Cultural Differences

There are a few cultural differences between southern California and northern Germany, besides the weather. My German family doesn't watch much TV and, as a result, they talk a whole lot more with each other. What a concept! When a sudden rain storm drove us inside from sunning on lounge chairs, we sat in the cozy living room watching the rain through the picture window and talking about, I don't know, everything. At night after dinner, we sat in this same room with a bottle of champagne and talked.

Ate is a very interesting person and experienced World War II. She told us she was 4 years old when Hitler came into power. Everyone was celebrating in the street but when she went home, her mom and dad were depressed and she felt like she had walked into a funeral parlor. Her parents were anti Hitler and told her she must never repeat anything that was said in their house. Friends of theirs who were artists, dentists, concert pianists, disappeared, their homes ransacked. They were never seen again, all because they were Jewish. She brought out maps and showed us how Europe looked before, during and after the war. She said there were a lot of Americans who did good things for Germany after the war, like spending their own money to help rebuild churches that were bombed. A certain Mr. Hoover had provided meals to schools throughout Germany and she remembers how much she and her fellow students appreciated the bowl of soup that was provided every day for lunch by Mr. Hoover. It was called Hooverspeise and there was a different soup every day. She particularly liked the bean soup. Their teacher was rail thin - food was very scarce in Germany at that time - and one day she passed out in class from hunger. The students decided among themselves from then on that they would each give up one ladle of soup so their teacher could have something to eat too. They weren't supposed to do this; it was only meant for the children, but they loved their teacher and wanted to help her. I looked this information up later when I returned home and found out it was our former President Herbert Hoover who had done this. Here is what it says in Wikipedia: "On Hoover's initiative, a school meals program in the American and British occupation zones of Germany was begun on April 14, 1947. The program served 3,500,000 children aged six through 18. A total of 40,000 tons of American food was provided during the Hooverspeisung (Hoover meals)." One afternoon we drove 4 miles to the German/Denmark border. We parked the car by the Baltic Sea and walked across a small wooden bridge into Denmark. It was a very quiet, peaceful place. Two men in a boat floated under the bridge, ducks paddled lazily. A plaque at the end of the bridge commemorates this area of the border which was heavily patrolled by the Danish police during the war. As I looked out over the sun dappled water, I tried to imagine soldiers with rifles marching on the bridge and all the tension and violence that took place in this peaceful setting. What a difference 60 years makes. Every morning I jogged down through a little forest to a beautiful path along the beach and ran along the water, gazing at the Baltic Sea and Denmark.
On the way back, I would stop at the bakery and get fresh rolls for breakfast. When the weather was nice, we ate outside in the garden house which has glass walls overlooking the roses. There was bread, homemade jam, cheeses, meats, and soft boiled eggs in little ceramic egg cups with tiny knit hats to keep them warm. We were never hungry in Germany. Everything was served on linen tablecloths with linen napkins that I never used because I didn't want to get them all greasy and dirty, and the coffee and tea were in silver pots on top of warmers and we ate with the finest silverware and china plates and cups.  We were treated like royalty.  But actually, this is how they eat at every meal.  I'm ashamed to say I use plastic plates and paper napkins at my house.  Another cultural difference.