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It Was Twenty Years Ago Today

On this day in 1990 we arrived in Germany, with all the suitcases we could carry plus 3 cats, the rest of our belongings in a half-container on a slow boat, for what we thought would be a 3 to 5 year stint. Saddam had just invaded Kuwait, Germany had just won the World Cup, [...]

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http://www.papascott.de/archives/2010/09/01/it-was-twenty-years-ago-today/#comments

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Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:02:13 +0000

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On this day in 1990 we arrived in Germany, with all the suitcases we could carry plus 3 cats, the rest of our belongings in a half-container on a slow boat, for what we thought would be a 3 to 5 year stint. Saddam had just invaded Kuwait, Germany had just won the World Cup, and we still didn’t know who had killed Laura Palmer. Germany was still in two pieces, but the marriage papers had just been signed the day before and the party would be in a month.

Coming to Germany was an impulse decision, and it was better to be lucky than good. We were in the right place at the right time, reunified Germany was where the action was. Change was happening before our eyes and history was being made at our feet. We had left the US during that decade’s banking crisis and the beginning of a war. The US was slow and broken down; Germany was exciting.

We landed first in a run-down top-floor apartment in Kiel with a 4 month lease. We thought we’d be heading to Berlin, but it became clear we’d be staying in Hamburg. Housing was tight, the whole country was on the move, and 50 people would show up for an apartment showing. I think in the end someone pulled a string for us, and we moved into a 3 room apartment in Barmbek just as the slow boat with our belongings pulled up.

My introduction to German life was total immersion. There was no internet, and I knew no other expats. I was naive and optimistic enough to believe that my American degree and determination would be enough to get a job. In the end it worked, but it took 3 years.

I wonder sometimes if today, we were 20 years younger and the same opportunity came up again, we would make the same decision. Times have changed. I somehow doubt it.

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On this day in 1990 we arrived in Germany, with all the suitcases we could carry plus 3 cats, the rest of our belongings in a half-container on a slow boat, for what we thought would be a 3 to 5 year stint. Saddam had just invaded Kuwait, Germany had just won the World Cup, [...]

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On this day in 1990 we arrived in Germany, with all the suitcases we could carry plus 3 cats, the rest of our belongings in a half-container on a slow boat, for what we thought would be a 3 to 5 year stint. Saddam had just invaded Kuwait, Germany had just won the World Cup, and we still didn’t know who had killed Laura Palmer. Germany was still in two pieces, but the marriage papers had just been signed the day before and the party would be in a month.

Coming to Germany was an impulse decision, and it was better to be lucky than good. We were in the right place at the right time, reunified Germany was where the action was. Change was happening before our eyes and history was being made at our feet. We had left the US during that decade’s banking crisis and the beginning of a war. The US was slow and broken down; Germany was exciting.

We landed first in a run-down top-floor apartment in Kiel with a 4 month lease. We thought we’d be heading to Berlin, but it became clear we’d be staying in Hamburg. Housing was tight, the whole country was on the move, and 50 people would show up for an apartment showing. I think in the end someone pulled a string for us, and we moved into a 3 room apartment in Barmbek just as the slow boat with our belongings pulled up.

My introduction to German life was total immersion. There was no internet, and I knew no other expats. I was naive and optimistic enough to believe that my American degree and determination would be enough to get a job. In the end it worked, but it took 3 years.

I wonder sometimes if today, we were 20 years younger and the same opportunity came up again, we would make the same decision. Times have changed. I somehow doubt it.

date_timestamp

1283313733

Twenty-Five Plus

Next weekend we are finally celebrating our silver wedding anniversary. As you may recall, the actual anniversary was in September 2008. So in the spirit of procrastination, the event is entitled “Twenty-Five Plus”. We both have memories of stiff and boring anniversaries that we were forced to endure as children, so we are trying to [...]

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Sun, 15 Aug 2010 14:27:41 +0000

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creator: PapaScott

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25+.jpg

Next weekend we are finally celebrating our silver wedding anniversary. As you may recall, the actual anniversary was in September 2008. So in the spirit of procrastination, the event is entitled “Twenty-Five Plus”.

