A Look Back

We've been up to our eyeballs in things to do the past few weeks, and things are changing fast. I'll have a few more updates for you (hopefully) soon, but for now I thought it would be nice to reminisce a bit about my late father-in-law and share some photos which have turned up since his passing nearly two months ago.


Here is a photo taken in the days leading up to our wedding. This is my favourite picture of the three of us, mainly because this was typical Tata: always ready for a warm embrace and a huge smile. My family stayed with my soon-to-be-inlaws for the wedding, and my brother Luke wrote me recently that what he will remember about Tata is that he always seemed to be the happiest guy on earth. I have to think that it was more than just the fact that his last daughter was finally getting married off.









My father-in-law had 14 children, and by the time he passed away, 62 grand-children and several great-grandchildren. There must be a lot of joy that comes with having so much progeny, but a fair amount of sorrow as well. Not long after his oldest grandchild died of complications from leukemia, his oldest son was killed in a car accident in Romania, leaving behind a wife and several young children. He was named Cornel after his father, and the two of them had a close relationship. Elena said that Tata was absolutely devastated, and was never quite the same afterward. I imagine that spending time with the children from his son Cornel was a comfort to him. They are now grown up, and have begun to have children of their own. This is a photo taken this past fall of Tata playing with his oldest great-grandchild, the grandson of his son Cornel.

This is the last picture of my father-in-law, taken two weeks before his passing. I don't think there could be a more fitting final portrait of him: at home with his beloved wife of more than fifty years, a grandchild in his lap and a dear long-time family friend who came to visit.




                                                                                                                                              

The Big Freeze

 One of the things Elena and I were looking forward to was a nice, mild southern German winter. We thought we had escaped the terrible Canadian winter, but it seems that it has followed us.
If you've followed the news recently, you're already aware that Europe is experiencing temperatures far below the norm, often accompanied by huge dumpings of snow. Unfortunately, Germany has also been affected. Balingen winter temperatures usually hover just above the freezing mark, which means that when it does snow, it doesn't stay on the ground long. The mercury has stayed well below the freezing mark for the last while though, even dipping down to -22 C (-8 F). As I write this, it is -15 C (5 F) outside. Having grown up in Canada, I can deal with it of course... it all feels so disappointingly familiar. I'm pretty sure I can hear my family and friends in Canada laughing.
I must admit though, that all this snow along with the prolonged freezing temperatures in this beautiful part of Germany makes for a scenic drive. The photo above is the view from the road as I leave work in Gosheim at 4:30. My commute meanders through towns tucked into the valleys, such as Wehingen:

If you look above the car in the foreground, you can see a little white sign on the side of the building. That is the bakery I stop at every morning on my way to work. They open at 6 AM with a huge selection of fresh-baked goods, and give me good reason to look forward to my morning break and lunch. Definitely worth getting out of a warm car for.

Farewell, Tata

I will begin by apologizing for going an entire month without writing a post. Things have been overwhelmingly busy for us since Christmas, and although I had intended to write a post or two about how we spent our holidays, it seems somewhat trivial now.
As many of you already know, three weeks ago Elena's father passed away. It was not at all expected. He seemed to be doing well, and spent his last day driving Elena around on errands while I was at work. In the evening, several of his children came by for a visit with their families. After they all left, we wished each other a good night, and went to bed. He slipped away in the early hours so peacefully that his wife of 52 years was not awakened.  
He is of course dearly missed by his wife and many children and grandchildren as well as those in the church and community who knew him. In the inital shock and grief, I wanted to write about it; to write about him in a way which would be a tribute to him. But after a few days I began to wonder what I could possibly write which would do justice to his life's story, or to give those of you who never had the priviledge of knowing him an appreciation of what he was like. So instead of one very long post, I've decided to write several smaller ones. Maybe not in close succession, but periodically as things come to mind or old photos are discovered I will try to give you insights into the man we called 'Tata'.
For now, here is my translation of the overview of his life which was read at his funeral:

