There is thirst. Sometimes you want something cold, fruity, and carbonated, or sometimes you know only grape juice will do. There is hunger, when you know that a piece of chicken, no matter what the preparation, couldn't approach sating your hunger for a thick bloody steak.
And so is it with music. Since coming to Germany my ears have been fasting, surviving on a water and fruit diet comprised of the 30 or so albums I brought from home. That's 30 albums from a count close to 400. A 900 calorie diet compared to a 3500 calorie diet. But I can't say I have been entirely consistent on this unhealthy diet, because you see, I have discovered the German music store. In other words, I'm in the bathroom stuffing donuts und candy bars down my throat.
In Germany, the independent store still has a leg to stand on. Curtain stores, mustard stores, even stores specializing in "mode fuer starke Frauen" ("fashion for tough women") are able to thrive in this country, and to my delight, independent music stores that occupy sutty back streets still hold their own against monster conglomerates like Saturn (compare to Best Buy). They have sections like "Black Musik" (Rap, R&B) and "Ostrock" (East German rock). The "Elektro" (Techno) sections often dominate much of the store and the nostalgic can still find hits from the late 90s and early 2000s in the "Neueinsteiger" (Current hits).
Of late, I have spent a great deal of time in music stores, sniffing around like a mouse at a cheese convention, rediscovering all the music that is sitting dormant on my computer at home, and finding new discs like a techno CD that samples the voice on the subway trains in Cologne. The selection is one thing, but the policies are even more amazing.
At one time one was able to rent CDs in Germany. Can you imagine? You could borrow music from a store, enjoy it, and then return it. It goes without saying that music piracy has changed the way music stores do business, but just today I found a store that still captures this spirit of spreading music for the sake of spreading music. They practice CD-Verleih ("CD Trade") which means you can buy a CD at normal price, take it home, "enjoy it," and then return the next day to sell it back at about 90% of cost. This option is thrilling enough as it is, but the fact that they don't screw you the way buy-back stores in the States do is indicative of a deeply-running cultural differerence in Germany: Not everybody is out to bend you over.
And there is an element of trust, even in the huge stores, that simply does not exist in American music stores. Often, CDs sit in their cases on the shelves without plastic, completely accessible, with the CDs sitting just as they would on your shelf at home. I first experienced this in Jena, and when I made a remark about it to a store rep, he simply said, in english, "Eets Shieet." It is shit that we have such a situation that we need to pack our music as though it is a biohazard.
The one CD I bought (which wasn't the new Chimera CD, nor was it the new Opeth CD, nor was it the new Nightwish compilation, nor was it a Tom Waits CD, Small Change, that I had never seen before, nor was it a heretofore unknown Apocalyptica CD, all of which I came to within sections of buying) was a double-album of Goa trance music that only cost 2.99EU. With songs averaging 7 to 9 minutes in length, I really have to say I got my money's worth. But it's still not enough. I miss my music at home like I miss the scent of american laundry. It might just be the most profoundly difficult part of living abroad. But so bad it is not, since most of my 400 albums were of music I was sick of. To return after a year and be able to enjoy Schiller's "Weltreise" again will truly be a treat.
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In a few days I'm moving to Munich to begin the next phase of my program. As always, I refuse confront a great change, and instead elect to live my final days in Cologne as they come. I will pack on my very last night, I will buy my tickets at about the time they could possibly be sold out, and I could very well decide that missing my train couldn't be all that bad. Alas, that's how it goes. I'll write more the next time I have access to free wireless and a friend's laptop.
Mit freundlichen Gruessen