I am at the Main Station in Munich, drinking a cup of coffee. A cup. Made of China. I don’t want a to go cup. So, i am standing here, a little tense for time because my train leaves in eight minutes. But still calm. Few meters to go only.
Then I hear that loudspeaker announcements on train arrivals. But it only has the sound and nobody speaks for a moment.
The suddenly a male voice says: “a tarantula.”
What to make of this? He didn’t say more, just these words, and after a break announced the next train arrival. Very calmly he did so, I this have reason to believe he wasn’t under any immediate threat. What these words meant however will remain a puzzle.
Well, I didn’t see a tarantula anywhere when I boarded my train or ever since. On the table where I sit are three other people. We keep this polite distance, looking each other in the eyes once in a while and smiling, but not much talking. I felt like these are strangers I will forget on a heartbeat. But the the lady opposite of me started giggling while watching her program. No big laughter, nothing loud or intruding. Just a friendly, happy giggle once in a while.
Isn’t that beautiful?
Now it’s later again. I’ve returned to Bonn, this beautiful city at the Rhein. The city is green and hot. Sun is shining, people are smiling. The guy selling drinks at the kiosk takes a moment to catch my eyes before he sincerely wishes me a nice weekend.
Thanks, Bonn. You are heartwarming. You’re giving hope. I cannot put my finger on why I love you so much. But I feel you take people as they are. All memories of the three months I’ve been working here come back to me. The kiosk vendor who gave me beautiful compliments when I bought my morning coffee. He told me I looked beautiful, so “healthy”. The stranger who made up a poem when he saw me mother train: “mit dem hut, so jung und schön, sind Sie gar herrlich anzusehen.” The nice People of the students’ Home where I lived who took me in as one of their own, shared their meals, their bikes, their hearts. No wonder this time healed all wounds. It made me walk easier, my burden a little lighter. And this has not changed ever since. Once affected by the sweet air of Bonn, I am carrying some pieces of Bonn wherever I go.
LL Aktuell 