A Brother Comes to Town

Arrived!  My brother, Jarrod, is here!  He will be staying for a full week and will be joined by my sister and brother-in-law in a few days.  Since he got in a little early, we were able to hit some of the fun Berlin spots that Becca and Chris won't have time to see.  Mostly we just did a lot of walking around and picture taking as well as a pottery lesson for Jarrod!

Shady reflection picture. 

Jarrod brought his fancy camera and took a ton of awesome, artsy photos.  I just took pictures of him taking pictures. It's all so meta. 

We visited an outdoor market in the middle of the city and Jarrod got to try his first German bratwurst with a weißbier (wheat beer) from the tap. 

Then he ate another sausage, because, I mean, why not?  When in Germany, one must eat sausage! 

I think he actually has a headache here from being out in the sun too long, but it made for a cool picture. 

We had a beautiful walk through Victoria Park which is just a few blocks from our house. 

The monument on top of the hill made a striking silhouette against the clear blue sky. 

Victoria Park has a cascading waterfall flowing right through the middle of it. 

We took my favorite route to the pottery studio strolling from Schöneberg to Kreuzberg.  There is a pretty church around the halfway point. 

I thought this bridge crossing was worthy of a photo. 

One of the most well-known murals in Berlin is a few blocks from the pottery shop.  I have often seen tour groups standing beneath this astronaut, though I'm not sure of its significance other than that it looks really cool. 

Kreuzberg is one of the "grungier" parts of Berlin as I mentioned in a previous post.  Here, fliers are posted on top of fliers which are posted on top of fliers until one day, someone decides the light post, which was used as the base for these fliers, has gotten a bit too thick.  Then, like an onion, the layers are peeled away, revealing postings from the past in a colorful display of all the things someone once thought were important. 

I didn't take any photos of Jarrod's first pottery pieces, but I do have a short video of his first try at throwing.  (Just so you know, "throwing" is the term used when making pieces of pottery on a wheel.)  He was having some difficulty centering the clay in this particular video, but he ended up with 2 beautiful bowls!  A very successful start to his pottery career.

Things That Are Different

Welcome to my first installation of "Things That Are Different."

This a where I shall explore with photos and dialogue all the things that are different in Germany as compared to the United States.  I have been building up a list so I can hit you with a bunch of things at once.  Shall we begin? 

Number 1: The Number One

Pictured above are handwritten numbers.  It says 12.10.15, but as you can see, Germans draw the Number One with an extra flare on top.  When I initially saw this, if figured it was just a personal style choice for the single person who wrote it, but as the weeks have gone on, I realize that everyone forms the number one in the same way.  

Number 2: The Date

The picture that I used to demonstrate the alternative formation of the number one, I will also use to demonstrate the way Germans write the date.  12.10.15 means October 12th, 2015.  They reverse the month and the day when they write it out and then separate each number by periods instead of backslashes like we do.  

Number 3: Sidewalks

In Germany there are no large concrete slabs of sidewalk that will eventually crack because a tree root grew under it or separate so that one piece sticks up 3 inches higher than the next piece causing you and everyone else to trip every time you are too busy text-walking to realize that the sidewalk is uneven. 

No.  In Germany the sidewalks are arranged in smaller pieces to create an interesting parquet design.  This is both pleasing to the eye and it prevents extreme cracking.  If a tree root grows underneath, the little pieces just roll along gracefully, allowing a little extra room for nature to do its thing.  

The other notable thing about German sidewalks, is that they are often divided so that the right side is intended for walking and the left side is designated for biking.  It is important to remember this and  to take care not to drift into the biking lane when you are mindlessly strolling down the road. 

  

Number 4: Door Knobs

They are beautiful!  So many intricate door knobs can be found all over the place.  And they all work too!  This is amazing to me because I grew up in an lovely old home where the doors are pretty standard but don't really work that well.  None of the doors really closed and I figured it was just another little element of character that comes with living in a cute old home.  You know, creaky floor boards, plaster walls, arched ceilings, interesting roof line, and slightly ajar doors all over the place.  But a lot of these German doors are pretty old too and they still close really well with their fancy old door knobs!  Blows my mind.  Maybe it just isn't as humid here so the wood doesn't warp as much over time.  Here are a few other door knobs and related hardware for you to appreciate...

