Reinforcements had arrived in the form of about twenty students from Grand Valley State University, who would be staying in and around Schwabish Gmunde for 6 weeks, along with their German professor, Don. We were invited by the university to join them and their host families for an orientation on Tuesday evening. Elle was beyond excited to see all the young people and immediately began stalking her favorite "new friends" as we found seats arranged in a u shape around the front of the classroom.
Frau Becker, the international coordinator at Pädogogische Hochschule (Pa-Ho), began the meeting by welcoming all of us. She spoke loudly and enunciated every word. The problem was, she was speaking German. Needless to say, the host families were German and the students were German students, so they all understood. That left Scott and me pretty much clueless until Frau Becker suddenly changed to English. At this point she told the group that there were a few in the group who couldn't speak Deutsch so we were welcome to introduce ourselves in English or German if we wanted. She hadn't mentioned our names, but her body language and eye contact made it clear to everyone that it was Scott and me who were the non-German speakers.
Don introduced himself first, in German of course. Don is a few years younger than Scott. He is tall and fit with the slightest hunch in his shoulders, as some tall people have, maybe to compensate for their height. He has shoulder-length hair, parted in the middle and smooth brown with a few wiry strings of silver peeking through the thick locks. We knew him from Grand Valley but not very well. I had met him once briefly a few years back, and then again just before we came to Germany when we hosted a casual dinner for three GVSU families who had taught at PaHo in Germany. It was at this dinner where Don witnessed my very first efforts at German.
As the German introductions, one by one, curved around to us, I couldn't help but take the challenge. I had been excused to use English, but there was no way I was wasting my three weeks of The Pimsleur Approach CDs to balk at a perfect chance to try it out in front of so many people. By the time all eyes in the room - about 40 pairs - turned to me expectantly, I was ready. Clearly and proudly I recited..."Ich bin Molly Stabler. Ich bin hier mit mien Mann und meine tochter. Mein tochter heist Elle, und Wir kommen aus Michigan." While I talked, I watch amused as Don's eyebrows slowly rose, his eyes widened and his mouth gaped open. By the time I finished my introduction, the room erupted in applause. I was so surprised that for an instant I remained still. Then my natural love of attention took over and I decided to enjoy the fun. I raised both arms and clasped my hands together. Then I pumped my clasped hands on either side of my head like a boxer who's just won a championship, causing laughter and more applause.
As quickly as it had started, it stopped and everyone stared at Scott, wondering if he too would surprise them with a newfound knowledge of German. His face was bright red and he held his breath for just long enough to start a whole new round of laughter. He introduced himself in English. He may have felt a little embarrassed at having been shown up by his Frau, but I'm pretty sure his pride outweighed anything else.
It was with this group that we began touring. Our first day trip was to Stuttgart. Elle immediately chose some college girls to cling to and as we tramped through the city, she skipped along joyously, chattering away to the girls about anything and everything. At one point, she turned to Scott and me, barely able to catch her breath, said, "This is my best day in Germany yet!"
Don took us to the top of the train station tower, where a huge silver Mercedes Benz symbol rotated above a 360 degree panoramic view of the city. Elle hopped between the students who took turns holding her up to the fence to look over. Those students who loved kids were obvious, and Scott and I nudged each other, knowing that we may have just found a few babysitters for the next 6 weeks.
For lunch, the plan was to walk into a huge park area that the city was fighting to protect from a train station expansion. Environmentalists -and Germans are huge tree huggers- had painted construction gates with their opinion of the future construction.Don left with a few students to buy bread and cheese to eat while the rest found a shady spot under one of the doomed trees to sit. Elle shadowed Thomas at this point. She was so excited later to show me the sign language he had taught her, "crab," and "rabbit," and "My name is Elle."
Scott and I spotted a biergarten close to where the young people would picnic and decided that we would eat there. We thought it may be tough to lure Elle away from "sooo many friends" until we pointed out the trampoline sitting right beside the rows of wooden picnic tables. We filed through a cafeteria style line to choose and purchase food. Scott and I ate wurst and drank bier while Elle sprang around the netted trampoline to her heart's content. When she tired of jumping, she bounded out and galloped to the playhouse and swings just beside the trampoline. Scott and I spent the rest of lunch discussing how underprivileged America is not to have our own outdoor beer gardens with playgrounds and trampolines!!
When the students finished eating, they wandered over to watch Elle jump. I could see the envy in their eyes when they read the sign saying "nur für kinder bis 12", until one student kicked off her sandals and climbed in with Elle. She laughed at our shocked faces and put her hands in the air, mocking a clueless tourist. In a loud drawling voice, she mispronounced each word, "EEESH SPRAKE AH KEYN DOICH!"
Scott and I returned to that biergarten the same night when the students headed to a festival in another section of the city. Don joined us along with two of his former students who had returned to Stuttgart and now live here. Elle had fallen asleep exhausted and was now sprawled out on the grass beside us while Elly, Heidi, Don, Scott and I had beers and joked.
We worried that when a sleepy Elle woke, she would end our fun but we were dead wrong. Amidst our conversation, she sat up, blinked once and looked around. Then she popped up and scampered back over to the trampoline. As evening came, more families arrived and the kids ran around the playground, climbing in and out of the trampoline while their parents drank monstrous mugs of beer.
When Don left the table to go get us another round, I took the opportunity to ask Elly and Heidi about their former professor. Watching him throughout the day, I had admired his calming voice and friendly eyes and I wondered how his coed students reacted to him. "So, tell me, are there a lot of students who have a crush on Herr Anderson?" Both Heidi and Elly laughed at the idea. But they didn't mean it in a cruel way. Quite the opposite, really. Heidi clarified, "No, we would never think of him that way. All of his students respect him too much for that. Whenever the German students get their new classes, they brag when they get Herr Anderson, because he's the best, smartest and toughest, but he still manages to keep such a genuine rapport with all of his students!"
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