Five Things I Love About Germany

I spend so much time talking about all of my very interesting (read: crazy) encounters, annoyances and strange events here; it's just now occurred to me to spend more time thinking about the things that I absolutely love about Germany. So, without further adieu, I will present to you five things that I love about my adopted Fatherland.

1. My husband. Well, he's German. This counts.

2. The Landscape. There are so many gorgeous regions throughout the country, and I've only seen a small fraction of them. I do hope to remedy this in the near future. It all depends on what you love to do. I tend to gravitate towards more cosmopolitan areas, but believe me, the German countryside is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful in the summer, fall, and winter; it's still wonderful in the spring, but it may be a bit wet. In any case, if you're ever in the country, be sure to have your camera ready.

3. The Baked Goods. I know, this sounds so stereotypical, but facts are facts. German bakers know how to make delicious bread. It's torturous if you have a sensitivity to gluten, but guess what? More bakeries are noticing a demand for gluten-free or gluten-reduced breads… at least in my neighborhood. Just around the corner, I have the choice between fresh baked Brötchen made from 100% rice flour or from spelt flour at one of my favorite bakeries. My husband, of course, has a smorgasbord of breads to choose from, including tons of pretzel breads, pastries, cakes, and marmalade-filled donuts (known as Berliner, in honor of JKF after he famously said, "Ich bin ein Berliner." What says "American" more than a jelly-filled donut?), cookies and more. Germans don't know what "pies" are the way we Americans know them to be - rich buttery, flaky crusts encasing fruits or nuts; however, they still make pies, calling them either Kuchen or Torte depending on the recipe. For the USA version, I've had to learn to bake my own from scratch. A pretty handy skill, but the inconvenience of it has probably saved me from gaining 20 lbs.

4. Public transportation. It doesn't matter where you are, more likely than not, you're going to have access to affordable and (generally) reliable public transportation throughout Germany. This is absolutely AMAZING. No matter what your level of income, using PT is almost treated as though it's a civic duty here – which is a good thing. It's environmentally friendly, it lets you take care of things while someone else is driving, and especially on the weekends or late nights, provides a safe way for people to get home who could have otherwise been in a position to harm others. The German trains are most prevalent, but there are trams (trollies), buses and also opportunities to register share bicycles and cars. Of course, taxis and rental cars are also available everywhere.

5. The architecture. Some of the most beautiful buildings are right under your nose, so to speak. When you go about your day-to-day activities, it's very easy not to notice the beauty that surrounds you. I don't care where you live - there is always something new for you to discover and appreciate. You just have to take the time to do it, and look at your environment in a way that you usually wouldn't. I call this living like a tourist. I can always spot a tourist miles away because he or she isn’t looking straight ahead or around like locals do. They are always looking up and around. This was especially true in New York, where you could recognize immediately who was used to the skyscrapers and who wasn't. The same thing happens here in Germany. There are so many edifices that are literally centuries old, and they're absolutely beautiful, and it's worth remembering that as you walk around. Germany, France and Spain have done such a wonderful job of preserving historical buildings by restoring them and often also incorporating modern architectural works –usually in a tasteful and artistic manner. In my opinion, France has done an exceptionally wonderful job of balancing the historical with the modern, most specifically, in Paris.

I originally wanted to write the top TEN things that I love about Germany, but I don't want them to get a big head or anything. ;-) I hope to have more opportunities visit this subject again later – maybe I'll even incorporate a few pictures.

Have a great rest of the week.

xoxo CountryEuroCityMouse

©2012-2013 CountryEuroCityMouse™. All rights reserved.

Genius Overload

My husband and I went to an Apple store in Germany recently, and it was one of the most grotesque and surreal experiences of my life. While I do enjoy using their popular products, I'm not exactly fond of the company's marketing and promotional methods (and that's me speaking demurely). After our experience yesterday, though, it's also clear that sometimes it's a bit, well, stalkerish.

