[Sam Kapasi]

Getting to the currywurst house was an absolute misadventure too.

Jenny has her old GPS unit, the harman/kardon Guide and Play. This has since then been discontinued for various reasons.
But she has a prototype and the softare/firmware needs adjustment.

However this unit has served us faithfully throughout our adventures/holidays in Germany since I know her.

Not this evening.

This evening the navi refuses to show us the way, claiming lack of signal from the satellite. We've left Klaus' BMW near the hotel and are in the thick of Frankfurt's with no idea where to go.

It just doesn't work! she shouts banging on the screen.
Now what?
I don't know. Where is it.
Uhh... I don't know how to get there.

A nation of people that use navigation to get from any place to another and have no idea what to do when it doesn't work. I've often wondered how Jenny marvels at my ability to remember roads.

Back home in India - they laugh at me because I am always getting lost.

In Germany, I am a hero for remembering the way to the petrol pump.

Klaus speaks from the backseat. OK wait, let me check. Oh no, IT just changed my Blackberry.
You have GPS on that unit?
Yes, but I need to download some maps. He goes quiet as he begins searching and downloading.
Jenny has this helpless look of a floater as she drives somewhere. Anywhere.
I look at her face and outside the window.
Can't we ask somebody how to get there?
They look at me like I'm mad and continue talking.
I peep out. There is no paan-ki-dukaan, no testicle-scratching watchman, no paan-spitting mazdoor, no bekaar loafer-launda - nobody. Who will we ask?

I should export the above to Germany, I think smiling.

OK it's downloaded! Turn left!
We should have had the Boss navigation here I say turning around.
Klaus laughs hard.

-------------------------------------------------------------

A few months ago Klaus was in Goa with me. It was just the two of us, a boys' vacation. Klaus had been placed in charge of navigation devices and we were discussing GPS mapping in India.

In any case, the boss navigation is extremely popular here. Auto updation! I yell over the roar of the wind as we ride the Activa through Goa.
What navigation?
BOSS!
Boss? What navi unit is that?

I slam the brake and stop the bike next to a man sitting in a ganji and red Fila shorts. He's smoking a cigarette slowly and staring at the road as he sits on his blue plastic stool. His vest looks like a belly-bra and I suspect that if that vest was off, his belly would roll out a few inches further.

BOSS! BOSS - VAGATOR?? I yell at him.
He points to the left side with his cigarette. SEEDHA!!

The Activa is shaking as Klaus laughs uncontrollably. The tears are streaming and flying down behind his face as he realises what the Boss navigation unit is.

[wheeler]

Tickets to Frankfurt - ABC Euros4 currywurst - XYZ Euros
Sam's reaction to the Oralkreiger - Priceless!!!


BOSS navigation!!!

PS: Sorry. I had to use ABC and XYZ since the actual prices for these items aren't mentioned.

[Sam Kapasi]

My stomach is feeling a little twisted and my chest burns as we drive to our next destination.

The navigation unit has decided to work again, praise the good Lord.

We pick up the Beemer and drive to Klaus' brother's house. We will pick them up before we party tonight.

Unfortunately the urge to get-up-and-dance has already died at the currywurst house. My whole evening is spent with a burning stomach and face like I swallowed a chameleon. Whole and alive.
The first bar is fun and we relate some interesting jokes to each other.

Say, what's the name of that german company that tunes Mercedes cars?
AMG, says my German friend unsuspectingly. He says it in English. Ay, Emm, Jee.
No, how do you say it in German?
Ah em gay.
I giggle. Are you really?
--------------------------------------------------------

It was in late 2008 that I went to the AMG show in New Delhi with Gunbir and JB. Unsuspectingly I told them how to say it correctly.

It's Ah em gay. Not Ay em jee.
How do you say it?
AH EM GAY!
Are you really? said Gunbir without batting an eyelid.

I'd been dying to pull it on someone else since then.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Time now to walk to an interesting bar.

This place is called Klohduschen. That translates as public toilet. When I express my wonder, they giggle.

It used to be a public toilet. Now it's a bar. So it kept the name.

The bar looks identical like the other public toilet at the other end of the street. But this one is cool, with Electronic music and really hip crowd.






I wonder if we could have a happening pub called Sulabh Shauchalaya.

[TheOne®]

Originally Posted by kalpeshc

The background you gave about the upbringing of the kids at Jenny's house - is it a norm in Germany or an exception in Jenny's family? I've seen kids being brought up like this but is extremely rare in India. As Sam said, instead of eating the kids are brought up and encouraged to 'graze' (a term used by What To Expect - eat, play, eat again, eat all over the place, and so on)

It usually is the norm, my family is no exception.

This is even taught in kindergarten. When the time for breakfast or lunch comes the kids sit at the table, no running around while eating. If they are finished they need to clean their places again before leaving or if they don't want any food anymore, they put the rest back in their bags and they can go on playing etc.

Our society is very different from yours. No maids, no cooks, no drivers... kids are educated to be self-sufficient from very young and they actually enjoy it. They are proud of themselves and can't wait to be given more and more new "responsibilities" or tasks in daily life.

When we had our house warming party in Bombay the other day Sam's niece helped me to clean the floor and she had a blast lol while TheYeti® watched with an open mouth.

