Tue, Mar 25th 2008, 09:31
Today was a good day because I opened my mail box and had three post cards inside! How exciting.
Essen, Germany
The first postcard is from a city in West Germany. The first thing I was curious about, was the city's name. In German, essen is the verb to eat. Oddly enough, the city's name has nothing to do with eating. Supposedly its name has changed several times, and its origins are disputed. It could be from the Old High German word for fireplace, Esse, because of the city's industrial history.
Berlin, Germany
I'm pretty sure that everyone has heard of Berlin. It is the capital and largest city in Germany, and only a couple of hours north of Dresden. Most of us Americans have probably heard of Berlin because of the Berlin Wall, which separated the west side of the city from the east. After WWII, Germany was split apart by the allies, and the east fell under the control of the Soviet Union. East Germans were not allowed to enter West Germany until 1989 when the wall fell.
San Mauro Torinese, Italy
San Mauro is a region in the Province of Turin in Northwestern Italy. San Mauro means beautiful beach in Latin. Unfortunately, that is all of the information I could find on it.
Today it is snowing in Dresden, and it hasn't snowed all winter. It reminds me of Flagstaff, where it seemed to always snow at Easter.
April, April. Der macht was er will.
April, April. It does what it wants.
No Comments yet
Mon, Mar 24th 2008, 08:34
Postkarten aus aller Welt:
Post cards from all over the world
This is a new series where I will show a postcard I've gotten and then use the opportunity to learn a little about the place it came from.
Mpumalanga Province, South Africa
This is the first postcard I have received through Post Crossing. It is actually from a woman in Germany, not from South Africa.
Mpumalanga means "the place where the sun rises" in Swazi.
Some of the oldest rocks on the planet are exposed in the mountains of Mpumalanga (3.5 billion years). Extensive mining is done in the province, including gold and platinum.
It is also a popular tourist destination. People come to see Kruger National Park, which is the largest game reserve in South Africa, and also the Sudwala Caves, which are the oldest known caves in the world (240 million years).
1 Comment(s)
Sun, Mar 23rd 2008, 04:04
Going to the movies.
Back home, going to the movies was one of my favorite things to do. When I was little my mother used to sign us up for the Summer movie specials where they would play a children's movie every week. We would always have popcorn and a soda. My mother still takes us to the movies very often, so it is not hard to understand why it has become one of my favorite things to do.
When I moved to Dresden, I was worried that I would not be able to go to the movies anymore, because Germany dubs all of the films from the U.S. (which also causes their release to be delayed here).
Luckily, Mike and I discovered that the local movie theater, UFA Kristallpalast Dresden has an English movie special.
Every Sunday and Wednesday night at 8pm they play an English film in its original version, and the tickets are only 4 Euros each. Of course, these movies have usually been out in the U.S. and in Germany for a while before they play them in English. But I have still been glad to be able to go occasionally.
At first when we started going to see movies like Rush Hour 3 and Because I Said So (I strongly recommend that you do not see either of these films), we were practically alone in the theater, except for a few people. But the last two times we went to see the Atonement and Elizabeth: The Golden Age, the theaters were packed with German teenagers, who must have realized that the tickets for English films were cheaper than the normal ones. (Atonement was great, Elizabeth was a bit boring).
In the movie theaters here they give you seating assignments, which I really hate. Even when the theater is only half full, you are forced to sit right next to everyone. If you sit in the wrong seat, it is almost guaranteed that someone will show up telling you it is theirs.
Also different, are the concession stands, where they sell alcoholic beverages, sweet or plain popcorn, and chips & salsa which they call "takitos". Most Germans I've met think that the idea of popcorn with butter is disgusting. But I definitely miss it (see my previous post Heimweh).
The next few weeks they are playing movies I am not very interested in seeing (Hitman, Alien vs. Predator). That's the only problem, that there are not any options. The next movie we plan on seeing is Sweeney Todd on April 27th or 30th. I only hope that I am well enough to go, since that is very soon after I get my wisdom teeth pulled.
No Comments yet
Sat, Mar 22nd 2008, 05:15
The topic of this blog came up because today Mike and I needed some groceries. But Dani has the car, so we had to walk to Aldi, when we usually shop at Kaufland.
