Germany Behind Me

I've posted lots of photos and written lots of words about the things we saw and did in Germany. It was truly a trip-of-a-lifetime. But I guess when I think about what impacted me most, what I'll take away besides photos, I think it was all the moments when we were spending time with Niko's family, and I thought to myself, "How did this happen? How did I find myself sitting in the home of a Germany family, eating dinner with them and talking about our lives?"

We didn't just travel Germany as tourists. We were escorted around Germany by Niko and his parents. They helped us negotiate every stop, every interaction. They researched and planned what would be most fun to see. We traveled with a German family through Germany. How did this happen?

I confess that I've never had a burning desire to see Germany - at least not until Niko came into our family and began showing us photos of his home. And even then, my thoughts were, "Someday it would be nice to go visit Niko, and see some of Germany, too." Instead, I found myself thrilled at each new city, every new culinary experience. The gardens, the buildings, the history, the churches - all of it was unlike anything I have ever seen. But what made it most fun was seeing it with Niko, Ingrid and Hans. We struggled through conversations each day - Niko's excellent English, Ingrid's very good English, Hans' pretty good English, Rob's so-so German, and my (and Clif's) complete ignorance of German. Every conversation had to be thought out. Cultural sensitivities had to be screened through language. But it worked. It really did. We laughed together and smiled in all the photos. Not because it was expected but because that's how we really felt.

The theme of my sabbatical grant is "Redefining Family." I knew that seeing Niko's home and meeting all his family would, in some way, extend my own family. And it did. But I didn't expect to be so welcomed by all his extended family. As we entered the home of Hans' mother and sister, we saw framed photos of our family Christmas card from 2 1/2 years ago - the one with Niko and our family - in a prominent place in their homes. It seems that they had adopted us as family a long time ago. It just took me a while to realize it.