October 2006 - Nr. 10
Letter from the Editor
Dear Reader
September truly was an amazing month. We are experiencing our city and province through the eyes of a young lady, who is doing an internship somewhere in the city and staying with us. What used to be either routine or boring to us has taken on a new life, simply because there is a young person in the house to whom everything is kind of new and different. Eventually, after more research, we will be hearing about her discoveries of what in Canada is different, the same or similar to Germany.
For
my part I must say that young people have not changed as much from our
generation to theirs as I had thought. Yes, we changed, became a bit more
quiet, blasé and bored, but what we did when we were young is pretty much
the same what young people do today, like coming home from work, eating,
taking a rest and then going out again later in the evening, especially on
weekends, when sleeping in late is ok. Going for coffee and talking,
enjoying a glass of wine with friends and exchanging experiences, dancing
until the feet hurt, listening to music, hanging out, look around to see who
else is there… all those activities are no different from the ones we
ourselves used to be engaged in.
I used to go to Preussen E.V. twice a week for participation in my gymnastics team. Yup, I was an agile gymnast, no Olympia material, but nevertheless pretty good. My houseguest goes to the gym at least twice a week. We did not have those then.
I went to the theatre for opera, concerts, ballet, and plays, at times twice a week. Young people today enjoy their own brand of concerts and do not balk at the idea of listening to a classical concert either, even if they have not been to one before. Events of interest have changed a bit, depending on the education that was available and the interests that were kindled and developed naturally in their lives.
The young people we met recently are truly quite remarkable and actually appear a bit different from the one only a half-generation earlier, when we also had younger houseguests. Today’s generation appears to be more tolerant, less militaristically harsh in the way they express their point of view. They are more talented in bridging the gaps if they exist as we recall from our experiences with previous folks.
This mellowness should not be mistaken for weakness. They know exactly what they want, they evaluate situations quite accurately, are willing to learn and listen to reason, and have an astounding bit of wisdom to offer, something I had thought to be a vanishing quality in today’s generation.
So there is hope for mankind after all, it seems. With all of Septembers gloom and doom of recalling the horrible events of September 11 five years ago it is good to be reminded of the future by someone young and enthusiastic. And we certainly enjoy making the Canadian experience a special and memorable one.
This
last month was busy with the experience of the International Film Fest
activities, the opening of concert and opera season and some amazing other
European/German related events, about which you will read in this issue.
I am also very pleased about the response our newest columnist David MacKague is getting with his Petitorial. This time we are printing one of our reader responses on the subject of Pit-bulls, which does not only discuss the columns topic but is also an example of none Germans reading and enjoying our publication.
Animals are an important part of our lives, and we are now offering another column, this time about horses, especially the world famous Trakehner horses, of which I already heard much about from my East Prussian grandfather. I am looking forward to hearing and learning more and hope that you too enjoy this bit of our heritage.
We really like to hear from our readers, because most of them have very constructive things to say. I truly wish we had more room for printing some of the letters we receive. Unfortunately how much we can print is governed by the advertising income and how many people subscribe. We would like your opinion on the work we do and what else you would like to read about.
In the meantime we are still celebrating a few October Fests, celebrate the German Day of Unity, go to concerts and all sorts of other worthwhile events. For upcoming events please consult our website, where we publish anything that comes our way.
I hope to see you here and there and everywhere.
In the meantime have a happy Thanksgiving!
Until next time
Sybille Forster-Rentmeister
Comments to: editor@echoworld.com
