Typical German Outing

17.Aug.2008

I have just returned from an outing with my host family on what was declared a typical German outing. I was really excited to be invited to a family event; it is typical for the German folks to meet up at places around town but meeting at someone’s house is something special. We drove out to the Bergischesland west of Köln. It was for me, the stereotypical European landscape. We drove on a narrow two lane road through small villages with tall steeples, fields of sheep, and lots of green grass. We went to visit their grandmother, Frau Frielingsdorf, and Annette’s sister Diana, brother-in-law Derek, and their children Johanes, Katarina, and Max. They all live in Frielingsdorf, a town of about 5000 occupants and much natural beauty. The town, Frielingsdorf was originally Freilingsdorf (meaning Free Village) because it was the first free village after some large political change way back in the day. They blame the ei-ie change on a typo (verschreiben).

The grandmother lives on the first floor of a house with her daughter and grandchildren on the second floor. After introductions and a glass of apple juice and mineral water, the grandkids and I headed out to see the area. We walked through the town, and up a hill through a forest to get a good view of the town. Compared to Köln, there is almost an overwhelming amount of green, present in the expansive rolling fields and evergreen trees surrounding the quaint picturesque village. We got back to a house filled with the aroma of fresh waffles, whipped cream, and cherry sauce. Interesting note: “Waffen” in German is weapons, “Waffeln” is a traditional German patterned pastry often enjoyed in the afternoon. Imagine a sweet elderly lady saying “I think I’ll prepare some weapons for after your walk. Do you like weapons with whipped cream?”

She had also made a fantastic plum pie. It had a very thick lower crust, about 1.5cm or so, that was kind of like a dense cake but not as sweet. Fantastic. After the sweets, we played a lot of UNO, but it was crazy UNO because we used a normal deck of cards, and there were weird rules, and we yelled “Mamao” instead.

Then came the barbeque. They grilled a couple of different types of wurst, chicken, pork and steak, and we also had a salad and some spicy feta cheese. The German people like to grill outside and at the end of the day, they said “And so you have it, a typical German afternoon.” To cap of a great day, Annette let me drive her all the way back to Köln.

There was something peaceful and relaxing about the whole trip, despite mild anxiety about the language barrier. Clean country air, lots of green grass, a light breeze, a grandmother’s pie, and playing cards outside. Deutschland!