mychai's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wanderschaft You can learn the coolest things while picking up hitchhikers. It was cold, rainy Friday morning... (Doesn't this sound like the beginning of a great story about a private eye hot on the trail for some check-bouncing adultress?) I was coming back from getting the interior of a friend's car cleaned out. Before I got the BMW, I borrowed her car to run some errands. I bought a jug of neuwein (freshly pressed grapes with yeast added then aged a day or two. Very good stuff...) before making the last leg home. I turned a corner and realized way too late that the lid wasn't on the jug. A half gallon of pre-fermented grape juice poured out, then, over the next few days, proceeded to do its thing. Fermentation does not smell good. But, being the nice guy I am, I told her I would pay to get the interior carpet cleaned out. The German guy didn't even charge to clean the carpet. On the way back from getting the cleaning, just before getting on the autobahn, I saw a guy with his thumb outstretched. On a whim, I decided to pick him up. He was dressed very peculiarly, and I knew he had a story. He was wearing black velvet pants and a black velvet jacket over a white button-up shirt with a black tie. He had a very neat and unique tophat as well. All of the buttons he wore were unmatching, large, and brightly colored. He had a long, curly wooden stick with two small white linen sacks attached at one end. He was on his way to Mannheim, but I told him the closest I could get him was Kaiserslautern West. Good enough for him. He got in and off we went. His name was Adrian, and he was originally from Switzerland. His story, in a nutshell, was that he was part of a movement called the Wanderschaft. Wanderschafters (as I will call them here...) are a group of men who follow a multi-century tradition of leaving home for a minimum of three years to learn a craft then "wander" around to practice that craft from town to town. There are certain rules of the tradition. They can't use any form of getting around other than hitchhiking. They can't go within fifty kilometers of their home. And they can't stay in any location for more than six weeks. This means they are constantly on the road looking for their next job. They are constantly on the lookout for their next source of income and, thusly, their next meal and next roof over their head. In essense, they are hobos. Adrien had been on the road for over three years and had decided to do another year. His trade was woodworking and carpentry. He said he builds roofs and makes shingles. He was originally from Switzerland and was heading back to see his girlfriend, who conveniently lived more than the fifty kilometers away. What struck me most about this way of life that, before Friday morning, I never knew existed was the fact that, for three years, in this age of being able to do anything you dream and make as much as you want, people decide to leave everything behind and decide to depend on the good will of humanity to keep them alive. In essense, they put all their faith into faith. I asked him how often the goodness of the world has let him down. "I have never gone to bed hungry or cold. I always have a ride to wherever I need to go. If I get sick, someone helps me. If I get too much food, I help someone else. The world is a good place." For three years, his only weapon was a Swiss Army knife. He said he never used it for more than whittling or opening a bottle of wine (crazy Swiss Army...). And during those three years, he had been on every continent (except Antarctica). All of that travel, and no problems. What struck me as funny was the fact that he had health insurance! Since he travelled all over the world, he had to pay for his own health insurance since he couldn't depend on the social healthcare of Switzerland. He was the only technically homeless person I have ever met who pays for his own health insurance. I've been wanting to write an article for a travel magazine about aspects of Europe most people don't know about. I have been looking all around for ideas, and when I least expected it, I invited the perfect idea into my car for a fifteen minute ride. If you want more pictures of the Wanderschaft, go here. I am now going to ask all of you, my dear readers, to submit ideas for a project a lot of people are doing. Your part of this assignment is quite easy. I want you to submit two or three ideas for pictures you would like for me to take. They can be artsy (a black-and-white picture of my leg hair, for instance), sight-seey (some German sight), or mundane (a picture of my room). But I need a good list of suggestions. You can either post below in the comments section or email me with your suggestions. I'll give you until Friday to come up with ideas. So, suggest away. No suggestion will be tossed aside. Your photo wish is my photo demand. So... be kind. 4:32 a.m. - Monday, Oct. 11, 2004 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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