GERMANY with our daughter as a guide

Our daughter was an exchange student to Germany when she was 16. We had the opportunity to travel to Germany and stay with two different host families. The year was 1991, our daughter had taken German classes at the local Jr college because there was no class available at her high school. Armed with two semesters of German she left that summer to stay the first 8 weeks in Bingen Germany a small town in the west near Frankfurt. Her stay there was a temporary placement with a young family while she attended an intense language camp. Once her language camp was finished and before school started she was transferred to her long term host family in the east. She was the first American in the area and one of only two English speakers in the small village of Radis. She traveled daily on a train to nearby Griffenhiencan to attend high school entirely immersed in the German culture. Our trip started during her spring break. We flew into Frankfurt and were greeted at the airport by our daughter and her first host family. The mom of the first family was 9 months pregnant and the dad was a full time student and part time cab driver. They were warm and open and invited us into their home insisting on giving us their bed. We spent two days with them seeing a few sights, eating in the local bakery and having one meal in a Chinese restaurant. We were shocked by the price of eating out most of the time our host insisted on cooking at home because they did not want us to pay for anything. On the third day the mom went into labor and was hospitalized, although the Dad wanted us to continue on at their home without them, it was time for us to move on. We thanked them, left them with a thank you gift and took a train to the airport to rent a car. Funny story when renting a car our daughter was translating for us, the gentleman wanted us to do the talking, he could not believe that we are Americans "how can you parents be American if you are German" he asked our daughter. Guess her German immersion is complete. We rented a little Opal and left the airport. Someone should have given us more instruction on getting on the Autobahn and out of Frankfort. We ended up lost in a seedy side of town after dark. We got off the Autobahn and stayed in a rented room over a bar. The bartender sold us greasy sausage and warm beer. The three of us stayed in one room with two beds and a communal bathroom down the hall. The cost for this room was $300.00. The next day we went down to the central Bus station and found a decent map to navigate our way out of Frankfurt and across the country. When we went to get into our vehicle a meter maid was chasing my husband around the car trying to speak German to him. My daughter and I almost died laughing, it looked like something out of comedy capers. We got in our vehicle and started out, getting out of town into the country side we saw how beautiful Germany was. As we drove from West Germany to the East the contrast was unmistakable. The roads, the public buildings even the forest of the east looked mistreated, abused and unmaintained. It was if someone drew a line through the country and across that line darkness fell. We actually saw signs on the side of the road that said do not enter the field as there may be unexploded land mines in this area. When we got to the east we arrived at Klaus & Evelyn's home, our daughters long term host family. They lived in a two family home in a small village with a detached barn and a neat little yard. By American standards the home was modest by east German standards, they were wealthy people. Klaus is a structural engineer and Evelyn is a school teacher and the mayor of the village. They have one daughter who happens to be in American on an exchange and also Evelyns mom lives with them. They are a wonderful family and we enjoy our visit with them very much we travel around the area and see local churches and castles. One day we take a train into Berlin and go on a tour we see the remainder of the wall that was still being torn down. We see the buildings still shot up during WWII it is a moving experience to see the differences between the east & the west. We went up in the radio free Europe tower and had coffee and looked out at the city of Berlin. Thinking about all the history and politics involved in this place is mind boggling. When it is time to go home, our daughter rides back to Frankfort with us and her plan is to take the train back to her home in the east. It is amazing to me that at 16 our daughter traveled alone through across Germany without fear to take care of translating for her parents. The trip was great even the 11 hour plane ride was memorable and we look forward to the next trip.