Musings by BJ Sibley
Through the Eyes of the Young
It’s been interesting around my house. We’ve had a visitor for five weeks…a teenage visitor. The last time I spent five weeks with a 17 year old was when my youngest was that age and that was about 30 years ago.
Our guest is the son and grandson of dear friends in Berlin and when they asked if their kid could visit in America, of course, we said “yes”.
One thing I’d forgotten is how much kids his age sleep. I shouldn’t have been surprised, I guess, because our 14 and 17-year-old grandsons are masters of the art of the “nap”. Our guest fell asleep on every car trip and whenever else he could get into a prone position. He could nap sitting up, too. Just like a baby, you put him in a car and he was asleep in minutes. We got used to putting a blanket and pillow in the back seat. He seemed to know, however, when we’d get ready for a stop and pop up from his pillow asking, “Is it time to eat?”
Now, there is another teenaged thing. The kid could eat massive quantities of food. Here now, was something I understood. My sons and grandsons can, and do, eat like there is no next meal…and they like to eat well. Our guest, too, had his own idea of eating well and he seemed to be on a mission to eat at every American fast-food restaurant. His friends who’ve been to this country had lots of suggestions, but the first place he wanted to try was a well-known taco chain. He quickly fell in love with super burritos. Next on his list were burger places and he started ranking them.
When we weren’t traveling and were spending time at home, our guest’s favorite thing to do was sleep late, then, in the afternoon, camp out in front of the TV, remote in hand, searching for just the right thing to watch. High on the list were some of the cartoon type sitcoms, then professional sports and then movies, preferable comedies. And the sillier the better. His constant companions were a soft drink and chips.
Our guest had no patience for commercials. Apparently in Germany commercials come at the end of the program and last about 5 to 6 minutes. As soon as a commercial came on he’d be flipping through channels to find something else to watch for the next three minutes. Back and forth, forth and back, he never seemed to lose his spot and always knew what channel his current favorite was on.
It was a revelation to go on trips with him. Even though I’d previously visited all the sights we took him to, I saw many things with “new eyes,” for instance, Disneyland.
He was delighted by the jungle ride, calling it remarkable. “Those animals are so real looking.” This is the boat ride that takes you down an African river and into the wilderness. Around each bend in the river there are monkeys, elephants, hippos and piranha. Over the years I’ve been on that ride about 25 times and I’d come to think of it as a little boring, but with our guest oohing and aahing, I suddenly found it enchanting. While I didn’t go on any of the “big” rides, I thoroughly enjoyed his “after-action” reports. “That was exciting, it was so fast,” or “I loved that, going upside down.” He really loved “Soaring California” the ride where you are raised up in your seat and are treated to an aerial flight over our beautiful state. While I closed my eyes as, visually, we zoomed down a river… his eyes never so much as blinked.
Seeing “Baghdad by the Bay” with our visitor was also a treat. He was thrilled with every cable car sighting, view of the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges and really loved the texture of the city.
From Yosemite to Bodie, Malibu Beach to the Bay, everything thrilled and entertained him.
As our guest packed his bags for his return to Berlin, I realized how much I will miss him. I’ll miss his charm and wit, his very funny observations about American life and his politeness.
Once, the first time my husband complained about rising gas prices, he said we shouldn’t complain and reminded us that his parents pay the equivalent of $12 a gallon. He enjoyed going to a Chamber mixer and remarked that all the people he met in town were so friendly and he liked that.
On his last morning with us, he walked outside and just stood there breathing in the scents of the mountains. “I love the smell of the pines and cedar,” he said. “I really love it here.”
There’s nothing like seeing the state with a visitor to make you really appreciate what you have and our visitor opened our eyes to many of our local and state wonders.
He kept thanking us for hosting him and showing him around…it is we who should be thanking him for showing us how much fun it is to have a “kid” around and how much we should appreciate our own back yard.
