On top of all the other cool things that my parents introduced me to in my childhood, they got me in the habit of listening to a Prairie Home Companion, a long running radio show. Probably my favorite feature in the program was the "News from Lake Wobegon," where Garrison Keillor starts the monologue with "Well, it's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my hometown," then proceeds to tell a witty story involving the little town and its inhabitants. I enjoy these stories tremendously, as did my parents.
Over the years it has been common for someone in our family to reference Lake Wobegon in our conversations, particularly when we are skyping with each other. I lost count of the times that my mother might wrap up a lengthy chat with me by saying, "And that is the news from LW." Or, my father might make a comment about "the women being being strong, the men good-looking, and the children being above average."
Yesterday it was my turn.
Around 4.15pm, after having just finished kind of the last conference call of the day, I was just collecting my thoughts while I checked my private laptop, which sits in a different room from my work station (ie..my company laptop setup). For obvious reasons, I only have skype (which I use for private purposes only) installed on my private laptop. Suddenly I received a skype call, my father calling to check in.
"How's your week going? Where have you been?" he asked, right off the bat.
I kind of reminded him of the time difference and the fact that I was just finishing up the work day, and the work week, as it were.
And then I said, "Well, it's been a quiet week in Frankfurt, my home town," making a slight reference to the well known quote. (artistic license is allowed here. Feel free to use whichever city or town you want to use should you feel the need to say the line).
With my return to work this year, the one slight drawback is that I no longer am able to have such frequent lengthy chats with my father. While I do miss the daily chats we had, I am currently enjoying having a little more substance to talk about. Work, reduced restrictions with regard to the pandemic, and perhaps most important of all, having the opportunity to get out and see people again are all providing much more engaging conversation topics. Just six or seven months ago, a typical daily question was something like, "Hey, have the colors of your walls changed since I talked to you yesterday?" and that might have been the highlight of the week.
So, yesterday afternoon I gave my father the weekly update, basically catching up on all the news since he and I spoke the previous Saturday.
It turns out that it was not that quiet of week after all.
On Monday, I contacted my nephew to wish him a happy 19th birthday. I was glad to speak with him on the telephone. Like many teenagers, he is not particularly chatty or communicative, but our conversation, while only lasting 15 minutes or so, was enjoyable; I really liked speaking with him. I asked him about his drivers education course and he mentioned that he was progressing along, hoping to sit his exam at the end of the summer. Meanwhile, I told him my own tale about going to the DL office in Frankfurt a few weeks ago, and went on to state that I was feeling a little ignored, as my follow up email to them almost three weeks before (where I provided the needed documentation) had not yet been answered. We finished our little chat, I told him Happy Birthday one more time, and then went downstairs to check the mail.
Sitting in my letter box was a formal looking envelope, and upon opening it, I found my newly issued German DL.
And that, friends, is called a tick in the box.
After finishing my work day, I headed down the street to pick up a few beers before walking to the local park to meet up with some friends for our normal Monday evening gathering. En route, I passed a friend of mine sitting by himself in a cafe. He and I had just discussed music a few days prior, so seeing him reminded me to send him a track or two of my own stuff.
At the park, I proudly showed off the new addition to my wallet, and one of the guys wanted to compare my license with that of an actual German license holder. Truth be told, the licenses are pretty identical, though mine does clearly point out that my original license was issued in another country.
One of the noticeable differences between a US license and that from Germany is that the German license is simply the valid authorization to drive. It is not used for identification, like the US licenses tend to be. Germans (and myself) have a different ID card for that purpose.
On the back of my new license, rather than simply stating which driving class I belong to, there is a complete list showing both the class and also a little picture illustrating what the class really is. There are about 20 driving classes, ranging from motor scooter to a commercial truck. There is a little section where each class where I am authorized is clearly marked. It turns out that in addition to a standard automobile, I am also allowed to drive a moped (so long as it does not exceed a speed of 30 mph), and curiously enough, I am allowed to drive a tractor.
This I find as an unexpected bonus. In all my years of driving, it has never crossed my mind to inquire about the ability to drive farm vehicles, but now I am quietly trying to figure out if I know any Germans who have a farm close by.
Monday evenings are always enjoyable, and as we wrapped things up around 10pm, I decided to peek in at the pub as I passed by on my way home. This license thing was a real (self induced) stressful thing, and I was still feeling relieved to have finally completed the task. So, I was not quite ready to stop the celebrations, and texted another friend to see if he felt like coming down for a couple of quick beers.
A few minutes later, he and I were standing outside catching up and enjoying the pleasant evening, when one of the waitresses walked up. It was her night off, which is why she approached us while eating an ice cream cone and carrying a guitar. She sat with us for a few minutes, and we got to talking about the guitar she had just received. I have known this girl for several years, and once or twice have mentioned in these posts that she is a rather talented musician. My Monday evening finished on a very positive high as she and I chatted about her music, how she composes, and all the points involved with starting a music career. (This girl does have a music contract with a label, and has multiple singles released).
Tuesday was pretty quiet in comparison to Monday, but quiet is good. My German class went well, and I finished the evening with a little Taco Tuesday and an episode or two of Inspector Barnaby (as Midsomer Murders is known here).
