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updated July 29, 2005
Bonnie & Bill's Diary
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 Madeline & Bonnie on the trip to Neuschwanstein. |
 Simon was thrilled to see the fairely-tale castle. |
Soon after Madeline
left, Melody Chestler arrived to join me on a decadent, luxurious yoga
retreat at, you guessed it, Schloss Elmau. We spent about six to seven
hours a day for five days with an American yoga teacher
doing a combination of yoga and meditation, in German of course! The
weather was incredibly beautiful: in between yoga sessions we hiked, or
sat on the patio sipping coffee, surrounded by several feet of snow, in
our t-shirts. While the level of yoga was geared more to beginners than
I would have liked, we did learn a lot of meditation techniques and,
especially valuable, we learned how to use a Neti Pot.
This has now become a source of family jokes but I am hooked! . Melody
loved Elmau so much she has booked a visit for her whole family this
summer. We can’t wait to share Elmau with all of them. Melody was
especially thrilled to find that the apartments there contained many of
the beautiful German-designed bathroom appliances that she is
considering for her new bathrooms at home. So she got to try them all
out firsthand!When Melody and I returned, relaxed and flexible, Katherine Cramer and her daughter Allison were already here waiting for us. Simon was SO happy to have his best buddy here finally. Allison, who attends a Spanish Immersion school in the Twin Cities had no qualms about going to Kindergarten with Simon. She’s used to not understanding what’s going on and just rolling with the punches! So Katherine and I had several kid-free mornings to wander around and visit various cafes, shops, and museums and catch up on all the latest. And Allison went home with some words in German to add to her vocabulary.
The day after the Cramers left we headed off for our luxurious Austrian ski vacation. (See separate entry, to come.) Sarah and I had to leave a day early to greet yet another set of visitors, also from Minneapolis. Peter, Mary, and Clare Cajacob- Eisenberg were our most industrious visitors yet. In typical Cajacob-Eisenberg style they had done much reading and research before arriving and had lofty sightseeing goals, which, amazingly, they managed to meet in a few short days. Peter knew his way around the whole city within hours of being here and they were busy from morning till night seeing as much as possible, much to the chagrin of daughter Clare who really just wanted to hang out with buddies Sarah and Claire! Sarah delighted in bringing Clare to school and introducing her to friends and shops and foods.
Overlapping with the Eisenberg family was the Gavin-Bither family, a much-awaited highlight for Sarah as Julia Bither is her bestest friend in the world. The two were inseparable for one week (except for the torturous three hours that Sarah had to go to school without her). Kathleen was a very different kind of visitor from our last set—happy to hang out, soak up the sun, the coffee, the beer, and the culture at a slower pace. We were able to take Kathleen, Julia, and Nick to Schoss Elmau also for a couple great days of hiking, eating, and sauna-ing. (See Sarah’s entry for more details about the visits of her friends.) We missed Phil though, who stayed home to prepare for the upcoming opening of the new Walker museum.
We have so much enjoyed hosting all our friends and seeing Munich through their eyes. We learn new things with each visitor as they inspire us to set out and discover different parts of the city and the surroundings, find new restaurants, and come up with answers to countless questions. Funny how after only seven months we are experts (hardly!) on everything German: history, culture, food, clothing, schooling, and more!
Meanwhile, spring has sprung, trees and flowers are blooming, the nude sunbathers are out in the English Gardens, and das Leben ist gut.
Love to all.
Bonnie
 Simon and Allison dressed up for the Purim party at kindergarten. |
 Bonnie is clearly thrilled to have her friends Katherine & Melody visiting. |
 Visitors overlap at the Hofbraukeller. |
 Sarah sandwiched between her visiting buddies Julia and Clare. |
 Bonnie & Kathleen relaxing in Mittenwald after hiking from Schloss Elmau. |
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February 14, 2005
(from Bonnie & Bill) Happy Valentine’s Day!
Our website is getting too full and we are working on acquiring more space. In the meantime we can only post a short message and we will let you know if and when
we get a new website address. All is well here except that the Munich weather continues to be gray and cold and snowy much of the time, and by this time of year we are all craving some warmth.
Simon has been feeling much happier about his school lately. Not sure what has made the difference--I guess just that he is comfortable there now and knows the routine. He says he understands much of the German at school, but he still doesn't speak it much at all. Only if he really has to. On the days that his cousin isn't there to translate for him he seems to do fine however. Unfortunately I bet that his German will really kick in just about when it's time to leave. And then he'll forget it all! We plan to make every effort to have him keep it up when we get back.
The girls are doing great. Sarah went to a birthday party last week where she met a few kids she had not met before. Halfway
through the party
Bill called her on her cell phone. After the phone call some girls came
up to her surprised to hear her speaking English. They had assumed she
was German and said her German was SO good! She came home in high
spirits. Claire also has some really cute friends with whom she speaks
German only. Both girls are still struggling academically but that is
to be expected and we’re not worried about it. They have learned SO
much this year about language, culture, history, foreign countries,
art, the challenges of being a foreigner, etc. They can always catch up
on the academic stuff. Bill and I continue to study German and enjoy the day-to-day life abroad, and we are having fun planning our upcoming trips. We are all excited about entertaining all our American visitors who are coming in the next few months!
We had a wonderful four-day trip to Vienna last week. Look for info and pictures about that soon (a few choice views are shown here on the right).
