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Basic Discoveries

How Movies Influenced My Life

It was starting to get a little warmer when spring showed its
first signs in the small town where I grew up in southwest
Germany. I had just turned seven and was having trouble with
some children at school. I had just been transferred into a new
class, and it was hard for me to make friends. My classmates
had formed cliques from which I seemed excluded; I felt too
shy to ask for their attention. In addition I was bored and ready
for adventure after a long winter. I hungered for excitement.
One Sunday afternoon my grandfather invited me to see a
movie in our small theater. I was surprised because “Opa” and
I were not close. He never seemed to pay attention to me. When
he asked me to go, I did not spend much time wondering about
it, I was very excited. At home, we had just gotten a television,
but going to see a movie on a big screen seemed different.
Although I am aware that my grandfather did not have
many movies to choose from in our village back then, I am