by

Heide Kaminski

October 18, 2000

"How tall are you?" the man, who was responsible for getting information for my driver's license, asked me.

I looked at him. My passport states 167 centimeters, because my passport was issued in Germany, and Germans measure in metric. I explained my helplessness to the friendly man, he looked me over, compared my eye level to his, and finally stated: "I'd say five foot seven."

That's recorded in my driver's license. I am stuck with it, and I have never even checked it out.

I grew up with meters, Celsius and grams. For many years I was 167 centimeters, now I am 5'7"?

For many years I weighed 60 kilograms, now I weigh 135 pounds.

For many years I used 500 grams of flour for baking a cake, now I use 2 cups.

For many years I went ice-skating when the temperature fell below 0 degrees Celsius, now the water freezes at 32 degrees.

Oh boy, I'm having a hard time!

I have an idea of how long one inch, one foot or anything near 5'7" is. But if somebody talks about 1/16th of an inch or 10 feet, I go crazy!

I know how cold 32 degrees Fahrenheit is, and I dress light at 65. But how warm or cold is 45???

How many inches to one foot, how many feet to one yard, how many yards to one mile???

The other day I drew my mother a floor plan of our house.

" Thank you very much," she wrote back. "It is very well drawn. How many square meters is your property?"

Oh, mom! You put me in predicament!

At least the monetary system works the same way in both countries.Uh, what a relief! I could tell her $300.00 per month. If I send the letter out this week, she'll think that we must live in a palace, because the exchange rate is German mark/American Dollar 3.5 to 1. If I send the letter out next week, she'll worry about her daughter's well-being. The exchange rate might go down to 2 to 1, and she'll assume tat with that low of a price, my place must be a dump.

"Dear Mom, I'm fine. We have a nice little two bedroom house. I weigh 135 lbs and I am still 5'7", and the weather is terrific. I am writing this, while sitting outside, and it is 70 degrees in the shade. I m enclosing my favorite recipe for a fudge cake. Sorry, the measurements of the ingredients are in cups and spoons. Please use your calculator to convert everthing yourself. If you can't find any brown sugar anywhere, let me know. I'll mail some to you. Lots of love, your trying-to be-americanized daughter!"