On a very sad note, our dear friend Denny Seaburg died last week at age 46 after a ten-year battle with cancer. We will really miss her positive spirit, her humor, her life-loving attitude, and most of all her friendship.
Wishing all of you much love this Valentine’s Day.
January 5, 2005
(from Bonnie) Happy New Year to everyone! We hope that 2005 is a peaceful, happy, and healthy year for all of you.
We are all settling back into Munich after ten wonderful days at “our” castle. OK, it’s not ours, but we certainly are beginning to feel very comfortable there. Schloss Elmau is only a 1 hour and 10 minute drive from Munich but it feels like a whole other world. It’s gray with no snow in the city, but, as you can see from the pictures, it was a winter wonderland up there near Garmisch. We took full advantage of the snowy playground that Elmau has to offer: lots of x-country skiing, downhill skiing, sledding, and hiking all week long, as well as many luxurious saunas, beautiful concerts, way too much food, and relaxing family times. Our family, Keith’s family, and my dad were all there and we all celebrated Hanukkah (which we delayed to a date when we could be together), New Year’s, and Simon’s birthday all together. If only Jason and Corinna, and of course my mom, could have been there it would have been perfect. Dad was a great sport, game for everything including x-country skiing and sledding. He tried the saunas for the first time and loved them so much that he went back to the spa every day! And he even had his very first professional massage, which he also loved. A new Erich Gruen is emerging, one who has discovered the joys of being pampered! New Year’s Eve at the Schloss was quite an event, from a very formal five course dinner, to multiple bands and parties, amazing buffets, and culminating at midnight with the most beautiful, artistic and amazing fireworks display any of us had ever seen, complete with sparkling fountains and a huge, flaming "2005", all choreographed to music. It was particularly dramatic with the background of the Alps and the snow all around. We were in awe.
Now we’re catching up on emails and laundry. We’ve been enjoying receiving everyone’s holiday cards and pictures and have all your pictures posted proudly in our apartment for all to see. The kids go back to school on Monday and then we’ll get busy planning our next trip! I think it will be Vienna and Salzburg in February (the kids have another week off for “Fasching”). Stay tuned!
 Sledding down the hill at Elmau. |
 Poppy looks like a pro as he skis in front of the Schloss. |
 Goofing around in the deep snow. . . |
 Mother and daughter enjoying the skiing and scenery. |
 The whole crew, all dressed up for the New Years Eve festivities. |
 At the New Years Eve dinner, the young ladies looking gorgeous (Claire with some make-up courtesy of Regine) |
 Cousins! |
 A spectacular dessert presentation after the New Years Eve dinner. |
 Uncle Keith with Claire. |
 Simon turns 6! |
 Simon and the lizard gift, thrilled to add to his reptile collection from Aunt Lynne and Rick . . . |
 The boys happily showing off some of their Hannukah gifts. |
December 20
(From Bill): It’s been a busy period, as the pre-holiday times usually are. The impact of Joan’s death is still reverberating, yet it is a magical time here in München. We just had our first snow, which provided wonderful views of white-rimmed trees and monuments. We are becoming experts at navigating the Christmas Markets, too. My favorite things are the Semmeln (wurst jammed in a fresh roll, with sweet mustard) and the Mandeln (warm sugar-coated nuts served in paper cones). Simon and Claire like the Semmeln, too, while Sarah leans toward the chocolate-covered fruit. Bonnie and I like the gluhwein as well, especially while watching the kids skate at the festive Karlsplatz.
We entertained our first visitors, Lucinda & Kirby & Anne & Kate, and as we were happy to report to Lucinda and Anne’s husbands guarding the fort back in Berkeley, they had a great time, both here in München and visiting Schloss Elmau. I didn’t get to see much of them because I had a brief trip to London (Imperial College), but Bonnie and the kids sure had fun showing off “our home” (seems funny to say it, but it’s feeling that way these days).
While Bonnie was away at the memorial for Joan (which from all accounts was a moving event that I’m sorry to have missed; see Bonnie’s comments below), I attended 3 different kids’ concerts. I must admit that normally, these are rather tiresome events, where I often wish I could protect myself with earplugs—but not this time! Simon’s Hannukah concert featured 5 and 6 year olds SINGING TOGETHER, with well-practiced “speeches” that told the Hannukah story auf Deutsch. Simon’s lines, said with much expressiveness (you can imagine): “Das is der Leuchte (there is the candelabra). Wo is das Öl (where is the oil)? Wo ist der Krug (where is the pitcher)?” And Sarah’s school concert featured her singing with a wonderful jazz choir (all english songs!), plus a wide range of talented kids, including pianists, singers, an amazing classical guitarist, and a big band. It was 3 hours long (!), yet really quite entertaining.
We are all getting better and better at understanding german, but speaking is still coming slowly, especially for the dim-witted adults. Claire had two friends from school over (Simone and Helen, shown below), and they played for hours, with very few words of english to be heard. . .And then we had a wonderful dinner at Regine’s parents’ home after a visit to the Xmas market in Regensburg, and we actually were able to have a rather lovely time communicating with them, all auf Deutsch (ok, with some translation help from Keith and Regine). Still, it was a striking improvement over the last time we saw them, and were unable to say anything
except Guten Tag
and Auf Wiedersehen! Interesting tidbit from our visit to Regensburg,
via Keith: the word “taxi” actually comes from the name of a german
family “Thurn-und-Taxis” who during medieval times ran what was
essentially a stagecoach service shuttling money amongst various
fiefdoms in this area. The Xmas market at their “residence” in
Regensburg was lots of fun, especially the craftspeople (glass blower,
wood carver, blacksmith). . .Now we are looking forward to 10 days at Schloss Elmau for the holidays. We’ll report on this when we return. I’ve actually been getting some writing done these days as well, and hope to have some quiet time at Elmau to keep up the momentum. Happy Holidays, everyone!
