PLAY IT AGAIN SAM!: Memories from Germany!

Pictures from the 18th of May.

Niedersachsen Haus

Tante Chrsitel's beautiful gardens!

Pictures from the 19-20th of May

I am supposed to be "arguing". Hehe! Look at his wife :) (these are only figurines. :D)

Mommy!

Birger! Hehe!

lol!

a building that looks like a ship

Birger

Birger, Mommy, and Oliver

(pics from May 22)

_______Pics from the very top of the windmill! :-D

___________________The windmill in action!

__________________ Mommy and me!

_____________________________(pics from May 20th)

We arrived at JFK airport at 3:23. I was so nervous I was shaking. I relaxed a little as we got on the plane. It took off at around 5:20. The plane went up over Canada and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Then it got dark and I couldn't see out anymore. They served us dinner and it was really delicious. I had pasta with sun dried tomatoes! We arrived in Amsterdam at 6:45 or so. We had 4-5 hour of waiting so Mommy and I took a train to the heart of Amsterdam. It was not very nice and it was very dirty. People were running all over the place. We really didn't like it so we got back on the train and back to the airport. Mommy thinks that if we had gone further away from the station it would have gotten nicer, but we were tired and didn't go very far. We sat around for a while and finally we left on a smaller plane to Bremen. The turbulence was horrible. The plane would drop a little then go back up and drop and go back up. Mommy was holding on so hard her knuckles were white! Then the landing was very rough. When we landed and got our bags, there were two people waiting there for us. Tante Christel and Oliver. Mommy was in tears when she saw them. This was my first time meeting them! They took us home to Tante Christel's house and we relaxed. I fell asleep early and went to bed. The next day was Wednesday and Oliver took us to the Heise Mühle. That is where my grandma grew up. Oliver lives in the old barn that he has gutted and refurbished. Tante Karin lives in the house where my grandma also grew up in. We then went up in the mill. On the first level there was a bottom and a top of grinding stones. On the third, there were the huge stones where they would be put to work grinding grains. Then, Mommy, Oliver, and I went up a few ladders to the very top of the mill. We were on the opposite side of the big wings, but then Oliver took me to the spot right behind the huge wings! I could see so far! Getting to that spot was exciting. I had to be really careful not to fall down to the next floor! You see, most of the way up is open for huge gears and beams. There were wobbly boards, too! It was truly an amazing experience! When we went down to the third floor and then onto the deck that goes around it, called the gallery, Oliver went back inside and turned on the mill! It was Mommy's first time seeing the flugels (the wings) go around and she would come every other year or so when she was younger. And imagine what a sight it must have been to people driving by seeing the Heise Mühle's wings going again!! ( Heise Mühle = high-za muhle) Then Tante Christel took us out to pizza! It was also my mom's birthday! Later in the evening we watched a soccer game. It was Bremen vs. Ukraine. Unfortunately Bremen lost. Earlier that day, we also went to a one room school house/museum where my grandma went to school. In one of the pictures of the school children back then, my grandma was in it! There was also a little piano that you had to pump with your feet. You had to pump in order to play. Oliver also mentioned to us that he was watching tv when a family was interviewed. We asked why. And he said it was because they had eight children and that is a BIG family in Germany! Hehe! Also the eighth child in Germany is baptized with the president as his/her godfather! The gardens there in Lunestedt are indescribably beautiful! The trees are not all the same. There is a variety of shades of green, shapes, and sizes! Beautiful! Tante Christel also has many rose bushes, though they were not blooming yet. Only one on a rose vine bloomed and we cut it and brought in inside.
On Thursday we met Birger (Oliver's brother), his wife, and his son, Jonas. Birger is so sweet and funny.
On Friday, Oliver and Birger took us out to lunch. We went to a restaurant located in the hull of an old ship! Above it had sails and everything! Later we went to a museum called the Duetsches Auswanderer Haus. It is where people would emigrate. Inside it was made to look like a dock of the late 1800s - early 1900s and then what the inside of the ship looked like. It was a lot of fun! There were port holes and some had real video of what seas would look like from that view. When Mommy came out of a room and saw a port hole in front of her she really thought the “ship” was rocking! In one of the rooms there was a spot where you could stand and have your picture taken around luggage and even a few outfits to look like you were part of the people leaving from the 1900s! Oliver, Mommy and I had our picture taken! It didn’t come out very well, but I like it anyway. Afterward, we went to a little café that was in the museum. Mommy and Birger had coffee, Oliver had hot chocolate, and I had Sprite! The Sprite in Germany is so much more lemony! I wasn’t sure it was Sprite at first! We talked and laughed for almost two and a half hours!
