Some of the first post boxes on display at the Communications Museum, Photo: M. Dallashi

Two days ago I became another victim of technology – I bought a new iPod! Since then the world appears much differently, the world suddenly seems much smaller than it used to be. Now all of my friends so far away are within just a click with my Facebook, Skype and Gmail applications!

It also seems that from now on I won’t be getting lost thanks to the Google maps application. I’m there. I’m in the new media world. I know it’s a bit late, but I’m not really a fan of gadgets. Sometimes, I still prefer older things.

Doris Kirchhof und Kirsten Sindt © Evgeniya Koptyug

The traffic noises and the cacophony from the building site nearby seem to disappear as I step over the threshold of the stage entrance to the Hamburg State Opera. My feelings are a mixture of Christmas and birthday-like excited anticipation. A childhood dream is coming true: I am visiting the costume department of an internationally famous opera house. It’s hard not to squeal with delight as the afternoon goes by. I do it anyway at some point. Luckily my interviewees react with understanding!

What did we all learn from yesterday’s 9th Bundesliga match-day? That Berti Vogts has a much underestimated understanding of national football. That’s right, Berti Vogts – or, as many of you might be thinking, “Berti who?”

Hans-Hubert Vogts, Berti for short, was the German national coach from 1990 to 1998, and is currently training the team of a lesser known footballing nation – Azerbaijan. This move to Central Asia followed an unhappy year at Leverkusen in the 2000-2001 season, but is by no means in keeping with his track record.

Photo: BM

One of the things I’ve always liked about Germany is the cultural tendency to “completeness”, as I like to call it. Germans always say “keine halbe Sachen” – i.e. they don’t like to do things by halves. This especially applies to festivals and seasons, and is something I enjoy greatly. Whereas in England, where I was born and grew up, it might just happen to be strawberry or asparagus season, in Germany, they really go the whole hog – or spear: restaurants have menus composed entirely around Spargel (asparagus) and everywhere you get invited, the host is cooking the stuff.

© picture-alliance

It’s usually Stefan Reichart’s job to report about the Bundesliga on this blog, but since he’s on holiday, he asked me to take over. What I’ve been asking myself since he told me his holiday dates, though, is whether he decided to be away this week in particular because he expected HSV, the team he supports, to get beaten by Mainz and didn’t fancy having to write about it. If he did, mind you, there wasn’t much point, because as it turned out, HSV put a 1:0 stop to Mainz run of seven victories in a row.

That's right, fellahs, we're talking about you! (Flickr: HamburgerJung)

One thing that’s pretty clear is that humans, no matter who they are and where they come from, have relatively similar wants, needs and desires. We all like food, protection from the elements and the company of other humans. Yet despite what you might be tempted to think, there are very few things common to all human languages. Even the most basic things – like a word for “I”, for example – might exist in the vast majority of tongues, but by no means in every one.