Aldi has hardly any brand names (they don't even carry Coca-Cola), so I was surprised when I came across this bag of Trader Joe's Walnuts.
I became interested in how a brand like Trader Joe's would show up in a discount market in Germany, so I did a little "lazy" research on Wikipedia.
Aldi (which is short for Albrecht Discount) was started by two German brothers, Karl and Theo Albrecht. It has split into two groups, Aldi Nord (North) and Aldi Süd (South).
These two brothers are retired, but they are two of the wealthiest men in the world and the wealthiest in Germany.
Trader Joe's is a specialty grocery store headquartered in Monrovia, California. They are known for carrying gourmet, organic, imported, and unusual foods.
In 1978 Trader Joe's was bought by a family trust set up by the Albrecht brothers.
So....mystery solved.
And I have heard that there are Aldi stores in the U.S., but I have never been to one. I read online that they operate similiarly to the stores in Germany, meaning that they charge for bags and require a coin to rent a cart. Have any of you been to an Aldi store in the U.S.? You can take this chance to try out my new website feature: blog comments!
(Click on link below to leave a comment).
1 Comment(s)
Fri, Mar 21st 2008, 08:03
Heimweh
homesickness,
heim:
home
, weh:
sore
I've been thinking lately about what I will do when I get back to the U.S. in May. One thing I know for sure, is that I will be very gluttonous.
One of the first things on my list is my favorite thing to eat: Chili's Skillet Queso. Sure, it's bad for you, and it has mystery meat in it, but it is delicious! I will also enjoy having an iced tea that is not lemon flavored and actually has ice in it! With free refills!
This makes my stomach growl just thinking about it...taquitos from some cheap Mexican chain with guacamole and cheese, and tons of refried beans. Heavenly! I probably shouldn't be writing this on an empty stomach...
Something else that I will make sure to indulge in, is In-N-Out Burger. I love their freshly-made fries, the sauce on their burgers is delicious, and I could really use a chocolate milkshake right now! But I will probably be sick of them after my post-wisdom tooth extraction liquid diet.
American breakfast: bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, and pancakes (none of those stinking crepes!). I will probably go to to IHOP to enjoy this, since in Germany breakfast consists of bread, rolls, and spreads. It's a lot healthier, but a lot less fun! It would also be nice if my mom could make me some biscuits from her family's recipe.
I have been trying to control myself while I'm here, that means no clothing shopping! It is way too expensive, and I was a bargain shopper in the U.S. I can't wait to go to Saver's and sift through other people's trash for the occasional treasure! I love finding cool things there, like t-shirts for $2 (1.27437237 Euros)! None of the girls here wear t-shirts, unless they are exercising or sleeping. I guess it makes me stick out like a sore thumb, but I have never enjoyed being girly all the time, and I have never been fashionable.
My mouth is watering thinking about Marie Callender's Chocolate Silk Pie. I will definitely have to stop there and buy one (not the frozen kind!) I also enjoy eating at their salad bar on Chandler Blvd in Chandler!
I feel like my arteries are clogging, just looking at the picture. In Germany people do not eat popcorn with butter. Sure, I can make my own, or buy microwave stuff, but I can't get the greasy, artificial-buttery popcorn like at the movies in America! I can't wait to go to Harkins and see a new release (months before it plays here in English) and to eat my greasy popcorn.
Tonight Mike and I are going to eat at a restaurant we recently discovered in Dresden. It's called Chicago's and apparently they have a location in Magdeburg as well. They have daily specials, and on Fridays it's "La Fiesta Mexicana" Chips & Salsa, 2 cl Tequila,
and Fajitas with your choice of meat for only € 13,35!
We went there a couple of weeks ago and it was pretty great! In Dresden it is right next to an "American" bowling alley in Elbe Park. It looks just like Chili's or Applebee's with a sport's bar. The waiters are really friendly, and you almost feel like you are in the U.S. The food was pretty good, and I was really excited about having tortillas, guacamole, and chips & salsa. Everything was great, but the salsa was a little too sweet. I would recommend the chicken fajitas.
No Comments yet
