Ate ordered an English-German dictionary for Kyle from the local book store and had a clerk deliver it to her front door. (!) It is a very special dictionary with color pictures under the translations. As she had done with me many years ago, she spoke only in German to Kyle to speed up the learning process. Sometimes she would revert to English, as in, "Kyle, want you to have some bread?" but as the days went on, Kyle was able to understand more and started answering back in German.
One afternoon, while the rest of us were drinking a glass of sherry in the living room, Kyle watched the movie, "The Naked Gun" on German TV. We could hear him laughing in the next room and, yes, Leslie Nielsen is just as funny in German. Since we know the movie, it was a good way for him to learn some vocabulary. We had a big dinner party one night with family and friends. The conversation was lively and I watched Kyle’s eyes darting from one person to the next, trying to take it all in and understand what was being said. My German sister, Annette, was there that evening and talked to Kyle about Estonia. She knows some Russian and was telling us that the Russian alphabet is easy to learn. Okay. Of course she is an ear, nose and throat surgeon and therefore highly intelligent. Also she's my age. I feel insignificant somehow. She has visited Russia, Latvia and Lithuania, sings in a choir and is an accomplished horseback rider. She owns three horses which we got to visit later on.
The dining room and kitchen in Ate's house have views of the ocean and Denmark beyond. The living room has portraits of relatives from the 1700's. One portrait in particular has always intrigued me. The woman has a mischevious smile, as if she's about to reveal a secret. She looks intriguing, someone I wish I knew. In Ate's kitchen, Kyle learned how to make homemade strawberry jam. She stood by giving him instructions and let him do it all himself. We got to take some jars home with us and are still enjoying Kyle's homemade German jam.
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