Siegelbach
Talk about life taking you on a wild ride. Granted I had made the choices that led to this point, but I no longer felt in control of my life. Destiny was at the helm and I had to go where it took me. On March 3, 1964, just 8 weeks before my 19th birthday, I was climbing aboard an airplane in Columbus, Ohio to live in a foreign country for two years with a new husband that indications had already shown me; I never should have married. Even though I still loved him and wanted to be married to him. He may have been raised by wonderful parents who certainly tried, but so far he hadn't yet grown up the way everyone who loved him could have hoped. And I was now going to be stranded thousands of miles from everyone I knew with him. That was one king size leap across an ocean of faith.
From Columbus it seemed a short jump to the Kennedy airport, where I had to change planes, but not air lines. Which made it easy, even for this unseasened traveler. Then we flew up the east coast, along the edge of Canada before we turned east to England, across an enormous ocean. I can still remember flying over London. We were in a holding pattern and they circled London quite low. We saw the London Bridge and London tower from the air. Big Ben, and one of the Queens Palaces. (Westminster?) Other landmarks I couldn't name and now don't remember. When we landed, I didn't have to change planes and our layover time had been cut to about an hour. I was hesitant about leaving the plane, and then I was told I wouldn't be able to see anything without going through Customs and that could eat up most of my hour. Most of the other passengers were staying put, so I did too. When we took off, our plane circled London again over a different area and in the oposite direction. So, I felt I'd had the best tour possible anyway.
Another very short flight brought me to Frankfort. I'd been flying for hours and then arrived where the time was another 5 hours ahead. (I think...maybe 6 hours.) It was quite late in the afternoon when I arrived in Frankfort. I had to find my own luggage and pass through Customs before I could go to the area where G would be waiting for me. G's Mother had given me a new set of luggage for my trip. The big suitcase was an enourmous thing that wouldn't be allowed on a plane today. Customs made me open it in Frankfort because they said it was big enough to hide a body. There was an English speaking agent who thought that was funny and he had me smiling too. They didn't find a body and they let me go, to drag my things off alone.
Through another wide door and there was G waiting with a huge smile. All my trepidation melted. We were young and in love and we really did both want to make it work. A new country, a new life and we were ready to start over. We were both growing up fast.
G didn't have a car yet, so he was with a buddy who had driven him to Frankfort. His name was Eddie G. and he was from Alabama. It struck me funny that I had gone all the way to Germany to meet my first southern accent. The guys put the big suitcase in a rack on top of the car and we filled the rest of the Volkswagon with the rest of my things and the three of us. First lesson, there is (or at least, was) no speed limit in Germany and Eddie loved to drive fast. Everyone drove fast. And riding in a small car seems faster then riding in a big car. And, I was talking just as fast. G and Eddie were laughing at me about it.
Still, it was getting dark when we arrived in Siegelbach and found the apartment G had gotten us. So, I didn't see much of my new village that night. I could see that there was a field across the road, and the building our apartment was in, seemed to be connected to every other building on the street. At ground level was a small wooden door that G would have to duck to get his 6 Ft. frame through. But this wasn't the door they led me to. They went to some stairs and hauled my things up. I later discovered the small door led to what we could call a basement. The main floor was up the stairs. Inside was a hall and more stairs that led to our floor. So though we lived on the second floor, we were actually three floors up when I looked out the window of my new home. Even more strange to this spoiled American was the fact that the only bathroom was in the hall outside our door and had to be shared with our landlord and landlady. As time went on, I began to realize the shared bathroom was only shared for baths. They did have a water faucet in their kitchen. They must have used pails for their other business and didn't climb the stairs very often for baths either. (Let me insert that we only lived there three months, and their name has totally escaped me now, though I can still picture their faces.) That bathroom was also the only source of water for our apartment. There was no sink or faucet in the apartment. We had two mid sized rooms. The back room held a big bed, with the most wonderful large fluffy feather pillow like bedspread covering. And, a large, heavy, dark wood wardrobe. Oh, and a small table by the bed. Linen and sheets came with the apartment. The front room was exactly the same size. It held a cupboard with just a few dishes and pans, a waist high Fridge, small gas stove to cook on, one couch, one chair and the kitchen table with four chairs that took up all of the center of the room. I can not remember how the apartment was heated. Probably because there wasn't any heat while I was there.
