Wehrheim, Germany

Jonas was kind enough to take me the airport for my flight to Frankfurt and this time around he took the direct route from my house to the International Terminal which was lovely (inside joke).  Unlike my departure for Nice, France earlier in the year, I was not fortunate enough to have a gate in the new F terminal and I had to catch a train to the old E terminal and walk about 3/4 of mile to my gate after checking-in.  I arrived just as they were announcing first class boarding and I walked right up and got on the plane.  While I had planned to get some rest on the 8 1/2 hour flight, there were so many good movie choices that I ended up staying awake the entire time.  We landed a bit early and I breezed through Customs as one of the first people off the plane.  I knew Megan wouldn't be there to pick me up right away since her son had "late" start to school that morning and our earlier arrival bumped up against that schedule.  I hit the ATM for some Euros, went to one of the benches in the arrivals area and continued with the great book I was reading, War Brides.  (I highly recommend it for those of you looking for a good Winter read!)  As if on cue, I looked at my watch at exactly 8:55 am and knew Megan would be pulling up to the curb any moment so I gathered my luggage and coat and headed outside.  Megan came running up to greet me and we headed off to Wehrheim.

Megan and I were neighbors in Winston-Salem, NC until she took a contract job working for Dell in Weisbaden, Germany in 1998.  To give her a proper send off, a group of us took a week long vacation to the Outer Banks the week before she left and I still remember all of us waving good-bye to her from the top deck of the house we rented when she had to leave a day early to catch her flight.  For some reason, it wasn't as sad as you'd expect because we all knew she was only planning on going for a year (2 at the most) and by going she was providing the rest of us a great (free) place to visit in Europe.  Off she went and as if she were a character in a romance novel, she went to a bar one night, met a nice Germany man (who offered her candy as his introduction), fell in love, got married, had 2 kids and never returned to the US except to visit.  Lucky for me, she and her husband, Christoph, are gracious hosts and welcome me into their home as often as I can fit a trip into my schedule.  Over the years we've enjoyed lots of visits, including a ski vacation in Switzerland aside from my normal visits to their house.

I love coming to Germany in the late Fall / early Winter because all of the Christmas Markets are in full swing and we can easily spend an entire day walking through them, shopping, enjoying delicious snacks and getting in the Christmas spirit.  This year was no exception.  Megan and I went to one Christmas Market on Saturday and another on Sunday - spending the entire day meandering our way up and down the vendor-lined streets.  While I didn't buy a single thing this year, I enjoyed every moment of catching up with Megan and taking in the sites.  We gathered ideas for things the kids could make their Dad for Christmas and showed them pictures of what we found when we got home.

Tree at the Hessenpark Christmas Market

The lifestyle of most people in Germany is quite different that that of most Americans and each time I come here I am reminded how much I enjoy it.  A few examples:  1) People aren't on a scheduled timetable.  In fact, we went to one store that I had hoped to return to later in the week only to be told that the store keeps irregular hours in the Winter.  If the weather was nice they might be open and if the weather wasn't nice they most certainly would be closed.  How great is that?  2) The main meal of the day is served at lunch time.  Rather than eating a large meal at night, right before bed they eat a large meal at midday so they can burn off the calories and energy in the afternoon/evening.  This seems so logical to me every time I visit.  3) Everyone is active.  There is very little TV watching or sitting around.  People are out and about doing things with their time.  I know, I know.  Plenty of Americans are active and doing things with their time, too.  It's still not the same vibe, however.  It's just the way of life here, the way of life for nearly everyone you encounter.

Megan had warned me that during the week we'd have very little time to do much by ourselves due to Bella (9) and Alex's (7) school schedule, sports practices and other activities and I was totally fine with that since my main purpose for visiting was to spend time with Megan and relax.  Even though we didn't fill our weekdays with glamorous activities like getting facials & massages while sipping champagne, we enjoyed running errands, grocery shopping, baking Christmas cookies, walking to/from town and around her neighborhood and most of all just talking to each other.

Bad Homburg Produce Market on Tuesday

Bella and Alex are growing up to be exceptional children and I continue to be impressed with their ability to jump from German to English seamlessly.  Megan speaks to them in English and Christoph in German which gives them plenty of practice with both languages.  I think they will be leaps and bounds ahead of their classmates when they are required to take English later on in their schooling.  :)

As I sit writing this, the cleaning woman is on the 2rd floor vacuuming, Megan is on the 1st floor giving English lessons to 2 boys from the neighborhood (which she does every Wednesdays), Alex is at soccer practice and the doorbell just rang indicating that Bella's carpool for gymnastics practice is here to pick her up.  It's a busy night at the Schwarz house and I am looking forward to dinner, perhaps a game of Monopoly and then putting my boots outside my bedroom door to see if Nikolaus fills them with candy and treats while I sleep.  (For those of you interested in learning more about the last part of that sentence, click here!)

I can't believe I am leaving for Oslo, Norway the day after tomorrow.  I am so excited to see Gitte and Morten, but sad to be leaving Germany already.  I'll let you know if Nikolaus brings me anything good in the next post.  Auf wiedersehen and gute nacht!