Ever notice NPR seems to have cornered the market on interesting names for presenters and reporters? Well, someone else has. The short of it being your NPR name is your first name with your middle initial stuck in it somewhere and the smallest foreign town you’ve ever visited.

‘Nick’ doesn’t lend itself well to adding a ‘B’ so I’ve used my given name to get Nichoblas. Having gotten up close and personal with the German countryside I’ve got my pick of towns to choose from. Going for sonorous over accuracy (who really knows which is smaller of all the tiny villages surrounding Baumholder) I chose Wickenrodt.

Reporting from the Palatinate, I’m Nichoblas Wickenrodt for Public Radio International.