The landlord and landlady were waiting for us. She grabbed both of my hands and shook them vigorously. Then she handed me some papers and showed me around. First was a big hidden drawer in the side of the table. When she pulled it out, there was my sink. It consisted of two large, shallow, china bowls that lifted out so they could be taken into the bathroom and filled with water. Which would have to be warmed on the stove before doing dishes. A water tank beside the bath tub could be lit for hot water, but must only be used once a week for baths, as anything else would be much to extravagant. All of our instructions were written in English on several sheets of paper, because our hosts didn't speak any English. As she led me around, she pointed to the paper and she seemed to know where to point so I could keep us with what she was telling me. They were a very old couple who smiled and laughed a lot and chattered at me constantly even though we didn't understand a thing we said to each other. Which led to several hilarious mistakes on my part over the first few weeks. My tour guide took me to the bedroom where she seemed especially proud of the large wardrobe. She even opened the door and climbed in to show me how large it was. It had four doors that swung out in pairs so G and I each had our own side. There was a small window in the back of the bedroom that overlooked a small garden. Directly below the window were seveal rabbit hutches. I gathered that the landlord supplimented their income by raising and butchering those rabbits. Back in the living room I was shown a window seat with storage underneath. I spent a lot of time sitting there at the window in the days to come. In daylight I would discover the field I'd seen was a narrow strip of wheat. Behind which, and right across from my window, was a beautiful, ancient Church, whose bells would become music to punctuate my days. Beyond the Church to the left was more of the village of Siegelbach, and to the right beyond the field was countryside.
Finally she was satisfied with her tour and they scurried downstairs. Eddie had enjoyed the tour and only left when they did. I hadn't eaten for hours and I was starved. Once everyone was gone, I went looking for food. Leave it to a man, G hadn't thought of that. He thought there was a small neighborhood store just down the street and we hurried down, not knowing if it would be open. The lights were on and the door wasn't locked, so we went in. A small bell on the door rang and after a bit a middle aged couple came in from the back, still eating some bread. When they saw it was an unknown American couple, G was in Uniform, they went from frowns to all smiles. I wondered if we'd broken some local taboo, by arriving so late even though the door wasn't locked. They were very willing to help and I sure needed help. Nothing was familiar and I didn't know what to ask for. I pointed toward the bread the man was still working on, but all I got was head shakes and "Nein, nein." I wanted something easy, because it was late and I didn't know anything about that gas stove and I was exhausted. I saw a box of Knerr soup. OK, that would work. All I'd need was water and a pan. Then I saw some milk in a tub in a cooler. What I didn't know was that to buy milk, you were suppose to bring your own container. Bless their hearts, they found me a bottle and with lots of hand gestures got me to understand I needed to return the bottle. G gave them a whole five dollor American bill and they were very happy. No change offered.
G and I took our supper home and I was able to heat it up. Even though I had no idea how much water to add. The German instructions on the box clearly said liters and I had nothing to measure with. We sat down to soup and milk for my very first meal in Germany. The soup was fine, but one big gulp of milk almost came right back up. It was goat milk. I hate goat milk.
My first priority was a trip to the Army Commissary. After sleep.
From Columbus it seemed a short jump to the Kennedy airport, where I had to change planes, but not air lines. Which made it easy, even for this unseasened traveler. Then we flew up the east coast, along the edge of Canada before we turned east to England, across an enormous ocean. I can still remember flying over London. We were in a holding pattern and they circled London quite low. We saw the London Bridge and London tower from the air. Big Ben, and one of the Queens Palaces. (Westminster?) Other landmarks I couldn't name and now don't remember. When we landed, I didn't have to change planes and our layover time had been cut to about an hour. I was hesitant about leaving the plane, and then I was told I wouldn't be able to see anything without going through Customs and that could eat up most of my hour. Most of the other passengers were staying put, so I did too. When we took off, our plane circled London again over a different area and in the oposite direction. So, I felt I'd had the best tour possible anyway.
Another very short flight brought me to Frankfort. I'd been flying for hours and then arrived where the time was another 5 hours ahead. (I think...maybe 6 hours.) It was quite late in the afternoon when I arrived in Frankfort. I had to find my own luggage and pass through Customs before I could go to the area where G would be waiting for me. G's Mother had given me a new set of luggage for my trip. The big suitcase was an enourmous thing that wouldn't be allowed on a plane today. Customs made me open it in Frankfort because they said it was big enough to hide a body. There was an English speaking agent who thought that was funny and he had me smiling too. They didn't find a body and they let me go, to drag my things off alone.
Through another wide door and there was G waiting with a huge smile. All my trepidation melted. We were young and in love and we really did both want to make it work. A new country, a new life and we were ready to start over. We were both growing up fast.
G didn't have a car yet, so he was with a buddy who had driven him to Frankfort. His name was Eddie G. and he was from Alabama. It struck me funny that I had gone all the way to Germany to meet my first southern accent. The guys put the big suitcase in a rack on top of the car and we filled the rest of the Volkswagon with the rest of my things and the three of us. First lesson, there is (or at least, was) no speed limit in Germany and Eddie loved to drive fast. Everyone drove fast. And riding in a small car seems faster then riding in a big car. And, I was talking just as fast. G and Eddie were laughing at me about it.
