April April, I do what I want

Just got back from Berlin, which I thought was cool if semi-drab. Our flight was delayed because of a computer issue in Berlin but our Scandinavian Airlines pilot apologized profusely at least ten times, literally, even though it was something he had absolutely no control over. I liked that. I'm happy to be back in the land of the Swedes.

One of the people we met at the conference was a guy from North Carolina who's doing a Fulbright in Germany this year, and while we were at the Pergamon Museum this afternoon he told me that April Fools's Day in Germany is just called "April April," and that there's an associated saying, which I would like to adopt as my personal motto for this and every April to come - "April April, I do what I want."

There were some good April Fool's Day jokes in the Swedish newspapers this year. In one city they wrote that they had decided to switch from regular tap water to carbonated water, and there was a whole thing about reassuring people that it wouldn't be weird to shower with carbonated water but that in fact it's been shown to have certain therapeutic properties. A newspaper in another town had a story encouraging people to stop by Systembolaget, the state-run liquor store, at lunchtime because Systembolaget was having a fire sale of their inventory because they were about to renovate the space and this was cheaper than moving the inventory during the work. The higher the proof, the more the price would be slashed. Maybe this is a sign that I've been in Sweden too long. If you know Systembolaget, this is very funny.

I saw my current name and my soon-to-be-name in Berlin. At the Pergamon Museum, the Pergamon Altar from the 2nd century BC has a vast frieze with a representation of Phoebe - Phoibe in Greek - with her daughter Asteria, attacking a giant. This picture is from some Australian University but C. took a picture of me in front of it, along with some people who stood there for bloody forever ogling a map of the ancient world on the wall. Also, apparently Phoibe/Phoebe was the 3rd goddess to hold the Oracle of Delphi. I didn't know that. In the picture below, she's the one holding the large spear or ramming object or whatever it is, naturally.



And I saw the street with the name that I'll get in approximately 2 months - DANZIGERSTRASSE. Now that's a mouthful. P. took a picture of it for me. This was shortly before a waiter spilled an entire stein of beer on me at the bar we were at in Prenzlauer Berg.