Posts

Foods of affliction

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Early in the Jewish Passover Seder, the leader reverently holds up a piece of matzos with the words: “Lo! This is the bread of affliction!” and that’s the last time anyone mentions that particular elephant in the room. The mark of a Jewish hostess is to make matzo meal into light, fluffy ‘kneidlach’ without any rising agent. When successful, served in chicken soup (a tribal panacea guaranteed to cure all ills including the coronavirus), it makes matzos vaguely palatable, however when unsuccessful, the result is a bit like a depth charge. I just wonder whether our forebears knew that their hastily baked unleavened loaves for their fraught exodus from Egypt were condemning their descendants to an annual week of constipation for the next few millennia? But have you ever heard a Jewish person say: ‘I don’t like matzos?’ Humans are funny that way. It’s by no means unique to the Jewish tradition to ritually eat certain unpalatable foods out of reverence and homage to an hist...
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The Historian

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There was once a peaceful little village nestled on the coast at the base of a hill. The village had beautiful westward views over the sea and the mud flats, and everyone loved living there. All except one old man who refused to live in the village. He built his cottage set apart on the windy slopes of the hill. H e wasn’t from the village but came there after the war. Walked with a limp. Always wore a naval cap. Nobody knew much about him, but letters were addressed to him as ‘Capt.’ So everyone called him 'the Captain'. His cottage was full of books and old maps. You could often see the light shining deep into the night as he read them, plotted, and made notes. The villagers didn’t really like him. They would mutter that he thought himself too high and mighty to live among them. One day, as he was collecting more maps from the village post office, he was overheard warning the grocer that the village could be washed away by the sea. “It’s happened before and it will ...
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Alone

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Alone I am not afraid to be alone From my first hours on earth, I was set aside to be alone. Since then, I’ve done and experienced all manner of things alone. So if you want to walk with me, walk with me. If you want to think with me, think with me. If you want to argue, dispute, and mentally wrestle with me, I am here. But never forget that to be alone and lonely are not the same thing, And I’m neither afraid of, nor unaccustomed to being alone. AMB - 2019
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Emigration is not for wimps

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These past 18 years as an expat have been an incredibly interesting journey. As a sociologist, I’ve found the process and pitfalls of fitting-in as a ‘foreigner’ fascinating for all its fits and starts. The adage ‘it’s not  what  you know but  who  you know’ holds true everywhere in the world, however in (post) colonial societies/cultures like South Africa (Australia, NZ, and even Canada and the USA), ‘stewardship’ (Pete sent me/recommended you) is even more prevalent. So you obviously leave a lot more than just your family support network behind. As a newcomer, you also need to find an 'in' to a world where interpersonal (business) relationships have been built-up over generations and centuries. The days when you'll be granted credit, credibility, or deference based on your father's reputation are over. Local village One of the most fundamental differences is that if you move from anywhere in South Africa to Western Europe, you are invariably moving from a relat...
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Combat-related PTSD: Hypervigilance

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It's all about a faulty light: One comes up behind you, or you stop behind one at a traffic light. He's unaware, or doesn't care his light is faulty. What's the condition of the rest of his car? How are his brakes? Is it safe to drive behind/in front of him? Get away, get away... Hazard up ahead... DARE (Define Assess Respond Evaluate)... move on, but can we? They call us 'judgemental' but are we? Aren't we just being realistic in a world that seems half asleep? Is it just me? Clearly not. PTSD   Hypervigilance :
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And there was Light!

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Sunsets can be spectacular – I’ve photographed many – reminding me of the transience of life. It is as the Sun dips toward the horizon that we can most clearly watch the seconds pass. But for all their display of colours, they seldom touch my soul as deeply as the majesty and mystery of dawn. Let there be Light!  - AMB Dawn over the Zaan  18 March 2016 Westzaan © Andrew Bergman 2016 all rights reserved Disclaimer: Unless otherwise stated, all text and photographic material used in posts to this blog are the property of the Author, used at his sole discretion, and while they may be freely shared online in their entirety via Facebook, Twitter etc. may not be published elsewhere without express permission. The Author takes no responsibility for the nature and content of the adverts placed on the page (in exchange for free blog space) by the blog host.
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Defiance

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I entered this world in defiance. My mother refused to abort me, in defiance. In childhood, I refused prejudice fed me, in defiance. At school, I insisted on questioning, in defiance. In battle, I denied my enemy victory, in defiance. And one day, hopefully, I will leave this world In defiance!
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