A city in memory｜Mönchengladbach

Mönchengladbach
is a city west of Dusseldorf in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

In the autumn of 2008, I was fortunate enough to visit this city for a short time on a business trip. During that month, although I spent most of my time working in the company, I also liked to refuse the co-workers’ requests when I got off work every day. Taking the invitation, I walked back to the dormitory instead, mainly wanting to know more about the city's street scene and people's life.

Compared with Taiwan, the pace of life here is relatively slow, which may be related to the flexible working hour system in Germany. Generally, employees can leave work until 4 pm, and have more time to arrange their life after get off work. Later, they gradually felt their attitude of improving work efficiency and enjoying family life slowly.

On the way back from get off work, you can often see scenes such as repairing the garden and planting flowers, maintaining your car, accompany your children to play, wooden DIY, etc. These impressions appear longer on weekends, but they are usually seen after get off work on weekdays. Yes, as for weekends, basically it is difficult to see people in residential areas. Most young families take their children to camp in the wild, leaving older parents-in-law chatting and sunbathing on their balconies. It's more lively in the city center.

As for the local residents' visitors from foreign places, although there are very few older elders who are somewhat repulsive to Asians, most of them are still very friendly.

I remember walking to a restaurant every Saturday at noon, and ordered the restaurant's signature meal "Fried Pork Knuckles", where the fried aroma and crispy skin and tender meat are served with mashed potatoes and yellow mustard. , not only put down the usual meal speed to enjoy the delicious food at this moment.

In the evening, with a glass of local beer, take a sip, the mouth is full of dense bubbles and smooth taste, reward yourself for this hard work week.

I remember that at a certain street intersection in the community, it is a place where residents of all sizes like to chat, walk and play. It happens to be the place where they pass by when they return to the dormitory after get off work. In addition, I love the flowers and trees here, which makes people feel relaxed and happy, and also leaves that beautiful picture in my memory.

Because I saw the story of Berlin 's Divorce published by @陈晨晨 also I also picked up many memories at that time, and organized them into short memories, so I participated in this essay contest.

I am a Talf house, sharing my life experience, learning, reading and other experiences through text. Keep it for yourself and for those who are interested, thank you for reading.