.
Bowling, a popular after school activity
for American teenagers in Wiesbaden, Germany.
Johnny, who is half German, loves it, too.
Bowling is kinda more a like family sport,
also kinda competitive though.
You have the competitive part, you have tournaments,
lots of money going towards it.
But at the same time you can do it with your friends or family.
It's typically American. You have it all around America.
Everyone knows how to play it. It's easy to learn.
On the right side, between the head pin and the one that's right here...
That's called the "Pocket".
If you hit it there just right, it makes all the pins go down.
Johnny's teacher knows what he's talking about.
And Johnny is learning fast.
Strike. All the pins down.
Johnny wohnt in einem Vorort von Wiesbaden.
Sein Vater ist Amerikaner und arbeitet für die US Armee.
Seit mehr als 30 Jahren.
Johnny selbst hat nie in Amerika gelebt, immer in Deutschland.
Ich finde, ich bin mehr Amerikaner als Deutscher.
Meine Mutter ist zwar deutsch, mein Vater...
Die Großeltern auch deutsch.
Aber ich spreche mehr amerikanisch
und schreibe auch besser amerikanisch.
Ich mache die meisten Sachen auf Amerikanisch.
Ich habe auch von beiden Pässen.
Deutsch und Amerikanisch. Also, ich bin schon beides.
Aber ich finde, ich bin mehr Amerikaner als Deutscher.
Und ich habe von beiden Geld, weil ich wohne in Deutschland,
aber ich gehe auch bei den Amis kaufen.
Hab ich Euros und Dollar.
Heute braucht Johnny seine Dollar.
Die Familie shoppt im amerikanischen Supermarkt der Army.
"Wiesbaden Commissary.
If you're not shopping at Wiesbaden Commissary,
you're not getting the best prices in town.
Come shop with us.
Wiesbaden Commissary. Located in the middle of the Kasern."
First, ID cards are checked.
Only Americans and their families are allowed to shop here.
It's like Little America here basically.
It's like being in America.
It's an American store in Germany.
It's set up just the way an American store is,
except you don't have to check the ID card.
In a civilian market in America you don't check ID cards.
Everybody knows in American beef is where it's at.
I'm not trying to sell the beef, but it is.
And a lot of stuff, like peanut butter.
It just depends.
Some stuff is cheaper here. Some I buy in a German store.
It just depends what it is. Some things you just don't have.
Johnnys Vater lebt bereits länger in Deutschland als in New York.
Zu den Lebensmitteln im Supermarkt kennt er viele Geschichten,
z.B. über ein weltberühmtes Dosenfleisch.
This is spam.
And...
Das ist quasi der Leibgericht für der Hawaiianer.
Es kam während der Zweiten Weltkrieg,
die Amis hergebracht als Konserven zum Essen.
Und seitdem ist es den ihre Leibgericht.
Die machen alles damit.
Mittags, abends, morgens essen die das.
Das ist zwar Fleisch,
aber gut, das ist so gemischtes Fleisch, sagen wir mal so.
Das ist sehr salzig auch.
Wenn man nach Hawaii geht, frag nach Spam, dann weißt du Bescheid.
Und natürlich muss hier in Dollar bezahlt werden.
Oder typisch amerikanisch: mit der Kreditkarte.
194,25 please.
I guess I gotta pay plastic here, the American way. - Debit or credit?
Debit.
The commissary is located on the compound of the US military,
as is Johnny's school.
Although Johnny is half German,
he decided to attend the American High School.
Die amerikanische Schule ist eine Gesamtschule.
Es gibt auf dem Militärgelände
eine Grundschule und eine Schule für ältere Schüler.
Johnny hat heute Physik.
This class is Physics like Apps.
It's like the Physics Introduction, so...
You learn Physics. You learn basic things about it.
At German schools you have to like...
You have different like classes, not classes but levels.
You have Gymnasium and stuff like that.
We don't have that.
We just have one school.
Oh my gosh.
Johnny hat viele amerikanische Freunde,
die wie er Eltern bei der Army haben.
Er war nie auf einer deutschen Schule.
Hier gefällt es ihm gut.
Paul Wortmann came to Germany as a soldier.
He is retired but still works for the Army as a civilian.
30 years ago, when he first came to Germany,
he met Johnny's mother and decided to stay.
The US military has been stationed in Germany
since the end of the Second World War.
But things changed after the fall of the Berlin wall.
This was the last official photo I made,
when I was stationed in Wiesbaden.
I always wanted to come to Germany.
My first tour was in Germany, and I went to the States,
but I didn't like it in the States.
So I what they call re-enlisted to come back to Germany.
And I was in '84. October the 2nd 1984.
And I was stationed in Hanau at the time,
where the unit is long gone.
And in those days, there was 230,000 US troops in Germany alone.
And they were from south of Stuttgart
all the way up to Bremerhaven, then from Fulda back to here.
And then...
It was different times.
The wall was still up and it was just a different time here.
And of course after the Cold War they realized there was no need
to have all the troops here.
So slowly they started reducing down.
And now we're at about,
I think, it's like round about 25,000 US troops left.
Of course I'm proud.
He's part of the American army. It's kind of a big thing to me at least.
He did help protect America, I guess,
because that's what the soldiers are supposed to do.
But he also served here and has been here a lot,
almost all his life, for America.
Although Johnny's dad has been living in Germany for so long,
he still has a favorite American hobby:
having a barbecue.
This is definitely Paul's territory.
Johnny is no more than an assistant.
I help as much as I can,
but usually the whole grilling is left up to him.
'Cos it's the whole secret behind it that he does.
Paul is clearly a barbecue expert.
And of course he only grills with real American beef.
Turn it around.
Two minutes, flip it.
It's got to do that.
That's fat. That's all...
It's all healthy meat.
Im Alltag der Familie
mischen sich deutsche und amerikanische Gewohnheiten.
For his hobby, Johnny has found a local German club: Kung Fu.
Well, it's fun.
I learn to protect myself.
And it takes skill to do it.
So it's not like baseball or soccer, which you can learn easily.
You have to actally learn the techniques.
And there are also stories behind them. It's important to know them.
It's more than just the technique.
So it's more complicated.
Heute ist Feiertag. 4th of July, der Unabhängigkeitstag.
Den feiern die Amerikaner hier in Wiesbaden jedes Jahr
mit einer Kirmes auf dem Kasernengelände.
Es ist ein deutsch-amerikanisches Freundschaftsfest.
Auch wenn Johnny kein waschechter Amerikaner ist,
bedeutet ihm der 4th of July viel.
Am 4th of July feiern wir unsere Unabhängigkeit von England
vor jetzt 300 Jahren.
Und jedes Jahr passiert das.
Darf auch jeder kommen zum Fest.
Da haben wir Feuerwerk und Essen, alles typisch amerikanisch.
This is probably the most important American holiday.
Because it is the day, America, as we know it, was founded.
But the most important American holiday is also
a fun day on the fair for Johnny and his family.
He goes on the bumper cars with his mom and shoots with his dad,
something Johnny can do almost as well as his father,
a soldier for 20 years.
Der Abschluss des 4. Julis ist traditionell das große Feuerwerk.
So feiern die Amerikaner auf der ganzen Welt.
Natürlich auch in Wiesbaden.
Subtitles: WDR mediagroup digital GmbH on behalf of WDR
Copyright WDR 2015