We both have memories of stiff and boring anniversaries that we were forced to endure as children, so we are trying to do the opposite. We’ll be at one of our favorite restaurants, the Treibhaus in Marxen, which as the name implies is very green and casual. We’re serving “American Barbeque”, outside if the weather allows. We’re celebrating in the afternoon and will be done by sunset, not partying into the wee hours of the ~~night~~ morning.

We have two special visitors from the States, my mother and my cousin. My cousin has never been to Germany, so we will also be conducting a whirlwind “German essentials in 6 days” tour concluding with a cruise on the Rhine (special request from my mother). Our son has a class trip all next weeks, so that fits.

We’ve also been able bring our “Basement Project 2009″ to a belated tentative conclusion. We had hoped to have business storage space and a guest room with bath done last winter, but the bad weather put us back and, well, the painter just finished up last week. The business space still needs some electrical work and shelving, but we made a trip to Ikea yesterday, and Voila! The guest room is now livable!

So now my project is to create a “25+ Playlist” of early ’80s music for our Sonos S5 with which to entertain (or possibly torment) our guests. Can you sing along to “Like A Virgin”?

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Next weekend we are finally celebrating our silver wedding anniversary. As you may recall, the actual anniversary was in September 2008. So in the spirit of procrastination, the event is entitled “Twenty-Five Plus”. We both have memories of stiff and boring anniversaries that we were forced to endure as children, so we are trying to [...]

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25+.jpg

Next weekend we are finally celebrating our silver wedding anniversary. As you may recall, the actual anniversary was in September 2008. So in the spirit of procrastination, the event is entitled “Twenty-Five Plus”.

We both have memories of stiff and boring anniversaries that we were forced to endure as children, so we are trying to do the opposite. We’ll be at one of our favorite restaurants, the Treibhaus in Marxen, which as the name implies is very green and casual. We’re serving “American Barbeque”, outside if the weather allows. We’re celebrating in the afternoon and will be done by sunset, not partying into the wee hours of the ~~night~~ morning.

We have two special visitors from the States, my mother and my cousin. My cousin has never been to Germany, so we will also be conducting a whirlwind “German essentials in 6 days” tour concluding with a cruise on the Rhine (special request from my mother). Our son has a class trip all next weeks, so that fits.

We’ve also been able bring our “Basement Project 2009″ to a belated tentative conclusion. We had hoped to have business storage space and a guest room with bath done last winter, but the bad weather put us back and, well, the painter just finished up last week. The business space still needs some electrical work and shelving, but we made a trip to Ikea yesterday, and Voila! The guest room is now livable!

So now my project is to create a “25+ Playlist” of early ’80s music for our Sonos S5 with which to entertain (or possibly torment) our guests. Can you sing along to “Like A Virgin”?

date_timestamp

1281882461

There and Back Again

For those of you who don’t follow us on the Twitters, we spent the last two weeks on our annual US trip, which this time included stops in Phoenix and San Francisco before visiting my family in Minnesota. I suspected when booking that flying outbound through both Paris and Atlanta would be a mistake. Air [...]

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http://www.papascott.de/archives/2010/07/12/there-and-back-again/#comments

pubdate

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 06:17:57 +0000

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creator: PapaScott

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http://www.papascott.de/?p=3762

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For those of you who don’t follow us on the Twitters, we spent the last two weeks on our annual US trip, which this time included stops in Phoenix and San Francisco before visiting my family in Minnesota.

I suspected when booking that flying outbound through both Paris and Atlanta would be a mistake. Air France departed 3 hours late from Paris on a cramped an aging 747 (the only thing good was the food), and the last place on earth you want to miss a connection is Atlanta. Delta managed to find room for us on the last flight of the evening, so we got into Phoenix 6 hours late, with moods to match.

