All day today I have either read on blogs, heard on the radio, seen on TV or spoken to some of my students about Armistice Day and it made me realise that apart from my post about St Martin's Day there should be another blog today:
about living with guilt.

You see, as a German living in England I always feel uneasy around this time of year. A lot of people don't understand why I feel like I do and it isn't that easy to explain. Why should I feel uneasy? Like eveybody else in England I am extrem...

Continue reading ...

In many areas of Germany children will go out tonight with their lanterns and sing this song.

But why?

The 11 November is St Martin's Day (Martinstag). Martin was a Roman soldier who was always very kind and helpful. One legend tells the story of Martin meeting a beggar in a snowstorm. Martin cut his cloak in half and shared it with the beggar so that he wouldn't die of the cold. That night he dreamt of Jesus saying that Martin shared the cloak with him. For more information about St...
Continue reading ...

Luckily not literally!

You've heard these holiday stories: holiday makers go to the beach and find all good places have been taken by the Germans who got up early and put towels on favourite spaces in order to claim them ;-)

This habit has moved to university libraries. Students arrive early and leave their books on tables in order to claim them. They then disappear to lectures to return later. This hasn't been much of a problem so far but recently it has turned into a problem as more and more ...
Continue reading ...