Returning and Readjusting to America

Well, it's was a long and excellent journey, but we've been home in the USA for about a month now. Our last few days in Germany were spent visiting our favorite places in Leipzig and also spending two days in Berlin. We stayed in a hostel not far from the airport and were able to see all of the standard sights--Brandenburg Gate, Under den Linden, the Reichstag, the TV tower, the Halocaust Memorial, the Opera House, the Berlin Wall/Checkpoint Charlie, and Charlottenburg. The contrast of new and old was especially interesting in Berlin. The city has been through a lot in recent decades. It was, as usual, a very busy two days, and we were successful in using nearly all of our Euros to avoid bringing home piles of change.

Our final journey of the trip started with an S-Bahn trip, a bus trip, and a very early morning at Tegel airport in Berlin. I was successful in locating the earplugs I need to fly and a Starbucks. The airport is not very well labeled and it took ages to successfully locate our gate. Security was a breeze, though, and we had plenty of time. Our first flight was to Warsaw, Poland. There was a delay, but we were promised that we would still be able to make it to our connection to Chicago. We made it to Warsaw and I was able to buy a few magazines in English to read on the flight to Chicago. All of my books were read and the Kindle couldn't download any more, so I decided it was worth it to pay the ridiculous price for some familiar reading material.

The airport in Warsaw was lovely, but Polish Airlines (LOT) was a little disorganized. There was some confusion during boarding and some odd moments when a passenger tried to convice me I should switch seats and sit alone for a 10 hour flight. In case you didn't know, flying is not one of my favorite activities, and sitting alone doesn't make it any better. We worked out the seating arrangement and were on our way. The plane left Warsaw at 12:30 pm and was set to land at 3:30 pm in Chicago. There were some kids near us that were entertaining at first, but quickly turned annoying when all of the other 10 year old boys on the plane came over with their Pokemon cards and played some intense Pokemon in the aisle of the plane. Then, they started to play hide and seek, which, in all honesty, is a pretty terrible plane game. Their antics made an already long flight seem longer. However, there were adorable and well-behaved children as well, so it evened out a little bit around Canada. :)  It turns out that I don't particularly care for LOT's food either, so I was very happy to finally be approaching Chicago, where I knew Giordanno's was waiting for me.

When we finally landed, it was 3:30 pm, but it felt like 10:30 pm to us. Since we'd been on the train en route to Tegel at 6:00 am, it had been a long, long day. Customs went smoothly enough, but there was definitely a line and a long wait for our baggage. We were greeted with a thunderstorm, two completely dead cell phones, and humidity. Bryan used his first pay phone since 1998 and Rob and Judi were on their way with Diet Cokes and cookies for all! We had plans to meet Bryan's brother and his fiancee for dinner, but had enough time for real showers (the hostel showers didn't count) and for a bit of mail sorting (I may or may not have done a significant amount of online shopping and had it sent to Bryan's house) before we headed out to Giodanno's. Real deep dish pizza was the best choice for our first American meal in two months! It also felt a little like Christmas since we had so many presents to give out.

The next day, it was back to reality. We stopped in Rochelle for lunch with my parents and then I was back to the QCA to get ready to head back to work and move. It was certainly a whirwind few days. I was very tired and a little out of it, but I didn't really have any time to think about it.

Since then, I have caught on up mail, started teaching, attended a bachelorette party, moved, unpacked, booked a wedding date/location, and taken a trip back to the burbs for Labor Day. I start graduate school classes this week and then will be maid of honor in a wedding this weekend. I'm also running a 5k, attending another wedding, and adjusting to living completely alone. It's been ridiculous to say the least. Bryan is back to classes full time, looking for/applying to jobs, and watching the real estate ads for Quad Cities mansions.

It's strange to be back, but I am adjusting. I have decided to cancel my cable and am also enjoying a lot more "unplugged" time as a result of our trip. We've also started brainstorming where our next big adventure might take us. For now, it will be the QCA and the Chicago suburbs, but hopefully somewhere more exotic is in our future too. This will be the last post, but stay tuned for future adventures! Thank you for reading; we were glad to be able to share our trip with you!