You know how when you walk into most Apple stores in the US, you know you've entered an expensive adult version of what a McDonald's play area used to be like in the early 90s? Happy Meals and Playtime! What could be better?

First of all, when we walked into this store, I felt like we had just walked into Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory. I don't mean the one with Johnny Depp, where you know deep down, the dude is just having a good time pulling your chain; I'm talking about the original with Gene Wilder, who lovingly let his freakish Umpa-Lumpas have free reign all over the place. Their scary green hair and those horrible spray tans continue to make occasional cameo appearances in my nightmares to this day.

Anyway, the first Umpa-Lumpa, I mean, genius, greeted us at the door. "Wilkommen!" We casually looked at him and politely greeted him in return as we attempted to make our way toward the Macs. But wait! Apparently, you have to make it past the bouncer, first. He scuttled beside us and leaned forward a little too closely.

"Sind Sie zum ersten mal hier?" (Is this your first time here?)

"Uh, nein."

"Kennen Sie unsere Produkte?" (Are you familiar with our products?)

"Ja…"

"Gut! Gut!" He couldn't hide his pleased expression. We were in.

"Suchen Sie etwas bestimmtes?" (Are you looking for something in particular?)

I couldn't help but sigh in irritation and I barely restrained myself from telling him with a straight face that I was looking for a Panda bear.

"Nein. Wir wollen nur schauen." (No, we’re just browsing.)

"Oh, ok… Danke und viel Spass!" (Oh, ok. Thanks, and have fun!)

Under normal circumstances, this would read like a typical exchange of information. Perhaps he needs to collect data, or he just wants to steer you in the right direction. Here, the guy was empty-handed, and the store literally had more "geniuses" than customers. It was unnerving, like he was reluctant to let us go and was beseeching more human interaction.

After we had broken free of him, my husband started looking at the Macbooks. Within five seconds, a pimply face with a wide-eyed stare popped up before us, just like a teenaged Umpa-Lumpa with a shock of blonde hair.

"Hi! Brauchen Sie Hilfe?" (Need any help?)

My husband and I automatically replied, "Nein, Danke." He didn't leave.

"Haben Sie unsere Produkte schon?" (Do you already have some of our products?)

This was getting irritating. I was beginning to see why more Germans make their purchases through Apple resellers.

This was also quite different from my experiences elsewhere. Usually, we customers are hungrily prowling for someone to help us out, and as soon as we find one, we join the circle around said prey, ready to pounce as soon as the next customer leaves. I think to be a "genius" there, you must notate on your resume that you can run quickly and disappear at will.

Not the case in this store. As soon as one left, another genius came in his wake. We literally had four of them approach us within a 2-minute period. You would think that we would have been appreciative, and perhaps we would have been, if they hadn't made us feel like we were in a plastic cage in the center of a shark tank. Each and every one of them had large eyes with dilated pupils, and they were seriously twitching, vying for our attention. I'm not insinuating that they were on anything, but I had the strange feeling that they were suffering from huge withdrawal. So few customers; too many geniuses!

What happens to the geniuses when they aren't needed anymore? I hope for the sake of us all, Apple at least gives them some sort of rehabilitation to help them get re-acclimated to a life as – (hmmm, what does Apple call its customers? Let’s try an analogy: Apple is to geniuses as customers are to _________. Now you know another reason why I “love” the company’s PR so much.) Three of them, who looked at us woefully as we walked out of the store and onto the snowy street, seriously looked like they'd been brainwashed.

xoxo CountryEuroCityMouse

©2012-2013 CountryEuroCityMouse™. All rights reserved.

Breaking Bread

Making friends when you're no longer a student is a challenge, no matter where you live. It doesn't matter if you're relocating cross-country or you're moving to another part of a big city; the torturous ritual of "making friends" begins anew. When we were kids, it was much easier, I think, because if you didn't want to be friends with someone, you could justify it with one sentence: "I don't like Johnny because he picks his nose."

