Today was Holli’s first day back at school. He is taken a 3-month long International welder course. He showed me the 5 very large manuals needed for the course. I opened a random page and found some sort of bizarre algebraic expressions. This is welding?
So Holli was up and out the door before Liz and I got up. He was going to try to get out of class as soon as he could. I slowly awoke and worked a little on my blog and chatted with Joni online for a bit. Holli called about 11:00 and said he could be home by 1:00.
Once Holli arrived, and after a quick lunch of bread, meat and cheese, we left to take a self-guided tour of Moenchengladbach. Holli had grown up in this town. It used to be 2 different towns but for ease of finances and politics, both cities merged created the current Moenchanbladbach. Not everyone was happy about it. According the Holli and Liz, there is still a mildly heated rivalry between the 2 cities. Some still fail to recognize it.
As we drove through the city, Holli pointed out schools he attended, places he used to hang out at and even the town hall where he was married and divorced. He talked about a recent successful campaign the city recently started boosting the awareness of the children of the city and their city. He said since the campaign the number of children hurt or killed on the road has dropped significantly.
I also finally confessed that Germans were not as rude as I had heard.
“What do you mean by that?” asked Liz.
I told her I had heard for several sources and via the internet that Germans were often thought of as rude or depressed people. They seemed a little surprised at that. Liz did say that Germans do like to complain a lot; anything from the weather to politics. But I told them, truthfully, that every single German I encountered seemed very happy and friendly.
We walked to the huge stone water tower that sat in the middle of town. We weren’t able to go inside but we did get to walk around it. Holli explained the water tower was still in use. Even though the outside of the tower looked like the original from perhaps several hundred years ago, that inside contained the latest in technology, provide water for a good part of the town. The streets seemed very clean and organized. Everywhere you look there are bike lanes, usually mark in red. People generally seemed happy to share the roads with bikers and pedestrians. We did see one incident where a car and bicycle did collide. The woman on the bike was not hurt and the man driving the car got and made sure she was alright before continuing.
We walked around a large, old Nunnery that had beautiful architecture. I tried to take lots of photos and videos. We looked at looks of old building, city walls and parks. Holli said his town was nothing like Cologne or Paris. But I thought his town was very beautiful.
We also walked around downtown at some of the more modern shops. I couldn’t help but notice all of the bakeries there were. It seems there is a bakery on every block, always displaying amazing breads, rolls, cakes and pies.
I decided I wanted a German t-shirt. So the quest began.
Holli would often times say something in German and then try to translate it literally in English for me. We found that there are so many phrases that are common in both languages, like “What part of no don’t you understand?” or “breaking the ice.” We also discovered that our sense of humor was very similar, or “on the same frequency.” Sometimes the humor was sarcastic, which if fun if not used too often. That was a part of Korean that was difficult. There are many times when nothing but a sarcastic comment would be perfect for certain situations. But I could just not ever make it work in Korean.
Julia, Holli’s daughter, had been excited about meeting me. I was really wanting to meet her as well. We picked her up at her mother’s house. She presented me was a drawing she had done for me. It was a picture of a house and a tree with 3 figures drawn on it. One of those figures was me. From there we went to Holli’s mom’s house. This is the place where Holli grew up. He was able to point out the different places he had known growing up. It was an area that at one time had lots of fields and places for a small boy to play. It had, for the most part, been built up with many new neighborhoods.
Mom’s place was very clean and tidy with lots of figures, pictures and other assorted “dust collectors” as Holli put it. In the Living Room sat a huge, wooden shelf/bookcase/entertainment center. It was beautiful. Holli said she didn’t like it. It took up too much room and wanted to get rid of it. I joked and said I would take it. He said I could have it. We even discussed the possibility of shipping it, depending on the cost. I told he I would pay up to $500 to ship it. I am sure it would cost more than that.
