Meet the Heindel Family

Meet the Heindel family: Gerhard, Anke, Janis, and Caro. I have spoken so much about the them but never posted a picture or description of just how wonderful they are. When Caro and I first arrived we stayed at her parent’s home until we found an apartment. They were generous enough to take me in and allow me to be a guest at their home for a little over a month. I am so thankful for their hospitality not only then but the entire time I have lived here. Even though we don’t live there anymore, we are still treated to delicious family dinners on most Sunday nights. Caro’s mother, Anke, and I periodically meet for a walk, coffee drinking, and some German conversation on some afternoons. She is very helpful with my language learning and we always have a very nice time. We definitely have our alternative medicine and food preferences in common and she has been very helpful with my grocery shopping and ingredient choice making. Caro’s father, Gerhard, is a pastry chef and teaches at a university once a week. His new project is as a chocolatier, making very coveted praline. So needless to say, we are often spoiled with delicious cakes and specialty chocolates quite often. Although his English isn’t as good as Anke’s he always tries and he continues to make me laugh with his little jokes. Some of his best are “All is gut in Hollywood”, “Mister and Mississippi”, saying Duff instead of Dough when speaking about making cakes or bread (I couldn’t bring myself to correct him cause I thought it was sooo cute), and my personal favorite “Bill V Gates” (“Wie gehts” pronounced “vee gates” is a very common question basically asking “how’s it going?). Apparently back in the day he was a very good basketball player which would explain the skills of Caro’s little “big” brother, Janis. He plays basketball for a professional team a few hours away and has been “helpful” with my German vocabulary ;) I didn’t know that Gutey Wasched and Mopsfidel weren’t actually in the dictionary. He is a few years younger than Caro and is very kind hearted. From the very beginning he definitely helped to make me feel very welcomed. Since coming to Germany, they have become my family from across the ocean and I couldn’t ask for better.