What purpose does the Ausländerbeiratswahl serve?

November 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Ballot box - ©iStockphoto.com/jgroupToday I went to vote in the Oberursel Ausländerbeiratswahl.  Not an easy feat considering that the polling station was in the town hall, with a trade fair going on next door and as a result the (chargeable) car park being nearly full up.

So what’s the Ausländerbeirat you might be asking?

The state of Hessen (Hesse) stipulates that any town with more than 1000 foreigners living in it must have one.  Once in office, the town has to inform them about any decisions that will affect foreigners.  They are also allowed to sit in on various committees.

The last time I heard anything from them was 5 years ago – at the last election. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: ,

Guy Fawkes und Bonfire Night

November 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A bonfire with a guy - ©iStockphoto.com/standbyGuy Fawkes ist eine berühmte Persönlichkeit in Großbritannien. Seine Eltern waren Edward Fawkes und Edith Blake, geboren wurde er in Stonegate. Er lebte vom 13.April 1570 bis 31.Januar 1606. Mit 16 Jahren wechselte er zum katholischen Glauben und wurde Soldat. In den Jahren als Soldat erlangte er einige Kenntnisse im Bereich Sprengstoffe.

Berühmt wurde er durch sein geplantes Attentat auf den damaligen König Jakob I. am 5. November 1605. Mit seinen Sprengstoffkenntnissen wollte er das Parlament im Palast des Westminster mitsamt dem König, den Parlamentsmitgliedern, Bischöfen und einen großen Teil des Hochadels in die Luft sprengen. Dazu hatte er in den Kellergewölben 36 Fässer d.h. mehr als zwei Tonnen Schwarzpulver versteckt. Wenn das Attentat geglückt wäre, wäre nicht nur der Palast des Westminsters völlig zerstört worden, sondern in einem Umkreis von einem Kilometer die Häuser beschädigt worden. [Read more…]

Filed Under: All Things British, Geschichte Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

My first day in court

October 31, 2010 By 1 Comment

Paragraph Symbol - ©Can Stock Photo Inc. / froxxThis week I had my first experience of visiting a German court.

I’ve talked before about the payment culture in Germany, and how some customers just don’t pay up.  I have had to register customer debts with the court before, but this was the first time I had actually been to one, as it was a slightly different situation.  This time, it was a supplier who owed me money.

Last year, I sent some items of computer hardware back to one of my supplies for repair or replacement.  Unfortunately the supplier then filed for bankruptcy.

It took a lot of telephone calls to get my hardware dealt with, but one of the items, which I had luckily noticed was not working before I sold it to a customer, was gone for a long time.

In the end I called the manufacturer and was told that the item had been destroyed and a credit note issued, meaning that rather than getting a replacement I now had to register as a creditor (called a Gläubiger in German) to my own supplier. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: , , , , ,

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