MY WAHALA IN GERMANY
A Taste of German Cinema
Only five of us course participants opted to see a film at a German film theatre on Friday November 13 at the cost of 3 Euros when we were offered that opportunity.
So although we were all very tired we just decided to take advantage of the opportunity to savour German cinema. At the end of the day we were not disappointed, although we nearly got bored with the many adverts that preceded the film titled “The Informant”.
The interior and exterior of the theatre hall were all nice but there were not many patrons to watch the movie, although it was a new one, which made me realise it was not only in Ghana that the appetite for movies had gone down.
Please do not ask me for the cast of the film because I am not very good at that since I am not really a movie person although I enjoy good movies and can easily tell a good one from a bad one.
Suffice me though, to say that the major star in the movie titled “The Informant” is the same person that starred in the popular movie “The Bon Identity” and he turned out to be such a professional liar in the new movie that all of us course participants at the theatre gave up on him.
The movie is essentially about a senior employee of a big firm who turned out to be the one giving away vital information to the CIA about the criminal activities of the firm and so became an informant to the security agency and indeed succeeded in causing the arrest of the top hierarchy of the firm, although it was found out at the end that he lied all through so he could become the next boss of the company.
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| Colleagues and I after the movie |
But trust me when I say I still managed to follow the story line till the end of the movie and was relieved to learn at the end of the over two-hour movie that I wasn’t the only one who dozed off along the line – I at least had one compatriot.
Afterwards we boarded an underground train at Potsdamer Platz to Sudkreuz, connected another train to HermannstrBe, then boarded our bus, the M44, to Zimmererweg to take a well-deserved rest.
Shopping Headache
It was thus no wonder that I woke up late after a hectic week of lectures and extra curricular activities like the film show the night before, although most of us had planned to visit the shopping centre at 10am German time, which is the time the shopping mall opens on Saturdays.
In view of that, when a colleague from Tanzania, whom we affectionately called Papa Lucas called me around that agreed time I was not ready – I was simply taking it easy, since I reasoned there was more time at my disposal. I finally left my apartment alone to the mall at 11am.
And who says shopping is easy, especially when you have a very tight budget? When I arrived I first combed the length, but maybe excluding the breadth of the shopping mall, as I figured some shops were simply no go areas for me because of their very expensive items.
That really did not help matters much because I was still exhausted by the time I had finished going round the shops of my choice and making a mental note of the items I figured were affordable.
You can imagine the trouble – no; wahala I had to go through, just so I could get some good buys, or if you like some tokens for family and few friends that could be covered by my rather scanty purse.
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| The Shopping Centre |
And I actually got back to my apartment with a nagging headache – and why wouldn’t I? To my utter surprise the clock on my table read just after 6pm when I entered my room, which puts the time I spent at the shopping mall at approximately six hours – unbelievable! Yes but very true. On the other hand, if I had wads of Euros in my wallet (as if I even carry one) I could have just bought the choicest things I had seen which I liked, just at a go – one touch!
The Trip To Hamburg
Drained and tired I had returned from my ... was it big or small shopping (you be the judge), but without the spree. Hey, but I was satisfied – it was not all gloom. I said to myself “I can now go back home with my chest out as befits a been to.
There was actually no time to savour the satisfaction I felt, for just the next day, which happened to be my second Sunday in the German capital of Berlin, we were due to leave very early – 8:30am (7:30am in Ghana) to Hamburg, a German habour city. No mercy for the cripple; you can say.
Let’s talk about our trip to the boat and ship land of Hamburg in the next issue.
Hamburg, Here We Come
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| The Berlin Border |
The journey to Hamburg was uneventful but very smooth and took a little over three hours. Although we had been scheduled to make a stop on our way to see a wind farm, that did not happen but we instead made a brief stop at a rest stop.
We however saw lots of wind farms along the way, which spoke volumes about the seriousness Germany attaches to renewable energy. Dotted along the road were seen the unmistakable red and white wind mills that were being turned occasionally by the wind. Also, as was to be expected, we travelled on first class road from Berlin right to Hamburg and never at any point experienced vehicular traffic.
What’s more, although the seminar assistants expressed worry as to whether we could arrive in Hamburg in good time, the driver drove at a regular speed within the speed limit for the entire journey.
Germany’s Wind Farms
Today in Germany, renewables provide 6.7% of primary energy and 14.2% of electricity consumed. Since the potential of hydro power has largely been exploited, wind energy currently offers the greatest opportunities for expansion. Technological development in this field is highly advanced, and there is solid experience from using the technology.
Wind turbines use the wind’s kinetic energy, which is created through differences in atmospheric pressure near the earth’s surface. In Germany wind turbines are exclusively used for the production of electricity, which is fed into the grid.
Modern wind turbines operate on the principle of lift rather than the principle of drag. They do not offer any resistance to the wind, but the wind creates a lift when it flows past the blades of a turbine, causing the blades to rotate.
Meanwhile, 948 million tonnes of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) were emitted in Germany in 1990, as opposed to 774 million tonnes in 2007 in view of the use of the wind turbines. So in 2007 wind energy deployment in Germany saved about 34 million tonnes of CO2.
The share of wind power in electricity generation is projected to increase to 25% by 2025, based on today’s electricity consumption. It is believed this step alone would reduce Germany’s carbon dioxide emissions by 20%, which is impressive proof of the importance of wind energy for climate protection.
Germany’s Development of Wind Power Use
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| A Wind Mill Farm in Germany |
In order to keep the expansion of wind energy deployment in Germany at its current high level, the expansion of suitable locations on land and the replacement of old and small installations by more modern and powerful ones is to be complemented by the gradual development of suitable offshore sites.
Offshore Wind Power Deployment
According to the German government’s strategy on offshore wind energy deployment, an offshore wind power capacity of 2,000 to 3,000 Megawatts could be installed in the medium term by 2010 at the sites which, according to current projections, can be used for this purpose.
