Village Life

We live in a village in Germany, with only about 6000 official residents -- that's not counting animals, pets, and the non-registered Americans. So what does that mean, exactly, for daily life? It's not that different from an American small town, but the pace of life somehow turns out entirely differently.

To be perfectly honest, I've tried to write this three times now and realized that everything I'm typing turns into a digression. "Off on a tangent!" -- I am berating myself already. In an attempt to keep this short, I'll turn it into a "Top Ten" list of why I love living here:

10. When I buy eggs from the farmers, I can hear the chickens squawking.
9. The beer really is better and fresher.
8. It is perfectly safe (and expected) for children to walk to school and back on their own.
7. My kids actually speak German fluently (go, immersion!).
6. I have learned to speak German semi-fluently, and love how the words have these crazy compound meanings. Example: a turtle is a Schildkröte -- literally a "shielded toad" -- is this how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were invented?!? How is a turtle like a toad, anyways?
5. When you get bored of castles, you can visit Roman and Celtic ruins instead.
4. Sometimes, I don't drive the car for two or three days and hardly notice it.
3. There are so many community events and clubs that there is always something happening, even in our tiny village.
2. No separation of church & state: St. Nicholas visits the kindergartens, religion class happens at the local school, we have Easter break, and the Christian Democratic Union is a major political party.
1. Like all small towns: you bump into people over and over so easily that you start to feel at home before you know it.

Tomorrow: We visit Fildorado, a nearby Erlebnisbad, which loosely translates into "waterpark."