Our Stammtisch
A "Stammtisch" is a "regular's table, usually in a restaurant, where long standing friends gather to play cards and exchange the latest about family, careers,hot stories in newspapers and future plans.
Our "Stammtisch" has been around for many years. We are now in our fourth meeting place. We change restaurants when they change owners or when the atmosphere is unhealthy (too much cigarette smoke)or unfriendly.
At present, we are without a home. The restaurant(Stahl), where we were recently meeting, closed this week for renovations. Two week or three weeks ago, we turned up to discover that the restaurant had changed ownership. The restaurant where we met before that was too smoky. Prior to that, our favorite "Stammtisch" meeting place, WanderRuhe," closed briefly for renovations, and shortly afterwards, closed alltogher because it was not making a profit.
We had met at WanderRuhe for quite some time and had arranged a few Christmas parties there. It brought many teachers together, outside the school setting, to have a meal and chat about things unrelated to school. The owner and his partner were wonderful gay men whose kitchen was run by two gay chefs who cooked excellent meals.
Before "WanderRuhe" we met at a restaurant oddly name the Casino. No gambling went on there. We had also met there for many years and not only teachers had joined us, but some students too. We drank our beers in "stanges," had cups of teas and coffees and laughed about every imaginable thing. While there, we interacted with some crazy characters: an alcholic, marijuana-addicted, Kenyan whose behavior was unpredictable and who held two teachers hostage once when they visited him at his appartment. Of course there are many side stories to be told about him. There was chain-smoking former Spanish student/musician, who couldn't give up cigarettes although his doctor had warned him to. He simple had no will and had been in and out of hospital because of his bad habit. He also had an anorexic girlfriend who joined us occasionally with her two dogs. Then there was a depressed, former Spanish student who inspired me to write the following poem about his bizarre behavior.
Not the Queen of Belgium
Arthur in the roost of regulars is hunting for new birds.
Smoke and voices fill the bar.
His buddies drink beer. Arthur orders wine.
Hawk-like, he circles tables.
His eyes light upon two women.
He swoops down on them.
Nestling into a chair, Arthur inserts himself
into their conversation. Cigarette between fingers,
He addresses the slim one.
Are you Beatrice?
Are you the Queen the Queen of Belgium?
He strokes her blue-veined hand.
Cigarette smoke swirls into her companions’ faces.
No! I’m not the Queen of Belgium.
White teeth clenched between lips.
Thin cigarettes he has puffed on pack the ashtray.
Recognition sparks in her eyes: Arthur Bridgestone,
the serial groper. Spanish class 1995,
unemployed, depression-riddled.
Are you Queen Beatrice?
The thick voice jolts her thoughts.
Will you dine with me?
Will you go dancing with me?
Will you go home.....?
Plucking a flower from a passing vendor,
Arthur pays for it, presents the rose to her.
Crushing it under her heels, she screams,
a queen doesn’t go out with riff-raff.
(c) Althea Romeo-Mark
I became a member of the "Stammtisch" when an English teacher, Joy Neumann, took me under her wings when I took up my teaching post at Klubschule Migros in Basel, Switzerland. Many "Stammtisch" members have come and gone. Some, because of hectic teaching schedules; others have moved away after retirement. But there remains a core group who share a special frendship and I belief that it is their spirit as outsiders that draw them together. Their origins are Spanish, German, Hungarian, Indian, Caribbean and French.
Joy, a long standing member, has been a part of the "Stammtish," for over twenty years. I joined the group in the early nineties, probably around 1993 or so. Joy, who is married to a Swiss, has lived in Switzerland for nearly forty years. She was born in India to an Indian-Portugese father and a Nepalese mother. Both of her parents are Christians. Joy is a staunch Church goer. But she lives up to her name and is usually the life of any party.
More about the "Stammtisch" to follow.
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