By+Jennifer+Bragg

Not everyone goes straight to graduate school or to their first full-time job after finishing college. Some of us still have some adventures to get out of our system2 before we can settle down. That was certainly the case with me！

After my college graduation in 1998， I moved back home to my parents in Virginia. As the months went by， I found myself daydreaming about another adventure. I asked myself， “Where to next？” Luckily， we had the Internet by then， which proved to be a fun and useful tool for adventure seekers.

One day， I found an online agency that linked families with nannies3 from around the world. When I was a teenager， I worked as a babysitter so I submitted an application. I was connected with a young German family and they asked if I would go to Germany and work for them. I was so excited！

On a cold day in February， I flew from Washington， DC to Munich4， Germany. I arrived in the morning and was tired， but looking forward to meeting my “new family”. My new employer， a woman by the name of Kiersten， greeted me at the airport and we had breakfast together. Thankfully， I discovered that her English was good because I didnt speak any German！

She drove us to her town， called Aschau im Chiemgau5， about an hour southeast of Munich. The name means the town of Aschau in the Chiemgau region. The Chiemgau is an area of southern Germany that lies between two rivers， the Inn and the Traun.6 It has long been a source of timber， iron and salt and is known for its tradition of horse breeding.7 It is also popular with holidaymakers who love the outdoors and want a stunning view of the Alps.8 Germany is just one of eight European countries that are home to a portion of the Alps， which is the largest mountain range on the continent and stretches across 1，200 kilometers.

Aschau is situated in Bavaria9， Germanys largest state. Bavaria is rich in culture—they have their own local dialect， a number of special festivals and unique regional clothing. Traditional Bavarian clothing includes “Lederhosen” for men and the “Dirndl” for women.10 Lederhosen （which translates to “l(fā)ather trousers”） is a one-piece leather outfit that consists of a pair shorts connected to two straps11 that go over the shoulders with a strap across the chest. The “Dirndl” is a dress with puffed sleeves， fitted in the bodice， with a flowing skirt.12 Often these outfits are embellished with designs and local flowers to add to the traditional touch.13 Go to any small Bavarian town and you may very well see people in these wonderful costumes.

Driving through Aschau， one main road takes you through town， with the Alps to the north and a river with little offshoots of streams to the south.14 Its a quiet town of 6，000 people， attracting hikers and paragliders15 in the summer and skiers in the winter. As you make your way through town， you can find quaint16 little shops， from the local butcher， baker， and flower shop to sporting goods stores for adventurers.

We arrived at the familys home to meet Kierstens husband Eric and their daughter， Carolyn. Eric was very friendly and also spoke good English and Carolyn， now 13 months old， was shy and very cute. Kiersten showed me to my own little studio apartment17 that sat above a garage next to their house. It was furnished with a desk， a sofabed， a wardrobe， a bookcase and a television. It was brand new and just perfect.

During the weekdays， I would take care of Carolyn for half a day while Kiersten worked in her home office. My role was to speak to Carolyn in English as she was learning to speak for the first time. One of her first English words was “duck”， because we saw a lot of them in the towns streams when I would walk her in her stroller18.

As the days， weeks and months went by， Eric and Kiersten helped me with my German. My vocabulary was primarily around household items19 and the baby. Kiersten had also enrolled me in a German class that met once a week in a nearby town. The class was small， about eight of us， and I became friends with a few of my classmates， who did not speak any English， so we would communicate in German. It was great practice！

When I wasnt watching Carolyn， I would go for walks along the myriad paths in the town or up to the top of the nearest peak of the Alps， called Kampenwand.20 It turned out that Eric ran a family business， which was a cable car company that sent people up to the mountains. I got to go up for free as often as I wanted！

The first time I ascended the mountain in a cable car， I saw down below little wooden huts that dotted the mountainside.21 They provide food， shelter and a good pint22 of Bavarian beer for the hikers making their way to the top. I also saw something I had never seen before： a unique pulley23 system that allowed farmers to send fresh cows milk from the mountain down to the town in buckets. Now thats fresh milk.

As my time in Germany came to a close， it was an emotional goodbye. This was one of the most unique experiences of my life. I said a tearful goodbye to Eric， Kiersten and Carolyn， who by now was speaking more and more， in both English and German. Years later， I would visit them and sadly， Carolyn did not remember me because she was so young when I was there. But thats okay： I have enough of that wonderful memory for the two of us.

1. Alpine： 高山的，（尤指）阿爾卑斯山的。下文中的Alps是阿爾卑斯山脈，貫穿法國(guó)、瑞士、意大利、摩納哥、列支敦士登、奧地利、德國(guó)及斯洛文尼亞八國(guó)。

2. get out of ones system： 盡情宣泄情感，放飛自我。

3. nanny： （兒童的）保姆。

4. Munich： // 慕尼黑，德國(guó)第三大城市（僅次于柏林和漢堡），也是德國(guó)巴伐利亞州的首府。

5. Aschau im Chiemgau： 德國(guó)地名，指基姆高（Chiemgau）地區(qū)的阿紹鎮(zhèn)（Aschau）。

6. Inn： 因河，多瑙河主要支流，流經(jīng)瑞士、奧地利和德國(guó)；Traun：特勞恩河，多瑙河的另一支流。

7. 基姆高地區(qū)以其豐富的木材、鐵礦、鹽礦等資源以及悠久的馴馬傳統(tǒng)而聞名。timber： 木材。

8. holidaymaker： 度假者；stunning：非常令人難忘的，非常漂亮的。

9. Bavaria： 巴伐利亞州，德國(guó)面積最大的聯(lián)邦州（占國(guó)土面積的1/5），同時(shí)也是德國(guó)歷史最悠久的文化圣地。

10. 傳統(tǒng)的巴伐利亞男性服飾是皮短褲，女性服飾則為緊腰寬擺的連衣裙。

11. strap：（衣服的）背帶，肩帶。

12. puffed sleeve： 泡泡袖；bodice：女裝的緊身上衣；flowing： 飄逸的。

13. embellish： 裝飾，修飾；touch： 風(fēng)格，特性。

14. 驅(qū)車沿主路穿過(guò)阿紹鎮(zhèn)，極目望去，阿爾卑斯山脈向北方延伸，一條幾乎沒(méi)有支流的小河向南流去。offshoot： 分支，支脈。

15. paraglider： 翼傘滑翔運(yùn)動(dòng)員。

16. quaint： 奇特有趣的，古色古香的。

17. studio apartment： 一居室的小公寓。

18. stroller： 〈美〉嬰兒手推車。

19. household item： 家居用品。

20. myriad： // 大量的，不計(jì)其數(shù)的；Kampenwand： 坎彭完特山，為基姆高周邊的群山之一，山上為徒步者修筑了登山小路，能通到頂峰。

21. ascend： 攀登，登上；hut： 簡(jiǎn)陋的小屋；dot： v. 點(diǎn)綴，（星星點(diǎn)點(diǎn)地）布滿。

22. pint： 品脫，容量單位。

23. pulley： 滑輪。