Parking in Düsseldorf on a Sunday

October 6, 2010 By 2 Comments

Halteverbot mit 2 PfeilenI learnt a valuable lesson last weekend: you can’t park in Düsseldorf on a Sunday.

Well, maybe that’s not entirely true, but it’s definitely not easy.

Last Sunday I wanted to hear Cathy Dobson’s public reading from her book “Planet Germany“.  I left in plenty of time.  Driving to Düsseldorf is usually a matter of about 2½ hours.  A bit more if I hit Cologne around the rush hour, but not on a Sunday.  Not on a public holiday.

But I decided to allow myself plenty of time anyway, and left home 4 hours before the reading was due to start.

The only trouble was, that the motorway to the east of Cologne was closed to allow a bridge to be removed! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cars Tagged With: , ,

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

October 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ist eine Geschichte die Ian Fleming  (James Bond-Romane) geschrieben hatte und  1964 veröffentlicht wurde.  1968 hat der Regisseur Ken Hughes einen Musical-Film auf Flemings Buch basierend inszeniert.

Neben der Familie hat ein ehemaliger Rennwagen eine wesentliche Rolle in der Geschichte. Der Rennwagen stammt von 1908 und ist große Rennen gefahren. (Diese Rennen galten übrigens als Vorbilder für die Erfindung des Seifenkistenrennens in Oberursel.)

In der Geschichte geht es um eine Familie deren Vater Caractacus Potts ein Erfinder ist. Er hat zwei Kinder ein Mädchen Jemima und ein Junge Jeremy. Sie wohnen in einer Windmühle und mit dabei wohnt auch der Großvater Opa Potts. Caractacus Potts erfindet jede Menge Kleinkram und hat noch nicht so den großen Erfolg damit gehabt. [Read more…]

Filed Under: All Things British, Filme, Kultur Tagged With: , , , , , ,

How to write a German CV

October 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

How to write a German CVIt is now 18 years since I first applied for a job in Germany.  In the autumn of 1992 I returned to University armed with a collection of addresses of companies in Germany that I wanted to apply to.  Many of them I had found in newspaper advertisements whilst on holiday, others came from a directory of British companies with German offices.

In the end, I wrote to 75 of them.  I sent a cover letter explaining that I was looking for a 12 month placement as part of my degree course and included a my CV (that’s the resumé for my American readers!)

A few never responded.  Others wrote back thanking me for my interest, but saying they could not offer me a placement in their company.  However one did invite me to an interview at Gatwick airport, and the following year I started work at the German branch of Psion. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: , , , , ,

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