Playing with the neighbours

I spent my childhood on our street, playing outdoors with some neighbourhood children.  Our playground was the street and most gardens from the neighbourhood.  We yelled for each other to come outside for the entire street to hear (as ringing each other doorbell would be too intrusive so we believed).

I feel so blessed now to see Kabouter play outdoors with the neighbour boy in the Ardennes. They run from our garden to the their garden and back and talk to each other in a mix of Dutch/French/German. The conversations can be full of misunderstandings or 2 parallel stories, each in one language. Yet they seem to understand the most essential.

But when they get out they yell for each other "Kom" "Kommen"  is close enough in Dutch and German.  "Du musst kommen mit dein maillot" is the sound that comes from the other side. With our hint, Kabouter interrupts his lunch to go and yell at the driveway "Ik moet ESSEN, ik kom straks!".