City living, trees and pigs

Lots of people have asked us, "What's up with that weird German address?" OK, they haven't, but the variety of permutations that we see on envelopes addressed to us prompts me to offer an explanation. Here's the official version:

Richard and Kathy Trewin
An der Lauseiche 8, 1. OG
91058 Erlangen
GERMANY

"An der Lauseiche" is the name of our street. It means, roughly, "at the lookout oak". Our house is number 8, and we live on the first floor above the ground floor. So "1. OG" means "erste Obergeschoss", or 1st upper story. "1." is the German abbreviation for first. "OG" means "Obergeschoss". Then, on the next line is our zip code, 91058, followed by the name of our city, Erlangen. The GERMANY on the last line is only for mail sent from outside the country. Within Germany, it's not necessary to specify the state that you live in (i.e. Bavaria), because the zip code says it all.

Below is a picture of the Lauseiche, a historic tree found just at the end of our spur of "An der Lauseiche". This tree apparently served as a look out point about 200 years ago when this area was part of the Nuremberg Imperial forest.

One morning, around 7 am, the sound of chainsaws pervaded the neighborhood, so I looked around for the source and was surprised to find an Erlangen city crew carefully pruning the Lauseiche. Germans and their trees! They take such good care of them. The street trees are numbered, for some unknown purpose. As I write this, in March, the trees in the neighboring forest have been decorated with cryptic symbols in day-glo pink spray paint. The marked trees are mostly birches and pines. The Bavarian forestry agency is preparing to thin them out to encourage more diverse growth.

The active care of the forests extends to the wildlife, as well. You don't just show up at the county office, pay a few bucks, take a short hunter's safety course and proceed to hunt down the biggest animal you can find. In Germany, there is a weeks-long course that hunters go through to learn how to cull deer herds, the rules of hunting on someone else's land (rental fees are paid to the landowner), recognizing sick animals, knowing the breeding habits ... There are deer stands all over the country side, some in the middle of the fields. They are placed so that the hunters or landowners can observe the health of the animals on their property.

Since we have been here, in our limited driving and car-riding experience, we have not seen one dead deer on the road. The problem here is wild pigs! They are quite prolific - 8 piglets to a sow- and with the climate change, there seems to be sufficient food to tide them over the winters. They can get quite aggressive, and have started to invade city areas. When wild pig meets car, the car usually loses. The city of Erlangen keeps some of these beauties penned up in a wooded lot on the east side of town. Guess they show up at festivals where roast wild boar is popular, or at area restaurants. The little ones are cute, though.

That's it for this installment of the blog. "Tschuess!" from the land where the trees are numbered, the hunters are highly educated and the pigs rule the forest.

Bob & Beth's glorious adventure

OCT 15, 08: In this case the preparations for the adventure are as much of an adventure as perhaps the events of the adventure themselves. As first time across the pond travelers we relied on the comments and advice of friends, as wells as the myriad of digital sources in the internet. Since we committed to this trip in May of '08 Beth has been deeply mired in arrangements and arranging her and me according to the aforementioned information. Therefore we travel from here on with the admonitions for air travel being to wash hands, open doors with paper towels, move about and wiggle toes for better circulation, keep hydrated and above all secrete all important papers upon ones self.
Since I am for the purposes involved in this trip being taken care of by Beth, my stress level is directly related to hers as well. When the new clothes come in on time, when the fit of same is adequate, when documents including tickets are in order and finally when weight restrictions and size restrictions have been met then both of our stress levels are manageable. To aid in achieving this end much ice cream and other comfort foods have been consumed both as rewards for intermediate tasks accomplished and as fortification for others yet to be accomplished.

October 15 We are picked up at home by our guardian angels, Don and Virginia, at 12:15 P.M. for our 5:15 flight from the Ottawa airport. Thanks to Don's GPS instrument we arrived in plenty of time to do our checked baggage, hit the rest rooms and proceed through security with little or no anomalies. Beth did have one no-no confiscated, that being a small cuticle knife. After that it was a three hour wait at gate 14 during which time we walked the terminal, searched for some ice cream for Beth to fortify and renew the comfort food buzz all the while bedecked with two pouches hanging around our respective necks containing papers and cash.

It is amazing how easily acquaintances develop in travel settings. In this case it was in the terminal that we met "Gabby" who was 83, lived in Ottawa for 50 years but was an immigrant from Bremen, Germany. She besides volunteering to take our pictures in the terminal setting spent time telling us about her family's adventures in immigrating and while living in Canada. She was a delight and a bonus in the time we unexpected and extended time spent waiting for boarding.

Once on the plane we nestled into the seats that were not a wide as Beth had expected, stored our carry-ons under the seat in front of us and waited for take-off. The plane was due to leave at 5:15 but didn't until somewhere between 6:30 and 7:00 due to a malfunctioning engine deicer that had to be replaced.

Once in the air and in level flight dinner was served and contrary to all the possibilities we heard it was hot and delicious: boeuf for moi and poulet for Beth. Beer and wine were complimentary and unlimited for as far as we could tell. Later, about 90 minutes before we arrived in rainy Frankfurt, breakfast was served in the form of Yoplait, a huge muffin, coffee and a fruit cup. We flew at 600 mph for the 3547 miles in 6hrs. and 40 minutes with an outside temperature of -60 degrees. We were on the ground at 2:30 A.M. USA time/8:30 in Germany and therefore had the whole day ahead of us. Because we were late we deplaned out on the tarmac and were shuttle bussed to the terminal. Said bus being involved in a slight accident on the way there when he turned too sharply causing the rear of the bus to hit an obstruction which took out the rear window next to some very surprised passengers whom I imagine were breathing a sigh of relief being at their destination and safely on the ground! The window was safety glass and therefore all received a shower of little non lethal glass granules.

Through the Frankfurt security at 9:00 AM ........
"THEN I SAW HER FACE!" as the Monkees song says. I still feel my feet elevate a bit when I relive it in my mind. I'll savor and store that moment forever. This Dad couldn't put enough "I love you" into that first hug.. Here we were on Kathy's home turf.
Because the plane was late we missed our scheduled connection to Nuremberg which then gave us time for a snack and the long walk from plane to train terminals through endless stores selling anything but mostly breads, pretzels and rolls. Also to be seen were the pleasant number of very shapely women well dressed in skirts or tight jeans and heeled footwear. Too there was the ubiquitous use of cell phones by many of all ages.

After a long walk through the tunnels with five suit cases we arrived10:18 and we were at the train station to wait for the 10:30 super train which of course arrived on time and left on time. The learning about Germany continued unabated on the train as Kathy pointed out small garden plots with one room huts she called garden houses on them. These patches had well cared for gardens of flowers and vegetables and are, as we discovered, the refuges aka camps, summer cottages etc... of people in the city high rises. Also imagine these Americans' surprise on being informed that it is against the law to kill wasps.