(From Bonnie): I just got home on Friday from yet another week-long trip to Berkeley. My mom's memorial was beautiful. There were over 400 people there and I had to speak in front of them all! By the time Claire's bat mitzvah comes around I'll be a pro at this public speaking thing. For those of you who weren't there: the speakers represented every aspect of mom's life—a childhood friend, a high school friend, a college friend, Berkeley friends, colleagues, all her children and her brother. Keith played the beautiful Mozart clarinet quintet and I told mom's infamous Prinderella story at the end, providing some welcome comic relief. We had a slide show going on a huge screen with pictures of her with family and friends throughout her life. It was very moving and warm and inspiring (these are all adjectives used by people who attended).
 At Karlsplatz, clearly a festive place in the city to go skating. |
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 Another view of the rink at Karlsplatz, showing where one stands with gluhwein in hand while watching the skaters. . .. |
 That's Reha, who has been tutoring Sarah and Claire 3 afternoons a week. |
 Claire with her friends Simone and Helen. |
 The Hannukah Concert. |
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 A chilly day on the medieval bridge in Regensburg. |
December 6
A few pictures to let the poor husbands left back in Berkeley know what their wive's are doing while visiting us in München. . .
 On a day-long adventure, hiking from Schloss Elmau to Mittenwald. |
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 In München, while wandering amongst the throngs by the Marienplatz . . . |
 . . .and afterwards in the Hofbrauhaus. |
November 8
Dear family and friends,
This has been a whirlwind of a month, as you can all imagine. I want to thank all of you whose wonderful cards, emails, and phone calls have been a huge support to me during these rough times. Experiencing the death of my mother was heartbreaking—definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever been through—and her loss has left a huge hole in my life, all of our lives. But in some ways, it was an incredibly rich emotional time. My brothers and father and I were all there with her when she died and I feel so grateful to have such a wonderful, close family—even if we are far apart geographically. Bill and the kids flew to California to join us for a moving and beautiful private family funeral and then we had an open house at my parents’ house to which at least 200 people came. Mom was certainly much loved.
My dad is doing OK although he says he’s living in a twilight zone. He’s been busy fielding all the emails, cards, and phone calls that still pour in daily for him, and he’s also helping organize my mom’s memorial celebration which will be in December. Of course he’s also teaching and working too and has decided to carry on with a renovation planned for the house. Mom worked so hard on the design of a new, beautiful study for dad and I’m sure she would have wanted him to continue with it and enjoy it. He also has had many many dinner invitations and is booked solid for the next couple weeks! I’m pleased to know that he’s not sitting home alone. I’ll be flying to California (for the third time since we arrived in Munich!) for the memorial but Bill and the kids will not be able to come again so soon. We’re all looking forward to my dad’s visit here for the holidays.
Anyway, after the whirlwind of Berkeley, we left for one night in Munich and then our planned week in Paris! We considered canceling, but decided it would be a good diversion and healing time and that we should go ahead with it. It was eventful, so we've put together a separate page here. . .
-Bonnie
October 29
For those of you who had not yet heard the sad news, Bonnie's mother Joan passed away peacefully on October 22. A public memorial celebration will be held in Berkeley on December 11. In Joan's honor, the Gruen Family has created the Joan B. Gruen Fellowship for Study in Ancient History & Mediterranean Archaeology. This Fellowship honors Joan's commitment to graduate study at the University of California, Berkeley. Checks can be made payable to this formal fund name or simply to the Joan Gruen Fellowship. Gifts may be mailed to: University Relations, 2440 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94720-4200, or online by choosing the Joan Gruen Fellowship at http://www.givetocal.berkeley.edu. For wire transfers, please contact Mary Jo Morris at 510-643-1372.
October 16
(Bonnie) School report: OK, I know our readers are wondering how the kids’ school is going so here’s an update:
The other night I asked the kids if school was worse, better, or just about what they expected. Both girls said “better.” Simon said “worse.” I think part of this is due to the fact that we did a good job of preparing the girls for the worst. We told them that we were expecting them to be miserably unhappy for the first month or so. This turned out to be a good tactic because they were both pleasantly surprised.
Claire said she didn’t think she’d have any friends by the time her birthday came around, but she was surprised to find that actually she does have some. The girls have in general been supportive, friendly, welcoming, and helpful to her. (See her latest website entry for her take on this.) She often complains the night before school that she doesn’t want to go and that it isn’t any fun. But then she happily skips out the door in the morning (for her two minute walk to school) and when she comes bouncing back home at 1:00 she’s almost always happy and cheerful about her day. She doesn’t understand much of what her teachers say, especially in classes like history, Deutsch, and geography, and sometimes those classes feel very long to her. But when I told her that she could write journal entries in her notebook if she’s bored during class she said, “No! I have to pay attention and try to understand!” Most of the kids her age don’t speak much English at all, so she is forced to speak German with them and she reports proudly to me about the conversations that she has. All in all, I think she’s coming along fine.
