OCR Text |
Show Don't limit h ospitoiity When the Summerfest International Interna-tional Arts and Folk Fest kicks off in Bountiful and Woods Cross this August, there could be 12 groups 1 from foreign lands to share their traditions in dance and song with Davis County residents. Whether j they can actually attend depends on our hospitality. Mark Eddington Staff Writer Scott Jensen, director of the Bountiful Davis Arts Center, said dancers from Israel, China, India and other far reaches of the globe, need host families to provide them with a place to stay, something to eat and transportation to and from performances August 5-11. Hosting international guests can be a very rewarding experience. My family will never forget our sojourn in Rockenberg, Germany. Rockenberg is a small farming village 35 miles north of Frankfurt. At first glance, there isn't anything particularly noteworthy about Rockenberg. There are no five-star restaurants or hotels. It isn't famous or listed in Fodor or Michelin travel guides. It is just a small town typical of many in the county of Hessen. There is the usual grocer, bakery, narrow twisting streets and quiet residential areas. A person passing through the village might give the city nary a glance or thought. Fortunately for my family, we were not just passing through, but compliments of the U.S. Army had the opportunity of living in Rockenberg on the second floor of a home owned by our landlords, Werner and Ursula Heller. Werner and Ursula didn't speak English. My wife and kids spoke little German, and my grasp of foreign for-eign languages was limited to pig latin, so we communicated with our landlords through their son Andre who--luckily for us--spoke excellent English. Words are but one form of communication, com-munication, actions are another. And the actions and warm hospitality hospitali-ty of the Hellers spoke volumes. They frequently invited us to dinner and backyard barbecues. They always remembered our children on their birthdays and Christmas with cards, gifts and treats. When my daughter Cassandra, who was then 3 years old, finished trashing our apartment, she would announce she was going downstairs to see "Momma and Papa Heller" and off she would go to redecorate the Hellers' living room and kitchen. The Hellers, displaying the patience of Job, always greeted her with a smile. They either really enjoyed en-joyed her visits or were the greatest actors since Lawrence Olivier. One cold January afternoon, my son Scott stepped off the school bus and was struck by a car while attempting at-tempting to cross Muenzenberger Strasse. His physical bumps and bruises healed quickly, but the psychological scars took much longer, and Scott developed an almost phobic dread of crossing the street. So, each morning Andre walked Scott to catch his bus, and Scott was able to regain much of his confidence. This hospitality wasn't limited to the Hellers; the townspeople also extended the hand of friendship. One of my fondest memories was when I tried to teach American football to the neighborhood children. I remember trying to illustrate il-lustrate what a line of scrimmage was by drawing an imaginary line in the grass. I can stiU remember their bewildered faces. In retrospect, retro-spect, I'm sure they wondered if someone had spiked my breakfast cereal. The game we ended up playing play-ing bore little or no resemblance to football, but was a hybrid of Australian Rules Football and American Bandstand. Aside from my failure as a coach, living in Rockenberg was a tremendous tremen-dous experience. Maybe Rockenberg is just a small town in Germany, but to me it is, in the words of Bruce Springsteen, Springs-teen, "My Hometown." Perhaps Bountiful, Woods Cross and Centervilie--to name a few are just points on a map in Davis County. But each of these communities could come to mean something special to these foreign guests, if citizens will welcome them into their homes. Think about it, and give Scott Jensen a call. |