Hanging with the natives

---

The last three days have been very nice, slow days. In fact the days have been so slow it isn't worth writing up each day individually so I will lump them together here.

I have had a chance to simply hang out with Kris, Thom and family, and see a little bit of daily life in Germany. Well, ok. To be completely fair, I am not sure that Kris and Thom represent "native" Germany since they live in Army housing and spend much of their day interacting with English speakers rather than German speakers, but it has still be a nice experience.

Sunday we drove about 45 minutes from Weisbaden to the town of Schollkrippen where we visited the Brauhaus Barbarossa. This restaurant/brewery was recommended by one of Thom's German employees and it was a nice chance to just relax and drink a couple of beers. The beer was quite tasty (they always have a Helles beer on tap and then a seasonal, which right now was a beer sweetened with honey) and the food wasn't too bad either. Of course, being European we had to stop for an ice cream cone before returning to Weisbaden.

Monday, I ran some errands with Kris to the PX and the like, and in the afternoon we went for a walk to Beirstadt ("Beer City") which basically is across the street from their housing complex. This town recently celebrated its 1075 year anniversary as a city (yes, you read that correctly. They trace their way back to the beginning of the 900s AD) where we enjoyed the stroll, looking in stores, and of course, an ice cream cone.

That evening we were invited to a birthday party/picnic by their friend Robert. In Germany it is customary for you to treat everyone else to a party on your birthday. Robert is a native German who lives just a few doors away from Thom's Uncle Klaus. The party was actually at the house of a third neighbor who had recently celebrated his wedding anniversary and still had the large tent set up in the yard. The food was typical German picnic food I would assume - assorted potato, lettuce and kraut salads served along side grilled bratwurst and sausages. Oh, and of course wine and beer to drink. As Kris pointed out, Germans don't picnic the way we would. Not a paper plate or plastic utensil in sight. Real stoneware. Real silverware. Real glass steins from which to drink beer. Many of the people in attendance spoke English, so for a while the conversation slipped back and forth from German to English depending on who started things. While I can't "speak" much German, I was surprised at how well I followed the conversation even when it is in German. It gave a me a sense of what several of my Russian colleagues must have felt like while there. While there was often a translator present, that person frequently translated only Russian to English rather than the other way around. I think after you have a little exposure to a language (which I have had with German, and my Russian colleagues have had with English) it is easy to understand it when spoken to you, but not as easy to respond properly.

Today, Kris and the kids and I drove to the town of Meinz, which lies between Frankfurt and Wiesbaden right on the Rhine river. We walked around through the pedestrian part of town - an interesting mix of "old" and new. I use the term "old" because even much of the older buildings in town are only 60 or so years old. Thom told me the story of Meinz towards the end of WWII. Evidently Meinz put up quite a bit of resistance to the Americans toward the end of the war, including some assaults on a captured airman(men) if I recall the story correctly. Because of this, American bombers would often "Save one for Meinz" when they went off on bombing runs, dropping one last bomb on Meinz regardless of the original target. Because of this, little in Meinz is truly old (compared to Beirstadt). For dinner on this, my last day in Germany, we went to a brew pub not far from their home and had some tasty beer, and one of the nicer German dinners I have had yet.

Tomorrow, it is time to wrap up this trip and head home. While I have enjoyed things immensely, I am ready to return to my family.

---