New
York, January, 1998
Hello
across the miles!
The
leaves have long since fallen from weary branches and though we have
been
enjoying
unseasonably warm temperatures, Old Man Winter is poised to
take
his
rightful, icy place...
Christmas
is now not much more than a delightful, pleasant memory, the new year has been
joyfully rung in and as the days of this first month of the year grow fewer, I
find I must procrastinate no further if this message is to serve its purpose as
a new year’s greeting.
1997
was rather eventful in certain respects. We made the fatal ( in hindsight,
it goes without saying ) error of attempting to renovate our apartment in Berlin
from afar, and learned, the hard way, that such undertakings are best left to
those of steelier nerves.
By the time our contractor declared bankruptcy in August, after 6 months of posing and posturing (mind you, the work was to have been completed in the space of 2 months), effectively ruining what was to have been our summer vacation in Europe, I had clocked over 6,600 km on the odometer of my rental car, comprising several trips between Hamburg, Brussels, and Berlin. At that point, it seemed that the only solution lay in the unsavoury task of seeking out individual contractors to complete what turned out to be shoddily executed work. Despite the hefty sum paid the contractor, there wasn't a single item of work that we could deem satisfactory.
On
the heels of this unpleasant experience, and after seeking legal counsel, we
hired an architect to contract out, and to oversee the completion of the
remaining work. I
flew
to
Berlin in November to oversee the final stages of the renovation. I had
envisaged rather leisurely days, spending perhaps a few hours in the apartment
and the remainder browsing in the museums, shops, etc. It was not to be. All but
three days, and these, on weekends,
were spent in earnest direction and surveillance of the labourers. On
certain days, I had to remind myself to eat. In one particularly ludicrous incident,
the marble layer wanted me to pay him for time he
spent in the apartment while I took on his task of selecting which tiles were to
be placed where by his workers ( I
wasn’t convinced of his “eye” for the grain ). Needless to say, I adamantly
refused till the end - and prevailed. The hardship thankfully had its reward,
and I left totally confident that all work would be complete by year's end. The
architect has since confirmed that this is more or less so. If only we had hired this architect at
the outset!
The
other respect in which this year has been eventful is in planning for rather
formidable changes in 1998. In February, coinciding with Jared's 9th
birthday,
we
will have a new addition to the family.
Back to square one! It has
taken Cord this long to wear my resistance thin, but having now been worn thin,
two questions arise: why I relented
now, and why, if I was going to
relent, couldn’t I have done it sooner? Pure rhetoric at this stage, of course.
Well, I’m always good for a surprise.
In
the summer, we will in all probability be moving back to Germany, where Cord
will work in Bonn, while the rest of us reside in Berlin - we’ll be a weekend
and holiday family. Not a highly desirable solution, but given the choice of
choosing Berlin once and for all instead of moving again within Germany within a
period of between one to two years, the choice seems clear. Besides, I simply
cannot wait to move into our place.
Jared
is doing well, enjoying quite a bit of popularity at school, among peers and
parents alike. Academics have not as yet had the infectious bite on him for
which every parent hopes, but that may yet change. He is content to take the
“path of least resistance”, as my brother-in-law so aptly puts
it.
After
three UN General Assemblies, although most of the novelty has worn off for Cord,
the attendant familiarity means that
less time is required to complete reports, etc. and more time is
available for us all to spend together. In New York, where the holidays are
especially magical, this extra time
has true value and we are enjoying it.
My
parents returned to Ghana in
October, after seven years in Brussels, bringing to an end an era for me.
Brussels had become my second home and I eagerly looked forward to every visit,
not only because of my parents' presence there. I would even venture to say
that, all things considered, Belgium could be the
one
spot on the globe on which I could choose to reside indefinitely - but please
don’t quote me should my opinion change in the future!
Health,
hope and happiness, along with the very best wishes possible for an even better
new year.
On
behalf of all of us
Yours,