Bro. Cornel Vartaci was born the sixth of seven children to Maria and Johan Vartaci on the third of March, 1935 in Pecica near Arad in Romania.
At 24 he married Ana Rehorek, and God blessed their marriage with 14 children: seven boys and seven girls; such is the true promise spoken in the Word of God: "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."
Finding his Saviour in the Lord Jesus Christ in his early years, that is, 1961, it followed that he was baptized and welcomed into the church. There he gave himself with body and soul into the service of God. He was called into the ministry, and later to be a deacon, a capacity in which he served until the end of his life.
In the years 1989/1990 when the opportunity to leave Eastern Europe arose, four of his children left for Germany and began a new life. In 1992 he also left with his wife and six children, finding in Balingen his second homeland. Other children who had already married followed in the same year. The oldest son and his family remained behind in Romania.
In Germany he drew his pension, and for a long time continued to work for nominal wages in order to keep busy and supplement his income.
He fought the good fight, and yet he was not spared from enduring several blows. In the year 2000 his oldest grandson Robert passed away at only 18 years of age due to leukemia, and at the close of 2002 his oldest son Cornel was killed in a tragic car accident. All of his siblings preceded him in death.
In 2003 he suffered a heart attack, but was saved thanks to the able response of a medic from the neighbourhood. A difficult heart operation followed, yet he was able to recover almost entirely and lead a normal private and public life.
As he was not bed-ridden, his death came as a complete surprise to us all. The previous evening he was even visited by some of his children. He fell asleep peacefully in the night on the third of January 2012, insomuch that not even his wife was able to notice that he had gone on to live in the eternal homeland.

Random Updates

So, I just got back from a few days south of Nürnberg in beautiful Bavaria (the eastern state of southern Germany) where I was for work. It is a beautiful area and regretably, I didn't bring my camera... so no pictures to go with this post. Actually, I thought you might like to get caught up on how things are going for us in general, so here goes:
Elena has passed the 3-month mark at her job in the pharmacy, which is the probationary period. Up until that point, they can let someone go quite easily if it's not working out, but apparently Elena's boss likes her! She still enjoys her job very much, and a week and a half ago her boss treated everyone to an elegant Christmas dinner at a very nice restaurant... unfortunately spouses were not invited.
I've now been working for a month and a half, and things are also going well for me. It's been an intense learning experience, especially having to adapt to a different language and measuring system than what I'm accustomed to working with. My supervisors are great to work with, and the work environment is pleasant. Working at a higher elevation is also interesting, as the weather is often very different from Balingen. It's funny seeing my plastic water bottle all scrunched up when I get home, and my ears stay plugged for a while afterward.
We've used a couple weekends so far to visit friends and relatives. Most we haven't had time to visit during previous trips to Germany, so it's been nice catching up with them.
I got the results of my German language test, and fortunately I did quite well. The certificate will now be tucked away for a few years until I'm eligable for German citizenship. Other than that, there's not much other use for it. But I'm glad I got it out of the way.  
I am also now in posession of a German driver's license. For some reason I had very much looked forward to this. Not that I have anything special to drive (Elena's 20-year-old Mercedes is still kicking), but for some reason a German driver's license has extra prestige, don't you think? Maybe it's because of the reputation of German cars or the fact that this is the home of the Autobahn. People know that Germans take driving seriously, and I confess I do love driving here. A very big perk is that a German driving license has no expiry date! The down side is that driver's license photos look just as lousy here as they do in North America. 

Scripture Readings on Public Radio

So here's something I found interesting: There are several public radio stations in south-western Germany which are funded by taxpayers. I often listen to SWR2 which has a lot of news and documentary programming, similar to the CBC in Canada and NPR in the U.S. They also play a fair amount of classical music in the morning. I personally think that just about any piece by J.S.Bach is the best music to start the day, but Baroque music in general makes my morning.
In the late afternoon on my drive home, the station usually has some kind of interesting documentary, investigative report, or high-brow political debate. But this week, every day at five minutes before five o'clock, a passage of the Bible is read to mark Advent. Yesterday the messianic prothetic passage in the 11th chapter of Isaiah was read, and today it was the parable of the ten virgins from Matthew 25.
Let's review: the German government is funding Scripture readings on public radio.
Huh? What about the secular Europe we've heard so much about?
Obviously I'm no expert on German culture, but I get the sense that much of the European populace is more comfortable with the influence of Christianity on its history than many in North America. Examples: If there is a Catholic or Lutheran church in town (the two officially, historically recognized denominations in Germany), an official sign on the main road will inform you of the service times. Every day I drive by a prominently-displayed sculpture of the crucifixion in the middle of a town, and have seen numerous plaques with Bible passages in public places. A common way to greet someone - friend or stranger - is "Gruss Gott": God's greetings.        
A popular public spot to take guests for good view of Balingen is Lochen, a high cliff featuring a large cross:

