the blue blog archives: so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye

We said goodbye to Germany this week. We had a really wonderful vacation this year and the boys were particularly sad to have to leave their grandparents' special little place in the world. Here are a few photos from our last days in the land of oma and umlauts.

Wee one played some soccer at a village festival. She looked like a natural! Out of all the kids, she seems the most German to me. She started talking while we were visiting last Christmas (just waiting for us to really speak German), she loves being outside in the "fresh" air (and when the Germans say fresh, they really mean cold), and she happily pointed to all kinds of crazy meats and cheeses on the breakfast table and said "try dat?". And yesterday, back home, when another child wanted to play catch with her, she refused to use her hands, instinctively let the ball drop and started kicking it.

The boys in perfect synch in a three-legged race. You gotta bet on twins in a three-legged race! They had so much fun at the festival, participating in the team games organized for the kids. I was so proud of how they dove right in to play with other kids besides their cousins and talk with other folks besides Oma & Opa. I think they're starting to feel at home in Germany and I know it makes their grandparents as proud as it makes me.

Americans eating "Americans" (a German black/white cookie). We brought home a ton of the kids' favorite German treats like Leibniz cookies, Kinder Riegel, Lachgummis and over a dozen Überraschungseier I packed in German egg cartons (although, oddly, eggs come in boxes of 10 and not 12 over there - now that's taking the metric system a little too far in my opinion)!

Wee helped pack by putting her five favorite things in a basket and carrying that around for three hours saying "time to go? time to go? time to go?" While I was trying to cram a score of new books and presents and clothes into the suitcases, she was carefully protecting her basket with her two "lipsticks" (chapsticks), a hershey kiss, a tiny pink play cell phone and a palm-sized plastic gag spider (she stole that one from B).

The boys have got this traveling thing down. With almost twenty cross-Atlantic flights behind them, they aren't phased by it at all. In the plane, they got out their headphones and watched their shows, they made everyone shuffle all their trays around cause they had to pee right when the dinner service started (don't you hate it when that happens!) and they looked just as miserable when they couldn't sleep as any adult.

Hubby was fingerprinted and photographed at entry (why do we treat all non-citizens like criminals?) and we rode home "to my house," as wee one kept repeating in the car, tired but happy to be back.

posted by alison at 9:11 am | in vacation 2009

Comments

Does your hubby speak German with the kids? I often wonder how other bi-lingual families do it at their house. I didn't have to worry about two languages, as my daughter was 14 when I married my Swede and we moved to Sweden.

Glad that you had a nice vacation!

Posted by: Sandy at September 5, 2009 10:03 AM

I admire you so much for embracing and respecting your husband's culture, you know this is not always the case in "mixed" marriages. Here's hoping that my future grandkids are as lucky as Oma and Opa's. I would be so heartbroken if my grandbabies never learn Spanish.

Posted by: JudithinNYC at September 5, 2009 10:59 AM

It's so great that they have a connection with their grandparents and speak German too. What a wonderful way to keep the German part of your family going in the next generation.

Posted by: Kathode Ray Tube at September 5, 2009 11:10 AM

Oh I know what you mean about crossing the border! Last summer I worked in a border town, and we decided to walk across the border for dinner in the States. Since we didn't know what restaurants we should try we asked the border guard, who was incredibly rude and suspicious, and almost didn't let our foreign exchange student across, even though she brought her travel visa, passport, and driver's license. We didn't have a car, and only one of us had a purse - what's the likelyhood we're sneaking across to live forever?

Posted by: Karlie at September 5, 2009 11:12 AM

Your kids are really lucky to have exposure to both languages and cultures. My father is an Arab immigrant, but he wanted his kids to be "American", so he refused to speak Arabic to us, and taught us nothing about his culture. He got what he wanted; we're all Americans and none of us speak Arabic. We are outsiders in our own family. I've always regretted it. I grew up to be a diplomat, and I speak fluent German and Russian, but still no Arabic. Sigh.

Posted by: Suzanne (Yarnhog) at September 5, 2009 12:39 PM

Looks like a great family visit. Wee one reminds me of my granddaughter - same coloring & I cannot count the number of pictures from our last visit in which she is suspended mid-air - no feet touching the ground. Her big brothers used to call her the Go Go Baby (no one is allowed to use the B word about her anymore.) Tell hubby not to feel bad. The hardware in my hip (used to fix a fracture surgically years ago) always sets off the metal detectors at San Francisco airport & I get treated to my own personal wanding & my carryons are double checked by hand. And I'm a 66 year old hsrmless looking granny!

Posted by: donna at September 5, 2009 3:11 PM

I look forward to your Germany vacation photos every summer, thanks for keeping us in the loop again. :)

Posted by: Kristi at September 6, 2009 2:51 AM

Did you get any Kindereier or is it still too early for them? My sister was impressed with them when friends brought them back from a trip to Germany. She loved the darling little toys inside (She also liked the chocolate covering!) and wanted to get some when we were hiking in Germany. She could understand the salesclerk's "Nein," but she didn't understand anything else. So I had to translate that they weren't available in hot weather. I guess they melt too easily. All those years of studying German paid off. It was nice to be able to do something my sister couldn't!

Posted by: Ginny Thomas at September 6, 2009 5:36 PM

Love hearing about the holiday with the crew! We just got back from Ireland--not nearly the language challenges--and it is so fun seeing the kids with their cousins and grandparents. We have always packed home loads of food favorites (like Bounty bars and Milky Buttons.)

We too found that the food is an easy way for the kids to connect, remember and anticipate the Irish trips. We find too that the plane journeys are fine, the kids know what to expect and pack their own LL Bean packs with fave blankies and pillows. The adults treat it all as normal and the kids hardly blink.

Posted by: suzanne at September 7, 2009 10:18 AM

We are like that with non-natives because we are so insulated in our big country. We don't venture out much beyond our own borders. We have a hard time embracing the world around us. But your kids are SO lucky to get exposed to this travel and have such close ties to their German culture. I love when you guys travel and we get to see the fun stuff they are experiencing. Neat stuff!

I'm with Wee One. The first time I visited Germany when I was 18 I fell into the rhythm and culture immediately. Must have been my German genes. :-)

Posted by: Laurie at September 7, 2009 11:51 PM

It has been many years since I have been to Germany. There are days I miss it so much! Especially at the holidays. I would love to go back someday!

Posted by: Amy Caroline at September 15, 2009 12:24 PM