Arizona was our last US station (1989-90) before coming to Germany, and is always a nostalgic what-would-have-been-if-we-had-never-left experience. We love the heat and the desert, but the politics and economy leave a lot to be desired. We caught up with an old friend and soaked up some 115°F heat,

San Francisco is a station from my childhood (we lived in San Jose from 1st to 6th grade until 1974), and my wife’s running joke was that I never took her there. It’s not quite like I remember it. We stayed 3 days, time enough for the touristy things (stayed at Fisherman’s Wharf, biked the Golden Gate Bridge, rode the cable cars, visited Alcatraz and the Exploratorium) but leaving much to explore should we ever return.

Then in Minnesota we paid a visit to Target Field (stadium is nice, Twins suck at the moment) then spent a beautiful and quiet week at the lake. Christopher had a blast, and we could tell that he’s now old enough and competent enough at English that we could send him alone to Grandma and Grandpa for some upcoming school vacation.

Technically we connected an old unlocked iPhone to AT&T pay-as-you-go to stay in touch. We forwarded our business calls via Skype to ignore most of them and return the important ones, and a 100MB data package handled our email when we were out of WLAN range (for iPhone use unlockit.co.nz to set the APN). My wife succumbed to the lure of the iPad, and we were able to manipulate the waiting list at the Apple Store to get her one in Minneapolis on her departure date.

Our Delta flight home via Amsterdam was the opposite of our Air France experience (bad food, everything else OK), and if it weren’t for the jet lag, we’d be ready and raring to go. But who left the heat on outside in Germany? Shut it off!

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For those of you who don’t follow us on the Twitters, we spent the last two weeks on our annual US trip, which this time included stops in Phoenix and San Francisco before visiting my family in Minnesota. I suspected when booking that flying outbound through both Paris and Atlanta would be a mistake. Air [...]

atom_content

For those of you who don’t follow us on the Twitters, we spent the last two weeks on our annual US trip, which this time included stops in Phoenix and San Francisco before visiting my family in Minnesota.

I suspected when booking that flying outbound through both Paris and Atlanta would be a mistake. Air France departed 3 hours late from Paris on a cramped an aging 747 (the only thing good was the food), and the last place on earth you want to miss a connection is Atlanta. Delta managed to find room for us on the last flight of the evening, so we got into Phoenix 6 hours late, with moods to match.

Arizona was our last US station (1989-90) before coming to Germany, and is always a nostalgic what-would-have-been-if-we-had-never-left experience. We love the heat and the desert, but the politics and economy leave a lot to be desired. We caught up with an old friend and soaked up some 115°F heat,

San Francisco is a station from my childhood (we lived in San Jose from 1st to 6th grade until 1974), and my wife’s running joke was that I never took her there. It’s not quite like I remember it. We stayed 3 days, time enough for the touristy things (stayed at Fisherman’s Wharf, biked the Golden Gate Bridge, rode the cable cars, visited Alcatraz and the Exploratorium) but leaving much to explore should we ever return.

Then in Minnesota we paid a visit to Target Field (stadium is nice, Twins suck at the moment) then spent a beautiful and quiet week at the lake. Christopher had a blast, and we could tell that he’s now old enough and competent enough at English that we could send him alone to Grandma and Grandpa for some upcoming school vacation.

Technically we connected an old unlocked iPhone to AT&T pay-as-you-go to stay in touch. We forwarded our business calls via Skype to ignore most of them and return the important ones, and a 100MB data package handled our email when we were out of WLAN range (for iPhone use unlockit.co.nz to set the APN). My wife succumbed to the lure of the iPad, and we were able to manipulate the waiting list at the Apple Store to get her one in Minneapolis on her departure date.

Our Delta flight home via Amsterdam was the opposite of our Air France experience (bad food, everything else OK), and if it weren’t for the jet lag, we’d be ready and raring to go. But who left the heat on outside in Germany? Shut it off!

date_timestamp

1278915477

The Backyard

Looking out our back window, we see nothing but fields, trees and a couple of horses. It’s like our back yard goes on forever. This morning everything was so fresh and green in a misty rain. Green pastures. Looking down the Buttermarsh. Our house is at the right, at the end of the path. The [...]

