Ketchup, Part I

DEUTSCHLAND

So, where'd I leave off? I got to Germany, met my relatives, and became a fan of handball.

Oh, I also mentioned having a picture hidden in my camera of the mountains near Beijing. I took the photo before having an external memory card, so I had to get around to bothering to retrieve it.

 It's taken from the plane, but you can still tell how gorgeous the mountains are.

Alrighty, up to speed. Well, I was in Germany for about two and a half weeks. Most of that time, I stayed at the house. It was really awesome. It was important to me to just be with my oma and Jurgen after 20 years apart. And it was winter and my grandmother is 85. She bops around the house quite a bit but she can neither stand nor sit for too long--her knees are bad.

Isn't she gorgeous?

Jurgen and I went to the store together and had an outing with his girlfriend Sylvia and Croatian buddy, Robbie (who had the most English) in Ludwigsburg. We window shopped (with a dash of actual shopping) and then stopped at little restaurant where we ate SCHNITZEL AS BIG AS YER HEAD. What was that? Oh, it was just SCHNITZEL AS BIG AS YER HEAD. (Oh, did I mention that the food in Germany is amazing? Because it is. The best bread in the world. I dare you to argue that. More on the food in a bit.) I went on a few walks and Oma came along once to visit the clinic where I was born and to stop at a farm and buy GIANT, fresh eggs (all of which had double yolks. Oma was stoked and I was a little creeped out). Oh, and I was dropped off in Heilbronn for a few hows to study Killian's Church.

I've been having trouble drawing from life for extended periods, so it was a great chance to force myself to stay put. The architecture was mind blowing and I didn't even go inside. At some point, I'll wrangle together: pictures of my study from that day, the panel I designed based on those architectural elements, the panel I actually made, and the piece I'm working on now based on the same study.

The rest of the time, I watch soaps with Oma and handball with Jurgen and Sylvia. We looked at photos, asked each other tons of questions, and ATE TERRIFICALLY. The second week, I took notes on my teaching theory materials and finished planning the panels for my art show. I would have felt like a jerk working on stuff if I had been bopping all over Deutschland every minute. It was slow and comfortable and good. We chatted and I helped around the house and it was super precious.

Juergen and Sylvia

After a few days in the country, my German came back a bit and after a few more, I could distinguish Schwäbisch (the regional accent) from Hochdeutsch (German's standard dialect). Jurgen has some English and can put together sentences, but while kind and hilarious, he had no patience for me, language-wise. He didn't slow down, he wouldn't repeat himself, and when I reached for my dictionary, he'd tell me not to worry about it. But Oma was wonderful with me! She can't put together sentences, but she has a giant vocabulary, she spoke simply, and she went for my dictionary about as often as I did. At one point, I was whistling "Hänschen Klein," a song I didn't know the name of at the time, nor did I realize was German. Oma was sad to find out that I didn't know the words anymore (guilt pang!), but she taught them to me and we translated the lyrics together. We had a cute moment when I translated "Hänschen" ("Little Hans") to "Little Chicken" ("Hähnchen").

So around day three or four, my oma made it pretty apparent that she wanted/expected me to move to Germany. Juergen acknowledged that I don't “shit money” and it was good to work where I could get out of debt slowly rather than get into more quickly. At the same time, he mentioned I could stay in their spare room and work with his girlfriend at a local grocery store. NOW, it was nice to be loved and missed and accepted right off as almost a complete stranger. I even had a small(ish) fear that Oma and Juergen might resent me for the way things turned out 20 years ago when my dad and I left, despite the fact that I was a 4-year-old. HOWEVER, this felt really sudden and intense and as if life weren't my own anymore. (pang! pang! pang!)

All that being said, I might go get my MFA in Germany. Dunno. Not nearly there yet.

The Food.

German breakfast was the stuff of dreams. Fresh, amazing bread, sausages, jams, nutella, marzipan bread, cheese, liverwurst, and the world's best mustard. Sometimes, soft-boiled eggs. SOOOO GOOD. And dinners were delicious, home-made German food. MADE BY MY GRANDMOTHER. Sauerkraut and tiny chickens. Bread balls and pot roast. Oh. Man.

Oma's schnitzel with fries and special sauce

Onion Quiche

NO LONGER ABOUT FOOD.

 My Oma gave this doll. He's a little sandman. He has a pull-chord and plays a pretty tune. Oma bought it for me when I was 6. Heart warming/breaking. I play his little song every night. His name is Schnitz.

So, the take home message is Germany is beautiful, the trip was wonderful, I love my German family, and I hope to visit again soon. ^^

For more Germany pictures, click on my online photo album [ here ].