In-Laws/ Ex

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. How time has flown! I'm grateful for 2009, a year of growth and change. Yay! But some things remain the same. Like the kindness of my in-laws. Thanks to Ulla, my first mother-in-law who rings to share news and recipes. She set us up with kitchen towels and warm clothing our first year here. Simone shared her pullovers and Ulla's partner Walter baked delicious cake. I didn't see Basti and his new family, but I'm grateful to him too for his acceptance as a teen. And Flori, faithful Flori came by when I visited his grandma's house. Thanks also to Silvia and Rolf for welcoming me in their home over half a decade ago. And to Siegmar for more than I can mention here.

Thanks to my new in-laws and family, too: Annelie, Horst and Clarissa for their generosity, to Klaus and Ingrid for their willingness to open up. Thanks to Susanne, Jasper and Christian. And special thanks to Tante Anneliese who made family come together for me.

Meine Schwiegefamilien haben mich immer gut behandelt, bei denen fühle ich mich zu Hause, und dafür bedanke ich mich heute.
Thank count: 972.

Room/ Mitbewohner

Heute bin ich allen dankbar, die mit mir zusammen gewohnt haben. Insbesondere denke ich an diejenigen, mit denen ich einst ein Zimmer geteilt habe. Es ist nicht leicht, täglich so nah bei einander zu sein. Ich bedanke mich für deren Toleranz, Verständnis, guten Willen und dafür, dass wir uns trotz Mangel an persönlichem Freiraum nie in die Haare gekriegt haben.

Thanks to all the people who have roomed with me at one point or another over the years. To Shae Lawson, who's brought out a book at www.funnywares.com by the way, and who still makes me laugh with her crazy comments, to Maureen B, to Camille R, to Janet, to the rest of the boarders in the pink elephant, to Hoda and Greta, to Holly, Ange and Colleen, and of course to the Berkley exiles Lucile, Lu and Beth. To Bill, Mrs K, to all the folks at the Studentenwohnheime in Göttingen and Lübeck. When you share space, you share lives. It wasn't always the biggest or the most impressive space, but we made the best of it. Thanks to all of you.

Thank Count? Indefinite, but I'll add 20 to it in my room- and flatmates' honour.

Time/Die Zeit

It's Monday morning at 5 o'clock. But when I post this, it'll probably say Sunday. My blog's in another time zone somewhere. It's amazing how our world works.

This entry is for people who have been my mentors over the years. I've already mentioned Dr Wolfe, the Davises, the Henrys, the Hettlings, Cloval Anderson and others from work. I'd also like to thank Sister Maureen Clare Hall OSF, our head mistress in high school, all the teachers and staff at Immaculate, especially Mrs Browne my first homeroom teacher, Mrs Robotham who made me love maths, Sr Pat, Sr Marie Emmanuel, Sr Josette, Miss Ramsey, Miss Lawrence, Mrs Fong Kong and Miss Issa whose UWC information altered the course of my life.

There were the UWC mentors: Nat Mann and his wife Dottie, Neil and Anita, Andrew who mediated and taught me the basic philosophical principles on which I've built my own, Charles who taught us economics (ha!) Susan, Maria Elena and Andy,(whom I've thanked elsewhere, too), the Mullers, my getaway family, especially Michelle. Later, there was Jim, my freshman counselor at Yale and Chris who wasn't my counselor, but helped anyway, Harvey from fencing, Anke who's been consistently kind, the biochem Professor in Göttingen who wrote the recommendation for the scholarship I got, the nephrologist in Marburg who got me to become an organ donor, Klaus and Marianne Grawe, Barbara Heiniger, Professor Steinhausen, Frau von Aster, Dr Andreas Sarasin, PD Julian Schilling, Prof Gutzwiller, and Prof Margerete Dunitz Scheer.
And to Monika Schäppi who mentors and inspires me still.
The thank count's at least 935.

Eigentlich bin ich dankbar für viel mehr als ich bislang aufgezählt habe. Je mehr ich daran denke, umso mehr Menschen und Situationen fallen mir ein. Soviel kann ich am Morgengrauen gar nicht schreiben, wenn die Arbeit ruft. Heute ruft sie nicht, denn die Gruppen haben Ferien und das bedeutet, auch ich. Hurra!

