Roger,
I spent a summer in Germany in the early '70s, living in a small town called Seeheim, south of Frankfort, working in a mail order business called NEHO Versand. I got the job through a German professor of mine at college. My father's parents were from Kiel up north, so wanting to learn German was a natural thing for me.
Every morning I bicycled to work, punched in my work card and carried boxes and catalog items to the women on the assembly/mail order line. It was fun, mostly. I really got to improve my German but now 30 years later I have forgotten almost all of it. The people were very nice to me and helped a pretty clueless American feel welcome. I haven't been back since, unfortunately, but would like to some day.
I was amazed at how fast people could legally drive on the Autobahn. I remember going 145 km/hour in a rickety VW Beetle trying to keep up with a crazy warehouse driver I was following. That was a life-changing experience. I got to travel around the continent for a few weeks via some excellent rail systems.
I was also impressed with the amazing social and health care system that seemed far advanced of anything in the USA. I guess that now things have changed, especially with the reunification. At the time I was there the USA was at war in Vietnam. I remember asking most Germans I met what they thought of the situation, and the USA in general.
I was always curious, and took notes wherever I went, so it made sense later that I became a journalist. I hoped to be a travel writer (dream job) but got married, had a son and worked in newspapers. After getting out of the business I have decided to retrain as a surgical technician. My wife is a nurse, so she helps with my science classes.
I agree, politics is a pretty horrible topic.
At any rate, no matter what happens in life, it's never too late to keep thinking about buying another guitar you don't really need. :wink:
Thanks
Steve