My Favorite Things

Before there was Germany, before there was a Thomas, there was a 6 year old girl named Arashi who watched her favorite film over and over again as a child. She knew all of the songs by heart, and would later sing these songs like 'Edelweiss' and 'My Favorite Things' up in the lonely Alps.

She thought that 'Edelweiss' was the national song of Austria, and that this movie was representative of the people that lived in these two countries.

Later, as she set foot on these two countries, she was horrified to discover that the people had no idea of the American movie with the Governess, the Captain, and his seven children! Except in Salzburg, where they are now making a killing out of the Americans who like to ride in buses and wear silly hats. They know a German film, though, which had no music, no girls who were sixteen going on seventeen.

So she made it a mission--A mission!--to introduce this lovely film to everybody who cared to listen. She ordered the special 40th anniversary DVD edition on Amazon, and with bated breath, organized a film night and shared it to her German friends.

The hills of Jena were alive, not with the sound of music, but with laughter!
"Who on earth eats schnitzel with noodles?" asked a girl beside . Yes, who on earth does eat breaded prokchop with noodles? The crowd tittered everytime the American-speaking Austrians mispronounced words like "Auf Wiedersehen" and Edelweiß!

"Oh it's a very Hollywood movie. How can people think that the Germans are like that?"

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Well, an idiot like me, that's who.

I live in a land where Al Gore would be preaching to the choir. I don't know about the other Germany, but this Germany is hard-core about environmental issues. People bring their own backpacks to the supermarket. They have to pay something like 6 pesos for every plastic bag they get from the store.

I also passed around my DVDs of my favorite American TV show "The Amazing Race." My friend Adam and I are so in love with it that he downloads and burns copies for me. I passed it around my group. What did they have to say about it?

"It's a waste of airplane fuel!"

I told Thomas that my camera, which I forgot in Manila, would make a trip to Germany with a stop over at my aunt's in Las Vegas.

"What a waste of airplane fuel!"

You have to admire their economy of words and resources.