Germany, China, and The Netherlands--It's a Small World After All

In my quest to learn the ropes of blogging, I ventured into the stats section of my blog and discovered that not only have quite a few Americans landed on my blog, but some people from Germany, the Netherlands, and China, as well. That's pretty cool. Jude Hayes and the gang are global!

Maybe these readers are expatriated Americans living abroad, but maybe they're natives of their individual countries who like mysteries and the eclectic subjects I have been rambling on about. For whatever brought them here,  I'm grateful for the readers! Comments are always welcome and desired!

In my flying career, I was mostly a domestic pilot. I never got much farther outside the conterminous United States than Canada and the Caribbean. About the time I was preparing to go to Europe, I got laid off from my Gulfstream jet job. But the great thing about reading, as opposed to flying, is that the mind can go where the body cannot.

I recently read a great book about some of those ex-pats living in China, titled Big in China. Alan Paul moved to Beijing when his wife accepted a job transfer there. Off they went, just like that, with three small children in tow. Wow! That seems really brave to me, moving so far away. But China is a truly fascinating culture that I would love to learn more about. Recently I've thought about learning Chinese through Rosetta Stone or another language learning system. But which of the many dialects should one consider studying first? I need a Chinese "pen pal." Oh, wait, pen pals were decades ago. We have social media now. Guess I have to find a Chinese-American group on Google+.

Then there is the Netherlands. I live in a part of New York State that was settled by the Dutch--Henry Hudson claimed Albany for the Dutch in 1609. Towns around here are named after cities such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam. People have names that start with "Van." In the Spring, Albany has its Tulip Festival and windmills are often seen in the parks of this area. Dutch architecture in sprinkled liberally throughout Schenectady's Stockade section, some buildings dating back to the 1600s. That's pretty ancient--for America. Europe laughs at our "old" buildings.

And last, but not least, I come to Germany. I have a special fondness for things German--everything from the geography to the food to the museums to the friendly people. And Germany makes the most wonderful, technically advanced motorcycles in the world! I've had several BMW motorcycles over the last couple of decades. Sold my last one a couple years ago. Fine machines, indeed! 

I lived in southern Germany, the town of Neu Ulm, for about a year when I was briefly married to an American soldier stationed there. I had a great time trying out my rudimentary high school and college German and looking around the gorgeous countryside. I remember what fun it was to shop for crystal and nutcrackers and delicious desserts as Christmas approached. 

Years later, I returned to Germany, staying in the Allgau region with family. I saw a slightly more intimate side of the country then, and got to meet a few new friends. I found the people warm and as eager to learn about America as I was to learn about Germany. Many people in the small town where I stayed spoke only about as much English as I did German, but we managed to communicate well enough. Perhaps what I liked best about the Germans was their sort of philosophical, easy-going attitude toward life during their free time. Oh, they work like maniacs and play just as hard, but they do know how to relax and turn off the working world. I tried to learn that lesson.

Everyone walks and hikes in the hills there. A lady in her eighties walked my legs off on a steady climb for over an hour! You can go marketing at 7:00 a.m. in specialty shops in the village. Wonderful cheeses and fresh meats are often served for breakfast. Sunday dinner can last three hours. You might hear cowbells jingling on the morning air as an entire herd of cows walks patiently back to pasture. Dogs are practically revered and allowed to accompany their people into restaurants. Of course, those pooches behave much, much better than my dog. Beer can be served in liter mugs and it is as tasty as you've heard. Germany is a marvelous place--I'd love to go back.

I do plan to seek some new friends from other lands on social media. Isn't it wonderful that you can instantly google anything you need to know about another culture, and then chat online with a native of that culture? The world is truly shrinking. I've heard it said that some cultures have become dissatisfied with their way of life because they've seen others depicted on the internet and TV. Perhaps that's true. But who's to say it may not inspire them to achieve positive change within the framework of their own culture? I like to think that a shrinking world fosters greater communication and understanding. We all have something useful to learn from each other if we just keep an open mind. As the theme of the 1964 World's Fair, Walt Disney, and the Sherman brothers said, "It's a small world after all."

I remember my stay in Germany and I've made daily walks a part of my routine. Maybe when I'm eighty-something I can be as healthy as a German woman if I just keep hiking on! I can almost hear the cowbells and smell the alpine air . . ..

Here's a bit of Remover of Obstacles, a Jude Hayes Mystery:

Friday morning dawned cold and windy. I was a bag of bones and sore muscles. It was the last day of my exercise week, which was an exceedingly good thing. Tomorrow I’d sleep late, I promised myself. But I dragged myself through the routine of an extra-long run with some interval training thrown in since I was doing penance for the shrimp primavera and Simone’s sinful lemon cake.

My cell phone started to vibrate just as I let the dogs in through the kitchen door after our jog. As it was only six-thirty, this might not be good news. The number wasn’t immediately familiar but it was local, so I figured it probably wasn’t a robo-call and pressed the “accept” button.

“Jude Hayes.” I tried not to pant as my heart rate returned to resting.

“Jude! I knew you were an early riser.” A.J. Pierpont. Didn’t old ladies sleep late?

“In case you’re wondering why I’m up so early, you might remember hearing that we need less sleep as we get older. Well, it’s quite true in my case.” It was like she’d read my mind. Freaky.

“Good morning, A.J., I just came in from my run.”

“Ah, excellent! Nothing better than brisk exercise.