After a switch to regional train we arrived at Erlangen to board a taxi to arrive here at the house at 9:15 A.M (Eastern US time), 3:15 pm German time. Walked through the door to the delicious homey smell of banana bread. K and R's abode is just great in a very compact, neat neighborhood with many overhanging trees an narrow streets. Built in '78 there is lots of room, lots of light, German craftsmanship and fit and finish everywhere. This was the beginning of my conviction that "we" Americans have a lot to learn from this country so rich in history, born out of violence and conflict intent on efficiency, national pride and international make-up. More on this as the story develops.

After naps I couldn't say no to (but should have for the sake of combating jet lag), my first order of business was to dash off quick e-mails to friends announcing our arrival. 'Twas then that I discovered that the computer keyboards here are different with regard to three or four keys' location on the keyboard.
Supper was home made pizza.
Ice cubes are not readily available in German establishments or homes.

FRIDAY 10/17 What day is this?! I lost Thursday somewhere over the Atlantic and the train ride from Frankfurt.
A day to recover and begin taking many pictures a la Japanese tourist type. Kathy and I walked to the neighborhood meat market and it was edifying for me to see my daughter converse so readily and easily with the ladies behind the counter. The market is like we haven't seen at home since the demise of the Mom & Pop store. A small store with family personnel waiting and no use of plastic gloves at every turn. So many kinds of luncheon and breakfast meats including sausages of all kinds.

On the way there I had my first lesson in navigating sidewalks: stay left because the right lane is exclusively for the bikes that whiz by authoritatively. At the corners one must again cross the bike path to cross the street and there they have the right of way; walk when the indicator says so and don't when it doesn’t. The bicyclists whiz by and they expect to get deference. To wander into this part of the sidewalk is to presume that a pedestrian has right of way, which we don't. I got my first introduction to some of the rules for pedestrians: always assume there is someone behind you so don't stop quickly either on the street or in the supermarket.

Also on the way there I could observe how houses are constructed and how close together they are built. Houses are built to last a thousand years; Wood is not used for framing but rather all is block, even the interior walls. Roofing must be tile of one of two colors, metal soffits. There are tower cranes everywhere all built on the spot because they take up less room and their height is needed to lift materials over other houses that might be in the way. Space is at a premium. Garages are delivered on a flat bed and are only wide enough to hold the car. No room for storage of lawnmowers etc. Speaking of lawns, they too are a rarity. Kids play in any of the many conveniently located city-cared-for playgrounds.

The Taxis are mostly Mercedes and high end VW'S. There are many models of familiar cars on the streets here that we don't have in the US. Mostly they are smaller and diesel. No pickups or SUV'S. That would be intrusive on the narrow streets. All the cars are very shiny and no signs of accidents or rust are evident anywhere. Don’t know why yet. It is verboten to wash ones car in the street or even at home. One must use car washes where the water is recycled...no waste of water going down the drain. At the houses, rainwater is collected in barrels connected directly to the downspout and used for watering the garden.

On the way back we passed auto dealers of many familiar kinds but the lots contained models we never see in the states. Prices were in Euros of course and translated into big bucks for those who could afford an Audi for 61,000 Euros, about $83,000 US. Later when at the grocery store it was revealing to see so many different cheeses and chocolate selections at every aisle end cap. Eggs are not refrigerated; sometimes milk is not either, as some of the latter is aseptically packaged. Another lesson the States could learn to preserve energy in refrigeration being lost in open freezer displays.

When walking home from this foray Kathy showed me how each of the trees along the way were numbered, we suppose to keep records on how they were doing at that location. Manhole covers over the sewers are not completely closed and so there is the occasional odor of sewer gas. I didn't notice it but Kathy remarked it is sometimes off-putting.

Interesting to note that the radio commercials, while in German of course, still have the same intonations and emphases as in the States.

Richard was late for supper because a friend at work had a few friends help him celebrate getting his motorcycle license. I am assured that this is no small event and is the culmination of many months of study and waiting. When he came in the door I was there and his first remark was unforgettable: "Hey Bob, What're you doing here?"

After supper which was a delicious stew (comfort food) we settled into the living room to read and then watch a DVD of Eddie Izzard, a comedian from the UK.

I went to their computer and discovered that the keyboard has keys in different locations and that there are extra keys and other symbols necessary here in Europe, also that all the screens, sign-ons and instructions were in German. Examples Ä, Ö, €, µ, |,€. Imagine that!

Saturday 10,18,08: Our first breakfast was truly German as it consisted of cheeses, lunch meats (weißwurst), breads, rolls and soft pretzels, soft boiled egg and or yogurt.

Downtown Erlangen today using the bus to get there: First and foremost the girls and young women dress well, usually in tight jeans or short skirts with black boots or high heels. Beautiful complexions. People are sitting at outside tables for lunch even though it is around 52 degrees. Kathy explained that the sun is not always out and so the people will take any advantage to be in it. The restaurants provide blankets for the patrons to use while sitting outside. These blankets are draped over the chairs and I am assured same number are there as were set out. Bicycles likewise are parked in front of stores without locks etc. They, too, are there for the owner when she or he returns. Downtown is like we see in movies: the narrow cobblestone streets with small cars whizzing about with abandon. Lunch at the Glocken Café was a German potato soup with sausage. Knife and fork are order of the day; it's even crude to pick up ones food, with the exception of rolls at breakfast. Even french fries are eaten with a small fork.

Drinks after window shopping and sightseeing were at "Sugar in the Morning" which featured an "American Breakfast" that was huge when compared to other German offerings. I must add that things are expensive here especially after one converts them from Euros to dollars. An 8 oz. coke is €2,50 which can convert to $3.00+ . This time I had a orangenlimonade which is a carbonated orange drink. Even though I can't remember what Beth had, she said I could just say, "...and Beth had chocolate!"

Home after the day admiring the rich history so pervasive in the scenery . Seeing the age of buildings and knowing the history of the past 50 years prompts so many questions.
Once home we settled in to watch “The Lion King” and relax.

So far on this gustatory experience I’ve had 3 kinds of lunch meats, 3 types of sausage and many breads and pretzels. Beth has begun her exploration of as many kinds of chocolates as possible. Using a bus to get to and fro is also newish since college. We’ve enjoyed the city museum and shops.
Home for the evening gave us rest and an opportunity for Diet coke and Popcorn.

Sunday 10,19.2008: In Germany just about everything is closed except for the bakeries. We started our day and checked email to connect with home. Not much there.
Because we don’t speak the language it can be hard to insert oneself into the group dynamic and can make ones perception of the people around us as off putting. BUT the smiles and genuineness are ingratiating.

