The tattoo he got at seventeen

Rammstein became my favourite band while I was in ninth grade, some fifteen years ago now. Because of them I learned basic German — not out of obligation or formal study, but for the sheer pleasure of the language.

I haven’t had the chance to see them live. What I own from the band is four albums on CD and the DVD.

I do have a tattoo, but the story has to be told in full: it was done by someone who was still learning, and I was 17. It came out ugly. It’s still there anyway, and in its own way it also tells the story.