They are all so pretty.  If a door knob is not ornate, then they are perfectly ergonomic and rather modern looking.  It seems to be either one or the other here.  The ergonomic ones are typically brushed silver with a lateral skinny handle that you push down to activate making them more handicap accessible than a knob that you would have to grip and turn. 

Number 5: Fences 

Where in the US we have vertical picket fences, in Germany the fences are built on diagonals.  Pictured above is one of many fences I saw in the suburbs of Frankfurt when I went on that long walk in search of a guitar capo.  

 Number 6: Graffiti 

It's everywhere!  I don't know when or how people do it without getting caught, but somehow they manage.  If you own a building in the city, I bet you have to repaint ever 6 months or else just embrace the "self expression" that some angsty youth applied in the middle of the night. 

Number 7: Crosswalks

Respect the little red man!  

Germans do not, I repeat DO NOT cross when there is a little red man.  There could be 20 people lined up along the side of the street and absolutely no cars coming, but still they wait.  It's hysterical.  I'll be standing on the sidewalk with the crowd of obedient Germans, no cars in sight, and like any normal impatient American, I step out into the street and start to cross.  This bold move stirs all kinds of reactions.  It's clear some are totally judging me.  It's the first time in my life I've felt like a real rule breaker.  Others don't hesitate to follow and quickly step off the curb with me.  They just needed a brave leader.  Still other pedestrians appear totally conflicted.  A complicated dialogue is running through their heads, "She did it.  I've been wanting to do it but no one else was doing it but she did it so maybe I should too but I my gosh I can't!  It's against the rules!  Should I do it? Ahhhh!!!  I just don't know!"  

I didn't realize this whole cross walk thing was a big deal at first.  Now I follow the rules and wait for the green man... most of the time. 

Number 8: Potties

German toilets are so funny!  They just stick straight out of the wall.  And the flusher is usually mounted above.  It's just a little button you push.  I guess the water is in a tank that is built into the wall somehow.  

Number 9: Coffee

It's so good!  The Germans love frothy milk!  I have become completely hooked on latte macchiatos.  I'm pretty sure it's the same as what we call a latte in the US.  They serve them in glass cups so you can see how pretty they are before you mix them all up.  I actually made the one pictured above at home with my new and very inexpensive milk frother.  I realized that it would be much cheaper to get a milk frother and make the coffee at home than going to a coffee shop every day. Plus, I think I make them just as pretty as the coffee shops! 

Number 10: Street Meat Vendors

These guys are NOT lazy.  In the US the hot dog guy usually has a cart on wheels, but here, the sausage guy actually wears his own personal grill on a harness and has a backpack condiment dispenser plus a built in umbrella!  Incredible! 

 Number 11: Lunch

While we are on the subject of food, let me introduce you to Frau Schreiber.  She is an institution in Frankfurt as she serves the best sausages in the city.  She's the woman in the blue vest pictured above.  Admittedly not the most flattering picture of her, but a girl's got to work with what she's got.  Frau Schreiber serves the best Fleischwurst, which is essentially a fat hot dog.  She isn't the only one.  Every market, deli counter, and restaurant sells Fleischwurst.   

 But Frau Schreiber boils hers and then thoughtfully peals the skin off of them for you so they aren't too crunchy when you bite into them.  At lunch time, the streets are packed with people holding a sausage in one hand and a roll in the other with a blob of mustard on a plate.  Let me be clear, they do not put the sausage on the roll.  That would look silly.  The two entities remain completely separate.  The people alternate munching one bite bread and one bite hand-held sausage wrapped in wax paper.  Frau Schreiber will also throw in a pickle if you are feeling a little low on veggies. 

Number 12: American Dressing

I didn't know we had a salad dressing!  I've heard of Italian dressing and Russian dressing, but this is the first time I've ever seen American dressing.  It kind of cracked me up!  

Number 13: Water

You have to buy it.  They don't really do tap water in Germany.  And it's usually expensive.  I think this little one was 3 euros!  To put that in perspective, we have bought a full size bottle of wine for 3 euros.  You also have to specify if you want "Selterswasser" or "Stil" (pronounced selterz-vassehr or shteel).  The Germans love the bubbly water. 