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Wed, 02 Jun 2010 07:24:30 +0000

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creator: PapaScott

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Looking out our back window, we see nothing but fields, trees and a couple of horses. It’s like our back yard goes on forever. This morning everything was so fresh and green in a misty rain.

Green pastures.

Looking down the Buttermarsh. Our house is at the right, at the end of the path.

The Oak.

Our house from The Oak through the mist.

Asparagus fields. Eleven years ago when we were expecting Christopher, we did a lot of talking to these fields. They assured us everything would be OK.

Looking down our street.

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Looking out our back window, we see nothing but fields, trees and a couple of horses. It’s like our back yard goes on forever. This morning everything was so fresh and green in a misty rain. Green pastures. Looking down the Buttermarsh. Our house is at the right, at the end of the path. The [...]

atom_content

Looking out our back window, we see nothing but fields, trees and a couple of horses. It’s like our back yard goes on forever. This morning everything was so fresh and green in a misty rain.

Green pastures.

Looking down the Buttermarsh. Our house is at the right, at the end of the path.

The Oak.

Our house from The Oak through the mist.

Asparagus fields. Eleven years ago when we were expecting Christopher, we did a lot of talking to these fields. They assured us everything would be OK.

Looking down our street.

date_timestamp

1275463470

Big Seal

Last week the organizers of the FaMi-Siegel held a press conference to present the familiy-friendly employers they honored. We’ve been making extensive use of the seal in printed and email correspondence, and had stickers printed for the restaurant in Dibbersen and all our company cars. The stickers are only 15 cm in diameter, and Frauke [...]

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pubdate

Sat, 22 May 2010 08:55:10 +0000

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creator: PapaScott

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http://www.papascott.de/?p=3747

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Last week the organizers of the FaMi-Siegel held a press conference to present the familiy-friendly employers they honored. We’ve been making extensive use of the seal in printed and email correspondence, and had stickers printed for the restaurant in Dibbersen and all our company cars.

The stickers are only 15 cm in diameter, and Frauke wanted something that would stand out for the press photo. We thought about an A4 laser printout, but then asked our printer for advice. Usually he find less expensive alternatives for us, but this time he suggested an upgrade. “A4 is way too small! You want 50 cm diameter! On a board!”

The Hamburger Abendblatt was impressed.

That’s Frauke in the front row with her big seal on page 2 of the Harburg section. The photo is online at abendblatt.de. Everyone can see the photo, but only subscribers can read the article.

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Last week the organizers of the FaMi-Siegel held a press conference to present the familiy-friendly employers they honored. We’ve been making extensive use of the seal in printed and email correspondence, and had stickers printed for the restaurant in Dibbersen and all our company cars. The stickers are only 15 cm in diameter, and Frauke [...]

atom_content

Last week the organizers of the FaMi-Siegel held a press conference to present the familiy-friendly employers they honored. We’ve been making extensive use of the seal in printed and email correspondence, and had stickers printed for the restaurant in Dibbersen and all our company cars.

The stickers are only 15 cm in diameter, and Frauke wanted something that would stand out for the press photo. We thought about an A4 laser printout, but then asked our printer for advice. Usually he find less expensive alternatives for us, but this time he suggested an upgrade. “A4 is way too small! You want 50 cm diameter! On a board!”

The Hamburger Abendblatt was impressed.

That’s Frauke in the front row with her big seal on page 2 of the Harburg section. The photo is online at abendblatt.de. Everyone can see the photo, but only subscribers can read the article.

date_timestamp

1274518510

Back to the Roots

Christopher and I are spending the Ascension holiday weekend alone. Frauke and her brothers have taken their mother on a short trip to her mother’s birthplace, organized for her 80th birthday. I wrote a bit about her for 75th birthday. She was born in a village in what at the time as Mark Brandenburg, and [...]

