Below are the 17 most recent journal entries recorded in nanamonteiro's LiveJournal:

Wednesday, October 20th, 2004
12:31 pm	Disabled vs. Normal Yesterday I had a great anthropological experience... I was on my way to the German classes, On the bus stop I saw the first weird thing, 3 busses passed by without stopping, they were full, full of disabled people. I’ve heard already that some companies here nearby have a program of inclusion of the disabled through work. Everything fits. Well, finally I got a bus, I found a seat and I looked around and it was really full of disables, well different kinds of, there were mentally and physically disable people. Now my adventure starts. I was fascinated by this, I could see how they can live with dignity, they were so independent, much different from what I see back home. Well, a couple was sitting behind me, I could hear their conversation. I had something to read on my hands, but the conversation was so sweet. The girls wasn’t disable and it went as following: Without greeting, he asked her: - Do you like Chinese food? - No, I don’t. I prefer Italian, or Turkish food - Yes, yes, Turkish food is good, but why don’t you like Chinese food? Chinese food is good! - Well, I just don’t like it, but Italian. - I like Chinese food. ... Do you know what I will do tomorrow? - Hum... - Well, I´ll wake up, but stay longer on my bed, than I´ll have a great breakfast... Do you know that breakfast is very important, don’t you? - Han han - After that I´ll read... and then go to work A coin felt and I didn’t pay attention anymore to the conversation. This coin belonged to a “d” guy sitting on the seat next to me. The reaction of the people was just incredible. Everybody from the “n” ( n from “normal”, let´s believe there is this classification), tried to help him to get the coin. After that, maybe ten minutes later, the guy through the coin again, yes, he’s playing with the “n”, he just wants to see this great scene, everybody trying to be kind to him. After that I was reflecting about it, who is “normal”? What is “normal”? My conclusion? Well, everybody is a bit sick and this imperfection is part of us. When I was away in thoughts, the coin guy tried to talk to me, but I was in another world, daydreaming, when I realised he was talking to me, I had the idea to pretend I was disabled as well. So did I. I was playing really well, until I realised that the woman sitting in front of me drooped in at the same bus stop, yes, she was from my company! Peinlich!!!! Too late, I had done it already! I tried to look like something between “n” and “d”, I didn’t want to disappoint my new friend and I didn’t want to terrify more my colleague. I became neutral. Then came the Controller, (In Germany, there is nobody controlling if you have a valid ticket in every bus, the bus driver sell tickets, but the majority of the people have month tickets. Therefore, from time to time there is a controller who comes and asks for the tickets), there were 2 people without a valid ticket. Guy “d”number 3 starts to complain to the whole bus audience: -That’s way this country is like it is...People don’t want to follow the rules, they have to pay a lot now, they have to learn a lesson! Do you know how much do they have to pay? It costs them 250€! The Coin guy replies: - It cannot be, it´s 40 €, look in the sign, it´s 40! - Are you stupid? Can’t you see that it´s 250? - ... Well the discussion went on and on, they bet the price and the like... But the master piece was: Are you stupid? Well I wanted to laugh, we are all stupid, or what? While this was happening I noticed three boys who were talking to the bus driver since I dropped in. I started to pay attention to the conversation and it was really weird: 4th boy to the bus driver: -Shall we go behind the bus, then I take of my trousers and you give me an injection? I want you to give me an injection! I will take off my trousers... (I was wondering how innocent this conversation was! The old woman sitting behind the bus driver was totally shocked, I could see how tensed was her body, how afraid she looked.) It was impossible to hear the bus driver, then comes the declaration: -I´m gay, says the 4th boy. Ups! My bus stop, I have to go. If you want to have a good input and reflect about this subject I recommend you the movie: The idiots, it’s a dogma production and you will be surprised. http://www.dogme95.dk/the_idiots/content/ ... as an appetiser Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: Take a walk on the wild side (Comment on this)
Thursday, October 14th, 2004
