My Friends in 1947/48

^{At age thirteen my best friends were Cordula and Lieselotte. The three of us started our own little club. We met several times a week. None of us had a boy-friend. However we talked about what it would be like to experience romance. Just talking about it was very exciting!}

^{One afternoon the three of us had our picture taken at a photographer’s. I still have this picture. Looking at this picture brings back memories how much at ease I felt then. Yet this Threesome lasted for a short time only. Cordula had already lost her dad. All of a sudden her mum died too. How upsetting for her! She moved away to live with her aunts in West-Germany. The departure happened so quickly that there wasn’t time to say good-buy. I felt shocked about it. Yet I sensed that there had been a need for the sudden departure.}

^{The blockade of West- Berlin followed and I was air-lifted to West-Germany to live with Dad and Aunty Lies and her family. When I returned to Berlin I had no idea how Lieselotte was doing because we had completely lost touch. She had already turned fifteen and had left school to take up a job. Quite by chance I once noticed her walking along the street arm in arm with a boy-friend. I cannot recall what she wore, but she looked very grown up to me. I never thought of approaching her.}

^{I continued to go to the same girls’ high-school. Many girls in my class were talking about their boy-friends. I did not have a boy-friend and did not have a clue, how on earth I could ever get to know some-one from the opposite sex. I stuck to day-dreaming. In my mind I fantasised about romantic meetings: I loved making up conversations with an interesting young man!}

^{I had hardly any money to spend on clothes or make-up. I felt very inferior to other girls, who all seemed to be better off.}

Uta and her friends 1947

^{I liked to keep my hair long and just a little bit permed. I was astonished and gratified when a girl in my class said she liked my hair-style.}

The Gossips Coffee Lounge

Peter had to see his eye specialist Friday morning at 10,45. His appointment took more than an hour. In the meantime I had a lovely cup of coffee at the gossips Coffee Lounge.

This is a book that the author Lily Brett signed for Peter and me when we saw her in Berlin. I like to brag about it that we’ve actually seen her in person.

As Peter was driving I happened to notice this sign. So I took a picture of it. Looks like this meal is of good value!

Anyhow, we were on our way home. I was looking forward to cook a bit of lunch at home. While I was cooking lunch I also had to put a frozen cake in the oven to bake in time for my visitors who were expected to arrive at 2 pm.

The pictures tell another story about having had a perfectly blue sky again on this beautiful Friday in the Illawarra.

The potatoes had already been cooked the day before. I just had to peel them and then cut them into pieces, the same with the red onion. I fried all this in some salted butter and then added some eggs and last but not least the baby spinach pieces I still happened to have in the fridge. Just a bit of ground sea salt and pepper. Voila, lunch was finished and tasted good. At least I thought so!

My friends arrived on time and we had our games of Scrabble and Rummy, same as on every Friday. Next Friday we’re going to play at Irene’s place again. Erica won’t be playing for the next six weeks though, for she’s going on an overseas trip.

Come to think of it, we had at least three perfectly sunny days in a row, namely Friday, Saturday and Sunday! And when our daughter came to visit us at the beginning of the week the weather was just wonderful too.

Here now a few pictures with Caroline, our daughter. These pictures were taken at her last visit here. She had to go back to Sydney the following day when we took her to the Dapto train station.

Caroline cooked this for us for breakfast.

Sunshine

We had wonderful sunshine yesterday at the Illawarra Regional Airport. For our lunch Peter and I as well as Tilde and Klaus had been sitting inside in the restaurant . We decided for coffee we would be sitting outside and maybe try some plane spotting.

We are so lucky: Today, Sunday, we have great sunshine again. Perfectly blue sky and pleasantly warm air. It feels like Indian summer or as they say in Germany “Alt Weiber Sommer” (summer of old women!) It’s late afternoon now and the temperature in the shade is still 26 Celsius. Simply wonderful for this time of the year.

We spent more than three hours yesterday at the airport restaurant. For coffee after lunch we had a really good time sitting outside in the sunshine. Nobody wanted to leave the place. The sun felt so good! We decided in about a month’s time the four of us would meet again for lunch at this restaurant. It’s always great to meet old friends again. We’ve known them since 1959. We came on the same boat together from Germany to Australia.

For good measure I took this picture of the opening hours as well as their website.

And yes, we were able to spot quite a few planes that were coming and going for joy flights with some lucky passengers up and away into the blue sky.

Siobhan Patrick – Soprano

This Berlin Bear with the Sydney Opera House displayed on it greeted us at the Goethe Institute in Sydney/Woollahra

Des Herzens stillem Glück

3 pm Sunday 3 February 2013

Goethe-Institut – 90 Ocean Street, Woollahra (Sydney), NSW, Australia

A fund raising concert with songs from the 18th to the 20th century by Mozart, Schubert, Strauss, Haydn, Gounod, Wagner, Puccini, Bax, Floyd, Rorem, Heggie. Besides our friend Siobhan a friend of Siobhan’s, Alison Manifold, participated. Alison is also an accomplished Soprano singer.

