11 January 2010  A Slight Return  Fifteen years ago I lived and
worked in Berchtesgaden, Germany. I worked as a lift operator
for a resort that ran four T-bar lifts and doubled as a golf
course in the summer. I lived in the attic of a condemned hotel
with a bunch of other Americans who were also there to ski, make
a little spending cash, and move on. I made about five U.S.
dollars an hour. The German mark was pretty strong back then so
five dollars didn't go very far. But the room was free, I was
able to eat in the General Walker Hotel (known as the Platterhof
before the Americans took it from the Germans after World War
Two) on the cheap, bought discount tickets and free rides to the
bigger Austrian resorts in the Salzburgerland, and other than
the ever-present chance of mid-winter rain I worried about
little. I listened to the Blue Danube, stared up at the Watzmann
and Kehlsteinhaus, and skied every day. Life was pretty good.
My then girlfriend (now frau) and I also remember the time
around Christmas and N