The kids in Sarah’s grade mostly speak English quite well. Unfortunately this means that Sarah speaks less German than Claire during the school day. But it also means that she has quite a few kids she hangs out with during breaks and people to call when she needs information. She is loving it here and says that if it wasn’t for her friends back home she would want to stay here forever! The big-city-ness of it all thrills her and also her ability to get around on her own and be independent is a big plus. She has figured out how to navigate the U-bahn and all the necessary changes of trains to get pretty much wherever she wants. The city is incredibly safe (or is it just people’s perceptions about safety are different? I don’t know). Anyway, children are out and about on their own all the time here. Even quite young kids. Sarah loves that. Even in Minneapolis we were letting her do quite a bit on her own but the lifestyle there is so much more dependent on parents with cars. She also really likes the internationality of this city and finds it so exhilarating to hear lots of different languages being spoken around her all the time. She has decided that she wants to learn to speak several languages herself and specialize in languages somehow.
I got off track! In school Sarah seems to be understanding more each day and is managing to get along OK, thanks especially to our tutor who helps both girls with homework three afternoons a week.
Simon is another story. I think we made a tactical mistake with him in that we kept talking about how we thought he would learn the language the fastest and that kindergarten would be really fun for him especially since his cousin would be there with him. So while the girls expected to be miserable and were pleasantly surprised that they weren’t, Simon expected everything to be easy and has been very frustrated and anxious because it hasn’t been. As most of you know, Simon is NOT an easy-going guy. He is also a very verbal kid and interacts best with others who want to talk talk talk with him. So the language barrier at school has been very hard for him. He plays pretty much exclusively with Aaron, and although he has tried to play with other kids, it’s just not fun for him when he can’t communicate with words. And he hates circle time when the teachers talk or read or tell stories, all in German of course. The mornings before school are often a struggle and the teachers have often had to pry a crying clinging child off of us when we leave him there. That said, things ARE improving. He is beginning to come home saying things in German and is understanding a bit more that goes on at school. We have actually had a few good mornings recently. And when we pick him up he is happy and has usually ended up having a good day. He has also been singing bits of German songs for us at home. People keep telling us that we need to be patient and that by winter break all three kids will be understanding everything, if not speaking fluently. I find it hard to imagine at this point but I remain optimistic.
October 9
(Bonnie) Happy Birthday Claire!
I thought I should write in honor of Claire turning 11—our first family birthday abroad. We plan to have a low-key celebration at a nearby Italian restaurant with our family (minus Bill, boo hoo!), Keith’s family, and our friends the Lindemans. This way Claire can order her favorite Spaghetti Carbonara. Italian restaurants in Munich are generally very good, and fun too because the chefs and most servers are Italian and speak Italian as well as German (and usually English too). We all feel so international after one of those dinners where we have usually spoken bits of three different languages with our waiters! Luckily, Claire is content not to have a kid party this year.
Bill is in the states, so I am facing my first whole week as a single parent in Munich. So far so good. The hardest part for me is the daily job of figuring out what to make for dinner and then shopping for it. It’s pretty much impossible to plan ahead here because walking or biking with more than one-day’s worth of food is quite difficult. Plus, the kids, especially Sarah, are eating SO much these days that we’ve been going through food at an alarming rate. The fun thing is that they all, yes even Claire, have been quite open to trying new food. We went last week to an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant with a conveyor belt running constantly by the table filled with all kinds of delicious treats. The kids loved the concept of grabbing whatever they wanted as it slid by, and they tried almost everything, gobbling up tons of sushi, and even sashimi!
Unfortunately my mom hasn’t yet shown any signs of improvement and we still have no diagnosis. Keith and I spent a week in Berkeley where we sat for many hours in mom’s hospital room, met with lots of doctors, asked lots of questions, and came away with no real answers. Mom is alarmingly thin (109 lbs), has almost constant stomach pain, and still can’t eat or get up from bed without a lot of help. She has had every test imaginable and they have revealed nothing unusual. It looks like next they’re going to have to resort to a relatively minor exploratory laparoscopic surgery and biopsy of the intestines. So far the working diagnosis is still “vasculitis,” or “giant cell arteritis” (for those of you MDs out there), but the usual treatments for that have done no good whatsoever. So there we stand. It was really good to be there, hanging out with everyone in the hospital room, laughing a lot, crying a little, but especially all being together. Mom’s spirits vary from day to day, as does her condition, but in general, besides being very frustrated (as are we all) and sick of being in the hospital (it’s been almost a month now!), she was happy to be with us, managed to laugh a lot and even make us laugh a lot. She has befriended all the nurses and orderlies, who come to visit her even when they’re assigned to other patients, because they miss her! Her care in general is excellent. Now if only they can figure out what’s wrong and start making her better! I wish I could spend more time there, but I also want to be here in this wonderful city.
September 19
The First Week of School (from Bonnie)
Well, it’s been an interesting week around here. On Monday Simon began Kindergarten at Sinai Jewish School, where he has been relatively happy. It’s a nice little environment, once you get past the locked gate with the Israeli security guards. Simon’s teacher, Romana, speaks some English and helps him out during the day when he can’t figure out what to do, as does his cuz Aaron. He’s signed up to stay for the afternoons with Aaron but has been having a bit of a hard time after about 1:00, so Romana suggested we pick him up earlier for a while until he adjusts. I guess it’s pretty exhausting for him spending all morning in German and Hebrew with a whole group of kids he doesn’t know. So far he spends all his time with Aaron and hasn’t connected with other kids, but it’s only been three days. I’m just anxious for him to find some buddies to play with in the afternoons. He’s getting sick of playing with his sisters and his parents, and vice versa is true too . . ..
