Germanophile

Germanophile
Dictionary
Ger·man·o·phile (jər-măn’ə-fīl’)
noun
One who admires Germany, its people, and its culture.

This is me. I am a Germanophile. Originally I thought maybe the word for this was Germophile, but upon looking it up in the dictionary I learned that I am not afraid of germs. I love Germany, the people, the culture and especially the food and beer!
My Grandfather was German. He was born in Mülheim an der Ruhr, and came to this country when he was about 8 years old. Consequently, I was raised with all the German traditions, and best of all, the food!
Although my Grandmother wasn’t German, she learned to cook all Papa’s favorites from his sisters. It was always a good day when Grandma was cooking Sauer Braten! My favorite, and the favorite of most of the family.
When I married Hubby, he made a dream of mine come true and I was able to travel to Germany. From the moment my feet touched German soil, I knew I’d come home.
We traveled all over the country and I grew to love Bavaria for it’s lush countryside and beautiful mountains and Berlin for all the history that is held there. I feel as though everything there is familiar.
Now this is quite odd because I don’t speak much German. I know a few words, a few sayings, but I am really not a linguist. I am just barely fluent in English! Ha Ha!! I think it’s the atmosphere. I just feel a part of it.
Of course this is also where my best friend, Uschi lives, and where my two dachshunds are from. So when I leave Germany I leave a part of my heart with my friend, Uschi and here at home, I have part of Germany with me, in my girls, Shubi, from Bavaria and Greta, from Rheden, which is more in the northwest.
I’ve learned to cook many of my favorite German meals, and lucky for me I am married to a man who loves German food and Germany almost as much as I do.
Hubby is much better with languages and he can speak German pretty well. When we are there, and I listen to him speak with people in German, I am so proud of him.
A week ago Hubby ordered his favorite bread from a bakery in Canada that specializes in German bread. The “Bauernbrot” arrived yesterday at the same time that my box of German delicacies arrived from an importer in New York!

As we rifled through our boxes of goodies I had to laugh. How alike Hubby and I are in our love for Germany, and it’s wonderful foods.
Two Germanophiles happily married and living in New Hampshire!