Miscommunication

My main resolution for the coming year--my only one, actually--is to be punctual. Germans love their Pünktlichkeit, and though there seems to be two categories of Germans, those who are exquisitely on time every time and those who are not, it is in quite poor taste to show up anywhere anything but precisely on time. Appointments are to be kept. In some Latin American countries--this rumor is from a Peruvian friend--if the invitation for a wedding says 10.30 guests won't start showing up until 11, and the wedding itself won't start until 11.30. My incapability to be punctual, or more accurately expressed, my laziness towards punctuality where meetings with friends are involved, has strained my relationship with some people unnecessarily. My one and only fight with a good friend was actually a miscommunication that became 'fatal' when it was attributed as a further example of my habitual temporal imprecision. I don't want to repeat that. If I can dress like a German, talk like a German, and forget basic English grammar like everyone else who lives here for a long time, the least I can do is acquire the German punctuality. Thus: resolution.

On another note, you should go see Babel. It's fantastic. I would subtitle the film 'miscommunication' because it is basically a series of linked stories whose entire plot depends on crossed signals, translation problems, inability to express oneself and chance. Fantastically well-made and enthralling.