On Saturday Grandpa John played a game called Cricket with the folks we know at Christ Church. The church people made a team, and then they played Cricket against a team of people from England who live in Düsseldorf.

Cricket is a little like baseball, but not much. They throw a ball, and you try to hit it with a bat. Grandpa John did a good job and hit the ball a few times. They won one game and lost one game.
It was hard to see what was going on in Cricket, and I didn’t understand the game, so Grandma Barb and I sat on the grass in the shade and visited with people. I made friends with a boy named Owen, who is 10 months old. I also made friends with Owen’s big brother, Enne. He is six. Who do you know who is six and has a baby brother?

Owen liked to chew on my wing, and Grandma Barb liked that, so she took a picture of us. Then she took a picture of Enne and Owen. Enne finally smiled at us when we took his picture. He was a quiet little boy up until that point.

Then he asked Grandma Barb a question. She had a liter bottle of Diet Coke she had been sipping on all afternoon. “Why are you drinking so much Coke?” he said.

“Because I’m an American,” Grandma Barb responded. Enne’s mom laughed right out loud! That’s because Grandma was right. Only Americans walk around with a bottle of Coke. For the rest of Europe, Coke is something you sip at lunch, from a six ounce glass.

Then Grandma Barb made a mistake.

Grandma Barb said to Owen’s mom, “What is your e-mail address so I can send you copies of the pictures?” She gave Grandma Barb her e-mail address, but she looked very surprised.

A little later Owen’s mom said, “Would you mind horribly if I asked you to erase the photos from your camera? I work for the British government, you see, and I’m not supposed to use the e-mail for things not related to work.”

Oops. Grandma Barb learned a lesson. Never take pictures without asking, and never assume people have an e-mail address they can share.

There is so much to learn when you live in a different country!

But it was a lovely sunny day, and Owen and Enne and their mom had a good time with us watching Cricket. We had a tea break during the games, and we had little sandwiches on white bread and Apfel Kuchen. (That’s apple cake). Owen’s mom and Grandma Barb had tea with milk, that’s the British way!

One of my favorite things about Germany is that there are bakeries all over the place. On nearly every block you’ll find a Bäckerie. Inside are glass cases filled with rolls, bread, and sandwiches made with rolls.

If a Bäckerie is also a Konditorei it will sell pastry—like Apfelstrudel. What is Apfelstrudel? It’s apple strudel. That’s like apple pie, except it also has raisins in it. You say it like this, “Awful strudel.” Isn’t that funny? It sounds like it should taste terrible, but it is warm and sweet and tasty.

Sometimes a Bäckerie has a café attached, and then people can sit inside or outside and munch on their favorite delicious sandwich.

My favorite sandwich is a roll covered with seeds. Some rolls have pumpkin seeds on them, others have different seeds. Grandma Barb’s favorite sandwich has meat and kraut in it. Kraut is cabbage that is cut up with a little something in it that makes it taste both sweet and sour.

Maybe if you go to Germany someday you will decide which sandwich you like the best. I bet you don’t pick one with kraut!

What do you do with your dirty clothes when you travel? Just like home, you wash them. Once a week we put our soiled clothes in a suitcase and Grandma Barb goes to the Waschsalon. Back in America you would call it a Laundromat.

There are lots of washing machines and dryers there, so many people come to wash their clothes. When you walk in the door they will say, “Morgen!” That means “Good Morning.”

Then you say, “Morgen!”

When you leave, don’t forget to say, “Tchüss!” That means "So long!" (You say it like this: Chewss.) In Germany folks like it a lot when you greet people when you come into a room and say “Tchüss!” when you leave.

The Waschsalon has a sign hanging above the machines that tells you how to do the laundry. It has pictures, too, so you don’t have to know German to figure out how to do your wash.

When you put your clothes in the washer, you go put money in a slot in the wall. And you push the button on the machine or dryer you want to use.

But wait! Did I forget something? Oh yes, soap for our clothes. You can also drop a .50 Euro and get waschpulver to put in your machine.

When the clothes are washing there is a little time to play and goof around. I like to ride in the baskets because they have wheels and can spin around fast! Grandma Barb likes to read while the clothes are washing. Are you surprised that Grandma Barb likes to read? Me neither.