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| Sunrise while walking to work |
December greeted us with the first rain we’ve seen in well over a month. Apparently, this winter has been the driest on record for Bonn. The locals keep bundling up and carrying umbrellas, sure the bad weather will strike at any moment, but each day ends with clear skies and unseasonably mild temperatures. The Oregonian in me remembers what a valley in November is usually like, and is loving every gorgeous sunrise and sunset while they last.
Enough about weather...on to the good stuff.
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| Inside of Aachen Dom, Germany |
I’m not sure what I expected, leaving everything behind and embarking on this new adventure. I think I just knew it was time for a change. Change we got, though not as much as we might have expected.
Here are just a few examples of how things are (not so) different here in Germany:
Pledge: Any housekeeper worth their salt knows that lemon-scented Pledge is the cornerstone to any positive dusting experience. Germany has Pledge, but it’s brown and smells like bug spray. #cleaningproductfail
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| Bonn Christmas market from a distance |
Meat: Jeff purchased a package of meat that looked a bit like SPAM. Thinking it was ready made slices of ham, he grilled it up and served it for lunch with potatoes. I was a bit suspicious, so translated the name on the front of the package. Just so you know, LeberKase, means liver cheese. After further googling we discovered that liver cheese is not nearly as bad as it sounds, but I still refuse to eat it on the grounds that those two words should never be placed so closely together. In fact, if cheese is included in a two word title, it should ALWAYS be the first word. Cheese bread, delicious. Head cheese, gross. Cheese tortellini, bello! Liver cheese, no thank you.
Sunday: Is a day when you can do...nothing. We learned very early on that EVERYthing is closed on Sundays. Grocery stores, malls, laundromats, even the “convenience” stores close is observance of this day of rest. This last Sunday, we tried to take advantage of our day of nothing by hanging paintings in our apartment. Two nails in, we heard a knock at the door. It was our downstairs neighbor who asked, rather haughtily, if we were “working”. When we said yes, she stated “No working on Sundays! Too loud!” And with that, we were silenced. Sometimes “Ze Germans” really need to lighten up.
Phones: The local dialing convention is still a mystery to me. I always seem to dial the wrong number, or somehow dial the number so it doesn’t go through properly. When trying to dial UPS to inquire after a package stuck in customs, I accidentally called a German phone sex line. I spent $6.50 before I realized what I had called and WHO I was speaking with. I don’t know who was more confused, me or her.
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| Gluhwein (and mug) |
Gluhwein: Germans REALLY know how the do the holiday season. Now through December there are GORGEOUS christmas markets set up in the center of all cities. The speciality at these market is a hot, spiced wine called Gluhwein. When you first order Gluhwein from a booth, you pay extra to have it served in a porcelain mug, which you can then pay to refill as often as you want. Jeff and I thought we just needed to figure out how to ask for the “to-go” cup, and amassed quite a collection of these mugs over the past week. We just yesterday learned that you are supposed to RETURN the mugs and get your initial deposit once you are done drinking for the night. This weekend we’ll tour the market again and return all the mugs. Gluhwein kleptos no more.
We will be in Prague for Christmas and are still trying to figure out plans for New Years. We have looked into many different places, but may just end up staying in Bonn due to exorbitant prices this time of year. We are also trying to plan our trip calendar for next year, so if you plan to come to Germany, please put your request in now. Our IKEA fold-out couch is filling up for 2012 :)
All the best to you and yours, and may the end of 2011 bring many beautiful things.
Hillary and Jeff
