Crooked Bamberg

Bamberg is a beautiful, historic town in the Frankish area of Bavaria. It's built along several rivers and picturesque half-timbered boxes line the banks.

Despite the quaint and scenic views, these houses aren't without their problems. Sagging roofs and settling foundations, especially among the river, make for a bunch of crooked neighborhoods.

Take a gander at this store. Must one walk sideways to get in?

Germany: considering the environment

After a recent, long vacation (well, by American standards, anyway!) in which I generated a lot of waste and feel guilty about it, I've been reading about zero waste lifestyle habits. While I wouldn't necessarily dive into that lifestyle completely, I'm always interested in environmentalism and am taking steps to further reduce the resources I use (and to try to atone for the vacation's use of food in containers).

What I love about Germany is that as a whole people here do tend to show concern for the environment. The European Environmental Agency reports that Germany comes in second place for the highest amount of recycling in Europe at a rate of 62% (1). The country is moving away from using nuclear-produced power and is investing in wind and solar power.

As I've talked with some locals, we've had conversations about the environment and they've said how of course it's the right thing to do to recycle and to use less energy. It's not difficult to put this concern into action; groups like Foodsharing, help keep still-edible food from the garbage bin. Volunteers visit bakeries, grocery stores, etc. and pick up food that is still very usable but might be a day old or near its sell-by date and is still safe to eat, and then they give it away for free, especially concentrating on the needy (though often anyone can pick some of it up).

Some communities, including Kaiserslautern, offer Repair Cafes. Instead of throwing away a pair of jeans with a hole in them, or that appliance that just doesn't run right any more, attendees can bring their items by to see if volunteers (including electricians, folks who are handy with a sewing machine, etc.) can fix them. Items can find some added years of usefulness after a repair; the Cafe suggests a small donation for the work, which is much less expensive than taking the item to a shop or replacing it.

On the commercial front, stores do not automatically give customers free bags and shoppers are encouraged to bring their own bags. If a customer requires a bag, the store charges for it.

Some stores have gone a step further; for example, the Unverpackt ("unpackaged") stores sell products unpackaged, or with minimal packaging. How does this work? One can either bring her own containers, or can buy reusable containers in the store, and can then select the amount of food from a bin. Usually one would weigh the container, record that weight, fill it, and weigh it again, paying for the merchandise but not for the weight of the container. I'm happy to see that there are Unverpackt stores within an hour or so of Kaiserslautern, in Mainz, Saarbrücken, and a future store in Mannheim.

All of these examples are just scratching the surface of what is done both locally and nationally in Germany to support a healthier environment. It's refreshing to see that there are options to help protect the environment, and that Germans see it as their responsibility to take part.


Work Cited:

1. Highest recycling rates in Austria and Germany – but UK and Ireland show fastest increase. (2016, June 03). Retrieved October 26, 2017, from https://www.eea.europa.eu/media/newsreleases/highest-recycling-rates-in-austria

Finally, Germany does tortilla chips right

I feel that it is my duty as an American to tell folks looking for decent nachos in Germany to beware. Be very, very ware, if it were possible to be "ware."

Anyway, the German conception of nacho chips is something that is like a demented cousin of DORITOS® Nacho Cheese Flavored Tortilla Chips. Please note that at least Doritos has the courtesy to note that the chips are nacho cheese flavored. Germany will just serve you "nachos" and fail to warn you that they'll be covered in some slightly-cheese flavored powder when you're expecting plain or salted corn or flour chips that are covered in melted cheese and other delectable toppings. Also beware if you go to a "Mexican" restaurant in a horse barn practically in the middle of the Bavarian nowhere because your "nachos" will be a Doritos knock-off and you'll get basically ketchup and a Cheez-Whiz cousin* on the side.**

Imagine my pleasant surprise when I saw that Aldi had some nacho chips that were only "gesalzen," or salted. There was no mention of cheese, or any other dairy products for that matter, on the package. I had a hankering for some chips and didn't feel like driving to the commissary for some proper nachos so I took my chances.

They were good! The Sun Snacks brand nacho chips are crisp, salted just right (a good pinch of salt but not enough to make one feel as if she'd just been licking a salt lick), and inexpensive (about a euro or so). All they contain are corn flour, palm oil, and salt. I've seen them at Aldi over the last several months and hope that they're an item that will stay in the stores.

