His dad was determined that if they were going to live abroad that they get the full experience, so he also lived in a regular village in Germany too. He only lived on base when they were in the US.

I like that! I've known people who lived, worked, shopped, socialized on base ... might as well have stayed in the U.S.

Very cool! Where in Germany? We lived in Düsseldorf for six years until '74 (my dad was with Dupont, not the military; I mean, he had been in the Navy during the Korean War but not at that point).

My personal "so sick of" with the pandemic is people who say they're very serious about the protocols, or that health/safety is their first concern, and then...they want to fudge the rules.

So, now I get to have a drawn-out negotiation about things that I came into this activity with assurances I wouldn't have to worry about.

In this case, it's "people who aren't comfortable with masks off can leave theirs on."

My pandemic gripe is people who will NOT speak up. In a bakery, with big, glass cases between me and the customers, it's hard enough to hear people without masks!

I am very pro-mask and anti-handshake, even when we are finally done with the pandemic. I think living near Chinatown for so long had already normalized mask-wearing for me, and working as a bartender made me hate shaking hands with someone. 9 times out of 10, it was someone I didn't want to touch at all, and I always had to stop and go wash my hands afterward, and it was just Not Something I Liked.

I miss hugging my huggy friends, though. A Lot.

I am not a hugger, but I think I will embrace the mask thing. I love my warm flannel mask now that we have snow- a better face warmer than a scraf, plus it protects me and others! The hardest part of social distances except for not seeing my elderly family has been trying to train someone to use an iPad from six feet. I am not sure it is possible especially with my eyes. I can't see what they are doing at 6 feet.

also lived in a regular village in Germany

My DH is an Army brat and grew up in a German village because his family opted to stay off base.

I've known people who lived, worked, shopped, socialized on base

Our neighbors are a couple in their 40s and this is their first time living off base. When we went over to welcome them to the neighborhood they were terrified. They'd heard all these stories about how America is all gangs and crime and people who hate the military. It was really sad. (They are better now)

On case anyone is wondering brain fog from pain+feeling bad for yourself+online Black Friday sales is not a good combination.

We lived in Düsseldorf for six years until '74

He lived a couple places, Enkenbach-Alsenborn and his favorite place was Kaiserslautern. They were there in the late 70s. His apartment was overlooking Kaiserslautern Stadium. He and his brother used to break in there and play with the Pro's kids. They also used to go down to the BBK Bayerische Brauerei Kaiserslaughtern where they would steal empty bottles with a rope on a tree hanging from a cliff and sell them to buy beer they drank in a cave on the hillside cliffs. (kids!)

They had great times walking trails there, they rode bikes in summer and sledded on the paths in the winter. He said this was a favorite area. [link]