Back again, in May 2002. I can't really say that
I'm home. This is a familiar place, even though much has changed, expanded, grown.
But home? No, that's in Friedenau now. I want to collect random thoughts and rants
from this weekls journey to the States.
Saturday / Sunday, May 18+19
"Welcome
to the United States", says the large mural at Dulles Airpoit in Washington,
D.C. The painting reminds me of GDR murals.
They have changed the signs
for the lines. Instead of "Citizens" and "Aliens" it now says
"US" and "Non-US". Maybe now I can change my citizenship.
I just could never think of having to be an alien when visiting the country of
my birth.
The first bit of Americana: a water fountain. I take a sip,
even though I am not thirsty.
Since 9/11, as it is called here, the security
has been tightened at American airports. I am IDed so often, the little plastic
thing I use to keep my passport from getting too dog-eared finally splits. I get
called "Debora" by so many of the checkers - it rather unsettles me.
I'm so Germanized, I'm used to being called by my last name.
On the flight
over I saw "A Beautiful Mind". The Nashes were neighbors of my parents.
Hollywood has really gotten its hooks into the story, I really don't know why
they bothered using their real names or the name of the school or the date of
him winning the Nobel prize. And as fiction, it is a pretty soppy story with just
a touch of trying to illuminate schizophrenia.
After clearing customs
we put our bags back in the system. There are 3 guys doing the throwing, a Sikh
and two other immigrant types, with a lady directing people which of the 3 to
use next. 4 people, must be because they all just get minimum wage.
The
door opens to the waiting area — and we have a taste of America, literally.
Pretzels, ice cream, the usual hamburger chains, soft drinks, newsstands. And
long lines of people happy to be home again. The beer stand has big signs: no
alcoholic beverages are to be removed beyond this point.
I buy a Washington
Post, a big thick, respectable paper. Did anything happen in the rest of the world
yesterday? Yes, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder won a court injunction
against the reporters who wrote that he dyed his hair. Stuff like this is news
all over the world, it seems.
We can't take off in Washington because
the airplane is fully packed and the computer has somehow seated the gentlemen
from China at the Emergency Exit. It takes some time to switch them with other
passengers, as they do not understand a word of English.
The multiethnicity
hits me right away - there are so many people from so many ethnic backgrounds
here. And even business class is mixed - is segregation finally going away?
We
reach Orlando close to midnight. I have to find the shuttle to the hotel, end
up calling on the courtesy phone. I go out in the Florida night - oppressive heat
and humidity, late at night. No wonder they use so much air-conditioning here.
I wonder after I get in how much to tip the guy. My Dad always used to give a
dollar a bag, but that was years ago. Luckily, two other groups get on at the
next stop. I get off last, and watch the other guys discreetly slip the guy just
a dollar. So I stick with my two bucks, it's only about 2 Euros. Weird - at home
it is just a little coin, here it is a wad of cash.
First thing you have
to do when you enter an American hotel: locate the air conditioner and turn the
cooling and the fan off! Who can sleep with all that noise?
The hotel
bill is slipped under my door during the night, so that I can check out quickly
in the morning. I glance at it - oops, getting used to the sales tax being added
afterwards will take getting used to.
The morons at the hotel had my
first name and last name switched. My brother was trying to contact me and could
not reach me. I was waiting for him to call. I was livid when I went down to check
out, and the guy says: Oh, someone's trying to call you. And you know what a call
cost? $8 for one minute to a mobile phone in the USA, $21 for one minute to my
answering maching back home, saying I'd got here safe. I call that highway robbery!
Monday
/ May 20
Found lots of old precription medicines in my Mom's medicine
cabnit. I took them to the pharmacy to have them disposed of properly. The girl
at the desk says: just flush them down the toilet. This country has no idea how
to dispose of wastes properly!
The conference is being held in an artificial
city with a hotel highrise that reminds me of the opening scenes of Metropolis
by Fritz Lang. Frightening and loud.
The little shop has no prices on
any of the drinks, so you can't compare prices. Turns out to be $3.75 for a liter
of water.
In the hotel I wander around the telephone booths, wondering
how one learns how to place a cheaper call. I saw some telephone cards in Walgreen's,
but I do not understand how they work, as many phones have no slots. How does
one learn this? I feel like I am from Mars.
Tuesday / May 21
Grad
students here were out to dinner at the restaurant. The waiter asked if they would
like a bruschetta. In Europe, this is always free. Here it cost $15 for a plate
with 3 little pieces.
For coffee break they have big cookies. I look forward
to a chocolate chip one. During eating I realize that they have a very high sodium
content, it makes me very thirsty. Is this a ploy to have people drink more?