I learned today that my mother is the youngest of 11 children. I have eight German uncles and two German aunts. I already knew this, but, one of those uncles is still missing from World War II; he never came home after his troop left for Russia (I have another uncle who was in World War II and was a POW for six years, but he is related by marriage.) Coincidently, I have a German uncle named Adolf....
The funeral itself was different from an American one. For starters, the church where the funeral was held in was in a cemetery. The graveyards over here are beautiful (I know, weird). The graves don't just have a tombstone on it with the bodies' name along with the date of birth and death; the tombstones are a work of art. If I brought my camera, I would have taken pictures (but it's awkward to bring them to a funeral). The actual grave is outlined with stones so it is more personal, if you will, so the family can plant their flowers or whatever.
After the funeral, I met one of my cousins. Thankfully, she knows how to speak American. We talked for a little while at a little cafe where the "after party" was held. Now when you think of European cafes, you think of people sitting at a small table wearing funny hats and eating some sort of pastry on a small plate. Along with the pastry, you have a tiny cup of coffee that you set on an even smaller plate. The table has a checkered table cloth and on the table cloth you have a small vase with flowers in it.
That is exactly what they are over here.
Tina (the cousin who can speak American) and I were just chitt-chatten and were getting to know each other. Apparently she owns a shop that sells butcher knifes (weird right?). She was very helpful though. She would point out everyone and told me what relation they are to me. She also told me that I was the first child of Ellens' that she had met. I found that pretty interesting because she is around the same age as my brothers and sister. She also went off and told me how she hates how the family doesn't stay in contact with each other, unless it's a funeral. I agree. I had no idea about that whole side of the family, I would love to know more. It's just tough because they are pretty much all older than me and I don't know how to speak German and they don't know how to speak American.
After a while, I could tell that the rest of the family was just staring at me and asking each other, "Who the hell is that American ?" Tina told me that they were all family and I shouldn't be afraid. Right after she told me that, she broke the news that she was leaving.
Great. Now who the hell was I going to talk to?
So there I was, with no one. My mom was off speaking Deutsch and I had no idea what was going on. When I came back to the cafe after grabbing my jacket from Tina's car, I found Big-E talking to the same people that were staring at me. They, for some reason, were impressed with me because I graduated from an American college (I just wish they could of seen where I graduated; it might of changed their minds). They also asked if I was in the military. Hell no. Does it look like I'm in the military?
Germany is rather different then America. On the way home from the cafe, I noticed that a lot of Germans drive either BMW's, Mercedes, or Audis. All three of those are made here in Germany, not a lot of foreign cars are driven around here. I did, thankfully, see a Chevy being driven. I also saw a Ford broken down on the side of the road (big surprise). The fact that Germans only drive those three types of vehicles though speaks about the national pride. Something that America doesn't really have right now. Granted, Detroit is finally starting to make cars again so maybe that will change things.
The scenery in German is beautiful. There are giant business buildings and then tiny shops are mixed in between. So far in my travels, I've noticed that the sidewalks are kept up well; none of them are cracking or are in terrible shape. Everyone is either walking or riding a bicycle. This is something I like. You can really tell the shape of a city by looking at their sidewalks. You don't really have that in America. Everyone is driving and all of the sidewalks are in terrible shape (well, atleast in Utica).
Tomorrow I'm supposed to go shopping in the town I'm in. I'm in Dotzheim, where ever the hell that is. I can't wait to check out the cigar shops that are in town, I should get some good-quality ones. I'll post pictures tomorrow. Wish me luck.
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