Monday

Review: Germans

I met some German architects on Saturday. They were brilliant. We are planning to write a musical about a German architect who falls in love with an Indian girl, also an architect. Their mutual passion for Gothic towers is a catalyst for their love. But she is promised to another. It will be semi-autobiographical, and there will be a scene where someone bursts into a church (possibly a Hindu temple) to interrupt a wedding.

Well, this was nothing but drunken chat. But I’m full of a new respect for Germans. I lived with two German women, many years ago, and they were terrible. I was terrible too at the time – I was 18 and deranged by ballet – so it’s hard to see where the blame lies. Still, it’s time to let bygones be bygones. Let’s forgive the poor benighted Germans for all those complex issues surrounding the washing up and the cleaning rota. Let’s extend the hand of friendship, nation unto nation, and say as one: “I’m sorry me and my friends got drunk on absinthe in the living room when you were trying to sleep. Let’s write a musical and take it to Broadway, where the Americans live.”

Once you open your heart to the Germans, they can delight you with their use of the past continuous, eg: “David Haselhoff was being number one in the charts when the Berlin Wall fell, with a song that was being called Looking for Freedom.” They can tell you tales from a country in which the 80s were a time of political drama and transformation, rather than of political comedy and leggings.

Germans: Surprisingly excellent. 9 out of 10.

3 Comments:

At 3:31 pm, Blogger Scattergun said...

I concur.

(Although I do prefer North Germans to Bavarians - they're just generally cooler.)

And, "18 and deranged by ballet". What a quote...

 
At 6:47 pm, Blogger petescully said...

I'm going to Bavaria this Saturday for a week. I love spending time in Germany, I've known a lot of Germans in my life and most of them have been a great laugh. Incidentally they have three words for 'Saturday': Samstag, Sonnabend and (well, this is in the dialects closer to Dutch, so I'll use the Dutch spelling) Zaterdag. Now that's a fun people - they LOVE their weekends.

 
At 4:53 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This review makes me very happy. We should have more Barbeques.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home