An attractive young woman stood in the doorway of my office. She wore little makeup and was dressed strictly for business. “Falkenberg. Sprechen wir Englisch oder Deutsch?” My German teacher. I understood that her name was Ms. Falkenberg and that she wanted to know whether we should speak German or English. I indicated English. She […]
3 – The Indispensable Colleague Read More »
Our Chianti had barely arrived when Vivian said, “You know, I’m not interested in anything serious.” I half expected the topic to come up that evening, but I didn’t think it would be the first thing out of the gate. “That’s disappointing. I thought our children would be very handsome. Now I have to take
5 – Like an Argentine Tango Read More »
One late-summer Munich morning in 1986, Vivian and I were walking to the Alte Pinakothek art museum, and I made the mistake of questioning her business skills. “How did you learn to negotiate so well?” I asked. “In Argentina, it’s normal. We negotiate for almost everything.” “I take it you didn’t have much money growing
7 – Men Just Seem to Wander Read More »
Vivian rented a room from an East German refugee named Ansgar. In early November, Ansgar’s girlfriend unexpectedly returned from an overseas assignment and found him in bed with another woman. Vivian hid in her room and pretended not to hear their fight, but the next morning, the girlfriend knocked on her door. “You have to
11 – The Problem is When I’m That Person I’m Happy Read More »