Breakfast at 10:30 pretzels, lunch meats, pretzels, coffee, juice and conversation on many disparate points.

Unemployment is about 8% here but it is hard to find skilled workers. Those who are skilled are really trained and usually have served years under a master and if the examples I see are any indication their work is fantastic. Fit and finish is superb. The engineering of the home-country made products is for enduring years of use.

There are many kinds of beer and each town is most proud of its own brew. Kathy gave her perspective “Carbonation in beer is yeast fart!” Think about it!
There is state sponsored day care for some, but not all, 3-5 year olds. Usually, mothers stay home with children of that age, but there is a big push to increase the number of day care slots by a factor of three in the next couple years. There are no private day care centers.

Around 3:00 P.M. Peter and Ulla and daughter Pia came for sweet goodies: cake, cookies and a chance for me to ask all kinds of questions of real Germans about how we in the US are perceived and also to hear of the stories and events as they really happened here and not revised and sensationalized by the American press.

As I suspected Reagan’s “Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall” speech was not really a part of the fall of the Soviet Union and the reunification of east and west Germany. Here they knew it was imminent and details were already being worked out between Gorby and German Chancellor Kohl. So as I suspected he was taking credit for someone else’s work.

Ulla said Americans are generally regarded as people who have no knowledge or care for others in the world but yet are generous. They have deep pride, are wasteful, have money for war but not for hunger, education. They talk about money too much. Germans are more aware of the USA than the Americans are about Germany.
They think a lot of Obama because he cared to come when he wasn’t a world leader. Very fearful of McCain because he doesn’t listen.
They are generally puzzled by the election and support for Bush in the US. They understand our embarrassment.
Peter drives a Ford.

The events of the WWII are taught in school so it will never happen again. The Hitler salute is outlawed as is the Nazi party. There are more Neo-Nazis in the USA than in all of Germany. In fact most of their support comes from the US.

Recycling in Germany is a high priority. Food scraps are collected for composting, paper etc. Almost all waste is collected for recycling and reuse.

A castle is not a palace. A castle is a fortification while a palace is a place to live.

MONDAY 10,20,08: Up early to catch the train for 2-hour ride (in the upper observation dome) to Regensburg. Train was late into Nuremberg so we hung out there and caught the castle and some small shops. in the castle walls. The stuff there had examples of craftsman work as opposed to schlock from China. We have lots of pictures of our first encounter with a real castle. Most of it was bombed during WWII and was rebuilt as were many of the beautiful old buildings we will visit. Such a waste and a tragedy to destroy the history and identity of a people. It really brings to ones mind the stupidity of war and mutual destruction. We experienced the fall of he twin towers in our lifetime and have studied the destruction of the civil war but what these people endured has no doubt changed their lives and orientations permanently if not for many generations to come. It would seem that any city with a population of over 100,000 was bombed to level rubble. Nuremberg being dubbed the most German city in Germany and the home of so many German Nazi activities was a prime target. Regensburg was also hit because it was just over 100,000 souls.

Again pastry and pretzels everywhere…and pretty girls! The shops in the castle walls were quaint and picturesque (see our pictures).

When we got to Regensburg we of course walked about and took pictures of cathedrals and old buildings most of which were rebuilt after having been bombed. We ate next to the oldest stone bridge on the blue Danube. I must say that we are spoiled in that we live next to the St. Lawrence. Our lunch was traditional soup then sausages on sauerkraut served at picnic tables outside of the oldest continually operating Wurst kitchen (see pics) in Germany.

Then to tour more of Regensburg famous for being the site of the election of the emperor since the 15th century.
Ate at the Princess Café, the oldest café in Germany (1686) where there was more tea and cake; it was located on a typical square surrounded by old stately buildings…mostly rebuilt after being bombed. Richard says that in many cases the bombing brought the roofs in but a lot of the walls remained standing. We ate on the second floor after placing our order for the chocolate goodies downstairs. Memorable.

While roaming about the square we observed tourist groups moving en masse with guides. Some of them were school kids and others were obviously American tourists.
Home by dark into the yard in front of their house where we were forewarned to keep an eye out for hedgehogs. The little buggers come out at night and hunt for slugs.

TUESDAY 10,21,08: Laika day. She is the cutest cocker spaniel that Kathy watches on Tuesdays A puppy who is so full off energy and curiosity that it is hard to take our eyes off her. Incidentally Laika still has all of her long tail as it is illegal to bob the tails of any dog in Germany. Kathy and Richard and I took her for a walk in the nearby woods to tire her out and give a chance to commune with nature. Again fun to watch her romp. In the forest Kathy pointed out that during the war the presently littered forest floor would be clean as a whistle because all of the householders would have scoured it to pick up anything that would serve as fuel to keep warm.

That night we went to dinner at their favorite neighborhood Italian restaurant operated by a real Italian who greeted us at the door. He spoke German, Italian and broken English. He personally seated us and was very solicitous and warm. The food was as usual full of flavor. I had panzerotti Diavola (Feta cheese ravioli). Beth had a seafood and pasta dish with octopus and mussels and clams. Dessert was Tartufo, need I say there was chocolate involved?

More factoids: When toasting with wine etc…there must be direct eye contact so as to not offend. Be prepared to be asked to do it again if you don’t look the other person in the eye. When shaking hands there shall be no hands in the pocket. Do not reach across another persons arms to shake hands. It’s bad luck.

We walked home with the lingering smell of wood smoke from fireplaces in the air. The neighborhood is very quiet except for the occasional bicycle on unoccupied streets.

WEDNESDAY 10,22,08 Each day I appreciate how hard Kathy has worked in planning our experiences here, from train timetables and transfers being coordinated from city to city to stocking the larder for our comfort to the cleaning and fussing for us. It shows a lot of work and care.

To watch her move about her new community and have such knowledge of the German culture only reinforces how smart she is and the fact that she must get it from her mother!!!
We took a taxi along with a lot of luggage at 9:45 AM (Beth had to rise early to be ready) to the train station where we boarded the train to Nuremberg on our way to Munich.
On the way there we espied tobacco drying sheds (Germany has some of the highest rates of smokers in Europe-@30%) We observed graffiti for the first time on some of the underpasses (never on a building). We passed through Fuerth, the birthplace of Henry Kissinger. This town was not bombed by US because it had a very large Jewish population and was suffering enough under the Third Reich.

Arrived in Munich on this overcast day about 1:00 P.M. and proceeded after some misdirection to walk to our hotel which by the way was situated over a McDonalds. There we changed for the concert that evening but did some touring of the “Residence” before going to one of the small concert halls in the Residence (Palace). The tour revealed an opulent life style when kings ruled and electors were charged with appointing rulers.

