My friend James, the silicon valley refugee turned artist in Germany, sent this latest poignant reflection on life in Berlin....
Hey Hey,
What can I say? It was one of the craziest "placements" I have ever had. I don't know about you, but sometimes, when I am in a strange place and things happen to me, it almost feels as though I had been placed in a movie set and was watching; following the action, but not really a part of it: a voyeur maybe, a documenter, maybe?
Today in my neck of Berlin – Kreuzberg – there was a festival called "Karneval der Kulturen (just so you know and for your "edumekation", Kultur is a feminine noun, and therefore it should be called die Kulturen, but because it is the indirect object of the sentence, however, you must change the article, as it is now in what is called the Dative position, so the article changes to der, which is actually the masculine form in the nominative, but, whatever: don't you just love German grammar?) Anyway, this carnival of cultures is exactly that: it is actually more of an excuse to make noise, and that is exactly what they did.
Now, I don't know if you know this or not, but here is a glimpse into German culture....