Ailantha
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Not A Great Plan But It Worked Out Anyway

2/4/2015

2 Comments

 
    ...Continued from yesterday:
    Now in retrospect I wonder if perhaps I had misinterpreted my friend's letter.  Perhaps what I'd read was not exactly what she'd meant.  Obviously what I read was not what she'd meant.  Because when I found Tom at the Babenhausen Kaserne he handed me a letter from my friend addressed to me in care of him.
    My friend had gone back in the States. 
    I was a little confused, but had some time to think through my situation because I spent much of the rest of the day in a jail cell in the post stockade.
    As it turned out Tom was on guard duty that day, he was the Kaserne Officer Of The Day, or KOD, as the position was called.  Babenhausen was one of the smallest American Army posts in Germany, too small to have its own military police force.  Hence the units took turns in shifts providing the policing for the post. 
The soldiers whose shift assignment was to guard the gate  (which I'd whizzed through in the car of the soldier who'd picked me up along the highway) carried M16's and the officer in charge of  his unit's shift, the Kaserne Officer Of The Day, wore a .45 caliber sidearm and big white helmet with the letters KOD printed on the front, which was what Tom  was wearing when I met him that day.
     Of course the problem was that he was on duty  and, me being technically an unauthorized presence on post, there was really no place for me to just wait around until his shift was up.  No place except in the jail.
    So I waited in a cell, which was actually nice because the cells had comfortable beds and so I was able to take a nice nap after my long train ride from Paris. 
    At that time Tom was renting two rooms (with a shared hallway bathroom) in town on the second floor of the home of a woman named Anna.  He let me crash in one of his rooms.

Picture
Anna's house in Babenhausen.  There was a small apartment building next door to Anna, but beyond that building was a vast farm field that spread as far as the eye could see.  It was a pretty sight.
    So, I had arrived in Germany with what I was wearing: jeans, a tee-shirt and sandals, and what I was carrying in my over-night bag: a pair of shorts, a skirt and blouse, a long summer dress, a sweater and some extra undies.  I'd end up living out of the contents of that bag for the next month until I could get back to Paris to retrieve my suitcase.
    However I learned within a few days that, in spite of what my friend had heard,  American Army posts in Germany seldom hired American tourists for their civilian jobs.  For any jobs that weren't filled from States-side applicants first priority went to the qualified military spouses living on post, second priority went to German nationals, and if no one was available among the spouses or the locals, an American tourist could be hired.
    But as luck would have it, there was one such a position on the Babenhausen Kaserne that nobody else either wanted or was qualified for:  the position of youth activities director.
    The post was in real need of someone to run the activities center for the children of the soldiers stationed in Babenhausen and living in the post housing area.  So I had a job.
    As more luck would have it, one of Anna's sons owned an apartment building in Babenhausen and had a nice one-room efficiency that she arranged for him to rent to me.  I had a place to live.
    As even more luck had it,  in 6 months a better job opened up  about 11 miles down the road from Babenhausen  in the post craft shop (see post from 1/30/2015)   in Aschaffenburg, a  beautiful gem of a city at the foot of the Spessart Mountains along the Main river and known for its parks, walking streets, markets, and a castle that dates back to the early 1600's.

Photos of Aschaffenburg:                                                                                Me

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture


Me in front of Hedwig and Adolphe's house (see post from 1/30/2015) where I lived in Aschaffenburg.  My room was the right window on the roof.
    Sometimes the best-laid plans go awry and the awry-est laid plans go the best, right?
2 Comments
Romaine
2/3/2015 11:05:37 pm

Was Hedwig also known as Frau Hugel (who played the bugel)?

Reply
Patti
2/4/2015 02:24:16 am

Well, yes, Hedwig was Frau Hugel. In fact that's what I called her, Frau Hugel, never Hedwig. Or, as Adolph called her, Heddy. I did call Adolph Adolph, though. So it was Frau Hugel and Adolph, as you probably remember from when you came for a visit, right? Frau Hugel didn't play the bugle as far as I know. You or one of our brothers made that up, I believe.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    "Tropical Depression" 
    by Patti Liszkay
    ​Buy it on Amazon:

    https://www.amzn.com/1685131832

    Picture
    "Hail Mary"
    by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    https://www.amzn.com/1684334888

    Picture
    "Equal And Opposite Reactions"
     by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
    or from
    The Book Loft
    of German Village,
    Columbus, Ohio
    Picture
    Or check it out at the Columbus Metropolitan Library
    Picture

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    RSS Feed

    I am a traveler just visiting this planet and reporting various and sundry observations,
    hopefully of interest to my fellow travelers.

    Categories

    All


























































































Proudly powered by Weebly