Hello peeplings!
How are you all? I’m currently on the train to Grenoble after having spent some time working in Paris and resting in Saarbrucken. By the end of today, I will have done 911km on various trains… and I’ll be knackered!
Right, so here’s the skinny for today’s edition:
I learn about democracy in Croatia
I tell you what’s going on in German Covid
I start a new feature
…and not more!
I say not more because I’m covering a couple of those in depth… but by the time I get to it, there maybe more! I’m fickle!
So, without further ado, let’s jump to it!
Democracy… again
As I start my new existence as a Croatian citizen, I am taking the time to learn a number of things that I had limited knowledge of before. I’m not proud of not knowing these things but the only way I can overcome that is by learning.
Politics has always been an important part of my life and, so, I have been learning how that works in Croatia.
Parliament - the Sabor
The Croatian parliament is unicameral (one chamber) and is called the Sabor. It currently has 151 members and is elected by more than one method! In 2020, those 151 seats included representatives from 21 different parties.
The seats are divided into a number of different electoral districts - 12 in total - as follows:
Districts I-X are linked to geographic areas. Each one is about 400,000 electors and provides 14 members of the Sabor.
District XI is my district! It is a special district for Croatian citizens who do not reside in Croatia. It provides 3 members of the Sabor. This is quite a low number of seats at the moment - especially when you consider that between 30% and 50% of Croatian citizens live in other countries.
District XII is reserved for the 22 minority groups that live in Croatia. Between them, they have 12 seats - and they use a different electoral system.
The d’Hondt system is used for districts I-XI, with a five-percent threshold in each constituency. Elections to the Sabor also have an element of preferential voting as voters can choose not only a list of candidates but also a single member on the same list. If the percentage of votes for an individual candidate exceeds 10%, they are elected as if it was an open list system. The list ranking is maintained for those candidates that do not meet the 10% quota.
District XII uses a simple majority system (like in the UK).
Note to self - there is an election silence from 24 hours before the election day until 7pm on election day, when polls close.
The next elections for the Sabor must take place no later than 20 September 2024.
So, now, I need to start reading up on the parties while there’s still time to do it outwith the heat of an election…
Yaaay! / Oh, no! / Yaaay!
I’ve just had confirmation that the decree for my citizenship - which included an error on my place of birth - has been corrected and re-signed by the Minister!
So I’m Croatian again… and maybe already was… and am… and…
Next stop : Passport!
Germany in the time of Covid
I had loosely thought about going to Germany around now a while back because it fits in with my travel down to Grenoble (don’t ask, it’s complicated!). But I hadn’t factored in the latest variant nor the fact that it would take hold of Germany in quite the way it has.
Of course, over the past few years, I have been getting more and more sceptical of how things are reported on the news - especially by the anglophone media when it relates to Germany or France. So I was quite unsure what to expect - other than (judging by the reports) mass non-compliance, no mask-wearing and obligatory licking of handrails.
As it was, the reality could not have been different.
Saarland is an area of Germany on the French border. It has a relatively high uptake of vaccination and, from what I saw, a very high rate of mask-wearing. I only saw one person inside without a mask and he was very efficiently moved to outside thanks to the efforts of a couple of shopping mall security personnel.
However, it wasn’t all plain sailing for me because I had completely misunderstood what 2G Plus meant. To be fair, my hotel and emailed me but, full of arrogance, I decided that I did not need to read it. As a result, I did not understand that I need to be either vaccinated or recovered PLUS have a negative test from within 24 hours. I had checked in late and there were no test centres open - so they sold me a test for 5€ which I had to take before they gave me the key to my room.
While I was doing it, I asked where I would stay if I failed the test. The receptionist shrugged. So I suggested I could go and commit a crime in front of a policeman and then they could arrest me so I had a cell for the night.
She clearly thought I was mad.
Fortunately, I was mad but Covid negative and she had no rules about potential criminality - so I was given a key.
I could have avoided a test by only using 2G or 3G (vaccinated, recovered or tested) sites. However, I didn’t want that restriction so, each day, I went for another test.
The process was simple. Generate a QR code with your contact details on. Book a slot. Turn up. Thing up nose. Leave.
The quickest one was a spur of the moment decision - which took 90 seconds from registering to leaving.
One other important point - tests were free. There was nothing to pay at the testing booths or after. Results were sent by email and text.
Coronachristkindlmarkt
OK, so I made that word up but the way words are made up in the German language means that there’s, at least, a 10% chance that’s a word!
Some places have cancelled their Christkindlmarkt but others have maintained them. Saarbrucken has kept it open but with strict rules. The area of town has been made a 2G area (vaccinated or recovered only) and service at the stalls requires proof. Those who are neither vaccinated or recovered simply cannot get served.
As they refused to wear masks, the main characters had to be put behind glass.
Meanwhile, the rest of the show went ahead with strict rules…
Good Things Happen
Here’s that new feature I was telling you about. It’s called Good Things Happen. And there will be one in each newsletter.
I may be wrong but I cannot believe for a second that at least one of those dogs didn’t end up being adopted by one of those footballers!
Thank you!
Thank you for your coffee support! Thanks particularly to Michelle for this coffee :
Your support and coffees help me to be able to take the time to put these newsletter’s together rather than do other things! So, thank you! :)
There are some other ways to support the newsletter, if you’d like!
NEW! Team Postcard - want something less electronic and more physical? Want less non-fungible and more fungible? Join Team Postcard! Each month, you get a physical postcard with a hand-written message, written according to my mood at the moment, sent directly to your letterbox! They could be from Bretagne, Paris, Germany, Grenoble, somewhere else… There are only 10 memberships of Team Postcard Series 1 - because I don’t know how long it will take me or what it will cost me!
Buy a copy of my wife’s excellent book for yourself or your friends this Christmas! It’s her debut novel and is based on her own experiences of motherhood, post-natal depression and those first months of bringing up baby. It’s available on Kindle or in real book format! (Readers in France can buy it here. Readers in the UK can buy here. Everyone else, it’s on that Amazon!)
Do your Amazon Christmas shop using this link if you are in the UK or this link if you are in France. Doing this does not change the prices you pay but does mean that I earn a small commission. (And if you are in France, think of taking a 30 day trial of Prime to get free shipping - you can cancel it before 30 days and it’s free! In the UK, you can do that here!)
And I do love a coffee! :)
Thank you!
It’s Almost Christmas!
I am looking forward to this Christmas and some time off - although I will keep in mind everyone who has not been as lucky as I have over the past two years. I don’t want to tempt fate but I think we are entering the Covid endgame. It might not feel like it right now but the tools are in place and there are reasons for hope. And it’s a season for reflection and hope, so let’s hang on to that!
There will almost certainly be lots of photos too - and probably another newsletter!
In the meantime, stay safe and I hope that your end of year preparations go well!
James x