About the city we stopped in the city center square along with a few hundred others to watch the hour being struck by the Glockenspiel tower with its two levels of figures moving about in a diorama that took about seven minutes to complete. Then to the top of another building to have dinner at what I would call an expensive venue. A diet coke was about $3.00 But the food was to die for. I love goat cheese but this time it was not on a salad but fried in rosemary honey along with some other things on the plate that fade from memory.

We sat and talked then window shopped until it was time to walk back to the Residence for the concert. I wondered if our level of dress would be appropriate but although we were a bit under dressed there was no overwhelmingly distinguishing feature…not even white tennis shoes! The concert itself was moving. We were in the balcony in such a seat as to make me think we could not appreciate the instruments but 'twas not the case. The sound was full and lush.

In Germany the waiter would not be so rude as to bring your bill without your first having asked for it. It would be like asking you to leave.

A cell phone is called a “Handy”.

OCTOBER 23,08 Thursday; We had breakfast in the hotel and it was of typical German fare being cold meat, cheese, juice, chocolate, Nutella, muesli cereal and various breads.
The rented car itself was a treat, a 300 series diesel BMW, which Richard had a difficult time getting for us. When he met us at the hotel we were going to be late to make the tour at the palace but worry not! We were on the autobahn and soon going 160 kph and there were many passing us! That BMW made it seem we were going 40. More on the BMW: typical of Bavarian engineering : We had a GPS system, the car shut itself off if you waited too long in one place…starts back up as soon as the car is put in gear.


AT NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE: A testimony to the state of mind of King Ludwig the II in terms of his dreams and madness. Lots of pictures too grand to describe. After many hours there we had supper and left. By 5:30 we were in Austria among the Alps and were caught speechless when we realized these magnificent formations were real and each one was unique. The majesty of their presence is awesome. Our presence among the Alps continued until we arrived in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and our hotel, Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten. We were on the second floor with a balcony over a town square. When we stepped out of our room we were greeted by overpowering tors on all sides. Took lots of pictures but words and photos can’t do justice when a lifetime of TV and magazine pictures are realized in reality in front of you. As we explored and shopped there were of course the mandatory frequent stops for sweets and chocolate.

Supper was in the hotel: traditional German cuisine. Beth had an unusual, but nonetheless very German "Pork Melba", consisting of pork topped with peach halves and covered with baked cheese.

At this point picture-wise we switched cards in the camera, having used up 200 pics.
Richard confessed that we were holding up quite well when he said “You’ve held on longer than I expected”. The showers in the hotels here are great.

Decorum in Germany: The man precedes the woman down the stairs and follows when going up the stairs. So we can be there to fall on, I guess.

It was Peggy’s birthday but we couldn’t locate our international calling card number. Couldn’t send as many cards either because we couldn’t find our collection of addresses.

Did you know that in hotels here the bed is usually two singles pushed together and there is not a separate top sheet? Instead it is like an envelope in which a comforter is inserted- so one unit -Very efficient and cozy. Our first night in Garmisch was comfortable enough but there was a group of American revelers out in the square yelling to each other until late in the morning. Found out later that to our right was a strip club.
Nobody told us the "Ich bin ein Berliner” that president Kennedy said could be translated to mean “ I am a doughnut”!!


FRIDAY 10,24,2008: another day in Garmisch-Partenkirchen: Taking pictures of the Alps is like taking pictures of the St. Lawrence. The scenes are so overwhelming that a photo doesn’t come close; and to think that one has captured the moment only leads to disappointment when the next scene is just as awe inspiring. But we did do our best by taking photos to remind ourselves of the beauty at every turn in that peaks that were so high that the clouds were only half way up the mountains that surrounded us.
More shopping and an easy day of walking through the business section and people watching. Buying a shirt was a challenge as converting the size to USA was a bit of a trial and error thing. Beth tried on jackets and finally decided on the one that we liked best on her. Then we visited another Käthe Wollfahrt Xmas shoppe where the stuff is high end and handmade. At one point Richard and I went through a model shop featuring all kinds of Barbie things and auto models that would make a great place for Kevin to visit. I had to buy him a gift that was German in nature.
Garmisch has a new part and an old part. They both can squeeze tourist dollars but the old part has the buildings with painted images on their exteriors. You have to see the pictures to appreciate the scope and intricacy in a three story high painting on the face of a building. Then there is the fact that all the buildings are so decorated.

Had to stop into a marzipan shoppe for some samples. By then I was relying on the cane quite a bit so we headed back to the hotel and enjoyed all the sites along the way. We cleaned up a bit and went to a nearby Greek restaurant for dinner and again the food was just fantastic.
When we got back we realized that our day of mountain air had reddened our faces to the point that we looked sunburned. Watched CNN on the TV in the room but it was so depressing.
Saturday we had breakfast downstairs in the hotel then packed. Mailed some postcards after purchasing same and some stamps. However there is a vending machine for just about everything in this country…even beer…very efficient . We then returned to Munich and Richard dropped off the car while the rest of us waited to meet him at one of the museums.

It is such a joy to be with Kathy & Richard. I feel so proud of her and appreciate all the care she has taken to provide us with a full and worry free experience. Every parent wants their kids to be and do better than they and she has certainly exceeded my expectations. She has her mother’s intelligence and I wonder what of me she has. Being with her makes me wonder what kind of role I had in her make up. I can see how she worries about all the little things like being on time and being in the right place and having what ever is necessary for our comfort and convenience. That is a lot of work!

We then had time to visit another Art Gallery, Neue Pinakothek while we waited for the train to take us back to Nuremberg. After checking our luggage in a train locker we were able to see many originals from many centuries. Beth was especially interested in the Impressionists and so we saw Manets and Monets.
Retrieve our luggage and then the train back to Nuremberg and on to Erlangen. Beth was visibly tired.

Germans wear their wedding ring on their right hand.

The raised hand Nazi salute we see in the movies is illegal here.

There is a more informed and rational awareness of socialism and communism here. None of the fear rhetoric we were fed growing up. They’ve become fear words used by politicians to convey negativity without informed facts.

The windows in most houses are enginereed to tilt in or open from the side depending on how the handle is turned.

SUNDAY 10,26,08 and the country is closed so we slept late to 10:30 and rose to Richard’s trip to the bakery for pastries. After that the touring and probably a bit of left over jet lag caught up with me and naps were the order of the whole day.

There was of course time to reflect on the fact that over this last week and more we’ve been with Kathy and Richard every day! I wanted to enjoy reflecting on that.

Lunch was soup and chocolate. Supper was couscous and moroccan spiced beans & carrots and poppadum, white wine.

MONDAY10,27,08 We went to Nuremberg for more shopping and touring. Richard and I went to a World War II documentation center that featured the history of Hitler’s rise to form the Third Reich. Richard and I took the trolley there while the girls shopped.

