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| April 2006 Newsletter | |
German Foreign PolicyMr
William Spiteri, former Ambassador of Malta in Berlin will deliver a
talk entitled ”Reflections on German Foreign Policy” on
Thursday, 6th April at 6.45p.m. at the Strickland Foundation in
Villa Parisio, Lija.
Members of the German-Maltese Circle are welcome to attend. Goethe Institute ExaminationsThe
German - Maltese Circle
announces that the following Goethe Institute Examinations are due
in May/June 2006: Application forms for the ZD and the ZDj examinations will be available
from the office as from Monday, 17th April. Closing date is
Friday, 12th May. Applications for the ZMP examination will open during May. The Examinations’ Timetable can be viewed on the Circle’s Noticeboard. Corporate membersLufthansa
Technik M Ltd and MSC Malta Ltd
have last month joined as Corporate Members with the German-Maltese
Circle.
This brings the total number of such members for 2006 to
sixteen.
A big thank you to these Companies who are sponsoring our
work. HolidaysStudents
attending our courses are informed that no classes will be held on
Friday, 7th April (Our Lady of Sorrows) and between Thursday, 13th
and Tuesday, 18th April (Easter Holidays) - both days inclusive.
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Careers Day at the De La Salle
It was a busy day for our Librarian, Ariane Hartje during the Careers Day held at the De La Salle College in Cottonera on the 22nd March. Ariane was assisted by Bernd Ritschel, a member of our Committee and a former Manager at Playmobil. The Circle put up a stand promoting the German language as a useful asset for the child’s future career. Eurocamp 2006Are you between 18 and 25 years of age?Do you have a working knowledge of German? Are you a member of the German-Maltese Circle? Do you want to join other youths from all over Europe working in projects in Halle/Saale (Sachsen-Anhalt) between the 23rd July and the 13th August ? BOARD
– ACCOMODATION – PROGRAMME EXPENSES ALL PAID! Then
EUROCAMP 2006 is waiting for you! More information from the German-Maltese Circle’s office. Closing date: 30th April 2006
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ODD
NEWS FROM GERMANY German court prescribes viagra for stallion BERLIN
- A German court ordered viagra to be given to a stallion after his
new owner claimed he was impotent and refused to pay the full asking
price. The buyer of the horse called Vedor paid just a tenth of the
price of over € 4,000, claiming it had only one testicle and
failed to get frisky with a female pony. A vet found the testicle
after an examination, said Egbert Simons, a spokesman for the court
in the eastern town of Neuruppin.
And when the stallion was given the potency drug, it emerged
he was fully functional, he added.
The court ordered the buyer to pay the full price. Village flooded by liquid pig manure BERLIN
- A Bavarian village was flooded by liquid pig manure after a tank
containing the fertiliser burst, German police said today. Sewage
rose to 50cm in the courtyards and streets of Elsa after gushing
from the tank, which held some 240,000 litres of pig manure.
"The village was swamped with green-brown liquid and it was pig
manure -- the mother-of-all muck," said Rainer Prediger, a
police spokesman in the nearby town of Coburg.
Police estimated the pig waste had caused at least €100,000
worth of damage. Bad
Marijuana BERLIN
(Reuters) - A 52-year-old man from the German town of Darmstadt
tried in vain to get a refund for 400 euros worth of what he said
was "bad marijuana" from his dealer before turning to the
police for help, according to authorities.
The police then charged the man with violating drugs
possession laws and confiscated the 200 grams of marijuana he
brought with him to the police station, according to a report in
Bild am Sonntag newspaper Sunday. "It is un-usable," the
man told police in the hope they would help him get his money back.
Amounts of up to 30 grams of marijuana are allowed in most German
states for private consumption. It
has been reported also that: A
German inventor had the idea of placing a specially adapted mobile
phone in the coffins of the dead. That way relatives could call up
and speak to their dear departed without having to leave home. And
that post carriers scrambled for cover at a Berlin post office when
a recently delivered package began vibrating. Police quickly
diffused the situation when it was discovered that the "bomb
like" article was actually a sex doll that had accidentally
switched on. And
finally for today, a German man is wishing he never left for a
vacation after his neighbours called police fearing the worst after
hearing noises in his apartment. Police broke down the door only to
find the lights and stereo on so that his hamster wouldn't feel
lonely while he was away. |
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Tücken
des Alltags |
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Frau und Bruder drückten Daumen und Hände, ich sah nur noch Krankenhauswände! Ärzte und Schwestern machten ihre Arbeit gut, Grund genug für Hoffnung und neuen Lebensmut. - Ein Miniaturschlag hatte mich wieder erwischt, der Blutdruck offenbar nicht richtig mitgemischt. Schließlich kam ich noch ins Herzlabor, sehr lange wartete ich mit meinen Getreuen davor. Dummerweise war gerade Hochsaison dort, dem renommierten Spezialzentrum vor Ort. Neueste Röntgentechnik, Geräte als Tandem = zwei, ein Arzt und zwei Schwestern zur Aufsicht dabei. Es ging dann relativ schnell, ich spürte es kaum, nur ein Zittern ging durch meinen Lebensbaum. Das Resultat war wohl passabel, der Schaden ist noch reparabel! Ja, kurvig ist des Lebens Lauf, und ich bin wieder obenauf. |
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WOODCUT PRINTS EXHIBITION AT MESSINA PALACE |
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Doreen
also paints in watercolour, oils and acrylics, with a bold use of
colour and texture. Her influences and style differ so widely that
one is surprised the same artist could create such varied work. She
is inspired by the shapes and colour of her surroundings. The
exhibition will include around twenty-seven original woodcut prints
produced during 2003. Her
work is in private collections throughout Europe and she has previously
exhibited work in
collective exhibitions in Malta, Gozo, Bath and Vienna.
