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Death toll in diarrhea outbreak in Palawan hits 23 - Regions - GMA News Online - Latest Philippine News
This might not be the typical expat blog, written by a German expat, living in the Philippines since 1999. It's different. In English and in German. Check it out! Enjoy reading! Dies mag' nun wirklich nicht der typische Auswandererblog eines Deutschen auf den Philippinen sein. Er soll etwas anders sein. In Englisch und in Deutsch! Viel Spass beim Lesen!
"Please allow me to touch a very precious chapter of this year's celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Goethe-Institut in the Philippines. As you all know, this is also the year of the 150th anniversary of the National Hero of the Philippines, Dr. Jose Rizal. The Postmaster of our host country as well as the National Historic Commission encouraged us to have a commemorative stamp printed which underlines the very special relationship between Dr. Rizal and Germany. Not only studied dr. Rizal in Heidelberg ophtalmology and has his most important work "Noli me tangere" printed 1887 in Berlin. Not only was the last remaining copy of the film "Noli me tangere' (1961, Gerardo de Leon) restored 1996 in the Federal Film Archive in Koblenz/Germany and was passed to the late President Cory Aquino, and not only put in the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Goethe-Institut all efforts into restoring the two manuscripts "Noli me tangere" and "El Filibusterismo" - resting in the national Library - by experts and trainers from Germany, but beyond these facts Dr. Rizal did open his heart to very important facets of life in Germany at the end of the 19th century, and by doing so established the actual first substantial cultural relations between our two countries.
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To conclude the presentation of the stamps commemorating the very tender personal relationship to germany, in which Rizal compared the feeling of exotism with a friend, I should like to draw your extension on Rizal's last poem which he wrote in the night before his execution. Hidden in a kerosine lamp, he gave the paper to his sister Trinidad, the last person to visit him in the cell. "There is something in it," he whispered. - MI ULTIMO ADIOS was soon after translated into German by Pastor Karl Ullmer in 1897. "Last farewell" - "Letztes Lebewohl"."
"Today we do not celebrate the German patron/poet who would turn 262 years. We celebrate 50 years of Goethe Institute/House in Manila, a German sponsored but home-grown institution. A true spiritual-cultural joint venture.
As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe out it: "The best education for a clever person is found in travel!"
The mother tongue of Goethe and Einstein and the present pope offers a gateway to German/European higher education. A qualification that opens the door for better jobs and salaries.
Goethe and Rizal tried to blend their works with their foreign experiences. Businessmen, politicians and diplomats usually concentrate on what is doable. The better ones try to translate visions into reality."