We met about 6:00 at Café Lucas on the Pegnitz river for another terrific dinner. I had Elk Goulash with 3 snowball shaped dumplings and as usual it was fantastic. Beth had herbed spaetzle with mushrooms.

TUESDAY 10,28,08. Beth’s cold is better and we stayed home and just hung out and visited for the day. Beth began to pack and deal with the customs forms that go along with her purchases and bringing them into the USA. Tax here is 19% on all purchases but it is not figured in after the purchase -- it is included in the price one sees on the item. It’s called a VAT, Value Added Tax. I worked on this blog for the whole day while watching more of Northern Exposure.

WEDNESDAY 10, 29,08 Time to pack in earnest but having gone to bed at 2:30 last night made for a late start. By about noon we were through the first repast and I was again on the blog and Beth was into loading the suitcases.

Those Crazy Germans

This was meant to be a short one, but it's not. It's about the things that make Germans different from Americans, and living in Germany different from living in the US. First, of course, Food and Drink. Item One: No Ice Cubes. They just aren't served with your drink here. If it's "Eiskaffee," it doesn't mean it's iced coffee - instead it's cooled coffee with a scoop or two of ice cream in it! Can't complain there! I don't think they do the same with tea, although they do offer cold, flavored tea in the summer. Naturally all soft-drinks and beer are served cool or cold, but to use up expensive electricity for something that melts, and additionally waters down your drink, is just a waste. Number Two: No Tap Water in restaurants. A glass of water does not automatically appear at the table when you sit down in the restaurant. If you're gonna drink it, you have to order it, but ordering just a glass of tap water anywhere but a coffee bar gets you strange looks. Nothing is free here, and they don't like to waste any resource. So the menu always has a couple of options for bottled water, with or without. With or without? "Kohlensaeure, Sprudel, Spritz, Gaz" are all names for carbon dioxide bubbles. And the bottles are always glass, the empties are collected in the crate they came in, and traded for a crate of full bottles the next time the distributor comes. Of course, the tap water is safe! It's just not profitable! Numbers One and Two add up to the fact that I haven't seen a glass of iced tap water since I've been here. The only places that serve iced drinks are Burger King and McDonald's. You want free tap water, go to France. Issue Three: The milk man doesn't come to your house here anymore either, but the Beer Man does! Every week a truck bearing the logo of the local beer brewery delivers crates of beer or soft-drink to the neighbors and picks up the crates of empties. You can leave your order taped to the crate of empties. Article D: No butter for the bread. When a restaurant serves a basket of rolls or bread, either before or with the meal, there are no accompanying tubs or packets of butter. Usually the bread tastes so good that you don't need anything on it. That said, the Germans do not shy away from slathering all sorts of toppings on their "Pausebrot" or "Abendbrot." (Bread eaten during a school recess or in the evening at home.) There are a bewildering array of bread spreads in the grocery store, including butter. There's Nutella, a gift from the Italians, and all kinds of jams and marmelades, but there's just as large a selection of savory spreads, from herbed butter to herbed cream cheese, to things made with pineapple and chicken, with red peppers, eggplant, and don't forget the meat spreads- there is also something called "Wurstsalat," literally, sausage salad. It consists of small strips of sausage (which is available in more varieties than can be named, and is more like lunch meat and not at all like the greasy breakfast sausage we get in the States), swimming in a creamy sauce, with pieces of spiced pickles. Now to language and customs: Learn a language, gain insight into a culture... Or just gain confusion. If you've ever learned another European language, you know that there is a formal way to address someone (i.e. with 'you'), and a familiar way. These pronouns are "Sie" (zee) and "Du" in German, respectively. Richard and I were taught the rules, and they are these: 1. The first time you meet someone, you address them with Sie, and Herr or Frau Schmidt. If they later ask you to say Du to them and tell you their first name, which is the perogative of the older person, then you can accept. However, you must use "Sie" with their spouse when you meet this person, until that person tells you that you can be on "Du" terms. 2. When two work colleagues, or people who feel that the other person is someone they'd like to have as a friend, decide that they want to be on "Du" terms, they complete a ritual which involves drinking a slug of beer with linked arms. They are thereafter officially on informal terms. 3. Children are always addressed with "Du". All fine. We believed we were equipped to avoid insulting someone. But the confusion comes when they don't follow the rules we were taught! Example: Richard addressed his group leader, Herr Seeberger, with "Sie" for a year, until one day, the group leader sent him an Email saying, "Richard, please answer Herr Soandso's question, attached below." Richard, somewhat surprised, wrote back "Gerd, I have answered Herr Soandso's question." And that was it. They were on "Du" terms - on a first name basis. I told Richard, "That was sneaky of him. You should at least have gotten a beer out of it!" So after this, Gerd invited us to his house, to have a drink and some snacks - he's a very friendly guy. He introduced his wife as "Elizabeth". Now I am totally confused. Do I say "Sie" to her, as I do to him? I think she addressed us as Sie for a while. But as we were leaving Gerd said "Wiedersehen, Kathy!" That was the cue that I could address him with "Du", and that in fact, I probably should have been all along. Because he and my husband are on a first-name basis. Oy! What's a poor American to do? They don't keep to their own rules! Richard now has his own system - whether he spends time with someone outside of work determines whether they are on first-name terms. Now he's often the oldest one in the crowds we hang out with, so he can set the rules. This is just one example of the confusion we face every time we're introduced to somebody new. When an older person introduces herself as "Hannah", and we address her male companion as "Herr Ackermann," what are we supposed to do? What form of address is appropriate? Is it insulting to someone who's given us her first name by distancing ourselves and saying "Sie," respectfully? Oh, the awkwardness! Sometimes I think they try to make it easy for us because we're Americans. Be careful about the "other" (andere). In Germany, when trying shoes on, don't ask to try on the "other" shoe; the sales person will think you mean a different style of shoe, but will ask "the second (zweite) shoe?" to be sure. "Yes, I meant the second shoe," resolves another close-call in terminology. And when you want another beer, be sure to ask for "Noch ein Bier" - one more - and not "ein andere Bier" - an other, i.e. a different one. "Nur" is not the only only. "Erst" is not always first. We learned that "nur" means only, and "erst" means first. In real-life German, however, a direct substitution is not always correct. If our nephew is "only" 19 years old, then he is "erst" (just) 19, not "nur" 19. Recipe directions don't say "'Zuerst', pour the packet into a large bowl" (At first, pour....), they say "'Zunächst', ....", which literally means "at next". Furthermore ... When invited to a party, don't ask the hostess "Can I bring something?", just to be polite. This is interpreted as if you have some (food) item that you would like to bring with you, and brings the response "Like what?". The proper question is, "Can I help you by bringing something?" or "Do you need anything, that I could bring for you?" But the German host or hostess usually has everything under control and would have told you to bring a specific item at the same time that you are invited. Sometimes our American politesse is seen as superfluous, and maybe a little strange. Germans also do not write thank-you notes, but one must bring a small gift of flowers, wine or chocolate when invited to a non-birthday dinner or event! Politics... It's election season here in Bavaria. The Left, The middle left, the Greens, the Ecological Democratic Party, the moderates, the conservatives, and the "I can't believe these nasty people are still around" parties crowd streetlight poles with their placards. Among the last named crowd are the Republicans and the National Democratic Party of Germany, the NPD. Political correctness is not necessarily de rigueur for these groups. The Republicans: "Minaret Verbot" - do I need to translate this one? ; "Our Land for our Children"; "We leave the church in the village and the Mosque in Istanbul"; "For love of the homeland, vote blue" (adorned with blond woman in a traditional dirndl). Then there's the NPD, the post-Nazi Nazis: "Us instead of too many foreigners," succinctly put in German as "Wir statt Ueberfremdung." I've only seen one of their posters. These posters, from the Republicans especially, are present our part of the city, where some Turkish immigrants live in the apartment blocks, as well as on the main shopping street. Erlangen is a city full of immigrants from all over, as well foreigners (Fremde, Ausländer) staying as guests. Siemens and the University draw an international population. I don't know what sympathy they intend to gather by offending all these people. It makes me mad to see these signs of intolerance so arrogantly displayed. I nurture the desire to take my can of spray paint and scrawl "Nazis raus!" (Nazis, get out!) on their posters, which is a common graffiti here, by the way. I would be foiled though, because most of these posters are fixed above head level on the poles. The other parties, on the other hand, advertise things such as "A good education for all children," and "Bavaria for all," as if to provide a direct contradiction to these voices of intolerance. I will never get used to the racism and intolerance present among this small percentage of the population, and the fact that they openly express it. I had the illusion that the Neo-Nazis were only harassing people in the Eastern part of the country. Fact is, they are insinuating themselves into mainstream public life everywhere, but not without drawing the notice of the government, courts, and rational part of the population, who contemplate how to legally outlaw this party as the original NSDAP party has been. What's behind the "Minaret Verbot," by the way, might be that in Cologne the building of a traditional mosque has been proposed, with four minarets and central dome. There has been a fuss as to whether the minarets would be taller than the spires of the Cologne Cathedral, followed by several representations of the two buildings silhouetted side by side to prove that the proposed minarets do not challenge the height advantage of one of the tallest cathedrals in Europe, and symbolically, the primacy of Christianity in this country where only about 15% of the population actually goes to church on a regular basis. The mosque here in Erlangen, by the way, is in an inconspicuous building somewhere south of the center of town. Far as I know, the Muslims in Erlangen have not attempted to build their own mosque. Other Germans really are friendlier than the Franks! We've been told this often, but we don't get out of Bavaria often enough to prove it. But in Quedlinburg in Saxony, we were standing on the Market Square staring at the town hall before going to the Tourist Information office to join the city tour, when an older woman with her bicycle asked, "Do you need some information?" and proceeded to regale us with numerous facts about the city and its history, mentioning that she was once a city tour guide. She parked her bike and lead us around for more than an hour, just ahead of or behind the "official" tour guides and their groups. She cracked a couple of jokes along the way, showed us the significant details of the half-timbered houses, told about the history of the Ottonian emperors who had held court in the city (900-1100 AD), and at the end, when she left us to go cook lunch for her family, would not accept anything but our profuse thanks that she had taken so much time out of her day to share her pride in her city. That was only one of several instances where people were so friendly and outgoing. At one of the oldest churches in the town, St. Wiperti, there is a crypt dating to around 1000 AD. We saw an older gentleman explaining the particular features of the church to a German couple. When we asked him a question, he gladly replied. Then, realizing we spoke English, he broke out his very good English to answer more of our questions. There was, of course, a graveyard outside the church, but at the top of the hill were some family tombs dug into the side of the hill. This couple from Stuttgart who had been in the church invited us to look at these unusual tombs with them. They said these were very unusual for Germany. We chatted with them as we walked along the rows of heavy wooden doors, peering into the small grated windows, discovering some tombs that were from the 1700's, and some that were newly occupied. Keeping up friendships In September and October Richard and the 3 "ladies" from the B. family have their birthdays. (Richard often tells Peter to send his greetings to the "Damen", or ladies.) Birthdays may simply not be neglected in Germany. They don't understand why Americans are so casual about it. In our years of friendship with the B. family, Peter, Ulla, and their two daughters, if we weren't together to celebrate our respective birthdays, we were assured that they were toasting our health for the coming year. I believe they really were. A couple years before we moved here, we happened to be visiting them in June on my birthday. At the stroke of midnight, not before, Ulla came to our room with a Nutella, cream and Vodka cocktail so that we could toast my birthday! When Richard and Ulla celebrated their common birthday the first year we were living here, Richard thought he had arranged with Ulla before hand that they wouldn't exchange gifts. Wrong! Ulla and Peter met us for dinner at a Chinese restaurant in town with a basket of goodies and a cook book for Richard. We had only a card for Ulla. We have since learned our lesson and try to be prepared in advance for this birthday season. We are always invited to the girls' birthday celebrations with other family members. It's very nice to be included, because we are sometimes the only people there who aren't related.

