As most of you know from reading my Facebook page, I had a great time at the Munich International School.  I did, however, find myself in a state of panic meeting so many kids who spoke 3, 4 or 5 languages fluently. What advantages they will have in life!

Do you what else I noticed in Germany… how SLIM everyone looked. Then I realized that they weren’t slim, they were normal weight.  The Germans are certainly more active but perhaps more importantly, their portion sizes are small compared to the US, or normal as others call that. Portion sizes are HUGE in the US! I don’t know about you but I eat what’s in front me so I really appreciated their smaller portions. It was so easy to eat healthfully.  The croissant at the breakfast buffet was the size of two fingers. Speaking of breakfast buffet, there was an abundance of fruit salad, and sliced grapefruits and pineapple which everybody ate. There were all sorts of cheeses and meats but unlike the American breakfasts I see in hotels, there was no parade of starches…waffles, pancakes, muffins, bagels. The only starch was fresh bread and baked goods, all of them what we call in the US “miniature.”

Now that I am back in the US, I am trying to remember those healthful portion sizes. I hope my eyes do not re-adjust to all things jumbo, which reminds me…I need to go to Costco.

I just returned from a visit to the Munich International School, a true global village. It seemed like every staff member was from one country, married to somebody from another country, and they had lived in other countries.  Typical example: the American teacher, married to the Italian woman who had grown up in Africa who were raising trilingual sons. One of my tour guides at the school, Marie, was a German high school student fluent in Mandarin. Did I mention she spoke English fluently? Everyone in Germany spoke English! My fellow Americans, we must start teaching our children a second language while minds are young and sponge-like!  Perhaps one day, when the US is not spending so much on wars, we can spend money on language acquisition. Can you imagine if every American high school graduate were fluent in another language? Now I know that many people feel that English is the most important language and why should we bother learning any other?  Yes, English is an important language but learning other languages opens doors to us that otherwise remain shut. I have never heard anyone say, “I regret speaking more than one language.” Knowing other languages is always a good thing, plus it enables you to order food safely when traveling abroad. Otherwise, how would you know that head cheese is not cheese?

Keep reading, and keep eating head cheese, if that is what you like.

-Frau Dumas