If the technology becomes economically viable, it will be possible to install a capacity of
20,000 to 25,000 Megawatts in the long term (by 2025 to 2030).
The aim is to increase the share of offshore wind energy in electricity production to 15% by 2025, based on today’s electricity consumption. The share of onshore wind energy will be 10% and thus considerably below the share of offshore power.
The expansion of this type of energy is to take place gradually and in a way that is both environmentally and economically sound.
Benefits and Costs of Wind Energy To The German Economy
In 2007 the total turnover of the wind energy sector amounted to 5.7 billion Euros. More than 249,000 jobs have been created in the renewable energy sector in recent years. About 84,300 people are currently employed in the wind energy sector alone.
The establishment of global companies has positive effects for Germany. At its production
And development sites the wind energy sector is shaping the structure of the job market by creating future-oriented jobs. Wind energy also benefits the German economy by strengthening rural areas, reducing imports of raw materials, avoiding external costs, directly and indirectly creating jobs.
Further positive impetus comes from the leasing of land which can still be used for agricultural purposes and from trade tax to be paid by the operator at the seat of the company after initial phase of losses. The so-called citizens’ wind parks in particular strengthen the economy in rural areas.
Arrival At Hamburg
Anyway, I guess we’ve had enough of this wind-generated power and kominini stuff.
So as I was recounting, we got to the port city of Hamburg (the second largest container harbour in Europe and seventh worldwide) at about 1pm, checked in at the Quality Hotel Ambassador, which is a very nice hotel by all standards but had rooms so narrow and had space enough for a bed, desk, bath cage and a small wardrobe, took our lunch few minutes later, then got ready for a tour of the city with one of our lecturers who actually lives in Hamburg, Peter Berger and his wife as our tour guides.
The Tour of Hamburg
We embarked on the tour of Hamburg at 2pm after our lunch and were shown very interesting places and landmarks of the port city by our tour guides.
We went round residential areas as well as the commercial part of the city and climaxed it with a tour of the quay side of the harbour on foot in the cold and wet weather – but we were prepared for that, as before we set off we were told the weather in Hamburg was severer than what persisted in Berlin.
However can you imagine going on a tour when the rain is drizzling? Hmm! That was one of the smallest wahalas we had to endure if we wanted to enjoy Hamburg.
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| The Devil in Hamburg |
Devil? Yes the devil for that was what we were told by Peter when we set off from our bus to the quay. To our utter relief though, it turned out to be a statute of a creature representing the devil, which had in its clutches a rabbit.
But pardon me here, for I must admit that I did not get the story surrounding that statue very well and though I had decided to ask my colleagues who were closer to Peter when he narrated the story about that creature, I never got round to doing that.
I would however give you a gist as I heard it. I believe it had something to do with an experience the fishermen had when they begun fishing in the Alba River, which made them conclude that it was the doing of a devil somewhere.
So it happened that in order to stop the chain of mishaps they were experiencing, they decided to make a sacrifice to that devil, who or which was given the choice of choosing between one of them and an animal – a rabbit.
It turned out that the rabbit was preferred because it was caught by the devil and that is why a statue stands somewhere in the habour till today. Forgive me if I have strayed from the actual story or fable, Peter, if you are reading this piece but I have an inkling that I am somewhat right if not very right.
And readers, it appears that that was the end of the woes of the fishermen, as fish is now in abundance in Hamburg and we actually sampled some that same day during dinner.
In view of the very unfriendly weather and the stealth with which night crept on us, we ended our tour of Hamburg at 5pm, 30 minutes earlier than scheduled and returned to the Quality Ambassador Hotel, which was our temporary home.
Dinner At Restaurant Fischerhaus
As scheduled we met at the hotel lobby at 7pm after a fruitless attempt to take a nap after the tour, to be taken by bus to the Restaurant Fischerhaus for our dinner and my, we were unanimous in our thoughts that what we had for dinner was the best we had had since arriving in Germany.
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| A Colleague and I waiting for our fish meal to be served |
Once again, in view of the very unfriendly weather, a plan to go see Hamburg’s night life with a visit to an amusement park (the winter dom – what an appropriate name) was eventually aborted. Would you have gone if you were in our shoes when there was nothing amusing about the weather? Hmm!
So we all left for the hotel, or so I thought as I did not monitor the others’ movements but went straight to my room on arrival after the palatable dinner.
The next day was for serious business, and we were billed to visit two big media establishments in Hamburg. But before I tell you about which establishments they were and what actually transpired there, let us delve into the makeup of the city state of Hamburg.
The Free And Hanseatic City of Hamburg
With 1.7 million inhabitants, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany and one of the 16 federal states of the Federal Republic of Germany and is both a city and a state.
The Hanseatic League (also known as the Hanse or Hansa) was an alliance of trading cities and their guilds that established and maintained a trade monopoly along the coast of Northern Europe, from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland, during the late middle ages and early modern period (13th to 17th centuries).
The Hanseatic cities had their own law system and furnished their own protection and mutual aid. In 1980, it was decided to re-establish the Hanseatic League as the Hanseatic League of New Time (also known as the New Hansa). It hopes to foster and develop business links and tourism within towns and cities as well as promote cultural exchange.
The City And Politics
Hamburg is one of the 16 federal states of the Republic of Germany. Like Bremen and Berlin it is a city state, while the other 13 federal states are area states and have a capital.
The government and parliament have their common seat in the Rathaus or City Hall. The left wing of the building belongs to the parliament, the right one to the state government.
The Hamburg state parliament is called the Burgerschaft. It consists of 121 representatives, who are elected every four years under a system of proportional representation.
The State Parliament elects the head of government, passes state laws and adopts the budget. Laws may be introduced by the Senate, the State Parliament, or by means of a petition or referendum.