Ancestors

The great ancestor hunt took us back to Alstätte, ostensibly for a Schützenfest (shooting festival), which is really just an excuse to party. The real purpose for our trip was to meet the people. Shortly after our previous trip to Alstätte, we received a call from another Kipp descendant, Heike Wissing, who had traveled from Germany to Decorah, Iowa, a few years ago and participated in a Kipp-family reunion in Decorah. There she met some other Kipp descendants from Wisconsin (Marcia, a Kipp descendant, who's done a lot of research on the family tree, and her husband Bill Zalinski), who planned to be at the Schützenfest. Alstätte is a very small town, and news got around to Mrs. Weiß (of the Bengfort side), who called us to say that she would also like to meet us in Alstätte. So it was arranged that we all would meet at a the Heimathaus (home-town house), which is where the town records are kept.
It was a flurry of names that greeted us at the Heimathaus. Frau Weiß, Heike Wissing, her new baby, her husband, and her parents, along with Marcia and Bill were all there when we arrived. The president of the Heimatverein (home town club), Herr Holters, was leading the gathering and providing translation services between the English speakers and the German speakers. It was pretty exciting as we exchanged family trees and information about ancestors that we had in common. Herr Holters was put to the test, interpreting as we all talked at once! By the way, Herr Holters is collecting stories about the emigrants' life in the US, so if any one has one about the Kipps or the Bengforts when they came over, send them to us. We'll pass them on to him.

