A photo of the Hauptwache term near Galeria Kaufhof, showing the underground subway, the large shops of the city, and an old cathedral off to the right:

Up at Alte Oper a red carpet event is underway for the opening of a movie exclusive to Hessen:

The photograph-y types work their cameras and the stars stand and smile in the cold air.

Flags at the Alte Oper Platz for the Entrepreneurs of the year, I think each one got a new BMW with a t.v. on the dash or something...

This is palm garten.

So I took a photo of this potato sales person and he then got the idea to give me an apron and then take my photo pretending to sell potatoes... My teacher says the Germans eat potatoes like Italians eat pasta, but it must be a country thing coz it is pretty difficuilt to find potato dishes here in the city.

A more villiage like neighborhood of Bockenheimer Warte, about 15 minutes walk from my West End neighborhood.

Ahh, the Mercedes building macks a big ornament. Go figure.

Und dis ist ein view uber dien River Main. (pronounced "Mine")

Und eine oder view.

It's fall in West-End. (Vest End)

Tall buildings. Aww yeah.

Goethe Platz.

More tall buildings.

Cool old building/restaurant for chronological contrast. Word!

Ahh the building they are building at Oper Term, nice coz I know I can always walk to it and be back in my neighborhood. No really, I can't tell you how nice it is because ich bin ferlauren oft oft oft.

Stop. Flower time!

Aww yeah, Bockenheimer Warte again...

Und eine otter time.

Fruit market, mit das mangos, persimmons, pineapples, und just about everything else. No Mamey Sapote though. Tsk.

Das kinder und das frucht markt.

Marzipan, look out!

Yeah, so what is it like to be in the big city? It is pretty stimulating actually, there is always something going on. Today the police closed down the streets to make way for the Turkish head of state, and then they have closed the Oper platz for the same reason. The city book fair is also taking off today. There is just a lot around to make you aware of the world. The city is alive, and it is invigorating. I find I appreciate hearing music much more, and when I sit down to do something I really concentrate, because I appreciate the time apart. The city drives me to be more creative, more eccentric, and more focused.

Contrast this to suburbs and well, suburbs feel pretty flat really. It is like music there gets absorbed into the vast hegemony. It has nothing to bounce off of, nothing to give it shape. Suburbs are a comfortable environment. They are where you go to check that the castle you built is still functioning and the new garden fountain is still running.

In some ways I think one could concentrate more in a suburb, and a big part of all this is just that a big city is rather new to me. The surrogate mother I am staying with spends a lot of time reading and doesn’t seem to enter the city for its own sake. I guess she knows it too well, and even interesting events can become predictable and mundane over time. At that point, it would be nice to have a garden, and neighbors running around outside. In some sense, every place is what you make it.

Still, I grow more and more comfortable in the city. The stores and cafes take on a familiarity, and it is nice to be comfortable in something that is a living organism. People watching, event watching, window shopping… All these things become a part of the background, a kind of dynamic canvas for life to paint images.

There is language in life, the everyday words we think in and try to express our ideas to one another with. Then there are things which reveal aspects of our personality beyond language. Things like music, art, style, and taste. Chess is also one of these things.

Chess tells you a person’s world view and intelligence in a matter of moves, things like:
1. What is the best first move?
2. Do you value your pawns?
3. What is a worthy sacrifice?
4. Fight for position or for some scheme?
5. Play with reckless flair or conservative defense?
6. Have an overall plan and strategy?
7. Take as much time and care in the beginning as in the end?
8. Have a mission and philosophy to guide you from start to finish?
9. Are you just making a move because it feels right? Or because it looks right to your peers?

There are people you could ask these questions to in language and not get anything close to the answers you would expect. Yet the varying levels and consequences of these points and thoughts become conspicuously apparent in chess. It is interesting to see how people react to the game, and to know that you yourself are somewhere on a line with it, and to know that sophistication is limitless.

So anyway, here is my room in Frankfurt:

The building I live in is over 100 years old, with tremendously high ceilings, and is located on Underlindau in the glamorous, Mercedes filled, West-End.

This Saturday morning was cloudy and set in with fog. In my 14 days here thus far, there have only been two mornings this foggy.

On Saturdays there is a large Flea Market (Flohmarkt) by the River Main where you can get a fresh made waffle with cherries, and a coffee for 3 Euro:

It is nice to know it was made by an outsized German lady into the pastries, but in all honestly, hardly anyone here in the city is outsized.

The fluhmarkt then has your typical kitschy imports like NYPD exercise wear, or Dolce and Gabana Underwear.

Then there are the more classic antiques like an old record player or brass embossed frame/cupid etc...

Other finds of note was an awesome ABBA book replete with some of the tackiest costumes and photos you can imagine. It was seriously difficult not to buy it. Someone also had some rather large photos on North Carolina beaches! Crazy. "How did you get these?" I asked. "Ve vent to North Carolina last yih-air, vould you like to bi-eee dem? 20 cents?"

