When you make the decision to live abroad,
there are always going to be some sacrifices that you’ll have to make. Some of
them will be foreseeable, such as going through culture shock and working towards
assimilation in language, dress, mannerisms, et cetera. Other things will be
crazy little bundles of surprises that you never would have dreamed of even on
your trippiest day. One of my craziest and most inconvenient surprises has been
the manifestation of so-called “intolerances” within me.
Now, I have always known that I can’t
tolerate stupidity. I don’t mean ignorance;
I don’t mean being undereducated; I don’t mean uninformed. I just mean plain, flat-out,
unabashed stupid behavior that is far too often celebrated, accepted, and, to
my disgust, inexplicably imitated. I do have Stupidity-Intolerance and I
struggle with it every day. Fortunately, I know I’m not the only one who has
this form of intolerance, so it helps to be able to talk about it with sympathetic
listening ears.
Sadly, shortly after having moved to
Germany, in addition to the first, I developed new intolerances to deal with. I
was constantly ill, lethargic and feeling poorly most of the time. It was so
bad; at one point, I was scheduling my week around doctor’s appointments. To
make a long story short, after no fewer than 12 doctors, too many invasive
procedures, a lot of helpful suggestions from my dad (who strongly encouraged me to look
into natural healing & homeopathy) and a doctor friend of mine (she
introduced me to the western adaptation/incorporation of Traditional Chinese
Medicine, or TCM), I’ve been dealing with lactose intolerance and more
recently, glucose intolerance.
There’s no need to get into all of the
details, but I do think that it’s important for you to know that if you are
going to spend a significant amount of time in Europe, you need to be aware
that the pasteurization process of milk differs from that in the US. I’ve heard
from many people in the US military that they developed these intolerances
while being stationed abroad, so this isn’t anything new. Nevertheless, it’s
important to know about. For example, I wasn’t “lactose intolerant” when I was
at home in the US, and even when I go home, I can eat some things that I would never
lay a finger on anywhere in Europe. I can eat acceptable amounts of Häagen Dazs
or Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and it won’t bother me, but then again, they’re
both American products. Go figure. Any other ice cream brand or dairy product
(excepting butter & hard cheese) is pretty much a no-go for me. This is an
adjustment that I was not necessarily prepared for when I signed up to live in
‘Schland.
The latest intolerance I’ve developed is
just a shame. Germany is known for all kinds of food products, and unfortunately,
I don’t really eat or drink the top three. I have never tried a drop of beer in
my life (and I really don’t intend to), I am not a fan of sausages unless my
father-in-law picks one out for me & insists that it will “change my life”.
(It usually doesn’t, but at least it tastes good.) Admittedly, I’ve never been
a major bread lover anyway, and if anyone knows of the horrors that can be
experienced when your body turns against you because of bread, you learn to
stay away.
CountryEuroCityMouse™
But it’s Germany! The breads here are amazing. They’re big, small, fluffy, and
dense, of varying shapes and sizes and even combination of grains. It’s really
very hard to say no, especially when throughout the day, you smell more
Brötchen being freshly baked, or you see small children holding onto their
Bretzels with a death-grip. I’ll tell you, do not harass anyone in Germany
who’s got bread in his or her hands or mouths. That’s a blatant invitation for
an altercation, big or small, young or old. Bread is something sacred in this
country. There are so many idioms that use “bread”, the discussion of bread
baking practices is common political fodder, and many people still call dinner Abendbrot (evening bread). This is
fitting, because generally, breakfast and dinner incorporate breads, while
lunch may often be the warm meal of the day. No joke – I could devote an entire
blog to Germany’s love affair with bread. It runs deep.
Fortunately for me, it’s becoming more
common here to offer gluten-free breads (rice or corn-based) or breads that are baked
using spelt (Dinkle), which usually
doesn’t bother those who are “just” glucose intolerant.
I’m curious to know if any of you have
similar experiences in your respective countries. It certainly forces me to be
more creative, picky and informed in my eating practices!
xoxo CountryEuroCityMouse
©2012 CountryEuroCityMouse™. All rights reserved.