On the left are the Americans (Marcia and Bill Zalinski, Kathy and me). On the far right is Heike Wissing. Left of her is Gerda Weiß, then Heike's parents.

What do these assorted people have to do with each other? It goes back to Johann Heinrich Kiepe. One of his sons, George, married Gertrude Nienhaus, and her parents were Henry Nienhaus and Gertrude Bengfort. George and Gertrude were great-grandma Finnegan's parents.

We all met for lunch at the Haarmühle, a restaurant at the site of an old mill. That particular piece of land still belongs to the local noble family. After lunch Gerda Weiß was very excited about taking us around to the old farmsteads where her family and my ancestors, the Bengforts, owned or leased their farms. She spent the whole afternoon driving us to various farmsteads. We started at her brother's farm, which was the original Bengfort family farm.

Practically everyone in Alstätte at that time was a farmer, including the Bengforts. The picture shows the Bengfort farm in 1931. The house is on the left half of the photo, and it is attached to the barn, seen on the right side. The other photo is taken from the same spot. The barn was expanded into the house, and today the family lives in a separate, beautiful house a few yards away. The photo shows Frau Weiß on the left, and next to her is her brother, Heinz Nabers (the current owner). His wife is seen on the right.


Herr Nabers's son, Stefan, gave us a nice tour of the farmstead. He was proud of the ventilation system for the hog house; exhaust air is blown from the hog house to a bed of wood splinters that contain bacteria that take out the smell from the exhaust air. They have a chicken house with thousands of chicks in it currently. They have a John Deere 7600 (with a speedometer in km/hour), and a Fendt tractor (the biggest brand in Germany).


We had lemonade on their patio, and met Stefan's wife and two preschool children. His little daughter's name is Hanna, and his son was Moritz.

Herr Nabers told me the story about his uncle, who build a small radio during the second world war. He was able to get information from Britain, and learned about the possibility of bombing in Alstätte. He warned the townsfolk, and most of them took shelter outside of town. Alstätte really was bombed, but most of the people survived. I asked him why the Allies would bomb a little farming village near the end of the war. He told me that everything along the border was bombed in order to make it safe for the Allied troops to march from the Netherlands.


Frau Weiß then took us to see some of the houses of the tenant farmers on the farm. This photo shows a house from the time of the emigration to America. I asked why poor farmers would go to the risk and expense of emigrating only to be poor farmers again. The problem was that people had large families, and only one son could inherit the farm. There wasn't any more land to turn into farms, so the other sons became the tenant farmers. If they wanted land for their own farms, they went to America. Furthermore, they couldn't read or write, and so could not send back letters telling their families that they had survived the trip. For Gerda Weiß, I was the only evidence she had seen that the Bengforts who emigrated survived the passage and made a life for themselves.


Frau Weiß took us to her very nice home to meet her husband and grandchildren, and then she took us to the Kiepe farm. There we caught up with the Wissings (Kipp descendants), including Marcia and Bill, and enjoyed cake and coffee on their terrace, and a tour of the old place. The hog-house had been renovated to be Heike and her husband's home, but a fenced-in lot beside the house was still full of different kinds of chickens, along with a white peacock and a couple other normal-colored peacocks.

What struck us in visiting these northern relations, was that we didn't know what kind of people they would be, but it all turned out very well. They were immediately very friendly (which some Germans would say is true of most Germans outside Franken), and we had a lot of fun finding out what each of us did for a living. About 3 to 5 years ago, Heike, her new husband and her parents spent some weeks in the US for the newlyweds' honeymoon trip. Among other places, they visited New York City, Las Vegas, and I think made it to at least one national park and to Los Angeles, and said it was the trip of a lifetime. We went through their photo album together. Bill and Marcia both work at a graphic arts firm in Milwaukee. They had met Heike and her parents at the reunions in Decorah.

The houses that we saw were mostly bigger than houses here in Franken, probably because they were built "in the country" on farms, or former farmland. And in all three cases: the Wissings, Gerda Weiß's family, and her brother's family on the farm, at least one adult child lived in a house attached to the parents' house along with his or her own family.

We will remember that trip for a long time, and hope to see all those friendly people again.

The hills are alive

(written by Richard)
Every year the guys who work on the PKL experimental facility take a ski trip together. My first trip with this bunch was back in January of 1993, while I was doing my Post-Doc on PKL. This year, 15 years later, I went again. And because the same guys are still working on PKL, the same guys went on the ski trip, and so I already knew everyone.

What was new for me was the ski resort. Since 1995 they have been going to a resort called Großarl. It's a great resort in Austria, south of Salzburg. The weather was great, the snow was great, the beer was great. (Yes, they sell beer in Beergardens on the slopes. But it doesn't seem to cause a problem.) I had been skiing once since my last trip with the PKL group back in 1994, but skiing is like riding a bike, and I recalled immediately how I skied last time. And that is partly a problem, because I have changed since the last time I skied. The problem is that my brain wanted to ski the same way as last time, but back then I weighed less and was stronger with more endurance. It took me a couple of falls to find the new limits. The second day I was in the groove again, and I had a great time.


Evenings were spent in restaurants that the group goes to every year. The food was great. The first night we ate a restaurant where the proprietor is a hunter, and the specialties are made from his kills. He is also a great kidder. He brought out some games for the people who had never been there before, i.e. me. The first game involved a pipe with a small ball in the bowl of the pipe. The goal was to blow in the pipe and get the ball to float up into a wire ring above the bowl. The ball has a small metal hook protruding from it, and if you get the hook to hang from the wire ring, you win. It took me a while, but my eventual success is documented in the photo.


This game of skill and chance was a set-up for the next game. It was presented as a similar game to the first. Again, it involved a pipe, but this time a pinwheel was attached to the far side of a small wooden box at the end of the pipe. The box had holes in the top, and the challenge was to close the right combination of holes with your fingers so that the air flowed through the box and made the pinwheel spin. With my first attempt, I learned the real purpose of the box. With the first blow, baby powder came shooting out of the slot and covered my face. The result on me was a mustache that matched the beard on my chin. It was filled with baby powder, and had a small slit in the side facing the person blowing.

Other jokes followed. I was told that, for being such a good sport, I would receive a free stein of beer. A nice ceramic stein was set in front of me, and I thanked the proprietor and assured him that there were no hard feelings. But when I went to pick up the stein, it seemed glued to the table top. With my second attempt, I could pick up the stein, but with difficulty. The problem was that the stein only had a thin shell of ceramic on the outside and was solid lead on the inside. It must have weighed 20 pounds.