Aside from the language issues, his school day seems quite similar to what he was used to at Temple Israel. So kindergarten will clearly not provide him with any academic challenges, but it will certainly provide him with language and socialization challenges. And we’ve been doing plenty of reading and math work at home with him, so he should be just fine for first grade.
As for the girls, well, they are in for a much bigger challenge. But I have confidence that they are up to it. Both girls have already made a few friends who are excited to be able to practice English. Sarah’s friends are more proficient at English so she is actually jealous of Claire who is forced to speak more German. Of course the teachers all speak German during class so neither girl knows what’s going on most of the time. They both just sit there and copy down whatever the teachers write on the board, when they’re not daydreaming, that is. They have a different schedule every day, kind of like a college schedule in the states, so the first few days they pretty much got their books and their supplies assignments from their various teachers. Then we experienced the crush of school-supply shopping with everybody else in Munich while trying to figure out what the heck we were supposed to buy. What a scene.
We have hired a terrific tutor for them who will come three days a week, two hours a time, for now. The girls really enjoy working with her. There is also an after-school “homework helper” kind of program that they will try out. They got some hausaufgaben (homework) for this weekend, which they are totally blowing off because it’s just impossible for them to do at this point. Each day I ask them if they felt like they understood more of what was going on than the day before, and each day they say no. But what’s more important to them right now is that they have made some friends, kids have been very welcoming and helpful, and they are not miserable! That’s all we can hope for right now. I’m sure the language part will come. Again, they have only had three days of school so far. It started on Tuesday and they missed a day for Rosh Hashanah. We were going to have them go to school, but they have made some friends who belong to a “liberal” (reform) synagogue here and they really wanted to go to services with them. So they did. Bill and Simon and I skipped it this time, but we hope to go next Saturday for Yom Kippur and check out the scene. This is a new (only about 10-years-old), very small congregation with a British rabbi and many English-speaking members (only 200 all together). The other synagogues in Munich are orthodox and, from what we’ve heard, are attended very sporadically and mostly by Russian immigrants. The three delightful girls we met who belong to this liberal synagogue have an American mother and German father, are completely bilingual and have been inviting Sarah and Claire to join them in lots of activities, which has really improved their state of mind and “quality of life” here. The oldest daughter, who is now 14, had her bat mitzvah two years ago and was supposedly the first girl in Munich to read from the Torah.
Speaking of Judaism, by coincidence, the gymnasium the girls attend happens to be the feeder school for the kids who graduate from 4th grade at the Jewish school that Simon attends. This means approximately 10% of the students are Jewish (certainly more than at Lake Harriet!) and means that the school has to provide a Jewish religion class for them once a week. In German public schools everybody gets religious instruction, but anybody can opt out and take “Ethics” instead. If at least 10% of the students are from a particular religion then the school has to offer it. So Sarah and Claire have met most of the Jewish kids their age at the school and even went to a Jewish Community Center event this weekend that happens every Saturday for three hours involving lots of kids playing games and doing activities. So, ironically, it seems our kids are going to have a lot more Jewish friends here in Germany than they do in Minneapolis! So for those of you who had concerns about the kids experiencing anti-Semitism and standing out at school because they are Jewish, the opposite actually seems to be true!
Unfortunately, my mom is doing very poorly and has been hospitalized in Berkeley. Looks like Keith and I will be flying out there this Wednesday to spend some time with her and my dad. As you can imagine, this has been occupying my thoughts and has put a damper on my time here lately. Please send all your good thoughts and vibes her way.
Oktoberfest begins! (from Bill)
Today (Sunday, September 19) we welcomed the first day of Oktoberfest like any good citizen of München, by watching the parade of participants into the festival grounds, replete with bands from all over Bavaria, horse-drawn beer wagons, and traditional costumes of all varieties. Truly unique! Keith and Regine and Aaron also wore the traditional garb. Although the crowd watching the parade was huge, a memorable lederhosen-bedecked man kindly gave up his seat for the kids, and then described to us his belt of trophy items from his father’s hunting expeditions, in between whoops of excitement as each group in the parade passed. . . .Then we went to the Festwiese, which was very much like the Minnesota State Fair, with some key exceptions. First, it was a LOT more crowded, which I realize is hard to believe, but true. Second, instead of the various animal barns, there were many very large “tents” associated with each of the major Bavarian breweries, which weren’t really tents at all; they were giant barn-like buildings erected especially for Oktoberfest. And inside every one of them (and this is Sunday at 1 pm, mind you), it was a giant, smokey, and drunken frat party, with hundreds standing on tables with 1 liter beers in hand, singing and dancing to music from a band in the center. Wow. NOTHING like the Minnesota State Fair. With kids in tow, we chose a somewhat quieter location at a balcony table, where we had a Maas of Oktoberfest Bier, plus delicious “halb hünchen” (half chicken). You can see from the pictures what fun it was. . .Then out to do the rides, which was rather like a State Fair experience: harrowing, loud, frenetic, tiring, yet fun for the kids (and inducer of headaches for the adults). . .
 A relaxing moment on
our balcony.
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 Keith, Regine, and
Aaron in traditional Bavarian garb to enljoy the first day of
Oktoberfest.
