Reading about a friend's experiences have made me realize I've actually had a lot of nice interactions with random people here:
When I first arrived, I met a woman and her mother out by the apple orchard on top of the ridge above the city. She noticed my Target bag that I kept on my bike to keep the rain off my seat and asked me if I had been to the US recently. I told her I was from the US and she said she spend some time in California when she was at University. It was very brief and very simple, but it was a nice reassurance that things were ok here.
When I was in the hospital my roommate was a rather old man from far out in the country. I at first tried to ignore him, but soon we were talking about things and keeping each other company during the long hospital afternoons. He had his knee replaced and a few days before I did. He was from a totally different background and had an attitude that I probably would have found annoying if I had been with him longer, but at the time it was nice to have someone to talk to and we managed to get along in German quite well. It was one of those friendships sustained by mutual hardship, but it was nice at the time.
On the train coming home from Regensburg, I met two couples--the wives were sisters--who live in Bavaria but are from Hessen. They were in the handicapped car because one of the husbands had a broken arm. We had a lovely conversation about Germany and they made me eat some of the chocolate and crystallized ginger they had with them. I really enjoyed their company and we exchanged email addresses when I was leaving. I haven't emailed them, but next time I'm in Bavaria I might just....
The guy who cleans sometimes is from an African country and speaks both German and French. I try to talk to him whenever I see him.
I met a guy once on the bus and had a nice conversation about work and Germany. His son worked at a chemical factory and he was excited when I said I worked at the MPI. I think his son might have been there for some time. A lady who was sitting across from us chimed in several times. It so nice that people are ok talking to strangers on the bus. I wish I were more ok with initiating conversations though. Sigh.
9.10.08
Schwere Aufgabe
I can walk again!! That is, I can hobble with one crutch very very slowly. But this is a good sign. It means I can carry things easily about my apartment again. And perhaps I really will be cast free by next week. That is what the doctor said...
Speaking of walking, a timeline of my recovery:
Week 1: Accident, Surgery, and Pain. Before the surgery I was quite mobile for a day or two, but then what with drainage tubes and the painkiller pump that was attached literally at the hip, I lost a lot of mobility. Not to mention most everything was painful. The entire time my foot was very swollen and ugly looking.
Week 2: Recovery and release. I was let out from the hospital. No touching the foot to anything but pillows. Pain subsiding but not altogether gone. Lots of stomach shots for thromboses.
Week 3: Out and about. Lots of crutching about and standing around--foot barely on the ground. Still swollen during the day, but after a night of rest, not so much. Wounds still tender, but mostly healed.
Week 4: More of the same. Not much changing. No hospital visits so no idea how the wounds are doing. Almost full pressure results in some pain, but standing is not a problem.
Week 5: Wounds 90% healed and full pressure not terribly painful. Waiting game now.
Week 6: I can walk! Yay! Pin in my toe removed (more later) and doctor says a week until I can walk. One crutch walking not painful!
Speaking of walking, a timeline of my recovery:
Week 1: Accident, Surgery, and Pain. Before the surgery I was quite mobile for a day or two, but then what with drainage tubes and the painkiller pump that was attached literally at the hip, I lost a lot of mobility. Not to mention most everything was painful. The entire time my foot was very swollen and ugly looking.
Week 2: Recovery and release. I was let out from the hospital. No touching the foot to anything but pillows. Pain subsiding but not altogether gone. Lots of stomach shots for thromboses.
Week 3: Out and about. Lots of crutching about and standing around--foot barely on the ground. Still swollen during the day, but after a night of rest, not so much. Wounds still tender, but mostly healed.
Week 4: More of the same. Not much changing. No hospital visits so no idea how the wounds are doing. Almost full pressure results in some pain, but standing is not a problem.
Week 5: Wounds 90% healed and full pressure not terribly painful. Waiting game now.
Week 6: I can walk! Yay! Pin in my toe removed (more later) and doctor says a week until I can walk. One crutch walking not painful!
Familiezeit
Time with family is always special. Somehow even if you don't really know each other that well and you only share a great-great-great-5x-great-grandfather, knowing people are family makes being with them more special. Last weekend was a great reconnection time for me and mom with all my family here in Deidesheim. It's been about 10 years now since I first visited in 8th grade. Everyone was saying how they couldn't recognize me at all and how much I'd changed and such. Weird because I don't remember much at all, and what I do remember felt like it hadn't changed one bit. I need to break out the old pictures from then and see what people looked like back then. I just don't want to see myself...
Anna and I with our similar Gehhilfe. Next to my shoulder is the crest of Deidesheim with red and blue and two gold stars. Anna is the Funk family member and we are some kind of cousin 5 or 6 times removed. I need to make a chart of everyone...
Willi and I after dinner. Willi is now over 80, but still as young at heart as any 20 year-old. His German is impossible to understand though. More on Pfälzisch later...
Anna and mom pouring over photos from their 1992 trip to the U.S. to visit my grandfather. I barely remember them coming. I vaguely remember reassurances that German was just like English and you can understand it if you listen carefully. SO NOT TRUE.