*I was surprised that they had access to something Cheez-Whiz-esque. Since I thought it would be unlikely they'd have that, I thought they'd at least use real cheese.

**Yes, I know, it's insane to order Mexican food in such a place. I'm glad that I set out with reasonably low expectations because they were met...or not met...or, well, you get what I mean.

Understanding German public transportation: a guide

Germany has quite a decent network of public transportation and usually can get you from point A to B. However, understanding all of the various options, how they work, and even when they work is not always the easiest.

I've been using the system for more than five years and I am constantly learning new things about it. For those who are new to living in Germany, it's a steep learning curve.

Live Work Germany wrote a guide about using the trains, buses, subways, and street cars of Germany. It's very useful to help unravel the mysteries of the transportation system; you can read it here.

Extremes in expats bloggers' view on befriending Germans

It's an interesting experience for me to read expat bloggers' take on making friends with Germans. I've seen opinions originating ranging from the expat who's gone to one local beer festival so she or he thinks she or he's an expert on German life and culture but has no plans to learn the language or to delve deeper in contrast with the opposite, perhaps a person who's married a German, has joined a German club or association, has learned the language, and/or has plenty of German friends.

The latter usually says that Germans are just like anyone else (duh) and that some are more willing to make new friends and others are a bit more reserved about doing so (just as with anyone else). The other category of people who live in Germany but more what I'd call "on the surface" of it have said some...interesting things. To them, becoming friends with Germans is a source of fascination but  seems out of reach.

I've read things from them, as well as click bait articles from The Local, that posit that being invited to a German's home will probably never happen as they are way too private for that to happen. Well, maybe if you barely know the person, but in my circle of friends, we enjoy visiting at one another's homes. The only roadblock to this is that sometimes we're too busy or are traveling to get together as much as we'd like.

Another silly thing I've read is that it's almost impossible to make friends with Germans. They have their own lives and aren't necessarily interested in inviting new people into their circle. Again, I haven't found this to be the case. Will the random person you run into the street want to be your friend? That would be weird so maybe not. Frankly, I would find that a bit unusual in the US, too! However, if you're generally not a butthead of a person and you join a club or a social event and you put yourself out there, you'll get to know people and might even make friends -- which is exactly the same in the US.

So, if you'd like to make friends in Germany, the best advice I can give is to join a club or an association. Be friendly but not too pushy. Ask the person if he or she would like to meet up - and be ready to have a specific date in mind and for the first meeting, a public place is best! If you're American, don't pull our bad habit of being vague and saying "we should meet sometime" because the other person is likely to produce a calendar to immediately set up an appointment for a time convenient to both parties. Mean what you say and say what you mean; that's how things usually work here. If you want to make friends, be a good friend yourself. All of these things can be useful for making friends no matter where you are.

German public trash cans: what goes where

Non German-speakers, have you come across a trash can out in public and feel as if you need some sort of user manual to know that to toss where? Sometimes these trash cans are at least labeled in several different languages (usually in German, French, and English) but often they aren't. Sometimes there are graphics too, but they might not always make sense.

Let's take a look at a trash can together, why don't we?

So, meet Mr. Trash Can of the K in Lautern Mall. He has many cousins in the mall, too, and they're hungry for what you want to toss.

Now that we've made his introduction, let's take a peek at his three hungry mouths, why don't we?

 

Mouth #1, labeled Papier, is on the left. Can you guess what this is? Take out the "i" and you have "paper." Not too bad, eh? So, you'd throw paper in here, such as receipts, those flyers people hand you as you unsuccessfully try to dodge them during shopping, etc. 

Mouth #2, in the center, is for Kunstoff, which is plastic. It also might be labeled as Verpackung, which is packaging. This is where you can put empty containers. 

Mouth #3, on the right, is Restmüll, or garbage. It also might be labeled as Abfälle. In this Mr. Trash Can's case, you'd put whatever else doesn't belong in his other two mouths here.

A mouth not pictured here is one for Glas (glass).

There you have it! Before you throw something in, make sure that you pick the right mouth. You don't want to anger the rubbish gods nor those of the Germans who are just ready to get their Schimpf on.

