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In September 1989, he and his wife traveled on one of the first trips to Washington's city sister in Germany with a group of about 22 couples.
The group toured several European countries, including Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, Italy and Germany, where the Bolands stayed with Knut and his wife Christel.
Since then, both couples have traveled to each other's home countries several times.
Most recently, Knut came for a surprise visit to Washington on Jim's 80th birthday this past June.
"I was very much surprised," Jim said. "Anyone who comes over that far really is a true friend."
Every year, Knut calls Jim on his birthday, except this past year, when he visited.
His daughter, Jamie King, recounted the surprise visit in a letter.
"Months ago, my brother Todd and I began planning a party for the event. Todd suggested we try to arrange to have Dad's good friend in Germany come in for the party."
However, before Jim's children could contact Knut, he e-mailed them, saying he wanted to surprise Jim on his birthday.
King took her parents to the airport, telling them they were going out to dinner. When she changed directions and headed for the airport, she told them they were picking up Jim's sister from Florida.
Instead, Jim discovered it was his longtime friend Knut at the airport.
Other Visits
About a year after Jim and Knut first met, Knut, now a retired engineer who worked for a company that made pacemakers, flew to Connecticut for a business meeting. Before he went back to Germany, he made a quick detour to Washington to visit Jim.
After picking up Knut at Lambert Airport in St. Louis, Jim showed Knut the Gateway Arch and other St. Louis attractions as well as restaurants like Rigazzi's on The Hill, known for the frozen fish bowl of beer. Jim recalled it was "way too cold" for Knut's taste.
The following year, Knut and his wife and another German couple were the Bolands' guests.
"We enjoyed touring the local wineries and some entertainment at the riverfront with a celebration of the memorial" designating Washington and Marbach am Neckar sister cities, Jim explained.
After Jim retired from Boland Feed Store in 1992, he and his wife toured Europe for 28 days.
Knut met Jim and Janet in Eversberg, Germany, where Jim's grandfather was born.
"We looked up where my maternal grandfather was baptized in a church over there," Jim said, adding that during his search of a cemetery nearby, he found names of deceased relatives of Washington residents.
After a short tour of Germany, including the Mosel Valley, with Knut, Jim and Janet arrived back in Marbach, where they met a group from Washington, "which was quite a surprise," Jim said.
Jim said he always enjoys renewing his friendship with the initial hosts. "When we went back, they inquired when we would learn the German language," he said.
When asked if Jim's ability to speak German had improved during his visits to Germany, he said, "No!" noting that his grandmother and mother both spoke German well, however.
Cultural Differences
The language differences have never been a barrier between the two friends, and neither have the cultural differences. "There's not too much of a difference between our customs and theirs," Jim said.
However, one difference he will never forget is the shower. "During my first visit over there, it was the first and only time that when I took a shower, the water came from so many different places," he remembered, laughing.
Jim also recalled a time attending a picnic in Germany, where guests paid a deposit for their plates, silverware and beer glasses.
"There was hardly any trash. They didn't use Styrofoam.
They're a very clean people," he said.
He also remembers that when staying at bed and breakfasts, "the owners would bring out their own wines and sausages. I also remember eating the biggest lamb chop I've ever seen. They also had white asparagus and good breads over there, too."
Most Germans also have large gardens they tend to.
"They are proud of their gardens and vegetables and fruit trees. Knut drives out of town to work in his garden," Jim said.
Knut also likes to hike and bicycle as well as travel around the world, it was noted.
Whatever the reason is the friends have stayed in touch all of these years, Jim said he hopes the friendship lasts.