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Fri, 14 May 2010 07:22:09 +0000

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creator: PapaScott

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http://www.papascott.de/?p=3743

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Christopher and I are spending the Ascension holiday weekend alone. Frauke and her brothers have taken their mother on a short trip to her mother’s birthplace, organized for her 80th birthday. I wrote a bit about her for 75th birthday.

She was born in a village in what at the time as Mark Brandenburg, and now is western Poland. She was a miller’s daughter, and the house and the mill pond still exist. I mentioned her last visit 10 years ago, but this time she can show the place her children. They’ve been invited by the present residents for coffee this afternoon.

This is an occasion for immediate family, so Christopher and I stayed behind. I’m sure we’ll have a chance to see the place for ourselves sometime in the future. We’re keeping ourselves well occupied… yesterday we saw the King Tut exhibit in Hamburg and experienced Avatar in 3D, and have further adventures planned for today.

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Christopher and I are spending the Ascension holiday weekend alone. Frauke and her brothers have taken their mother on a short trip to her mother’s birthplace, organized for her 80th birthday. I wrote a bit about her for 75th birthday. She was born in a village in what at the time as Mark Brandenburg, and [...]

atom_content

Christopher and I are spending the Ascension holiday weekend alone. Frauke and her brothers have taken their mother on a short trip to her mother’s birthplace, organized for her 80th birthday. I wrote a bit about her for 75th birthday.

She was born in a village in what at the time as Mark Brandenburg, and now is western Poland. She was a miller’s daughter, and the house and the mill pond still exist. I mentioned her last visit 10 years ago, but this time she can show the place her children. They’ve been invited by the present residents for coffee this afternoon.

This is an occasion for immediate family, so Christopher and I stayed behind. I’m sure we’ll have a chance to see the place for ourselves sometime in the future. We’re keeping ourselves well occupied… yesterday we saw the King Tut exhibit in Hamburg and experienced Avatar in 3D, and have further adventures planned for today.

date_timestamp

1273821729

Deceleration

Like many others, we to have a story of being disrupted by the closure of European airspace due to volcanic ash. Our story is however pretty boring. “We were going to fly to Orlando for a week on business, but we couldn’t fly so we stayed home instead.” So instead of attending the McDonald’s Worldwide [...]

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http://www.papascott.de/archives/2010/04/19/deceleration/#comments

pubdate

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:40:30 +0000

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creator: PapaScott

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http://www.papascott.de/?p=3741

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Like many others, we to have a story of being disrupted by the closure of European airspace due to volcanic ash. Our story is however pretty boring.

“We were going to fly to Orlando for a week on business, but we couldn’t fly so we stayed home instead.”

So instead of attending the McDonald’s Worldwide Convention (which occurs every two years, and will probably be in Orlando again), we have an unplanned free week. No plans, no meetings, no mail. Christopher is thrilled by the turn of events. He was supposed to stay with relatives this week, and can stay be home with us.

The Sunday paper described the feeling of not flying as Entschleunigung (or deceleration), so we’ve adopted that as our key word for this week. We going to relax, not make plans, do some stuff around the house, but in all try not to accomplish anything.

For the record, we didn’t get off to a good start with Entschleunigung. We got too much done today.

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Like many others, we to have a story of being disrupted by the closure of European airspace due to volcanic ash. Our story is however pretty boring. “We were going to fly to Orlando for a week on business, but we couldn’t fly so we stayed home instead.” So instead of attending the McDonald’s Worldwide [...]

atom_content

Like many others, we to have a story of being disrupted by the closure of European airspace due to volcanic ash. Our story is however pretty boring.

“We were going to fly to Orlando for a week on business, but we couldn’t fly so we stayed home instead.”

So instead of attending the McDonald’s Worldwide Convention (which occurs every two years, and will probably be in Orlando again), we have an unplanned free week. No plans, no meetings, no mail. Christopher is thrilled by the turn of events. He was supposed to stay with relatives this week, and can stay be home with us.

