10th Anniversary - Part I

Hard to believe I arrived in Cologne on February 1st 1999. Some initial impressions/experiences from the first days:

• Not a single sunny day during the whole month of February that year, I was pretty depressed by the time March came around
• Why were there only white people on the streets...and were they all staring at me??
• I didn't have enough cash to pay for my meal and the restaurant didn't take credit cards. I had to leave some personal belongings behind as collateral and go get cash from the ATM
• The director I worked for got twice daily coffee service and restock of mineral water and juices, weekly fruit basket, and cookies served at all his meetings...my company was flush back then but this was definitely European flair not seen in Dearborn Michigan
• Karneval! I loved the colors, the people and the craziness that suddenly takes over the town during this week in the dreary winter - almost obscured Point Number 1 above
• Alcohol at the workplace during Karneval - Mon Dieu!
• When I wanted to say something in German, French came out

Since then, I've gotten used to the crap weather, forgotten every shred of French I used to know, and continued to enjoy this friendly town. In the meantime, Cologne (and to a certain extent Germany) also went through some changes of its own in the past decade - you judge whether for better or worse:

• Even groceries now accept credit cards
• Ca 4 years ago the first Starbucks opened; now we also have KFC, Subway, and Dunkin' Donuts (in addition to Burger King and McD, of course)
• There are many more Asian and African faces on the streets now
• Can you believe stores can stay open until 10pm weekdays and Saturdays (doesn't mean they all do)
• Sundays remain off limits, with exception (I really like this rule, actually)
• Home Shopping Network and ilk have invaded the airwaves
• With the resurgence of Berlin, a lot of art/media interests have moved away from Cologne to the capital - even though I'm far away from these scenes I definitely feel the difference as an average resident

The list goes on. Now with small children I spend my time differently in the city - the zoo instead of the museums, the Lego store instead of the clothing shops. It remains a great little city/village and one I love as much as St Paul/Minnesota and almost as much as Chicagoland...

Next post: why I stayed in the first place...