There. Simple as that – Johnny makes one crucial mistake, and like that, he's forever banished from your circle of friends. Well, at least until high school when he gives up the nasty habit and starts looking kinda cute.

As an adult, though, everything is more nuanced, more complex. I mean, it all starts with the fact that your pool has gotten smaller over time. Generally, it consists of your work colleagues and neighbors and then extends from there. Of course, you have your friends from school and college days, but for many of us, they can literally be thousands of miles away.

I've been really blessed to have made some great friends over the years while living abroad. While I initially made many of them through my husband, over time, I've made more on my own in various situations. A few of these friendships were toxic – I can recall three of them instantaneously – and I wisely ended them. However, the rest of my friendships have been tremendously rewarding and continue to evolve as the years progress.

For example, recently, two of our friends came over to visit us for the first time since we'd moved. They brought bread, French salt and a bottle of Portuguese red wine as housewarming gifts. Not only had they taken the time to put thought into what they would bring; they also made the effort to make something from scratch. What meant even more to me personally was the fact that they baked a loaf of Roggen (rye) bread because they had actually remembered my sensitivities to wheat (while rye isn’t gluten-free, it has a lower gluten content than wheat). Such thoughtfulness is really what stayed with me throughout the evening. It doesn't take much to let someone know that you think they're kinda cool and you wish them well. As a matter of fact, the most important way to do it is by paying attention and giving some of your time. And, to be quite honest, when we sat down and ate a really nice meal together, I found it to be super awesome experiencing friendship in the most archaic of ways – literally, "breaking bread" together.

By the way, bringing bread and salt (and wine) to a new household stems from very old Judaic and Slavic traditions; it wasn't until this encounter that I learned that it's also prevalent in Germanic traditions. Although the symbolism for the items may differ slightly for some, generally, we can still interpret it as it was shared in the American classic film It’s A Wonderful Life (1946):

Mary Bailey: Bread… that this house may never know hunger.

Salt… that life may always have flavor.

George Bailey: And wine… that joy and prosperity may reign forever.

Thanks, W.J. and B.P. for such a memorable evening!

xoxo CountryEuroCityMouse

©2012-2013 CountryEuroCityMouse™. All rights reserved.

Hello Again

Oh dear… It's been ages (ca. 2 weeks) since I've made an entry here, and anyone who knows anything about the most banal essentials of blogging, that is one big no-no. I fear that my entire readership has abandoned me, just as I had all of you, without any prior notice. Oops. So sorry about that.

On the other hand, though, I really embraced the time away. While I do love sharing my experiences with you here, it also often feels as though I'm having a conversation with myself in the virtual realm; fortunately, thanks to the rare posted comments and remarks in conversation from people I know, there is some proof that this isn't exactly true. So, here's to all of us for being here together in cyber space once again.

Happy New Year, by the way. I wish that I could say that since the calendar indicates that it's 2013, I've been at peace enjoying my life, but that couldn't be any farther from the truth. All signs are indicating that this is going to be a rodeo year – this meant in the most glorious of ways. Time will tell; that's for sure.

To start the New Year off right, I'm doing a 30 day cleanse, just as I'd done the year before. This ought to make me feel all healthy and fit, except it doesn't. For one, it's ten days into the year and I haven't yet made it back to the gym (of course, you know why because the gym can be really scary). On top of that, my husband, aka Mr. EuroMouse, decided to pick up a cold on the plane trip back home. Nothing like a man breathing heavily in the most non-sexual way ever lying next to you to keep a germaphobe like me up at night. And seriously, why is it that when someone has a cold, he insists on turning onto the side that faces YOU while sleeping, mouth agape? It's like I'm suddenly in bed with a Darth Vader impersonator. Oh, the unforeseen joys of marriage. 

xoxo CountryEuroCityMouse

©2012-2013 CountryEuroCityMouse™. All rights reserved.