Laurel Elisabeth Stevens

Bike riding to the store has its limitations By January of last year I felt like I was really quite adjusted to living in Hannover.   On a chilly January day two friends and I met to walk together and then get a few things at the grocery store.  We planned to then take the tram back home.  It was a lovely, brisk walk.  Two Americans and a German who lived in the US for five years have much to talk about.  Soon we were at the store doing our shopping.  In between the produce and the dairy section, I saw my neighbor, Frau K . . K . .. what was her name?  I simply couldn’t remember, although I had seen her a number of times and had chatted with her husband.  She was in her late 70s, a tall woman with excellent posture and silvery white hair.  I got up enough nerve to say, “Guten Tag.”  On earlier occasions when I had talked with my neighbor and her husband, it was her husband who was always the friendly one, with English that he le...

Sunset: 9:45 PM Sunrise: 4:58 PM John and I took this picture at about 10 PM Sunday night.  We wanted to show all our Texas friends how light it is at these northern latitudes this time of year.  We are at 52 degrees north.  Houston is 29 degrees north. My bare feet were getting cold on the grass, he he he.

Ready for the woods! My neighbor asked me if I had someone to clean my windows.  I wondered if that was a hint.  I cleaned them in 2 rooms and then went for a bike ride.  It was a good morning. A German friend, Evie, who married an American and then lived in the US for seven years was telling another German friend, Steph, if she’d heard of “German Chocolate Cake.”  “What?!”  Steph looked bewildered.  Evie explained: “It is a chocolate sponge cake.  You know how American cakes always have an icing on them?  Well this icing is a mixture of pecans and coconut.”  Stephanie looked disgusted.  I guess it would be like telling a Frenchman about “French Toast.” Zooming! He was so excited about it that he rode it in the rain. Henry got a new bike.  We were fortunate to buy it second hand from a Kindergarten friend who noticed that his was rather small.  So now 3 of the four of us are zooming around on German bikes.  His is co...

Sunday, November 28th, 2010 Please don’t think that my first impressions of Germany or my experiences here are indicative of life in Germany in general. I have found more surprise than I expected from locals who are amazed that I travel so much on public transportation, and I have met many women who drive as often as or more often than they go by other mode of transportation (bike or public). Just today I spoke with a woman whose daughter is in Henry’s kindergarten and she said she has taken the tram only once. But she also offered to drive me to Real sometime (pronounced Reh All) to do some grocery shopping. Things I describe may seem strange to you as well as to those I’m living around! But then again, I never felt quite like I belonged in The Woodlands either. We just returned from the Familiegottesdienst --Family worship--at the Lutheran church. This is a day in which the kindergarten takes a big role in the worship service. A little background which may be repetition:...