Number 14: Foreigners Get to Vote

A giant ballot came in the mail at Mikko and Inna's house.  Since they are from Finland they don't vote in the regular German election, but the German government cares about its foreigners too.  The ballot is the size of a newspaper with long lists of names.  The instructions on the top indicate that you get to vote 37 times.  

 Number 15: Elevators

Or whatever this thing is!  This contraption totally blew my mind!  It's like an elevator with no doors that moves continuously.  This would NEVER happen in the US.  Way too much liability.  The side on the left moves up, while the right side moves down taking you from floor to floor.  It's pretty fast too.  You have to jump on when the platform is level with the floor and then for God's sake, keep your limbs inside the vehicle!  

Number 16: Emergency Vehicles

This is my favorite thing.  The picture doesn't really provide any insight as to why I love the emergency vehicles in Germany.  The ambulances in particular are incredible.  I don't have a good picture of one yet, but when I get one, I'll post it.  

The reason I love them is because they were designed by a genius.  I'm quite sure of this.  They are equipped with two sets of speakers to project the sirens.  One set points forward in the direction of travel, and the other point backward.  The speakers pointing forward play the sirens in a major third.  For those not musically inclined, that means two notes are played in succession and if you could ascribe feelings to music, I'd say the sirens sound happy.  

As the ambulance passes, you pick up the sound from the sirens being projected from the back of the ambulance.   These speakers play two notes in a minor third this time, making them sound sad.  It's incredible!  It tells you whether there is an emergency vehicle coming toward you (so you can move out of the way) or driving away from you even when you can't see it!  Genius! 

Ok.  That is all for "Things That Are Different" today.  Maybe I'll post another installment if I collect more interesting differences.  

Good News and Bad News

After a very unsuccessful Thursday by myself, I was determined to have a more successful Friday.  Plus, at the very least I knew Fritz would be home in the evening so even if I ended up on another journey to nowhere, at least I could end the day with a nice hug from my best friend.  

I started the day off right with a Fritz phone call.  I recounted my long walk to Peter's closed guitar shop, and he quickly jumped to my aid by searching for guitar shops in German rather than English.  I probably should have asked him yesterday, because not only did he solve all my problems in less than 30 seconds, he found a music shop right in the middle of the city 2 subway stops away.  Perfect. 

This is what a real music store looks like.  Let's compare to our experience yesterday: 

Nope. Not a real music shop. 

Yup. That's where you can get a capo on a Friday at noon.  

So I got a capo!  Hooray!  If I make any music worth sharing, I'll post it somehow.  Maybe. 

And then I went to the indoor market, which is open 6 days a week (everything in all of Germany except Chinese restaurants is closed on Sundays).  I think the outdoor market is going to be open on Saturday, but this one is quite large and has all kinds of vendors.  Veggies, meat, sausage, cheese, spices, flowers, etcetera etcetera. 

I got the really good sausage (that one I sampled at the last market) and a bunch of root veggies to roast for a good meal when Fritz comes home.  

Bonus points for anyone who can identify this vegetable.  It looked like a dark-skinned potato before I peeled it.  Then I cut it open and discovered it was this beautiful purple color!  

So things were all going pretty well.  Got my capo.  Got meat and veggies for dinner.  I had 5 euros left in my wallet and I still needed to get rice and toilet paper (running low).  

But I was a little worried that 5 euros wasn't going to be enough, so I went to an ATM to get some more cash.  Oh, that's the other thing about Germany.  Everyone prefers cash.  Credit cards aren't even accepted in many places.  

The problem was, the ATM machine spit back my card and displayed a message in German across the screen.  Dont' speak German.  No idea what it said.  So I went to a different ATM.  Same thing happened.  The third ATM machine also spit back my card but this time it showed me the message in English.  "Account has insufficient funds." 

Well that's weird.  I passed the grocery store on my walk home so I figured I'd see if I could squeak out some rice and toilet paper with my remaining 5 euros, then look into this "insufficient funds" thing once I got home.  

