bin so stark

I arrived in Munich one evening with a suitcase loaded with wine for my hosts and the soft remnants of a half eaten camembert who had bravely gotten me through the day en route (Bordeaux-Paris-Munich) couched in my sac à main. Hanna met me with a bisou at the station and led me and my enthusiasm off to find her father and mettre la cap sur Walchensee, the little Bavarian village that has been my home for the past few weeks. Her father offered me a lively handshake followed by a warm hug, cheek to rudy cheek. freut mich!--i tried in German, aggressively clearing my throat to the tune of his laugh, and we set out. Hanna and i sat in the back, chatting and giggling, reeling off the last few months in the span of a few minutes. The roads turned mountainous and we pulled to a stop in front of a large dark house, the shadows of flowers falling over every partially lit window frame. Toute de suite I was offered beer, soup, and a lovely bed, all wooden and flowery, in that traditional german style.


My schedule quickly adjusted to the early morning call for Frühstück and the even earlier morning dip in the nearby lake encircled by the low Alpes. My first days are a blur of tennis and ping-pong spielen, wind surfing, and sailing. My french cafe habits have suffered significantly from this change of pace!


Hanna, dressed and coiffured in the proper fashion, spends the evenings dancing the Plattler with other elaborately adorned girls and boys. The men tell jokes in a raucous dialect and the band plays the bartender's favorites to receive his favors. And how they dance,

these Bavarian boys and girls! skirts flying and hands clapping, beer sloshing, and faces reddening. and the girls spinning faster and faster, Hanna spinning the fastest of them all!




When people from the village meet, they greet one another with "servus," a latin word meaning something like "at your service." The first time I tried my voice at this new word my mind spun into Latin and I called out "salve" to a confused villager and hurried away, ever embarrassed of my faults! I spend a good 3-5 hours of each day Deutch lernen, but my progress seems frustratingly slow. However, the people here are incredibly encouraging of my baby steps, laughing at my accent, repeating my exact phrase to their neighbors in case they missed my attempts, and explaining with slow and wide eyes and lips where I went wrong.


I'm happy here, and strong. I feel healthier than I have felt in over a year. The mountains suit me well, their fresh winds and flowers. My mind is clear and sharp, ready to inhale it all.