2:53 pm	If you love somebody, set them free If you need somebody, call my name If you want someone, you can do the same If you want to keep something precious You got to lock it up and throw away the key If you want to hold onto your possession Don't even think about me If you love somebody, set them free If it's a mirror you want, just look into my eyes Or a whipping boy, someone to despise Or a prisoner in the dark Tied up in chains you just can't see Or a beast in a gilded cage That's all some people ever want to be If you love somebody, set them free You can't control an independent heart Can't tear the one you love apart Forever conditioned to believe that we can't live We can't live here and be happy with less So many riches, so many souls Everything we see we want to possess If you need somebody, call my name If you want someone, you can do the same If you want to keep something precious You got to lock it up and throw away the key If you want to hold onto your possession Don't even think about me If you love somebody, set them free (Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 13th, 2004
1:27 pm	LIKE A ROLLING STONE LIKE A ROLLING STONE (Bob Dylan) Once upon a time you dressed so fine You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you? People'd call, say, *Beware doll, you're bound to fall* You thought they were all kiddin' you You used to laugh about Everybody that was hangin' out Now you don't talk so loud Now you don't seem so proud About having to be scrounging for your next meal. How does it feel How does it feel To be without a home Like a complete unknown Like a rolling stone? You've gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely But you know you only used to get juiced in it And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street And now you find out you're gonna have to get used to it You said you'd never compromise With the mystery tramp, but now you realize He's not selling any alibis As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes And ask him do you want to make a deal? How does it feel How does it feel To be on your own With no direction home Like a complete unknown Like a rolling stone? You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns When they all come down and did tricks for you You never understood that it ain't no good You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat Ain't it hard when you discover that He really wasn't where it's at After he took from you everything he could steal. How does it feel How does it feel To be on your own With no direction home Like a complete unknown Like a rolling stone? Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people They're drinkin', thinkin' that they got it made Exchanging all kinds of precious gifts and things But you'd better lift your diamond ring, you'd better pawn it babe You used to be so amused At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used Go to him now, he calls you, you can't refuse When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal. How does it feel How does it feel To be on your own With no direction home Like a complete unknown Like a rolling stone? (Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 10th, 2004
11:34 am	2 days, 2 views Tier Park – on my second day I decided to go to the Zoo, I’ve heard that there was one of the nicest in Germany. I just loved it, I was sort of fighting with children for a space to see the seals. What about the monkeys? Oh, my goodness, they were so cool... I always have a strange feeling in the zoos, it’s like we take away what they have of more precious: freedom. Somehow they turn to be less animal, less natural, less wild, more human... Fortunately, I had a different feeling this time, they were very well treated and kind of wild. They had large spaces to live and there are large groups of them, so they have their own community. P.S.: Those days I was searching for “inferno astral”, this period of one month that precedes your birthday. I was looking for a better explanation of it, when I found that: http://www.projetogap.com.br/noticias.php?id_not=201 I knew I had more thinks in common with this primates... hahaha Back to the history... The Zoo is located at the side of the Isar river, after lunch I went there for a walk. This place is a kind of beach, people make BBQ, picnics, or just go for a swim. Then I sat there and gave me the chance to feel it all, to observe it and their people. I was sitting on a stone with my feet into the water. I like to observe the women here, in Germany I mean. They have something that I admire and something that scares me. On my first days at work I felt that most of the women here were lesbians. So strange... I was quite afraid of them... now I found out what it was... they are less feminine, most of them are Karrierefrau (business women), they cannot show any fragility, there is no charm, they are simply just a men. (therefore I thought they were lesbians...) I feel that it was taken from them what they have of more precious: femininity, fragility, beauty. Somehow they turn to be less woman, less natural, less wild, more man like... And how strong they are, it’s unbelievable. It’s like they have to be stronger than the men. Another day, we were in a meeting and somebody disagreed with my boss, you should see the monster coming out of her, the discussion was on professional matters, but it was like: men against women stuff (like when we were 5 years old and we found the boys disgusting!). She didn’t accept his advice, this is understandable, but the way she didn’t accept, wow... Thanks God, I’m playing on her team!