So they made a list about Germany

and howdy-hee, it seems rather right on!

Plus it's not annoyingly chirpy.

Take a peek here since gosh knows I probably won't be writing anything of substance for a while. It's busy as can be in ATW land.

Sunday in Germany: a cartoon

I'd say that this cartoon video is a reasonably accurate portrayal of Sunday in Germany, shown through a bromance.

(Though not everyone goes to the sauna.)

Taking bio products too far

As German consumers become more discerning about chemicals in everyday health and beauty products, the popularity of organic, or in German, bio, products has increased. One can find bio products even at discounters like Aldi and Lidl. One bio product really had me raising my eyebrows though:

bio shower gel.

Hey, I'm down with organic body wash. (Heck, I don't even use regular, commercial body wash, because I prefer to avoid using detergents on my body; I prefer to use the uber-hippie soap of choice, Dr. Bronner's.)

This body wash, however, is one that is a bit over the top for me. It's honey and muesli nourishing honey shower gel. To me, it sounds more like something one would eat for breakfast, not use as a body wash!

Even more about the Weinachtsgurke!

On the eve before the eve before Christmas (don't get lost in that one), the New York Times even has published an article about the Weinachtsgurke. 

Go take a gander at the article; they even mention Frankenmuth, Michigan, just as I had. (I beat you to the story about seeing it there, NYT. I'm ahead of the curve!).

However you plan to spend the next few days, whether it includes a pickle or not, I wish you peace and happiness.

Some Denglish that is way off

I attended a language exchange meetup and was introduced to my friend's new roommate, T, a friendly chap. He immediately leaned in and said quietly to me, "I have something I really want to ask you."

Me, to myself: okay, so I'm just meeting this dude; what's his burning question? To him: "Okay, what is it?"

Him: "I need to know something important about American English. What do you call it when a bunch of people watch a sports game together in public?

Me: breaking into laughter because I know where this is heading: "it is certainly not called a public viewing."

In other words, Americans use the term "public viewing" way differently and our term applies to death and grieving. Actually, we'd just say viewing or visitation, which is another term for a wake, in which family and friends gather to say goodbye to the loved one before the funeral. Usually the coffin is in the room and sometimes it's open; other times it's closed. The most common term I've heard in my US region, the Midwest, is a visitation. 

In Germany, a public viewing means watching a soccer game, somewhere in public, such as in a town square, with the game being projected on a big screen. There is no visiting a deceased person during such an event.

This discussion with T led to him asking me what we'd call this event -- I mean the sports one. We don't really have a term for it; we might just call it "watching the game" or we may specify the opponents, like "I'm going to watch the Honeybadgers play the Sloths."

Generally, we don't gather in a town square to watch sports games, especially since the US is so suburbanized and our downtowns are not always so vibrant (though they can be). It seems that most of the time a bar or bar/restaurant will show a(n) (American) football game on their big screen tvs. Sometimes businesses will host Superbowl Sunday parties in honor of the big competition at the end of January. Since it is common for Americans to have big screen tvs, many people just watch the game from home, either alone or with friends whom they've invited over for a party.

Important announcement

Dear readers: I would like to make an important announcement to you, especially to the European and German readers.

I would like it to be noted that:

-It was cold out
-I was still getting over being sick

-and-

the big reveal is:

I SAT ON A VERY COLD ROCK FOR MORE THAN AN HOUR AND DID NOT GET SICK.

Not really a rock, more of a carving, with my disembodied hand, but you get the point. One of my body parts was touching it, it was cold, and I did not get sick. That's close enough to illustrate this story.

My friend and I had taken a walk and decided to sit for a while and converse. Since there is a dearth of park benches in Kaiserslautern, we sat on cold rocks. Our tushes froze. Neither one of us got sick from that.

I just wanted to share this important event with you, mostly because of this belief that I've heard from German friends.

What I missed from Germany while in Scotland

Earlier I talked about the conveniences I enjoyed while in Edinburgh. I forgot to mention the food - holy wow, was it delicious. I ate Mexican food cooked by actual Mexican people and it had NO curry powder or added sugar (I'm giving you the side-eye on this one, restaurants in Kaiserslautern). Apparently there is an enclave of Mexican people in Edinburgh. Who would've guessed? It was awesome, and yes, I'm one of those horrible tourists who tries the Mexian food everywhere. I usually feel pessimistic that it'll taste good yet remain hopeful. Edinburgh came through on this.

