I recently had some sad news that my first friend in this club, Elke(Kirsche45) has recently died. I joined this club in March 2009 when German was the main language of the chatrooms. It was my first experience of an online club and after getting registered and looking around the site, as most new members do, I picked up the courage to go into the main chat room where all the chat was in German and my knowledge of German was limited to one or two common phrases! A few members spoke to me in German but I didn't understand so I said "Guten abend. Does anyone speak English please?" Elke then replied to me in English and was really warm and welcoming which made me feel much more comfortable in an environment where I didn't understand most of what was being said and we have since had several chats. Since then I started to make other German and Austrian friends, then friends in UK, Canada and Hawaii, which prompted me to suggest to the club that an English speaking room was needed as there was nowhere for the increasing numbers of English speakers to chat. Now we have a thriving English speaking community and I now work for the club as a Community Manager, but I don't think I would have continued my membership had it not been for Elke, so I will always remember her and owe her a debt of gratitude. I was honoured to be her friend.

Category: Allgemein | 5 Comment(s)