1. The Winter Weather. And by "winter" I mean from late October through about March. With the exception of a few isolated nice days here and there, those months are cold, overcast and rainy. It's not the cold that's so bad, for me. I loved living in Maine, which has roughly the same cold season, with way more snow. It's the overcast and the rain. It truly does feel like it gives me and my friends some seasonal affective feelings. Maybe if you grow up with it it doesn't bug you. I wonder if you grow up in Southern California (I didn't - Baltimore), you are ruined for every other place?
2. Thinking a Whole Lot About WWII. It's pretty hard for me to escape thinking about the War here. There are the personal reasons: our grandfathers fought in this war, my grandmother used to tell me about waking up as a young woman to read the paper every day to see if people she knew had been killed. I know people who lost relatives in concentration camps. There's the physical reminders: most of the cities here were rebuilt after the War, so it's not like London or Paris or Rome where every other building is very old - and that's something you notice. And of course, it's a part of every tour you take and the history of almost every town you visit. So I think about it. And it's not like I blame modern Germans - even if I were inclined to think that way I was convinced long ago by what Elie Wiesel had to say on that subject that it isn't a good idea. But you just think about it, and how and why it happened, and how we could try to prevent it happening again. And while that's probably a good thing to think about - on occasion - I'll be happy to give those thoughts a rest for awhile.
3. Businesses That Keep Bankers' Hours. Good lord. TD, my friends and I have frequently remarked about how we cannot believe that this country is the economic engine of Europe, yet you cannot buy things unless you show up between one and two on every third Wednesday and know the friggin' password. Okay, not quite that bad, but stores are almost all closed on Sundays, most of them close by about 6pm on weekdays, and if you want medicine and it's a Sunday or after 4 on Saturday you could be (and I have been) running halfway across town to get to the one apotheke (drug store) that is open (they rotate which ones will be open when the majority of them are closed). And because of this state of affairs, Saturday at any store is a zoo. God forbid you should need to go to the grocery store or IKEA on a Saturday.
Notes to Germany: Look, I am a pro-labor person, but come on. A) You are making things very difficult for families in which even one person works - let alone two people, and B) You could be making SO much more money if you would be the slightest bit more accommodating of, you know, consumers.
An anecdote about the American business model: We went to Florida this past summer. Threeby had jet lag and was wide awake at 3am, but Fourby and I were exhausted. So the very kind TD took Threeby to the Walmart within a mile of the hotel. It was open. Threeby ran around the aisles and TD bought stuff. Lots of stuff. Because it was open, and he could. There are things I don't like about Walmart and America's "the customer is always right, workers are lucky to have a job" mentality. 24-hour service, where it is reasonable (i.e. where there are lots of customers, and it's profitable, and the workers are treated well), is one of the things I like. I'm gonna go to CVS in the middle of the night when I get back. On a Sunday. Because I can.
- The Good: Yes, the Germans can do a bratwurst like nobody's business. The beer cannot be beat, and they have excellent white wines for cheap prices. I like spaetzle. They do a way better, vinegar-based potato salad than the American kind (read: full of mayo). And on occasion, I like a good schnitzel. But after awhile, you feel as though you are sinking under the weight of that food. They do have a lot more organic ("Bio," here) food choices in grocery stores than in America, and I suspect (though I've never checked) that their "bio" classification has stricter standards than the "organic" label has in the States.
- They have a fascination with yogurts and puddings - huge sections of every grocery store are devoted to them (my mom loves that about them) - that I don't understand.
- Most of the baked goods are stale-tasting even when fresh. The breads are where you notice this the most. On a similar note: don't ever buy any kind of tortilla chips here.
- And I'll say it: I simply don't get the white asparagus fascination they have. Green asparagus just tastes better to me. I do like that they have a season when asparagus and strawberries are celebrated and fresh - it's sort of a wilder, more intense version of how in the mid-atlantic you see corn, tomato, and crab stands sprout up everywhere (especially by the side of the road) once they come in season. Cannot wait for that this year.
- In the ordering in/dining out realm: you can find a pretty darn good Indian restaurant here, and we've scoped out some good Thai food, but there are several types of international cuisine that are simply absent in any recognizably good form here. One of our frequented ordering in options is called: La Dolce Vita China Express. They have: Mexican, "American," Indian, German, English, Thai, and Chinese food. Most of it is okay, none of it is very good. Ordering "Mexican" or "Chinese" food here is sad. One time a friend ordered "chicken empanadas" at a respectable restaurant, only to receive chicken nuggets. I'd rate the average mexican food here at sub-Taco Bell. Most chinese and thai food includes large amounts of green beans. The best we've been able to come up with as an explanation for this is maybe they are considered an alternative to snap peas. Or green beans are cheap and plentiful. And the vast majority of German food - even that labeled spicy/hot (scharf) - is not. I think they either are not used to or don't like very much heat in their food. Don't get me started on pizza. There is one pretty good option, but even that one option is far worse than any of the major pizza chains in the States.
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