Thoughts on Leaving the Old World

As you likely know, I am an aviation contractor living in Germany working for a defense contractor on US Army, and other allies, helicopters. It has been an exciting time for me as I learned quite a bit from a variety of people whose experiences run the gamut from the armed services of the US, Great Britain, South Africa, the former-Rhodesia, Germany and others, to manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing, to people have have contracted nearly all their careers. It has been a really wonderful experience professionally.

And, of course, outside work I have met people who escaped communism by fleeing or by simply walking away as the weight of socialism came crashing down around them. There is the one who fought against Robert Mugabe with the Rhodesian Air Force, and the retired Deutsche Post (German Post Office) worker raised as Hitler Youth. There was Kurt, the former East German who built and serviced cranes worldwide, and who rode to Daytona's Bike Week on a Kawasaki. He was welcomed with open arms when he feigned a lack of English-language proficiency and laid on a thick German accent ("You can't come in here on THAT!" 'Bitte?' "Where're you from?" 'Deutschla.., uh, Germany.') So many stories, so much rich history, and I have found that it IS true that a big difference between Europeans and Americans is that Americans think 300 years is a long time, and that Europeans think 300 miles is a long trip (even if you can take it in your car at 200 mph!)
There are many things I will miss in Europe. The incredible history that is literally around EVERY corner is certainly one. The incredible public transportation system is another. The extensive bike trails and lanes all over the country are very useful, and I have made extensive use of them almost daily, commuting on my bicycle 11 kilometers (about 6.7 miles) to-and-from work each way.

And despite the German reputation for arrogance, I have found them to be very kind and welcoming as soon as they realized I was trying to learn their language and customs. It can be frustrating to try and learn a language and after saying something in the second language, having the person you're speaking to answer in English, "Can I help you?" or "Is there anything else?" Realizing I was trying to learn, their compassionate answer was to make it easier by speaking to me in English. I was so tempted on many occasions to say, "Yes! Please reply in German so I can learn!"

I will miss the English Church of Heidelberg, a wonderful, small, Anglican congregation with a parish deep in Old Heidelberg. Sharing the parish with a local Old Catholic congegration, Easter Service/Mass was incredible as a joint, dual language service in German and English. The English Church has German, Nigerian, British, American members, as well as one from Sierra Leone.

But, there are things I won't miss here. I will NOT miss US Army Garrison Baden-Wuerttemburg and their seemingly callous attitudes toward the people they support. Over a year before shutting down the local bases in Mannheim, the USO and library were closed! Additionally, the post theatre was shut down for renovations, reopened, and then closed less than a month later with signs posted stating the building had been deemed unsafe! (Your US tax dollars at work.)

I will NOT miss German radio. Folks if you think American radio programming is bad, try pulling up some German station on the internet. It's almost completely American Top 40, hip-hop and Euro-pop. The irony is that the concert scene here is unbelievable! Appearing here in Mannheim since I have arrived were Santana, Molly Hatchet, Skorpions, Peter Gabriel and so many others. Don't look for them on the radio, though.

Another thing I won't miss is the litter. Litter is all over the place here. Smoking is part or the cultural identity here and cigarette butts are everywhere, along with bottles, wrappers, boxes, paper, fast-food wrappers and cups. I have seen people standing outdoors beside a municipal waste basket toss their trash on the ground and walk away. Seemingly, there is no sense of personal responsibility concerning keeping their town and country clean.

Graffitti is everywhere, too. It is pervasive, and most of it is surprisingly artistic! I have even encountered a shop in Heidelberg's Old Town that catered to graffitti 'artists'!

While I like the autobahn and the freedom to drive as fast as I feel I can do safely, I'm not at all fond of Germany's other roads. It is amazing how many major roadways inside towns will be four lanes wide with a large median in the middle, lined with trees and flowers, and will end abruptly with no outlet whatsoever. Of course, on my bicycle, I can just take off down the nearest alley, sidewalk or path. And I have.

So, as I prepare to go home to South Carolina, I am excited about what adventure the Lord will send me on to next. I have yet to visit Auschwitz, Luxembourg or the other four mini-nations here in Europe. Sadly, too, I haven't been able to visit old friends in France, England and Ireland. But, I'm hopeful those opportunities will come. Time will tell.

Further Observations of Europe

Since my last post I have been home for a week, celebrating my 30th wedding anniversary, and taking home those three bottles of Ruppertsberger wine. It was a wonderful week, and the wine was surprisingly good, in my opinion.

