a gentle city¶

It‘s a gentle city here. Even the speed bumps are gentle - compared to what I am used to.

Some people in Germany think that places like Munic are crowded. Others beleive that the Rhur area is as crowded as it gets. If you find yourself among those: come here for a week.

This Island is about 20 km wide and 10 km tall - and home to 5.2 million people. Compare to Sweden and you will get a new definition of crowded. Privacy? I saw couples making out on a bridge over the river - romantic but not a lot of privacy. Not sure about what type and amount of privacy people around here need and want.

The city is packed. There is park-like green everywhere and everything else is alphalt, concrete, plaster or a high-rise-building. They cherish their green, their flowers, trees, bushes, grass for preciselynot the reason the arabs in Dubai or Abu Dhabi do. When I was to Arabia, I found well-kempt gardens, lots of (artificially irrigated) grass, palm tress and so on for a simple reason: moisturize the air, improve the climate.

Moisturizing the air seems a bit superflous here. Humidity is not the 100% I know from Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) but a mere 805 - still it is not what a german body is built for. The word „heating“ is in the active vocabulary of the colleagues I am meeting here. For example, solder is heated to 280° to melt and be used in making the nice electronic gadgets we are working on. But heating for a room? They thought I was kidding when I talked about such systems in houses...

I have not traveled a lot recently. I think, I should do that again. It gives you an outside view on your life - if you travel with open eyes and an open heart, that is. So many things to learn, to experience. Seing what other people consider „normal“ and what stikes me as a complete no-go - like mounting the shut-off valves and water meters outside the building where any prankster could access them. And where frost will damage them in winter - well, probably not around here.