I’m still on the road and I’m ready to go home, but no such luck. I just spend a week in Berlin with my parents and tripping around the town visiting old places and visiting with a few friends (and missing a couple others – right Frank?). I grew up in Berlin before I moved to the States and it’s kind of interesting to see how this place keeps changing everytime I come.

This last week I’ve been sucked into a number of political discussions about US foreign policy and man, the people in Europe sure have lost all respect for the US gov’t. No wonder, the parade of bullshit out of Washington just keeps on coming. But the resentment runs much deeper than the whole Iraq debacle. There’s a deep sense of mistrust in an administration that just doesn’t seem to give a shit about anybody but their own agenda. Arrogance breeds nothing but contempt – and well, the US has got it.

The other thing that I noticed at the same time – kind of ironic too – is that Europe has become a lot more like America. When I came back the first time after moving to the states Germany at least still seemed very different. More quiet in some ways – more metropolitan maybe. Much less ‘of a plastic society’. Now it looks much like the US full of strip malls and glossy malls protzing with too much money that nobody can afford to spend. Hey and society seems to have followed right along with people in debt like crazy (I don’t remember that at all when I grew up here).

At the same time you can’t find anybody who’s not complaining about their financial situation. Germany was especially hard hit by the double hit of unification and then Euro change over. I think the whole material world is getting to people here though – even while they’re reveling in it. Seems people are really closed up and repressed inside. And most are really pissed off at the world in general. There’s very much of a feeling (at least from what I’ve got) that things are going to get much worse before they get better.

I suppose this is no different in the US, but in some ways I suppose I’ve been used to that for years. It’s a little depressing to see that the same sort of thing is setting in here.

Not to sound to depressing, I did have a lot of fun here too. Visiting my parents is always fun, and I sure can't complain about all the good food I simply can't get back home. Some decent dark bread for example...

Well, it’s back to the US tomorrow, but next stop is LA and then San Diego for TechEd. Where’s the Windsurf break??? Shoulda thought about that before I booked these crazy flights <g>...