The Little Things Pt.1
I have been reading lots of blogs and getting all kinds of neato ideas for mine. I am hoping to have lots more time now to devote to writing.
The first series I would like to do is called "The Little Things" in which I will show pictures and/or discuss the many little things that make Germany so different for me. People often ask me what the main differences are, and it is so hard to sum them all up briefly, so I thought this would be a more interesting way to show you.
Since I just came up with this idea this evening, the first things are from my apartment.
For me, these were some of the first differences I noticed when I arrived and stayed at Mike's parents the first night.
The doorknobs and light switches are different! None of the doors fit into the frame, like they do in the U.S. Instead they kind of rest in front of it. I have seen no round doorknobs like in the U.S., and just about every door in the house has a key so you can lock someone in or out of it.
I suppose because most of the buildings in Germany are older and have to be retro-fitted for heaters and such, they are quite an eye-sore. The heaters use water to heat, and there are several of them in every room. They take up a lot of space and they are quite noisy. The heaters in our bedroom have a leak, so we often have to let the air out so they start working again!
I must admit that our washing machine is quite confusing. There are so many selections, and you can also choose the temperature, the length of time, and the speed. I have to say that I usually just pick the shortest cycle and use that one everytime, since I have no clue what they all mean anyways. People wash their clothes for, on average, two hours and at much higher temperatures than in the U.S. And I really do miss having a dryer....
Since coming to Germany I have enjoyed collecting the toys inside Überraschungseier (surprise eggs) made by Kinder. This is a picture of the Strand Nase series (beach nose) which I collected last fall. Most of the eggs have cheap Asian toys inside of them, and Mike always seems to open the ones with the good ones inside. Dani swears he can pick them out by the sound they make when he shakes them next to his ear, but I have yet to see him find one by doing that. Apparently the toys are worth something, but I don't really know about that.
Here is our number from one of the many visits we made to the Ausländersamt (foreigner office). There is a lot of paperwork to be done in order to stay in Germany legally, and you must register with the city you live in. We thought that this number adequately represented the unpleasantness of the office.