2016 has been a roller coaster (Achterbahn) of a year and we are probably all very glad (froh) that it is over. Good riddance for that (auf Nimmerwiedersehen)! But if you take a ride on a roller coaster, you will be able to get off and proudly walk away from the ups and downs. You made it and the experience (Erfahrung) was worthwhile (hat sich gelohnt) – even though you left your last meal in the air on one of the curves! Although many people are saying that 2016 was full of unfortunate, depressing and upsetting (beunrihigende) events – we really do not want to start talking about Trump’s election, terror attacks, the war in Syria or the tragic deaths of several iconic figures – there were also many things that happened which will hopefully take a turn for the better (eine Wendung zum Besseren nehmen) in 2017 – both regionally and globally.

Of course, we do not intend (beabsichtigen) to boast (prahlen), but we would like to go ahead and start with ENGLISH GOES GLOBAL’s achievements (Erfolge) in 2016:

Firstly, we have managed to double (verdoppeln) the number of participants (Teilnehmer) at our regular After Work Stammtisch and secondly, we are proud (stolz) that both the old and the new participants helped double the amount (Betrag) collected for the donation (Spende) to the campaign „Soziale Wärme“. In previous newsletters and newsfeed we reported about this campaign, which is supported by our Returners B1 course participants from the Institut für Persönliche Hilfen e.v. (IPH) and the advertising agency typografix-design GmbH. They won the main prize, the IHK-Sozialtransferpreis 2015, for their social commitment (soziales Engagement) to support (unterstützen) people with mental and / or physical illnesses and / or disabilities in Brunswick. We offered their clients two afternoon workshops: the first to do batik and create (gestalten) individual shopping bags and t-shirts for summer in 2015, and the second to create decorations and gifts (Geschenke) for Easter 2016. This time we thought it might be even better to donate some money and really give the individual clients the opportunity (Gelegenheit) to do something that they have never financially been able to do before. Well, we – After Work Stammtisch participants and ENGLISH GOES GLOBAL – did it (wir … haben es geschafft)!

Thank you very much! We are looking forward to hearing more about the donation at the next After Work Stammtisch, No. 60 (!), at the Pentahotel Braunschweig on 3rd January 2017, 7:00-8:30 pm.

Apart (abgesehen) from those two wonderful „doubling“ coincidences (Verdopplungszufälle), we would also like to thank everybody for recommending (empfehlen) our language school and thus, helping to expand the school’s reputation, especially to private clients. Fingers crossed (Daumen drücken)!

Now what about all the impressive events in the city of our headquarters Brunswick as well as all over the world? We have always loved Wikipedia and consider (sind der Ansicht) that it is objective enough to be used to find out what happened in the last twelve months, which were and will be beneficial (von Vorteil sein, nützlich):

January
– 6th January: BRUNSWICK, The Congolese football player Domi Kumbela dares his third run at Eintracht Braunschweig under the number 7.
– 8th January: Joaquin Guzmán, widely (weithin) regarded (angesehen) as the world’s most powerful drug trafficker (Drogendealer), is recaptured (wiedereingenommen) following his escape (Flucht) from a maximum security prison.
– 16th January: The International Atomic Energy Agency announces (gibt bekannt) that Iran has adequately dismantled (abgebaut) its nuclear weapons program, allowing the United Nations to lift sanctions immediately.

February
– 7th February: BRUNSWICK, Despite the fear of attacks, the Braunschweig Carnival starts for the 38th time on 7th February 2016 at 12:40 pm from Europaplatz.
– 12th February: Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill (a Russian Orthodox bishop, who became ‚Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus‘ and Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church on 1st February 2009) sign a Joint Declaration (gemeinsame Erklärung) in the first such meeting between leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches since their split (Spaltung) in 1054.

