gottessegen means god's blessings
february 1, 2011
Salaam Dear Ones,
I should have known that any place named Gottessegen would be alright. As I was walking around delivering bread with Andreas No. 2, who's worked at the bakery 27 years, and he was introducing me to everyone, and I do mean everyone, I saw signs all over the place that read "Gottessegen" and it hit me: God's Blessings. So that's where I am...
I couldn't sleep much last night. Kept waking up looking at the clock until I finally got up at 4am and started to get ready. You know me. My public demands full make-up. Then I was almost late because Peebo's car door lock was frozen and I couldn't get in it, so I had to wake her up and get her key that has the button you can push to boing the door open. Fortunately it worked and I drove through the dark, for the first time by myself, and found the bakery with no trouble, but then Peebo had already shown me the way twice in the daylight. The front door was unlocked so I let myself in, and as I entered the bakery, Andrea and Wolfgang smiled. They'd been expecting me, and their faces said they were happy to see me. "Ich bin da!" I announced. "I'm here!"
They were already working away at a furious pace, and it was only 5:30 in the morning. There were two mixers kneading dough, ovens loaded, tubs of flour mixtures standing ready to go into the next available mixer. Andreas, my boss, took a minute to show me where my baker clothes are. I get to wear those houndstooth checked pants favored by chef's worldwide! They supply t-shirts, aprons, even head coverings. So I quickly changed, got my hair bundled up, and shadowed Andreas the whole morning while he patiently explained the mysteries of sourdough. Juergen showed up at about 6:30 and the three of them danced around each other, working at quite a clip until the helpers came at 8:30. Then I understood why their pace had been so fierce. Once the helpers come, it's hard to get anything done! Ten, yes, ten young adults sprang into the room, full of laughter and kinetic energy and set to washing dishes, sweeping, and grabbing things as soon as you set it down to take to the sink. They were so adorable! Sweet, bright kids with shining eyes, aiming to please. But we definitely went into another gear.
After the breads, we made pastries...a blaetterteig for croissants. Apricot cake. Spanish cake with cherries and chocolate bits. A cherry cream slice thingy. So it's not just bread I'll be learning about! The whole time I was hanging with Andreas as he took the time to explain it all. I understood the most of it, and when I didn't quite understand, I did what all foreigners do in that situation and nodded in agreement saying, "Umm, interesting." I'm hoping with repetition, I'll get the finer details.
I can already see how their efficiencies are going to help us. The three bakers work as a team on the same products at the same time. One person is making the flour mixture, the other one is kneading the dough, or two of them are shaping loaves at the same time, and they can do it with BOTH hands, simultaneously. I didn't even know you could do that. Andreas said they told him when he was doing his apprenticeship "I'm paying you for both hands." A lot of their process felt a bit like a dance, as they waltzed around each other working on the same project. And the pace!
Later, when I did deliveries around the werkstation with Andreas 2, I saw that our bakery workers are quite high functioning compared to those in other work stations. In the wood shop were quite a few people in wheelchairs wielding saws. That got my attention.
It was a long day, but it was a great day, and I left there feeling tired and feeling like "I can do this!" These are really sweet people and they are happy to share what they know. There's lots of merriment. Just the work atmosphere I like. Working your butt off and laughing you butt off, all at the same time. I even had a little chat with Andreas about that at our one ciggie break, and he said the reason most people leave a job isn't because of the money, it's because they don't like the work environment. He said he could make more money somewhere else, but that's not what it's about. He also said it's not always so cheerful, sometimes he has to put the hammer down, but rarely. I told him I understood, and this time, I did.
A really funny thing happened. It was Juergen's birthday. He's a big, lunky German boy, just turned 33 today. One of the residents brought him a card, only it wasn't a birthday card, it was a sympathy card with a big white rose on it and the words "Sorry for your loss" embossed on the front. She had made a big X through the words and had written "Please don't read this" underneath. We howled. Inside was her little happy birthday message hand written. Really funny.
I took a two hour nap when I got home and then cooked dinner for everybody. I'm trying to get the Germs to come together more as a family, as a community. There's a little bit of the vibe here in the tekke of taking to your room, and I hope to help to shift that. I addressed it directly over dinner and Peebo, Arif and I talked about it. We'll just keep practicing...
So, my loves, that's my first day at the bakery. I love you all madly and need to get to bed here directly. My new schedule is Monday through Friday, 5 am - 1 pm. Weekends off! I won't know how to act. Can't remember the last time I had weekends off at a job.
I'll send pictures when I can. Katia said I have to get express permission to take the residents' pictures. I'll work on it.
