"Who invented teenagers and why" and "Something Wonderful"

"Who invented teenagers and why"

I guess it had to happen sometime. I had just exited the U-Bahn in the neighborhood where I'd soon be meeting my new tandem partner. I was trying to confidently make my way without consulting my map when suddenly I felt my dangly earring smash into my head.
"Was ist das?"
I didn't have time to figure out before I felt the next shots - I was being pelted in the head with large gummy candies by a group of punk teenage boys. One inch round gummy candies.

Thought 1: Why kick a girl when she's down?
Thought 2: Why don't I know how to swear in German?
Thought 3: When all else fails, some words are universal.

So I took a deep breath and stopped walking, faced them (they were unapologetic) and said, "What the hell is wrong with you?" True confession: I was very angry. I believe I "said" (yelled) some other things like "Why aren't you in school? Go to school!" Etc., etc. At this point, getting pelted in the head with candy was not funny to me. Plus - why would you waste candy? What's wrong with these kids? To make things really perfect, when I attempted to regain my composure and walk away - I tripped. Not a small trip - quite a large one, in fact - and all four boys watched with rapt attention, savoring every bit of it. I could still hear them laughing as I paused around the corner to pull myself together. This is when I lost it. I left Dominic a tearful, mumbling message bemoaning the existence of punk teenagers throughout the world.

As far as I know, recovery from an attack does not occur without food, so I headed into a charming coffee shop (I had an hour to kill before meeting my new friend) and had a wonderful exchange with the cashier. Although I must mention that after I'd successfully ordered (and received) both food and drink "auf Deutsch", he gave me my total in English - saying "I mean, you don't speak German, right?" "Right." Someone please throw me a bone! (See next paragraph.)

"Something Wonderful"

Finally, the day became wonderful: I met my new tandem partner. The goal of the "tandem" is that we'll split our time between speaking English and German so we both can learn our new languages. Her English is already quite good, but she has lots of little things she wants to work on, and well, you know about my German. Most people meet for one hour their first visit, and after one hour she was asking me what I wanted to order next. This is my kind of attitude! I had written out a list of questions in German and I dare say we actually had a "dialogue". Honestly, it was thrilling. She is a friendly, encouraging partner.

My favorite part of the meeting came when she was talking about her baby son. I'd know she was on maternity leave, and asked when her son was born. When I heard her reply I couldn't believe it - her son was born June 15, the same day as my nephew! What a great coincidence. I will meet him next time we get together and can't wait to watch him grow over the year as a "stand-in" while I'm missing seeing my adorable nephew.