Monday, November 12, 2012

Germany-1

First let me say that I am new to this blogging thing, so bear with me!

I arrived in Germany fresh from Basic Training and AIT (Advanced Individual Training) in March of 1989.  I had just finished my training at Fort McClellan, Alabama and was a Military Policeman in the Army. It was 17 weeks of intense training, but I made it.  That will be a blog for another time.

We arrived late at night and they shuffled us off into the barracks.  The next morning I was shipped off to my duty station, Nurnberg.  Furth to be exact, Darby Kaserne.  Not to be confused with Camp Darby in Italy.  Italy is another adventure I may write about.

It was a major culture shock for me.  I was used to being told what to do and when to do it for the last 17 weeks.  No one blowing whistles at me or banging trash cans.  No counting back from 10 and missing half the numbers.  Now, I was on my own according to the Sergeant.  I was free to explore.  He also told me I could wear what I wanted.  Hmmm, great, now I had to go shopping!  I settled into the barracks which we behind the gated walls of a military "compound."  I felt like a real person, whatever that is. 

The building I lived in was OLD.  Everything was old there.  It was just like in the movies.  Nurnberg/Furth had not fallen into the modernization like most cities had.  The only thing modern were the asphalt roads.  The sidewalks were still cobblestone and the buildings looked old and worn.  When you looked up at the windows of the houses, you saw flower boxes, just like the pictures I had seen of Germany that my uncle showed me.  It was like I was looking at a painting. 

My first week there was spent mainly just exploring around the Kaserne.  I had to change some money over to German Marks.  It was a good thing I took a year of German in high school or I would have been super lost.  My roommate showed me around and got me familiar with the community.  It was fairly easy to navigate.  I stayed close at first.  The park was my favorite place to go during my first week there.  Everyday I ventured out a bit more.  This was going to be great.  There is so much history..........Until the next time tschuss!

2 comments:

  1. Way to go my friend. I look forward to the next installment in your adventures.

    ReplyDelete