The Sunday paper described the feeling of not flying as Entschleunigung (or deceleration), so we’ve adopted that as our key word for this week. We going to relax, not make plans, do some stuff around the house, but in all try not to accomplish anything.

For the record, we didn’t get off to a good start with Entschleunigung. We got too much done today.

date_timestamp

1271702430

Old School

Last year I mentioned the upcoming choice of a secondary school for our son after the fourth grade… well, now the fourth grade is nearly over, and the decision has been made. It was a choice that 3 months ago we hadn’t even considered. Our state of Lower Saxony still splits into the 3 traditional [...]

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pubdate

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:38:50 +0000

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creator: PapaScott

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http://www.papascott.de/?p=3738

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Last year I mentioned the upcoming choice of a secondary school for our son after the fourth grade… well, now the fourth grade is nearly over, and the decision has been made. It was a choice that 3 months ago we hadn’t even considered.

Our state of Lower Saxony still splits into the 3 traditional secondary systems, for simplicity the upper, middle, and lower tracks. We’ve been told since 3rd grade that our son could expect a recommendation for the upper Gymnasium track, and with the mid-term grades in February, that’s what he got.

We had resigned ourselves to choosing between two local public Gymnasiums. We attended open houses at both, and most of our fears were confirmed. The events were loud and chaotic. The teachers sometimes didn’t know their students’ names. The class sizes are well over 30. The school day ends at 1 pm, with a full load of homework for the afternoon.

However, we noticed a brochure for a private Gymnasium near Lüneburg. It had been recommended to us before, but we had forgotten about it. We went for a visit and were impressed. Day-long school with time to do homework at school. Individual attention from teachers. A motto of “knowledge wants to be learned”. Total school size 350 students. Class size maximum 24. No trace of elitism.

There are just two disadvantages. One is the cost, but we can deal with that. The other is the distance, over 45 km. However, interested parents in the next town have organized a bus service. Departure 7:30am, travel time 45 minutes, return at 4:30pm.

We made our decision, and received the papers to sign today. A small step for the next 8 years.

(For now I won’t be naming the school here… it’s time to start respecting our son’s privacy. It can easily be googled from the details I’ve given.)

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Last year I mentioned the upcoming choice of a secondary school for our son after the fourth grade… well, now the fourth grade is nearly over, and the decision has been made. It was a choice that 3 months ago we hadn’t even considered. Our state of Lower Saxony still splits into the 3 traditional [...]

atom_content

Last year I mentioned the upcoming choice of a secondary school for our son after the fourth grade… well, now the fourth grade is nearly over, and the decision has been made. It was a choice that 3 months ago we hadn’t even considered.

Our state of Lower Saxony still splits into the 3 traditional secondary systems, for simplicity the upper, middle, and lower tracks. We’ve been told since 3rd grade that our son could expect a recommendation for the upper Gymnasium track, and with the mid-term grades in February, that’s what he got.

We had resigned ourselves to choosing between two local public Gymnasiums. We attended open houses at both, and most of our fears were confirmed. The events were loud and chaotic. The teachers sometimes didn’t know their students’ names. The class sizes are well over 30. The school day ends at 1 pm, with a full load of homework for the afternoon.

However, we noticed a brochure for a private Gymnasium near Lüneburg. It had been recommended to us before, but we had forgotten about it. We went for a visit and were impressed. Day-long school with time to do homework at school. Individual attention from teachers. A motto of “knowledge wants to be learned”. Total school size 350 students. Class size maximum 24. No trace of elitism.

There are just two disadvantages. One is the cost, but we can deal with that. The other is the distance, over 45 km. However, interested parents in the next town have organized a bus service. Departure 7:30am, travel time 45 minutes, return at 4:30pm.

We made our decision, and received the papers to sign today. A small step for the next 8 years.

(For now I won’t be naming the school here… it’s time to start respecting our son’s privacy. It can easily be googled from the details I’ve given.)

date_timestamp

1271363930

Certified Family-Friendly Employer

We’re very happy and proud that our restaurant in Dibbersen is a charter recipient of the FaMi Seal, recognition of a family-friendly employer. We’ve already placed the seal prominently on our restaurant website. The FaMi Seal is a new initiative in northeastern Lower Saxony by the DGB (German Federation of Trade Unions), the regional Handelskammer [...]