March
– 20th March: BRUNSWICK, The somewhat neglected (vernachlässigt) neighborhood of St. Leonhard is to become a social and architectural lighthouse project for Brunswick. The Richard Borek Foundation wants to create an integrative city district where people from different generations find a supportive neighborhood in which they can live, work and learn – even if they live with restrictions. The project is to be implemented by 2018, according to Bernd Assert, spokesman of the Richard Borek Foundation.
– 21st March: The International Criminal Court finds former (ehemaligen) Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba guilty (schuldig) of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the first time the ICC convicted someone of sexual violence.
– 24th March: Ex-Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić is sentenced (verurteilt) to 40 years in prison after being found guilty of genocide (Völermord) and crimes against humanity committed during the Bosnian War.

April
– 3th April: The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung publishes a set of 11.5 million confidential (vertrauliche) documents from the Panamanian corporate Mossack Fonseca that provides detailed information on more than 214,000 offshore companies, including the identities of shareholders (Gesellschafter) and directors including noted personalities and heads of state (Staatsoberhäupter).
– 24th-25th April: BRUNSWICK/HANOVER, US President Barack Obama visits the the Hanover Fair of which the USA is the partner country this year. The forces of Brunswick’s stand-by police help secure his safe visit.

May
– 14th-16th May: BRUNSWICK, Anyone who visits Burgplatz during the Pentecost weekend from 14th to 16th May is surely immersed (wurden sicherlich eingetaucht) in a long time ago past. For the 31st time knights, blacksmith champions and tavern hosts held the Medieval Pfingstmarkt in Brunswick.
– 30th May: Former Chadian President Hissène Habré is sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity committed (begangen) during his tenure (Amtszeit) from 1982 to 1990, the first time an African Union-backed court (Gericht) convicted (verurteilt) a former ruler of a country within its jurisdiction (Gerichtsbarkeit, Zuständigkeitsbereich).

June
– 1st June: The Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world’s longest and deepest railway tunnel, is opened following two decades of construction work (Bauarbeit). [On time and in the budget!]
– 23rd June: BRUNSWICK, After an amount of renovation work, the Gliesmaroder Bad reopened its doors on 23rd June. Already more than 200 visitors were counted at lunch time.

July
– 1st July: Latvia becomes the 35th member of the OECD.
– 4th July: NASA’s Juno spacecraft (Raumsonde) enters orbit (Umlaufbahn) around Jupiter and begins a 20-month survey of the planet.
– 12th July: The Philippines wins the arbitration case (Schiedsspruch) they filed at the Permanent Court of Arbitration regarding (in Bezug auf) the legality of China’s „Nine-Dash Line“ claim (Forderung) over the South China Sea under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
– 26th July: Solar Impulse 2 becomes the first solar-powered aircraft (erste solarbetriebene Flugzeug) to circumnavigate (umsegeln) the Earth.
– July: BRUNSWICK, What a craze! Pokémon keep „Braunschweiger“ on their toes: they can be seen everywhere.
– July: BRUNSWICK, After a severe disease was detected in the seven-year-old boy Yonn, the TeamYonn TeamYonn, Facebook TeamYonn launched a major typing and donation campaign. The wave of relief (Erleichterung) was great when more than 3,000 people were typed and more than 55,000 euros of donations came together. In August a donor for Yonn was found and he and his family was given new courage!
– 15th-30th July: BRUNSWICK, For two weeks, the Sommerlochfestival makes the Löwenstadt a little bit more colourful and presents itself under the motto: „Diversity crosses boundaries“. The highlight of the festival is the large CSD demonstration across the city centre.
– 29th-30th July: BRUNSWICK, Last year the castle’s spectacle had to be cancelled because of a devastating storm, but this year the region’s largest festive event attracts many visitors to the Bürgerpar around Richmond Castle in Brunswick.

