Wednesday, August 04, 2004

One Year Ago Today One year ago I arrived in Germany to begin a whole new chapter in my life.  Hell, a whole new novel. One year ago I moved into a room at the Hotel Berghof in sleepy downtown Baumholder.  I was to stay in that room for two and a half weeks at 50 euro a night.  It wasn't a bad room, nor is the Hotel Berghof a bad place to stay (in fact the food is damn tasty), but what killed me about staying there was the heat.  I managed to arrive right in the middle of the worst heat wave to Europe in 100 years and all I had to defend myself with was a single fan that the hotel provided.  Later I added a second fan to my arsenal, but for the most part, what I remember about the Hotel Berghof was sweating and sipping beers down in the restaurant.  After one year, I haven't gone back inside after I checked out last August. One year ago I didn't have more than a few German words to rub together.  Now I know such useful words as "Stau," "Kartoffel," and "Flugzeug."  At the rate I'm going, I'll soon be able to speak like a native German three year old. One year ago I had no clue what teaching at the American High School in Baumholder would be like.  Had no clue how the students would react to my style of teaching.  Had no clue whether I'd wish I'd stayed in Eagle Pass or not.  Had no clue how to even set up my gradebook using the online system.  After one year, I still have no clue how that gradebook works. One year ago I didn't know how to drive a stick-shift.  Now I zip around on the autobahns with my BMW with more confidence than I ever thought I'd have. One year ago I left Franklin behind in the care of Marcela's family in Mexico.  One year later, my cat still hasn't forgiven me. One year ago I'd never been to Germany, France, Belgium, or Switzerland.  Now I've peed in all of them. One year ago I didn't appreciate the place that I left behind half as much as I do now.  How I'll feel about Germany one year after I leave it is yet to be determined.  Hopefully I won't find out anytime soon. 6:33:05 PM     |

© Copyright 2005 Alex L. Mauldin.