The state government is called the senate. The First Mayor is the head of government who determines the political guidelines. In Hamburg the ministers are called senators and today there are 10 departmental authorities, each headed by a senator.
The Senate represents the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg in matters with the other federal states, the Federal Government and other countries. Furthermore, the city is administered by the Senate.
In order to ensure that the administration is responsible to citizens’ interests, Hamburg is divided into seven districts. The districts are administered by a district authority and local authorities.
Simultaneously with elections to the state parliament, district assemblies – each with 41 representatives – are elected as representatives of the citizens.
Overall, the Hamburg administration endeavours to consider itself to be a service institution for the citizens. Services are to be provided locally, and decisions are to be made locally.
Only in exceptional cases does the Senate intervene in decisions taken by the districts, while the voters may bring about political decisions by means of a people’s initiative and a petition for a referendum.
Economy And Harbour
Hamburg places second as the largest container harbour in Europe and seventh world-wide. It is only 120km away from the high seas and is able to accommodate the biggest container ships the world has to offer.
Hamburg Harbour is the central hub for trade with Eastern and Northern Europe. Its inland location and its excellent rail, water and motorway connections make Hamburg very attractive. Meanwhile, trade with the Baltic Sea region alone accounts for 25% of port turnover.
As a trade and transport metropolis, Hamburg has more than 90 consulates with 460 Asian companies alone having their European headquarters or a branch office in Hamburg. With the HafenCity, an ultra-modern commercial and business district is currently being built directly on the Elbe river, the second largest in the city.
Hamburg is also a location for highly specialised industries and a leader in medical technology and bio-technology, and is one of the world centres for aircraft construction; where the wide-bodied A380 is built.
The mail-order firm Otto-Versan and Helm AG (chemicals) are market leaders throughout the world and whoever rubs in Nivea or writes with a Montblanc fountain pen, uses a Hamburg product, while Hamburg press products are read throughout the world and in a host of languages.
Tourism And Culture In Hamburg
Hamburg’s facilities range from the Kunsthalle Art Museum and the State Opera to music clubs on the Reeperbahn. The city boasts of 31 theatres, six music halls, 10 cabarets and 50 state and private museums. Also, there are 4,000 restaurants, of which 2,400 offer foreign cuisine.
St. Michelis Church (“Michel”)
The landmark of Hamburg is better known as the “Michel”. The Michel is one of the most important churches in the North of Germany and the most famous church in Hamburg.
Fish Market
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| The Fish Market |
The Alster
The Alster lake in the heart of Hamburg’s city is one of the main attractions of Hamburg. The banks of the Elbe and Alster rivers are perfect for a stroll, while the port sight-seeing trips offer a special perspective on the panorama of Hamburg.
A boat tour on the Alster ends up in the city centre, where a visitor can go shopping or relax in a street cafe or use any of the underground trains and buses to get to any part of the city.
Monday Morning, Business Time
So after enjoying our meal at the Fischerhaus Restaurant as well as a good night’s rest at the Quality Ambassador Hotel, we were all braced up for a visit to two media establishments in Hamburg. Actually the two are connected.
In view of the fact that we had a very long day ahead, after which we would have to leave for Berlin, we checked out of the hotel after taking our breakfast on Monday morning November 16, 2009 at about 9am, after which we set off for Gruner & Jahr Wirtschaftsmedien GmbH & Co, popularly referred to as G+J.
On arrival, we waited for few minutes while our lecturer, Peter Berger, gave us a briefing on the operations of the media house we were visiting and the kind of questions we may want to ask.
After waiting for a short while we were ushered into the conference room of G + J, where we were educated on the work of the company.
First we were addressed by the Online Editor in Chief, Dr. Anton Notz and then the News Editor Online, Joachim dreykluft.
Dr. Anton Notz told the team that G+J is the journalistic home of fascinating media brands and stands for information, inspiration and entertainment as well as quality journalism in fascinating media brands.
G+J, he said, also stands for development and support of journalistic and corporate talents, journalistic independence and attractive target groups. It also prides itself in the provision of top quality service for advertising customers and agencies, as well as excellent performance values in all readership segments.
It so happened that most of the things we had been taught on online advertising and marketing with respect to the way to attract advertisements and the different kinds of online advertising was revisited and more, as that is the main duty of G+J.
G+J handles the advertising needs of four brands, namely the Capital, impulse, Borse – Online, all magazines and Financial Times Deutschland, a newspaper.
Lunch At G+J Staff Canteen
It was a very fruitful visit, after which it was all topped up with a good lunch at the G+J staff canteen. There was so much to choose from and under the direction of our seminar assistants each one of us took a tray, went to one of the several counters which was designated for us, chose our meal from start to finish (that is comprising a drink, main meal and dessert) and we were thankfully ushered into a private room reserved for us and away from the main canteen, where we did justice to the food.
And I must say, though I know you will not believe me, that I do not like food that much but I am only recounting my experience to you wonderful readers (I can hear you say tweah!). Anyway, that is the truth and anyone who knows me well knows I am scared at the sight of so much food and often get confused.
That was exactly what happened at the G+J canteen, where there were assorted drinks and desserts as well as meals and especially sauces, which were all very new to me. Well, how for do? I had to make do with what I had chosen, whether I liked it or not – Abrokyire Abrabo, na wahala oh!
I must admit that the self service meal at the canteen was fun, especially when after eating, all of us had to troop back to the main hall with our trays to deposit them at an escalating counter – self service to the full you would say.
The Stroll and Photo Shoot At The Harbour
What do you expect after a heavy meal? We unanimously agreed to use the little time at our disposal before our next appointment (a date with Financial Times Deutschland) to take a stroll along the fantastic harbour once again, this time in broad day light and this time we had the blessing of a fine weather, contrary to what the meteo had forecasted (heavy rain with a maximum temperature of 10 degrees celcius) – so you see even Kwesi Broni sometimes gets it wrong with things like the weather. That tells us to let our own meteo people be when what they predict doesn’t come true; after all they are using mere machines made by man who makes mistakes – I lie?
