VOLUME III: Germany & Deutschland

“Luxury then, is a way of being ignorant, comfortably."
Leroi Jones.

SUMMER 2004, AMERIKAN IN DEUTSCHLAND. . .

Thesis of events:

I finally a job working overseas in Garmisch, Germany. Garmisch, such a picturesque Bavarian town surrounded by the infamous Bavarian alps, not far from the Austrian border and only an hour train ride from Munich. This was the best! However, I feel stressed out, there are too many Americans around here. I am trapped with these people who only want to feed on our common culture, television and fearing other nationalities. I must separate myself from these people. Usually, I am more happy being in a foreign country and traveling around, than dealing with the boring life back home in the U.S.A. Somehow those boring feelings are here haunting me. The American virus is here and I am getting weak, because, they fail to see the big picture, Germany! Like I do with my close friends, I tried to encourage my new neighbors here in this American-Germanic community to get away and hit the road, or take a train, “go somewhere!” A few decided to take up my idea. Though, I had to ask myself what would have these people done if I weren’t here to encourage them to do something more outside of their small invasive living quarters?

New friends

I was lucky even with these discouraging situations; I made friends with Jagger Ferrando and Stephen Tillman. These guys kept me going on hikes, taking day trips to Munich and staying away from our dorm too. In fact, Stephen and I even took several days to travel to an historic Bavarian town of Rothernburg ob der Tauber, north west of Munich, which was a site to see. Plus, this was Stephen’s first experience with the world of youth hostels. I sent emails to Nate to tell him about these new friends of ours. I also got an email from Tom saying that he too got accepted and he will be coming to Germany as well. Things were looking good. Jagger also showed me the world of eating good food, sweating out toxins out in the hot saunas and not being bothered with the world of American Garmisch.

New world away from home

One month into being installed in this strange community, I’m trying to avoid screaming out loud. I can’t stand my fellow Americans. Europe! A place where I always come to learn new ideas, being challenged and get a new perspective on life. This time around is not the case. I stare out of the window daily looking at the Zupsitze Mountains, as I wait for the adventure to begin, maybe it has already started? I must find a new way to deal with this environment. I should focus more on resting and my state of mind than trying to find new Attila’s and Simon’. Or, maybe, I need to accept that that awesome journey I did back in 2002 was the best I ever had and ever will. Or the shit I am dealing with at this moment is an example of an adventure? But, I have to ask myself, “Who are these people?” My new neighbors “the patriot overseas Americans” are just the type of people would normally avoid, not talk to, or not willing to get to know when I am traveling around overseas. The American social problem has arrived to my long one-year sejour here in Garmisch, Germany. I found out sometime ago that Nate would be arriving sometime in August. If I can’t deal with this environment, how will my best friend, Nate be able to deal with this place? Much more to worry than experiencing life outside of our military residence. In any case, I will fight against anyone who will try to ruin this adventure. True friends will found after the war of the world.

The adventure begins

One day before Nate’s arrival has been an emotional overload. Rumors about him, her, them, me, us and everyone else. One’s race and sexuality seemed to dominate over the experience of being in Europe or in Germany. Nate sent me an e-mail some days before saying that my days of suffering will come to an end as soon as he gets here, I couldn’t wait any longer. Around this time, I felt the only thing I could do to shelter myself from these people was by being in my room all alone and without answering or acknowledging anyone knocking on the door. Even knowing that I will not have this room any longer to myself, I had to wonder where would my friendship will lead me or us. Here, I have a large room, with two big windows and a average size regfrigator, and was I ready to share this peaceful place with another even with my best friend? For years, our friendship has been based on honesty, brotherhood, being direct and overall love for life and adventure.

The Graveyard travelers

Nate arrived and to our luck, he landed a job in the same security department with me, though at first, our schedules were completely different. He worked graveyard and I worked mid-shifts and our days off were not the same. We somehow worked it out where not only did we get the same days off, but we worked the same graveyard shift. It was difficult at first, but if we were going to have this travel experience, we had to be on the same page, same level and the same work schedule in order to make this adventure possible. Working with Nate was awesome, we worked probably about two hours in our eight hour shift. We gave off the impression of working hard, by answering with confidence to complicated questions and other inquiries. We ate well, though no meal was provided during our late night shift, but we somehow lucked out by finding some beers to drink to pass the night by.