Rusty Donations

Lately the small river running by the Poppelsdorfer Castle is being renovated. The water has been drained and garbage has been pulled out of the river.
The findings have been excitibited as shown below.

Furthermore a sing has been put up, commenting on the findings:

The translation goes somewhat like this:

Bike Stand


The collected works


Thank you very much, citizens of Bonn


Numerous citizens of Bonn have spent the last 20 years to donate comprehensively to the botanical gardens - mostly in the shape of metal items (bicykles and shopping carts) that were hidden in the Melbweiher. 


It is also possible that the gifts are a result of the old Germanic tradition of the river sacrifice in order to keep the river pleased. In this case it may have been to prevent the river from spreading stench typical for the summer.


We are very grateful for these efforts, but we would however appreciate if this behaviour came to an end. 


The stench in the summer will, after the renovation of the river, disappear, even without sacrifices.

If you want to help us, please refrain from donation of kind. In stead an arbitrary amount of money on the account of "Friends of the botanical garden" is always welcome. 

Come on! That's funny! :)

Vandalism

Something that had been annoying me when I lived back in Denmark was, how you had to lock away anything that wasn't bolted to the ground in the inner city during the weekend. You can't leave signs outside, even if they are fastened to something, they will be broken Sunday morning.
I have never experienced anything like that in Bonn. Here it is even possible to have an oben bookcase in the middle of a park. You can see pictures and read a little more about it on Damefrokosten.

Culture

A finansial crisis calls for cut backs on the public expenses. In Denmark the social democrats are trying to spend less money but convince their voters that they are taking it from the wealthy, not the poor. However some areas a sacred, for example the lifelong support given to artists in Denmark, that have made a difference in cultural life. In other words, artist, that already have money.
You can read more about it here.

Pirates!

Today on Damefrokosten you can read about the pirate party in Germany and how they became as successfull as they are. So far they are the fastest growing political party in the history of Germany.
This is impressive, since most members of the party have no political experience what so ever. Nevertheless this might be their greatest strenght.

Smoking

Today I have a letter on the front page of the new online newspaper den korte avis. It's about the new smoking law and is titled "Et liv i en plasticboble".

Fail

I just posted a new blogentry on Damefrokosten. You can read it here. It's about the educational system (my all time favorite subject) and the differences between Denmark and Germany. Hope you like it. :)

Newsblog

From today I'm one of the new bloggers on Damefrokosten. The new version of the homepage centers around a series of different bloggers all writing about their area of expertise. My blog is about the differences and similiarites between Germany and Denmark.
My first post is about the election in Nordrhein-Westfalen and how they came to be. You can read it here.
There will be at least one post a week, so be sure to keep an eye on the blog. :)

Writers block

So I don't actually have a writers block, well at least not anymore. However february and March turned out to be a couple of tough months to get through,  but I managed to survive, and got back to teh computer.
This has resulted in four letters in the newspaper, just in April. Two in Fyens Stiftstidende and two in Berlingske. Unfortunately only one of them can be read online, which is this one about climate change. It also features my new official photo. ;)
The other letters I will post as soon as I get them.
Moreover from May you will be able to read more from me on a regular basis on Damefrokosten, where I will have my own blog about Germany and how great it is here. ;)
Happy reading!

Carnival

A little late but never the less, here are some pictures from the Karneval in Bonn.

Theme: The Umbrella that's supposed to save Greece. A theme that was seen more than once.

Tanzmariechen

A cart with a theme about how more and more official institutions are moving from Bonn to Berlin. 

An amazing Karneval-group from Bad Honnef, that certainly knew how to celebrate and entertain.

Candy!!

A comment on the zu Guttenberg-affair

More candy on the way. I came home with three bags containing everything form chips, over chocolate to wine gums. And I wasn't even trying. ;)

Me and Sarah dressed up for the occasion. 

The Naked Debate

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a column about the paradox in the danish society, where it's ok to talk about sex and be sexually liberal, but a naked body, out of a sexual context, is simply embarassing. 
Appearently I'm not the only one noticing this trend and both jyllandsposten and information have had articles about it, which I encourage to read. :)

Column

I got my first column published in jp.dk today! Unfortunately it can't be found on the internet, but I have a scan here.