September 1981 until September 1982. A year. Not very long compared to this second time in Germany. More than thirty-five years. It’s always about the quality, and not the quantity, of time, however. Of time. Of anything. Quality. Depth. Meaning. Understanding.
At the end of my stay I took a trip through Europe. Ireland. Dublin, then a driving tour. A lovely country. Lovely people. I don’t remember much. England. London, Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon. Interesting. Valuable. I don’t remember much.
Then a long train ride down to Italy. Rome and Florence. A lot different then the isles up to the north and to the west. St. Peter’s, difficult to forget. And a few Danes I hung out with. Especially Jette. Then to Brindisi and a boat over to Greece. Not in my original plans. I was looking for Jette. Never found her. How could I? So many islands. So many young travelers like me with their backpacks. Greece. Wonderful people. The sky, air, water, food.
Back to Brindisi, then on to Vienna and Salzburg. Austria. The Austo-Hungarian Empire. History. Culture. Sophistication. Green. Almost luscious. I don’t recall much. Layered and layered and layered over.
I finished up my stay with the Kelleys in Bonn. A week or so. I had remained in constant contact with them during my months in Oberwinter. Short visits, mowing their lawn in the summer, being helpful whenever needed.
Then the flight back to the U.S. Train from Bonn-Bad Godesberg to Frankfurt Airport. Flight to Philadelphia. Or was it to JFK or to Newark? I cannot remember. Unimportant.
I do recall, though, hardly back in the U.S. and the movie Das Boot was in the movie theaters. It was a huge hit in the U.S. And perhaps one of the first times that Americans would realize that the Germans also suffered during that terrible war.
I recall also, hardly back in the U.S., and the Social Democratic government led by Helmut Schmidt fell. The junior partner in the coalition, the Free Democrats, had switched sides, over to the Christian Democrats under Helmut Kohl. I took notice but for no longer than fifteen minutes. I was back in the U.S. figuring out what would be the next step.