Sending lots and lots of love,
Fattie
I should have known that any place named Gottessegen would be alright. As I was walking around delivering bread with Andreas No. 2, who's worked at the bakery 27 years, and he was introducing me to everyone, and I do mean everyone, I saw signs all over the place that read "Gottessegen" and it hit me: God's Blessings. So that's where I am...
I couldn't sleep much last night. Kept waking up looking at the clock until I finally got up at 4am and started to get ready. You know me. My public demands full make-up. Then I was almost late because Peebo's car door lock was frozen and I couldn't get in it, so I had to wake her up and get her key that has the button you can push to boing the door open. Fortunately it worked and I drove through the dark, for the first time by myself, and found the bakery with no trouble, but then Peebo had already shown me the way twice in the daylight. The front door was unlocked so I let myself in, and as I entered the bakery, Andrea and Wolfgang smiled. They'd been expecting me, and their faces said they were happy to see me. "Ich bin da!" I announced. "I'm here!"
They were already working away at a furious pace, and it was only 5:30 in the morning. There were two mixers kneading dough, ovens loaded, tubs of flour mixtures standing ready to go into the next available mixer. Andreas, my boss, took a minute to show me where my baker clothes are. I get to wear those houndstooth checked pants favored by chef's worldwide! They supply t-shirts, aprons, even head coverings. So I quickly changed, got my hair bundled up, and shadowed Andreas the whole morning while he patiently explained the mysteries of sourdough. Juergen showed up at about 6:30 and the three of them danced around each other, working at quite a clip until the helpers came at 8:30. Then I understood why their pace had been so fierce. Once the helpers come, it's hard to get anything done! Ten, yes, ten young adults sprang into the room, full of laughter and kinetic energy and set to washing dishes, sweeping, and grabbing things as soon as you set it down to take to the sink. They were so adorable! Sweet, bright kids with shining eyes, aiming to please. But we definitely went into another gear.
After the breads, we made pastries...a blaetterteig for croissants. Apricot cake. Spanish cake with cherries and chocolate bits. A cherry cream slice thingy. So it's not just bread I'll be learning about! The whole time I was hanging with Andreas as he took the time to explain it all. I understood the most of it, and when I didn't quite understand, I did what all foreigners do in that situation and nodded in agreement saying, "Umm, interesting." I'm hoping with repetition, I'll get the finer details.
I can already see how their efficiencies are going to help us. The three bakers work as a team on the same products at the same time. One person is making the flour mixture, the other one is kneading the dough, or two of them are shaping loaves at the same time, and they can do it with BOTH hands, simultaneously. I didn't even know you could do that. Andreas said they told him when he was doing his apprenticeship "I'm paying you for both hands." A lot of their process felt a bit like a dance, as they waltzed around each other working on the same project. And the pace!
Later, when I did deliveries around the werkstation with Andreas 2, I saw that our bakery workers are quite high functioning compared to those in other work stations. In the wood shop were quite a few people in wheelchairs wielding saws. That got my attention.
It was a long day, but it was a great day, and I left there feeling tired and feeling like "I can do this!" These are really sweet people and they are happy to share what they know. There's lots of merriment. Just the work atmosphere I like. Working your butt off and laughing you butt off, all at the same time. I even had a little chat with Andreas about that at our one ciggie break, and he said the reason most people leave a job isn't because of the money, it's because they don't like the work environment. He said he could make more money somewhere else, but that's not what it's about. He also said it's not always so cheerful, sometimes he has to put the hammer down, but rarely. I told him I understood, and this time, I did.
A really funny thing happened. It was Juergen's birthday. He's a big, lunky German boy, just turned 33 today. One of the residents brought him a card, only it wasn't a birthday card, it was a sympathy card with a big white rose on it and the words "Sorry for your loss" embossed on the front. She had made a big X through the words and had written "Please don't read this" underneath. We howled. Inside was her little happy birthday message hand written. Really funny.
I took a two hour nap when I got home and then cooked dinner for everybody. I'm trying to get the Germs to come together more as a family, as a community. There's a little bit of the vibe here in the tekke of taking to your room, and I hope to help to shift that. I addressed it directly over dinner and Peebo, Arif and I talked about it. We'll just keep practicing...
So, my loves, that's my first day at the bakery. I love you all madly and need to get to bed here directly. My new schedule is Monday through Friday, 5 am - 1 pm. Weekends off! I won't know how to act. Can't remember the last time I had weekends off at a job.
I'll send pictures when I can. Katia said I have to get express permission to take the residents' pictures. I'll work on it.
Sending lots and lots of love,
Fattie