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 Hunting trophies
slung on lederhosen.
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 An exemplary beer
wagon during the parade. . .
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 View from the
balcony of a beer "tent" doesn't do justice to the party atmosphere.
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 But you can see from
this and the following pictures that our kids certainly were active
participants. . . .
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 OK, so those are our beers they are using as props. . . . |
 If you are wondering
why I'm showing you a picture of a portable men's toilet, it's because
we got a kick out of the sign. . . .
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 . . . . posted on
this and every one of the porta-potties along the parade route and at
the Wiese. He he. . .(fyi, "Ass" is how you spell "Ace" auf deutsch)
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September 14
We receive another e-mail from the previous writer, with comments on Bonnie's observations. . .
September 10
Some observations on Life in Germany from Bonnie:
1. German women are all amazingly thin. OK it’s an exaggeration and a generalization but that is my overall impression. They drink lots of beer, eat lots of meat and potatoes and cake. So how do they do it? Some ideas I have: they bike and/or walk much more than Americans. This is made much easier by the fact that almost all major streets have clearly delineated bike paths equipped even with special traffic lights for bikes, and the center of town is made up of mostly pedestrian- and bike-only streets. I’ve never seen a city more bike friendly. On another note, the public transportation is remarkable. It makes our new and much-trumpeted “light rail” in Minneapolis look pathetic. So far I’ve been biking to my German class every morning—a lovely 15-minute ride right through the center of town. But I also could take a tram, which stops two blocks from my house and goes directly to my class; or I could take the U-Bahn—a 7 or so minute walk from our house, but requires a change of train; or I could take a bus—haven’t checked out the bus routes yet but I’m sure there’s one that’s convenient. So, as you can see, I am very impressed with the ease with which one can get around here. Back to the weight issue: it also occurred to me today that while most buildings here have an elevator as well as stairs, in direct contrast to what we’re used to, the elevators tend to be small, slow, and sometimes smelly, while the stairs are central, inviting and wide. Most people seem to choose stairs. So, is the German thinness is all due to exercise? There must be diet reasons too—I just haven’t had any home meals with German families yet, except for a few invites for “coffee and cake time,” which is at about 3pm. There is, however, an abundance of delicious fresh fruit and vegetables available in shops and displayed outside on carts all over the place. Impossible to resist. And many fish shops too. Maybe when the Germans are at home they eat much more simply and only eat the unhealthy stuff at the beer gardens. I’ve been told that that is true, but have no direct evidence, yet. More on that when I find out.
2. I discovered recently that history is more interesting when it involves the evil characters. Bill and I were invited the other day to tag along on a 3-hour Guilford College walking tour of the history of Munich (we have met an American family who is here this year to run the Guilford College (North Carolina) year abroad program). Our tour guide was a fascinating and funny 50-year-old German who is a political science prof and specializes in the history of the National Socialist Workers Party (i.e., the Nazi party). He took us on a fascinating tour, and somehow managed to fit 1,500 years of history into three hours. So in addition to hearing lots of stories about medieval Germany (while showing us how big Munich was by the late 15th century he pointed out that this was the same time that the native Americans were only just discovering Columbus!) he of course showed us lots of Hitler sights, including many that even most Muncheners don’t know about, like where he first met with his fellow party members, which is now a bedding store; where he liked to drink tea; and much more. We even saw his class picture from when he was 10 years old. We saw the site of the famous beer hall putsch, which is the same place where a brilliantly planned and assassination attempt on Hitler almost succeeded, several years later. What would have happened if he had been killed that day? Would our world be entirely different? Would I even exist?
3. We also saw what our guide Leo called Munich’s “Taliban church,” built in the 1600s by the Bavarian Catholics who thought anyone who wasn’t a “fundamentalist Catholic” like them was the devil and must be annihilated. On the church’s façade there is a sculpture of St. Michael killing the devil with a sword that also happens to have a big crucifix on the other end of it. Interesting how state and church come together there; one can make all kinds of interesting parallels to today’s world . . . Leo also told us a lot about the history of the Jews in Munich. We were really surprised to learn that before WWII there were about 10,000 Jews living here, and that the current estimated population of Jews here is about 8,000—almost back to prewar levels. Much of that population right now, however, is due to a large influx of Russian Jews. We did see the site right in the center of Munich where they have begun construction of a huge Jewish center. It will have a museum, a school, a library, a synagogue, and more. This is remarkable as up till now all Jewish institutions in Munich (including the kindergarten Simon will attend) are tucked away, unmarked, guarded, and fenced in. The city of Munich has provided the funding for this new center and it will be very conspicuously in the center of town. This is good news! So now we’re very much looking forward to another tour later this month of “Hitler’s Munich” and what Leo the tour guide called the “true axis of evil.”
Speaking of guarded places, I often pass by the American Embassy, which isn’t too far from our house. Wow. It gives me the chills every time I go by and see all the barricades, fences, and armed and uniformed guards marching back and forth outside. Has it always been like that? I wonder. As September 11th approaches I’m curious to see how it is acknowledged here, if at all. So far, however, I have experienced no antagonism towards Americans. We have heard that, as a whole, Bavarians tend to be crabby, grumpy people and we’ve seen a few examples of that behavior. But, if you ask someone for help or you try to speak to them in your bumbled pathetic German, they are usually very friendly and helpful. I’ve even had someone come up to me in an U-bahn station when I was looking lost and ask me if I needed help.
