First Selfies!

In the spirit of my last blog, here is a selfie!  Berliner Platz is a large plaza close to us.  This week end there is a stage for musical performances, booths like at a carnival for games, food, and kiddie rides.

It's fun to experience something like this that is similar, but also quite different from the States.  Behind us are lots of sweets.  You'd recognize some, and you'd be surprised that others can contain alcohol!  We haven't asked yet if they also deep fry everything from pickles to Twinkies.  Will do that.

The reason for all this is that this is FASTNACHT.  In English we use the French name Mardi Gras.

Correct. Delete. Learn.

Some of you may have noticed that some of the older blogs you'd previously looked at have been edited.  Friedenshaus director Greg saw one of our blogs and realized that the German family described there would take offense.  He checked with them and sure enough, he was right.  Greg explained to us that on the whole, Germans are much more sensitive to their names and faces being on the internet than Americans.  I hadn't thought of this blog as being open to the larger internet, but of course, that was silly of me.
So, in the future we'll be sure to check even more carefully with folk and most likely will not be giving names, possibly also fewer pictures.  We'll see.  We certainly want to act appropriately here.

LU Cost of Living

Several folks (esp. my brother-in-law Peter) have asked about how the prices compare between Germany now and when I lived in Marburg during my college days (oh, so many years ago - 1970-71). My first response was that Ludwigshafen is surprisingly close to southwestern Pa. When I was last living here, it seemed that many things were much more expensive - food, eating out, clothing, shoes, gasoline, etc. etc.

Now, one must remember that "the older I get, the more clearly I remember things not quite as they were." So, I wanted to check myself out.  First, here are a few pictures we've taken over the last 3 weeks . . .

Vegetables and fruit prices at a Turkish store about a 2-mile walk from the Stadtmitte (central city) where we live.  The prices are generally per Kilo (approx 2.2lb for our USA readers). Some Germans as well as recent immigrants look down on the Turkish shops as not to the quality of German wares - but, if you know what you want, it is really much cheaper than prices in s.w. Pa. 

Deichmann Shoes is in our local, Rathaus Center mall. They would be similar to mall shoe stores in US that sell name brands, but discount them. The athletic shoes are under $30 and the leather shoes are $30-$40 in the window. That is quite a bit cheaper than when I was in Marburg - at least compared to how long it took to earn a pair of shoes driving moving vans (my summer job in '70). Now, most of these shoes would be manufactured in Italy or China - I doubt if any in Germany. And, that is a big reason for the lower prices - the strong, active trade that the EU has entered into with one another and through agreements, with the rest of the world

Here are two really inexpensive clothing outlets in LU - top is Kik and the bottom is the sidewalk specials of Woolworths (that's right, the same Woolworths that long ago closed in the States). Those prices, even in Euros (today it took US $1.22 to buy € 1.00) these are great prices!

I wanted to check myself. Back when I had a subscription to The Economist, I could have checked out one of the Checklists there for overall most expensive cities in the world. Unfortunately, I dropped that magazine some time ago.  One also sees in Forbes, CNBC and other media references to the indexes produced by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU). They usually just list the 10 top cities in the world, and there is not a single German city on that short list.  If you want to get more granular, EIU invites you to join, but the rates are exorbitant. So, I went looking for a crowd-sourced online resource for the cost of living in cities around the world. I wanted a source that works the way WAZE handles traffic in real time and GasBuddy is constantly updated by enthusiastic local users.  And I found it in Expatistan.com.  

Sure enough, if you go to Expatistan, you will find that it compares many types of costs for a city - food, fuel, rent, property, entertainment, doctors, meds, meals out (cheap, medium and expensive), clothes, heating and utilities and much more.  The result:  Manheim (our sister city across the Rhein) is 7% cheaper to live in than is Pittsburgh - just the way it "felt."  Now, rent is higher in Mannheim, but most other costs are about the same. Peter, Expatistan says it is about the same as living in Montreal (which, by the way, is 24% cheaper than Toronto).  And, compared to the city I grew up in, Washington, DC, Mannheim is a whopping 47% cheaper to live in. 

Check out for yourself: https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living
Plug in your town and your favorite cities around the world and see how they compare.

Thank you Daniel, John, Leroy and Ember!

Jack here - When I came to LU, I told the Gemeinde (the Mennonites here call themselves a Gemeinde (Communty/Fellowship), not a Kirche (church)) that one of my desires was to improve my German. The first day I sat in on a class co-run by Ruth and Greg - and I learned a lot. The second day I went downstairs to Greg’s advanced class and learned more.  But, by the third day, I realized that Friedenhaus did NOT need another student. Nor, did they need another helper with the classes - there are volunteers, both from the congregation and from young Germans from the area who are not Mennonites. They also did not need an English teacher, a bookstore manager, a marketer (more on that in another blog), and certainly not a consultant.  What they needed was an OPA!

The women who come to the classes sometimes have pre-schoolers who can't stay home while mom is in class. Their siblings are often in kindergarten or school, but they are either too young or haven't been able to get into a kindergarten. Germany has had the challenge of so very many children suddenly that the waiting lists for kindergarten (free, if you can get in) are often over 200. What Friedenshaus needed was someone to watch the kids while their mothers are in class.  One problem is that the only place to supervise the kids is a narrow hallway - but we make do with what we are given. On Monday, one of the kindergartens did not have class and our little gathering swelled from an average of 2-4 to 6 children (ages 18 mos - 6). Here's T (a regular) with M and his sister C who joined us for a morning of chaos and play. 

