Sunday, May 18, 2008

1 year...and counting

This post has been languishing in draft form for 3 or so months, mainly because on reflection the original post seemed mostly negative and that is not a true representation of our experience.

Sure, there were days when I desperately wanted to take my bat and ball and go home, but those days are fewer now. You know what, I kind of like it here.

With a year under our belts, I wanted to share with you some random thoughts on uprooting ones life and transplanting it to this strange place they call Germany.
  1. Cats tend to be mightily pissed off about being incarcerated in a small box and put on an aircraft for over 24 hours.
  2. Don't expect said cats to forgive you quickly - unhappy cats and jet lag are not the best of bedfellows.
  3. German efficiency is a fallacy, German precision is not.
  4. Patience is a virtue.
  5. If you are a fan of potatoes and pork, you'll think you are in Heaven, if not - welcome to Hell.
  6. Würst comes in many flavours, as long as it is pork.
  7. Queuing is not part of the national psyche - and don't even get me started about the lack of etiquette in relation to letting people alight the bus before trying to board.
  8. German beer is your friend - your very bestest friend ever.
  9. Germans do have a sense of humour (especially when poking gentle fun at the French).
  10. Patience is a virtue.
  11. Charades can be an effective form of communication.
  12. Mein Gott im Himmel, this place is green - just like a big garden - and it rains alot.
  13. Patience is a virtue.

4 comments:

Snooker said...

Congratulations on a year spent in the land of the Wurst!

Perhaps the next year will bring you some things about your new home which are more positive. I know it was that way for me.

Helen said...

Snooker - I'm sure it will. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

G in Berlin said...

I absolutely agree with you on #3. It was a huge surprise to me.
On#5, I don't eat pork, so I can say that it is definitely more expensive here to eat meat, as pork costs 1/3 pf beef or chicken. And on #6, I eat lammwurst,putenwurst and hahnchenwurst all the time. I agree with the rest;-)

Helen said...

g in berlin - lammwürst! Lucky you. What I wouldn't do for a lamb and rosemary sausage. I'm confident that I will eventually be able to find a supply of fresh lamb locally. I just need to find a halal/Turkish butcher in town - I'm sure they are around, but I must do some exploring. Presently, we satisfy our lamb cravings with deep frozen lamb that comes all the way from New Zealand (obviously not the most ecologically sound option).