If this was in Canada or the U.S., I expect there would be some organization filing a lawsuit to take it down... and they would probably win. Why is it different here? I can't claim to know for certain, but I think it may have something to do with the fact that history is acknowledged and preserved. Be it old buildings or religious holidays, heritage is not quickly done away with in these parts. Regardless of what individual citizens believe, European history is inextricably intertwined with the history of Christianity - however unpleasant. Even the German language has been influenced more by the Bible translation of Martin Luther than anything else.
These are just my thoughts at this point, coming from a North American perspective. Maybe as time goes by, I'll have some better insights into the role of faith in public life in Germany.
Until then, I confess that I will relish hearing the Bible read on public radio...

The Best Coffee in Town

As I mentioned in a previous post, it is difficult to find bad coffee in Balingen, or anywhere in Germany for that matter. Most cafés and restaurants have an expensive pump-driven commercial coffee machine that will ensure a consistently decent cup of java. Being the obsessive type however, I have been on a hunt for the very best coffee in Balingen. The coffee fiends among you know what I'm talking about: a cafe with an unreasonably large selection of coffees from around the world which they themselves have recently roasted, and a true Italian espresso machine: the kind where you have to hand-tamp the grinds in a group head, not just press a button.
Okay, so I can't claim to have patronized all the cafés in town - that remains my lofty goal, however. But I have found a great café which is now my favourite, and from where we buy coffee to make at home: Kaffeewerk Zollernalb.

     
You know they take coffee seriously because patrons actually sit beside their roasting equipment and sacks of green (meaning not yet roasted) coffee beans. Among the coffees which I've tried so far, there is a clear favourite: Carmo Estate from Brazil. I don't know why, but I always end up prefering Brazilian coffees. Brazil's coffees are like its people: relaxed and easily approachable, but with flair and a certain something that is hard to put your finger on...  sorry, I drifted off for a second there with the music of Antônio Carlos Jobim in my head... anyway, back to Germany.
Something else that sets this café apart from the others is that it is an undertaking of a local organization which provides employment opportunities for the cognitively handicapped. It comes as a bit of a surprise on the first visit, but the staff are extremely friendly and helpful. It's nice to be able to support a meaningful organization while getting an exeptional cup of coffee at the same time, don't you think? If you visit us, I'll take you to it!
Actually, I think I'm going to go tomorrow; we're almost out of Carmo Estate...

Long-lost Relatives

Having a rare last name makes it exciting when you come across someone else with the same name. Although our family name is more common in some parts of Germany, it only has two entries in the Balingen phone book. One is for a woman named Marianne; Elena was asked by someone at work if she is related to her. This is a change of pace for Elena, who is used to having a Romanian last name which was consistently mutilated by people trying to pronounce it as they squinted at her name tag (usually only last names are printed). No one struggles with her last name now that she has a thoroughly German one -- given to her by her Canadian husband, ironically.

The other entry is for a butcher shop ("Metzgerei" in German) which I decided I needed to find immediately. After all, anyone who shares my last name and makes their living with meat must be a close relative. And after a short search, there it was, complete with a logo of a boy gleefully pulling on a link of sausages. Apparantly, they had found a photo from my childhood:

 

Of course, there was nothing else to do but go in and buy something delicious. I did purchase a few items, but due to the small line of people behind me, I regretfully chickened out when it came time to tell the lady behind the counter that I was related to the owner and should be entitled to a family discount. I think at the moment I was just so overwhelmed by the dreamy scent of smoked pork.