To mark my first month in Germany I decided to pop down a list of particularly awesome/not so exceptional things I have found in Germany.
Let's start with the good things:
Windows: Don't judge. Until you've experienced the German way of securing your home, you'll never understand. The windows can open like doors or like windows. This allows you to have a slight breeze when you want, or easily wash the window, or it can come in handy when evading unwanted guests. But they are nearly seventeen hundred times more secure than ours in the states. There's no air leaks, they're insolated to the max, the shades are built in and made of metal sheets that compress on one another to allow as little or as much light as you want. How is this even possible?!? With my power of deduction I've still only surmised that German engineering is far superior to any other. I am not even going to start on the doors...
Beds: This is another one you wouldn't expect but let's give me the benefit of the doubt that I'm not completely insane. The best part of the beds are the blankets. Everyone sleeping in the bed (I've been told it's just usually two people, but who am I to judge?) gets their own blanket! It seems like a simple idea but consider this all you couples in the states sleeping under one blanket.
How often do you fight for the covers? Do you sleep with a blanket hog? In the summer is it just too darn warm? Problem solved. Better yet the blankets are like a sleeping bag, that depending on the season you can switch out the contents. In the winter, stick in the thick padding. Summer, just a sheet or any variation in between. Couples here always get a good nights sleep.
People: Of course there are a few I have in mind, but really this goes out to all you Germans. They are so clean and orderly. It's a little like heaven for me here. Every Saturday they sweep their sidewalks. Why? No idea. Apparently it's just a thing they do because since their houses are already spotless they decide take it to the streets. Never has there been a more interestingly hard working people. They have a saying: "Schaffe, schaffe, Häusle baue" which translates into "quick quick build a house." I've heard it quoted a few times now.
Walker, Texas Ranger: Germany has it. I'm watching it.
The Not So Great Things:
Water: Point number one is that water fountains don't exist here. You could die of thirst in the middle of Munich's English gardens. The sad thing is, Germany is one of those countries that people vacation in where the tap water is actually good to drink. Which brings me to my next point. The tap water is good to drink, they will serve it to you in a restaurant but you will still pay for it. That's a way to make money off of your patrons. Because you know you'll pay for it because you're dying of thirst with not a water fountain in sight. Vicious cycle.
Toilets: So you've got a drink and everything is peachy. Until you have to make some water of your own. Shouldn't be a problem, since you've already learn how to use a toilet (reoccurring theme?). Just walk into the nearest department store and find the bathroom, right? Dead wrong! Unless you're willing to part with at least fifty cents each time you find a bathroom, you're out of luck. If there's not a gate you're charged at to get to the restrooms, there is a very menacing Klofrau. (Read as: Generally angry older woman who hawks the bathroom for money and occasionally cleans the place.) Personally, I'm terrified of die Klofrau. Or as a much more likely reason is that I'm cheap.
Language skills: I wasn't sure whether to put this down as a pro or con. The better my German gets the worse my English becomes. Take the word English right there for example. It took me three tries to type that correctly because my German brain is starting to take over. Englisch auf Deutsch, but English in, well you know, English. It's becoming more common.
Interesting list of positives...but Walker, Texas Ranger??? :-) Keep on writing, kiddo, we are really enjoying all of it. Beth
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