Alstervergnügung Continued!

Me walking on water

          That weekend the Alstervergnügung continued. All trains and buses were jammed full of people and sleds and ice skates. I heard that about a million people had been on the river when all was said and done. We, of course, were on the ice too, myself and two of the Mitbewohners (Literal Meaning: the people who live with us. Catholic Worker Meaning: our guests). Getting down onto the ice from the steep treacherous bank was for me, a problem. Not for our chivalrous Mitbewohner from Somalia, though, he scooped me up in his arms and we were off. Incidentally, neither of us quite realized that the slope did not end in a flat muddy bank at the bottom, no siree, the slope dropped off directly onto ice. So, CRASH! went the tall gangly Somali, and SPLAT! went little old me. What a sight! Nobody was hurt during the course of this incident.
           Our two Mitbewohners from Africa (Somalia and Kenya) couldn’t quite get over the fact that they were walking on water, and many pictures were taken for family at home. I couldn’t really get over it either, and we all shuffled along, sloth-like, arms linked, afraid of falling, afraid of dying, while Germans whizzed all around us, probably wondering what the heck we were doing. 
           German kids flew by on skates, Germans kids flew by without skates. People strolled on by, walking?...no, skating their dogs. The dogs were doing very well I must say…but then again they have two more legs than I do. People rode by on bikes, which seemed really stupid, somehow. And people walked by pushing baby carriages. This brings me to the random but necessary topic of German Kinderwagen (baby carriage/stroller) Kultur/Culture.

Plastic wrapped stroller

          I cannot wrap my head around German Kinderwagenkultur. Ok, some of it is just practical, like plasticwrapping the stroller on a rainy day so you can still take your baby and the bus shopping. But some of it is just weird, like taking a Kinderwagen on a frozen river. Like leaving the Kinderwagen and baby outside of a house/store while you go inside for a while, and expecting it all to still be there when you get back. Kiddnappings aside, what happens if some dog or kid on a bike knocks the thing down, or it rolls out into the street? What if the baby catches pneumonia or freezes to death? Actually, on that note, before coming to Germany, I had never seen such warmly bundled babies in my life.

A mom ice skating pushing baby carriage and pulling sled!

          One cold day, I came home from work at Café Exil to see a baby in its Kinderwagen, fast asleep and completely deserted on our patio. I was a bit nonplussed. Was this a donation? I mean, we got baby clothes donated to us sometimes, but this seemed to be taking it a bit too far. Then again, we could probably donate it on to someone who actually needed it, like we usually did with the baby clothing. I went into the kitchen and asked why there was a baby on our porch. No worries, guys, it was just a part of German Kinderwagenkultur! The mommy was inside talking to someone, and when the baby started to cry, they did bring it in. But still…..I guess as far as Kinderwagenkultur goes, it’s all or nothing!