What fun! Today, we went to a German Festival in Ann Arbor. A German group has this festival three times during the summer. They open up their private park to the public and there is beer (of course), dancing, German food and fun. This is the first year that we’ve gone (though they announced that they’ve been doing a version of this festival since 1938).

I was actually amazed by how much my son and I stood out at this festival. I was well aware that there would be quite a few people with blond hair and blue eyes, but I did think that there would be more sight seers like us. We were there for nearly an hour before I notice one other Asian woman and one Black man. We’ve been to other events in this same community and it’s been quite diverse. No one there made me feel unwelcome. In fact, the opposite was actually true. I wonder if it’s a deep-rooted cultural issue that causes non-Caucasians to stay at home?

As soon as I saw the article in the local paper about the festival, I was suggesting it as an outing to my husband. Admittedly, just looking at the sausages turn my stomach so I did my best not to look and I tried not to breathe through my nose when I was cutting my son’s hotdog. But, I still went for the food. I love German noodles and sauerkraut.

People laugh at me all the time because they think sauerkraut is rather funny thing for me to like. I always remind people that sauerkraut is really a whole lot like kimchi without the spice. However, the true reason I like sauerkraut is that it was a tradition in my household when I was growing up. Every St. Patrick’s day, my mother made corn beef (when I was still eating beef), sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. Sauerkraut brings back happy memories and it does good things to my taste buds.

My son loved the German dancers. We sat up on the stage and watched them dance. He liked it when the men did their fancy clapping and footwork. Once again, he didn’t crack a smile or change expressions while he watched, but he cried when we told him it was time to leave.

We’ll definitely go back next year. I like the music, the food and the atmosphere. When he’s older, we can tell him that my father’s family came from Germany and so did my mother-in-law’s family. What a wonderfully diverse family we are.

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