We all have events and situations that change our lives forever. For this kid from the backwaters of the Pacific Northwest it was the 4 years I lived in Munich, Germany in my early 20s. I don’t think I really appreciated western civilzation before my time in Munich. It truly changed the way I looked at everything. My friends noticed when I returned to the US and said I was not the same person they had known. Old here in the Pacific Northwest was a hundred years. In Southern Bavaria it was over a thousand years. That really does change your perspective. The odd thing is Southern Bavaria looked a lot like Western Oregon although Munich itself looked nothing like I had ever seen before. I was not one of those who stayed in a shell and only associated with other Americans but got to know Germans many of whom became friends. Once again enough words and another picture.