The stroll however ended up as a photo shoot session, as all of us took some memorable shots individually and in groups. Our next appointment was fixed for 2pm and so after shedding some weight gained at lunch time we boarded our bus to the offices of Financial Times Deutschland.
Make a date on Wednesday for the continuation of the story.
At Financial Times Deutschland
We arrived at the offices of Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) in good time, since it was not very far off and climbed a flight of stairs to their conference room.
One of the observations made on our way to the newsroom, was the very large display of awards won by FTD, which were all displayed on a wall at the lobby of the newspaper, as well as the issue of the day that was exhibited and a number of complimentary copies that could be picked by any visitor or the workers.
There too, we received a briefing on the operations of the newspaper, which is printed on spreadsheet (large size news print).
Correction & Apologies Please
It looks as if I mixed up the names of those who gave us briefing at the two media establishments in Hamburg – It was rather Mr. Arne Wolter who gave us an overview of the operations of G+J, while Online Editor in Chief, Dr. Anton Notz and the News Editor Online, Joachim dreykluft gave us the briefing at FTD. Hope my apologies have been accepted.
Let’s continue now; some of the things we learnt about was the success of the Financial Times’(FTD) electronic media, the fact that FTD reaches 259,000 decision makers cross-medially, 241,000 with another brand – IMPULSE, while 22,000 decision makers use both IMPULSE channels, which are the website – IMPULSE. de and IMPULSE magazine.
According to the statistics shown us, 84,000 visitors check out the website each week, while 179,000 people read the magazine monthly.
After asking some nagging questions, the briefing was over and we were ushered into the impressive newsroom of FTD, where we were told the basic functions of the various desks.
Soon it was all over in a little over two hours and we went down the flight of stairs to board our bus back to Berlin and say bye bye to the beautiful habour city of Hamburg.
The Trip Back To Berlin
We set off from the premises of FTD at approximately 5pm and begun the journey back to our base in Berlin, and as to be expected, it was already night before we had covered an appreciable distance.
So tired and drained, most of us dozed off for most part of the journey – poor souls, but it was all in the line of duty; no be so? Hmm! There was not much activity on board the bus on our return journey as we experienced on our way to Hamburg, save for a brief stop at a rest stop.
But that was to be expected from tired students. Moreover, it was dark and we couldn’t really see anything outside our windows, which situation was even worsened by the steady downpour we had to travel through – it was all wet and cold outside.
By God’s grace we arrived in Berlin close to 9pm and straight away went to our rooms when we got to our apartment at Buckower Damm to fix ourselves a late supper and then rest our tired frames, so we would be up and running the next day. Eh! Na wahala oh! We still had some lectures to attend. Who said abrokyire abrabo is easy? It is not oh my brothers and sisters!
Back To IIJ Campus
Thankfully, we were all able to make it to class the next day, which even pleasantly surprised the IIJ staff. According to Hans Bosel, the project director who paid us a brief visit before class commenced, it was not so with a previous team of students who also visited Hamburg while in Berlin, as some fell ill. Thank God for small mercies!
So we began lectures with Tatiana, recounting the useful lessons learned in Hamburg and juxtaposing that with what we had learnt in the classroom before going to Hamburg. In all I must say it was a very useful exercise and it looked as if we had all been rejuvenated by the trip instead of the other way round.
Classical Concert At Lunch Break
But there was more to be experienced in the oyiboland of Germany and up next was attending a classical concert during lunch break, which most of us participants took advantage of. As you can guess, I took advantage of that rare opportunity to savour classical music ala Berlin.
At noon day we went on foot to Potsdamer Platz under the ‘chaperonship’ of Ms. Antonella Fiore to witness the Berliner Philharmonie perform. We arrived in good time before it all started and were amazed at the large number of patrons in the hall at such a time of the day.
What I observed was that most of the patrons were senior citizens and I even made friends with one who sat by me. Let me say how it happened before you think I made the first move – if you are thinking that way, then you will be disappointed.
The elderly lady begun speaking to me in Deutsch few seconds after I had taken a seat beside her (asem beba dabi). Fortunately, when I indicated I did not understand the language she switched to English and asked – “Do you speak English?” to which I answered in the affirmative. She then asked me the country I hailed from and if I was familiar with any of the music titles indicated on the programme.
When I replied that everything was in German, she quickly rebuffed that by showing me some that were actually in English, to which I could only nod. That was my first hand experience with classical music – but how could I have told her that? Eh! Na wahala oh! My God save me, I cried silently and was saved by the bell or rather by the Almighty when the concert finally got underway.
Can you imagine the heavy sigh of relief I heaved? I guess not. The performers – a male and female, mounted the small platform to rapturous applause, the male to a big piano and the lady with her violin.
I must say I appreciate music, especially when it is delivered by professionals as was evidenced by the dexterous manner the two played on their instruments. The entire hall was quiet with most of the patrons seen in pensive moods while the music was being delivered and attracted a round of applause at the end of each performance.
Although the delivery was good I must admit that it was a tussle staying alert as the classical stuff had a drowsy effect on listeners, especially tired ones like us. Fortunately for us though, we had to leave to grab a bite and head for the second part of our lectures for the day before the end of the concert.
We were able to land some sandwiches at a food joint but I had a little problem with the taste of the mayonnaise in mine and did not enjoy it as much as I had envisaged. Even writing about it has brought back the funny taste I experienced when I munched the sandwich and my...it was awful.
But why didn’t I throw it away? It is because I was famished and did not have much of a choice – I had spent some good euros on it. This too na wahala oh! I did not finish it all up to the last mussel as might be expected and when I was done we went back to IIJ to finish up the day’s lectures. It was on our way that a colleague told me he also had the same experience with his sandwich (and all along I thought I was the only one).
