Life: Idiotropic

Today I woke up to a beautiful blanket of snow over everything that just made the day magical and gorgeous as I drove with 6 other ladies in the van up to Dusseldorf to attend a coffee at the American Consular General's house.

This was a follow up to the tea that I attended in December with the Consular General's wife at the club here at the base.

Our morning was beautiful, so I was sorry that I didn't have time to take pictures of the snow covering everything. The drive was easy though and in just over an hour, we arrived at the modest white house right next to a restaurant and at the edge of a forest. It looked like anyone's house - behind a little gate, but nothing overly dramatic.

Still, there was a little hut in the restaurant parking lot across the street with a large police van parked next to it and two police men standing around watching. A nicely dressed man opened the gate for us. Another staff member opened the door. The gardens are simple, but beautiful as is the house and it's insides as well.

The house was beautiful inside and filled with interesting art and small antiques. It was warm and comfortable without any hint of ostentationsness. It could have been my mother's home or the home of a friend. The details stood out though... painted panels from Russia, a nice grouping of photos on the grand piano, an interesting lamp...

Mrs. Boyse welcomed us in very warmly and a nearby maid held a tray with orange juice and water. There were probably 35 women there representing American Women's Clubs all over the area.

After about 10 minutes, she got our attention, showed us the room filled with coffee, tea, and an array of desserts as delicious as they were beautiful, then set us loose to relax and mingle as she quietly moved about the room and brought women together to make connections between sister groups. Maids scurried around refilling our cups of coffee and tea. We sat properly and soaked up the ambiance while chatting together.

I met a lot of amazing people and it showed me a bit of a world that I didn't know existed to this extent. The American Women of Cologne have over 300 members. The American Women of Dusseldorf, have, I think, around 150. Until now, I had no idea that there were quite to many Americans living here. Some have husbands who work here with international companies. Some are "lifers," married to German men.

But, we were all ladies, so we talked about kids, and family, and how much we miss good Chinese food, Boy Scouts, and where to find pumpkin puree outside of a military base.

By the end, we'd made a lot of connections. I'm getting information on our 4th of July celebration as that's something that they've missed and we're inviting them all to the anniversary celebration of our AWACS unit. They invited us to the Rosenmontag celebration in Cologne at the Hard Rock Cafe. I'm sorry to be missing that one.

Now we're going to meet quarterly which is exciting. I'm glad to be a part of this group. It really was an honor to be included and it feels good to meet people and make some connections for the other women here. It's going to be a good thing for all of us.