At the Piano was Francis Greep, two Cello players were guest artists.

After the concert cups of tea were offered and the artists mingled with the crowd to talk about the concert. We were able to take some pictures with Siobhan.

The last two songs had the titles: “I will always love you.” and “My true love hath my heart”.

Thanks to the generous support of the Australia Council for the Arts, Siobhan is able to move to Vienna in March for a fantastic career opportunity.

Peter and I as well as our daughter Caroline enjoyed the concert very much. We wish Siobhan all the best for her stay in Vienna!

Peter with Caroline at the Goethe Institute

We had arrived very early for the concert. The terrace looked very inviting to us.

Peter soon went looking to take some photos

Peter took some photos during the concert.

After the concert Siobhan came to talk to us.

Siobhan has a Graduate Diploma of Music (Opera) from the Westerm Australian Academy of Performing Arts and an Honours degree in Masthematics from Jams Cook University. Her experience spans opera, Oratorio, music theatre, cabaret, string quartets and Irish bands.

Twelve more Days

Today is Friday. In exactly three more weeks we’ll depart Germany to go back to Australia. So in Berlin we have only

TWELVE MORE DAYS.

Why are we kind of panicky about what to do with the last few days in Berlin? There’s no simple answer. I tell myself, don’t worry, play it by ear. Still, writing about it may help a bit to see a bit more clearly. Actually I think I am pretty laid back concerning the planning we have to do on a daily basis. Maybe too laid back. For instance I didn’t do anything yet about finding my ‘lost’ brother B. Nobody cares where he is. Do I care? Well, I do and I don’t. If only I knew what I should be doing. Is it right to do nothing? I just don’t know.

The relationship with brother B. has always been a bit strained and a bit confusing. The relationship with brother P. on the other hand was always easy going. Of course we don’t see eye to eye in everything. But I think we tend not to hold grudges against each other. As I said, easy going. This is what it mostly is.

Hubby’s sister and brother-in-law arrived from Austria just a couple of days ago. We saw them yesterday at the other sister’s place. We spent six lovely hours with them. Peter’s sister Ilse provided a home-cooked lunch. Later on we had coffee and cake. It was a very relaxed atmosphere. The five of us plus Ilse’s partner had much to talk about, since we have quite a few memories to share. The visitors are going to stay in Berlin till next Thursday. Of course they want to see us again. Only so far we have no clue when this is going to be. We tell ourselves we’ll wait and see. In the meantime there are quite a few other people who’d love to see us again before we leave Berlin.

I have childhood memories about Leipzig. It would be great to go there for a day. Going by train it’s only about two hours away from Berlin. At the moment we still think we might be able to spend one day in Leipzig. Indeed, we do think there’s still a chance we can do this as planned. There are other places in Germany we’d like to visit. Only it seems to be out of our reach at this time. I wonder whether there’s going to be another time. I guess, it all depends on our priorities, doesn’t it?

After a number of overcast days the sun is out today It’s not freezing yet but there’s a chill in the air. Since there’s no wind, we don’t feel the cold very much. A lot of trees have lost nearly all their leaves. Around the houses here in the Hansa Viertel big piles of autumn leaves are building up every day. Workers busily pack them up into huge bags and cart them away. Once another load of leaves is taken away, the lawns under the huge trees look still beautiful green.

By the way, I’m very much looking forward to spend the last few days of our stay in Germany at P’s and A’s place 100 km north of Berlin in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which is a quiet, relaxing place. Actually very few people live in this area. It is full of natural beauty and altogether very different from Berlin. Come to think of it, there are lots of quiet, relaxing places in Berlin too. But it’s also a city with millions and millions of very busy people. One thing is for sure: It’s never boring in Berlin!

We visited the Bode Museum the other day. I was very impressed by the beauty of the building and the quality of the displays. We also saw an excellent movie, called AMOUR (Liebe). This was a very slow moving film about an elderly couple (right up our alley!). It won the PALME D’OR at the FESTIVAL DE CANNES.

Third Week in Berlin

Today just a few photos of our third week in Berlin.

DIGITAL CAMERA — We had the good fortune to meet Lily Brett at a book reading in Berlin. She signed one book for us too!

Peter in a nearby park, called the Tiergarten.

It’s good to have some refreshments

The underground takes us everywhere quick smart

The other day I came across some notes I made about some conversations in our
family towards the end of summer of 1974 when Gaby was sixteen, Monika fifteen, Martin close to fourteen, Peter close to thirty-nine and I also thirty-nine.

ONE AFTERNOON IN FEBRUARY 1974

Gaby, my daughter, sits close to the open door in her wheelchair. Peter, her father, helps her to sort out her record-club order.