One morning a delegation of regional Mennonite pastors was meeting in the basement, so volunteer Hans Peter and one of the mothers helped me care for the kids for a while in the upstairs hallway - slightly larger than a closet. Here we are with three regulars . Sometimes two hours can be really, really long . . . 

The point of this blog is to thank my grandchildren for helping me relearn how to play with small children. Spending time over the past 14 years playing with Daniel, John, Leroy and Ember was great training for time with these kids. Of course, D, J, L and E all spoke English - and most of these children don't speak either English or German. They don't even speak the same language sometimes! But, with patience and good humor, we make it through the two two-hour sessions each class day. 

On Sunday I explained to the Gemeinde my role and invited folks to give me any used toys, dolls and board-books that their families no longer need. I emphasized that they should not be new - they will become used very quickly. These kids play HARD with toys - so no beloved family treasures - they are not coming back after this spring. And the congregation has come through - with more promised to arrive. One of the challenges is that the building is so small, there is no room for storing the toys and books at the church. But, we now live right beside the church, so our hallway has now turned into the library and toy storage facility. (Location, location, location!) 

Good times in the Ludwigshafen Mennonitengemeinde basement hallway!!!

Sunday invitation

After the worship service this morning we accompanied our pastor and family home.  We had a lovely time in their relaxed home, talking about everything from producing a hymnal (in this morning's hymnal we saw she'd been on the committee), to watching videos of the girls' rhythmic gymnastics competitions.  All shared about their interests.

When the adults got into boring topics, the kids retired from the table to the couch and huddled very quietly.
Jack had made an announcement in church that he needs toys to keep the children of our students entertained for two hours at a time.  And at the end of our visit they all went off and brought Jack some of their toys.

The family discussed which of the beloved dolls they could do without.  We certainly stressed that we didn't want any that were still loved, but they decided on one they could gladly share. She is so cute, with lots of clothes tool.  And the son brought a bunch of great little cars, which will make the boys very happy!

Saturday

Today was Saturday and a highlight was certainly facetiming with our youngest daughter Cory and her husband Nathaniel.  And of course our darling Leroy and Ember were there too!  They showed us the four new kittens that had been spayed and now are staying inside in a dog cage in the living room.  Very cute - kittens and grandchildren!

Ember read us an easy reader and Leroy showed us all the posters he'd made for the upcoming Super Bowl.  If it's up to his enthusiasm, the Eagles will definitely win :)

Jack spent the whole morning continuing to work on the room in the basement.  He'll tell you all about that at some point.  Harry and Peter, men from the congregation, asked him to join them in this venture.  As often as possible the youth help.  I know they'll be painting.  And when it's done it'll be their room.  Jack is really bonding with these two and learning a lot about how some things are done differently here (eg. electricity).

In the afternoon we had our first guests for Kaffee und Kuchen.  I meant to take a picture of Ruthild and Puran, our upstairs neighbors who have been very generous to us.  Too busy serving yummy cheesecake and Streuselkuchen from a nearby bakery.  It's considered good form in Germany to serve bought cake!  We had a long chat and got to know them a bit better.

Second Asyl (Sanctuary) Cafe

Tuesday we found our way with the streetcar back to the first Asyl Cafe (Mundenheim).  We again talked to various people and then I worked with the young mother from last week on dialogs and after that for an hour with her friend, who also needed help with conversational German.  Jack was very helpful in thinking of new topics and questions for me since she hadn't brought her textbook!

Wednesday after all day classes, Greg took us to an Asyl Cafe in a different part of LU (Oggersheim).  The atmosphere was very different - noise level low, all men (one woman accompanied her husband), many tables (see picture) like in a real cafe.  There was a large selection of baked goods in addition to drinks, and participants could help themselves to leftovers toward the end of the two hours.  Many Germans were scattered throughout, talking with the men.

First we talked with a man from Turkey, who had to leave the country because his passport disappeared and he was in danger.  Cleverly, he scanned his other documents to the internet, got an illegal Spanish ID and was admitted into Germany with that. Once here, he explained the situation and showed his other documents on line.  He arrived 3 months ago and has been moved around.  3 weeks ago he arrived in LU.  Now he has to wait 2 months for an opening in a language course.  He has a wife and 7 yr old daughter at home.  He left us to confer with a German man, who could help him...

Greg was happy to see J. again.  J. took German with Greg and Karl Langelotz 2016-17.  He comes from Syria, close to the border with Turkey, and is Kurdish.  The day before his family had been bombed by Turkish fighter planes!  One cousin died and everyone is very frightened that the air raids will continue.  They are boxed into this area and he is extremely worried about his family.  He asked for our prayers!  He did this numerous times during our visit.  He belongs to a faith even older than Islaam.  They've been persecuted by many over the centuries.  He explained that he worked with his father, brothers and cousin in a gardening business.  They would sell a lot of their plants in Aleppo.

Following his course at Friedenshaus he enrolled in a work / study program to learn printing.  Jack was able to have a long and animated conversation about the world of printing.  You could see it did J. good to focus on a carefree topic too.  The company that is training him for 3.5 years (and will then hire him) prints company logos on bags, boxes etc.

J. rents a room with access to a downstairs kitchen and bathroom.  He explained that he has resorted to buying noise canceling headphones in order to sleep with the noisy bridge traffic outside his room.  He commutes one hour via streetcars to work and also a distance to school, where he is in a regular class with all  native Germans.  He admitted the teacher sometimes has to explain words to him, but that he is getting better all the time.  We were all very impressed with his language abilities!  I need to add that none of this info came in the form of a complaint, rather as a happy announcement that he can manage it all.

Please remember J. and his family back home in your prayers.