We ate a delicious meal of pork chops, potatoes and red sauerkraut. It was very good and filling. Holli’s mom seemed pleased that I enjoyed it. She knew as much English as I did German, or maybe even a little less, if that’s possible. So we didn’t talk much except for a few translations of “It was great to meet you” and “thanks for the great meal.” I actually used the international sign language for yummy by rubbing my tummy. It worked. Holli’s niece also joined us for dinner. She was about 13 years old and seemed very kind and ready to help her grandma and cousin any way she could.
Holli took me on a short tour of the house and pointed out all the different metal pieces his father had made while he was alive. He made things from clocks to picture frames, all made out of metal. It looked like copper, mostly. But he did great work. Holli’s father had been a metal smith and loved his job. But he was laid off from the company he worked.
So Holli was up and out the door before Liz and I got up. He was going to try to get out of class as soon as he could. I slowly awoke and worked a little on my blog and chatted with Joni online for a bit. Holli called about 11:00 and said he could be home by 1:00.
Once Holli arrived, and after a quick lunch of bread, meat and cheese, we left to take a self-guided tour of Moenchengladbach. Holli had grown up in this town. It used to be 2 different towns but for ease of finances and politics, both cities merged created the current Moenchanbladbach. Not everyone was happy about it. According the Holli and Liz, there is still a mildly heated rivalry between the 2 cities. Some still fail to recognize it.
As we drove through the city, Holli pointed out schools he attended, places he used to hang out at and even the town hall where he was married and divorced. He talked about a recent successful campaign the city recently started boosting the awareness of the children of the city and their city. He said since the campaign the number of children hurt or killed on the road has dropped significantly.
I also finally confessed that Germans were not as rude as I had heard.
“What do you mean by that?” asked Liz.
I told her I had heard for several sources and via the internet that Germans were often thought of as rude or depressed people. They seemed a little surprised at that. Liz did say that Germans do like to complain a lot; anything from the weather to politics. But I told them, truthfully, that every single German I encountered seemed very happy and friendly.
We walked to the huge stone water tower that sat in the middle of town. We weren’t able to go inside but we did get to walk around it. Holli explained the water tower was still in use. Even though the outside of the tower looked like the original from perhaps several hundred years ago, that inside contained the latest in technology, provide water for a good part of the town. The streets seemed very clean and organized. Everywhere you look there are bike lanes, usually mark in red. People generally seemed happy to share the roads with bikers and pedestrians. We did see one incident where a car and bicycle did collide. The woman on the bike was not hurt and the man driving the car got and made sure she was alright before continuing.
We walked around a large, old Nunnery that had beautiful architecture. I tried to take lots of photos and videos. We looked at looks of old building, city walls and parks. Holli said his town was nothing like Cologne or Paris. But I thought his town was very beautiful.
We also walked around downtown at some of the more modern shops. I couldn’t help but notice all of the bakeries there were. It seems there is a bakery on every block, always displaying amazing breads, rolls, cakes and pies.
I decided I wanted a German t-shirt. So the quest began.
Holli would often times say something in German and then try to translate it literally in English for me. We found that there are so many phrases that are common in both languages, like “What part of no don’t you understand?” or “breaking the ice.” We also discovered that our sense of humor was very similar, or “on the same frequency.” Sometimes the humor was sarcastic, which if fun if not used too often. That was a part of Korean that was difficult. There are many times when nothing but a sarcastic comment would be perfect for certain situations. But I could just not ever make it work in Korean.
Julia, Holli’s daughter, had been excited about meeting me. I was really wanting to meet her as well. We picked her up at her mother’s house. She presented me was a drawing she had done for me. It was a picture of a house and a tree with 3 figures drawn on it. One of those figures was me. From there we went to Holli’s mom’s house. This is the place where Holli grew up. He was able to point out the different places he had known growing up. It was an area that at one time had lots of fields and places for a small boy to play. It had, for the most part, been built up with many new neighborhoods.
