Düsseldorf Molly, the girls, and I are in Düsseldorf. We've been staying with my host brother from a high-school exchange program from 20 years ago, who has most graciously invited us to stay with him and his girlfriend in their small apartment in Düsseldorf. Laurel is more-or-less bilingual, at least as much as a 4-year-old can be, and she's had no trouble speaking with them. Perhaps more impressively, she's also had no trouble speaking with my host brother's parents, who speak almost no English at all. Maybe this bi-lingual thing is proving to be worth the effort after all. It'll be interesting to see how she behaves in Edinburgh - she'll probably have a much harder time understanding a scottish brogue than she does understanding Deutsch. I know I will...

There's also an interesting cultural thing going on with money. My host brother seems to feel like he's being rude if he's not paying for everything (since we're his guests, and he wants to be a generous host), and I feel like I'm being rude if I don't offer to pay for everything (since I'm his guest, and I feel like I'm being an imposition and creating hassles for him). We've had a couple short but amusing arguments
Host brother: "Ich werde dafür bezahlen."
Me: "Quatsch - ich bezahle!"
Host brother: "Doch!" and whips out a banknote
Me: "Stell das zurück, ich möchte bezahlen!"
Host brother hands banknote to the cashier, and I give up.

At least he let me pay for the ice cream outing on our last day, when I pointed out that my euros weren't going to do me any good in Edinburgh, and I may as well get rid of them here.  ¶ 11:28 AM