A working morning and Cousins meeting in the afternoon
1 May - May day - a public holiday
I did guitar work in the mornig at home while Zita went to Eichstetten to watch Beate, Elizabeth dance as part of May day celebrations.
In the afternoon we went to Wolfegg (about 10 km's after Kisslegg) to a cousins meeting for some of Zita's many cousins. Altogether there were about 30 cousins and partners at the gathering. It started with lunch at 12 noon, but we missed this and didn't arrive until about 2.30.
There has always been quite a lot of anxiety for me at these do's that I won't understand people and then I'll end up siting by myself with no one to talk to - feeling really isolated. This has happened in the past. It is a hard thing to be in a big social group, with everyone talking and laughing and enjoying them selves and then being the person who is not able to commuicate or even understad what is going on or what is being said. That is a hard thing.
On arrival, I have about 5 friendly but intense different conversations in the first 10 minutes! At least people are talking to me in high German which gives me a much better chance of understanding. I seem to cope OK and converstaions keep going well enough. And most of the next 4 hours, almost all in German, I had a reasonable idea of what was going on. It is a big step foward for me to be reasonably language wise at these sorts of gatherings.
And I thought it was great for Zita to have contact with the wider family. Talking about family history and characters from the past.
1 May - May day - a public holiday
I did guitar work in the mornig at home while Zita went to Eichstetten to watch Beate, Elizabeth dance as part of May day celebrations.
In the afternoon we went to Wolfegg (about 10 km's after Kisslegg) to a cousins meeting for some of Zita's many cousins. Altogether there were about 30 cousins and partners at the gathering. It started with lunch at 12 noon, but we missed this and didn't arrive until about 2.30.
There has always been quite a lot of anxiety for me at these do's that I won't understand people and then I'll end up siting by myself with no one to talk to - feeling really isolated. This has happened in the past. It is a hard thing to be in a big social group, with everyone talking and laughing and enjoying them selves and then being the person who is not able to commuicate or even understad what is going on or what is being said. That is a hard thing.
On arrival, I have about 5 friendly but intense different conversations in the first 10 minutes! At least people are talking to me in high German which gives me a much better chance of understanding. I seem to cope OK and converstaions keep going well enough. And most of the next 4 hours, almost all in German, I had a reasonable idea of what was going on. It is a big step foward for me to be reasonably language wise at these sorts of gatherings.
And I thought it was great for Zita to have contact with the wider family. Talking about family history and characters from the past.
Monday 31 April
A guitar morning for me - the first in a while - and then in the afternoon we go to visit Elizabeth in her Wohnung in Kisslegg. She has it beautifully set up. She had stayed with us in our place in New Zealand once on a visit. It is nice to see her in her home.
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