BELMONT PLAZA Lexington Avenue at 49th St. N.Y., N. Y. 10022 September 17, 19 6 9 2: 3 0 a. m •
Hi: I had a very nice flight, with lunch; a''scenic" bus ride from Newark to West Side Manhattan (via the Lincoln Tunnel) and a taxi to the hotel (which is very nice, Jay), I didn't like NYC - too big, dirty and noisy- and I don't like being along in a big city but now I 1ve changed my mind. After dark it is entirely different. I had a leisurely (but expensive) dinner at the hotel - the Royal Scots Grill), saw HELLO DOLLY and my seat was very good. Pearl Bailey was ill and Thelma Carpenter "stood in" for her but it was just great and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. I can imagine Pearl Bailey in the part, but not Carol Channing for some reason. I walked back to the hotel via Times Square, Park Avenue, etc and took some pictures. I hope they come out, I finally got my suitcases closed. Thanks for them too. I will write more later. All my love, Ron
Bei Hernn Ost Rat Koch 53 Bonn-Bad Godesberg Hans T.rotzendorf, P'a dagogium Otto-Kuhne-Schule, West Germany
Monday, September 29, 1969
., H 1.
Sorry I haven't written but I did good to get a letter off to Mcther. Had a very pleasant cruise. No sea sickness, met many people, made many friends. When we separated to our separate towns in Breman it was like breaking up a team thab. had been together 20 years rather than students together for 10 days. We slept only about 3-5 hours each night there was so much to do. Three big meals and tea & cakes at 4; cold buffet at ll: 30 p.m. The "tavern" with dance music, etc. was open til four a.m. I'm sending my souveniers home in bunches so you can see them when you go back to Tennessee again.
Impressions about Germany after four days: 1) The natives are very friendly if you take the initiative; 2) The country is beautiful but the natural attractions are the cities - instead of a center-city Ghetto, you fine walkways, parks, etc and everything is so clean! German has no word for "litter" that I can discern. 3) German beer is much better than the American product and German wines are so much better that they can't even be compared. I've started drinking coffee German style (1/2 milk and sugar) and its really good. 4) German trains do run on schedule! 5) German food is very good - very little do I recognize; even familiar foods (pickled beets) have an unusual and fresh taste. 6) German weather is bad- I've been here four days and it has rained 17 times. But Bonn usually has mild winters with little .snow. I want to write more letters tonight so I'll go now- I'll -write more later. Write me when you can and remember I love you. Ron
Saturday, October ll, 1969
., H 1.
I got your letter this morning and was real glad to hear from you. I haven't gotten any slides back yet, since I bought the film with out the development included they had to be sent away. I'm on my 4th 36-frame roll and I hope most of them come out. I've been really very busy. I've finished registering at the University here and I've taken the written part of the language test all foreigners have to take. I have a twenty minute oral next week. Classes begin on Wednesday the 15th of October. You wouldn't believe the housing problem here. Six days E; huck and I looked for a room with no luck. Although nothing is final yet it looks like I'll be living in a boarding school (high school) here in Bad Godesberg. For my room and board I have to tutor 6 hours /wk in English, Math and perhaps French. My German is improving very fast and I have all these high school students around me so I have to speak German to survive. My German "family" is very nice and I feel quite at home here. The kids (Julien 10; Leonie 7; and Bipsi 6) and the Grandfather and I have spent the last week together. The schools here are out this week for Autumn vacation and Herr and Frau Koch went to Paris. I got the baggage today that I shipped a month ago from Knoxville. The suitcases held up better than my new footlocker. I've decided to buy a German typewriter; perhaps a good portable radio, and maybe a bycycle after the Spring thaw. It doesn't snow muchi:ere (I am told) but it gets awfully cold. I'm living just a block from the Rhein and can see the Petersburg fortress, the Seven Mountains (Sieber Gebirge) and the Brachenfels from my window. I go walking every day and I know my way round Bonn and Bad Godesberg pretty well. Incidentally, my address may be shortened to: 532 Bonn-Bad Godesberg u Otto Kuhne Platz 2 West Germany
I'm writing Mother long detailed letters - journal-diary style which she's keeping for me. That'll be my record of the trip. I really don't have time to write everything 3 or 4 times and I'm corresponding somewhat regularly with at least four people. So far I haven't noticed anything that I failed to bring and have needed. Or maybe I just knew not to "need" anything I didn't bring. And about Christmas presents. I'd rather you didn't send a lot of stuff. I can use clothes mostly. I'm going to buy a suit here -pure wool with vest costs about $40-- seaters are expensive though and I can use them. So I can just send one package I may send your presents to Mother and let her remail them. I don't have much money so expect something "German" but cheap. I asked Mother and Dad to buy me a slide projector for Christmas to keep it there and use it to view my illustrated letters.
I enjoyed Midnight cowboy too; and agree that it deserves several oscars. And if you haven't seen Goodbye Columbus, do. Its one of the best films I have ever seen. It reminded me so much of a summer I had once up to a point, and many of the sequences are very weH done. All of the characterizations are exceptional. No, I didn't write to Gerhard but I have his address and will perhaps get to it later. Things were so uncertain all summer that I just never got around to it. Incidentally, about 1/3 of the male fulbrighters left the US without permission with the draft temporarily suspended,
Tuesday, November 18, 1969
Hi y 1 all!
I finally got around to writing ; I really have been busy, tho, there's so much to do and see, it really is ama~ing. I really tfuink I'm living this year t o my fullest. Well, mayb e not, but I-m coming prett¥,close. I suppose I take too much for granted, and think you and Mother know as much about what 's going on here and what I'm doing as I do. She asked the same question about my new room. The Experiment in International Living was for four weeks and was to be with a German family. In my case, however, a family wasn't found(as sometimes happens). I was "put" in a boarding school dorm here for 4 weeks, had a 17-year old German roommate, and no complaints. It was really quite nice. I was technically the guest of the Ob erstudienrat, sort of an assistant head master, or something, and I spent a good deal of time with his family. Well, to make a long story short, he thought I was going to be in Germany for only four weeks , and when he found out that I was to be here for a year, he asked me to stay with his family. In exchange for my room and board I was to tutor the oldest child in English , and just be around as a member of the family. The boy has some problems; his father is Father, Teacher, and Hausherr all rolled up into one. I suppose a psychologist would say it was some sort of identity confusion. At any rate, Herr Koch thought it would help Julian if there were some other adult male in the family, and I think it has in a way. And it has really helped me. Having to speak German has been great for me: I've learned more with the three kids an~ with Opa than I could have learned in a year in a dorm or apartment. Opa, by the v1ay, is my "grandf ather." I've never had a grandfather that I can remembc;r very well, and it's really nice. Last Saturday he celebrated his 75th bitthday (I would have guessed him closer to 6o, he doesn't look old, and is v~ry spry for 75). There was more food and drink than I have efer seen at one time, and I really ate and drank too much. But it was fun! Well, back to my family. At the end of the four weeks I mov ed into their apartment. They have an entire floor of this house. The house was bu~lt about 189o and we have a gigantic living and dining room with a grand piano , a den-study, the kitchen, and bedrooms for the parents , Opa, the two girls, and Julian. My room was formerly the sun room: it's small, but I have the res t of the house and never feel cramped. I'm really quite happy here, much more so than if I were in an apartment or "room" by m~self. I have most of the slides back that I took in Belgium, and they are really good , even if I do say so myself. I've started experimenting with the "dials" on my camera, especially when there isn't enough light to take a picture "automatically.' I got a couple of good shotsof stained glass windows and cathedral ceilings, for example. It wqs a real good trip , a good group to travel with, and we saw a lot, too. It rained both days, but I got a chance to "rebuild" my French partially. I was really surprised at how fast it came back. I mailed your Christmas present today . It should take anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks for it to get there . I pray it doesn 't break , they wouldn't give me any insurance on it, but I sent it anyw~y. It really isn't much, sort of a souvenir , bu 1 I hope you like i t . Maileng packages aalf way around the worlR isn't cheap, at any rate! My letters are getting shorter and less frequent, but I hope you'll understand . Oh, by the way, I saw Die BrUcke z~Remagen this afternoon; I thought i t was very well done, very anti-war and slightly pro-German, but very well done . See it if you havent . It was verJ well dubbed, too . Got to go, take care, vJork hard , and remember I love you both,
Auf weedersehen, Dec~mber 8, 1969
Hi there ! Hope things a re going all right where you are ! Thi gs are fine here~ · Just to bring you up to date, I ' v~ replaced my student id ' s, Passport , etc ., that I lost two weeks a g e. It was stupid of me, and I still do~ ' t know for sure where I lost them (They were i n a passport folder , everything together : 11 Don ' t put all your eggs in one basket ! ") But I decided to have everything replaced before I told anyone about it , I didn ' t want Mother to worry any more about me than she would anyway .
