Die Nachbarn (the Neighbors)

April 2008
The week we moved in, the folks across the street moved out. We gave them our boxes and packing materials. They gave us their plants, some bench railings for our very German biergartentische (Beer garden table) benches, a sun umbrella, and attempted to give us a big TV. (Can you believe we turned down something free?!) But most importantly, they gave us their friendship.


I cannot express how blessed we are to have met the Loeschingers. They are utterly delightful, beautiful people. Hermann works during the week in Munich, so his commuting schedule is brutal. (BTW, he’s ex-Arthur Andersen!) Karen is a healer of sorts – she practices an eastern stomach massage technique known as…well, I can’t think of the name right now, but I had a session and it’s quite amazing. They have a daughter, Stephanie, who is finishing up her high school years and is an accomplished dancer.

For those of you familiar with the formalities of German society, you will appreciate that these were our first German acquaintances to suggest we use the informal “du” with them, rather than the more formal “Sie.” This is quite a compliment.

Though they are quite German, their English is perfect, and our conversations tend to be in English. They do encourage us to speak German and are happy to gently correct us and help us learn. Nicer friends we couldn’t have asked for.


We had them over for dinner a few weeks ago, and they brought the traditional bread and salt as housewarming presents. The bread represents properity and the salt, flavor in your life. Jack had a great time hiding in his ball bag and flirting with Stephanie. If you look really closely, you can see Jack inside the blue bag in these pictures.

Since then, John and I have gone to see Karen in a musical (more on this later), and Stephanie has babysat the boys once (Jack didn’t even cry when we left!! Amazing!! I think he has a crush on her. She’s quite beautiful.)



Lucky for us, they only moved a couple of blocks away, so they're still in the 'hood. And no matter where they live, we are grateful to have them in our lives!!