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Published: October 6th 2005
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Hmmmmm....
Reminds me somewhat of the house landing on the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz, but it's actually my sister attempting to get out :0) Ten years ago I first set foot in this tiny place wondering how I could survive a week, let alone an entire year. My request to be placed with a family in the former DDR for my exchange year had been granted, but the old proverb of “Be careful what you wish for…” was running through my head as we rolled down one of only five streets in town to my new home. Forget looking for this place on any but the most detailed maps of Brandenburg; the village of Brunow’s two hundred some inhabitants generally don’t warrant mention among cartographers. But this completely off-the-beaten-path spot in one of Europe’s highly touristed countries now holds a charm for me that is hard to match in any other locale, for it is here that I not only gained a second family but also learned to see the world from a different perspective, and it is where I developed my love for travel.
To be honest, writing a blog about Brunow seems a little silly, since it is so ingrained in my sense of “home” that it really doesn’t enter into my ideas of travel any longer; however, it occurred to me
Heckelberg and Brunow
The village horse posterchildren that my closest friends have heard me talk about my other family and other home for years now without ever really seeing pictures of either, so here is my chance to do so. (Well, and of course there is that little fact that my host family follows my blog and made me promise to put Brunow on the map!) :0)
Village life in Brunow remains pretty much the same…. Sheep graze in the pastures, tractors plow the fields, and villagers roll leisurely along on bicycles to take in an afternoon coffee with the neighbors down the road. The old reddish brick and stone church looms over the other more frequently visited town landmark, the tavern, and the same man still provides gossip material as the village drunk as he struggles to steer his bicycle safely home after each visit. Conversation stops whenever a car passes, either to do the Hello nod or to wrinkle the brow with curiosity at the unknown face treading on their territory. Weekends sometimes bring cars with Berlin plates, the city-dwellers fleeing down the road lined with Mirabella plum trees to one of the many little lakes in the woods. And at night, the real
highlight of Brunow is showcased: with fields all around and no city lights nearby to hinder its magnificance, the observer is treated to unbelievable stargazing. Since 1995, there are perhaps a few more houses, an extra street sign or two, and the abundant apple trees outside each home have grown, but otherwise it all looks identical. It’s good to see some things never change.
What did surprise me, however, is how much the surrounding areas seem to have developed over the last decade. When I first arrived, we spent nearly all our free time in pursuit of activities in Berlin, and to be honest, many of the surrounding towns and smaller cities nearby seemed gloomy and a bit desolate due to a large number of poorly maintenanced buildings of the DDR time that were still standing in crumbling form. I should have realized that the “fleissig” hard-work ethic of the Ossis would transform this area, but it would have been hard to imagine how quaint and cute it has become. Old farmhouses have been polished up with a little elbow grease and colorful gardens, downtown streetfronts have gotten makeovers with wrought iron streetlights and cobblestone sidewalks, and the flourishing
of local recreation opportunities has made the area a delight to explore. In fact, except for my flying into and out of Berlin, we had little time to bother with going into the city when there were so many options to choose from: hydrobiking, canoeing, railroad track biking, swimming, log rafting trips, and my new favorite, the Familiengarten in Eberswalde, which is a huge Harry Potter-esque park that kids from age 1 to 101 can play in.
Other than that, it’s been a relaxing two and a half weeks gabbing with family and friends over lots of grill evenings, popping open bottles from Vati’s wine cellar, helping out with odds and ends for the building of Jessie & Christian’s house, and finally mastering a genuine appreciation for the utter quiet and inactivity of a place my family once referred to as “the ass of the world.”
(Nochmal vielen dank fuer alles meine Lieben! Es war SO schoen wieder zu Hause zu sein und ich kann es kaum erwarten bis wir uns naechstes Jahr wiedersehen! Schoene Gruesse auch an alle die ich kenne, und seid lieb umarmt von Eurer jennimaus…Knutsch, knutsch!! XXX)
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Stephen Paul
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
short and sweet
every picture with exception of the last two is a fairytale in its own rite! You write pretty good blogs too. :)