However, there were some things that I missed about Germany, too.

-Recycling: since we were grabbing convenience food such as salads and boiled eggs from the grocery stores, we were left with a lot of plastic packaging, but no recycle bins in sight to dispose of them. I felt guilty going through that much plastic. In Germany, there are usually bins readily available to recycle one's waste. In fact, Germany has one of the highest recycling rates of EU member states.

-Inexpensive grocery food: we loved the convenience of the supermarket food, but the prices were definitely higher. Germany's cost of food is quite low, especially at discount markets like Aldi and Penny.

So convenient Scotland, compared to Germany

Although I love living in Germany, I sometimes feel as living here is "glamping," a contraction of glamorous camping. Germany is advanced in many ways but in other areas, it can feel a bit behind the times. For example, stores aren't open on Sundays and during the week, the ones open "late" usually close by 8 p.m. Sometimes one must pay to call customer service lines. Life is perfectly fine here, but sometimes it doesn't feel nearly so convenient as my life did in the US. Hence springs my feeling that one has what one needs here and then some, but it's not metaphorically like staying in a full service hotel; it's more like staying at a fancy campground.

During my visit to Scotland, I reveled in some of the conveniences and social conventions that reminded me of life in the US. Here are some of them:

-Stores were open on Sunday. Yasss!

-There was a 24 hour open corner store. Hecks yes. Other stores, like Sainsbury's, a grocery store, were open from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. Fancy a late-night snack or need some toiletries outside of convenient times? There you go.

-If people even seem close to bumping into you, they say excuse me. If I had a euro for every time someone in Germany barged into me, I'd be rich. If you gave me a euro every time they said excuse me (or entschuldigung, sorry, or es tut mir leid)...I'd be poor.

-People actually know how to queue in Scotland. Germany, proper queuing does not mean: standing in a misshapen clump, barging ahead of other people, cutting, pushing, etc.

-People actually hold the door open for you. In Germany, even if the person entering the building is directly before me and I'm practically on his heels, I have lost any expectation that he'll hold the door for me and I'll most likely have it slammed in my face.

-We could pay with credit cards almost everywhere, even for small amounts. I hardly needed any cash.

-FREE WiFi, all over the place.

-Beautiful, cozy coffee houses (with WiFi!) that are open later. Okay, so I know that in bigger German cities, there are plenty of these, but Kaiserslautern's coffee house scene promptly shuts down at 1800 for the convenience of the owners. How I would love to cozy up at a coffee house, maybe surf the net a bit, and read a book later at night - in a place with NO smoking, as in 0, zilch, nada, nichts. (Technically, most places around here are supposed to be smoke free but because of a legal loophole, a lot of the bars and some restaurants allow it inside. Ick.)

-OMG, the prepackaged food at the grocery store! As a low-budget traveler in Edinburgh, I planned only a few meals out in restaurants. For the rest of the meals, I wanted to buy something quick, easy, and inexpensive from the grocery store. Yes, there are some things like prepackaged salads and others at German grocery stores, but you're more likely to have to build your own snack.

At the grocery stores in Edinburgh, we marveled at the convenience, prepackaged foods, many of which were healthful. Would you like cut up veggies and dip? Help yourself. How about a pack of boiled eggs for protein? Yep. They even had a cup of falafel patties. *Swoon.* It was perfect for a meal on the go.

Am I dissing on Germany? That's definitely not my intent. Some things are just more convenient in other countries. In the next entry, I'll talk about some of the things that I missed from Germany during my trip.

My week: October 2 ed.

This week, I cracked my tandem partner up. I told her about the Christmas pickle, which Americans believe is a traditional German ornament. The legend is that the first person who finds it receives an extra gift.

She asked me if Americans really believed that Germans do this. I said yes. She started howling with laughter and said, "Das ist eine Verarschung!"

Well, Americans think it's traditional, I told her. I had never heard of it until my friend visited Frankenmuth, which is meant to look like a German village in the thumb area of Michigan. My friend bought me one of these ornaments and it included a description that described it as a German tradition. Apparently it's not; A has never heard of it and apparently thinks it's quite funny, so there you go.

