I started my birthday on an Air Canada flight, up in the air over the Atlantic, South of Greenland. In the afternoon, I drove to visit my parents in Westerwald and crossed farmers’ protests on the way. This was one of the most friendly and well-organized protests I have ever seen, with strong support from the public. For the police, this was a pure traffic management job. No riot gear, no water canons, no teargas. Instead, the protesting farmers arranged, together with the police, emergency lanes in case something would be needed for rescue services. People still have in their minds the recent protest in Berlin, where an ambulance was blocked by climate activists glueing themselves on the roads, where rescue services could not reach an unrelated accident site, and subsequently, a woman died. Members of the current German government have preemptively discredited the farmer’s protests unfairly. Discontent with this government is extreme, and all hope is the call for a vote of no confidence and opening up the path for new elections. The question just is how the political landscape changed and what reasonable and competent coalitions could emerge. At the moment, it feels like it can’t get worse. But who knows?

This morning I had an early start driving to Tilburg. Train staff started striking today, so I was taking the car and passed through commuting hotspots before the rush hour. Still, the drive was slow because of the many construction sites until I reached the Dutch border. Infrastructure in Germany is a complete mess. I had lunch on the University campus and will start teaching a strategy course at TIAS tomorrow. This is a very nice business school co-owned by Tilburg and Eindhoven Universities. It will be long days with 12 hours of “stage time” per day. But I am looking forward to it. It’s an MBA programme, but unlike some other programmes, these students are special as they are already very experienced. So, it’s more like Executive Education, which is what I like doing.