Gradually we were pushing towards the end of the two week course with just four days to go. Let’s talk about how the remaining days went and how the course ended in the next issue in January 2010. I wish you all a very enjoyable Christmas and a fulfilling and positive 2010.
Once again Frohliche Weihnachten (Merry Christmas)!
Ein Glukliches Neues Jahr! Or better still Happy New Year to all of you wonderful faithful readers. Let us continue from where we left off last year. Hope you enjoyed the yuletide.
The Farewell Dinner and Night Out Dancing
Lectures continued the next day Wednesday November 18, 2009 but there was no extracurricular activity or what had been dubbed cultural activities, which meant we had the time after lectures to ourselves to do some final looking around the city of Berlin and getting some souvenirs and confectionaries.
However, the next day, Thursday, had been scheduled for our farewell dinner at the Aapka, an Indian restaurant, as well as a night out dancing at the Clarchens Ballhaus somewhere deep in the city.
Soon lectures were over on Thursday and we were all braced up for the farewell dinner, though with mixed feelings. Mixed feelings because the signs were boldly written on the wall that our stay in the beautiful city of Berlin was going to be over before we knew it. Hmm! But most of us were feeling homesick too...as the saying goes “we can’t have our cake and eat it”.
So at six, all course mates together with lecturers and seminar assistants left the IIJ premises for the restaurant in a part of town we hadn’t been to before. For the first time too we had our feel of the tram (an electrically powered mini train that uses the same streets used by vehicles.
To get to the Aapka, we had to take an underground train, alight at a point, board the tram and then walk few metres, then voila, there the Aapka was, staring right at us. The name of the restaurant right away caught my fancy, as it read like a local jargon which has something to do with the now popular 419 scam.
My oh my! I thought to myself, are we going to have a deceptive farewell dinner. But my fears were assuaged when I was given the right pronunciation by one of the seminar assistants, who then explained that it was an Indian restaurant.
Inside the Aapka
We crossed the road, entered the restaurant, hanged our jackets and took our seats at two tables in a corner that had been reserved for us, after which we ordered drinks of our choice, while we waited for Director of IIJ, Astrid Kohl. Unfortunately though, Sabrina and Sabine Emmerich could not make it due to their busy schedules.
Whiles we waited for our drinks and Astrid, a photo shoot begun as if it had already been planned, but that was all a telltale sign that indeed we had neared the end of our stay in Germany.
Not long afterwards the IIJ Director arrived in the company of her son full of apologies for arriving late. When the necessary courtesies had been extended, she proceeded to deliver a short farewell speech, which was responded to by a course mate Joseph Adeyeye, who had been delegated by us to express our thanks to the German people for affording us the opportunity to study in their lovely country and for all the effort they put in to make our stay very memorable.
When that was done, dinner was finally served and refreshingly tasted good, though it was Indian cuisine. That however followed our starter for the dinner – an Oriental soup, which strangely tasted funny on my taste buds but felt good in my gullet – nawaa oh!
As part of the menu was the unmistakable famous crispy Indian bread, rice and fully spiced sauces (vegetarian, chicken, beef and fish). Also served as part of the menu were some good jokes and laughs when everyone had had a fill of the bountiful rice and assorted sauces served. Thank God no part of the food made anyone throw up or experience a churning of the stomach afterwards. It was all well prepared and very delicious and befitting to be labelled as a farewell dinner – thank you our Deutsch friends.
At The Clarchens Ballhaus
After our sumptuous dinner we all exchanged pleasantries with our hosts and headed for a dance hall – the Clarchens Ballhaus at WeinmeisterstraBe, to try out some ballroom dancing, chacha and walzer among others as had been scheduled. Eh! Asem beba dabi!
Although I reckoned the night out dancing had been appropriately scheduled because we were all so full, we had to definitely shed some weight before retiring to bed, I dreaded the steps I would have to take once we arrived at the place since I am not a very good dancer. Hmm! This too na wahala oh!
So it happened that we made our way to Clarchens Ballhaus and saw a lot of patrons doing their own thing on the dance floor. It was fun to watch them dance but I was wondering if it was also going to be fun getting onto the dance floor ourselves – well time will tell.
As was to be expected most of the patrons were youthful or middle aged and we went straight to our reserved table as soon as we got there and our able seminar assistants, Antonella and Susan made sure we had some drinks on our table, although most of us were not so enthused about that prospect – we were still very full but they insisted that we were all entitled to some drinks (If you consider this to be another wahala, wait till you read what transpired on the dance floor).
Before we knew it we were being urged by Antonella especially, as well as Susan to get our grooves on, on the dance floor. Apart from Joseph who was able to extract a promise from the assistants that he would go with us to Clarchens Ballhaus on condition that he would not have to dance but sit and watch, all the others were required to shake themselves on the dance floor. Some of the course mates however managed to dodge – they obviously did not trust their boogie skills.
Well, I was not one of the fortunate ones. I was first urged on by Faridah with whom I did some few dance steps, then we were joined by few of our mates Wisnu, Arukaino, Awa and Andi as well as Susan and Antonella.
I however got my groove on when I once again invaded the dance floor with Susan, though grudgingly. It was as if we had been at this business before because we seemed like a perfect match and indeed I received commendation from my partner Sue for being a good, no, a very good dancer – and wasn’t I swollen headed?
We chose the ballroom dance steps and my, it was so much fun. I also learnt a very valuable lesson, which is that how good or bad one’s dance partner is, determines the dexterity with which he or she does it on the dance floor.
It was a great night full of fun, save that I sat close to the smoking room at the dance hall and anytime the door to that room was opened I had an unwelcome whiff of tobacco smoke drifting into my nostrils. But believe you me that I tried very hard to parry much of that smoke away so it would not enter my lungs.
When we had had our fill of fun, trimmed our bloated stomachs and obviously looked haggard and tired after a very long day, the unanimous decision was for us to return to our apartment at Buckower Damm and rest our weary frames for our last day in Germany and that is exactly what we did.