Flash Mobs and Garden Plots

On Tuesday, Bryan's boss invited us to visit with him and his family at their garden plot. I met Bryan after work and we had some time to kill before we started our tram and bus trip to their garden, so we had a pint on the town square. All of a sudden, "Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" (in German) began playing over the loudspeaker and people began to assemble in the middle of the street, take of their street clothes (they had swimsuits on), and began to do the Macarena dance. No, I am not making any of this up. 

Bryan's reaction to the dancing:

After recovering from all of the excitement, I did a little shopping (It's the most dangerous season here... summer sale season) and then we were on our way to meet Bryan's boss. We had a slight delay because Bryan helped an older gentleman figure out how to buy a ticket from the automated ticket machine, but we still made it to our designated meeting spot on time. Which is good, because we don't have phones and being late or having a change of plans is no good for us here.

Bryan's boss and his family have a plot in a large garden complex owned by the city. They rent their plot each year. There are hundreds of plots and each is unique. The garden plot movement in Germany began in the 1800s and is called the Schrebergarten Movement because of its creator. When Leipzig was a part of the GDR, the garden plots were crucial in being able to feed people, especially senior citizens. Now, it is more recreational, though 10% of each plot is required to be made up of edible plants. Some plots even have small structures on them and some people "move in" to their garden plots for the summer months. There were tons of bikers, people tending their plots, and people enjoying a cold beverage or two while children ran about. 

It took about 10 minutes to walk from the entrance to the family's plot. We sampled wild strawberries, gooseberries, and peas. It was delicious! The family also gave us some homemade jam to take with us. Being invited to spend an evening there was an absolute delight; we chatted (with heavy translation duties for Bryan) for about 2 hours about the garden and different travel topics. 

Here are some garden photos: 

If you look closely in the photo above, you can see some awesome tomato stakes. Seriously, these little guys are like art! They are plain metal and swirl up from the ground. Too bad they won't fit in my suitcase! :(

It was a beautiful night, so we decided to walk the 4 km (roughly 2.5 miles) home instead. The route was through a park and featured views like this:

After grabbing a quick dinner from a doner stand, it was time to sit down and relax!

This weekend, we'll be heading to Prague. I'm excited!

Eating Out in Germany (Daily Living Part V)

This will be the last post for the Daily Living series. The next time you'll hear from us we'll be back from Paris! As much as I don't like the idea of four flights in one weekend, I do like the idea of Paris!

Anyhow, we thought we'd fill you in on the restaurant scene here. The first question that Bryan gets asked is if he has enough to eat here (he's doesn't eat meat). He definitely does and actually thinks that it is easier to eat out here than at home.

We live in a larger city here, so there are tons and tons of options for a meal out. If it's dinner or lunch time, you will be able to find sit-down restaurants that feature Italian dishes, sushi, Asian dishes (Chinese, Thai, Japanese (yes, I know that sushi could be included), and Indian are all popular here), and traditional German dishes (wurst, potato dumplings, pork, cabbage, soups, and lots of dishes that feature potatoes, mushrooms, and some gravy). We've also learned that the best place for "American" style food is an Irish Pub. Our favorite here (Kildare City Pub) feautures burgers, veggie burgers (good ones), chicken burgers, and lots of wraps. It's my favorite place to eat!

Here's a link to the menu at our favorite place: http://www.kildare.de/de/getraenke-speisen/

Once you choose a sit-down restaurant, you can usually decide to sit inside or on a patio. Then, you choose your drink. Water is not provided automatically like it is at home and there are no free refills on soda. It is usually cheaper to drink beer or wine that two sodas. Let's just say that I have only had one Diet Coke since we've landed! :) After you order and eat your food, you have to flag down the waiter to pay your bill. Generally you pay in cash and some places won't accept any credit or debit cards at all. For a tip, it is generally accepted to round up to the nearest Euro. Waiters make a much higher wage here and gratuity is usually included on your bill anyway.

If you're not looking for a sit-down restaurant, there are plenty of other options. Bakeries have pastries, breads, cakes, and sandwiches as well. Doner Kebap (kebab) is a popular style of food here as well, especially for a quick lunch or a late night meal (Bryan says it's like Taco Bell in the US). Doner is essentially a meat sandwich, but these shops usually sell falafel and pizza as well. McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Subway, and Pizza Hut are also popular here. Nordsee is a take out fish restaurant that has a pretty delicious fish and chips plate. The best things about these sorts of places is that they usually have patios too.

