June 20/21, 2010
What an exciting morning (and an eventful Father’s Day for Dad…) that led up to United flight 900: San Francisco to Frankfurt. I was supposed to leave John Wayne Airport at 10:37 am in order to arrive in SF and head to the international terminal well before United flight 900 at 2:00 pm. Well, my flight (SNA to SFO) got delayed, and because Dad checked me in at United’s 1K Line (VIP!), him and Mom were able to get through security with me, take me to the Red Carpet Room (Lounge waiting area for these VIP individuals), and worry with me as I watched the screen for two hours (because of course, we were at the airport extra early). Eventually the airport got word of the status of the flight, and it turned out to be scheduled to leave at 11:40 am…which was great, but made us all stressed because that means I had about an hour to get from my entrance gate to the international terminal. After a great Father’s Day breakfast in the Red Carpet Room (we had a nice dinner the night before to make up for the lack of elegance the next morning!), M&D hugged me good-bye and left me to finish waiting for my flight. I was finally in the air by 12:00 noon, a little concerned but ready for a stressful flight and hour lay over..knowing I would be fine when I was sitting in 19G on United Flight 900, service to Frankfurt.
An eternity later (ok, 10 hours, one calendar day, two “True Blood” books, and only three hours of sleep later…) I landed in Germany where I deplaned, went through customs, and grabbed my checked bag in a matter of 30 minutes or so. Jacqueline’s cousin, Albert, found me once I exited the baggage claim area, right as planned, and we had about an hour or so to wait for Jacqueline to walk out into the same area. We grabbed a cappuccino and chatted while waiting, and eventually made our way back over to collect Jacqueline. We had about an hour and a half drive to Weinsberg, a town close to Heilbronn and Stuttgart (from opposite directions). Once arriving, we brought our bags inside and up the top room of the building (with help from Albert!), and then inside the main flat area where we were greeted by Albert’s “Oma” (Grandma) and “Opa” (Grandpa), who live in the flat next door, and greeted also by a late lunch of soup and chicken. Having been up all night, a nap was called for next, and so we had a great one up until about dinnertime.
I returned back down to the main flat to meet Albert’s Dad & Mom, with warm smiles and German greetings (Albert, and his sister, Evelyn who is currently in school in the South of Germany, are the only two in the family to speak English). Both Albert and Jacqueline were patient and helpful during dinner to translate the German I could not understand or the English his parents were not familiar with. We were served a German chicken dish with mashed potatoes, which was kind of a chicken stew: it was delicious. The beverage was red wine, straight from the vineyards of the town, Weinsberg. Of course, “Weinsberg” means “vineyard” in German. After the main course, “Tanta Katia” (Aunt Katie) brought out her delicious dessert surprise (a favorite of Jacqueline’s), a homemade tiramisu. Phenomenal! After dinner and visiting outside for a while, and after a short German lesson, I was happy to get upstairs to bed.
June 22-25, 2010
Today we both woke up around 6:30am and so by 6:45am we headed to the downstairs flat for breakfast. Coffee, orange juice, a piece of toast, and HOMEMADE Apricot Jam (Mom – I wish I could send you some email, it’s great!) held us over while we read, showered, and eventually took a walk into town (about a ten minute walk to a small town) to get some shampoo, conditioner, and look around. The town we went to was definitely small, as we didn’t want to walk the miles to Heilbronn, but we were able to grab lunch at a Doner place, which was great. After wandering a little bit on the way home, we found our way back, specifically back to bed, for an afternoon nap!
After our nap, we headed down stairs where the rest of the family would be after being at work for most of the day, and to dinner with Aunt Katie, Uncle Albert, and “little” Albert (what we would call “Albert Jr.” in the States, as he is 27).
I quickly learned that I would be having a ton of wonderful German and Russian food during the days here. Oma cooks during the day and serves Opa, Jacqueline and I lunch, and sometimes Uncle or Little Albert if they stop home from work. Along with the chicken stew I mentioned, we’ve had Berenike (sp?? –little pot sticker-like things with meat inside), Borsch (vegetable stew), and a few other dishes, including Rabbit Stew (the rabbit was fresh, which, as you can imagine, means that Opa took the liberty of slaughtering it so Oma could cook it – WHOA!).
Besides the wonderful food and kind company from my temporary German family, we have also been enjoying the festive trips to the biergartens (beer gardens) for the World Cup games. These trips to the biergartens were especially fun because it was packed with cheering Germans. Also, Albert’s friends often brought face paint, so we were able to join the festivities by painting the German colors on our cheeks. After the game one night, we went out to a club in Heilbronn where all the young people were celebrating Germany’s victory.
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