How I got to TaBoo

First, I took Amtrak from Baltimore to New York with 1 year's worth of belongings, weighing in at a mere 70 pounds, I am proud to say. With a little help from a friend I took the Subway to Astoria, Queens, to drop off my load, and then returned to the Subway, walked through Manhattan

So long America, see you in 2011.

went to a reggae Concert in Brooklyn and a speakeasy in the Village (how American to hide the drinking establishments). Then I boarded a plane to Iceland, where the sun never sets, and then on to Dusseldorf. Then I took the Deutsche Bahn to Bonn, former capital of West Germany, and the U-Bahn (subway, metro, T, as you will) to Tannenbusch Mitte station, a short walk from my new home, the Acora hotel.

Tannenbusch. What can I say about Tannenbusch? On my first walk, map in hand, I observed a pleasant, working class suburb, a microcosm of the diversity of today's Germany, where Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, and a whole host of other languages are equally as likely to be heard as German. Freshly painted homes with well-kept gardens sit one after another. Children and adults alike pedal to and fro, baskets heavy with fresh bread and fruit, a bell rings, a bus passes, a neighbor waves hello.

That evening I attended the fourth of July BBQ hosted by the American fellows for our German teachers, and Chinese and Russian colleagues. I consumed, to my regret, my first Wurst (why anyone thinks its ok to eat meat that has been stuffed back in its own intestines is beyond me), met the other fellows, and was of coursed asked about my travels and thoughts so far.

This is when I learned that I had moved to TaBoo. Tannenbusch. Jaws dropped as I described my post-jetlag excursion. I was warned not to go out alone at night and not to linger near the U-Bahn station. Part of me is reminded of a trip to Spain a few years back in which a dear friend chose not to inform me that our hostel was in the red light district. I proceeded not to notice, and just to assume that Madrid fashion was sort of slutty.

I'm not ready to give up on the version of Tannenbusch that I see before my eyes, yet, at least. I am not prepared to equate diversity, immigrants and the working class with danger. So far Tannenbusch looks to me like a refreshing take on Germany. I will let Taboo make it's own impression on me.

View from my patio. Tannenbusch, Germany.