Our Last Day In Germany
Our last day in Germany came very quickly, as we had slept very late the previous night after leaving some dance steps in the capital city of Berlin.
Thankfully though, due to the magnanimity of our lecturers we were asked to report for class an hour later than we had done over the past few days because of our late night out. In effect we were asked to report at 10am, instead of the normal 9am that we had been used to.
The main programmes of the day were a visit to Berlin’s largest newspaper house the Die Welt, presentation or awarding of certificates to course participants and a visit to the German parliament. We were however only able to do the first two programmes and left out our visit to the Bundestag because of time constraints.
The Visit To Die Welt
Surprisingly we arrived the next day at IIJ refreshed before the scheduled time and proceeded to Axel Springer’s Die Welt imposing media establishment after 10am to a very huge surprise. Before we delve into that huge surprise that awaited us at Die Welt, let us go into some history of the newspaper.
Die Welt, which in English means The World, is a German national daily newspaper published by the Axel Springer AG company.
It was founded in Hamburg in 1946 by the British occupying forces, aiming to provide a “quality newspaper” modelled on The Times.
It originally carried news and British-view point editorial content, but form 1947 it adopted a policy of providing two leading articles on major questions, one British and one German.
At its peak in the occupation period, it had a circulation of around a million.
The modern paper takes a self –described “liberal cosmopolitan” position in editing, but Die Welt is generally considered to be a conservative newspaper.
The average circulation of Die Welt is currently about 209, 000 and the paper can be obtained in more than 130 countries.
Daily regional editions appear in Berlin and Hamburg, and in 2002 the paper experimented with a Bavarian edition.
A daily regional supplement also appears in Bremen. The main editorial office is in Berlin, in conjunction with the Berliner Morgenpost.
Die welt is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the Frankfurt Allegemeine Zeitung, the Suddeutsche Zeitung and the Frankfurter Rundschau.
Financially though, it has been a loss maker for many years.
The newspaper currently publishes a compact edition Dailies Alliance (EDA), and has a longstanding co-operation with comparable daily newspapers from other countries, including the Daily Telegraph (UK), Le Figaro (France) and ABC (Spain).
The newspaper currently publishes a compact edition entitled Welt Kompakt, a 32-page cut-down version of the main broadsheet. Welt Kompakt has a fresher look and is targeted to a young public.
The paper does not appear on Sundays, but the linked publication Welt am Sonntag takes its place.
On the other hand, Axel Springer AG is one of the largest newspaper publishing companies in Europe, having over 150 newspapers and magazines in over 30 countries, including several Central and Eastern European countries: Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia and Western European countries: Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, more than 10,000 employees with annual revenues and income on the scale of € 1 billion.
It was started in 1946/1947 by journalist Axel Springer.
Its current CEO is Mathias Dopfner. The Axel Springer Company is the largest publishing house in Europe and controls the largest share of the German market for daily newspapers - 23.6%.
Newspapers, magazines and products of the company include Die Welt, the intellectual flagship of the company, Bild, a newspaper with the largest circulation in Europe, while Computer Bild, published in nine countries, is Europe’s best –selling computer magazine.
The rest are Sports Bild, published in many countries, and which is Europe’s biggest sport magazine, Auto.cz, the biggest Czech internet car portal including RoadLook.tv, starting in Slovakia and Poland as well, Farkt, the biggest daily tabloid in Poland, Hamburger Abendbaltt, Horzu and Dziennik, the intellectual flagship of the company in Poland.
For its corporate principles, the company has five socio-political preambles that were written by Axel Springer in 1967, amended in 1990 following German reunification and supplemented in 2001, which form part of the articles of association of Axel Springer AG.
They paint a liberal picture of the world to uphold liberty and law in Germany, a country belonging to the Western family of nations, and to further the unification of Europe, to promote reconciliation of Jews and Germans and support the vital rights of the State of Israel.
Further, the company aims at supporting the Transatlantic Alliance and solidarity with the United States of America in the common values of free nations, to reject all forms of political extremism and to uphold the principles of a free social market economy. The corporate constitution defines fundamental socio-political convictions but does not offer opinions.
However, the Axel Springer AG is criticised by German leftists and Muslims, especially because it openly supports Israel and is the only German publishing house which refused to publish the advertising campaign of the Left Party in 2005.
Major competitors in the German publishing market include Bauer Verlag, Bertelsmann, Hubert Burda Media and Holtzbrinck.
As faced by any credible media establishment, in the 1960s and 1970s the company was target for a number of left-wing groups.
It was denounced by German-American writer Reinhard Lettau in an incendiary speech at the Freie Universitat Berlin, in 1968 their Berlin headquarters was blockaded by students, in 1972 the Red Army Faction claimed responsibility for six bombs placed in the Hamburg building (only three exploded and 17 people were injured), and in 1975 a bomb exploded in their Paris office, for which the “6th of March Group” (connected to the Red Army Faction) claimed responsibility.
Axel Springer ran a major newspaper he founded in Germany that the Nazis shut down during the war.
Springer never left Germany and was not sent to a concentration camp. After the war, he launched his publishing venture, turning it into Axel Springer AG, and became a major supporter of Israel.
Admittance Into Axel Springer Building
The Axel Springer building which houses the Die Welt headquarters in Berlin is so imposing that one cannot miss it and is made up of at least 50% glass and a is nice building to behold.
All of us 14 course participants, two lecturers and two seminar assistants finally arrived at the Die Welt office housed in the multiple storey building and were admitted into the lobby to wait for further instructions.
We were however shocked at the rigorous security search we had to go through before being shepherded into the conference room where we were scheduled to meet a top official to be briefed on the operations of the newspaper.
To put it bluntly, we were searched and screened as if we were at the airport and about to board an aircraft. Jackets, bags and all other belongings were passed through a scanner as happens at international airports, while individuals were body searched.
