Just another day

It's been about a week since I received an email from an administrator with the following subject:
[Internal_users] bomb found near Potsdam Hauptbahnhof (main station)

This is a somewhat common occurrence in Germany, something I neglected to consider until that moment. Every so often, an old WWII bomb will be uncovered in the initial stages of a construction project. The Germans are unfazed by this, and do what they always do. Report it in the newspaper, evacuate up to a certain perimeter, diffuse the bomb.

But for the untested foreigner, it's a bit more frightening. Over coffee that afternoon, the director of our program said, "Oh, but you don't need to worry. You live south of the train station." "Really? I'm pretty sure, unless I had the map turned upside down, that I live north of the train station." "Hmm. Let's look at the map."

Indeed, I live north of the train station, but outside the evacuation area. Still, I was quite happy to spend the morning in Berlin at a math seminar. You can't be too careful.