Wednesday involved a visit to the barber after work, and then I met up with another group of friends as part of their Wednesday group. Due to illness and vacation, there were only a couple of folks from the group in attendance, but it enabled us to share a table with a couple of other pub guests. We chatted with them a little bit, as you tend to do when you are sitting outside at a pub on a summer evening. We were all heavy into our conversation when my cafe friend from Monday night walked up, excused himself for the interruption, then proceeded to scold me for not sharing the music tracks with him before. He enthusiastically complimented me on my ability, saying he really enjoyed listening to them, but was irritated that he had known me for 10 years and never knew that I played. I was rather touched, since I certainly had not expected such a reaction. True, I have been complimented before, even rather recently, but I don't really anticipate that kind of thing.
Because of my friend's outburst, the other people at the table (who I do not know quite as well) were curious about just what music I am playing. So, I ended up sharing a few more audio files with them, and so it goes. As several readers already know, I am a reluctant performer, and this extends to even sharing such audio tracks. Yes, I have passed them around to several folks, but mostly within a circle of friends, more so than acquaintances. I remain pretty open, always wear my heart on my sleeve, but do have my limits when it comes to shoving my material on others. (This blog is a slight exception, but since it is in the public domain and has an audience of about six, I think it is OK)
Thursday afternoon, my German teacher had to abruptly cancel class, as she had an urgent appointment to look at a new flat for her and her family. Flat searching in Germany is really a challenge, so you have to be quick, aggressive, and hope like hell that luck is on your side. Effectively having a free evening, and because the work day had been a bit challenging, I returned to the pub to (hopefully) have a couple of quiet beers by myself before returning home for an early night.
It was a good call, as I got to experience something that I have been wishing to happen for many many years.
There has always been a fair amount of dogs in Frankfurt, and one gets very used to seeing people out walking their pets up and down the streets, in the park, or wherever. Some people have bigger dogs, which I am not so sure is a great idea, simply because we live in an urban environment, and my opinion is that big dogs need bigger places to run and play. My flat is only about 70 square meters, which can become a little cramped when more than two people are here. Imagine having a retriever or rather large dog in the same space, it just would not be fair to anyone.
That being said, I cannot speak for everyone else, but do recognize that people, particularly when the weather is pleasant, like to take their pets with them when they go out to socialize. Most restaurants and pubs, especially outside, are pet friendly. My own local has little water bowls for the dogs on those extremely warm summer days. Most of the other pubs and cafes have a similar policy.
So, I was in my usual place outside the pub, minding my own business, and watching the world go by, when I noticed two couples sitting across from one another at a table under the canopy that the pub had set up for additional protection against rain. Keep in mind that most restaurants still have very limited indoor seating. Along with that, summer in Germany is the time when everyone wants to be outside, even more so now after the recent restrictions have finally been lifted. The problem has been that we have had a fair amount of rain during June and parts of July. To deal with this, the pub put up a tent kind of thing to cover some of the patio tables. One side of the tent is closed, so as to block some of the noise from the neighborhood, as well as to keep the pub noise away from the rest of the neighborhood.
The great thing about outside seating is that you usually have a 360 degree view of what is happening in the vicinity, and there tends to be a lot going on in my neighborhood. With one side of the tent closed off, those sitting at a table have a little less visibility.
So, these two couples were sitting there, enjoying their evening, enjoying having their pet dog (a medium sized cocker spaniel) sitting under the table, attached to his lead.
Well, another couple was walking their dog along the street, which meant they were going to pass right through the pub terrace. Because no one could see each other, no one immediately noticed the proximity of the two dogs: one on a lead, and the other roaming free.
Clearly, the cocker spaniel had something to say to the other dog, and jumped up from his place under the pub table and ran towards the other dog, which caused his lead to trap the two people sitting on the bench against their table. Suddenly, glasses were spilling and breaking, beer was flowing all over a lady's lap, and the dog was doing his best to drag the bench (still attached to his lead) with him, effectively carrying the two people along with him.
I had a front row seat to this, and it was awesome.
Neither dog was particularly mean, and I really would not use the word aggressive but rather enthusiastic. Like all of us, they, too, have been kind of cooped up during recent months, so why not get excited when you get a chance to see someone (even another breed) again?
There are a couple of known "mean" dogs in the neighborhood, dogs that are not quite so good-natured around other dogs, and I have learned to use a little bit of caution in such situations. One of the factors that can make this tricky is that some owners regularly use a lead, while others allow their pets free range to do whatever. This can result in the odd dog skirmish, but usually things never get totally out of hand.
The difference in Thursday's entertainment was that both dogs were really happy, and both owners were caught off guard at the reactions of their pets. The lady who got the lap full of beer was the owner of the cocker, and within minutes she was actually laughing about the experience.
At any rate, I would happily pay money to see this kind of thing more regularly, particularly because no person or pet was hurt, and pub glassware is regularly broken anyway.
It truly was a highlight of the week, and as I finished my report to my father, I said as such. Getting a DL and seeing a dog wipe out a couple of people sitting at a picnic table makes for a pretty good week, in my book.
I returned to the pub for a few Friday evening beers just to start the weekend. No dog activity to speak of, but then again, I did not stay out so long. By close to 21h, I was home catching a French movie dubbed into German, and by 23h I was in bed asleep.
So that's the report from Frankfurt, where Bryan had a good week, the dogs are lively, and people are enjoying themselves.
See you out there
bryan
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