April, the month of madness!

By Anis Albasha

Discipline and rules are considered an integral part of the German culture. Most Germans prefer things to be predictable, predetermined and stable so they can make accurate plans for everything. But the month of April has a unique nature here in Germany. It has no fixed or predictable patterns. And when Germans see foreign people get confused about April, they immediately say with a smile “April April, der macht was er will”.

This phrase means “April does whatever he wants”. In German language, it is vital to distinguish between masculine and feminine, and since April is a masculine noun –don’t ask me why- ‘He’ takes the masculine pronoun “er” and he acts in a very masculine rebellious way indeed. According to the astronomical calendar, spring usually starts in March which means that April is supposed to be an extension of spring. However, this month has its own free will and it acts literally according to that phrase. It does not fit in any seasonal category so you have to expect a mixture of crazy weather during its 30 days.

As a matter of fact, there are four seasons in Germany: spring, summer, fall, and winter. Each season has its own weather patterns and aspects. But when it comes to April, we can call it the month of the all seasons. April can give you the sense of spring, winter, summer and autumn in less than 24 hours. Before I witness the month of April in Germany, I very much enjoyed observing the seasonal changes, especially in the autumn and in the winter. For a person who comes from a land where there is no variation in daylight hours as well as there is no major temperature swings throughout the whole year, it was interesting to see the drastic changes in climate which occur in European countries.

As time goes on, I have become familiar with meteorological terms like cluster headache, flurry, freezing rain, glaze, gusts speed, dew point and frost point. I have also learned how -or at least how to pretend- to be clam when hearing or reading some scary climatic terms such as ‘widespread damaging winds’, ‘heavy snow warning’, ‘severe storms’ or ‘blowing snow’. It was also interesting to observe how these regular patterns of the weather are reflected at different levels on people’s life here in Germany.

For instance, there are two main sales periods in Germany, winter sale and summer sale. There are also other sales being offered during different times of the year but they are not as big as those of summer and winter. Besides, people in Germany usually make their traveling plans and carry out different activities according to the weather. Of course, it is difficult to have fixed plans in April! That's why people have to adjust with this month until it is gone. If you live in Germany and have no prior experience of April, you would feel excited about the advent of the first couple of days of this month which bring along mild weather after a long time of cold days.

Gearing up for the charming spring breezes, you would get rid of all your heavy clothes and you would put on light clothes instead. Several days later, you will find out that you were duped when the weather completely turned over and the temperature becomes 4 or 2 or even – 3! This drastic change in weather might happen without any prior warning and on a spur of moment. That's to say, you may open the window in the morning to see a shiny sun with a clear sky. The weather forecast says that the temperature outside is 15. So, you put on some light clothes and rush out to enjoy the nice weather. One or two hours later, the sun disappears and the sky becomes covered with clouds and all of a sudden, heavy rains wets you from head to toe. At that moment, each raindrop would sound to you like a sarcastic laugh made by April!

Next time, you told yourself that you have got the lesson and you won’t let that happen again. So, when you go out you make sure that you wear heavy cloths, you get your umbrella in your hand and you have your rain boots in your feet. You may look funny as you walk down the street holding your umbrella while the weather is sunny. But the view of the scattered clouds in the sky makes you feel that you have made the right decision. It is a matter of a few minutes before the weather gets changed and you will be the one who is going to laugh this time.

However, in a flash, all the clouds got vanished and the weather temperature rises abruptly! At that moment, you don't have to feel ashamed of yourself. If you want a little comfort just look around and you would see many people who acted like you. Those people are Germans and they already knew all these April tricks, but they were fooled just like you. It is Ok, it is April and as we know now, he does whatever he wants.

Being tricked by April’s weather several times, I have come to realize the importance of 'wearing layers' technique which is adopted by Germans during this period of time. It is such a simple and practical style where people have to wear multiple layers of clothing. So, when it is hot you can remove a layer and when it turns over you can put that layer on again. Some people got carried away with this method and they look like moving clothing closets with all these pieces they wear such as storm coats, rain coats, sweaters, shawls, pullovers, gloves…Etc. So you don't have to do like them, just put two or three layers and that would be fine. 

All in all, it is true that the weather in north Germany is extremely fluctuating in April. Yet, it is admirable to see how people have adapted to their variable weather in several ways, not only in April but during the whole year. They build their houses in a certain design, they wear appropriate clothing according to each season and they have tools and plans for the different times of the year. Though it rains almost all around the year, there are no stormwater drains in the streets due to the perfect rain drainage systems. As a result, people can make plans and do activities and maintain a discipline life even when they have to go through an indiscipline days like those of April. 

We’ve got a ‘smoky’ situation!

Rasha Almaqaleh

The first time our child knew about smoking was when we were once grocery shopping in the supermarket. He happened to see the graphic photos on the cigarette packs and was utterly disturbed. Later on, we faced a barrage of questions. We tried to answer and satisfy his curiosity just to find out that our answers only produced more questions: “What is a cigarette? Why do people smoke? Why do supermarkets sell cigarettes in the first place if they are too bad and unhealthy?”

As non- smoker parents, this was a good opportunity for us to instill in our child’s mind that smoking is bad and destructive and it negatively affects our bodies and pockets! In order to explain the graphic photos that he came across, we borrowed some children books from the library that show pictures of our bodies and how they work and how smoking affects the mouth, lungs, and so on.

We also showed him YouTube videos which are addressed to kids and explain how dangerous smoking can be. Not only that, but we also told him how cigarettes could lead to fires if one is not careful. Well, maybe we got carried away, but who can blame parents for parenting?

