from Lithuania

I'm on a very old free computer in a tiny hotel lobby, so we'll see if this works...Every time I leave Germany I am reminded of why I can live there, but I won't long term.

On Wednesday when Aunt B arrived, I left her to her own devices for four hours to nap, etc. and then we spent the rest of the afternoon doing errands around the tiny town of B and getting ready for our trip. We went to the Turkish pizza place and split a Turkish pizza for lunch, then we went to the post office, the cash machine, Schlecker, and then the Kaufpark to pick up food provisions to take on the train/boat, and then to the Turkish market for some fresh fruit, and then over to the Apoteke for some Aspirin.

Aunt B is a dog person and she was enamored with the fact that dogs are taken into stores everywhere. Overall, the people in the tiny town of B are an anomoly to me as they are very un-German in their friendliness. We were waiting at the Apoteke, there was an Indian woman (many of the Indian contractors at company J live in town so they can easily get to work) speaking English to the pharmacist. There was a woman there before us, and she had her dog there, but his leash was sitting on the floor, as was he, as the woman was standing directly behind the Indian woman breathing down her neck.

Aunt B smiled at the dog, and he recogized that she is a dog fan. He got up and started to take a step over to her when his owner heard and turned around and sharply told him to sit. Then she glared at Aunt B and me. Then she loudly told him to lay down. Then she glared at me and Aunt B again. Aunt B was rather put off by such behavior, until I explained to her that Germany is the land of the dour faced cranks and this is their normal behavior.

Fast forward, we're on the train to Kiel. It was perhaps 75% full, including a lively group of perhaps 10 young men in their late 20's in matching pink shirts on their way to celebrate something. They were a boisterous group, and fortuantely not in our car, although they passed through periodically on their merry-making, being a little loud for just before noon, but whatever. At one point I was looking at Aunt B's camara with her and I vaguely heard a German 'haaaa-low' but I figured it was one of the pink men. Shortly after someone came up behind me and was then beside me perhaps two inches from my faces and started to shout at me in German, 'thank you for your help, that was very nice, blah, blah'.

I was a tad shocked, Aunt B sitting next to me at the window didn't know what was going on, the older lady across the aisle and at the window seat was just staring, as was the older woman in the seat two seats in front of me who stood up when all this started. Apparently, because I was in the last seat in the car, on the aisle, when he yelled hallo, what that really meant was, 'excuse me woman in the last seat, but I bought two beers and I am now unable to open the door, can you open it for me.' So basically he was yelling at me because I did not know that.

I just looked at him. The two women were looking at him like he was crazy. I had about a half dozen quips in both German and English going through my head, but having enough experience around drunks, I thought better of it and just looked at him and he then wandered away. The women both shrugged their shoulders and frowned like the guy was off his rocker, so whatever. In general, I find this country full of such angry people.

Now fast forward. We managed to get on the boat, enjoy our overnight trip, had some Lithuania beer on board, all is well. The boat was perhaps 85% Lithanian, 14% German, and 1% us. We come out of the boat and can't figure out where the bus is supposed to come, so we just go on foot to passport control. The passport guy takes our passports and says, where do you want to go? Um, to town? Wait here. He grabs a man who has come out of what looks like a tour bus. He talks briefly with him and the man comes over and says in perfect English, you come with us. Um, ok.

He says, we're a full bus, so just set your backpacks down in the aisle and sit on them. Um, this is getting more odd, but OK. He then gets on the microphone and yaps away in Lithuanian, and I caught the word for 'American'. And all the Lithuanians clapped. He then says in English, I welcome you Americans, to our bus. Uuuuuh?

They acutally cleared bags from seats and invited us to sit. It was a political delegation who was returning from Strassbourg via the overnight ferry. The beer was flowing and it was a jovial crowd. When they found out we were coming all the was to Lithuania to visit family, we were truly welcomed in. Aunt B and I were separated to where there were seats, so we were speaking with different people. The guy next to me was giving me a play-by-play of what the different speakers were saying at the front of the bus with the microphone. I'm not sure if he was giving me the truth or not. "That guy, he's saying that he would like a wife, and he is listing what he wants from a wife and what he can offer." "Now this woman, she says that she should be his wife, and she is giving the reasons why."

We were accepted right in, even with the communal wiskey bottle that was winding its way back through the seats. I have no idea how we couldn't find the public bus and how they put us on this one, but they were so helpful. They were asking where we were staying and telling us how to get there. Then, the bus arrived to where it was going and we got a nice set of goodbyes with people individually giving us tips, like to go into the shopping center here to change money, etc.

One day in Lithuania already begins to take away the taste of Germany.