[Sar]

Isn't it great though? to have independant little people in your household? The children are so proud of themselves and therefore want to do better. Our boys make their bed (I re-do it later ), they clean their teeth, dress/undress themselves and have been doing so since they have been a little over 2. If they don't eat the meal that is in front of them, they go without, no alternatives. They have been taught to be polite, doesnt always work because of course they are children and they will question you. The pride my little guy shows after he has helped with wiping the dishes, or putting his shoes away, its wonderful.

The photos of Sam eating the currywurst bravo Jenny. Poor Sam though, I can't imagine what it must have been like as I can't even handle a Sri Lankan curry. Great teamwork x

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

Jenny has her old GPS unit, the harman/kardon Guide and Play. This has since then been discontinued for various reasons.

Do you know I almost bought a harman/kardon GPS recently. Placed the order, but the website people told me its out of stock and will not be coming soon. So I bought a mio.

[Sam Kapasi]

We call it quits at roughly 3.30am.

Jenny is the designated driver and she drives us home. I am in the front seat and I try my hardest to stay awake and chat with her as I know she is sleepy.
I drift in and out but Jenny drives safely and awake all the way home.

By the time I hit the sofa-cum-bed, it's way past 4. I say a little prayer, hoping that the kids will stay asleep a little longer.

I really need some sleep tonight.

[lurker]

Sam, it is really funny .. probably in the way you narrate more than how it happened.

thanks for sharing this experience with us.

[Thad E Ginathom]

2.00am.

That's odd. I wonder where the last half hour went!

it was the best of times, it was the worscht of times....



.

[TheOne®]

Originally Posted by Sar

Isn't it great though? to have independant little people in your household? The children are so proud of themselves and therefore want to do better. Our boys make their bed (I re-do it later ), they clean their teeth, dress/undress themselves and have been doing so since they have been a little over 2. If they don't eat the meal that is in front of them, they go without, no alternatives. They have been taught to be polite, doesnt always work because of course they are children and they will question you. The pride my little guy shows after he has helped with wiping the dishes, or putting his shoes away, its wonderful.

Same here - couldn't agree more with you!

OT: I remember the first time I helped my mother clean the bathroom, apart from all the other stuff I already did. I must have been about 4 years old and I insisted on doing the toilet, God knows why, lol. She gave me a full bottle of cleaning agent and I had so much fun pouring the yellow stuff in, and making sure I had put it everywhere with my little brush that my mother almost fell off her chair when I came back and said "Mom, I need more, this one bottle was not enough to get everything clean"

[TheOne®]

Originally Posted by straight6

What do you mean by the Corsa being de-registered? Does every owner get a new registration?

When you buy a car you need to register it with the town you live in. You can only register it when you have insurance for it, too. Once you sell it the new owner has to register it - it gets a new licence plate then - and you automatically get de-registered. No more insurance to pay or taxes to the government (once a year). Is that any different in India?

Though I still have my Corsa, I de-registered it so I won't have to go on paying insurance and taxes for nothing. Of course, I can't drive it in that case either.

[Sam Kapasi]

That's not theonly interesting thing about registration/deregistration.

A close friend of the Schöffel family rides a motorcycle. A Harley Softail, to be precise.

His story:

Germany only has motorcycle weather for a few months of the year. All-in-all you can ride your motorcycle for a max of 5 to 6 months. He would deregister the bike by October or November, taking the plates off etc and re-register it by March/April.
This way he would save on the road tax and insurance for 6 months of the year.

The Government - seeing the need for such a thing, came up with a convenient technique.

Today, in Germany you can choose to register your vehicle for certain months of the year in advance. The family friend chose to register his bike for 6 months, between April and October. He has a special plate with the months written at the bottom, which means that he can ride his bike on the road only between those months.
He pays half the tax, half the insurance. He has a registered bike for exactly 6 months. At the end of October, the bike automatically deregisters itself and it is therefore, illegal to ride it on a public road.
Come April, the bike is automatically re-registered.

You can even choose smaller periods of time and even a month or two. For example (if you so choose) your car/bike can be registered in Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov. All other months it is deregistered.

Of course there is no reason to do that, but overall how clever is that?

Mein Gott, Zese Germans zink of everytink.

[Vid6639]

Singapore has something similar. You can choose to register your car as a weekend car. You pay lesser tax and you get a special weekend plate which entitles you to drive the car only on weekends.

[dkhatau]

@Sam And Theone, you know what i am in the process of finding out a doctor who can cure me from the addiction of the Yeti blogs and i wish to god that i do not come across one. god bless.

[kalpeshc]

Our society is very different from yours. No maids, no cooks, no drivers

Two points.

You've just outlined the a huge collection of low income group and the middle class families living in India. Maids are becoming a norm nowadays but still most of the lower middle class families do not afford one. Still, making the kids self sufficient is unfortunately NOT a norm here. I guess it is conveniently disguised as 'doting' on your child. I hope and wish that I am able to bring up my son 'German' style.

I guess after living with Yeti, traveling in India, wearing a salwar kurta, learning 'kutte kamine', bargaining with street vendors, you can now proudly say that you now belong to our society