From the Philosophenweg, Heidelberg
I currently teach German at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana but truly live a life “zwischen Germany und Amerika”. As a high school student, I attended the Eppendorf Gymnasium in Hamburg (lovingly referred to as “die Hegepenne”) and began my studies of German, Political Science and International Studies at Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio. During that time I was also able to study in Heidelberg, Germany and went on to live and teach in Vienna, Austria, Göttingen, Germany and Tübingen, Germany. As I say to my friends: “I left for Germany when I was 16 and just never quite came home.”
We speak German in our home, our kids attend the weekly IGeL Schule for bilingual children, and we are deeply involved in the rich German-American heritage of Indiana. Still, we miss Germany and Austria:
”Den Geburtsort entscheiden die Eltern; den Wohnort der Beruf. Doch die Heimat sucht sich die Seele selber aus.”
