“They do the walk.
They do the walk of life.”
(Dire Straits, “Walk of Life”, Brothers in Arms)
“Our neighbourhoods aren´t all that hostile…
I have a thousand times more often encountered friends passing by, a sought-for book in a store window, compliments and greetings from my loquacious neighbours, architectural delights, posters for music and ironic political commentary on walls and telephone poles, fortune tellers, the moon coming up between buildings, glimpses of other lives and other homes, and street trees noisy with songbirds.
The ransom, the unscreened, allows you to find what you don´t know you are looking for.
You don´t know a place until it surprises you.”
(Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: The History of Walking)
There are many interesting moments stuck in my memory from yesterday and today…
I had an interesting conversation with an SB customer, Leonardo from Milano, wherein we were comparing European nations with North America and with each other.
He asked me straight out if I could be anywhere where would I be.
I answered France with its departments and territories and colonies.
He responded Spain.
It´s clear I need to spend time in both…
Yesterday I had two shifts (0630 – 1130) and (1500 – 2030) with a 3 1/2 hour break between them, so I went on an inner city ramble doing some of my favourite things…
Had lunch at McDo, visited a bookshop, visited the SB at Marktplatz, met with a friend purely by chance, drinks in the shadow of the Abbey Library, and then a very interesting scene encountered at the Standesamt (Civil Registry) close to the Bahnhof…
A dozen men dressed in bright yellow highway traffic vests were holding up long red-and-white-striped construction road barrier wooden boards to form an arch for the newly-wed bride and groom to pass under once the Registry formalities were completed.
A table of wine and champagne with crystalware was standing to the side.
Later this morning in Konstanz for grocery shopping and DVD/book buying, I passed by a church with another unusual processional scene.
Another dozen people, both genders, all ages, all barefoot and dressed in karate outfits (short jackets held closed by cloth belts and loose fitting PJ bottom pants) were also waiting for a bride and groom to appear.
Their plan, as they stood in two separate lines facing each other, was to bow to the nuptial couple as they passed.
Conversations at work all seemed to revolve around the questions of love and marriage which are always of interest to discuss.
(More on this in my next blog…)
Despite the stresses that work causes and despite my preference for the country over the city, working and walking in a city can be absolutely fascinating.
Just one day in a city can generate hundreds of ideas with encounters with so many different people who each have a story to tell.
The randomness of each character encountered and the variety of experience felt make each day its own adventure.
I don´t intend to stay at SB forever and there will come a day when I will leave both Konstanz and St. Gallen far behind, but until that day I am learning so much and this learning is making me into a deeper and richer character well worth knowing.