More family members. I can't keep track of them all. They were all very nice though and I'll figure them out at Christmas probably.
Me, Lydia, and Franz. Lydia is Anna and Willi's daughter and Franz is her husband. I coordinated most everything with them as they are the only easily reachable with internet and we have long connections back with them. Lydia speaks very good English and really helped out
translating (which I have a hard time doing despite being able to understand (most) everything.
As I said, I'm going back for Christmas (or New Years, I have to visit the French family too!) and I'm sure there will be much more about family then!
Anna and I with our similar Gehhilfe. Next to my shoulder is the crest of Deidesheim with red and blue and two gold stars. Anna is the Funk family member and we are some kind of cousin 5 or 6 times removed. I need to make a chart of everyone...
Willi and I after dinner. Willi is now over 80, but still as young at heart as any 20 year-old. His German is impossible to understand though. More on Pfälzisch later...
Anna and mom pouring over photos from their 1992 trip to the U.S. to visit my grandfather. I barely remember them coming. I vaguely remember reassurances that German was just like English and you can understand it if you listen carefully. SO NOT TRUE.
More family members. I can't keep track of them all. They were all very nice though and I'll figure them out at Christmas probably.
Me, Lydia, and Franz. Lydia is Anna and Willi's daughter and Franz is her husband. I coordinated most everything with them as they are the only easily reachable with internet and we have long connections back with them. Lydia speaks very good English and really helped outtranslating (which I have a hard time doing despite being able to understand (most) everything.
As I said, I'm going back for Christmas (or New Years, I have to visit the French family too!) and I'm sure there will be much more about family then!
Im Prinzip...
Generalities ahead!
Germans are very idealistic thinkers. They think about everything as it should be were everything to proceed according to plan and schedule. This kind of thinking causes them to the use the phrase, "Im Prinzip..." or "In principle..." very often. It might be their favorite phrase after Alles klar and Alles in Ordnung. It is not uncommon at all for every few sentences from a German to begin with this phrase. And it lets other Germans know that they are well prepared and thinking logically (Logisch!) with the side benefit of providing insurance for them when something doesn't go according to the plan: Im Prinzip, es sollte geklappt haben. (In principle, it should have worked.)
Germans are very idealistic thinkers. They think about everything as it should be were everything to proceed according to plan and schedule. This kind of thinking causes them to the use the phrase, "Im Prinzip..." or "In principle..." very often. It might be their favorite phrase after Alles klar and Alles in Ordnung. It is not uncommon at all for every few sentences from a German to begin with this phrase. And it lets other Germans know that they are well prepared and thinking logically (Logisch!) with the side benefit of providing insurance for them when something doesn't go according to the plan: Im Prinzip, es sollte geklappt haben. (In principle, it should have worked.)
8.10.08
Zurück in der Aktion
Back in action I am! Sort of.
I'll try to get back into this. It will be a pain at first, but I think it's good.
My latest adventure: visiting the Family home in Deidesheim, a little village near Mannheim. While we were there we visited also Heidelberg and got to see the castle and old town there (we = my mother and I). The town is amazingly pretty and clearly very old. It's also quite touristy, which is a big change from Göttingen. It's very strange to be walking through a German city and to hear American English being spoken by someone other than you. Even here at the institute, I'm the only American in my department, so it would be strange there too. And I mostly listen to Italian, French, or German radio so none there.
Heidelberg is very charming and has a nice main street flanked by alleys and quieter areas. The entire city is in a valley carved out by the Neckar river which flows through the city. The old area is therefore much more condensed than in Göttingen.
The hills surrounding are perches for the rich and famous--mainly university professors and doctors and other professionals I think. There are some very nice looking houses in the forests on the other side of the river from the city and the castle.
The castle courtyard is quite pretty, and most parts have been partially or completely renovated. There were several wells and many fountains throughout the grounds. Because it is below the hills, I suppose they are fed by springs. The entire place was nice, but challenging on crutches.
I'll try to get back into this. It will be a pain at first, but I think it's good.
My latest adventure: visiting the Family home in Deidesheim, a little village near Mannheim. While we were there we visited also Heidelberg and got to see the castle and old town there (we = my mother and I). The town is amazingly pretty and clearly very old. It's also quite touristy, which is a big change from Göttingen. It's very strange to be walking through a German city and to hear American English being spoken by someone other than you. Even here at the institute, I'm the only American in my department, so it would be strange there too. And I mostly listen to Italian, French, or German radio so none there.
Heidelberg is very charming and has a nice main street flanked by alleys and quieter areas. The entire city is in a valley carved out by the Neckar river which flows through the city. The old area is therefore much more condensed than in Göttingen.
The hills surrounding are perches for the rich and famous--mainly university professors and doctors and other professionals I think. There are some very nice looking houses in the forests on the other side of the river from the city and the castle.
The castle courtyard is quite pretty, and most parts have been partially or completely renovated. There were several wells and many fountains throughout the grounds. Because it is below the hills, I suppose they are fed by springs. The entire place was nice, but challenging on crutches.
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