It is 12:05AM in Quedlinburg. That means I leave today. I don’t think I will count it as a new day until I have gone to bed and woken up.
I don’t remember if I mentioned my Easter present from Klaus, Jutta and Kay, but it is pretty incredible. It’s Goethe’s Faust. You would think it isn’t such a special thing, but in this translation, the right hand of the page is English and the left hand page is in the original German. Jutta went to a lot of trouble finding it for me. I had been looking for just an English translation, but I had been having no luck.
Goethe is the Shakespeare of Germany. You would think it odd, but High German is remarkably similar syntax-wise to Shakespearian English. I went to the ballet Romeo und Julia. The opening lines, the closing lines, and the lines of Mercutio’s death were read in German and it was equally as beautiful as the original.I have been in Auerbach’s Cellar, the place where Goethe went to observe and to write and I am sure, to have a beer.
Anyway, back to my story. Another reason this copy of Faust is important to me is because it has my pressed Germany in it. I have gathered small flowers and a few leaves and pressed them between waxed paper in between the pages of my book so I can always remember my beautiful spring in Germany.
Well, today Jutta made it even more special. She printed out one of Goethe’s poems and wrote me a small letter and she folded it perfectly to fit inside the cover pages. When she gently (so as not to lose my flowers,) handed me back my book, she started crying and told me that I would have to read the poem and the letter in English and then she broke into tears and gave me a huge hug. Of course you know, I started crying too. She told me I was the “am besten studentin.” She wants me to come back to see her next summer.
I am a part of this family. Today would have been the 94th birthday of Jutta’s mother and every year on this day, Jutta and Klaus go to the cemetery and plant flowers on her grave. This year, Jutta asked me to come also. It was very sacred. The cemetery here in Quedlinburg (one of four) is actually quite beautiful. The graves are laid out within tiny (3-4 sq ft areas) for planting on each grave and most graves are separated by well groomed ivy hedges in order to actually be able to sit “with” a loved one and reminisce. Everything was so green.
I saw some lilies of the valley, which are on of my very favorite flowers (they are beautiful and smell so good.)growing on the path. I asked Jutta what they were called and here they are called Mai Glockchen literally that translates to Little May Bells. She knelt down and plucked me three stems and they are now a lovely addition to my Faust.
We had the class goodbye luncheon today. It was interesting to finally meet all the families and to see the relationships that had developed. It was good to see that other students had developed close relationships like I had. It was sad saying goodbye to each other. It’s funny that it was sad, because all of us, save Eric, are going back to Tech. Flor and I have promised to stay in touch and she wants to babysit the kids sometime. I promised her I would go to church with her, but I warned her it may burn down. It’s funny. I am not, by self definition, a Christian. I am much more eclectic so I call myself Agnostic for lack of a better term. I love hanging out with her though. She lets me ramble on when I want to and she also doesn’t mind if I am just quiet. It’s a nice place. She is also good for me because when I start freaking out about things, she calls me on it. I will be happy to see her when she gets back home.
I didn’t get to say goodbye to Stephen. He wasn’t able to come to the luncheon as he had to get to Berlin in time to get on his plane. He is already back home in the states. Hopefully I run into him on campus this semester.
It is going to be weird waking up tomorrow and knowing that I won’t be sleeping in my bed anymore and I won’t be frustrated about the internet connection or yawning over weekend breakfasts. I am going to miss my Jutta and my little brother Kay. I am going to miss Klaus’s laughter and how he says “it must be” whenever anything unexpected happens that I have to deal with it. It sums it up so completely.
On another note, on Tuesday I get to see my kids. I am so excited to hug them.
Mommy’s coming home!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment