King Friday - now with talk of Levis and in-lawsOctober 6th, 2006 @ 8:01 am
Welcome to the 4th edition of King Friday. It’s all King, all the time on Friday’s over here at holaisabel.com. If you missed last week’s edition, I suggest you read it first. Don’t forget to leave him a comment. Or a suggestion on what next’s week post should be about.
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Ok. Levis. I spent some time in Berlin when I was 20ish. A year or two. It is the single best city in the world and I would move there in a heartbeat if I had the chance. If you’ve never been, I suggest you go. I’d be happy to tag along and show you around, if you pay for my plane ticket. I promise a good time.
Anyway, I’ve been lucky enough to have had the chance to go back to Europe 3 or 4 times since. I can tell you about other trips some other time. The first time I went back, it was to sell used Levis. When I was there the first time, a used pair of Levis could fetch over $100 easy. So a friend and I spent a month or two here in the US in Goodwills and Value Villages, buying up pants and planning our trip.
We basically smuggled them into Germany on the plane in huge hockey equipment bags. Several hundred pairs. Enough to fill the entire trunk and a good part of the back seat of our rental car. We then spent a month from Thanksgiving to Christmas, driving all over Germany on icy roads, peddling our wares. It was a blast. Levis were still in demand, however, not as high of demand as when I had been there previously. Come to find out, Levis sent their scouts over to Germany and had their lawyers put a stop to the selling of used jeans. I guess they were upset because the price of a used pair had eclipsed the new jeans and nobody was buying the crappy zipper fly, silver tab junk they were producing any more. So we were outlaws, roaming the country in search of vintage clothing stores and swap meets. We went to Frankfurt, Berlin, Hannover, Hamburg, Bonn, Koln, The Black Forest, etc…
We didn’t get rich. But we spent a month having the time of our lives. We met tons of really great people, who let us stay with them when we rolled into town. We ran from the swap meet cops. We nearly crashed our rental car several times. We went into Poland with a 50 year old goth and his 14 year old girlfriend who’s floor we’d slept on to help him bring gasoline and cigarettes back over the border. We hung out naked in a huge swimming complex with a bunch of strangers. And the Levis paid for it all. I think I came home with a few trinkets and gifts for people, but nothing more. We hid the remaining Levis in someone’s attic just outside of Frankfurt. Some day they will find them and remember the two guys they met in a pub that traded them a few pairs of Levis for a place to sleep.
You know, I’m turning over a new leaf, so as much as I wanted to tell about the In-laws and the conversation that Isabel and I had on Sunday morning, and the time they nearly burned down my house, I just better keep it to myself. See, I’m trying to be a better person. Really trying. It may only last a week or so, but at least I’m able to say that from October 6, 2006 to October 12, 2006, plus or minus, I was a better person.
Until next week…
The King
Liz
said,
October 6, 2006 at 3:53 pm
Levi’s, huh? Pretty neato that you got to do something so cool. When ya’ll mentioned “selling levi’s” I was kinda like….”yay….The King worked in retail.”
CLEARLY it was MUCH cooler than that.
Audrey
said,
October 6, 2006 at 3:55 pm
If I had any money I would definitely go to Berlin and pay for your ticket … as long as Isabel and Baboo get to come, too!
janet
said,
October 6, 2006 at 4:24 pm
That is a great story. I wish I had more “adventure” stories of my own to share.
Jennifer
said,
October 6, 2006 at 4:29 pm
When you said you sold Levi’s in Europe, I assumed you meant WORKING FOR LEVI’s. Because I am an in-the-box thinker.
You are my new hero. But you know it’s an international law that you can’t mention something and then say “but I can’t tell you about that”, right?
Frema
said,
October 6, 2006 at 6:26 pm
When you were still single, did you ever consider moving to Berlin permanently? It sounds like you really loved it there.
Hilary
said,
October 6, 2006 at 7:46 pm
Dude, that’s so cool. I would never have had the guts to just up and move to Germany to sell used Levi’s and bounce around the country sleeping in other people’s homes. That would be so much fun. So….free.
Durga
said,
October 6, 2006 at 7:48 pm
We are back home!! So jet lagged that I slept for 16hrs straight on my comfy bed.
Oh my!! I had to catch up on like 6 posts here at holaisabel including that sweet one about our visit….do i really have such a shiny chin?? It’s actually a better pic of me ….but how hot does Isabel look….
Trust me everyone….Isabel looks much much hotter in person and she is way more exciting in person and Babboo is soooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute….he laughs out loud all the time and is like the best baby in the world. lucky Isabel…lucky King…lucky Babboo…lucky us for meeting them…plus the King was sooo nice…my husband said he is a very genuine guy and wished we had more time to spend with them.
Anyways, I better go catch up on all the posts i missed.
DeAnn
said,
October 6, 2006 at 8:54 pm
Ooh. Organized (sort of) crime. Who would have guessed?
Christar
said,
October 6, 2006 at 9:06 pm
Wow! That sounds like that was a blast! Great post! I’ve always wanted to visit Europe, mainly Italy! It’s a great dream of mine! Hopefully some day, I’ll be so lucky!
Steph
said,
October 6, 2006 at 9:56 pm
I had a counterpart from work that I would ship Levi’s to in Germany. They were so much cheaper here. I would wait until they went on sale and then send her a box with several pair. She loved it!
LaLa
said,
October 6, 2006 at 11:42 pm
That is a fabulous story.
Berlin is my favourite, favourite city in the world too. Bah. I want to go back!
Lizzy
said,
October 8, 2006 at 3:56 am
Oh no, no, no, NO YOU DON’T.
Burning the house down and the what now?
Yes, THAT is what you’ll be writing about next week. ON OCTOBER 13th, at the end of your Better Person Campaign…
Chas
said,
October 8, 2006 at 8:44 pm
I was really hoping for a true bashing of the in-laws to make me feel better about how I bash my own. Oh well, I did love hearing the Levis in Germany story.
joshua mellin
said,
October 9, 2006 at 3:17 am
rhett miller fan?? get in touch w/ me… theshua1986
hola, isabel » air travel etiquette
said,
October 13, 2006 at 3:36 pm
[...] Welcome to the 5th edition of King Friday. If you missed it, here’s a link to last’s week episode where our hero was travling around Germany selling used Levi’s. [...]