Happiness

Happiness is a warm gun (Beatles) - or a warm puppy (Peanuts).  Finding the love of your life. A baby. The baby moving out after 18 years. Leaving the love of your life, because he wasn't right after all.

Some people think, money means happiness. Living on a tropical island never having to worry about a thing. A house, an expensive car, a boat.

As you know, greater minds than mine have already thought and written about this topic, so I can only add my own personal idea of moments of happiness.Of course, unhappiness is a part of it,too, without it you would not recognize happiness. And remember, that the American Declaration lists "the pursuit of happiness" as one of the unalienable rights of every human being. The pursuit of happiness, not happiness itself. Happiness is a tricky thing (Sam C. Chan), maybe it has more to do with ourselves than with symbols of success and wealth.

Well, here are some of my happy moments:
- the smell of coffee early in the morning
- a phone call without bad news
- going to bed knowing that the alarm clock will not ring the next morning
- seeing the sun rise after a night of talking to a  good friend
- seeing myself in the eyes of someone who cares
- being here at this time and place, living this moment and taking it as the gift it is
- being allowed to be me

And what are yours ?

The Forbidden Kingdom: Last Quote

When Lu Yan is deadly wounded and confesses that he is not an immortal, Jason is shocked, but Lu Yan does not seem to be so unhappy about this fact and says:
  
"If one does not attach himself to people and desires, never shall his heart be broken. But does he ever truly live?"

I love this scene , because the character played by Jackie Chan suddenly gets so much depth, you feel, there is a long and interesting story that can be told about him. The amazing thing: Jackie can only create this with his face and voice, as he is lying motionless on the bed.

The first time I saw it in the cinema, it gave me goosebumps. And every time I hesitate to leave the safe path of my comfortable life to embark on some adventure, I hear Jackie's voice speaking these words. Yes, it is safer not to open myself to a new friendship, not to allow my heart to love, not to try something new, because I cannot be disappointed and hurt.  But if I  act like this, do I truly live ?

It took me many years to grow courageous enough to adopt this attitude, but now I have reached the point where I am aware that there is only one short life for me and that I should live every moment of it. And accept everything it has to offer...

(Photo: JC Group 2007, www.jackiechan.com)

"Empty your cup!"

Jason, the Boston teenager who has been transported into a mythic world, has met Lu Yan who helps him to return the magic staff to its rightful owner, but Jason must learn to fight. Lu Yan decides to teach him Kung Fu.

So in the scene I am talking about they sit at the campfire after a day of travelling, Lu Yan has made some tea and Jason is very enthusiastic about  learning Kung Fu. He has seen so many Kung Fu movies, he is looking forward to learning the "Buddha Palm Technique" and the "Shadow Kick". Listening to Jason's talk, Lu Yan fills his cup with tea and keeps pouring even when the cup is full. When Jason protests, he explains:  "How can I fill your cup when it is already full? How can I teach you Kung Fu when you already know everything? Empty your cup !" Jason pours the tea into the fire  - and Lu Yan is quite desperate about his new student.

I first heard this story from my own martial arts master who had got it from a book where the author got it from his master.For most of us the idea to completely forget anything we might know about a subject and start learning from the start is probably  strange. In our Western culture we are encouraged to learn with a critical mind, to question what the teacher says and to draw our own conclusions. Eastern martial arts teach you to submit yourself to your master as he has undergone years of training and knows best.

So I was curious what my students would say to this quote. Amazingly, they understood the  meaning at once. There are teachers and students. Students have to learn, teachers have to teach. It is a tedious fight if you question everything your teacher says, first you have to learn the basics and advance in the topic,  and only after some time of learning are you able to judge yourself.

One student added a further idea: we should be open and curious to learn something new and not let our learning be influenced by preconceived opinions. When you go to a foreign country, for example, it is best to be curious and experience the strange culture with a free mind, not tinted by what you may have heard or read.

So I think, sometimes it is good to empty your cup and give a new point of view a fair chance.

(Photo JC Group, 2007,  www.jackiechan.com)

"Don't think. Just do !"

Recently I did a project with my 11th year English group and as they wanted to see a Jackie Chan movie, I chose "The Forbidden Kingdom", which came to the cinemas in 2008 and united the action stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The plot is a typical story of initiation: Jason, a Boston teenager, is thrown into a mythic world by a magic staff, where he has to fulfill a task and learns how to become a man.

One thing I did in class was take some quotes from this movie and discuss them with the students. The quote I want to talk about here is taken from the beginning of the relationship between Jason and the Drunken Scholar, Lu Yan, played by Jackie Chan. In a tea house they are attacked by the soldiers of the evil Jade Warlord and have to flee. At one point Jason is standing on the roof top, in front of him darkness, behind him the soldiers, but he hesitates. Lu Yan shouts: "Jump!", but Jason replies: "I don't think so." Lu Yan's order : "Don't think. Just do!"

