For Canadians a typical aspect of what we label as “American” is the tendency to steal the credit for someone´s idea. So often Americans have the notion that if something is a great idea then it must have been America that came up with it. Now, there is no denying that the United States has… Continue reading Giving Thanks
Tag: Canada
Questions of self-determination
It has been an interesting past 24 hours… Last night after completing my shift at Starbucks, I was spontaneously invited for a quick impromptu supper at my co-worker’s apartment. Augustin was a warm and welcoming host. I was fed well and drank well and the conversation was very interesting. We, of course, discussed issues of… Continue reading Questions of self-determination
Leave the door open
I often find myself feeling weary and down-hearted when I make the mistake of finding out what is going on in the world outside my own little circle of life. More and more the media seems obsessed with fear-mongering and xenophobia. Fear the stranger. Fear those who are different. Those here by accident of birth… Continue reading Leave the door open
The sounds of silence
First thoughts upon first awakening are sometimes strange and wonderful things…. (After all, there must be something positive about getting up at 0400 in the morning to be ready to do a 0630 shift at Starbucks St. Gallen, an hour’s distance from my home.) I remember snatches of dreams that have somehow drifted over from… Continue reading The sounds of silence
Unloved in Jerusalem
There is a phrase that beguiles me with its unknown source that “a prophet is rarely respected in his own Jerusalem.” This phrase comes to mind when I consider the Rhine towns of Feuerthalen, across from Schaffhausen, and Rheinau, downriver 181 km / 113 miles if discussing walking distance. Feuerthalen, population 3,500, is Schaffhausen’s unremarkable… Continue reading Unloved in Jerusalem
Oh, oh, Canada!
Yesterday was Canada Day, our celebration of nationhood since 1867. Wish I could have been up on Ottawa’s Parliament Hill to see the fireworks, but whether increased security would have diminished the fun factor is problematic. Two days ago at the Allerheiligen Museum in Schaffhausen I came across a German-language magazine, Transhelvetica: Schweizer Magazin für… Continue reading Oh, oh, Canada!