On Saturday, Tante Christel had a Cafe und Kuchen party. She invited one of my grandma’s first cousins, Helmut, and his two daughters, Jazmin and Sybilla, and her Sybilla’s son, David. Birger, his wife, Jonas, and Oliver came too! First we had cake and butterkuchen, then sat around and talked, and then we abendessen, of bread and slices of meat and cheese. Later I went outside and played badminton with David and Jonas. After around one and a half hours, David got tired and Oliver took his pace. We played for another hour or so, with picture taking in the middle. I had so much fun playing with him and he is really good! Jonas is so cute! When the birdie would go far off he would run and get it for us. His little German is so adorable! He has a cute little lisp from having a pacifier, which makes his slurred German even more slurred. David is a funny little guy. He is six. Later on as he got to know me better, he would show me what different things were called in German. It was very nice to meet a lot of my relatives in Germany! Later in the evening after everyone had gone except Oliver, we looked at old pictures and the family tree. There were some very cute pictures of my grandma and pictures of my great grandma, and great-great grandparents and aunts and uncles! Is really amazing to see so much history! We stayed up till midnight! And at midnight in Germany it looks like this on the clocks: 0:00! Then: 0:01, 0:02, etc.! Hehe!
On Sunday afternoon, Mommy and I went on a bike ride. It was so beautiful out. We went up through fields on old roads. We saw highland cows and horses and field after field of “beautifulness!” Later we went to the mill and just hung out together. Before we went home, Oliver turned on the mill again for us! What a sight! He kept it on for a long time too! On our way home we visited graves of my late relatives. The cemeteries are kept so beautifully there. Everyone has respect for those they loved. There are flowers, beautifully kept vines, it is all so very neat and clean, and no weeds. It was a very bittersweet and humbling moment. The next and last day was Monday. We got ready and packed our things. Oliver came and picked us up and with Tante Christel we went to the airport. When we arrived we had around a half an hour to walk around and say our goodbyes. Mommy and I were in tears. We gave our hugs and went through the gate. We were confused for a second not knowing where to go. But, as we went down the stairs, our faces sobbing with tears, and went around the corner, there were all the people going on the plane. All faces turned towards us. It was a little embarrassing. Hehe. As we boarded, we looked back to the building and there was Tante Christel and Oliver, going as far as they could on the roof deck to see us. They waved and we waved. People around us were still looking at us weird, but we didn’t care. We flew to Amsterdam, then from there to JFK airport in NYC. I was so tired, I slept through take-off in Amsterdam! Daddy and all my siblings picked us up and we headed home. When we arrived home, they had a huge surprise for us in the back yard! They had repainted the deck and put up and also painted the new fence for around the pool, which they opened, too!!
Before we went to Germany, Mommy had told me that the family over there is very kind and giving. I was really excited. Now that I have met them they were and are much more kinder, giving, sweet, affectionate, loving, and thoughtful than my mind had contemplated! Tante Christel always had everything ready for us. In the morning she would be sitting there at the table with breakfast all laid out. She brought me to the store and the butcher’s with her on bicycles. She even played a few games of badminton with me! Before we left she gave me a beautiful silver bracelet! Her kindness is beyond what words can describe! Oliver is just as kind, sweet, and is very gentlemanly and easygoing. When we were at Bremerhaven we went up to the dike. It was very windy and I was cold and he gave me his jacket. Birger is still just as kind and giving! He is very outgoing and funny! He took us out to lunch and to the museum. We had a very memorable time!

Please keep Tante Karin in your prayers.

The Rose!

Sybila holding David, and Birger is on the ground

(back l-r) Tante Christel, Uncle Helmut, my mommy, Oliver, and he is holding Jonas, then Jazmin, Birger's wife's sister, and then Birger's wife, Gisha. I am taking the picture.