Bitburger79

Newsletter 34 By: R. Draeger Jr. Leaving on a Jet Plane… I am forever grateful to my fifth grade teacher for introducing my class to the trio of Peter, Paul and Mary. In the fifth grade our teacher taught us the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. She also taught us other things that dealt with the arts so I gained an appreciation for drama and the oldies. We must have put on two or three plays that year, and I have had an appreciation for the arts ever since. But I digress, sorry. I’d be grateful to see Peter, Paul and Mary in concert, if they have not yet retired. I’d like to especially hear the song, “Leaving on a Jet Plane”. My appreciation of air craft is due to the fact that I grew ... read more

A reason to be happy Anniversaries are funny things aren’t they? To be completely honest I am not married nor do I have a girlfriend. However, anniversaries can accompany just about any event, I believe. For example next May I will be graduated fromLakesideLutheranHigh Schoolfor exactly 10 years. I have now been graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for two years. Think about your own life for a moment. If you are married or single like me, you have many events in your life that you mark with time. Latter you mark that period of time with an anniversary of some kind. Normally a person can ask you when you will celebrate your birthday. Well, there is only one day that is your actual birthday. That is when your mother gave you life. The rest of ... read more

The Final Countdown I imagine that the city of Paris, France is an impressive city. I can only imagine because I have never seen that city, by my parents and sister have. I can say with confidence though, that the Black Forest, or Schwartzwald, in Germany is beautiful. Even though I only spent three days there while I was in the Fourth Grade at Zwiebrucken Elementary School. Mount Rushmore in South Dakota is also an impressive site. I’ve seen it twice and I have the witnesses to support me. When I was eight years old Germany seemed more a prison than the place where I lived. Having been here in China for nine months I can now say there is a difference between visiting a place and living in one. While growing up in Germany I ... read more

Proverbs 20 years ago this summer my family was living in Germany for the second time because my father was still working for the United States Air Force. My parents took it upon themselves to instill in me an appreciation of the German culture that I was surrounded by. They did this by taking a trip to Bavaria, which lies in the south of Germany. They took the opportunity to take my sister and me to the famous Neuschwanstein (New-Schwan-Stine), which was on a high hill. After spending time there it was time to come down and get some dinner. The trip down was going alright until the last few steps for me. Loose gravel is perhaps my one known weakness. To this day I have the scar from that slip. An old Chinese proverb goes ... read more

Newsletter 29 By: R. Draeger Jr. Learning to say good-bye I remember exactly twenty years ago about this same month. My family had just relocated to what was then West Germany and we were only in our second month out of a total four years. I was not thrilled to be in this country, even though I was born in it eight years earlier. The one person that changed it was a young lady who had shoulder length brown hair and a nice smile. At Zweibrucken Elementary School we were in the same “Moonbeams” reading class. Even as a kid it was nice to have someone to talk to on the buss. This young lady, however, would be the first in a never ending process that is all too common with Military Brats. I do regret ... read more

R. Draeger Jr Never mind the white socks… When I was a kid my parents would often say, “We’ll get going after we see the weather report.” For good reason, because we lived in many places and the weather could have gone from good to bad in a matter of seconds. This is especially true in the State ofWisconsinwhere I lived for 9 years before coming toChina. It was said that if you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes and it will change. Since I am no meteorologist I cannot verify if that last statement is scientifically accurate. Much like Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam my ability to forecast the weather is much like, “Today it is hot and sticky. Tomorrow it will be also hot and sticky.” Well, in Dawukou it is ... read more

Rather late than never OR my return trip to Yinchuan. Part one… I know, I know. This newsletter is very late. At this point you may be wondering why this newsletter is latter than usual, and that is valid. Honestly I can think of a number of reasons why, but instead of doing that I’ll apologize. As this newsletter is in two parts I’ll begin with my story. So here we go! By way of autobiographical information my given Chinese name is “Yuan Hao Yun” or “Good Luck”. This was lovingly given by my adopted family in Chuzhou before this adventure took place. Latter you will realize the irony of this name, or you may think that it is the right name for me. My final day in Shanghai was a laid back and easy day. ... read more

R. Draeger Jr. Newsletter 23 The Kindness of Strangers or My Adopted Family This may come as a surprise to you but I am actually from Germany. Most people, except two, are surprised by this revelation. This is because I do not have the Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger "German-American" accent. Yes I know he is from Austria, but they speak German there. In the grand scheme of things the place of my birth does not mean much. The fact that I was born there means even less. I am, however, adopted. Not by the two people who raised me, but by my Chinese family in Chuzhou, Anhui Province, China (chew-joe/an whoyea). No, I do not look like a Chinese person, I stick out like a soar thumb. That did not stop my adopted Di-di's mother (ma-ma) and ... read more