This past weekend was a major fashion event here in Frankfurt. There were three days of fashion shows, a disco, and a big dinner on Friday for designers, buyers, and models. (A huge tent was erected for the dinner and the disco.) One of the fashion shows was at 7:00 Friday evening, so Jack and I walked down to the Fressgass, a pedestrian mall where the show was taking place and a seven minute walk through the park from here. (Fressgass is a kind of joke: there are many restaurants, which have outdoor cafes when the weather permits along the Fressgass; while humans Ess (eat), animals Fress.)
We walked around for awhile to check things out, finally found a lovely little tent arrangement that looked interesting, and ordered a glass of champagne, or rather Sekt. We carried our glasses to a small table where another couple was already sitting and asked if we could join them—this is the custom here. It turned out that we were only three feet away from the runway. What choice seats! I felt that I had achieved princesshood. The models walked right past us. Later in the show it started to rain. Unfortunately the runway was not covered overhead and the models were getting wet and beginning to slip as they moved down it. We were covered by the tent and kept dry and warm (thanks to the Sekt!). Throughout the evening we got to know the couple at the table well also. He is an aeronautical engineer with Lufthansa who’s currently on a five-year assignment in London and she is from Belgrade, Yugoslavia. It was a delightful evening. Living in the city with "the action" so close to us allows for more spontaneity than if we were living a half-hour out in the suburbs as many of the people we know do. They’ve made occasional comments to us about it. But I think part of it, too, is that many of them plan their lives in minute detail before they act. We’re so loose, perhaps too much so, that we often do things instantly!
I finally had a job offer. Big Bend Community College called last week and offered me a position teaching reading (communications, it’s called) to soldiers. That was last Wednesday, and I was supposed to start ten days from that time. I’m supposed to be trained to teach on Wednesday for a couple of hours. The training is so that we follow the Army format. I’m still planning my life as if I begin teaching on October 19. And I guess that’s when I will begin.
Sometime this month there is supposed to be a major booksellers and publishers convention here. We haven’t seen the lady upstairs for a long time. She works for a publisher, and she’s probably been preparing for the last month. Previously, there was a major auto show—Lee Iacocca came—a computer show, the fashion show, and now the booksellers/publishers show or convention. Frankfurt seems to be a major business center for these expositions. We’ve been to the auto show and the fashion show. Perhaps we’ll get to the current one too.