(GIRLS 1 X 0 BOYS) Guess what, after that nobody had suggestions, or even compliments to say. (end of the first round!) The other side of this behaviour is that they are so self-confident, specially to their body. They don’t do a diet for 3 months to put their bikinis (It reminds me of something...), they take their bikinis off (no, not me, not yet, maybe after the diet!). They don’t care about what men think of them, they are totally auto-sufficient. (how I wished to have at least 10% of it, 10% would be enough!) The wellness is more valorised the detriment of Aesthetic. Their shoes are made with high technology to be confortable, not beautiful. We can see the same tendency in clothes: cotton, one of the most simple textiles, is the material of suits because it’s confortable. Another aspect is that they don’t wax their body, not as often as a Brazilian I know will do. This makes summertime quite frightening to me, I respect their decision, specially if it’s based on an ideology, but I wish they could show it differently. Once a friend of mine, who is half German, half Brazilian (Claudia), tried to explain this gender differences in Germany and told me that some woman were bath suits to swim but then they roll the upper part until the belly, and this is a protest, because they think that men have and show their breasts and they have the same right. (ah, I could imagine the happiness of my male friends if it could happen in Brazil as well. If so, I’m sure they will support the women revolution!) German women, looking at them, I wonder what happens at home, when they take their clothes off and the mask falls... Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)
Monday, August 9th, 2004
10:52 pm	Holidays... I’ve completed 6 months here in Germany, as some of you might know, there are lots of holidays in Germany. We have 30 bank days, 6 weeks in total. Well, it’s incredible! Anyway, who am I to complain? Instead, I decided to enjoy a bit the European summer.  I had a friend living in Munich. A Brazilian with a German name, an engineer with a philosophic soul, an artist. Apart from this, there was also Munich, 8 in every 10 Germans elect Munich as their favourite city in Germany, my parents had been there before and they are crazy for the food, beer and specially the people there. I’ve heard enough to be worth it. Let’s go! ... with an unlimited train ticket I was in the railroad. As I arrived in Munich, there was a grand opening: a Barbecue in the West park. There we could see people from every nationality, Indians, Arabians, and even Germans!!! hehehe That’s it, such an international place, where everybody can have fun in their stile, but with something in common... (sorry for this cheap humour!!!) Well, the atmosphere was great, we were 10 and one guitar, enough for a great time... On the next day, everybody had to work and I went to the town centre, the way I like, no plans, fast decisions, there I was in a walking tour, in 2 hours I had seen all the “must see sites” in Munich. The guide was a cool girl: Isa, who was doing it in order to save money and move together with her boyfriend to Australia. Well, if you know me you guess what happened, we were chatting after the tour for around 2 hours. After that I went to the “Viktualien Markt”, as you might think of the name, this market doesn’t have anything of virtuous, it’s a kind of “Mercado Municipal”, a place where you can celebrate the gluttony, where you find all the famous “Wurst und Bier”and more. Some sausages later, I was in a book shop as I was looking for a gift for Günther’s birthday. I knew he was crazy for Calvin and Hobbes (Actually, that was how we got to know each other!), but I didn´t know what to buy, as I didn´t know what he had already. So I went for a German cartoon, which had a promising name” Nichtlustig” (not funny!). Well, perfect for the situation, as he is longing for his return to Brazil in October and I want to give him a laugh until that. In the evening we went to a concert at “Olympia Park” The park built for the Olympic Games of 1982. That was a crazy punk concert, but I found the relief on my litter bier mug. (Comment on this)
Saturday, May 15th, 2004
