home sweet home

Es tragen die Winde ein Lied in die Welt
the winds are carrying a song into the world
Ein Lied von den Trossingen Harfen
a song of the trossingen harps
Es klingt von der Stadt über Häuser und Feld
it echos from the town over houses and fields
Es rauscht in Tannen und Arven
it whispers in firs and pine trees

Wo Schlehndorn und Flieder am Gauner erblühn
where blackthorn and lilac are flowering at the Gauger
Zwischen Schwarzwald und Alb auf der Höh'
between Black Forest and Swabian Alb up high
Da liegt meine Heimat im güldnen Gewand
there lies my home in golden garments
Die Baar das klingende Land
the Swabian Baar the resounding land

Und was auch die Fremde an Glück dir gebracht
and no matter what fortunes the world might have brought you
Auf einmal erfüllt dich ein Sehnen
suddenly you are filled by a longing 
Die Liebe zur Heimat sie ruft dich mit Macht
love of home calls you with force
Hörst fern vom Türmle es tönen
faraway from Türmle you hear the sound

Wo Schlehndorn und Flieder am Gauner erblühn
where blackthorn and lilac are flowering at the Gauger
Zwischen Schwarzwald und Alb auf der Höh'
between Black Forest and Swabian Alb up high
Da liegt meine Heimat im güldnen Gewand
there lies my home in golden garments
Die Baar das klingende Land
the Swabian Baar the resounding land

Es tragen die Winde das Echo zurück
the winds are carrying the echo back
Das Echo der Trossingen Harfen
the echo of the trossingen harps
Es ist doch das Lied von der Stadt der Musik
it is the song of the town of music
Das Lied von den Tannen und Arven
the song of firs and pine trees

Wo Schlehndorn und Flieder am Gauner erblühn
where blackthorn and lilac are flowering at the Gauger
Zwischen Schwarzwald und Alb auf der Höh'
between Black Forest and Swabian Alb up high
Da liegt meine Heimat im güldnen Gewand
there lies my home in golden garments
Die Baar das klingende Land
the Swabian Baar the resounding land

(Josef Zepf, Fritz Jöde)

birth control

As a Christian I have been taught to hold all human life sacred, and as a mother I have a vested interest in the future prosperity of humanity in general, and my family in particular. Growing up in the Black Forest, I have always felt an affinity for nature and environmental concerns. However, lately I am getting increasingly despaired about our seeming inability to acknowledge and effectively address the huge threats caused by pollution, scarcity of resources, and overpopulation.

Due to Germany's declining birthrates, procreation is strongly encouraged, and parenthood praised as a great benefit for society. But considering global facts of exploding population growth, this seems a rather short-sighted and selfish viewpoint; Is it more important to provide for a carefree, luxurious retirement, or to ensure that our children will be able to live in an environmentally and politically stable situation, with access to sufficient food, water and other provisions?

Of course, within limits, we are trying to raise our children aware of the environment, save energy, avoid unnecessary pollution, recycle, eat responsibly, and generally reduce our negative impact on our surroundings.

But no matter how hard we try, I no longer have faith that this will be sufficient to cause a big enough dent, and our planet just won't be able to sustain all of us for very much longer. (And as a Christian I do not feel that we have been taking due care of this wonderful world, and there won't be a miracle to bail us out!)

In nature, any species multiplied beyond its limits is faced with massive death tolls, or even extinction. To avoid such a faith, population growth has to be reduced!

In my opinion the only viable option to achieve this is through voluntary means, which in turn can only be accomplished through information and ability. Thus to avoid terrible suffering, we urgently need to provide education for all young women (and men) about the necessity and benefits, as well as access to free and save birth control for all, particularly in poor and disadvantaged areas!

happy childhood memories

This year's summer vacation with my parents in Southern Germany is a romantic trip down memory lane, as my father takes my son hiking across the rolling hills and endless forests of my youth, sharing old stories, remembering previous generations, feeding the insatiable curiosity of my multicultural offspring with local history and family traditions.