I love Germany.  Not only was I able to afford the big bag of rice, I also managed 8 rolls of TP all for 4 euros and 87 cents.  Total grocery store success! 

Went home and checked my account to discover someone in New York City now has several pairs of really nice Nike shoes and has enjoyed rather expensive cigars which he probably also shared with all of his friends.  That's right.  At some point before leaving the US, my identity was stolen.  

I called my bank and filed a report.  I think everything should be fine in a week or so, but gosh!  I need Fritz back.  Everything goes wrong when we're apart!

Cooking in Germany

Well this meal was totally delicious, but the real adventure came in acquiring the ingredients to cook it!  Outdoor markets seem to be a regular occurrence in various parts of the city.  Feeling inspired by the chill in the air, I set out to make an autumn dinner.  I knew I wanted to roast seasonal vegetables with some good German sausage, so after dropping Fritz off at class, I headed over to the market.  

So far, I only know about one kind of German sausage.  Bratwurst.  But that is better served in a bun with mustard.  Not so great for Autumn Harvest Dinner.  So I, in my confident ignorance, marched up to the first sausage stand and scanned through the 15-20 different varieties of meat, each labeled with an equally incomprehensible name.  Noticing a potential customer, a woman behind the counter said something to me in German.  I'm guessing it was something like "can I help you" but I really can't be sure at this stage in my German language proficiency.  So I smiled and asked, "may we speak in English," to which she made a distorted face and said in a heavy German accent, "She will help you," gesturing to the woman next to her.  

I waited while the second woman finished helping her current customer and then began to explain that I wanted to buy a sausage.  Something I would serve with vegetables and I didn't want anything spicy.  She grabbed a sausage hanging above her head and said, "I think you will like this one.  Would you like to try it first?"

"Sure," I said not realizing these sausages had not yet been cooked and they didn't have any grills back behind the counter.  The woman cut off a piece of the raw sausage and handed it to me.  Not wanting to insult her and trusting that eating raw sausage was a normal thing to do in Germany, I put the mushy slice in my mouth and chewed.  

"Perfect," I told her.  "I'll take one."  And trying not to think too hard about what I had just done, I handed her 2 coins for payment, shoved the sausage into my purse and scurried over to the nearest vegetable stand to complete my market shopping experience.    

Pictured above is the delicious finished product (after fully cooking the sausage).  I think the meat was called something like Baurn3jkbf76sdfj.  It was a really long name starting with a B.  Hopefully I'll recognize it if I see it again.  I really don't want to have to do another raw taste test!  

Pictured above from left to right: sour cream, flour, cumin, chicken broth, milk, eggs

In other culinary adventures, I have become a regular at our local Rewe (pronounce ray-vay), the neighborhood grocery store.  I'm pretty good at picking out vegetables since they look the same in the US as they do in Germany.  Packaged items can be a bit harder.  And if I go to the store with a recipe requiring special spices or canned goods, I become excessively dependent on my Google Translate app.  Seriously this app is amazing!  I can do live scans of actual printed words!  Of course this means my shopping experience takes twice as long and even then I may or may not end up with the right thing.  

For example, last night I made a white bean chicken chili.  The recipe called for many packaged things including a can of cream of chicken soup.  Well, it seems the Germans aren't really that big on canned soup to start.  They did, however, have packets for cream soup.  On the back of the packet, directions (written in German) are printed explaining the proportions of water (wasser) and milk (milch) that should be added while stirring the contents over medium heat.  Or at least that's what I am guessing it said.  I grabbed a packet and figured there would be enough chicken in the soup that it wouldn't matter that much if this isn't cream of chicken soup.   Feeling pretty confident in my selection based on the packet's picture of steaming white broth, I did not use my google translate app.  And it's too bad I didn't because turns out "Spargelcreme" means "cream of asparagus."  Oops.  Luckily, my nose told me that something wasn't right about this cream soup before I dumped it into the white bean chili pot.  I ended up making my own cream soup from scratch which I like to think is better than a canned product anyway.  

The other interesting thing about following my US recipes, is that Germany doesn't use cups as a measuring system, they use milliliters.  Which means every time I am following a US recipe, I have to convert all my measurements to the metric system.  It's a strange new world.