Mom’s place was very clean and tidy with lots of figures, pictures and other assorted “dust collectors” as Holli put it. In the Living Room sat a huge, wooden shelf/bookcase/entertainment center. It was beautiful. Holli said she didn’t like it. It took up too much room and wanted to get rid of it. I joked and said I would take it. He said I could have it. We even discussed the possibility of shipping it, depending on the cost. I told he I would pay up to $500 to ship it. I am sure it would cost more than that.
We ate a delicious meal of pork chops, potatoes and red sauerkraut. It was very good and filling. Holli’s mom seemed pleased that I enjoyed it. She knew as much English as I did German, or maybe even a little less, if that’s possible. So we didn’t talk much except for a few translations of “It was great to meet you” and “thanks for the great meal.” I actually used the international sign language for yummy by rubbing my tummy. It worked. Holli’s niece also joined us for dinner. She was about 13 years old and seemed very kind and ready to help her grandma and cousin any way she could.
Holli took me on a short tour of the house and pointed out all the different metal pieces his father had made while he was alive. He made things from clocks to picture frames, all made out of metal. It looked like copper, mostly. But he did great work. Holli’s father had been a metal smith and loved his job. But he was laid off from the company he worked.
He also took us around through the garden behind his mother’s place. She created a beautiful garden with lots of plants and flowers and decorations. It was obvious she took great pride in her garden and worked hard at making it look immaculate. Down the block laid a community garden. It wasn’t actually owned or run by the community, but folks would buy these little plots of land and make gardens out of them. Each one of just as beautiful as the last. Holli’s father had played a big role in establishing this particular garden and showed us the little plot they had once owned. He should me the little garden shed with all the metal work his father had done. I asked how much these plots went for. Sounds like they go anywhere from $2,000-$10,000.
Heading back to the house Holli stopped and showed me his garage his mother rents. Holli uses it for a workshop, storage unit and placed to work on cars. He pulled a little German flag down that was pinned on one of the cupboard and handed it to me. I thought it was so cool. Getting a flag like that was so much better than going out and buying one. He also dug through some old beer bottles that he used to collect and gave one to me. It was aluminum with a cork-like glass top. He also modeled his potato gun that he had manufactured from some plans he had found. Apparently these potato guns were illegal, along with the plans themselves.
We said good bye to Holli’s mother and niece, Sarah, and took Julia back home. It was wonderful meeting his family. Like Liz, Holli’s family was also great. Good people!
Holli’s friend, Marcus, called and said he was like to meet up with us at a local pub. Marcus is one of Holli’s best friends and we had actually exchanged a couple emails before my trip. So I was anxious to meet him too.
We met up in the “night life” section of the town in a heavy metal bar decorated with lots of goth kind of things; skulls, black walls and grotesque faces hanging on the wall. For the most part the pub was empty and comfortable. I ordered a coke while we waited for Marcus to show.
Marcus turned out to be a very nice fellow. We talked quite a bit about his experiences in the US and about his job, etc. He’s a banker and would like to eventually immigrate to either New York or Toronto. He is good friends with all the band members and said when Rising Glory becomes famous, he will handle their finances.
The band’s bass player’s girlfriend, Pascalli, showed up a while later. She walked into the room and Holli ran to her and gave her a big hug. Feeling silly I jumped up and ran to her as well and gave her a hug like we had known each other for years. She played along with it.
There was this crystal ball held in the hands of a fortune teller hanging on the wall. Holli said there was a condom machine in the men’s room that whenever someone bought a condom, the light in the crystal ball would turn on. After a while I excused myself and headed for the restroom. Sure enough, there was the condom machine. I put in my 2 Euro and selection a “Billy Boy” condom. I walked out of the bathroom declaring, “There is candy for sale in the bathroom.” Everyone got a good chuckle as the ball on the wall glowed. After a couple more drinks, Marcus and I exchange email addresses and we headed for home.
Another great day!
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