Please don't get run over by a bus, Mädchen

I was on my way to meet a friend when I saw two young Mädchen (girls) attempting to cross the road. They were quite young, dressed head-to-toe in pink, and grasping an umbrella. They would start to step into the road then stop as cars whizzed by, then they clambered back to avoid being hit.

This practically gave me a heart attack so I approached them and said, "Braucht ihr Hilfe?"  (Do you need help?")

They hesitated and I tried not to give off creeper vibes. I just couldn't stand the thought of them being run over by a bus. "Laufen wir zusammen," I said, and we crossed the road as a group. After they were safely on the other side, I said goodbye and continued on my way as the girls called out a relieved "thank you" in English (dangnabbit, even the kids can tell that I'm not a native speaker).

It's definitely different in Germany (as well as other parts of Europe) with younger ages at which children are given autonomy. It is not unusual for young children to walk to school and home on their own. However, these girls seemed about my nieces' ages (younger than 7) and they looked so small, holding hands and the pink umbrella as the traffic sped by. I won't lie: it freaked me out to see them on their own so I'm glad that I helped them.

Pets and cultural differences

It's funny sometimes what we take for granted and believe to be "universal" knowledge when in fact everything is so relative. For example, I recently had some visitors from non-Western cultures and their reactions to Moo made me realize that house pets are not universal.

For example, Moo fell in love with one guest. Initially, the guest was alarmed when Moo jumped next to him on the couch and laid out in all of his Moo-y glory to be petted. I asked him if he wanted me to remove Moo. He didn't, but was worried that Moo was going to bite him. "No worries," I said. "He's super friendly."

Indeed, Moo and the guest became very good friends in a short time as the guest petted Moo. However, he was worried about Moo, asking if something was wrong with Moo's breathing. I listened and laughed. Nope, Moo was just happy and purring! My guest comes from a place where there are cats but they are usually feral so he hadn't encountered purring before. I'm glad that Moo was such a good pet ambassador.

Passing up a perfectly good opportunity to speak German

In July, I finished my associate degree in German. It feels so good to be done! I loved my classes for the most part. I wasn't enamored with the online ones since online learning isn't my thing, but I am thankful for the extended knowledge of art history and European history that I gained through them. I was also thankful that I only had to take two online classes for the degree and that the remaining six classes were in person, which afforded a much more connected and rich experience.

However, since my last class in German language ended in May, I have done pretty much nothing with speaking German (with the exception of some chat in German with a French guy while we were in Brussels :) I should be very ashamed of myself, since there are plenty of opportunities for me to practice here. I had some tandem partners available from a local group and I am also feel very lucky to have a decent number of German friends and Bekannten (friendly acquaintances) with whom I could practice.

So, why haven't I practiced more? The short answer is that I am lazy and hate to sound "stupid." I also have a degree in English and am generally picky (for myself) about using correct English grammar and pronunciation. Unfortunately, that feeling exists when I speak German and as a beginner, I make mistakes all the time. I can't stand it. I doubt that my German speaking partner is judging me as much as I judge myself so I just need to get over it. The other problem is that my German will never improve if I don't sound stupid for a while and listen to a native speaker's corrections.

The other excuse I give is that my native German-speaking friends are a super intelligent bunch and we enjoy many intellectual conversations. I entirely lack the German vocabulary to discuss engineering, computer science, linguistics, advanced directives (yes, we've had that conversation; we're a bunch of weirdos ;) and so on.

Excuses, excuses...

Falling to pieces in Amsterdam: the mannequin edition

I'm a little bit obsessed with mannequins, especially when they look as if they've been through the wringer. It just always strikes me as odd that a store would put a beaten-up mannequin in the window. It doesn't seem to be the best way to display one's goods.

In Amsterdam, I saw a mannequin whose hand was taped on, in least artful way possible. Hmm...

An American birthday in Germany

It was one of my (American) friends' birthday, so we got together at our (German) friend's house to celebrate. We enjoyed some wine from the Mosel region (sweet white German wine, my favorite), told some (dirty) jokes, and ate sweets.

Then we loaded ourselves up like pack mules and hiked to some local castle ruins for a bonfire. We had ourselves in hysterics as we looked like a very strange religious procession. One friend wore a Mexican blanket and the other wore a Teppich (rug). I was the least strange one in the group (for once) with just a book bag.

It was a fantastic night; we had a bonfire in the ruins, enjoyed some wine, listened to music, and enjoyed each other's company. It was such a lovely night and the first time I've ever celebrated someone's birthday at castle ruins.

Mannequins gettin' down in Weesp, North Holland

We stayed in Weesp, a suburb of Amsterdam, during our 4th of July trip. Weesp is a beautiful old town and we spent some time downtown. I saw these mannequins in one of the storefronts. It seems that they were so excited about the sale in the store that they fell to pieces!

Dear Germany: Mexican food (other than dulces) should not be sweet!

America gets a bad rap for sugary food. It is true that our food can be overly sweetened, but I have been surprised to find that some foods in Germany are really sweet too.

For example, I tried buying some Old El Paso brand taco seasoning from Rewe, the German supermarket. I know that OEP is more of an American brand and it's in the American aisle here, but I was curious if it tasted any differently from what I buy in the US. It did -- and I was very thankful that I tasted it first before I added it to the dish I was cooking! I actually threw it away because it was ridiculously sweet and I felt it would ruin the savory Mexican dish I was making. Most Mexican food, with the exception of desserts and some things with mole sauce, are not sweet. Germany, it is worth noting this ;)

I also bought some German spaghetti sauce that I ended up giving away without eating. For some reason, I had a suspicion that it would be sweet so I tried a small spoonful first. It hardly tasted like tomatoes because there was so much sugar in it!

I guess that I was just surprised by all of this; I would have not thought that some savory foods would have so much added sugar.