Winter Vacation
Christmas in Germany together was like a fairy tale. Snow was falling as they drove through the forest and each town had a Christmas fair with crafts to buy and plenty of food to eat.
For Denise meeting Dieter's parents was a bit of a nerve-wracking experience, mainly because she didn't speak German and Dieter's parents know only a little English. But even with the communication problems, Denise got along very well with Ursula and Eduard.
On the weekends and days when Dieter didn't have school, he took Denise around Karlsruhe and his nearby hometown, Pforzheim (where his parents live) and other surrounding towns and villages. Dieter also took her to a nearby French city called Wissembourg and they spent some time driving through the French countryside. They also took a train from Karlsruhe to Paris for a few days and they spent a week in Turkey.
In March it was time for Denise to go back to the states. Again, leaving
was difficult, not only leaving Dieter but also his parents Ursula and Eduard and leaving
Germany itself. But Denise had work to do. Dieter was due to start a job at a company in
the Silicon Valley called Medialive. It was planned that Denise would go ahead
of him and find an apartment.