Doreen is a member of the Malta Society of Arts, Manufacturers and
Commerce. |
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Lucy
Portelli
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In
2000 she was awarded a scholarship by the Goethe Institute and
subsequently spent four memorable weeks in Rothenburg ob der Tauber
(Bavaria). Here she not only had the chance to improve her German
but also had a close encounter with dwarf bats. 67 “teenaged”
little thumb size creatures had mistaken the classroom for their
natural hide, clung to curtains and the wooden ceiling until they
were picked off their hold one by one, stored in shoe boxes and
released into their natural habitat the next night. Great relief to
students and teacher! Lucy
also told me about her life and her profession: She was born in
Rabat as one of twelve siblings, who loved roaming through the
country side and the silent city of Mdina. She finished St. Therese
Grammar School in Mriehel at the age of 16. Her wish to become a
nurse was already ingrained, so much so that she busied herself for
one year at catering and hotel administration until she turned 17,
the earliest age a person was accepted at the Nursing School of
Malta at St. Luke’s. In 1978 she qualified as a State Registered
Nurse and started working at the Emergency and Admitting Department.
During
the following two years at this department the young Lucy saw a lot
of bad injuries and Lucy
was Acting Deputy Nursing Officer in the Emergency Department of St.
Luke’s when she got married and resigned in order to make use of
the Marriage Gratuity, still customary at those times. Subsequently
her husband was transferred to Germany - Lucy did not speak a word
of German (yet). She returned to Malta to give birth to their son in
familiar surroundings. However, when she was ready to return after
three months, her husband had been transferred to Switzerland.
There she understood the language even less and realised with
much regret that she had missed her chance not to learn German right
from the beginning when living abroad. When
she was pregnant for the second time she made the difficult decision
to leave her husband and together with their little son she came
back to Malta for good. She very promptly got her separation
registered even before her daughter was born. Her family was a great
help and support during those difficult days, but she started to
work again after a few years as a State Registered Nurse at St.
Luke’s Hospital on night duties only – while one of her sisters
slept with the children. Besides her full time job as a Nurse with
the State Health Division, Lucy also works on part time basis in a
private hospital as well as in an Old People’s Home.
I
nearly did not dare ask the question about hobbies or pastime, as it
is difficult to imagine, when she would do anything else but work.
However, yes, there are those relaxed moments when she knits or
crochets or embroiders in old traditional styles! “But
my greatest joy and pride are my children”, she says with a happy
smile, recalling their superb results at St. Monica School and St.
Aloysius College respectively. Though 17 and 19 years of age by now,
they still love to go fishing with their mother and one of her
brothers and spend holidays with her.
One small but remarkable anecdote she likes to add: By now exactly 20 years ago while she was sitting in a train station in Frankfurt and reading The Times of Malta she was approached by a German gentleman asking her, whether this was really The Times of Malta. A conversation developed and he turned out to be Dr. Günter Jacobs! He invited Lucy and her husband to his house, introducing them also to his wife Felicitas. They became good friends and much later - after Lucy had learned about the existence of the German-Maltese Circle - she became one of his students of German. What a whim of chance! |
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Lucy
Portelli is one of the German-Maltese Circle students who has
followed German language tuition at Messina Palace for the last ten
years. Surely something to celebrate! She started learning German in
1996 as a beginner and pupil of Mr. Michael Galea; and step by step
she finished her ZOP last year. “Without the persistent support of
my last two most dedicated teachers, namely Ms. Marianne Azzopardi
and Frau Waltraud Wolff, I could have easily given up these two and
a half years of my ZOP Course as it was very stressful for me
considering my extremely hectic life,” is her sincere comment on
this achievement. 
suffering. But the most horrifying incident still imprinted on her
mind occurred early during her first year. She happened to be on
duty when a father carryied a very young child whose head had been
crushed accidentally when the father was reversing his car. She
still vividly recalls the devastated parents and feels her own
helpless pain.