Well, those are my thoughts for now. Tonight we were discussing which Munich sites we should try to see this weekend and which museums to drag the kids too, and at the same time we are planning a week-long trip to Paris the first week in November. Anyone want to hook up with us there?
Love to all of you.
Bonnie
September 9
Today we received this e-mail from a friend (name withheld; can you guess?) which made us laugh. . .
September 3
(Bonnie) We have just returned from a heavenly 10 days at Schloss Elmau (see link above for detailed information about this fabulous place; pictures below). I am so lucky to have a brother who owns a luxurious apartment there and generously let us all stay there. We took advantage of all that Elmau has to offer including several beautiful hikes with incredible vistas (as a Minnesotan it is particularly awesome to be surrounded by the alps), one great bike ride, tennis lessons (Simon’s newest passion), swimming, saunas and steam rooms, concerts and dances, and tons of food (it’s diet time for me!). I don’t know of any other place that has such luxurious accommodations, beautiful scenery, and is so kid-friendly. Children run free all over the castle and grounds, there are playgrounds and sports possibilities everywhere, and they can even attend classical concerts every night and get no dirty looks if they leave in the middle. Everyone eats family style so you never know what interesting people you’ll meet at your next meal. Simon learned quickly how to fill out a slip allowing him to order ice cream in the “tea room” and charge it to our room. One morning when I was too lazy to get out of bed and everyone else was still asleep, Simon found his way by himself to the dining room, helped himself to a croissant and jam and sat and ate all on his own. He felt so proud and independent. For part of the time Keith and Regine and Aaron joined us and part of the time Bill was at a meeting in the town of Garmisch (15 minutes away), where he made lots of good European contacts and received quite a few interesting travel invitations that we plan to take advantage of. The rest of us just hung out and luxuriated the whole time.
Now it’s back to city life and to shopping, cooking, laundry and all that normal stuff but in abnormal surroundings. On Monday I begin my 4 hours a day of intensive German. I’m hopeful that I will make great strides and will no longer feel like a clueless two-year-old who needs help with everything. The kids start school a week after me, and they are less than excited. But I think they are ready. They’ve had enough of each other and freedom, whether or not they know it themselves. We’re all ready to have some routine in our lives.
 The view from our Elmau apartment. |
 Classic view of the castle. |
 This one's for you, Lynne and Rick. On a bike trip, over the Lautersee. |
 The gang before a hike up the Elmauer Alm. |
 The germans know how to live! Taking a break after a strenuous hike up Elmauer Alm. |
 On the way down from Elmauer Alm; the castle is down below. |
 A future Sampras? |
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August 22
(Bill) A week has gone by, and we still feel like tourists. In fact, today we decided to just do what the germans do on Sundays, and didn’t bother doing anything but relax and be tourists (taking pictures along the way, see below). With Simon (!) and Claire alongside on scooters, we walked to the Marienplatz, stopping to listen to many street musicians on the way. Some were quite good, a certain quintet in particular (2 violins, bass, flute, and oboe) which brought tears to Claire’s eyes with a rendition of Pachelbel’s Canon. On the way is the spot where a river makes a “wave” of sorts that surfers ride, which Simon likes to watch. Then we stood with the hordes and watched the noon glockenspiel show (always bet on the blue knight to win the battle!), and then wandered through a nearby toy museum with a particularly cute collection of old teddy bears. A traditional Bavarian lunch at the famous Haufbrauhaus followed, where Sarah made the mistake of ordering a soup with a liver dumpling the size of a large grapefruit. Ugh. But there were plenty of good wurst to try as well, and Bonnie and I enjoyed a Radler (beer mixed with a soda kind of like Sprite). We also took a moment to listen to the “oompah” band always playing there. . . Then we wandered to the Frauenkirche, an impressive church rebuilt after being almost completely destroyed by American bombers during WWII. There, Simon asked about all the pictures with that guy on the plus sign, whereupon we embarked on an extensive discussion of his story. Simon was curious about why after the resurrection they just didn’t look harder for the body (or perhaps they just went to the wrong tomb?). He does have a very practical point of view. . . .Then we walked to the eclectic Schwabing neighborhood to meet our new friends, the Lindemans (on sabbatical from North Carolina), and to have coffee and cake at a cafe. This 3 pm tradition is definitely growing on us, so to speak. Good thing I’ve joined a health club already; I’ll need the workouts at “Xycling” class. No matter; it’s not difficult to stay in shape here, what with all the walking/biking everyone does. Being without a car is in fact a pleasure. . .Thanks everyone for the e-mails! Keep ‘em coming, we enjoy hearing from you all. Auf wiedersehen!
 Ready to wander, on a pleasant Sunday. |
 Simon loves to watch the surfers on the "wave" near our apartment. |
 Not a bad view, only a 5 minute walk from our apartment. |
 At Odeonplatz, the lions of Bavaria. |
 In front of the "drip castle" at Marienplatz, right before the glockenspiel show. |
 A poster for the exhibit at the Toy Museum. |
 So, what am I looking at? |
 Regretting the soup order at the Hofbrauhaus. . . |
 At the Hofbrauhaus. |
 An excellent quintet (flute player is partially hidden) playing at the Odeonplatz. |
August 16
(Some
random thoughts from Bonnie): It’s Monday morning—our first
weekday in Munich and we have a long list of business to accomplish. It
will be fun to find out where the nearest shops are so we can actually
buy some food. We also plan to look into buying bikes—definitely a
necessity around here. And Sarah keeps nagging us to find the “Handy”
store. She can’t wait to get her own cell phone, even though at this
point she has no one to call!
