Author Bios

Karola Klier

Karola Klier

Articles by this author:

  • Fathers (Touring Germany)

    We all know it: a family consists of a father, a mother and one or more children. Then of course there are grandparents, uncles and aunts as well as cousins and nephews and nieces. And yet we also readily include the "in laws" and godparents, maybe even the friends and neighbors, who can equally already grow close to one's heart, as close as they are already considered part of the family.

    By: Karola Klier
  • The Heat is On (Touring Germany)

    It is high summer in Germany and indeed this year's July seems to break earlier records in temperatures. Normally Germans consider it summer already when temperatures go above 30°C for one week in the year. This July however we here are already on our third week of heat above 35°C. Further, it  rarely cools down over night and it hardly rains.

    How do Germans cope these days?

    By: Karola Klier
  • The Remaining Sixteen (Touring Germany)

    32 national teams qualified and were invited to the Soccer World Cup in South Africa. 32 teams were arranged in eight groups of four. The FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) placed a front runner in every group from A to H and then drew other nations to the groups via lottery, considering in the procedure that nations of all continents are well mixed up and yet also fairly arranged according to their ranking.

    By: Karola Klier
  • This Time for Africa (Touring Germany)

    The pressure is on, you feel it - But you've got it all, believe it. When you fall, get up; and if you fall get up Tsamina mina´ Zangalewa, Cuz this is Africa - Tsamina mina, Waka Waka, this time for Africa!

    So sang Shakira last Thursday night in the Orlando Stadium in Soweto, Johannesburg. Indeed, this time is for Africa.

    By: Karola Klier
  • Spirit – Spark of Sanity (Touring Germany)

    Some forces never fade but accompany us any day, anywhere, anytime, through all our life.

    We experience anxiety and arrogance, despondency and distraction, we know disappointment and despair. Doubts and faint enter our thinking as do uncertainty and helplessness. Fear and failure, quarrel and resignation are not strange to us, neither are envy and pride. All of these we know, all of these are with us, in our life, in our being. And all of these are normal, are common and ordinary.

    By: Karola Klier
  • It's Not the Destination, but the Journey Itself (Touring Germany)

    Have you ever taken a pill against fever? Have you listened to heartwarming piece of music? Or looked at a breathtaking painting or read an outstanding piece of literature? Have you yet enjoyed the conveniences of pleasant gadget or merely taken advantage of how food is processed? We all have experiences like that and we easily praise the good results, the turnouts and the final, well working product we consume or make good use of.

    By: Karola Klier
  • Seeking Truth - Edith Stein (Touring Germany)

    Last Thursday I attended the second Taizé evening service in St. Anna Parish in Bamberg. Fr. Johannes Trai chose Edith Stein as the saint for the service and the meditation on her delivered by Andrea Borneis struck me as something long known, yet long taken for granted:
    Edith Stein was indeed a seeker. What she sought in her life was truth. But what, so we ask, what is truth?

    By: Karola Klier
  • Piles of Trash (Touring Germany)

    It is „half-time" in Germany. The academic year has reached Carnival and Ash-Wednesday, the time where German students receive their reports on their performance so far. All exams are written, all grades are completed, all documents are submitted and now they all hold in hands the report about how the first half of the year went for them. We all pause for a number of days and breathe.

    By: Karola Klier
  • Bikol Seen with Other Eyes (Touring Germany)

    Oh, we know our place. We know almost every corner, every tree and wall, every neighbor and dog in the place we live. We know every move and sound; we even know the smell of mornings and evenings. We know our place so well that we no longer see what all is so special about it, as it has already become something regular, something granted.

    By: Karola Klier
  • Alcohol (Touring Germany)

    Being a teacher I enter my classes and see the future, the coming generation, those who will form the society we will live in tomorrow. I look at them and I see an increase of loss of values, loss of orientation, loss of sense. All of these are visible via many symptoms among which a very alarming one is the increase of alcohol abuse among students. Not all are into drinking of course, but over the years the number of those who are, has remarkably grown.

    By: Karola Klier