In June, immediately after she stopped nursing her 19 months old daughter JiaJia, my Chinese wife became pregnant.

As a German citizen, I would have had the right to apply to a special visa for my wife in order to have our child delivered in Germany - evading the current restrictions that didn't allow her to enter the EU in the first place, such as the condition that she learn German first and absolve a language exam, etc. However, there was no sign from the "Top" that it was part of our Maker's plan for us to go there, and at times I still keep wondering why. My life as a musician was easier, more enjoyable and often more inspiring than my current life as an English teacher in a country that may well be the noisiest in the world, and sadly, one of the filthiest. But having a teacher has its advantages. Other than in the West, where teachers have the image of "The Enemy" in probably 90% of their students, my new profession is a respected one here, and I've been told repeatedly, even after this relatively short time, that I've touched and affected my students' lives, and perhaps more so than I was able to - on a personal level - as a musician. Then there is the political aspect. I love Western culture, and by Western I mean the same that 95% of the world mean when they say "Western": The American culture. And I'm not talking about the main stream culture, the Britneys and Lady Gagas that only put a stamp on Don McLean's fulfilled prophecy about "the day the music died." I'm talking about artists of the kind you don't even hear in Europe unless you're really into music: Patty Griffin, Richard Julien and the galore of Christian bands and singers that are basically nobodies in the world of showbuiz, but constitute a large part of my inspiration since years: Caedmon's Call, Jeremy Camp, Jill Phillips and her husband Andy Gullahorn and oodles of others. I love to listen to their music and sometimes I dream of a world in which I would be able to commubicate with people that are even remotely on a similar wavelength to mine, who are able to speak more than the very, very broken English of most of my students (not to mention the majority of the large population around me), but what are the options? Subscribe to a policy that is based on murdering our fellow humans in far-off lands on grounds that not even the bravest of the outlawed preachers and self-declared "revolutionaries for Christ" dare to doubt even though they're proven to be totally ridiculous? Or for that matter... Which of the wars that America - the great leader of our great and glorified Western culture - has fought for the past 6 decades could have really be called justified - from a point of view that even remotely resembles the teachings of Christ? Korea? Vietnam? -- Sure, they wanted to stop Communism. Perhaps at one point they realized that a more effective way would be to apply the slogan, "If you can't lick'em, join'em" and infiltrate the enemy with McDonalds and Coke, as I see here, the possibly most capitalistic country I've ever been to, that's officially "Communist." And if so... for what? What is it that Big Brother or Uncle Sam is pushing on us? What's so wonderful that they just can't stop pushing it down the throat of the rest of the world. Certainly not Patty Griffin... With a foreign debt of cosmic proportions it's even ridiculous that the rest of the world keeps looking up to Amrica as its great white hope, a dream and fairy tale that only becomes reality in one place for a limited time, namely a time-span of approcimately 100 to 180 minutes on the TV and movie screens around the world. The Amwerican Dream made in Hollywood. As far as the bitter reality is pushing, all that every administration from Nixon to Obama has been pushing like a heroin dealer dressed up like Santa Claus has been the inevitable "death by overdose:" The world domination of bankruptcy. What world would possibly be easier to rule than one of bankrupt suckers who don't have a dime,

whose money all went up into thin air, invested in some spoof concocted by some real smart wise asses, only to land all the power thinkable in the hands of a tiny clan who had the balls to lie and lie, and then lie some more, until it made Pinocchio's nose look like a pimple in comparison? I don't know whether this far end of the world is going to be any safer when the shit hits the fan... possibly not. But it's not just an issue of safety and survival. It's an issue of dignity. I'd sure hate to wake up in the middle of all those wise asses who actually thought that their country was going to save the world while they were all pumping their tax money into making the exact opposite happen. They say ignorance is bliss. There's a lot of ignorance going on all around me right now. They don't have a clue. But there is yet another extreme, and a whole nuther story, and that's when people blatantly defy the truth, because they just can't stand to hear it. And that's precisely where I don't want to wake up when the shit hits the fan. And hit the fan it will. I guess the Boss knows what He's doing in telling me to better stay put...