Meet the family

January 4th 2001, 7pm, after 1000km on the road, we park the car in the yard of n°53 Bruchgartenweg in Vorsfelde. To say that I was dreading to meet the family is an understatement. I had only spoken to them about 3 times on the phone and the only thing about them was they had housed the previous intern.

First thing I heard when I stepped out of the car is a dog barking. I hate dogs. They scare me. So of course, they had one. The father opened the door. Old guy, about 60-ish, white hair, white goatee. The mother looked 60-ish too. They welcomed me with open arms. Showed my room, quite big, with 2 beds, a desk and nice view on their garden and and countryside. The couple had a daughter who was about my age and spoke English. It helped a lot. The house was very nice. On the ground floor, there was the living room, the kitchen and the bedrooms of the family and both bathrooms. Upstairs was my bedroom and another one where they had their computer.
That first evening they had invited the previous intern (can't remember his name!). My father was so stressed that he didn't eat anything. But I guess the family made a good impression cause my mum seemed to trust them quickly. They told me directly that they would consider me as their son as long as I was staying with them. The dog turned out to be a nice one. It was old and quiet (can't remember its name either!).

On the second day, we went to the city council to get some admistrative papers, then opened a bank account, got a bus pass. In the afternoon, we went to Hannover airport and picked up Caroline. We took her to Braunschweig where she was renting a room in the flat of a single woman. My mum was glad to know I had a friend so close.
In the evening we went back to Vorsfelde, had dinner with the family. This time my father was more at ease and DID eat.
Saturday morning, my parents were leaving. I had decided I'd spend the weekend in Braunschweig with Caroline so my parents dropped me there. Of course when it was time for them to go, my mom cried cause she thought she wouldn't see me for the coming 7 months.

The weekend was ok but a bit depressing. We tried to find a pub or a bar but where we went was rather crappy. Caroline's landlady was quite cool though. Talked a lot with us. Sunday afternoon I went back to Vorsfelde. They showed me where the bus stop was to get to the city centre. I was starting to panic a bit about my first at work. I had never worked before. Would I be up to it? Would I be able to understand everybody? Needless to say, I didn't sleep that much that night...