Chris had a class to teach from 9-11am so we packed up our things. Philipp and I went to the bakery and had some good chats about life; a lot about his transition from being married, being separated and meeting a new woman. A sad and happy time.
When we dropped off Chris’s food, he was in the middle of teaching his class and I proceeded to moon him! He had a good laugh!
This is where Philipp’s father lives
We then walked to his neighborhood in Hannover. When he was looking for an apartment with Erica, his friend found an advertisement at his local daycare. Phil phoned the number and the landlord said « That was fast, I posted that twenty minutes ago! ».
I forget what they told me this was…some kind of wheat? The hills are bright yellow throughout Germany because of it
His apartment is in an old sausage making factory, in the old industrial section of town. The bike locker in the basement was where they would lead the pigs through.
His currently lives in his fathers apartment in the same building.
I met Philipp’s father in 2005 when I was invited to stay at their home in Holzminden. It was nice to see him again.
I tried a conversation mode from Google Translate with him and it was an incredible experience. It was a bit slow going, but I truly felt I was seeing the beginning of Star trek’s universal translator.
Some points about his life:
He studied theology and was a priest for forty years. His wife studied the same and that’s where they met.
He grew up in a village twenty kilometers away from Hannover. When the city was bomber during the war, the night sky was bright as day from the fire.
He moved to different towns throughout his life. His first child born in 1970 and Philipp, the last child, born in 1979.
He plays guitar, mandolin and jazz drums with some friends in a group called the Good Old Boys.
Considering I didn’t even know how to say much past Hello and Thank You in the German language, it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.
After we left his place, we took Erica’s company car to pick up Chris.
Leaving Hannover, I saw sweeping green fields for the majority of the trip to Heidelberg. It’s a beautiful country.
We stopped at a truck stop for a pretzel sandwich which was good.
Some ongoing jokes from the trip:
- When Chris’s mom found out he lost a job, she sent a text saying maybe he should consider a job as a stone mason
- Chris really wants to go visit Lichtenstein because we are so close. « When else will we ever say « Boy, I really want to go out of my way to see Lichtenstein! »
- Philipp found the last photo he has of me…it was after getting off the train to ULM. I was not feeling better after the Train from Oktoberfest and I was pictured standing against a trash bin, waiting to vomit. We realized I was wearing the exact jacket I packed for the trip! Now we’ve spent some time recreating the photo. Philipp wants fifty photos.
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