Douglas-fir Blog

The weekend after my big Berlin trip, I journeyed to the city of Nürnberg to see my friend Hans-Martin, whom I had not seen for over three and a half years. I came to know Hans-Martin in the spring of 2003, when he, along with another teacher, led a group of Gymnasium students on an exchange program to Reynolds High School in Troutdale, Oregon, where I was learning German. (A Gymnasium is roughly equivalent to an American high school. It is one of three types of schools in Germany that would fall under our term “high school;” the Gymnasium is required for students going on to a university.) My family and I hosted Hans-Martin during his stay in the Portland area. It was a delightful time, and we all greatly enjoyed getting to know him. Hans-Martin invited me to come to Germany and see his school and stay at his place, which I did that same summer. I was there three weeks, and I had a wonderful time. It was the first time I’d ever been to Europe. My impression of Germany and German life was overwhelmingly positive. My German wasn’t so good then, but I came back motivated to learn, which I did.


Some weeks before my Berlin trip, I gave Hans-Martin a surprise phone call. He was happy to hear from me, and invited me to visit him again. I came over the weekend of the 17th and 18th of March. It was great to see my friend again, and Nürnberg was just as beautiful as I’d remembered it. I’d kept countless crystal clear memories of my first trip, and over the course of my latest trip, many of these memories came rushing back, right down to what I felt and thought at the time. I found that I remembered even the nearby Marktkauf grocery store with perfect clarity! Hans-Martin took me to the Landbierparadies restaurant, which we had gone to on the first trip. It was every bit as good as I remembered. Hans-Martin’s girlfriend, Suzanne, joined us on Saturday afternoon and came with us to the Landbierparadies. While I was in town, I also visited the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, a museum dedicated to Germanic history and culture from prehistoric times to the present day. On Sunday, Hans-Martin took me to, among other places, the Nürnberg Castle and the Albrecht Dürer house.

One thing that struck both of us while I was in Nürnberg was how much my German had improved since my last visit. Then, I tried to practice some German, but for actual communication, we had to default to English. This time around, we spoke German the whole time, except when I told Hans-Martin and Suzanne a joke in English. It made the reunion all the better to be able to communicate in the language I could only comprehend in snatches on my first trip to Germany.



< Hans-Martin, Suzanne and I in the Landbierparadies. >


< Hans-Martin and Suzanne >


< At the Nürnberg Castle >


< By the Albrecht Dürer house. The statue is a whimsical version of a well-known painting of Dürer’s. >


< Hans-Martin’s neighborhood as seen from his kitchen. The area has been built up a fair amount since I was there the first time. >