August
– 5th-21st August: The 2016 Summer Olympics are held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
– 29th August: The truce agreement (Waffenstillstandsvereinbarung) signed on 22 June 2016, in anticipation of a peace treaty (Friedensvertrag) between the Colombian government (Regierung) and the Guerilla movement, the FARC-EP, enters into force to end the civil war (Bürgerkrieg) lasting more than 50 years in Colombia.
– August: BRUNSWICK, After 15 years, the radical football fans called Ultras Braunschweig retreat from their violent activities in the stadium with immediate effect.

September
– 3rd September: The US and China, together responsible (verantwortlich) for 40% of the world’s carbon emissions, both ratify (bestätigen) the Paris global climate agreement.
– 8th September: NASA launches (startet) OSIRIS-REx, its first asteroid sample return mission. The probe (Sonde) will visit Bennu and is expected to return with samples (Proben) in 2023.
– 11th September: BRUNSWICK, The electoral participation in the election of the Council (Kommunalwahl) on 11th September 2016 was 55.6 percent, which was 5.1 percentage more than in the previous election.
– 30th September: Two paintings by Vincent Van Gogh, Seascapeumsegeln) at Scheveningen and Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen, stolen on 7th December 2002 from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam are recovered (wiedererlangt), with a combined value (Wert) of $100 million.

October
– 8th October: BRUNSWICK, In the 2016 season Brunswick’s American football team, the New York Lions, once again won the Eurobowl XXX of the Big6 European Football League. Likewise, the 1st place in the North season was achieved with 11 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat. On 8th October 2016 the Lions won against the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns the German Bowl XXXVIII with 31:20.
– 15th October: 150 nations meeting at the UNEP summit (Gipfel) in Rwanda agree to phase out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), as an amendment (Gesetzesänderung) to the Montreal Protocol.

November
– 12th November: BRUNSWICK, Dance, post, do good! True to this motto, Tanzschule Hoffmann organized a special dance and donation event on 12th November 2016: „AppTanzen“. 1,500 euros were collected and handed over to the „Eine Region für Kinder“ – „One Region for Children“ – association.
– 17th November: During the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (Klimawandel) (UNFCCC), Robinson strongly advocated (plädierte nachträglich) for engaging (Einbindung) community-led solutions and for incorporating (Einbeziehung) gender equality (Gleichstellung der Geschlechter) and women’s participation in the climate talks.

December
– 6th December: BRUNSWICK, ENGLISH GOES GLOBAL’s After Work Stammtisch meets on every first Tuesday in a month, and this year it coincided with St. Nicholas‘ Day, so we met at the traditional Braunschweiger Weihnachtsmarkt. Nice and peacefully, many people went for a stroll (Spaziergang) through the market and enjoyed – at least one – cup of mulled wine (Glühwein) from 23rd November to 29th December 2016.
– 22nd December: A study (Studie) finds the VSV-EBOV vaccine (Impfstoff) against the Ebola virus between 70–100% effective, and thus making it the first proven (bewiesen, erwiesen) vaccine against the disease (Krankheit).

Slightly altered sources: Wikipedia, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016; Regional Braunschweig, http://regionalbraunschweig.de/; Global Issues, http://www.globalissues.org/;

Things can only get better! We all live together on one planet and Mother Earth is not feeling that well due to our actions.

In memory (Erinnerung) of David Bowie, we would like to share one of his songs:

Fall Dog Bombs the Moon (from the album Reality, 2003)
Hope little girl
Come blow me away
I don’t care much
I win anyway
Just a dog

I’m God damn rich
An exploding man
When I talk in the night
There’s oil on my hands
What a dog

Fall dog is cruel and smart
Smart time breaks the heart
Fall dog bombs the moon

Devil in a market place
Devil in your bleeding face
Fall dog bombs the moon
What a dog

There’s always a moron
Someone to hate
A corporate tie
A wig and a date
Just a dog

These blackest of years
That have no sound
No shape, no depth
No underground
What a dog

Fall dog is cruel and smart
Smart time breaks the heart
Fall dog bombs the moon

A devil in a market place
A devil in your bleeding face
Fall dog bombs the moon
What a dog