I take notes of the following conversation. I am outside close to the open door and I am stretched out on the lawn under a large umbrella.

Gaby: I should’ve written on that form ‘please hurry’. Gee, I’m glad I’m going to get that record at last. Will you put all this away now, please?

Peter: Wie, das willste auch aufheben? Das ist doch nur Reklame, Menschenskind!
What, you’re going to keep that too? These are only adds, for heaven’s sake!

Gaby: I keep everything from the record-club.

Peter: So, wo kommt das hin? So, where does this go?

Gaby: Right at the back of the folder. It’s nice paper, isn’t it?

Peter: Nee.

Gaby: That’s the second record I’ve ordered. Are they going to send me a receipt?

Peter: No, das ist covered. The balance is going to show it. Kommt das hier rin?

Gaby: No, it goes into the blue folder.

Son Martin comes up the ramp. He carries his school-case., greets me with ‘Hi, Mum’, enters the house. A little later daughter Monika follows, also with school- case and saying ‘Hi, Mum!’ I say ‘Hi, Martin! Hi, Monika!’ As Martin enters the
house, Peter and Gaby are still deep in conversation.

Peter: Martin, was sagt man denn, wenn man hier hereinkommt? — Good-day!
What do you say when you come in here? — Good-day!

Martin: You were talking.

Monika says ‘Hi’ as she enters. And Peter says: ‘Hallo, Monika!’

A bit later Peter and Martin talk with Gaby about her school-certificate.

Martin: That bit of scrap-paper, is that all you’ve got?

Peter: Mehr braucht se doch nicht. Das ist das certificate.
She doesn’t need anything else. This is the certificate.

Martin: Actually you shouldn’t have passed since you didn’t work right through
the year.

Peter: Hat se gut gearbeitet, hat se auch bestanden.
Oh, she worked well, that’s how she passed.

Martin: But she didn’t arbeite gut. She didn’t work well.

Peter: Nun lass man gut sein. Sie hat schon gut gearbeitet.
Now leave her alone. She did work quite well.

A bit later

Monika: Gee, it’s hot! Pat and Donna are coming in a minute. They want a lift over to
Warilla Grove. Who’s going to take us to Warilla Grove? It’s late already, you
know?

(calling from outside)
Uta: Papa’s going to take you!

Monika: Better hurry up!

Gaby: Papa, don’t forget to mail my record-order! The letter-box gets emptied soon!

Peter: Wann musst Du auf der Arbeit sein, Monika?
When do you have to be at work, Monika?

Monika: We have to leave within the next five or ten minutes.

Peter: Ich fahre erst tanken. I go to get some petrol first.

Peter leaves in a hurry.

Pat and Donna come up the ramp. Monika greets them and goes inside with them.

I hear a terrible noise from the neighbours’ backyard: One of their sons goes on his mini-bike round and round in the backyard.

A bit later Wayne comes up the ramp. He carries a beach-towel.

Uta: Hi, Wayne! Do you want to go to the pool with Martin?

Waine: Yeah.

Uta: Best thing you can do in this weather!

Waine: Yeah.

Wayne enters the house. Peter returns from getting petrol. Soon after he leaves with Monika, Pat and Donna in the car. (At Warilla Grove Monika is going to get some training at the Woolworths cash register.)

Martin and Wayne leave for the pool. The mini-bike has stopped making
noise. I enter the house.

Gaby: Heh, Mama, you have to buy some food today, don’t you?

Uta: That’s right.

Gaby: When are you going?

Uta: Later.

Gaby: Better go before five thirty.

Uta: Yes, I’ll do that.

Gaby: How much money have you got?

Uta: I don’t know.

(A bit later.)

Gaby: Mama, can you move my left foot? (I do it.)
Can I go on the Pfanne when Papa gets back?

Uta: Yes, sure.

(She means when Peter gets back, she wants him to lie her on her bed, so that I can put her on her bed-pan.)

Gaby: Can I have a Vitamin C tablet?

I give her one. There’s some more noise from the mini-bike. Peter
returns.

Peter: I just remembered, I forgot to post your letter.

Gaby: God, how could you forget! — Can you post the letter, Mama? You have to go now because the letter-box gets emptied soon.

Peter: Mensch, ist mir warm! My goodness, I feel so hot and sweatty!

Uta: Willst Du nicht zum Pool gehen? Martin ist mit Wayne zum Pool
gegangen. Wouldn’t you like to go to the swimming pool? Martin did go
to the pool with Waine.

Peter: Ich bin schon ewig nicht am Pool gewesen. It’s been ages since I went
to the pool.

Uta: Ein bisschen Schwimmen würde Dir gut tun. A bit of swimming would be
good for you!

Apparently Gaby wants her letter posted before she goes to the toilet.
I get ready to post the letter and do some shopping. The mini-bike makes
an awful lot of noise again.

——–

Tag: Friends