first impressions
Mar. 10th, 2014 07:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deird1No longer being quite so jetlagged, I thought I'd resume my posting schedule.
Germany! Yay!
(Or, alternately, Germany! Grr!, depending on how I'm feeling at the time. Mainly this is connected to how much my ability to speak German is working.)
The Climate
It's cold!
Which requires warm clothing, but other than that it's actually warmer here than in Australia - because the houses are all set up to keep the cold at arm's length, with double glazing and ridiculous levels of insulation. The temperature the house was set to (24 degrees) was actually way too hot for us. We kept walking inside and wanting to remove about six layers of clothing.
It's rather amusing at the moment, because we're experiencing what would be a slightly colder than normal winter - whereas all of the Germans reckon that spring is in full force (judging by the flowers, they're right), so they're all busy eating ice-cream. We huddled over mugs of hot chocolate yesterday, with ice-cream eaters surrounding us on all sides.
The Food
I love the hotel breakfasts you get in Germany. Always have.
In Australia, your standard at-home breakfast will be cereal or toast. The fancy breakfast you get when staying somewhere includes cereal, toast, and bacon and eggs and possibly sausages. (Maybe even pancakes.)
In Germany, I have yet to determine what Germans eat for breakfast when they're at home. But judging by their hotel breakfasts, I'm guessing it includes meat and cheese. At any rate, the fancy hotel breakfasts are: bread rolls, cheeses, sliced meats, croissants, pretzels, fruits, and yoghurt. Washed down with fruit juice and tea.
YUM.
The Backwardsness
I knew it would take me a few weeks to adjust to the cars being on the wrong side of the road (and driving them! never done that before!), but I'd forgotten about the walking thing.
That being the fact that countries tend to walk on the side of the road that they drive on. I keep being on the wrong side of the escalator, walking past people on the wrong side of the footpath, and generally confusing everyone I encounter.
Combined with the fact that the pedestrian lights at intersections don't make loud noises at you when you're supposed to cross - so I keep not realising they've changed - and I'm a rather hazardous walker at the moment.
The SILENCE
Germans are not chatty people.
To put this in context:
- I am not an extrovert.
- I am VERY DEFINITELY an introvert.
- Every time I go to the supermarket in Australia, my non-talkative, introverted self will end up striking up a conversation with the person next to me in the checkout line - because it's what you do.
- I also nod and say "morning" to every person I walk past on the street, because it's Australia, and it's considered good manners.
Here? EVERYONE IS QUIET. They don't say hello when you walk past them, they don't make silly comments at the shops, and they generally mind their own business.
I AM CONVERSATIONALLY DEPRIVED. SEND EMERGENCY WORDS.
The Free Time
This is not so much Germany, and more the fact that we're living overseas. Hence, we do not have family close by, and we do not own a house.
Normally, our Sundays will include a church service, a brief visit to a random family member, and a whole lot of chores. Yesterday? We got up late, went to two church services, drove to a tourist attraction and walked around for a couple of hours, and still ran out of things to do.
We don't have our own house - and that comes with a lack of kitty litter changing, sweeping, fixing things, and gardening. Right now, it also comes with a lack of games (still en route) and a lack of baking (really need to buy an oven tray).
We're watching an awful lot of television.
How's everyone else going?
Germany! Yay!
(Or, alternately, Germany! Grr!, depending on how I'm feeling at the time. Mainly this is connected to how much my ability to speak German is working.)
The Climate
It's cold!
Which requires warm clothing, but other than that it's actually warmer here than in Australia - because the houses are all set up to keep the cold at arm's length, with double glazing and ridiculous levels of insulation. The temperature the house was set to (24 degrees) was actually way too hot for us. We kept walking inside and wanting to remove about six layers of clothing.
It's rather amusing at the moment, because we're experiencing what would be a slightly colder than normal winter - whereas all of the Germans reckon that spring is in full force (judging by the flowers, they're right), so they're all busy eating ice-cream. We huddled over mugs of hot chocolate yesterday, with ice-cream eaters surrounding us on all sides.
The Food
I love the hotel breakfasts you get in Germany. Always have.
In Australia, your standard at-home breakfast will be cereal or toast. The fancy breakfast you get when staying somewhere includes cereal, toast, and bacon and eggs and possibly sausages. (Maybe even pancakes.)
In Germany, I have yet to determine what Germans eat for breakfast when they're at home. But judging by their hotel breakfasts, I'm guessing it includes meat and cheese. At any rate, the fancy hotel breakfasts are: bread rolls, cheeses, sliced meats, croissants, pretzels, fruits, and yoghurt. Washed down with fruit juice and tea.
YUM.
The Backwardsness
I knew it would take me a few weeks to adjust to the cars being on the wrong side of the road (and driving them! never done that before!), but I'd forgotten about the walking thing.
That being the fact that countries tend to walk on the side of the road that they drive on. I keep being on the wrong side of the escalator, walking past people on the wrong side of the footpath, and generally confusing everyone I encounter.
Combined with the fact that the pedestrian lights at intersections don't make loud noises at you when you're supposed to cross - so I keep not realising they've changed - and I'm a rather hazardous walker at the moment.
The SILENCE
Germans are not chatty people.
To put this in context:
- I am not an extrovert.
- I am VERY DEFINITELY an introvert.
- Every time I go to the supermarket in Australia, my non-talkative, introverted self will end up striking up a conversation with the person next to me in the checkout line - because it's what you do.
- I also nod and say "morning" to every person I walk past on the street, because it's Australia, and it's considered good manners.
Here? EVERYONE IS QUIET. They don't say hello when you walk past them, they don't make silly comments at the shops, and they generally mind their own business.
I AM CONVERSATIONALLY DEPRIVED. SEND EMERGENCY WORDS.
The Free Time
This is not so much Germany, and more the fact that we're living overseas. Hence, we do not have family close by, and we do not own a house.
Normally, our Sundays will include a church service, a brief visit to a random family member, and a whole lot of chores. Yesterday? We got up late, went to two church services, drove to a tourist attraction and walked around for a couple of hours, and still ran out of things to do.
We don't have our own house - and that comes with a lack of kitty litter changing, sweeping, fixing things, and gardening. Right now, it also comes with a lack of games (still en route) and a lack of baking (really need to buy an oven tray).
We're watching an awful lot of television.
How's everyone else going?
no subject
Date: 2014-03-10 10:46 am (UTC)Darcy did some filming in Bavaria a year & a half ago. One of the crew was vegetarian. When asking in the local pub/restaurant whether they had something without meat, he was met with general hilarity and disbelief. What could you possibly eat other than meat???
I AM CONVERSATIONALLY DEPRIVED. SEND EMERGENCY WORDS.
This made me laugh out loud. :)
no subject
Date: 2014-03-10 06:03 pm (UTC)Gabrielle
no subject
Date: 2014-03-11 09:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-11 09:35 am (UTC)I try. :)
This country really does seem to think that bread and meat are what one should eat at every meal.