Decompression

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We discussed wind directions and sea swells and speculated about what kind of weather the rest of November would bring. Although the daytime temperature seldom dropped below sixty-eight degrees, the island had its seasons too; you just needed to pay closer attention. Then our conversation moved from meteorology to the European economic situation. Bernie, the Scot, argued in favor of controlled bankruptcy for Greece. Laura, who was from Switzerland, believed that smaller countries should get international support. I had no interest in politics. If I’d wanted to spend the whole day surfing the Internet for news, I wouldn’t have had to leave the Federal Republic of Germany. Laura and Bernie agreed that Germany was the new economic policeman of Europe — powerful, but unloved. The two of them looked at me expectantly. Every German abroad is Angela Merkel’s press spokesperson.

I said, “As far as we’re concerned, the crisis has been over for a long time.” Germans and Brits were going on vacations again. We were doing better, and some of us were even thriving.

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