In '92 (I may be wrong, could be '91), my grandparents & uncle were a host home to an attractive, young German boy named
Philipp. When my sister & I met him, we were in love immediately. He was SO cute (I'm sure that's what we said back then). Still today, I can smell his cologne in my mind.
Mhmm. Anyway, enough about how handsome
Philipp was & back to the real story. Having not seen his family since he left them months before, his family decided to spend Christmas in the states-MO in particular, St. Louis..St. Charles CO.-our house! We had never really been accustomed to being around persons from other countries so my sister & I were quite eager to meet this family & take it all in. We worked diligently on welcoming signs featuring the Arch (complete with stats
compliments of me!), Zoo, & the Science Center & other landmarks of the area. We carried our nicely handcrafted pictures/signs to the airport with us & the moment
Philipp spotted them, we proudly held them up as high as our little arms could reach. We all looked on as
Philipp & his family embraced warmly. Over the course of the next few days, things would prove to be rather interesting.
Philipp played translator between his younger sister Anna (who was about 8 or 9 at the time) & Haley & me. He would also have to help out his father as his English was minimal. Thankfully, his mom did speak English fairly well. We enjoyed gifting them with
mementos of St. Louis & they were kind enough to bring us some tokens from Germany. We carried them to the Arch & they were fascinated by the monument & very entertained by the means of transportation to the top of the Arch. We went to Union Station & they spent a significant amount of money there on shoes, purses, flags, etc.
Philipp's family was rather well-off financially so for them to do so, was nothing. They kept
insisting that they would like to buy Haley & me something while there. Having been taught to politely decline, we did so. However, they continued to ask us to pick something out that we would like to have.
Philipp finally spoke to our parents & informed them that they needed to allow his parents to do so for us because we were insulting them but turning them down. Of course, Haley & I each tried to find inexpensive items. I don't really remember but I think I may have picked out a sweatshirt or something (though everything they were looking at for us was $75.00+) while Haley picked out one of those awful looking Troll dolls that were "in" at the time. On Christmas Day, our family gathered together as we always do & like usual, the adults conversed while the kids played. I vividly remember us singing "Silent Night" & the
Klusmeiers singing in German as we sang in English. My Cousin Lisa was only a few years old at the time & I remember her telling
Philipp's dad, "You don't know it!" Her little mind could not comprehend the concept of another language. We have that moment captured on video to laugh at over & over. It is not very often that a family gets to experience the joy of celebrating Christmas with those of another culture so for us to get do so was a real treasure. Definitely, one of my favorite Christmases. In 2000, after traveling to Europe with her high school German class, Haley remained in Germany for an extra 2 weeks to visit with her friend Stefanie (who was a foreign exchange student Haley befriended in high school) as well as stay with the Klusmeiers. They took her to several castles, etc. She enjoyed her visit with them immensely. I have not been to Germany (or Europe for that matter) but I hope that one day, I will make it to Germany to see this family that we had such fun with.
In '92 (I may be wrong, could be '91), my grandparents & uncle were a host home to an attractive, young German boy named Philipp. When my sister & I met him, we were in love immediately. He was SO cute (I'm sure that's what we said back then). Still today, I can smell his cologne in my mind. Mhmm. Anyway, enough about how handsome Philipp was & back to the real story. Having not seen his family since he left them months before, his family decided to spend Christmas in the states-MO in particular, St. Louis..St. Charles CO.-our house! We had never really been accustomed to being around persons from other countries so my sister & I were quite eager to meet this family & take it all in. We worked diligently on welcoming signs featuring the Arch (complete with stats compliments of me!), Zoo, & the Science Center & other landmarks of the area. We carried our nicely handcrafted pictures/signs to the airport with us & the moment Philipp spotted them, we proudly held them up as high as our little arms could reach. We all looked on as Philipp & his family embraced warmly. Over the course of the next few days, things would prove to be rather interesting. Philipp played translator between his younger sister Anna (who was about 8 or 9 at the time) & Haley & me. He would also have to help out his father as his English was minimal. Thankfully, his mom did speak English fairly well. We enjoyed gifting them with mementos of St. Louis & they were kind enough to bring us some tokens from Germany. We carried them to the Arch & they were fascinated by the monument & very entertained by the means of transportation to the top of the Arch. We went to Union Station & they spent a significant amount of money there on shoes, purses, flags, etc. Philipp's family was rather well-off financially so for them to do so, was nothing. They kept insisting that they would like to buy Haley & me something while there. Having been taught to politely decline, we did so. However, they continued to ask us to pick something out that we would like to have. Philipp finally spoke to our parents & informed them that they needed to allow his parents to do so for us because we were insulting them but turning them down. Of course, Haley & I each tried to find inexpensive items. I don't really remember but I think I may have picked out a sweatshirt or something (though everything they were looking at for us was $75.00+) while Haley picked out one of those awful looking Troll dolls that were "in" at the time. On Christmas Day, our family gathered together as we always do & like usual, the adults conversed while the kids played. I vividly remember us singing "Silent Night" & the Klusmeiers singing in German as we sang in English. My Cousin Lisa was only a few years old at the time & I remember her telling Philipp's dad, "You don't know it!" Her little mind could not comprehend the concept of another language. We have that moment captured on video to laugh at over & over. It is not very often that a family gets to experience the joy of celebrating Christmas with those of another culture so for us to get do so was a real treasure. Definitely, one of my favorite Christmases. In 2000, after traveling to Europe with her high school German class, Haley remained in Germany for an extra 2 weeks to visit with her friend Stefanie (who was a foreign exchange student Haley befriended in high school) as well as stay with the Klusmeiers. They took her to several castles, etc. She enjoyed her visit with them immensely. I have not been to Germany (or Europe for that matter) but I hope that one day, I will make it to Germany to see this family that we had such fun with.