Nice to Meet You!

“For our 2008 summer vacation, we had listed our dream destination, „Northern California“ on JewettStreet. In exchange we offered our country home on Lake Starnberg in the historic village of Bernried, 45 km south of Munich in the heart of Bavaria (listing 1041).

By the beginning of the year we had a number of responses. In the course of our communication, I felt on a similar wavelength with our potential house exchange partners and in general, had a good feeling about the upcoming adventure. However, by March after shifting dates back and forth, nothing definite had yet been decided. Meanwhile, I had already purchased the tickets for the four of us and was feeling a bit queasy.  Just at this point, a new listing appeared on JewettStreet:  a house nestled in the hills overlooking the harbour of Sausalito. Wow! Having lived, studied and worked in Northern California, I knew Sausalito from previous visits and thought it would be the perfect place from which to explore the Bay Area. Although here the dream destination was France, I tried my luck anyway. And lucky I was!

Dana Whitson responded to my suggestion for a home exchange and explained that they had, in fact, already arranged something for the summer in France, but were open to extending their visit in Europe, possibly to include Bavaria where they had friends. After more shifting of travel schedules, we arranged to exchange houses for a little over two weeks. Whew! Just in time… but it was well worth the nervousness about the purchased tickets!

Dana and her daughter, Amelia, were on a mother-daughter trip through Europe. Since former exchange students of theirs lived in Bavaria, it seemed a good chance to plan a reunion with them as well.

From the beginning, I had a very good feeling about this exchange and grew increasingly excited as time progressed. This would be our second trip to California in five years. My mother grew up in Los Altos and we moved to Germany with my German father when I was 4 years old. I returned to the U.S. to complete my studies and work and after a stint in North Africa, as a project manager for family planning and maternal-child – health projects in the Middle East and Francophone Africa, I returned to Germany.

I regularly feel the need to touch bases with my relatives and “former life” in California. It is especially important to me to be able to introduce my teenage children, Ben and Nica, to the American side of their heritage and to whet their appetites for a student exchange year and/or later studies in the U.S.
The Whitson´s lovely home in Sausalito allowed for a very comfortable and “homey” home away from home without having to endure the impersonality of hotels or fall burden to relatives  over an extended period of time. We were able to explore San Francisco, Marin County and Napa Valley and visit with my relatives at our leisure. In the evenings, we strolled down to the harbour and soon found our favourite “hang out” overlooking the bay while sipping Margaritas. My (German) husband was incredulous at how easily people include you in a leisurely conversation and then just as leisurely pay their tabs and move on. It is precisely this lightness and easy contact that I often miss in Germany.

I especially enjoyed the many regional farmers markets with their fresh produce and ethnic foods. The fact, that we could actually take some of these delicacies home with us to prepare a tasty meal “at home” was a special highlight. 
Another highlight was visiting nearby Angel Island, where my then German father had been interned as an enemy alien just after the war broke out in 1939. As a student, he had visited my mother in California and they married shortly afterwards.

I definitely like the personal touch about JewettStreet. It is not merely a one-for-one house swap but a way of coming in contact with interesting and adventurous people who are eager to expand horizons. For us it was a wonderful experience and we look forward to travelling the world and meeting more people like Dana, Kent and Amelia Whitson through JewettStreet.com!

Charlotte Horsmann-Weston”