Now does this really make sense?

Add least cover your head if you're going out in the cold!

I was talking with some locals about the fact that I'm lazy environmentally conscious and don't use a hair dryer in the morning. I also like to sleep in as long as I can, so this means that I always leave the house with wet hair. The women I was speaking with were horrified and wondered if I'd get sick from doing that. Well, I've been doing this for decades with no ill effects (other than the fact that my hair has developed ice crystals a couple times).

We then were talking about German bathrooms and how they usually lack exhaust fans. Without batting an eye, my conversation partners said that I should just keep the windows in the bathroom open when I take a shower to avoid mold forming in the bathroom.

I just couldn't help myself, so I said: you were worried that I would get sick from going outside with wet hair, but I should be inside, trying to take a shower, freezing, with the windows open?

Internally, I was cracking up. Germany!

Assimiliation 1,001: visiting the German Apotheke (pharmacy)

I decided that I needed to dive farther into local life: I had a prescription filled at the pharmacy (die Apotheke) down the street from my house. I had stopped by before to ask if the medications I take are carried there. One medication is not but I was able to find a substitute. I had been trying to decide if I wanted to get my prescriptions filled locally, or on the base with the medical hospital, because I am allowed to use the pharmacy there.

Since the pharmacist was so friendly at the German pharmacy and since I couldn't get the exact medication I was looking for at either pharmacy, I decided to try out the Germany pharmacy. The pharmacist there laid out all the prices for the medications. The more one buys, the more one saves. In fact, it's possible to get a six-month supply if one's doctor writes the script for it. Of course, it depends on a person's insurance on what the insurance will pay for, but I've never heard of US pharmacies doing a six-month supply before, so that was cool.

Herr Pharmacist was also really nice about telling me all the options for medications and said that technically they are only supposed to accept German or EU scripts, but my American script would be okay as long as my doctor wrote it in a format they could understand (i.e. chemical names and amounts that are comparable to the German medications).

I took my script in tonight and was a bit shocked when...the pharmacist actually filled it as I was standing there. I'm so accustomed to having to drop off a script and wait and wait or come back hours later to pick it up in the US. Also, US pharmacy staff always seem so harried (though they've always been pleasant, but I can tell they're stressed out) -- probably because there are so many scripts to fill, they're understaffed, and overstressed. At the German pharmacy, I never felt that I was rushed or that the staff was rushed. I was thrilled that I had my prescription in the time it took the pharmacist to grab it from another room.

I'm not sure if the price is more or less than what I'd pay on base, but I was really happy with my experience at the German pharmacy.

Grocery shopping on base is just a little bit different...

Part of the perks of my job is that I can shop at the commissaries on the bases/posts. In doing so, I have access to quite a good selection of food from home, and of course, lots of GMO food, high fructose corn syrup, food dyes, etc....erm, I mean, a lot of things I find familiar. I've definitely been happy to be able to still buy MorningStar Farms stuff as well as frosting for those cupcakes I (still) need to make for my coworkers.

A big difference between this and the regular grocery stores in the States is this:

I haven't seen any other stores that reserve parking spaces for Officers :)

Hotel Review: Hotel Barbarossahof in Kaiserslautern

Americans affiliated with the military stay here often.

Hotel Barbarossahof
http://www.barbarossahof.com

While I was looking for an apartment (a process that took six weeks; eek!), I stayed at the Hotel Barbarossahof at the eastern edge of Kaiserslautern. It was  a very pleasant stay at the family-owned, non-chain hotel.

Pros:
-Very friendly, helpful staff who always seemed cheery and professional, even as hordes of guests, including those with screaming/bratty kids, descended upon the hotel.
-Very clean.
-Excellent breakfast buffet with traditional German breakfast items like cereal, cold cuts and delicious Brötchen (literally, "little bread," or rolls), as well as hot breakfast items like bacon and eggs.
-Attached restaurant serves meals and drinks and the prices are moderate. There are special meals available during the holidays.
-Very comfortable bed in the room.
-Mini fridge in the room as well as the availability of renting a microwave for longer term stays.

