Lessons

The biggest lesson we are learning is patience. We need to be patient w ourselves and each other because some of these lessons require practice.

We feel lucky to be skiing in Garmisch, site of the 1936 Winter Olympics and 1979 World cup. Lift lines are a sport unto themselves as there is no organization to them. Lines are survival of the pushiest. In order to make it to the lift, you must scootch in any free space around you. If you dont crowd and scootch, someone else will and you may go backwards in line. To make things more complicated, we enjoy loading chairlifts together. Making our way through a liftline together, requires even more skill. Needless to say, there is no rest in a line; in fact it is the most stressful part of skiing. Our cousin is quite adept at the line, he always is the first of us to load a chair. We will learn as this is true for any line, not just skiing.

Contrasting with the chaotic "line", is traffic. People abide by the strict traffic regulations. For example, no German will be passing another car on the right side. Faster traffic is always left.

Garbage Recycling is very complex and if you screw up, no one will pick up your garbage.

Birth certificates are often needed. In the States, our passports suffice as birth certificates, but not here. Needless to say, I didnt bring the certificates.