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http://www.papascott.de/archives/2010/04/11/certified-family-friendly-employer/#comments

pubdate

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 12:56:19 +0000

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creator: PapaScott

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http://www.papascott.de/?p=3735

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We’re very happy and proud that our restaurant in Dibbersen is a charter recipient of the FaMi Seal, recognition of a family-friendly employer. We’ve already placed the seal prominently on our restaurant website.

The FaMi Seal is a new initiative in northeastern Lower Saxony by the DGB (German Federation of Trade Unions), the regional Handelskammer (Chambers of Commerce) and Arbeitgeberverband (employers’ federation), the local Federaton of Women and Business, and the Leuphana University Lüneburg. In other words, the regional establishment for business, labor and education. The process involved the submission of an 8 page application documenting our efforts and an 1/2-day visit from the jury to show that we practice what we preach.

What do we practice? As a nearly 24/7 business, we can coordinate the work schedules of our employees with their families. Employees with children are given priority in vacation planning. We have encouraged and enabled employees with children to move into management positions. We are willing to find individual solutions for problems that may arise. As proof that the process works, we have 4 couples (including our senior manager and his wife) working for us who are all able to coordinate their work schedules with one another and their families (which makes work schedules during school vacations interesting, but it can be done). Since January we have an office manager (who I supervise) who sets her own schedule around school and family.

For us, although the public recognition is nice, this is all part of being (and not just talking about being) a good employer. It also gives us a competitive advantage in the job market, which is becoming tighter all the time as the German population ages. We see the seal not just as a reward, but as a commitment to become even better in the future. Our business will depend on it!

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We’re very happy and proud that our restaurant in Dibbersen is a charter recipient of the FaMi Seal, recognition of a family-friendly employer. We’ve already placed the seal prominently on our restaurant website. The FaMi Seal is a new initiative in northeastern Lower Saxony by the DGB (German Federation of Trade Unions), the regional Handelskammer [...]

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We’re very happy and proud that our restaurant in Dibbersen is a charter recipient of the FaMi Seal, recognition of a family-friendly employer. We’ve already placed the seal prominently on our restaurant website.

The FaMi Seal is a new initiative in northeastern Lower Saxony by the DGB (German Federation of Trade Unions), the regional Handelskammer (Chambers of Commerce) and Arbeitgeberverband (employers’ federation), the local Federaton of Women and Business, and the Leuphana University Lüneburg. In other words, the regional establishment for business, labor and education. The process involved the submission of an 8 page application documenting our efforts and an 1/2-day visit from the jury to show that we practice what we preach.

What do we practice? As a nearly 24/7 business, we can coordinate the work schedules of our employees with their families. Employees with children are given priority in vacation planning. We have encouraged and enabled employees with children to move into management positions. We are willing to find individual solutions for problems that may arise. As proof that the process works, we have 4 couples (including our senior manager and his wife) working for us who are all able to coordinate their work schedules with one another and their families (which makes work schedules during school vacations interesting, but it can be done). Since January we have an office manager (who I supervise) who sets her own schedule around school and family.

For us, although the public recognition is nice, this is all part of being (and not just talking about being) a good employer. It also gives us a competitive advantage in the job market, which is becoming tighter all the time as the German population ages. We see the seal not just as a reward, but as a commitment to become even better in the future. Our business will depend on it!

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1270990579

Anything But Sports

At first it wasn’t easy following baseball from Europe. I followed the 1991 World Series (the one where the Twins beat the Braves and Kirby Puckett drove the bus) by reading box scores on CompuServe and catching glances a day later at the international edition USA Today on the newsstand at the Wandsbek Markt U-Bahn [...]

