Figuring out the German public healthcare system

Am getting to figure out the German public healthcare system hands on.
Am yet to get a grip on it.
One thing that is very clear is - in the month of August either be very very sick (to justify emergency service) or be very very fit. It is the worst month to have health problems that are persistent/ nagging/ not so serious however needs a doctor's attention.

Also, this is one of the situations where knowing the German language is very very much required. While most doctors speak english, the process to getting to meet a doctor, explaining the basic symptoms to the doctor's admin, or to understand the results of a test, is done primarily in German.

similarities

The state of affairs at work strangely resemble the state of affairs in my country.
- The scale of operations too big
- Too much politics
- Power being misused
- Some great work being done at the grassroots - struggling to make them mainstream
- High level changes of government/ officials does seems to have no or little impact on the lower level of people
- Strange mixed emotions of hope and hopelessness
- There are no clear/straight solutions or answers to things. Everything has a strong connection to everything else hence very very complex
- Tight rope walking between modernisation and holding back of culture
- Bureaucratic
- Resistance to change
- Fighting issues that are a legacy
- Has a HUGE potential to be an 'exemplar'
- Has a lot of talented people
- Has a lot of untapped knowledge

humm...i never expected this.
finally, due to all of this, the 'progress' or 'advancements' (when made) are so slow that it earns no appreciation.

discrepancies

The 'design' orientation in and out of work are on opposite poles. Somehow dont fit together. I am amazed to see how much complexity is accepted and dealt with at work (when there are clear signs that we dont need to). On the other hand, outside of work, things seem to be well thought through, things are self explanatory, aesthetic, great examples of engineering and design coming together etc.
I dont get it!!!

One year in Deutschland

Yesterday I completed 1 year as a resident in Germany.
Time flies!!! It still feels like yesterday when I was getting ready to move abroad.

The last one year, has been the longest I have been away from home - living abroad. The last one year entailed some big changes - moving abroad, getting married...perhaps it is true when they say, "its good to move out of your comfort zone once in a while."
I did and I dont regret it.

Things could be better on the 'work' front, but by and large I have been enjoying living here :)

Eagles live

I heard Hotel California for the first time in the 1980s when my brother put that song on air as he hosted the All India Radio international music program "In the Groove."

Since then Ive been hearing it over and over again - in many different versions.

In 2000, I watched Don Henley live in Oakland, California and heard a different rendering of this song. That was as authentic as it could get - straight from a former Eagles member.

Little did I know I would get to see EAGLES play together again - live. On 20th June 2009, Mannheim, SAP Arena - I did.

They introduced themselves as "we are the Eagles - the band that refuses to die and belongs to the last century."

But they were as good. They played a good mix of old favourites and titles from their new album.

Munich Impressions 2: Dirndl & Lederhosen

I was made to understand that like most 'traditional' clothing, this too was scoffed at for being 'old-fashioned' and 'conservative.' So I didnt expect many people in this metropolitan city of Munich to be wearing them.

But I saw plenty of locals wearing them. They were not the ones creating photo opportunities for tourists & we were far away from Oktoberfest too. They were normal locals, going about doing their daily routine.

• young girls
• young women
• middle aged women
• old women
• normal dirndl
• dressy dirndl
• long dirndl
• short dirndl...they were everywhere.
• Men wearing long/short lederhosen
• with/without the classic white shirt and suspenders.

There were plenty of stores selling them too.

I thought they looked nice in them.

I always felt that India is one of the few countries where we still see majority of people (women more than men) wearing traditional clothes. Was refreshing to see that traditional clothing still had its place in Bavaria :)

I want to wear a Dirndl once!!!

Munich Impressions 1

We were there from 11th - 14th of June. We primarily visited Museums and tasted Bavarian beer - both of which seem to be important aspects of Munich :)

Deutsches Museum walked us through some really pre-historic stuff, to war planes and ships...

The Residenz opened my eyes to the very impressive, French 'rococo' style of art, interior design, furniture. Its richness and ornate designs were something I never expected to see in Europe. There was so much gold! Almost everything in the Residenz today is a careful remake of old artifacts. This is fascinating. The entire place was lost during the war - looking at it today, I cannot imagine that.

The swanky, hip, new BMW museum was fascinating too - in a different way. I still think the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart is better. BUT!!!!!!! BMW museum beats it just because there is a whole section dedicated to the BMW design team, their philosophy, their works combined with some interesting audio clips. That made my trip to Munich WORTH everything!!!

We walked around many areas - Hofgarten, other parts of the Englisher Garten, sipped beer at the Chinese Turm...watched the nighlife in Leopold Strasse...hopped in and out of the metro a zillion times...walked...took pictures...walked more...

On our way back, we drove to Spitzensee - did a small hike - ate fresh strawberries, cream and ice cream by a wayside restaurant.

The question: would we like to live in Munich?
The answer for both of us was: 'yes, wouldnt mind it.'

So we both liked it better than Berlin. Why?

1. Found Munich more 'characteristic.'
2. Felt it being more 'compact' (its scale)
3. Encountered many friendly local people
4. More picturesque
5. Is more 'walking friendly' (again scale perhaps)

We liked it so much that within a day, we were back in Munich - on a working day - woke up at 4 am - drove to Munich - to have coffee and croissant!! ;) ;)