Our local Doner Kebap (kebab) shop:

Signs advertising fast food:

For dessert, gelato is a really great life decision. It is very inexpensive and comes in a ton of flavors. Last night Bryan had raspberry and I had Tiramisu. It's no Whitey's ice cream, but it is pretty awesome! There are usually full on ice cream sundae parlors too. These dishes are extreme! We're talking 4 or 5 scoops of ice cream, sauce, candy, and maybe a cookie. There are also dishes that are made to look like plates of spaghetti, which is a little strange but still on my to do list. :) A piece of cake is another good plan (it's not like cake in the US). Plum, apple, and strudel cake are the best and are really more like a condensed crisp (like Apple Crisp) than a cake. Delicious!

Ice Cream Sundae Menu:

Spaghetti Eis (The picture does not do the similarity between real spaghetti and this justice):

Pflaumenkuchen (Plum cake):

If you want to eat like this all the time, remember that you need to walk everywhere! :)

Random Germany (Daily Living Part IV)

• Pillows here are terrible. They are flat and not comfortable.
• Beds here do not have a top sheet.
• Garbage cans and recycling cans change locations overnight. For example, these cans were outside of our apartment on Tuesday, but were gone on Wednesday. Also annoying is that there is ever a complete set of paper, glass, metal/plastic, food scraps, and garbage cans all in one location.

• Ambulances make the world's most terrible noise.
• Cashiers almost always ask you for exact change. Some will reach into your wallet even if you offer the exact cent amount but will require euro coins in return to search for more desirable denominations.

My rant here is finished, I think!

Getting Around Town (Daily Living Part III)

Getting around town is a bit different here than at home (though it's fairly similar to any major city in the US). Where I currently live in the US, cars are definitely the main way of getting around, though there are buses. Some people walk or bike as well, but to conduct daily business, most people drive. I understand that this might not be the case in bigger cities, but I think you'll understand.

Here in Leipzig, the main way that Bryan and I get around is by foot. I have never walked so much on a day to day basis (it's the secret to being able to eat so very many pastries). The walkers here, though, do not generally wear tennis shoes like we'd wear to the gym or flip flops. Sandals, dress shoes, flats, or tennis shoes in the style of Keds or Pumas are what walkers wear (myself included). It's generally pretty easy to get around by walking here.

For longer trips, biking is a popular choice. Many people commute by bike and there are bike racks, bike lanes, and special traffic signals for bikes everywhere. It is common to see people getting groceries or running other errands by bike as well. Pedestrians have to keep a watchful eye out, though, because bikers are sometimes allowed on the sidewalks and bikers here tend to weave in and out of pedestrian traffic. Sometimes a little dinging bell noise behind you can mean danger is about to strike! You can also rent bikes from several agencies here.

If the weather is bad or you need to go a long distance, there are buses and trams (streetcars or Straβenbahn) as well. For 2 Euros, you can make a one-way trip. I do believe that the tickets are good for an hour, plus there are day, week, and month tickets too. The tram system is awesome! There are trams very frequently and the tram cars are very clean. It is a bit tricky because sometimes you need to validate (time stamp) your ticket and other times you don't need to, but it is definitely a convenient service. Leipzig is currently constructing it's first underground train line, but it is not finished yet. The street level trams are more convenient for passengers, I think, because there are no steps or long walkways to reach the tram (like there is for an underground system or for a system like the L). Also, there is no stigma to using public transportation here like there sometimes is in the US.

There are definitely cars here, but most people do not use them for day to day travels around the city. The cars that do exist here are smaller than at home. My Honda Civic is average to large in terms of size and Bryan's Honda Fit is about the normal size. There are a lot of tiny cars here and very few SUVs (gas is more expensive). Parking here seems to be a partial free for all. Sometimes people double park on the street or park on the sidewalks. We've only seen three cars get parking tickets before tonight, though, when we saw a parking officer giving some more tickets.

The train system here can also be a little overwhelming. There's a commuter line, regional lines, Intercity Express lines, and several others that all leave from the same station. The station in Leipzig has 26 tracks (it's also the largest train terminal in Europe) and also contains a shopping mall. We've been in this station every weekend since we've arrived here and it truly has made all of our day trips possible. The trains are clean and usually very punctual.