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http://www.papascott.de/archives/2010/04/10/anything-but-sports/#comments

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Sat, 10 Apr 2010 06:39:49 +0000

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http://www.papascott.de/?p=3732

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At first it wasn’t easy following baseball from Europe. I followed the 1991 World Series (the one where the Twins beat the Braves and Kirby Puckett drove the bus) by reading box scores on CompuServe and catching glances a day later at the international edition USA Today on the newsstand at the Wandsbek Markt U-Bahn station. That worked until we flew to Mallorca. I caught the scores of Games 6 and 7 on Voice of America via shortwave.

These days it’s a lot easier thanks to satellite technology, hard disk recorders and the internets. I can satisfy my baseball cravings as a casual Twins fan by following news feeds from the official Twins site, the StarTribune baseball writers, the Twins page at Yahoo! Sports, and blogger Aaron Gleeman. Aaron and I share the indignity of have been snubbed by the U of M student newspaper Minnesota Daily. Aaron now makes a living from a number of gigs including NBC Sports and Rotoworld.

On the TV side there’s ESPN America on German cable and satellite. For example, this week they are showing 12 baseball games live, including the Twins twice. Of course live in the US usually means wee hours of the morning here, so if you have a day job you need to record or wait for a rerun (with breaks cut out, so often better than live). The streams at mlb.tv are better yet. For a price they offer all Major League games either live or on demand, even on an iPhone if you so desire.

Strangely enough, my favorite site for general sports news is the German allesaussersport by Hamburg blogger Kai Pahl. He’s a fan of anything and everything, but particularly NFL football. He also knows more about soccer than I ever will, so I get tips on figuring out the Bundesliga (try to say “Bruno Labbadia” and “master tactician” in the same sentence while keeping a straight face). I haven’t been able to get into the community at aas, though. The German commenters tend to be hard core fans of whatever sport, and as casual fan of the teams from my youth I guess I don’t take sports seriously enough to fit in. I ain’t here for business, I’m only here for fun.

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At first it wasn’t easy following baseball from Europe. I followed the 1991 World Series (the one where the Twins beat the Braves and Kirby Puckett drove the bus) by reading box scores on CompuServe and catching glances a day later at the international edition USA Today on the newsstand at the Wandsbek Markt U-Bahn [...]

atom_content

At first it wasn’t easy following baseball from Europe. I followed the 1991 World Series (the one where the Twins beat the Braves and Kirby Puckett drove the bus) by reading box scores on CompuServe and catching glances a day later at the international edition USA Today on the newsstand at the Wandsbek Markt U-Bahn station. That worked until we flew to Mallorca. I caught the scores of Games 6 and 7 on Voice of America via shortwave.

These days it’s a lot easier thanks to satellite technology, hard disk recorders and the internets. I can satisfy my baseball cravings as a casual Twins fan by following news feeds from the official Twins site, the StarTribune baseball writers, the Twins page at Yahoo! Sports, and blogger Aaron Gleeman. Aaron and I share the indignity of have been snubbed by the U of M student newspaper Minnesota Daily. Aaron now makes a living from a number of gigs including NBC Sports and Rotoworld.

On the TV side there’s ESPN America on German cable and satellite. For example, this week they are showing 12 baseball games live, including the Twins twice. Of course live in the US usually means wee hours of the morning here, so if you have a day job you need to record or wait for a rerun (with breaks cut out, so often better than live). The streams at mlb.tv are better yet. For a price they offer all Major League games either live or on demand, even on an iPhone if you so desire.

Strangely enough, my favorite site for general sports news is the German allesaussersport by Hamburg blogger Kai Pahl. He’s a fan of anything and everything, but particularly NFL football. He also knows more about soccer than I ever will, so I get tips on figuring out the Bundesliga (try to say “Bruno Labbadia” and “master tactician” in the same sentence while keeping a straight face). I haven’t been able to get into the community at aas, though. The German commenters tend to be hard core fans of whatever sport, and as casual fan of the teams from my youth I guess I don’t take sports seriously enough to fit in. I ain’t here for business, I’m only here for fun.

date_timestamp

1270881589