January 22, 1970
Dear Mother, Dad, (Roberta), Serena, John, and Mary,To add a little interest to my letter I'l give you a variation on both color and format. Your letter of the 16th arrived today. It does seem as if the mail is moving slower -- but maybe not, I just noticed it is postmarked in New Vienna on the 19th. Since this is the eve of another trip it may be awhile before you hear from me again. I got a letter from Sue [currently known as Susie, some of you have met her], who is now Frau Steven Durham, so I'm taking the train to Erlangen tomorrow to visit her and her husband. I don't think any of her family came to the wedding but I'm not too well informed. I'm looking forward to meeting him and talking to her. I saw her last in January last year at Kalamazoo. Sunday night I'll be on the train to Hannover where I fly to Berlin. After that I only know that I fly back to Berlin on Friday. It will probably be the only 21st birthday I spend in Moscow.
School is unbelievably boring. I've even begun reading my German dictionary in history class and I used to do that only in German class. Everyone seems to have lost interest entirely. Hopefully we can make it through the four weeks after Moscow. I'm still working on my German. It seems as my listening and reading comprehension has gone up, my speaking abilities have deteriorated. Probably to any use I would put German in the states the latter is less important, but it is rather frustrating at the moment.
Butterbrot is a stable of the German diet. Literally translated it is butter-bread. We have it every night for supper. It all starts with the bread, usually thin brown, but it also comes in white, black and roll form. The next stage is the butter (margarine) and then a slice of bologna, cheese, liver-paste or other things of that order. For supper it doesn't have a top and is eaten with a knife and a fork. I can now eat as well with my left hand as with my right. When we go away Mütti always fixes us a bag with butter brots (only with tops so they are more similar to sandwiches) and fruit.
I'm glad Roberta likes her job. How about Vanessa? As for boots, I still have the ones I brought over and they are going so strong they will probably be good for another five years. Actually, I'm thinking of moving somewhere that I never need boots. Why should I live somewhere cold when are so many warm places? I may be at Kalamazoo next winter. If I become a German major (I'm not committing myself until I've had some more courses) I might have to stay on campus to make sure I get all the courses I need. But maybe I could take come classes at another school.
I'm not working at the library this quarter as I'm trying to put in as much time as possible reading -- usually alternating between the German Readers Digest and books. I've gone through a couple novels but I've found I can't get involved in any book I pick up like I can in English. The story has to be pretty fast moving or I get lost in the vocabulary. Hopefully as I get more used to reading German and my vocabulary improves it will get easier to read about anything.
It's after I get back that I may need to be advanced some funds. I'm not sure whether I'll be able to and/or if I want to work for Saga. And if I got a part time job somewhere else I might be tied down during vacations. I'm giving the matter some thought.
I went to church Sunday and even took part in Communion service. Instead of having the juice in individual cups like in N.V. there is a big gold container which the ministers holds and kind of pours it down you.
Assuming I return (or don't freeze) from Moscow, I'll send you all the details.
Love,
Catherine
P.S. Could you please send my bathing suit? Vatti always appreciates the stamps.
No comments:
Post a Comment