Source The unassuming Weinachtsgurke

Later this week, I provided an online training for everyone worldwide. I'm doing a lot more with training lately and I like that. I won't lie: it's certainly good for the resume to say that I train 70+ locations worldwide. It also gives me the opportunity to think that my undergrad degree perhaps was worth all the extra work (getting the teaching certification is basically like adding a second major, in addition to my two minors).

German class was a relief. I was moaning to the teacher that I wanted to take the B2 test but I needed to do so much more studying and I felt so behind. "Why?" he asked. "You could pass it right now with no problem." He said that some of the other classmates have passed that and even the C1 test and they still make mistakes, but I'm at least as good as the B2 student and there should be no reason I wouldn't pass. Yippie! By the way, I know it sounds a bit blunt about what he said about the other students. There was no malice in it and I see it as the German directness, which I like (outside of schimpfing ;)

I went on a "friend date" with M and we saw Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I had read all three books in the series and felt very conflicted about the movie. I think that if I had only seen the movie, I would have liked it. However, while it uses elements of the books, it makes some very major changes that are jarring.

One major change is that the main character's love interest is totally switched around. They took Emma's character and gave it Olive's talents. The original Emma can summon fire and even has a fiery personality. Instead, they gave her Olive's floating ability. In the book, Olive is a much more passive personality; for the most part, they use her as a lookout and sometimes they even forget her as she's floating above. Book Emma is very strong and independent and by her example, Jacob learns how to be courageous (or as I'd say, he stopped being such a wuss after witnessing her courage). Movie Emma is much more restrained. Boo!

Also, there is a very significant difference from the book and the movie regarding Jacob's grandpa. I won't write it to avoid a spoiler, but it is definitely not how the book went and the change in the movie would make Jacob's quest way easier. The whole point of the books is how he develops courage and loyalty (which isn't really giving away a whole lot, so no worries) through trying quests. The movie made it much easier for him. Hrmph. So, would I recommend the movie? If you've read and loved the books, it might be a bit disappointing. If you haven't read the books and don't plan to, then go ahead; if you like quest movies, you'd like this one then.

There has been criticism of the movie because it does not include any minority characters except for the main villain, played by Samuel L. Jackson. I don't have a problem with the main cast not being diverse because in the books, they're not, and it's not through purposeful exclusion by the original author. In the book, the majority of the characters are from England and Wales in the 1940s (or they were from earlier time periods too). There wasn't a lot of immigration at that time and therefore the population wasn't that diverse.

However, making the villain a minority is problematic because in the book, he's not. In fact, the movie smooshes together several villains into one so Samuel L. Jackson's character is a mashup of people, none of whom were a minority in the book. My main beef with his movie character was that Tim Burton didn't let what makes SLJ shine out that much. I mean, the guy's a bada** (in an awesome way) so why not let him be a bit more of one in the movie? Yes, I know it's somewhat of a kids' movie, but still. Kids can appreciate SLJ too.

In addition to the movie, I also attended a friend's birthday party on the weekend. I brought some egg liquor that I was trying to get rid of and a guy was drinking glasses of it, straight. I hope he didn't have an unpleasant following day!

A German's take on why Germans don't like air conditioning

There is a lot of interest in expat circles (especially for American expats) about why Germans don't like air conditioning.

I've written about it in the past. You can read the entry here.

Trixi from Don'ttrusttherabbit gives her insights, as a German. Check out the Youtube video below.

So, what do you think? Does the cold air make you sick? Or do you hold the scientific view that bacteria and viruses make one sick?

In which I make an expat living in Germany joke

Here's my attempt at expat living in Germany humor.

Person one: "Tell me something hot."

Person two: "It's summer and I live in the Dachgeschoss."

Differences between the US & Germany: music in restaurants

Service in restaurants in the US and Germany is a hot topic among expats, and can effect some heated discussions. There are some good cases for either side, for sure. One issue is the playing of music at restaurants: although it is not the rule, it is quite common for American restaurants to play music and it for it often to be quite loud, whereas German restaurants tend to have no music or it tends to be quieter.