On the second night we ate at a place that specialized in Lamb. And it was delicious, of course. But before the meal, we piled into a couple of four-wheel-drive vans, and drove up the mountain. At the top, we piled out, and a sled was brought out for each of us. It was night by now, but we could make out a narrow path through the woods that was dimly lit by distant lights. We all jumped on our sleds and went for a wild ride through the woods at break-neck speeds. Nobody was hurt... this time. And we all had a great time.

I'm looking forward to next year's trip. Until then, I have a few reports on PKL experiments to write.

When Bad means Good

Bad Windsheim is the name of a small town in Frankonia. In spite of its name, it's not a bad town at all. Bad is the German word for Bath, or swimming pool, or health spa. Bad Windsheim has all three, but a specially nice spa, consisting of five salt baths of various temperatures and salt concentrations (one of which is salt-saturated), various types of saunas, and a wellness area for different types of massages, skin treatments, saline inhalation, etc. You can even bathe in milk and wine. Different types of gardens are scattered through, and all of this is in a nice park.

Bad Windsheim hasn't grown much over the centuries. In 742 the Frankish King (Pippin) provided for 26 new churches in East Frankonia for the new Bishopric of Würzburg. One of the 26 was St. Martin in Bad Windsheim.

But it is big enough to have a little train station. When we arrived at the train station, we were ready for lunch. Although we had never been there before, we knew that we could find something in the center of town, and that if we walked straight out from the station, the center of town would be straight ahead, as usual. We also knew that it would be near the church steeple in the distance. We passed lots of nice half-timbered houses, and noticed that the cross streets had very descriptive names, like Lords alley, Bowl market, Jews little courtyard, Rector's little alley, hospital alley, butchers alley, wine market, etc. We got near to the church steeple, and we knew that we must be close the Market Square, the center of every town.

What was not expected was the huge statue of a knight just outside of the church. (Kathy is seen next to statue of the knight, and comes up to his ankle.) It is a monument next to the cemetery dedicated to soldiers who died in battle. The statue is of Roland, the archetype of Frankish soldiers, who fought mythical battles for his king Charlemagne. (Charlemagne was a Frank, not a Frenchman, by the way.)



We found some typical Frankish cuisine in a place on a square called the Wine Market. Because it was Sunday, there were many families in the restaurant. Stores are closed on Sundays, and so Sundays are Family Day. Strollers were everywhere.

After lunch, we walked back to the Market Square. We were surprised to see several glass windows elevated above the pavement in the square. Looking through one of the windows we saw two skeletons! Back in 2000, the town wanted to build an underground parking lot, but shortly after starting excavation, they found remains of the first settlement. Construction on the parking lot was canceled, and the site became an archaeological dig. Today, the Market Square is restored to its pre-2000 state, except for a few windows in the ground that you can look through to see the remains of the archaeological find. You can also enter the find through some steps off the Square. We took the tour, which included some interesting artifacts of flat glass (discarded in the latrine), gold, semi-precious stones, building remains including the old town well, and 24 skeletons from the first Christian burials. Around 800 AD, the Germans were Christianized and so buried their dead near the church, which, being in the center of town was near the town well. The latrine in the center of town was also near enough to the well that the townspeople acquired many illness, which they attributed to "bad air." The rich find of flat glass testifies to the wealth of the town in medieval times. Usually glass was melted down and reused - it was never thrown out! Medieval flat glass is the type you see in stained glass church windows and was also used in cloisters. The manufacturing process was very time consuming because the glass was first mouth-blown into a cylindrical shape which then had to be carefully cut off the blower's pipe, and then cut down one side and pressed with various tools into a flat sheet. The significance of this large glass find is that after the painstaking manufacturing process, the glass should have been used, or remelted to make more glass. Instead, it was just dumped in the latrine, indicating that the town was at the time so wealthy that the merchants could afford to just make more flat glass.

We were the only ones on the tour, so afterwards we chatted with the guide. He invited us back some day, and suggested that we bring visitors. Out of curiosity, I asked him where he would guess we were from. We only spoke German, so he didn't hear us speak English. He guessed Australia. I don't know if his guess is based on solely on our accent when speaking German, or if it has something to do with an assumption that Americans don't speak German. I consider the second possibility highly likely, because nobody under similar circumstances has ever guessed that we are Americans (although English, French and Irish are also common guesses).

We continued our tour of the town, and stopped in the town museum. The half-timbered house at the left contains the town museum. There we saw a special exhibit on glass blowing and the flat glass find under the Market square, as well as exhibits from the permanent collection on town-related artifacts.

We will have to return this summer in order to visit the Freiland Museum, which is an open-air museum that recreates farm life in the middle ages. We'll have to return sooner in order to try the Bad ... I mean Baths.

America - Melting Pot, or Watered-Down Stew?

At Richard's firm, AREVA, where I recently had a temporary job, the colleague I worked with had some interesting thoughts on the US culture as he experienced it over several visits. He said he found that the US had no distinctive culture. Everywhere one goes in Germany, he said, the culture is identifiably German. But in the US, there is a lack of a identifiable unique culture. The ethnic groups are, he said, only half-ethnic; that is, as I interpret his remark, their culture is in great part watered down by the dominating American uniformity. Taking his remarks as typically frank German observations, which are not meant as insults, I in part agreed with him. I said that I have a feeling that many Americans are seeking their ethnic roots (me included). They want to have an identifiable, unique culture that ties them to their ancestors. They want to know what their ancestors ate, how they played and cooked, and what they did in their spare time, where they came from and what they looked like. What was the culture that they left behind when they emigrated from Europe or Asia, or were forced from Africa?

I countered his observations by saying that the many ethnic groups have enriched our society. My examples came from the entertainment world. I pointed to Billy Crystal and Ben Stiller's father Jerry Stiller, who are inheritors of the Borscht Belt comedy tradition, from the resorts in the Catskills. The Black Entertainment Television Network, the TV shows featuring Hispanics , like the George Lopez show, and the series on PBS with James Edward Olmos about the Latino family, all present the differences between groups that enrich our culture. He then asked if I thought that the ethnic groups were growing apart as they were able to reinforce their identities in this way. My response was, far from it! The hip-hop and rap music of predominantly black artists is overwhelmingly popular with white teenagers in the affluent suburbs.

He mentioned that he had encountered the concern that the Spanish speakers would overwhelm the English-speaking culture as more immigration from Hispanic countries came in. Projections might show that people with Spanish as a mother tongue might eventually be in the majority, but it seems that the only people who speak Spanish and no English at all are the uneducated poor. The Irish immigrants, also poor and uneducated, came over by the hundreds of thousands in the mid-1800's and were feared for their catholicism/"Popery." Signs went up in the windows of businesses, "No Irish need apply." Now we have the Kennedys, and Ronald Reagan, as Richard's colleague pointed out, the Rockefellers, etc.