So far all is going swimmingly despite some lingering jet-lag issues
amongst the youngest in our group. We keep marveling at how perfect our
apartment is, as well as our location. We can look out our living room
into the windows of a museum across the street. We can walk one block
to the Isar River, one block the other direction to the English
Gardens, and just a couple blocks in any direction to shops,
restaurants, the kids’ schools, cafes, tram stops, U-bahn stops. There
are bike paths all over the place. So the city girl that I am is very
happy. Also on my list is to investigate language classes and get
going on that soon. I’m jealous of Sarah who is able to understand so
much more than I. That German camp really was amazing. Or
is it just that I’m old and my brain is too sluggish for new languages?
It’s inspiring to listen to my 5-year-old nephew switch nimbly back and
forth between English and German.
I just want to thank everyone who was so helpful to us in our final
weeks. The kids were flattered and thrilled with all their various
send-offs, surpise and otherwise, and we all felt very loved. We will
miss all of you so much and look forward to all your visits. By the
way, this apartment is bigger than we expected and even has a futon for
guests….
Here's a few pictures from our last days
in Minneapolis:
 School buddies. . .
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 At Simon's going
away party.
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 Saying goodbye to
Claire at Mother-Daughter book club.
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 Rebecca says Auf
Wiedersehen!
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 We
could not resist posting this one of Simon with his goodbye cake. . . |
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August 14, 2004
(From Bill) Morning. I sit at the
crooked little kitchen table in the quiet; nobody’s up yet after an
exhausting yet entirely seamless day (or was it two days?) of packing
and travel. I’m in a sort of shock right now, that we were actually
able to clear out of our home, find our good friends the Chestlers to
rent it, pack up for a year, and move 5 people, 10 checked bags, and 8
carryon bags to this place, all in what seems like a blur of a week. I
am so proud of everyone in the family; Bonnie for all of her amazing
hard work in organizing us and our enormous mound of “stuff”; Simon and
Claire for their positive attitude and all-around good behavior during
our long day and a half of travel; Sarah for her mature way of dealing
with the emotional stress of leaving her friends for a year, while at
the same time having an open-minded and excited attitude about living
and learning in a new culture. After a tearful farewell amongst a
circle of Sarah’s friends (Kirsten, Emily, Maddie, and Julia) and our
volunteer drivers (Kathleen and Katherine), followed by a quick
McDonald’s stop at the airport, we were off. Thanks to a dose of
dramamine, Simon was out within an hour, and the girls slept only a
slightly shorter time. Except for one bout of airsickness (Simon,
upon arrival in Schipol in Amsterdam, but luckily I saw it coming and
bagged it), the flight was uneventful. A snack in Amsterdam, a quick
flight to München, and we were met by Keith and an extra taxi. I
enjoyed my drive in the taxi, talking mostly with the driver about
soccer (I was advised to root for Bayern, the top München team).
The apartment is wonderful; much larger than Bonnie or I had
anticipated and with rooms spread out so that we won’t feel like we are
living on top of each other. The ceilings are majestically high and the
building is thick and solid. Regine and Aaron were there to meet us,
and Simon and Aaron set to playing immediately, best of friends. I
can’t stress enough how grateful we are for Keith and Regine’s help! In
addition to everything else, they had fully stocked the kitchen, and
there was Regine as we unpacked, pulling up extraneous carpets and
mopping the floor! Finally, in a bit of a daze, we left the apartment
for a short walk (~500 m) past the Luitpold Gymnasium (where Sarah and
Claire will go to school) into the Englische Gartens to a Biergarten
for a meal of meat (sampling of Hähnchen, chicken, Schweinbauch,
roasted pork, a Schnitzel, and a Brat for Simon) and potatoes (Pomme
Frit, of course). Of course, Bonnie and I had to sample a Helles Bier.
As various languages swirled around us in the Biergarten (french and
british tourists as well as the locals), it finally began to sink in
that we had done it! We had made it to Germany and were beginning our
adventure. . . .
 Wow, look at all
this luggage!
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 Ready to go, with
friends to say goodbye. From the back: Kirsten, Simon, Julia, Claire,
Sarah, Emily, Maddie, and Nick.
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 In good shape after
our flight to Amsterdam, in Schipol. . .
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 A little band
greeting us in Schipol.
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 Our first meal in
Germany at a Biergarten close to our apartment.
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 Our first Helles
bier. . .
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August 4, 2004
(From Bill): Bonnie and I are
frantically getting ready to depart (a week away!). Lots of details,
and little time to reflect on what we are about to do. I’m most worried
about renting our house and dealing with finances, while Bonnie does
the hard job of dealing with filtering through the kids’ clothes,
trying to decide what goes, what stays behind, and what gets ditched.
After having attended the German language camp “Waldsee” in June, Sarah
(Violetta) and Claire (Brigitta) seem ready and willing to adapt, but
Bonnie and I have not done much preparing at all. I sure hope osmosis
works! . . .
 Sarah (Violetta) and Claire (Brigitta) singing auf deutsch, at the end of two weeks at the german language camp Waldsee.
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 Good friends Julia and Elaine with Claire and Sarah, dressed for work serving us a homemade pizza dinner during our vacation in July at Pine Beach.
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 A typical sunset at Pine Beach. |
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