Morgen!

     Most of the time when I saw my host Frau (an older lady of about 65) I just said "Morgen" and walked out the door on my way to class. This went on for a long time until one night I came home and she had guests. I walked to my room as usual so I wouldn't get in the way. I sat at my desk doing my German homework (and putzing a bit of course) when she knocks on my door and asks if I had had dinner. I told her that I hadn't so she led me to the kitchen where I got a bowl of potatoes, vegetables, and meatballs. It was my first home cooked German meal! It was really good. She then led me to the living room--a room I had never before entered. We then proceeded to talk about who her guests were and so forth. Things turned really interesting once we got to the topic of when she came to Berlin. She said that she came to Berlin and studied at a University. While she was a student she got arrested and sent to prison for a few months because she was seen as a flight risk. Really it was for no reason... just that they could. She said that they were the worst days of her entire life and didn't bother to elaborate. I was speechless. The nice old lady I had been living with had been to jail!?!?! What do you say to that? We then talked about how she had been living in Berlin ever since and how things are different since the wall fell for example you can now travel wherever you want to etc. It was almost one in the morning when we quit our conversation because I had to wake up early the next day for class. We never did have another deep conversation like that night ever again.