One of the American students here got hit by a car and died Sunday ni~ht a week ago . We all walked around in a da~e for a couple of days b e fore we decided to "pick up the pieces" and go on from there . Mother sent me a list of the birthdays in the draft lottery : I ' m§ 59 , so it looks like I ' ll be drafted next summer . Somehow , tho , I don ' t really dread it , now that I ' m sort of sure I ' ll get to finish my Fulbright year out . My reser vations f or a July 11 return were confirmed , so it looks as if I ' ll be home by the middle of July . Chuck and I are leaving on the 18 0f December for ~aris (hitchhiking) and from there wherever the road leads. Hitchhiking is fun , but it ' s so slow . If we had to hitchhike wverywhere we went we wouldn ' t get to see very much of Europe at aal . So I want you to do me a favor : we ' ve counted our money very carefully , what we have and what we expect oo get from the Commission, so we know pretty much what we ' ll have . So I ' ll have the money to pay you back, but I 'll have to save it month by month. It costs a little bit to live, you know . What I want is for you t o get me a EURAIL PASS . What it ammounts to is a ticket on any European railroad , for any distance, any number of times , in all countries except Greece and the United Kingdom . They can only be bouggt in the United States , so I can ' t get it myself . I want one that is valid for three months , beginning on and including February 13 (Friday) , 1970. It ' s supposed to cost 210 dollars , and I ' m not sure whether it ' s dated or whether it ' s merett good from the first time it ' s used for a period of three months . At any rate , onr semester break is from Feb. 15 - April 15, and we ' re planning a 10 day excursion to Scandinavia in early May , and some weekend trips between April 15 and the first of May . Our information says " go to your nearest travel agent , " or the bank is supposed to be able to order it directly from the GERMAN FEDERAL RAILROAD (Deutsche Bundesbahn) , 11 West 42th Street , NYC, or from the FRENCH NATIONAL RAILROAD , 610 Fifth Avenue, NYC . I ' m also sending t ·., o passport pictures in case there is a "id" card of some sort with it . I figured it ' d be easier for you to get it than for Mother , or I wouldn ' t ask , but you did offer to do anything I needed. I ' m not sure yhat additional information you ' ll need : you know my birthdate (24. 1 . 47) , my home address , my German address , my passport number is Z 112 3735 issued on December 2 , 1969 , by the American Consulate in Bad Godesberg Germany , I don ' t know how long it'll take to get it , but we could have bought them on the ship as we came over , but it ' s only two months till we ' ll need them . I can hardly believe that the year is disappe~ring so fast , I don ' t know where the time goes . It snowed here again today very pretty . The days are awfully short here, we ' re a lot further north than Tenn ssee or TPzas : it ' s d~ylight from about 9 : 30 till 4, and that ' s a short day . I ' m afraid I haven ' t given y0u much news, but I really do hav~ to go . Thanks a million in advance, I hope you d~n ' t have any real problams getting the EurailPass , and I ' ll send you the money as soon as I have it . Give my love to Jay and Tiger , have a merry Christmas, and I ' ll send you a postcard from Paris .
Auf Wiedersehen ,