2011-04-02

Berlin, the Small Town

I finally had a Saturday for going grocery shopping at a normal time and not 15 minutes before the store closes. And oh my, you really see what a small town Berlin is. First up was a woman I recently did a project with, hadn't seen her since the project was over - we had a nice chat, including making a man trying to get some stuff we were standing in front of smile when we noted "Guys are so stupid, looking only at the short term return on investment and not the long picture".

Then a woman we know who had kids in kindergarten and school with WiseKid shoved by, she didn't see me because she had her eyes down on the bottom row, scanning for what she needed. I called her by name, and she looked up: "Oh my, I saw you on TV the other day!" And we had a lovely chat about the kids and how hard it is for them to figure out what they want to do in college. A beautiful young lady, smartly dressed came around the corner and I realized this was her middle daughter, a year younger than WiseKid. She is all grown up and full of plans for the future!

And as we were talking a house neighbor pushed by, and we laughed that I was never going to finish shopping at this rate and so we all said good bye and I concentrated on getting the rest of my list.

That is what is so charming about Berlin - the little neighborhoods where you meet people you know while shopping, just like in the small town Kiel I studied in many moons ago. I really like that!

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