10:15 am	Spring: the change of a season, the change of a person It has been a long time without any news... Well many things have changed, spring came and changed the weather and specially many things on myself. I’ve been reflecting a lot about my life, therefore I didn’t want to write during this process. I cannot say that this process is over now, but there was an end for a cycle. Well, to speak the truth, I could say that 2 new cycles started. The first cycle started and It is just amazing. I was seeing my staying in Germany as an experience and trying to enjoy it on the maximum, (I really thought that I was doing it!!!) unfortunately I had so many bonds to Brazil and to my culture that I couldn’t really enjoy it. There are other patterns here, different ways to think, to live, to communicate, well everything is pretty different and I was kind of resistant. This cycle ended. I just woke up one day totally open to it, it’s really weird to explain but at that exactly moment I knew that I wasn’t the same Natalia from the day before. Maybe you wonder what have changed on me, I´d say that suddenly I was seeing the world with different glasses. I changed the pattern of thinking. For the very first time I accept Germany and the Germans the way they are. From then on I could see the logic behind life here. I could then understand how things are, why they are like they are and the most enrichment moment was when I finally accepted it at all. I was enjoying my life here (a little bit...) but deep in my heart I just wanted to keep my old life, to go to the places I new before, to stay in my country, my city, my old life. However, now I see that if I were there, I´d miss too much this experience here. I wouldn´t have grown so much, I wouldn´t have experienced this self-awareness process. It´d have been the most comfortable way, but not my way! And now I see this! Current Mood: cheerful (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, April 1st, 2004
11:22 am	Working Culture Part IV Meetings: They are used to be overloaded of meetings. Some people in my company haven’t got any time to do what was set on the meeting as they are in a hurry to the following ones. Of course, it happens more with the colleagues in higher positions, as far as I’ve perceived. I’ve been in just one general Brand meeting so far. The meeting is always structured with a presentation, one of the colleagues show what is new in their field of work, the other can make questions or add something from their work as well. After that, everybody says what they are doing at the moment. It’s amazing productive as the work is all connected, it’s useful to make the communication flow and after it you can have an overview of the whole thing. It seems to me to be very democratic, we cannot fell any difference in status, we are all the same and everybody has a word. Really, it’s not only theory. The Brand Director work as a mediator, it’s held totally in English, and It lasts for 2 hours. All right, we went first to the common stuff, let’s see what is really WEIRD: - It should start at 10 a.m., I was so afraid of being late, you know the German punctuality! Well, I was there punctually as well, nobody was there, I felt so ashamed to go to the wrong meeting room, of course they were punctually somewhere else. WRONG, They just came later! I was the only one there in time! So, 15 minutes later we started, and others were coming in even later. - After the presentation I was expecting claps, instead of claps they knocked the table! So weird! I´m still looking for an historic-cultural explanation for this... - It is planned to occur once a week, but not less than once a month. Though a product manager told me the next one might be in 6 months! Maybe it was my first and my last meeting!  - One woman brought the results of one research produced in House. They were just figures, and instead of making a slide, she was reading it. Good, I couldn’t compare 12 or more figures, from different categories just by listening to it. I guess nobody could really follow it. The people that were sitting at her side were trying to see her sheet, and the funny thing was that she tried to hide it with her arms, shoulders, hands, so funny! After, another woman asked if she could have a copy of the study... This was a tense moment, after some minutes stuttering, the first woman finally agreed and set thousands of restrictions to use it. Well, I´m still wondering, if you produce such an expensive study, as I guess it was, and you cannot show the results, what is the real sense of it? I´m still looking for this answer... Things are not so simple as they might seem... Current Mood: good (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, March 14th, 2004