Also, too, a colleague and I took a two-day trip over the July 4th weekend through southern Germany, western Austria, Liechtenstein, and northern Switzerland, overnighting in the heart of downtown Zurich. Liechtenstein, the fourth smallest nation on earth, is a delightful and charming place, barely 45 square miles and 22,000 citizens, and perhaps another 14,000 additional residents. Surprisingly diverse for such a small nation, it is a parliamentary monarchy boasting a new parliament building, and a beautiful and extensive National Museum. It was there that I learned of a generally unknown bit of World War II history concerning Liechtenstein.

I knew that during the war, the Germans recruited through the SS thousands (perhaps as many as a million!) of foreign soldiers. These troops came from every European nation, and in many cases there were enough to form separate companies, battalions, brigades and even divisions. The largest of these included the Russian Liberation Army (Русская освободительная армия) or POA. Not surprisingly, the Soviets labeled POA soldiers as traitors and at the war's end, POA soldiers were repatriated in accordance with allied agreements. They were tried and sentenced to death or detention in the infamous Gulag prison camps. Several leaders of the POA were tried and hanged in Moscow on August 1, 1946.

Interestingly, Liechtenstein ignored Soviet demands for extradition of a group of POA soldiers who entered Liechtenstein asking for political asylum. Most eventually emigrated to Argentina, though a small handful stayed in the Principality.

Our trip south was exclusively on the world-famous autobahns, the model for America's Interstates. Just as famously, autobahns GENERALLY have no speed limits. The exception is in built-up areas and construction zones. Reunification has soaked up huge amounts of funds, with the rebuilding of the eastern part of Germany leaving much to be neglected in the west. But, now necessary rebuilding and repair is ongoing in the west and construction zones are rampant. So, while shifting into 6th gear at 160km/h (100 mph) in my BMW rental, and holding it steady at 200 was really cool, the speed was frequently cut to 60 and 80 km/h in these zones.

And in Germany, what we refer to as "cloverleaf" are know in Germany as "Dreieck," an exact translation being "Triangle." In both cases, of course, it doesn't matter what shape the junction may be, the name's the same!

One of the things I have attempted here is to learn German. My experience at home has caused me to believe that it is rude to live in a nation and not learn it's language. So, I have endeavored to NOT be "That Guy," and to learn the local lingo. And much like American english, German has many different regional variations. An excellent example is numbers.

For instance, the number 20 can be pronounced three differnt ways that I'm aware of, and I have used all three - zwanzig, zwanzisch, and zwanzid. But, the greatest difficulty I have had is that as soon the German I'm speaking with understands that I am a foreigner trying to learn and speak German, they almost inevitably begin speaking english - "May I help you?" I always smile and continue the conversation in english, thinking, "Yeah, you can help by speaking German so that I can learn!" I have learned to say that I am a foreigner and that my German is poor. I have also tried hard to get the accent correct, too, even being asked once if I was Polish?! I smiled and answered "Amerikaner," to the very quizzical look of the inquirer. Belgians and Swiss kindly spoke German or English to me, just like the Germans. While in Spain, though, I found the locals seemed to refuse to speak english, even though they lived next to an American navy base! I did wonder if it had anything to do with the Spanish-British disagreement over Gibralter?

One other thing about Spain, at least in the Andalusia southwest, was the incredible staccato speed of the annunciation. I work with native Spanish speakers (Puerto Rican, Mexican, and a Spaniard) and some of them had difficulty understanding Andalusian Spanish!

Speaking of language, I have mentioned that I work with a number of Britons, and we constantly joke and bicker about the language, very much in good fun. The cultures are similar, but there are differences. One I like to emphasize is that Americans believe 300 years is a long time, and the British believe 300 miles is a long trip. One of my British colleagues looked at me seriously and stated, "But it IS a long trip!" I just smiled, as another of my colleagues, an American, replied emphatically, "No, it's not!" And it was in that vein that I was AMAZED that my trip through four countries (second paragraph) took a total of less than eight hours of driving time!

So far, I have found that my belief that the Lord brought me here is justified. My bonus has been to travel to ten different countries and Gibraltar in the sixteen months that I've been here. And if I had not taken this job, I would currently be looking for new employment. Many of my colleagues where I used to work are being released and retired. So, yes, the Lord does work in strange and mysterious ways.

And, I'm grateful.