yes… Yes… YES!

A small part of me that has been dead for a long time came back to life today.  As soon as I got off the airplane, and was one of the first to get my luggage, and walked through customs without even being stopped, I was thinking everything was going so well and something is bound to get skrewed up in a minute.  But it never happened.  I walked upstairs, and before getting on the bus that would take me to the other side of the airport where the train station is, I stopped at the cafe/bar in the terminal.  I walked up to the counter and asked if they would accept US Dollars, since I hadn’t exchanged my money yet.  They said that was not a problem.  So I ordered a cola.  The bartender grabs the bottle of cola and a glass and then he stops and looks at me. “Did you want this with whiskey? Or without?” He was dead serious, too.  I looked at the clock.  It was just past 7:20 in the morning. “No thanks, it’s a little early for whiskey.”  Then it happened.  Check this out: “Do you want ice with this?” he asked with a concerned look on his face.  He obviously knew I was American because of the Dollars.  But my German was throwing him off, so he wasn’t quite sure about the ice.  “No ice. Thank you.” I replied.  Then he said, “Good, because I would have to charge extra for the ice!”  And right then and there I know that there was indeed something right in the world.  I almost cried out of joy.  God bless Germany.  (God bless America, too! I’m not trying to be unamerican here, just giving praise, where praise is due.)