If you are a German and your truck is missing...

One of the interesting things about living in Kyrgyzstan is observing its multitude of little quirks. A favorite of mine is the small utility trucks that many Kyrgyz businesses use for their commerce. It's not the trucks themselves that fascinate me, but the advertising on the side of the trucks. You see, almost none of these trucks advertise the Kyrgyz business operating the truck; instead the side of the truck might have a giant advertisement for Schmidt's Flower Shop of Berlin. Or for Bauer's Laundry Service of Munich.

Now how these trucks formerly representing German businesses end up in Kyrgyzstan is anyone's guess. I have two theories: there's a robust market for second-hand German vehicles that pass through Russia, eventually ending up in Kyrgyzstan. Or there's a robust market for stolen German vehicles that pass through Russia, eventually ending up in Kyrgyzstan. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if somehow Donald Trump is involved in this German/Russian/Kyrgyz truck business and it's one of the things he's hiding from us in his unreleased income tax returns. Maybe Donald Jr. is operating this enterprise? At this point, it wouldn't shock me at all.

It's not just German trucks that find their way here. Just the other day, a truck representing the Raadsveld Company of the Netherlands was unloading stuff here at the Naryn campus. I somehow doubt that the Raadsvelds made the 6,000 kilometer trek from Holland to deliver produce to our university. And I've seen French and Danish trucks around the country as well. Perhaps Kyrgyzstan should have an additional nickname added to its collection. Not only are we the Switzerland of Central Asia, but also The Land of Exiled Trucks.

So, if you're the Manfred Ende from the northern German city of Westerstede who does plaster and cement work, and your truck is missing, you might want to send me a message. I know the street in Bishkek where it's always parked.

Manfred Ende of Westerstede, here is your truck.

The Raadsveld truck from the Netherlands, somehow ending up on our campus.

Either Kadow and Riese have opened up a branch of their sheet metal forming company in Bishkek or their truck is in voluntary or involuntary exile here.