He started to be obsessive about the smoking thing and whenever we were out, he would look left and right to spot smokers. Then one day, when we were at the market, he saw someone smoking. He immediately covered his mouth and nose with his heavy scarf and then shouted hysterically: “There is a smoker here! Call the police!”  Containing our laughter, we explained to him that you don’t call the police when you see someone smoke on the street. He got shocked for a moment then shouted: “then we should call the firemen to put out the cigarette!”

He was very confused and upset and I could see why; in his smart little mind he couldn’t help but wonder how come smoking is dangerous but still allowed by policemen and firemen?! He thinks highly of them and sees them as heroes who keep people safe and keep ‘dangers’ away! So, it made no sense! 

The following days, we spent a lot of time explaining to him that it is prohibited to smoke in certain places such as public buildings, hospitals, public transportation, etc. And we told him that smokers can still go out and smoke. Moreover, we told him that smoking is a choice, yet a very bad one. And there are some people who make bad decisions and choose to harm themselves. On the other hand, there are smart people, like us of course, who know better than to smoke.

We hoped that our explanation made sense to him and helped settle his confusion. But next day, when we were on the way to kindergarten, we passed by a lady who was, THANK GOD, not smoking. My son said to her with a smile “good morning!” A minute later, he said to me: “Mom, we only say good morning to people who don’t smoke, those who smoke we never greet them, right?”

Now that was too much for parents to take! I was really annoyed, not by my innocent little sweet fellow’s questions, but by this crazy smoking world which complicates our parenting job! So, it is my turn now to ask questions!

Those who smoke, why the hell do you smoke??!! It eats up your health and money and it makes you smell horrible! Really HORRIBLE! And it confuses our kids!! And you smoker-parents, do you go to sleep with a clean conscience?

I saw a mom the other day with her three-year old child in front of a furniture store. The mom lit a cigarette and started smoking. And while I was busy judging her for smoking in front of her child and setting a bad example, what seems to be the father joined the mom and also lit a cigarette and smoked. Then, they walked away holding hands with their daughter and their cigarettes! That was such a disturbing view to me. It was as if the little child was walking with two chimneys instead of two parents.

As a person who has zero tolerance for smoking, I wish my child’s suggestion to call the police for smokers were effective. There should be a legal ban on this hideous habit particularly in the presence of kids. Children should be prevented from breathing secondhand smoke as studies showed that it can put them at risk of a number of health problems. 

Children are entitled to breathe clean air and it is also important that they see their parents breathe clean air, too. Exposing children to second hand smoke must be considered an abuse. Therefore, it should be as illegal as spanking.

Until policy makers and smoker parents decide to be responsible enough, we will do our best to educate our child about the risks of smoking and that smokers are people who make a very bad decision every single time they choose to lit a cigarette.

Muslims in the West: Identity crisis

Rasha Almaqaleh

 I saw recently an interesting TV program on a Tunisian channel on teaching Tunisian children who live in France the Arabic language. The presenter interviewed on one of Paris streets an Arabic teacher along with a group of Tunisian children, aged between 6 and 10 years old. They talked about how the Arabic community in France is keen to teach the children Arabic. At the end of the interview, the presenter asked one of the children this question: “what did you learn today in the Arabic lesson?” the child answered: “we learned to say in Arabic I’m Tunisian and I reside in Paris.”

As a Yemeni residing in the West with a child who is also a resident, and as I am keen to teach my son his native language, I was impressed and I thought to myself how beautiful and important that these children learn their mother tongue despite their "residence" in a western country. However, when the presenter said at the end of the program that those children represent “ the fourth generation of Tunisians in France”, I was shocked to the core!

The reason behind my shock is that those children are beyond being just "residents" in France as they were born in France to parents who were also born in France to grandparents born also in France! After all that, they just consider, or taught to consider, themselves "residents" in Paris while in fact they are French citizens of Tunisian descent!

Generally speaking, Arab communities in the Western countries suffer from a real ‘identity crisis’. On one hand, they want to prosper in Western countries and benefit from their welfare, human rights and justice. On the other hand, they spare their feelings of belonging for their countries of origin, generation after generation and not for the countries they chose to settle in.

They feel scared so they often live in isolated communities where they maintain their customs and traditions and avoid integration into their new societies. This crisis is clearly reflected on their children; many of them are confused and they are not sure where to place their true affiliation. That is why sometimes it is possible to recruit some of them by radicals.

The problem is that Arabs never imagine a reverse scenario; what if many Western citizens migrated to our countries and settled there for a couple of generations, but they refused to mix with us though we are the original inhabitants of the land and they had the citizenship of our country and spoke our language. How would we feel about them being afraid of our culture?  We would reject their existence because we feel they rejected ours even though they live in our country, and this is the argument used by the far right in European countries. They always scream that Muslims can never be integrated and that they always have a ‘culture of fear of the other’ and this is right to a large extent.

Mohammad Shahrur

In general, the reasons behind that fear are religious. We, Muslims, are afraid of freedom and our fear is to some extent understandable. Generation after generation, Muslims were born and raised under the pressure of authoritarian regimes and unfair social rules. Under that pressure, many of the so-called ‘Islamic’ concepts haven been formed.
 I strongly believe that Muslims will not be able to get rid of that continuous feeling of fear unless they make real religious reforms, such as those advocated by many contemporary Islamic thinkers, such as  Dr.Muhammad Shahrur.

Overall, I am all for teaching immigrants’ children their native languages. I see that as a right and as a duty. However, it shouldn’t come at the expense of their sense of belonging to the land they were born and raised in. It’s important that immigrants everywhere around the world know that immigration should build a bridge to connect different cultures instead of placing barriers between them.