. It started Wednesday with cargo trains and Thursday for passenger trains and won't end until very early Monday morning.

It's a huge problem and many people are affected. In Germany, a lot of people commune to different cities from Monday-Thursday and then can't get home to their families. And it doesn't just affect long-distance trains, but also regional trains and S-bahns. It also forced train commuters to take their cars out of garage creating a nasty jam on the Autobahn. One of my colleagues had a tough time getting into the city to work on tim.


It's a far cry from anything dramatic, but tonight my German and I are supposed to have a very special dinner at a restaurant you can only get to by S-bahn. We aren't sure if we'll make it for our reservation but we'll try. I've heard the S-bahns are running every 20-30 minutes but there are no schedules posted and no guarantee that all will be running.

There was also an airline strike in the mix of all of the train striking. It's a serious thing you have to think about in the days leading up to a trip. I'm off to London in two weeks and can only hope nothing comes up. My German is supposed to be off to Frankfurt this weekend. He doesn't seem over concerned he won't get there even though I've been worrying for him since new of the strike broke out.

Transportation issues could also affect a big celebration in Berlin celebrating the 25th year of the Wall coming down.

I'm not going to get into the politics of who is right or wrong, but no one can argue that it's not inconvenient.