When we inquired why such thorough search had to be conducted on us by security detail at the paper, we were told that all those scanning gadgets were fixed there and the security of all working in the building was revised when an individual wielding an offensive weapon one day invaded the building to attack someone.
Interestingly though we were not taken through the same rigorous search when our work was done and we had to leave the building. We were only made to submit specially made name tags bearing each one’s name, which were handed to us before we could proceed to the conference room for our meeting.
The tags had been prepared well in advance before we got there – talk about efficiency and security. Eh! But na wa oh! Small building we want enter so so plenty search hmm! Don’t do and see - before you say jack someone go attack you and if you no get lucky that go be it oh!
But the experience taught me a lot – that we take our security matters lightly and for granted though in our day to day business of writing we offend people or some don’t simply like what we write, either about them or other people and may decide to do something silly before the law enforcement agencies catch up with them.
For instance a driver of a media establishment in Ghana was one day handed a hefty slap in traffic by someone at the back of a pickup, who was not enthused about what the paper had written about someone he considered a hero and sped off afterwards when the traffic light had changed to green. You can well imagine what would have happened if that person was wielding an offensive weapon and decided to use it on the poor and innocent driver – hmm asem sebe. The victim disclosed after that nasty experience that everything went blank when he was handed that hefty slap that he couldn’t focus properly on the road, let alone get the number of the vehicle on which his assailant travelled. We all need some sort of protection in this vocation we have found ourselves in oh abi!
Well, we left kodee after our visit to the IIJ premises for the final farewell and receipt of certificates from the school after two weeks of intensive training. Let’s talk about what happened at the presentation in GO’s next issue.
Farewell And Award Of Certificates
It was after 2pm when we got back to the IIJ premises for the farewell ceremony, so after we had quickly grabbed a bite (for me it was an opportunity to enjoy my last done kebap) the programme got underway.
First we were addressed by project director Hans, then the IIJ director, Astrid, after which we did some evaluation of the course. Participants were asked to enumerate what they liked about the training or what went well with them and aspects that could not go so well that could be improved, which were all written on a board by Hans.
This included the course structure, mode of teaching, transportation and accommodation.
All 14 course participants were candid with their views, which were well taken by the course organisers. We were simultaneously given appraisal forms to fill out and submit, which we were told would form the basis for analysing how everything went during the two weeks so that things could be improved.
Then came the presentation of certificates and all participants took turns when their names were mentioned to receive theirs from Hans and lecturer Tatiana and as could be imagined every presentation turned out to be a photo session.
When it was my turn I did my own presentation first before accepting my certificate to show my appreciation to the entire IIJ staff for making our stay very memorable – I carried along a copy of a music album of a group I belong to in Ghana, which I presented to Hans who was obviously surprised that I was a musician, and I must say I enjoyed that moment.
Soon it was all over and the reality that our stay on German soil was over dawned heavily on us all. The last programme should have been a visit to the German parliament as indicated earlier but it was realised at the last minute that it was not very convenient, as we were running late. It was therefore scrapped and we all made our way to Buckower Damm for the last time to prepare for our flights the following day. Loan from Vietnam was already set to leave for home that same night.
Final Farewell At Buckower Damm
When we got back to our apartment Van Hai Ngo from Vietnam opted to host us to a final drink up and bye bye session amongst ourselves and my, it was quite an emotional time, which showed how close we had become during the few days we spent together.
So apart from some few elderly participants such as Tazeen and Masood from Pakistan who were out making final arrangements before emplaning for their home country, we arrived in Van Hai’s room and realised to our surprise that he had single handedly fried some potatoes and chicken and arranged some drinks for the occasion.
I then remembered I had some sausages in my fridge which could complement the potatoes and chicken. I then informed Van Hai about it and rushed up to my room to fetch it.
We had a nice time chatting, sharing jokes and finally saying byes to each other as we were scheduled to leave for the airport at dawn. In view of our scheduled early departure we did not stay late into the night at Van Hai’s place but had to retire to bed early for a good night’s rest to be in good shape for our journey back home.
My Fond Memories of Berlin
Though we were all set to leave the beautiful city of Berlin I was certain to go back to Ghana with some very fond memories, few of which I will like to recount.
Chiefly will be my course mates and the fun we had, the wonderful and very helpful three female seminar assistants Susan, Antonella and Sabrina, though her being admitted into the university did not make us see much of her and generally the friendly German people we came into contact with.
I will always remember the two lecturers Peter Berger and Tatiana Repkova who loved to always quiz us on the previous day’s work before class begun; also friendly Hans and Ms. Emmerich who made it possible for us to partake in the course, the informal exchanges we had during each snack break and the almighty doner kebap which we were introduced to in Germany.
Of course I will also always cherish memories from all the wonderful places we visited in Berlin as well as Hamburg, such as Estrel where we attended the ‘Stars in Concert’ programme and the fact too that I was present when Germany celebrated its 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I can always thump my chest and say proudly; I was also there when it all happened!
But my fond memories would not be complete without mentioning the interesting names of stops that could always be heard over the PA system in the buses and trains we boarded everyday from our Buckower Damm apartment to IIJ.
Names that easily come to mind are Germania Promenade, Morihner Arleen, HermanntraBe, Tempelhof, Sudkreuz and Anhalter Banhof. Another phrase that always made us laugh when we heard it on the underground trains we boarded was Ausgang Links pronounced aushdi links, which prompted us to ask of the meaning.
You want to know the meaning? It means exits on the left or exits can be found on the left side of the train. I realised later that that announcement was very important because the train has doors on both sides while the platforms are always on the left, which means a passenger will hurt him or herself if the wrong door is opened.
Let us talk about my flight back home in the last instalment in Monday’s issue. You don’t wanna miss it.
