My mom got an iphone and decided she didn't need her old ipod touch anymore. When dad came to visit, he brought it with to give to me. Oftentimes, my mom will give me something that I don't think I want, only to find out I'm wrong. For example, for my graduation present she bought me a kindle. I was pretty apathetic to be honest. I didn't understand why someone would spend so much money on an electronic that can only really let your read books. However, I quickly hooked. A month ago, it malfunctioned and I am still waiting for the replacement to arrive. I'm hoping the kindle withdrawal symptoms don't kill before I get it back. The ipod touch was the same way. Originally I did not see the advantages over my old nano. However, in addition to letting me play the best game in the world, I can now discreetly take pictures of things that Germans would think it was weird of me to photograph. Like the Ampelmännchen by my dorm.
This little guy is a product of East Germany. After the reunification, there was an effort to standardize the traffic symbols to their West German form, and people started dismantling the Ampelmännchen. However, one businessman decided that it would be a good idea to sell the former crosswalk signs as lamps. Apparently these lamps were a hit and eventually the Ampelmännchen became a symbol for Ostalgie. In some places, there is even an Ampelmädchen.
A lot of Americans have embarrassingly little knowledge of German geography and will be assuming that I live in East Germany at this point. I don't. Heidelberg installed these little guys because they were just too adorable to pass up. Unfortunately, Germans are also frightened by the non-uniformity. Now there are TWO DIFFERENT types of cross walks in the city, whatever are we to do? Citing this, some government department asked Heidelberg to no longer allow the addition of the East German Ampelmännchen. Regardless, I think the Ampelmännchen is now safely apart of German society.
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