German Girl

What a lovely weekend. Saturday began with a trip to the Bothfeld Herbstmarkt. (Our town's fall market.) Both Kathi's kindergarten und Henrik's schule had booths; Ina had to contribute 4 batches of batter for the kindergarten's booth to sell fresh waffeln and stand at the Gartenheim Schule's booth for an hour selling kaffe und kuchen. I had been looking forward to the Kindergarten's waffeln since I learned about the Herbstmarkt, and after meeting the family weaved my way down Kurze-Kampe-Strasse to purchase a fresh waffle. Alas, the waffle was decent, but did not measure up to the waffles that have been tempting me in my dreams. I munched my waffle as Ina and I watched the Bothfeld Parade. The parade gave me my first tinge of WM-sickness, remembering how much fun the Homecoming Parades could be (and making me happy that I will be in Sardinia during Homecoming 05). Ina apologized profusely for the town's 'pathetic' parade and promised that Hannover can put on a good show, but perhaps Bothfeld cannot. I enjoyed the two 'marching bands,' troupe of cheerleaders from our local sportshall, and endless stream of cars covered in advertisements and throwing candy. I thought it was cute.

After a nap and a run, I made my way to Jane's house for dinner. Jane is the woman that I had picked out as American by her 'style' of shopping at the local VMarkt. I ran into her in church a few weeks ago and she invited me over for dinner. When I arrived at her house, we exchanged the usual pleasantries, 'What are you doing in Hannover?' 'Where are you from?' etc. When Jane said she was from Virginia, I told her that I was originally from New Jersey but had gone to college in VA--at William & Mary. She is a WM alum too! Class of '84. I was so pumped and nearly shrieked, 'Ohmygosh! Were you in a sorority? I am a Gamma Phi Beta.' I immediately felt like the ultimate stereotype, especially since she was not in a sorority. Whoops. She majored in Latin at WM then went to Italy as an au pair for 18 months, where she met her husband Marco. I told them that I am preparing to meet my husband Hans in Hannover :)

Before her husband was transferred, Jane and her family most recently lived in the New Orleans area. (Their old house is gone.) She decided to make a N'awlins (did I spell that right?) feast for us. We had gumbo and rice, followed by salad (they eat their courses in the Italian style). Then, we had a 'King Cake,' a dessert typically prepared in the weeks leading up to Mardis Gras. The host hides a baby (normally the Baby Jesus) in the cake and whoever finds it has to bring the King Cake to the next gathering. Jane's daughter Costanza found the baby in this cake, but she won a bag of gummi bears instead.

It was interesting to talk to them. Jane homeschools her children and they don't know a ton of German but can speak Italian. They have lived in Hannover for about 3 years and are aching to return to the states. Jane asked me if I had been harrassed about the war yet. Honestly, I haven't. Most likely because (1) I don't speak German, (2) I go everywhere with my host family and their friends are really nice, and (3) I tend to throw the first stones at the U.S. leaving Germans who talk to me with little ammunition. (I am proud to be American, but not-so-proud of the current state of our country.) I got the impression that this family was veryRepublican (they thought my story about the Matthew Whaley second grader calling French Fries 'freedom fries' was really sweet not really repulsive) so I tried to avoid any political talk. After dinner, we watched a little bit of CNN before I left. Can I tell you how little I miss American tv??? It is sooo nice to have a reprieve from the neverending onslaught of images, talking heads telling you how to think, the drive to create news 24/7. Ick. I read the NYTimes and of course I recognize that those articles have a bias as well, but I feel like it is easier to dissect the bias in the written word because you can really go back, reread, and contemplate the messages of the articles. I can really see myself not owning a tv when I return to the states.

I missed the last night of fireworks (summer is over, wahh!) but Lars informed me that they were not very good. Lars, Ina, and I watched part of Traffic, with Lars sitting in an armchair and Ina and I curled up on the couch. I offered to switch spots with Lars so he and Ina could hold hands on the couch and he said, 'Maybe I will have sex to her on the couch.' I turned red and informed him that you don't have sex 'to' someone, you have sex 'with' someone. Ina pressed on, 'Even if one partner is really active and the other one isn't doing much? Wouldn't that be having sex to someone?' I shook my head and blushed a little bit more, and she told me that I was a 'typical American.' I guess I am--it's not that I can't talk about sex, but more in a joking, curious fashion, not I-live-with-these-people-and-they-want-to-do-it-on-the-couch conversation.

The sex continued today when we went to the Sprenger Museum of Modern Art. There were rooms full of drawings of men and women pleasuring each other, often with very graphic messages inscribed on to the art. There was even a couple with videos--just of women's faces atop painted bodies, but the faces were obviously having a good time. There were some neat modern art displays, and some --eh-- but I guess you could say that for any period of art. The mayor of Hannover and the Governor of Lower Saxony (who could potentially be the next chancellor--looong story) were there for the opening of an exhibit. It was cool to sit on the terrace and sip a latte, enjoy the view of the nearby Maschsee, and watch tv anchors interview these politicians. The potential-chancellor is really cute, but also married. (I guess it wouldn't be a good political move to marry someone who doesn't speak the language of your country. Can you imagine an American First Lady saying 'No English' to the media in a heavily-accented voice?)

We had mittag essen at McDonald's--Henrik begged because McD's had released new happy meal toys. This was a McCafe and honestly reallllly nice. I sipped my eiskaffe and joked to Ina that we could make my day completely American by going to Wal-Mart after we finished eating, but she reminded me that stores are closed on Sundays. Oh Germany, keep trying to resist complete Americanization. ;-) (No seriously, resist, one America is enough.) My Sunday ended quietly. I prepped for my Uni course and enjoyed a wonderful 6 mile run. Ooohhhh endorphins. :) Tomorrow promises to be a completely ordinary day, made even more ordinary by the fact that Ina is out of town so I get to babysit all afternoon and into the early evening. :)