Still, it was getting dark when we arrived in Siegelbach and found the apartment G had gotten us. So, I didn't see much of my new village that night. I could see that there was a field across the road, and the building our apartment was in, seemed to be connected to every other building on the street. At ground level was a small wooden door that G would have to duck to get his 6 Ft. frame through. But this wasn't the door they led me to. They went to some stairs and hauled my things up. I later discovered the small door led to what we could call a basement. The main floor was up the stairs. Inside was a hall and more stairs that led to our floor. So though we lived on the second floor, we were actually three floors up when I looked out the window of my new home. Even more strange to this spoiled American was the fact that the only bathroom was in the hall outside our door and had to be shared with our landlord and landlady. As time went on, I began to realize the shared bathroom was only shared for baths. They did have a water faucet in their kitchen. They must have used pails for their other business and didn't climb the stairs very often for baths either. (Let me insert that we only lived there three months, and their name has totally escaped me now, though I can still picture their faces.) That bathroom was also the only source of water for our apartment. There was no sink or faucet in the apartment. We had two mid sized rooms. The back room held a big bed, with the most wonderful large fluffy feather pillow like bedspread covering. And, a large, heavy, dark wood wardrobe. Oh, and a small table by the bed. Linen and sheets came with the apartment. The front room was exactly the same size. It held a cupboard with just a few dishes and pans, a waist high Fridge, small gas stove to cook on, one couch, one chair and the kitchen table with four chairs that took up all of the center of the room. I can not remember how the apartment was heated. Probably because there wasn't any heat while I was there.
The landlord and landlady were waiting for us. She grabbed both of my hands and shook them vigorously. Then she handed me some papers and showed me around. First was a big hidden drawer in the side of the table. When she pulled it out, there was my sink. It consisted of two large, shallow, china bowls that lifted out so they could be taken into the bathroom and filled with water. Which would have to be warmed on the stove before doing dishes. A water tank beside the bath tub could be lit for hot water, but must only be used once a week for baths, as anything else would be much to extravagant. All of our instructions were written in English on several sheets of paper, because our hosts didn't speak any English. As she led me around, she pointed to the paper and she seemed to know where to point so I could keep us with what she was telling me. They were a very old couple who smiled and laughed a lot and chattered at me constantly even though we didn't understand a thing we said to each other. Which led to several hilarious mistakes on my part over the first few weeks. My tour guide took me to the bedroom where she seemed especially proud of the large wardrobe. She even opened the door and climbed in to show me how large it was. It had four doors that swung out in pairs so G and I each had our own side. There was a small window in the back of the bedroom that overlooked a small garden. Directly below the window were seveal rabbit hutches. I gathered that the landlord supplimented their income by raising and butchering those rabbits. Back in the living room I was shown a window seat with storage underneath. I spent a lot of time sitting there at the window in the days to come. In daylight I would discover the field I'd seen was a narrow strip of wheat. Behind which, and right across from my window, was a beautiful, ancient Church, whose bells would become music to punctuate my days. Beyond the Church to the left was more of the village of Siegelbach, and to the right beyond the field was countryside.
Finally she was satisfied with her tour and they scurried downstairs. Eddie had enjoyed the tour and only left when they did. I hadn't eaten for hours and I was starved. Once everyone was gone, I went looking for food. Leave it to a man, G hadn't thought of that. He thought there was a small neighborhood store just down the street and we hurried down, not knowing if it would be open. The lights were on and the door wasn't locked, so we went in. A small bell on the door rang and after a bit a middle aged couple came in from the back, still eating some bread. When they saw it was an unknown American couple, G was in Uniform, they went from frowns to all smiles. I wondered if we'd broken some local taboo, by arriving so late even though the door wasn't locked. They were very willing to help and I sure needed help. Nothing was familiar and I didn't know what to ask for. I pointed toward the bread the man was still working on, but all I got was head shakes and "Nein, nein." I wanted something easy, because it was late and I didn't know anything about that gas stove and I was exhausted. I saw a box of Knerr soup. OK, that would work. All I'd need was water and a pan. Then I saw some milk in a tub in a cooler. What I didn't know was that to buy milk, you were suppose to bring your own container. Bless their hearts, they found me a bottle and with lots of hand gestures got me to understand I needed to return the bottle. G gave them a whole five dollor American bill and they were very happy. No change offered.
G and I took our supper home and I was able to heat it up. Even though I had no idea how much water to add. The German instructions on the box clearly said liters and I had nothing to measure with. We sat down to soup and milk for my very first meal in Germany. The soup was fine, but one big gulp of milk almost came right back up. It was goat milk. I hate goat milk.
My first priority was a trip to the Army Commissary. After sleep.
posted by LeeAnn | 3:11 PM
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