8:00 pm	Tai Chi Sunday Maybe you are wondering now if I´m really in Germany or in Easter Asia. First I was in this Yoga class, now Tai Chi... Well, I have a dream to go to India, this is clear, but the thing about yoga is that I really appreciate the benefits it brings to one who practices it. What about Tai chi? ... I took part in Drama Classes by “Grupo Tapa” in Sao Paulo, and there I had an opportunity to experience some exercises from Tai Chi. It was an unbelievable experience but too short, now I went for it. At Team WOF (World Of Fitness- I guess most of the fitness studios world-wide have English names, not original though.), there are classes on Sundays, as Sunday is always Sunday wherever you live... I wanted to get rid of this laziness and I went to my first class. There, I didn’t found the Japanese teacher, instead there was a huge German guy with long hair. The atmosphere was very nice, they have a skylight in the room and the sun was shinning. We were around 12 and it lasted for 2 hours. I was surprised when I saw the time, because time flies when we are having fun, isn’t it? First of all we did isolated positions, at the end we put them all together and it was like dancing, so relaxing and at the same time exhausting. It doesn’t look like, strength is needed though. I´m 100% sure I will join this group every Sunday! Do you come with me? Current Mood: energetic (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 9th, 2004
10:27 pm	My first German Class Today was my first German class! We are 16 students from diverse nationalities, 10 different ones! Of course I met one Brazilian as well, we are everywhere! There is another Natalia in the class, she is very nice and interesting, she comes from Russia and she does cosmetic surgery in the Hospital here. From the first sight I can see that she is very open and maybe a friendship will develop between us. There is another girl, Laura, from Estonia, she is nice but even more introspective and colder than the Germans I met, maybe it’s because the proximity from Estonia and the Nordic states. The teacher is nice, I have a very good impression of her. The classes are a bit to slow, I was used to this Goethe way to teach and now I have to adjust. People in my class know a lot about grammar stuff, though they speak less than my classmates from Brazil. I´m studding at “Volkshochschule”, translated it means folks high school. It partially subsidised from the government and it offers a great variety of courses, from languages to computes classes, from dance to politics. The teaches must be qualified in the field, (as everybody in Germany, here it´s nearly impossible to work without a qualification in this field. – Guys who thought English during their studies to make some money wouldn’t find anything here.), the prices are affordable and they offer the most in the whole city. Well, I´m thinking of enrolling for more courses, let’s see! Current Mood: accomplished (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2004
10:33 pm	Working Culture Part III Eating habits: overall, the dishes are pretty fat and French fries is a common side dish. The dishes are usually larger than in other countries, desserts are different kinds of puddings or rice milk, salads are mainly red beans, corn, cabbages, onions and green salad. Definitely they are carbohydrates eaters, many dishes don’t contain any protein. Recycling: The environmental affairs in Germany are seen as very important issues. The Germans are concerned about recycling and they “have to” as there are many laws which oblige them to do so. Of course we do this in the company as well, so I have two trash bins, one for paper and another for everything else. The question is if they separate again the second one. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2004
9:28 pm	Working Culture - Part II Lunch: the lunch breaks last 30 minutes, we have a canteen inside the company and the dishes are partially subsidised by the company, therefore the food is tasty and inexpensive. Around 12 a.m. people usually go for lunch, sometimes they invite me to go with them, sometimes all the people from the department go together and we sit in a big round table there. When the brand manager is there as well the atmosphere changes, everybody is in control. He is the only one who is talkative, he makes jokes and everybody laughs a lot. Of course they do this in German, so I cannot follow it but I always wonder if he is really so funny or if they laugh because he is the big boss though. I thought that the lunch would be a great opportunity to meet people, to talk to them, but here they don’t mix business and personal life, it’s very clear: we are colleagues not friends. Well, I can see this distance in everybody I met. Over the time some will be opener with time, others will never do. The lunch ritual: they wear their jackets, catch up the others in the hall. Well, they meet the ones whom are already there, they don’t wait. It’s a real rush to the Canteen Building. There are an enormous wardrobe for our jackets, we hang it in a rush... everything is in a hurry, they choose the meal, pay for it, sit, eat very fast. It’s done in 10 minutes. Amazing! There is rarely a small talk during this initial minutes, so then after eating it starts. As far as I see the small-talks are really superficial and are unsustainable. The conversation doesn’t flow and another subject is chosen. The cycle repeats more times and then it’s time to rush back. The lunch is not seem as a pleasant moment, but another obligation or appointment that they have during the day. They don’t seem to really enjoy the meal, either the moment. It’s quite difficult to fit to their time, I feel uncomfortable, that I´m always late. Therefore I cannot really taste anything. (Of course, I met different kinds of people, I´m just sharing the main scenario, as I observed them as a group not as individuals.) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, March 1st, 2004