I side firmly with the German restaurants on this one. Going out to eat with one's family or friends is not just a time of sustenance; instead, it is meant to be a time to relax and enjoy the company of one's dining companions.  If the music is too loud, it's hard to hear and it's also unpleasant to have to shout to be heard. Since the focus is on conversation and a relaxed evening, it's not a surprise to find that many German restaurants don't play music.

On the other hand, many American restaurants do, and it can create quite the cacophony! The music is often rather loud and patrons have to speak louder to be heard over it. As it is, Americans are considered to be loud, but who knows if this is a chicken or the egg question as it relates to noise at restaurants.

I would much rather meet my friends and dine somewhere without music. I'm there to spend time with them, not to try to yell over music to be heard. I was at a hotel restaurant in Minnesota and could barely stand to stay there. We were seated in the corner and had to listen to a staticky radio station playing country music (which I abhor) while the bar that was through the French doors was blaring rock music. Meanwhile, the kitchen was playing its own station! It was an awful, loud mix of everything. I let the waitress know that it was a bit overwhelming to be able to hear three loud radio stations in one spot and asked if she could do anything about it. She did get the kitchen to turn down their music a bit. However, it was still loud and distracting. I gave up at that point and we quickly finished dinner.

Give me the peace and (relative) quiet of a German restaurant any day over this!

Differences between the US & Germany: bathrooms

Travel to the United States prompted some thought on how the US and Germany are different. I've been living in Germany for three and a half years now and have settled into the German and European styles of life. Trips back to the US result in the feeling of reverse culture shock, a situation not uncommon for expats who've lived abroad long enough.

For example, when returning to the US and visiting the ladies' public restroom, I'm shocked at just how much space there is between the stall door and the frame. Holy smokes, I feel as if I'm putting on a show with some of the gaps! In Germany, I appreciate the privacy of the stalls with toilet stall dividers that are flush, if not completely to the ground.

However, it's not that (most) people really would ever look through the cracks of American stalls. If we try to figure out if it the stall is available, we usually look down for feet; we don't try to look into the stall itself.

Not cold, but reserved

Ay yi yi. Delve into the expat blogosphere or chat forum and you'll find people lamenting how cold Germans are. Americans especially are wont to say how their little feelingsies were hurt when the meanie German didn't return their goofy grin. Others have felt the cold, hard stare of  a German having a good look. Or heavens forbid one needs customer service.

Do those reporting on this try to learn German and try getting to know Germans personally, in a social setting, instead of out in public? Have they ever tried to learn about a culture and find out what facial and body expressions are typical for that area? Instead of expecting the store clerk, who is there to serve all the other waiting customers, to be a perfect test person for trying out German, have they considered finding an actual tandem partner to work on the language in a non-stressful environment?

I don't find Germans cold at all. Do I find the German culture more serious? Yes, I do, but that doesn't mean that its residents are without mirth. Do I find their behavior with strangers a bit more reserved? Yep, but I appreciate this in some ways.

When I'm out running errands, I have no desire to smile at random strangers or chitchat with the cashier at the store; I'm going about my business, and to be frank, I'm not interested in what others are doing. As an introvert who is socially quite active and plans many group events, I feel as if I don't get enough time to myself, so errands are "me time" and allow for introspection. I don't mind a polite hello-your total is-thank you-have a nice weekend-goodbye with the store cashier; that is sufficient conversation with a stranger.

Why should there be a pressing need to look at/smile at strangers on the street (other than to have a general awareness of your surroundings for safety reasons)? I find it very curious to hear from Americans who feel slighted if random people on the street don't want to engage in smiling at one another or saying hello. I try to avoid doing this with strangers unless it would be blatantly impolite to do so in a situation with low risk factors. For me, it's a safety measure and means of avoiding harassment. I've found, from attending university somewhere that has a tough downtown scene, that not allowing strangers to engage you or approach you is part of keeping yourself safe. While I don't feel that it's so insecure here in Germany, it's still important to be careful.

Before judging random Germans to be cold (or any other culture, for that matter) just because they don't want to engage in your ways of interacting, I would like to suggest integrating more into German life. Meet people in social situations where they're more likely to have the time and interest to meet others. Don't judge things based on some very superficial interactions.