Friday, August 26, 2011

Edy receives some airmail...

Today Edy had the delectable treat of a delivery of a large envelope addressed in European handwriting. Inside there were more than two dozen letters, poems, drawings and notes from her former class at Volkschule Am Graben. Edy read with teary-eyed delight each letter, every one written in German. Thanks to Philip's passion and drive, Edy has only improved in her German in these eight months. I'm sure she is thinking of her response to her friends even now, and if I know Phil, he'll insist that she answers her friends in German.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Stammtische

It has been five months since we have left Germany. Our daily life still has remnants of our time there. Our prayer before mealtime and bedtime is in German, the kitchen iPod dock will blast Deutsche Welle every morning, and we have continued with our weekly German conversation tutor.

Last night Philip and Rachel had a special treat of meeting up with a Pittsburgh German language group at the Hofbräuhaus. We can attest that the restaurant is really in authentic German style and our server even spoke German. We sat in the Bier Garten, overlooking the Monogahela River on long benches along long tables, with about 25 or 30 other Germanophiles.

We hope to go there again, as the people we met were so interesting and delightful. It also happened to be Phil's birthday, so many people wished him "Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag!"






Friday, April 29, 2011

A lot of German around here lately....

We have had a kindred spirit staying with us recently, in town for a philosophy conference. Its been since October 2010 since we last saw the Bell family, in Berlin! Luckily, Jason arrived in time to have a "taste of Germany" provided by our local tutor on occasion of Easter! Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate laced with a bit of marzipan was spread over our dining room table. Sehr lecker!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Back in Berlin!

Philip is back Berlin this week for a Fulbright conference.   The weather has been beautiful, the presentations interesting, and the exposure to the German language and culture exhilarating!  Here are some of his photos...