Texans are Texans the Whole World Over

Much to our delightful surprise, the weather turned cooler in Düsseldorf on Sunday. So much so, that Sunday brunch in an outdoor café in Alstadt was not only a wonderful diversion, it became an absolute must. As Buddy and I drove to old town, we noticed that some sort of “fun run” was taking place in Düsseldorf, with lots of folks running across the Oberkassel Bridge.

“Ah, that looks like such fun, “I remarked to Buddy as we drove past the runners. “I really miss the 5K and 10K runs I used to do in Texas. I wonder if there is a running store that can provide information on future running events?” With no more discussion than that, we drove onward to our restaurant destination.

After placing our brunch order, I noticed a nearby table of runners who looked as if they had just completed the same race we saw enroute to brunch. As I strained to hear whether English or German was being spoken, and with the words of “I really miss 5K and 10K runs…” still ringing in my ear, I popped over to the table for a quick investigation of the running opportunities in my new city.

As luck would have it, 2 of the 3 people (who are actually Korean Americans) were native Texans, having recently moved to Düsseldorf. Not only did we have our home state in common, but one of the runners actually grew up in nearby Richardson and worked for The Associates (another small world, as I worked there for a brief time as well). After trading all the “do you know so-and-so?” and “where did you live?” questions, this fellow Texan proceeded to spill forth with a whole host of information on local running stores, future running events, etc. We traded email information, and two days later have already been connected with other Texans living in our same area of Oberkassel, a local church, and offers for getting together in the near future.

The more things change, the more things stay the same. I am glad that “friendly Texans” are one of those things that you can still rely upon….