29 August 2010 - I have just finished a decathlon at my home club in Niesky, Germany. Daniela and I are are doing a loosening-up walk on the lawn after the 800m when we are joined by Robert, a team mate. We come to talk about the DAMM (Deutsche Alters Mannschaft Meisterschaft), the finals of the National Team Championships, which are taking place in Bad Oyenhausen this year. I express how surprised I was when I heard the finals are taking place in Bad Oeynhausen, a small town near Hanover, and the place where my sister lives! Then the following conversation takes place:
Robert: "Where is Bad Oeynhausen anyway?"
Jana: "It's near Hannover, near to Bielefeld."
Robert: "What?! You've heard of Bielefeld?!"
Jana: "Yeah, sure, it's very close to Bad Oeynhausen."
Robert: 'What?!!!! Bielefeld doesn't exist!'
Jana: 'What?!! What are you talking about? I've been there!'
Robert: 'Whaaat?!!! I can't believe what I'm hearing. That place doesn't exist!'
Jana: "What the heck are you talking about?! Sure, it exists, I've been there!"
Robert: "I can't believe it! You are the first person I meet who knows Bielefeld AND has been there!"
This is the first time I hear about the legend of the Bielefeld conspiracy, which came into existence in 1994. Achim Held, a student of computer science from the University of Kiel, posted the theory on usenet, after talking to an avid reader of New Age magazines. The post was originally meant as a joke but spread through the Internet community and has not lost any popularity even after 16 years. There are several theories behind the joke but apparently the most popular is that there was a war between the Usenet admins and the Bielefeld based Z-Netz BBS (Bulletin board system) about text encodings.
So the theory posits three questions:
Do you know anybody from Bielefeld?
Have you ever been to Bielefeld?
Do you know anybody who has ever been to Bielefeld?
Guys, unfortunately I can answer 'Yes' to all three questions! One of my old school friends from Niesky even lives there today!
What I find amazing is that the myth is still very much out there. I told this story to my sister when I arrived in Bad Oeynhausen a couple of weeks later. She hadn't heard of it either and was equally baffled. I think next time I visit my sister again I'll ask her to take us on a day trip to Bielefeld, where I will take some pictures for Robert and meet my old school friend. :)
Another funny story that I read in The Week yesterday made me finally write this post:
'IT MUST BE TRUE... I read it in the tabloids':
A pensioner who dropped his trousers in front of female diners in a branch of Pizza Hut in the German town of Bielefeld claimed he was cooling himself down after inadvertently touching his private parts while chopping chillies. Hannes Maier, 68, told police: "I did not look to see who was there. The pain was unbearable and I had to get some fresh air to my member." Despite his plea, police arrested him after witnesses said they'd seen him with his pants down outside McDonald's, too.
Clearly, after this story you must believe Bielefeld exists! :)
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Name-changing madness
This blog post is inspired by a - quite funny - discussion we had in the office last week about women changing their names when getting married.
One of our colleagues got married recently and we received her first email with the new name. My boss turned around and remarked on her new name to which I replied: "Well, why do women change their name anyway?" This made my colleague Liz, who will be getting married in March next year, turn around and say: "Well I'm not changing mine!", and I said: "I wouldn't change mine either.", to which my boss remarked: "What!? That is outrageous!!!", and we went at the same time: "What!? Why?!?"
We then went into this heated discussion to which other colleagues were drawn into and that latest 2 days. None of the people who were for the woman changing her name could come up with one reason why the bride has to change the name instead of the groom. Not one reason. That's because there is none. Even just the inconvenience of it all is alone completely off-putting. Back in the day, the woman didn't have a bank account, let alone a passport. The man managed everything. But nowadays, also with all the new Social Media tools, I can think of dozens of accounts where I would have to change my name, starting with my passport, ID card, driving licence, 2-3 email addresses, the house contract, the list is long. Why would anyone want to go through something like that when it is not even considered the man taking the woman's name?
The best part is when one of your best friends fail to inform you about their new husbands surname. One day you get an email from a person you've never heard of. Happened to me the other day where I had to read the email twice thinking: 'Who is this person?' before it finally clicked it must have been my friend who got married in February.
The worst part is the actual meaning behind it. There used to be the custom that the father is giving away his daughter - to the new man. That basically meant to change ownership of the girl/lady/woman. You basically become the new property of your chosen loved one. What!? Not is that only sexist but completely discriminating.
I don't judge women who change their names, I just don't understand them. Is there something wrong with your own name? Do you not feel complete as a unit when not having the same surname? You already share your entire household and life with the other person - is that not enough?
Recent study shows that we are going rather backwards than forwards:
Men want women to be more traditional - and women 'are HAPPY to be the housewife'
That's very sad... and there are enough saddos out there who wish they had a 1950's wife!
I only know one couple where the man changed his name to hers because he liked her name much better. I thought that was a wicked decision, so well done to the Koenigs! You know who you are :)
So to conclude, the list seems to be getting longer - there are the bridezillas, the mumzillas and now also the wifezillas. Oh dear. This can only end in disaster.
But well done Liz!
One of our colleagues got married recently and we received her first email with the new name. My boss turned around and remarked on her new name to which I replied: "Well, why do women change their name anyway?" This made my colleague Liz, who will be getting married in March next year, turn around and say: "Well I'm not changing mine!", and I said: "I wouldn't change mine either.", to which my boss remarked: "What!? That is outrageous!!!", and we went at the same time: "What!? Why?!?"
We then went into this heated discussion to which other colleagues were drawn into and that latest 2 days. None of the people who were for the woman changing her name could come up with one reason why the bride has to change the name instead of the groom. Not one reason. That's because there is none. Even just the inconvenience of it all is alone completely off-putting. Back in the day, the woman didn't have a bank account, let alone a passport. The man managed everything. But nowadays, also with all the new Social Media tools, I can think of dozens of accounts where I would have to change my name, starting with my passport, ID card, driving licence, 2-3 email addresses, the house contract, the list is long. Why would anyone want to go through something like that when it is not even considered the man taking the woman's name?
The best part is when one of your best friends fail to inform you about their new husbands surname. One day you get an email from a person you've never heard of. Happened to me the other day where I had to read the email twice thinking: 'Who is this person?' before it finally clicked it must have been my friend who got married in February.
The worst part is the actual meaning behind it. There used to be the custom that the father is giving away his daughter - to the new man. That basically meant to change ownership of the girl/lady/woman. You basically become the new property of your chosen loved one. What!? Not is that only sexist but completely discriminating.
I don't judge women who change their names, I just don't understand them. Is there something wrong with your own name? Do you not feel complete as a unit when not having the same surname? You already share your entire household and life with the other person - is that not enough?
Recent study shows that we are going rather backwards than forwards:
Men want women to be more traditional - and women 'are HAPPY to be the housewife'
That's very sad... and there are enough saddos out there who wish they had a 1950's wife!
I only know one couple where the man changed his name to hers because he liked her name much better. I thought that was a wicked decision, so well done to the Koenigs! You know who you are :)
So to conclude, the list seems to be getting longer - there are the bridezillas, the mumzillas and now also the wifezillas. Oh dear. This can only end in disaster.
But well done Liz!
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