-Free wifi internet in the lobby, nominal price in rooms.
-Sauna and workout room in the basement. There's even a tanning bed! 
-Very accommodating of pets - Moo was welcome for an extra €5 a day and he always seemed happy when I came back to the hotel. Even though the hotel allows pets, it's still super, super clean. It helps that most of the floors are marble/tile.
-Reasonably priced.
-Fast response from the hotel: I had emailed a couple times before I arrived to ask about various things and staff responded quickly.

Moo gives the hotel two paws up.

Cons:
-The location is really good for military personnel in the K-Town area because it's very close to Kleber, Panzer, Daenner, and a short drive to Sembach. However, if one doesn't have a car, it's very difficult to get to any of them, even though Kleber etc. are pretty close. There really isn't a way to walk there without going way out the way.
-There is a bus stop right in front of the hotel but the bus stops very seldomly.
-Sometimes the hotel can be a bit loud because of the hordes of people staying there.

Overall impression: Staff at the hotel made my stay there a very pleasant one; they were so kind and helpful. The hotel was super clean, the included breakfast was delicious, and Moo loved staying there. I'd definitely recommend the hotel for those looking for somewhere comfortable and reasonably priced.

Old school bike rack in the main parking lot.

Really bad store placement?

The big box store shopping area is in an industrial area on the west side of Kaiserslautern. I saw a very bad placement of two very different stores when I was visiting Tschibo (a store I still don't entirely understand...it's a coffee shop, but it sells a strange assortment of clothes wrapped in cellophane, etc.).

Below is a picture of the FAIL in store proximity placement. Kinderland means "children land" and the Rofu chain sells children's toys. The store next to it...well, I think that one can guess the kind of things it contains. Yes, Germany (and Europe!) is a LOT more liberal about this kind of thing, but it's still a very, very odd placement.

Moo gets mail

The Easter Bunny (erm, my mom) was awesome and sent a package including items with way too much sugar as well as a fun toy for Moo: a small toy rabbit (wearing pajamas, no less!) that can be stuffed with catnip.

In theory, it's a great idea. In practice, it's a bit icky because Moo just sits there and licks the darn thing.

Kaiserslautern: Visiting the Japanischer Garten

Japanischer Garten
Am Abendsberg 1
Kaiserslautern
http://www.japanischergarten.de

Thanks to the sponsorship of my utility company, SWK, I was able to buy an annual pass to two of Kaiserslautern's city gardens for only 25 euros: the Gartenschau and the Japanischer Garten (Japanese Garden). This is a nice bonus to paying utilities, one could suppose.

I had already visited the Gartenschau so today I decided to take a walk in the lovely and long-absent sunlight to visit the Japanischer Garten, which is a short walk from my house. I had read that the garden is somewhat small, so I knew what to expect when I arrived.

Once I entered the gardens, it was even more obvious how long and drab this winter has been; the only vibrant color currently in the garden were the brightly colored koi in the pond. To be fair, it is not the park's fault that winter has been so long and I will visit again in the future to see the updates as spring unfolds itself. At this time, everything is so drab, and that's everywhere.

I strolled along the garden, stopping to sit on a bench and listen to the birds chirp, and the traffic whiz by. The garden is on a small plateau above a busy street leading in and out of town, the Lauter Strasse. The garden is reasonably peaceful but there is always the background noise of the street. Even with stopping to sit and listen to the birds, my visit lasted about half an hour. I walked by the tea house/concession stand and noted that the prices are very reasonable there, from about one euro for a cup of tea. I might stop by some evening after work for a stroll and a cup of tea.

It was a pleasant visit and I look forward to seeing the garden again when the trees are budding after waking from the long winter. Would I recommend a visit to tourists? Well, considering the Kaiserslautern doesn't have that many tourist attractions, I might say that it would be okay to spend some time here, but it wouldn't be a must-see. Tickets are 5.50 euros, which isn't especially inexpensive and the garden is smaller. Perhaps when I see the garden in full bloom, I might change my mind.

HUGE koi in the pond.

See how drab everything is? Spring, please arrive!

Buddha and his fake flower.