Things in Germany, Part I

In the few days that we've been in Germany, we've made a list of some of the things we love about it so far. I realize that we are still in the Honeymoon Phase of cultural adjustment, so everything we see is taken in with wonder and excitement.

German
When I was in high school, I remember being baffled that people wanted to learn German. It's not useful, it's ugly, and Spanish is just better, I thought. Au contraire! (. . . or rather, im Gegenteil!) German is useful for many things, including—but certainly not limited to—understand the history of our native English. After studying it, I also think German is quite beautiful. It's soft, poetic, and expressive—not what is often (mis)represented in those WWII movies. And while Spanish may be more common in the United States, I've made many connections with people simply because of my basic knowledge of German. I love listening to the children at the park talk to each other, not giving a second thought about a language that both Curtis and I have struggled to learn. Now, I don't necessarily wish all Americans learn German. Rather, I wish more Americans would branch out and explore other languages—not just to be able to communicate with more people, but also to learn about and appreciate different people and cultures.

Pedestrians
During a get-to-know-your-coworkers game, we all took turns naming our pet peeves. Whenever I cross the street, I always think back on my one coworker who HATED pedestrians: They step out in front of you, walk at a snail's pace, and expect you to wait on them. Well, I bet that coworker would hate Germany because pedestrians are everywhere. In fact, the cities are built for them. Sidewalks will quickly take you to nearby grocery stores, parks, and offices. And where sidewalks take too long, bus and train routes give you access to anything you want. The infrastructure in most US cities makes it a near necessity to own a car, which is why we have one (and we love it). But we would love to walk to the library every now and then . . . or even just go for a walk. Charlotte, as much as we loved it, had no sidewalks!

Apple Trees
As we were walking on those lovely sidewalks, we passed dozen of apple trees. We noticed the apple smell as we were walking by, thinking, Oh, that's neat. 

But I passed those trees the next day and noticed a little girl dancing and playing under their branches. She would stop every now and then, pick up and apple, inspect its surface, then toss it in a 5-gallon bucket. I assume her mom sent her out to collect apples after she came home from school. I saw another woman, not too much older than I am, collecting apples and putting them in a cloth bag. And another woman the next day! I guess it's a thing here—! So we took Sebastian out to collect apples the other night. Ha! I've never seen the boy so excited (well, about apples, that is). He would pick them up and just take a bite! We had to let him to know to let Dad inspect them first, which he learned very quickly. Back in our kitchen, I cut them up. They looked just as delicious as store-bought apples!

What a fun fall treat!

Grocery Bags for Purchase
I remember one of my friends posted on Facebook about how he thought Aldi was the most outlandish places to shop for groceries. The aisles felt too compact, the selection was slim, and you had to pay (gasp!) for your bags and shopping cart! For all those reasons, I love Aldi. And in Germany, all the grocery stores are like that. It saves the grocery store (and the consumer) by not having to pay for bags or baggers, it reduces a bit of waste, and it helps me to be more foresighted when I go grocery shopping. Although I do miss reusing Wal-Mart bags as trash can liners, I think either paying for grocery bags or bringing recyclable grocery bags is a better system overall.

Portioned Frozen Spinach
I love to throw in a good hunk of spinach in just about everything—eggs, pasta, and anything else that could use some color. But I HATE chopping into that dreadful frozen block of spinach. I don't want to defrost the entire thing, then take a little for my dish, then freeze the rest again. So imagine my surprize when I opened my first box of German spinach and found this:

What a genius idea!