Weekend at Saarland

The last weekend’s trip to Saarland, south of Germany, was very nice and homely. Thanks to Simon and his Dad from picking me up and inviting me for their trip down for a family gathering.

There were 4 highlights on the trip for me.

1) Wurst (German Sausage) Factory visit
If you did not already know, Sausage is an INTEGRAL part of a German diet. You seen that in Christmas Market, Grill Fest (BBQ), different types of Hams for breakfast etc….It was an interesting visit. The factory is owned by Simon’s uncle and they make everything! From sausages, to packet meat to hams, to bread spread.. everything that is related to meat!

I was greeted with a strong meat stench, which I got accustomed to after a while, when I first entered. The huge machines to mix the meat and seasoning for sausages were GINOMOUS and I mean it. It had like knives that rotated furiously to cut up any chunks of meat present and the first thought that hit me was, : ‘My fingers will be gone if it lands there.’.

Simon’s uncle was kind enough to give me 12 packets of currywurst in ready-to-eat containers! Not very healthy but I greatly appreciate that.

2) Solar Panels
Germany has about 1/1000 of sunlight that we have in Singapore but so many people have solar panels. Are they crazy? Solar panels are so expensive and it is useless to have them given the tiny winny amount of sunshine. But guess what… They have a central ‘power station’ that collects sunshine energy generated by private households. Private households gets money in return for the efforts and this is like an investment in the long run. How cool is that eh… Singapore should do something like this man!

3) 70th Birthday Party
I later found out that the family gathering resulted due to a 70th Bdae party of simon’s dad’s older sister’s husband! Apparently it was boring for the teenagers who were around but I liked it a lot! Firstly, I like the idea of Family traveling from all over Germany, congregating to celebrate an event as ONE family and how everyone looks forward to see one another! Doesn’t that sound nice and cosy?

A room was rented at a church and there was good food, dance and music. Salad, Meat with special sauce, Soup with bone-marrow-balls- and noodles and buffet (who said only the Chinese ate weird stuff. People always think that others are weird and not themselves. Germans think that the Chinese are disgusting to eat dogs etc.. but they also eat weird stuff like sausages with a lot of fat, bone marrow stuff etc..I guess it is important to respect various cultures and habit and not discriminate against them just because it is abnormal. Something which is against the norm can alwaysa be reality elsewhere!). Fllowing that was a WIDE selection of 12-14cakes! Don’t ask why I am putting on weight in Germany! Trying a slice of everything was sinful!

There was a guitarist and a keyboard guy whom played latin americanish music. I loved that! Hip hop music is not my cup of tea man! What made it cooler was the fact that old couples were dance folk dance to the music with straight and upright postures! Romantic. Sweet. Envious. Heart-warming.

Compare that to a typical 70th Bdae party in Singapore- Lunch at a Chinese restaurant with the Shou Tao (pink pointy bun)! It was different!

4) Sibling Love
John (8years old) and Mary (5years old) are siblings, who played and quarreled with one another like any other silblings but one incident made me realize how I would like to bring up my kids next time. Simon and I brought the kids out for a walk. The first 5 min was tough-they ran, screamed and did not wait for us. Hell broke loose.

On the way back amidst a race uphill between the siblings, Mary fell and started crying. Simon and I wanted to run to her but John beat us at that. He ran towards her, scooped her into his arms, hugged her, spoke softly to her and pacified her. Mary refused to talk and hid her face. John was there for her and they walked home with arms around one another. Simon and I did not have to do anything. We stood there watching the heart-warming scene. I felt bad for not loving my sisters that much when I was young but I can surely say that I love you guys now. I guess the influence and values brought across to the kids from the parents play an important role in shaping many aspects of a child. Great responsibility. Can I live up to that and do a good job? I question myself.