7:49 pm	Working Culture - Part I There are many interesting things about the working culture, let’s have a look in some of them: Own Offices: When I arrived I was happily surprised as I have my own office, around 16 square meters, a cupboard for my coat and books, telephone and internet line, a computer and a broad access to all the facilities here. Well, I didn´t expected so much for a trainneship. I had in mind a room with many other people working together, more or less the Brazilian style, (which was influenced by the North American style). In Brazil, just important people have their own room, it´s something that you have to fight for during your career and it’s a symbol of status, specially if you get one on the corner. (Here is a little bit similar, as the bosses are placed on the corners, and are different sizes and lay-outs for the rooms, so they are hierarchically differentiated as well). Reflecting a bit about this I found out that I don’t have so much comfort because they were thinking of me but they were thinking of themselves. Privacy is very important in Germany, so nearly anybody would share their working place with a stranger. Anyway, I benefit from this. Talking to your colleagues: here people instead of talking they whisper. Wherever they meet, in the kitchen, corridor or inside the offices, even when they answer their telephone, they are whispering. (Again: Privacy is very important!) It´s a quite strange feeling to me as in my country this attitude is not so well seen by the people and I have a feeling that´s all about secrets and gossips. It´s hard to see them as working. The office is usually very silent, I just hear my Italian and my Spanish neighbour, maybe they didn’t adapt yet! (Coincidence or not I´m placed just in this “Latin Area” in the office! Huhm!) Current Mood: productive (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, February 27th, 2004
10:50 pm	Beer brewing This was a very nice experience I had. We were five at Matthias´s flat for my first beer brewing section. (Ulrike, Matthias and Bastian from Aiesec Aachen, Milan and I). We prepared all the material and we were following the instructions, well, we changed many details and we still hope that it will taste something, at least something! In the meanwhile, we had to empty the beer bottles which would be filled in with the new beer some weeks later... Such a hard work! We had to drink so much beer and it was part of it! When the beer was done we had to place it in a place with 13°C. Matthias said we could place it at his bedroom as the temperature there is always around 13°C. (How can this guy sleep with this temperature? It doesn´t really matter, if our beer is safe everything is fine!) After all, we had another party to go, the AIESEC take over party. The rest is censured! Current Mood: drunk (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 26th, 2004
8:48 pm	Yoga auf Deutsch I always wanted to join an Yoga class, I have a friend in Brazil that practices it and I was very much interested, though I haven’t got the time to join him. Talking to a colleague from the office, she told me there are Yoga classes on the fitness studio where she works out, so she was interested to try it as well and invited me to join one class with her. She is called Natou. Such a nice girl! So helpful, interested and interesting. She is German, her mother is German, and her father came from Senegal. The best on her is how often she smiles, it’s above the German average, for sure! Natou studied in Maastricht, NL. exactly what I want to study and she does a trainneship here in the company. Yesterday we went to the Yoga together, what a experience! Please try to imagine the situation. We enter the Fitness studio like any other one (lot’s of lights, fit people, strong bodybuilders, girls on their tops, pop music and so on), then we went to the room where the Yoga classes take place, there we had only candle lights, no music at all and a very spiritual atmosphere. The teacher came and differently from what I expected, it wasn’t an “Indian look like” instructor with a big pony tail, she was looking pretty German, both in the outfit and in the appearance. (I mean she fits to the stereotype we have about Germans, blond, tall, etc.) The teacher