I can barely believe the beauty surrounding me. How fortunate I am to be able to share this with my children, and how lucky my children are to share these memories with their grandparents!

And I wonder why ever did I leave?

school vacation

Home alone with two squabbling children bouncing off the walls. Not much time to finish my work or write my blog. Lots of rain outside. Empty streets. Seems everybody is off to some nice & sunny holiday resort. Don't you just love school vacation?!

Luckily I'll soon be taking the children to see my family in southern Germany for a couple of weeks. Staying with oma & opa should be lots of fun. We'll be traveling by train. Better for the environment and much more fun than driving by car; the ultra modern Inter City Express only takes 5 hours from Utrecht to Freiburg (at up to 200 km/h). We've got reservations in the mother-child compartment, a separate area for parents traveling with (small) children, containing a corner bench (long enough for children to sleep on), a large table (for puzzles etc), and extra floor space for playing. Next to toilets & the train restaurant. Perfect!

speed devil

mercedes-benz
Originally uploaded by Antje Roestenburg

Last weekend, I was invited to participate in the Mercedes-Benz Active Safety Experience, sponsored by Hertz.

Edwin stayed home to look after the children and I stepped on the plane to Stuttgart early Friday morning. I had mixed feelings, as I'm not usually very keen on driving and not a fan of car racing, which to me seems a waste of money and unnecessary pollution.

I met the other attendants and the support team from Hertz and Mercedes-Benz at the airport. A very interesting and mixed bunch, including marketing folks, software engineers, entrepreneurs, accountants, construction workers, a retired pilot, and even a reporter from the London Times.

After check in at mo.hotel and a quick lunch, we were taken to a tour of Mercedes-Benz's test track, where we got to join some of the test drivers on their breath-taking rides, followed by a tour of the newly opened Mercedes-Benz Museum. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take any pictures of the latest prototypes whizzing past. It was impressive to experience what the cars and drivers achieve on these test tracks, but I'm afraid I didn't enjoy the ride very much; flying through a vertical bend at 160+ kmh is not quite my idea of fun. It took a while for my brain to catch up again and stop bouncing around my scull.

The museum was very interesting, though. Certainly something to repeat with our son. Impressive architectural features, too!

Before dinner we were given an introduction of the next day's proceedings and a quick safety lecture by some of Mercedes-Benz's research & development engineers, Formula One racing crew, as well as a medical team. They took careful stock of our medical conditions and our heart rates were closely monitored throughout the following day, to ensure stress levels wouldn't get beyond critical point. I'm not sure if that was supposed to reassure us, but it certainly had the opposite effect on me!

After a rather restless night on my part, the bus took us early Saturday morning to an abandoned air field near Echterdingen. There several tracks had been set up and manned by Mercedes test crews and engineers. An exciting selection of fine cars were awaiting us. The sun was burning down on the tarmac. Kitted out with hats, t-shirts, sunscreen, heart monitors, and plenty of water we set out in five groups of six.

At first I was very scared, but as the day progressed I gained more confidence and the ability to master some tricky and dangerous situations. We learned how to brake and steer on ice and wet roads, how to evade sudden obstacles, take bends safely at high speeds, and regain control of a spinning car. As my fellow team members pointed out, my initially rather timid driving got bolder and bolder, turning into a veritable speed devil by the end of the day ;-)

We had the opportunity to drive cars with and without safety features such as ABS, ESP, etc. What a difference! It was also impressive to experience first hand how a car that is reasonably easy to manage on ice at 42kmh helplessly spins out of all control at only 46kmh!

After all a very enjoyable and valuable weekend! I feel my confidence and control of cars has improved tremendously. I certainly don't want to ever encounter these circumstances in real life, but should it happen then these skills will be invaluable to keep in control of the situation.

p.s. I find I also developed quite a taste for racing expensive sports cars ...