A routine Friday morning visit to the local bakery for a cappuccino (“zum mitnehmen” – a takeaway), with my 7month old baby tucked away in his carrier pouch like a real Kangaroo Joey became a small tradition. My son is my coffee date, oh flip, and what a handsome and patient date he is. We grab a coffee and then explore every corner of this little town or visit the plant nursery to feast our eyes on the most beautiful flowers and trees before we head back up the hill to our apartment.

We’ve lived in Neuffen, a small little Swabian German town for almost 3 years. Chris was born in a hospital not far from here…legally a German citizen but with the blood of two purebred South African parents. Being a foreigner in a very traditional little town has it’s challenges – Germans aren’t particularly known for their openness to new things and there is absolutely no way I can hide the fact that I am foreign. My German language skills is something a very creative person with a great imagination can perhaps comprehend…which narrows the amount of possible conversation partners down dramatically.

I’ve noticed though that our coffee-date tradition has in the meantime settled the nerves of our weekly bypassers. The owner of the Bio-markt gave us a generous wave through his shop window this morning, the lady at the butchery (who was perhaps the most cautious of them all) welcomed us to her store with a friendly (and surprisingly loud) “Guten Morgen” ánd to top that, she ordered the steak I inquired about last week. She even shared her goulash recipe with me!! At the bakery, Chris in his stroller this time, I grabbed my weekly cappuccino and to my surprise, the bakery-lady asked whether she could give Chris a Pretzel (or otherwise known as a “Brezel”). I am sure she saw the surprise on my face whereafter the kindly said: “All Swabian kids love Pretzels”…

This immediately reminded me of visiting the butcher with my dad and my sister, hardly tall enough to properly look into the big white fridges then. The butcher would always lean over the counter and give us a piece of “Droëwors” (a traditional South African snack), accepting that “All South African kids love Droëwors”. What a lovely memory of Saturday mornings, the day that followed promised a “braai”, freshly cut lawn and rugby on the TV which meant some down-time for otherwise busy parents.

Little Chris cautiously took the Pretzel, gave it a thorough visual inspection and started nibbling away on his Swabian delicacy. The bakery-lady extremely satisfied with his enjoyment. We set off to the plant nursery, me sipping my coffee and Chris thoroughly enjoying the little gift of kindness from a stranger who has no idea what she just meant to two foreigners.