sat on her towel, greeted everybody and started the meditation, well I didn’t know that we would have meditation, neither did my friend Natou. We all were sitting in the Lotus flower position, we had to close our eyes and she was conducting the meditation (in German of course, and I´m not fluent enough to follow such a thing) Imagine, I had to keep one eye open, just in case she was telling them to do any exercise. ;-) After that, we stood up to practice some yoga positions, she was conducting the movements. This part was fine, apart from that you need strength and power to do some positions. Overall, I found it very relaxing and I felt very well after practising it. I would join it again. Current Mood: contemplative (Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 25th, 2004
10:37 pm	Peinlich Today I had lot´s of highlights , yeah, it´s a quite special day, when I woke up everything was full of snow, all the landscape changed, it was such a great view, poetic! After lunchtime, it was snowing all afternoon long. It was amazing to see it from the window! Really impressive for a south american girl! We also have a colleague from the sales department that´s is moving to another company, so he had a leaving party. Most of the people stopped working to join it at 4 p.m. So did I! (I wouldn´t miss a party!) I went there with a Medical Doctor who lived in Brazil and with whom I have a deal: I teach her Portuguese and she teaches me German. Surprising everybody, the guy also spoke a bit of Portuguese. “ Peinlich I”: He tried to show it and I answered in English (it´s difficult to switch the languages so fast). “Peinlich II” the guy takes me to dance with him some merengue or salsa. God, we Brazilians don’t speak Spanish, our capital isn´t Buenos Aires and we are born to dance Samba mainly! Peinlich, peinlich, peinlich!!! Dancing Salsa in the office, in front of everybody, my boss, my upper boss and all the others. Peinlich again! *Peinlich = embarrassing Current Mood: embarrassed (Comment on this)
Monday, February 23rd, 2004
9:18 am	Alaaaaf! Alaaaf! I joined the biggest Carnival of Germany: Cologne! I went for the “Rosenmontagzug”, it´s a street parade on Canival´s Mondays which lasts for more than 4 hours and with +/- 2 million watchers. Cologne is an impressive city itself, the cathedral is really a heritage and the people are known as “party-people”. Those are seem as enough reasons to visit it, but I found much more: - Carnival here is experienced by all generations, from children to the old generation. - People were costumes everywhere. They specially like clowns (+/-60%), after that we see a wide range of animals (cats, tigers, bears, rabbit’s, kangaroos, etc.), “group ones “ 20 people wearing the same, (on purpose!), nonsense self-made costumes are also common (everything of everything). - “Kolsch”, the bier from the region is one of my favourites! (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 19th, 2004
6:01 pm	Karnival! Alaf!!! I’ve made this journal some weeks ago but I haven’t had time to post news. My dear reader, don’t worry, I won’t bother you with this diary common stuff. Here I´m going just to share my impressions about people, country, and culture. It’s written in English to reach all my friends. Carnival Party! If you think that Carnival in Rio is "the must" you should see what happens here. It’s really crazy! The season officially started in November, almost everybody from this region is looking for Carnival. (Dusseldorf, Cologne and surroundings) Today is the women’s day, so today we have got the power! The Mayor gives "the key of the City" to a woman and all the celebration starts. At work, there is a rule: we can cut the ties of men. That’s true if there is one wearing it. Of course, they are prepared for this and leave the ties at home, they know that they cannot do anything to stop us!(Women power, well... I can tell you: it tastes sweet!) Well, I forgot to say that when a woman cut the tie, she MUST kiss the man. So then, some opportunist men wear a tie just to have a chance to be kissed once a year!!! Some people use to wear a costume even at work during this time, but I haven’t seen anything yet. No ties, no costumes, no kisses, no fun yet. The office is pretty empty today, most of the employees took holidays, some want to have more time to celebrate (70%) and others just want to run away, lock themselves at home and just leave on Tuesday or drive to the south where they don’t celebrate any Carnival. As I sad before, It’s really a regional celebration and it changes all the environment, it’s like a virus that comes every year at the same period and it infects everybody with happiness. That’s evident that I´m already infected, so after work I´m going to buy my costume! It’s Carnival in Germany! Let’s mix the Brazilian enthusiasm and the German bier! Current Mood: impressed (1 Comment |Comment on this)