Our group walked with about 25 refugees around the Feringasee to the beer garden there. We tried to explain to the refugees German “Gemütlichkeit” and the function of a beer garden. At the same time we communicated important Bavarian vocabulary such as „Habe die Ehre“ and of course „Mia san Mia“.
Afterwards we passed the garden allotments and showed the nature trail to the refugees. Some of them were truly astonished that you need a nature trail to familiarize people with nature. The farm for children and youngsters they found equally astonishing, but interesting and fascinating.
Of course most of them wanted to know where the football ground of Unterföhring is, and they hope that they eventually can play for the “Unterföhringer Dreamteam” as one of them phrased it.
It was particularly satisfying that some of the citizens from Unterföhring we met at the Feringasee spontaneously joined our walkabout to get to know some of the refugees. We also have to mention the encounter with the Isar fishermen. At first I thought this might be a problem as many of the refugees were chatting among themselves, but everybody understood quickly how to behave. A fisherman handed his fishing rod to one of the refugees so he could try to catch a fish in the “Bavarian Ocean”, the Isar, but without success – as he could try only for a very short time.
The Poschinger Weiher was also of great interest, and many refugees planned to climb the hill near the lake during the next walk to enjoy the view. For some of us the walkabout did not finish before 5:30, but it was a great experience for everybody. The refugees could demonstrate their increasing German language competence, time and again we had to answer the question “Wie geht es Dir?” They were very grateful and the volunteers were rewarded with the statement: „Today it was a great happiness!“