No thanks.

The more I travel, the less differences I see. After all, this was a Saturday flea market not unlike the one I consistently don't go to in Raleigh. It still had old crap for sale on the cheap, or not-so-cheap-as-it-should-be. And it also had the fatty confections and concessions. The only differences were the prominence of German, Arabic, and Spanish languages, and the fact that beer was being sold at 9a.m. and most people were buying and drinking it. (Just like in Belize!)

I guess the other difference is that it was nearby, and in a more romantic atmosphere, but that could just be because I am new here. Really, the amount and kind of people one is with shapes a place more than anything in my opinion. Going around Frankfurt on my own is very different then going around with Japanese, Finnish, or Mexican people. Each one tends to impart their own reactions that actually changes the perception of the city. Even in my home town of Cary, there is a difference between shopping alone, and going shopping with someone. If you are with someone who has an empty mind and bad taste, every aspect of the place you are in will be annoying. At the same time, if you are with someone artistic, you might be led to see things you otherwise have overlooked again and again. The same is true with yourself. How much you know about the history, the geology, the future, etc...of a place, all the more you will appreciate it.

There is no end to how much you can appreciate a certain place, or the combinations of people you can be with in a particular place, and I get into debates as to the worth of spending time in appreciating the physical world against spending time studying and discovering the world of information and logic. Unraveling the mysteries as it were. The answer is to invest some time in both, but it will take some time to get the ratios right, I think I am just going to study as much as I can till I need a break, and then go out and try to see something new in the world.

There are plenty of times where the teacher will be talking and boredom sets in. There is also the general fatigue of sitting in the same place for an hour and half and being obliged to pay attention to a static subject. It is kind of unnatural.

In my view, the most productive thing that can happen in such moments is to try create subsequent unexpected lessons. There is a Japanese girl in my class who is meticulous, tidy, and driven. She never leans back in her chair. NEVER! All the other students take moments, often whole minutes, to sit back and lean in their chair. Try to keep a straight posture for 90 minutes and see how you do, don't mind the light burning pain in your spine. I found sitting up straight helps reduce daydreaming, and keeps you focused on the class. What other lessons are in the periphery?

It was nice to see the Frankfurt Airport again though, replete with a bounty of Lufthansa jet planes:

When arriving at the airport there is a notable presence of U.S. military. Most of them look like civilians, but it is their chatter about where they are going to get deployed "Afghanistan or Iraq?" and the occasional camouflage bag which tips you off. It is difficult to ignore the military force here in general. Flying in to Germany it is hard not to think of WWII movies. On the plane I imagined what it would be like to be on a plane and have to parachute down into Germany to fight a war. I don't know how all those soldiers found the courage. It is amazing!

The people in the military that I met were kind, cheerful, and friendly. They had a business as usual attitude about arriving, and helped me get on the right train into Frankfurt:

After getting slightly lost in the subway, and having two Germans ask me in German which was the right subway line for them I finally found my feet and my stop, and exited at Alte Oper, home to a restored opera house which is at the heart of my neighborhood here in Frankfurt:

Once settled I turned back around to explore the city on a Sunday. Most shops are closed on Sundays in Frankfurt, but there is still plenty of life on the streets. People out with family for a walk, or meeting friends to take some drinks...
I found the Frankfurt Stock Exchange:

Then listened to a marching band at the central square:

Then checked out the fire department fundraiser which they need in order to pay for their Mercedes Fire Trucks.

Then went along the walkway by the river main:

Then got a beer along the river and gave a toast to this great and social city, a big city with a little city charm, it felt to me.

Ich bin ein Frankfurter!

International transit areas are designed to drown out noise, and lessen the effect of large crowds, you feel small and insignificant being in one. Filled with commissions from local artists, over-priced eateries, and viewing windows, one can only do so much before all options are exhausted.

Sit around and try to guess everyone’s culture by their clothing, hairstyle, facial features, accent, or make up. Try to cling to some kind of purpose and you find that life has put you in a situation were you have an absence of purpose, all you have is patience and expectation.

I saw some airport employees out in the airplane parking lot and envied them. I envied their camaraderie, their carefree manner, the way that waiting and expectation seemed not to bother them, part because of being in company, but mainly because they had sold away a portion of time in their life to someone or something else. Whatever they were doing, whether it be active, or a matter of killing time, it was on someone else’s time, it was someone else’s responsibility. They didn't really have to worry what was coming next, it had been planned and it didn't cost them anything. Sitting around and waiting was just a matter of course, a matter of obligation, and there was no need to question it.

I took a walk, I strolled the large halls and looked at the city commissioned art. I basked in the freedom of being able to do so, and then I remembered why I was where I was, and I was happy.