Intriguing Observations in Berlin
Yes, our course was over and we were on our way to our various countries but before the final wrap up, there are some interesting observations I made which I believe are worth sharing.
One of them was the much touted time consciousness of Europeans, which is worth emulating back home because it gets things done at the right time. Observed too was the effectiveness and efficiency of the German public transport system which ensured that good planning and programming were done without let or hindrance.
Of particular interest was the issuance and use of seasonal tickets which makes transportation a delight. We course participants were on arrival given tickets for the month of November which enabled us to board the underground train, metro bus and tram at no extra cost. That makes the burden of transportation light on people, doesn’t it?
I again observed that there were no open drains and at certain places it was even difficult to discern where the drains were located. Relatively too drivers were seen to be respecters of road signs and the traffic light.
Though it was largely observed that the German people are law abiding there are also those who flout laws – I saw some youth jumping a fence dividing the different portions of the road to the other side as happens in Kaneshie, Accra, instead of taking the right route. While returning to our apartment on the last day too some ticket offenders were accosted on the train.
Further, this may make you laugh but to my surprise I realised that there were so many different colours of hair and there was not a single occasion that I spotted the same shade of blond hair on a bus or train.
Departure Day
Departure day arrived finally and I woke up at 4am to ensure I was ready by the time Susan checked me out (to ensure that everything was in order in my room and other administrative steps followed through before I left Germany).
Susan arrived on time and saw me through the necessary steps after which I left my floor to the waiting van that was ready to take four of us to the airport. The others were Arukaino and Joseph from Nigeria and Wisnu from Indonesia.
Antonella arrived an hour earlier to see to the others whose flights were earlier than ours, in another van.
We left Buckower Damm a little over 5am and arrived at the Airport just after 6am. But although my flight to Frankfurt was scheduled for after 7am, I was told on arriving at the Lufthansa counter to check-in that there was still space on an early flight and that I was going to be checked on that flight because the next flight was going to delay.
Since I did not want to go through any wahala by missing my flight from Frankfurt to Accra, I agreed to the new arrangement, although that meant I would not be able to say proper bye byes to my colleagues.
Fortunately Susan, who was attending to my colleagues arrived just in time before I was put on the early flight and Wisnu appeared before I continued to the departure lounge to wait for instructions to board the aircraft.
So I was finally leaving for home? I realised that I was already feeling home sick just under three weeks. At last we were instructed to board the flight and we arrived at Frankfurt in about an hour to connect to Accra, Ghana.
How I Almost Missed My Flight To Ghana
I noticed I had arrived in good time and so had a lot of time on my hands to ‘kill’. I was thus assured of my connecting flight back home. Little did I know that my wahala in Germany was not yet over.
Unknown to me my return ticket was a reserve ticket, which meant I was on standby and so my getting a seat on board a flight to Ghana was dependent on the availability of a seat on the aircraft. Ei! So what would I do if the aircraft is fully booked? Hmm!
So as I said, I did not know my ticket did not guarantee me a return to Ghana – it was a maybe situation. With this fact hidden from me as I did not scrutinise the ticket in my possession, I went ‘awindow’ shopping on arrival at Frankfurt Airport and shopped for the Global Refund Office to translate into some bucks, some refund forms from some purchases I had made in Berlin.
It was after I had done all these and realised the departure time was close that I proceeded to the boarding gate which I had previously looked out for. The first shocker came when I was told the boarding gate which had been advertised on the screens dotted around the airport had been changed.
I then quickly rushed to the new gate, where I met a lot of fellow Ghanaians waiting for boarding and then heaved a heavy sigh of relief. However, it was when the flight had been announced and passengers asked to board that I decided to look at my seat number.
Imagine my bewilderment when I noticed for the first time that I had no seat number and that I was on standby. A call at the counter informed me that I needed to wait till the reserve list was mentioned.
So I waited impatiently for that list to be called, as I realised the dire straits I was in. No reserve list was mentioned and I saw to my chagrin that the other passengers were boarding the aircraft.
An eight-name strange list without my name however appeared on a monitor beside the counter which I initially thought was the full list of passengers that had been accepted to fill the vacant spaces on the scheduled Lufthansa flight to Accra.
But as I watched that list in disbelief it continued to shrink till it got to three names on the list. It was then that I saw another prospective passenger who I overheard being told to wait and gathered she was also on standby, proceed to the counter at the boarding gate and realised I had to do something about my situation or be left stranded at the airport till only God knows when.
Lo and behold, I inched my frame towards the counter and met the outstretched arm of the attendant who took my standby ticket and replaced it without posing any question – I was given seat numbered 21, which meant I was going to sit close to the Business Class.
What! So what would have happened if I hadn’t approached the counter the time I did? The answer is plain simple – I would have been left to my fate – I mean stranded with no bucks in my pocket. Abrokyire abrabo, na wa oh!
Back Home
The flight back home was smooth and uneventful and we finally touched down at the Kotoka International Airport at 4pm Ghana time, having set off from Frankfurt, Germany at 10am German time.
After arrival formalities I proceeded to the conveyor belt at the arrival hall, waited awhile for my luggage, cleared with Customs and waited to be picked home by one of my older daughters Sally.
She finally arrived to pick me home, where I met the elder of my two little daughters, all dressed up to welcome me from abrokyire and sleeping because she couldn’t wait up for me.
The younger one (a baby) was rather wide awake but the welcome she gave me was stares and intermittent glances as if to ask me – where have you been daddy?
I must say it felt good to be back home. Home sweet home indeed and thank God my wahala at abrokyire is all over, at least for now, till I have another opportunity to travel again.
I enjoyed reading your funny, educative and entertaining Germany 'memoirs', Edmund. It brought back so many fond memories. Wow. Great piece. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Arukaino. I pray we have another opportunity to meet at a course somewhere on the globe. Oh yes, the Berlin experience was an unforgettable one. One that will linger on next to forever. THanks for reading and for your nice comments.
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