Now Jason is torn between two evils: he can be killed by the soldiers or he can be seriously hurt or even killed by jumping down the roof. In the end he jumps, is caught by Lu Yan and they fall together, both surviving and making their escape.

I thought that life is sometimes like that. Like my first jump from the three-meter board in the local swimming-pool: it scared me to death, but the thought of all these people seeing me climb down again was even more scary, so I stopped thinking and jumped. My students gave another example: falling in love.It can give you happiness, but it can also cause you a broken heart. You can try to reflect and think about it for ages, trying to eliminate every risk, in the end you still have to "just do". Or remain lonely and wonder what you might have missed.

There definitely are situations in life when too much pondering means not going forward, when you have to stop thinking and jump. In the end it might be better than just standing there paralyzed and being killed by the soldiers. At least you have the chance to be caught and saved...

(Photo JC Group, 2007, www.jackiechan.com)

Berlin: Buddy Bears

Everywhere in Berlin you can find these guys. This  is not the famous "Berliner Bär", the bear of the Berlin coat-of-arms, but a Buddy Bear. Never heard of them? What a pity.

They are the invention of two Berlin residents, Eva and Klaus Herlitz. They thought of the idea to ask artists around the world to decorate these fiberglass bears and then the United Circle of Buddy Bears travelled around the world to promote the message of global peace, tolerance and friendship. In the cities, where the bears are shown, charity auctions and activities raise money for good causes and from time to time some of them are sold for charity.

I was introduced to the Buddy Bears by Jackie Chan's website, to be more precise, the Kids Corner of it. When Jackie Chan learnt about these bears, he became a fan and has supported the project ever since. You can find more information on his website and you can also download your own Buddy Bear to decorate.

http://www.jackiechankids.com/files/Buddy_Bears.htm

Oh, I forgot, the Buddy Bear is the chap in the suit, the bear in the anorak is me on a cool May day in Berlin...

Berlin: The Reichstag

Berlin has not always been the German capital, mainly, because for most of our history there was no "Germany" that needed a capital. In the Middle Ages there was a German Empire that consisted of a loose connection of territories. After the Thirty-Years-War in 1648 they gained a lot of independence and the Kaiser just had a pretty crown, but no power over the whole Reich. So Berlin was the capital of the territory of Brandenburg that later became the kingdom of Preußen (Prussia).

In 1806 even this loose-knit empire was dismantled and not restored after Napoleon had been sent to exile. It was not until 1871 that a German national state was founded by Otto von Bismarck. The capital was Berlin and the King of Prussia became the German Kaiser (emperor).
This Reich had a constitution and even a parliament that was called "Reichstag", just like the building where the representatives met. However, at that time the main power still was with the Kaiser. After World War I the German people established the first real democratic state on German soil and the Reichstag became the building where the representatives of the people controlled the government and made the laws.

But in 1933 Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor. In February 1933 there was a fire in the Reichstag, which Hitler took as an excuse to abolish the basic human rights of the constitution, which was the first step to establishing the Nazi dictatorship.

After the war the building was restored, but without the dome that was blown up in 1945. It was situated next to the Berlin Wall and hosted an exhibition about German history. When Germany was reunited in 1990 and Berlin became capital again, also the Reichstag got its old function back: since 1999 it has been the place where the representatives of the German people meet, discuss and rule. Today it is one of the most famous attractions of the city - from the roof and the top of the new glass dome you have a wonderful view of the city.

Berlin: The divided city

Last week I was in Berlin with a group of students. Berlin is not only the capital of Germany, but it is also a city with a lot of tragic history, particularly when you consider the time of the Cold War. Between 1949 and 1990 there were two German states, a Communist eastern state (German Democratic Republic) and a parliamentary democracy in the west, the Federal Republic of Germany. West Berlin was sort of part of the FRG, whereas East Berlin was the capital of the GDR. And West Berlin was an like an island in the Communist system, always in danger of being cut off from supplies. This happened in 1948/49, when the Soviets blocked all the roads and railways from West Germany to West Berlin and American and British planes flew everything that was needed into the city. There is a monument for this "Luftbrücke" (literally: air bridge) at Frankfurt airport and when you see that the planes used were so small compared to modern freight planes, you get an idea of the enormous task that was done then.

In 1961 the East German government decided to stop people from trying to leave the GDR via West Berlin and built a wall that was to divide the city until 1989. Today you can only see a line on the ground where the wall once was and some remains that show visitors how it was. The most famous one is "Checkpoint Charlie", which was the place where international military and diplomats could cross to the other half of the city. In October 1961, Soviet and American tanks stood here facing each other and ready to shoot ... Berlin was right in the middle of all the tension of those days.

The first picture shows the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), which used to be on East Berlin territory - how wonderful that everybody can walk through it again ! The other pictures show how "Checkpoint Charlie" looked when it was still in use and the line that signifies where the wall used to be.