ELT/ Englisch

With Christmas tapping at the door, snow stains on the floor, and the thank count at 796 it seems a shame to stretch the Thousand Thanks out until the end of the year. Don't put off until tomorrow what you can put off forever, it is said. So I'll finish the thousand thank count by Christmas, for the challenge of it. But I will also keep the thank count as an integral part of this blog. I may start other blogs for other purposes. But this one will be a record of what I'm grateful for in life.

Today my thanks goes to people who have helped me with my language training career: Izzy, Anthony, Vivienne, Nick, Heather, Charuka, Sensei Katie, Rasheed, and the others in my CELTA course, Julia, Monika (for helping me stay sane), Gwendolyn, all the students in the teacher training classes, Nikki K, the people at the companies with whom I've worked, Josephine, Lila and Lena especially for their excellent organisational and coordination work, Sascha for showing me the money and Adrienn for the corrected invoice, Fiorella, Teresa and the others in the office, too many names to recount, to the people at prolinguis, members and staff alike...The face count makes at least 119. And as usual, I'm being modest so as not to cheat. So many people have helped me carve out a new career. Thanks to all of them and blessings for the coming years.

Heute bedanke ich mich für die Möglichkeit, eine weitere Karriere zu fortgeschrittenem Alter anzufangen. Es gab viele Menschen, die mich ermutigt und geholfen haben. Und jene, die meine Dienste bezahlten (VIELEN DANK): allen gilt einen riesigen Dank!
Thank count now 915.

Pershon/ Patient

Someone once asked why doctors call what they do "Practice." It's probably the same reason we call the people they treat "Patients." Unfortunately, practice doesn't always make perfect.

One of the first patients to express gratitude for my caring was a woman named Betty. She sent me a bright Thank You card after her release (another telling word) from hospital signed "your pershon, Betty." I've forgotten what ailment she had, or how I helped, but it was a rare, special feeling to know I'd done something she found worthwhile.

I was never sure of the effects of my treatments. It is impossible to gage the full consequences of an action. Life isn't as neat as the statistics we base therapeutic decisions on. I have a healthy portion of skepsis about those statistics and the glowing publications they inspire.

Today, I am grateful to all the patient people who entrusted their lives to me, shared their most intimate stories, enured my prodding, and let me poke my fingers into unspoken orifices. I thank them for suffering my requests, forgiving me my shortcomings and sharing the triumphs of recovery, too. How many? Innumerable. But I'll add a round 200 to the thank you count and Betty's variation on patient to my vocabulary. Pershon is like a hybrid between patient and person. It sums things up nicely and feels a lot more human to me.

Heute bedanke ich mich bei allen Patientinnen und Patienten, die sich von mir behandeln liessen.

Me/ Danke mir

Almost two thirds of the way through the thank count and it suddenly occurrs to me that I could thank myself. Ha! I certainly am grateful for myself and to myself for taking life by the--an anatomical part that may or may not be kosher-- and living the best I can. Yay! Persistent efforts at self-improvement and development, while being aware of and caring for others at the same time: those are the characteristics I appreciate most in myself. And the sense of humour along the way, of course. Heh. Perhaps especially that.

Man, have I been working hard to be a better person so I can make a better world. And I know how earnest I am about this. Who better to be grateful for my efforts than me? Hurray!

Sich selbst zu bedanken wirkte etwas befremdlich. Doch je länger ich mich damit beschäftige und die Idee im Kopf herumdrehte und damit spielte, umso genialer erschien sie mir. Hurra! Ich bin dankbar für mich, für das Leben, das ich mir erarbeitet habe und immer noch liebevoll gestalte. Wer kann das besser als ich? Niemand! Also: ganz herzlichen Dank an mich!!!

Ol friends

Thanks to the friends who shared my childhood days. To Janice, Johnny Megoo, all my classmates in prep school. All the children at Pringle home. Altogether about 50. Which brings the count to 595.

Heute habe ich nicht viel zu sagen. Ich schreibe nur um die Regelmässigkeits halber.
Schönen Tag und alles Gute!