CAROL B .
Member since 1968
You have been in the AWCH longer than anyone else . When did you first come to Hamburg and what brought you here ? I had been an art major in college and wanted to travel but needed to support myself . So I got a job at the US State Department . I worked in Jeddah , Cairo , and Beirut before being posted to the consulate in Hamburg . I arrived in January 1966 , when the Alster was frozen so solid that cars drove across it . I had never been this far north and was shocked by going to work and coming home in the dark . In those days , shop opening hours were very limited : you had a half-hour after work or a few hours on Saturday mornings to battle the crowds to get your groceries .
Carol B . ( C ) at FAWCO Conference in Casablanca , 1993
How did you find out about the AWCH and when did you join ? When I married a German in 1968 , I had to give up my job , as required by the State Department . Men who married foreign nationals did not have to do this . I knew about AWCH through the consulate , and the first thing I did as a married and unemployed woman was to join . I also belong to the German-American Women ’ s Club .
What has the club meant to you over the years ? When I joined , I became friends with other women who were expecting or had babies at the same time I did . I am still in touch with three of them . In 1970 , my husband ’ s work took us to Berlin . There was no American Women ’ s Club there at the time . When we moved back to Hamburg in 1977 , I immediately rejoined AWCH . I was well adjusted to life in Germany , but there ’ s nothing like the relaxing camaraderie of Americans . I was so happy to be back around people who understood my jokes ! I have been a member ever since , even though we lived in Cottbus for 10 years until my husband died in 2010 . I returned to Hamburg and took over an apartment vacated by a former AWCH member . The club has been my safe island over the years .
Carol B . ( L ), Simin F . ( C ) and Marinell H . ( R ) April 26 , 1994
How have you been involved in the club ? My first board position in 1977 was secretary . 1978-79 I was VP and then president in 1980 . My favorite position was FAWCO rep . Back then , only about 20 clubs belonged to FAWCO . I was on the FAWCO board for four years . I edited and wrote much of Bloom Where You Are Planted , a booklet containing practical information and equivalent tables for expats that was first printed in 1984 .
What advice would you give new members ? Make good friends in AWCH ! They will last a lifetime .
From left to right : Carol B ., Nancy F ., Freda P ., Nancy B ., and Becky T ., 1991
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