Guten Morgen!

As the plane drew closer to the ground, Paul and Jen peered out the tiny window at the lush green landscape below. Brown trees with bushy green tops, white farm houses with rusty-colored roofs, patchwork fields in every shade from brown to green; these traits were all so familiar and yet they had become but a fantasy living in the dessert.

Tears swelled up in Jen's eyes - maybe because she hadn't slept on the red-eye flight, but probably at the beauty of it all. Either way, this felt like home. So unfamiliar, yet surprisingly like home.

Through sleepy eyes Jen looked out the window on train ride into the city spotting cornfields and quaint houses all around. In every stop she could see the mid-West and in every person she met Wisconsin.  The trains were much more modern and rider-friendly than Jen had ever experienced or imagined. Coming out of the fourth stop on the U4 line, Jen quickly found herself and her traveling companions on the map and led the short trek to the apartment.

 

"Call 30 minutes before you arrive," were the instructions given by the proprietor.  They had been looking for a pay phone for the last 45 minutes and had now arrived at their destination 2 hours late and without calling ahead.  As Paul and Jen's dad scanned the sidewalks for a phone, Jen marched into a pub...not for a drink, to use the phone.

 

"Guten morgen!" The most delightful women in a traditional dress smiled from behind the bar. (She was behind the bar serving beer and breakfast to 3 men who were clearly from the neighborhood.)  Lets just come right out and say it... "I'm lost.  Where am I?  Do you know where this apartment is? Oh...Can I use your telephone?  Thanks...I'm at um.....Could you help me?"  The woman who will forever represent Germany in my memory took the phone back from me and spoke in just as friendly German to the woman on the line.  "She'll meet you outside in just a minute."  Ah!  Bitte!

 

For our three days in Germany this kind woman and her neighborhood pub welcomed us in as locals.  Everyday we would stop in to say hi...and maybe have a beer...and she would be just as friendly and welcoming as the first time.  After a full day at Oktoberfest we unanimously decided to stop in at our neighborhood pub (literally just across the street from our "home") and enjoyed a delicious schnitzel and large glasses of water.  Jen remembers this dinner so fondly that she led the group back for a final meal at the pub before heading to the airport. (As a parting gift she gave us free beers and a book! In my mind it is because she is so nice, but maybe we left larger tips than we thought....)

From the moment the plane began its decent until the moment Germany faded into the distance, I loved it.  The colors, the food, the cold weather, the architecture, the people...there isn't a thing that I didn't love and even thinking of it now I start to tear up.  Germany reminded us of how clean and lively a environment and a city can be.  It reminded us that food can make you feel warm and that even architecture can feel welcoming.  It reminded us that strangers can be friendly and that there is a relaxing and enjoyable side to life that isn't tainted by sand, grunge or religious/ethnic tensions. It reminded us of how much we love and miss our families and friends, the places they live and the times we share with them.