Post Titled: The Box Talks! (and I don't know if I like what it seems to be saying...)
Went to the Mauerpark Flohmarkt yesterday (a huge outdoor flea market) and returned with two old East German
school posters (roll-out scroll style of paper-on-canvas, like and old map), one is a very abstract and colorful Leger-esgue cross-section of the inner gears adn chambers of a milking or
milk-processing machine. THe other is a detailed skeleton of Waterfrog. Not the friendliest posters, but fascinating.
Also bartered for a digital tv reciever, so we get a few channels now, although it burps digital squeaks and confusion from time to time, and sometimes can't find channels.
I watched Spongebob in german, which was pretty hilarious, and then a very intimidating documentary about how the Ausländerbehörde Polizei (Foreign Authority Office Police) follow people, interview all their neighbors and interrogate you intensely about your life if you marry a foreigner in Germany.
I mean, peraps there is a similar process in every country, but this was straight-up Stasi
how the Beamter interrogated the couple (separately), for example they asked:
"What did you do on Sunday?"
"Uhhm... woke up and had breakfast..."
"Did you cook for your husband?"
"Yes"
"What did you cook?"
"Eggs."
"How were the eggs cooked? Fried, poached, -?"
Etc.
Then they bring the other spouse in along and ask the same questons. Over the next days they interviewed all the neighbors in the apartment building with a photo of the couple:
"Have you seen this woman? Does she live here? How often does she come and go? Do you see her kissing this man?" ETC.
THEN they show up randomly to their apartment at 7 am to see if the
couple is really living together, they go through the bathroom, bedroom, closets to see
what kinds of things both people have there that validate thier both co-habitating the same space, i.s. toothbrush, clothing, personal hygene products,
clean and dirty laundry... pretty freakish, really.
IN some cases it was determined that the marriages were fake for purposes of citizenship,
hope things go more smoothly for us- as I noted we have 9 years worth of fotos and letters to back things up...

German television (or at least the dozen channels we get) thus far seems to be quite educational, documentary-style programming, arts and political content, good stuf- a bit dry at times.