Hopefully this helped explain how we've been getting around town here!

The German Workplace (Daily Living Part II)

My job in Leipzig is with the City Development Planning department with the City of Leipzig. Their job, in essence, is to prepare plans for specific parts of the city (for instance each block in the city center) and to work with private developers to build the best possible development for the city, its residents and the private developer. They also deal with a lot of European Union programs. The City applies for pretty much every grant they can find through the state and federal governments and the EU.

The reason I chose Leipzig over other (potentially more beautiful) cities in Germany is because up until about 2000 it was a shrinking city, which is what I want to form my master's thesis around. Since then, it has accepted that fact and dealt with it in the context of a post-industrial urban area. These aren't our best pictures we've taken, but this is the building where I work (on the fifth floor next to the large tower not pictured here):

 
 Most of what I do (in addition to data entry) is read through the material the department already has in English and make corrects and additions. This sounds like a simple enough task, but the nuances of the English language are ever so slightly mangled and destroyed by the efforts of the Europeans. For example, seven-line sentences are NOT okay in English. In German, those sentences actually make sense and are (relatively) readable. However, this does not make it okay in English.

The office life in Leipzig is somewhat different than in the US. The dress code is drastically more relaxed than all other offices I've worked in in the States. For instance, I showed up in khakis and a button-down shirt for my first day (which I didn't think was in any sense over the top), but found that I was incredibly over dressed. Turns out, jeans are generally acceptable for everyone except maybe the head of the department. The guy I share an office with, who must be around 40 years old, showed up in ratty jeans and a South African Springbok rugby jersey. He also feels that he must crush every key on the keyboard in order to type anything.

The lack of openness is also quite different here than in the offices I've worked in up until now. In America, nobody (with a few exceptions of course) closes and locks their doors in the middle of the day I feel. We are subdivided like suburbs into two-person offices that are connected via other doors (which are also shut at times). It's taken a little getting use to, but I have learned quite a lot about how German cities are structured and developed, and hopefully I can bring back that information to turn into some kind of thesis!

Grocery Shopping in Germany (aka Daily Living Part I)

As most of you know, Bryan and I are in Germany for two months this summer. We aren't quite tourists and we don't quite live here. This puts us in an interesting situation. We've had some friends and family members ask us what it's like to shop, work, and get around here, so we'll be posting this week about daily life.

Since we are subleasing an apartment, we cook quite a bit, just like we both do at home. This set-up requires that we grocery shop regularly. Grocery shopping requires prep work.

Step 1: Gather a backpack, tote bag, reusable shopping bags, and other carrying devices. If you don't bring your own bags, you will have to pay for ones at the store.

Step 2: Make sure that you have a 50 cent or a 1 Euro coin on hand if you plan to use a cart. You'll have to put a coin deposit down to get a cart.

Step 3: Put that coin back. You don't want to get a cart.

Step 4: Make sure you have cash or a debit card. Most stores don't accept credit cards.

Step 5: Get yourself to the grocery store and get ready for an adventure.

We are fortunate enough to live within 3 blocks of 3 different grocery stores: Aldi (yes, that Aldi,) Konsum (the fancier grocery store,) and Netto (a discount grocery store like Aldi). We shop at this Netto:

Most of the products are fairly similar to what you'd find at home in the US. However, there are definitely some interesting products that we would never see at home and some interesting twists on products we have at home. There are also some products that I will miss when I go home and some products from home that I can't seem to find here.

A typical trip to the store involves fresh produce (but not too much because it goes bad more quickly because it is actually ripe,) cheese, pasta, breads, chocolate, pizza making supplies, milk, beer, and wine. The prices are comparable to home, but the exchange rate makes the end result higher. Luckily, though, beer and wine are much, much less expensive than home. :)

Falling into the category of items that we would never see in the States:

These are like fish sticks, except they are filled with vegetables.

These are the fish you could serve with your vegetable sticks. This is marinated herring (pickled herring).

In addition to these two extreme examples, there are far more pickled items (carrots, cabbage, and the like,) spreads for crackers and bread, and more powder based sauces than you can imagine. In fact, there is an entire shelf of sauce mixes:

The next category of items is made up of familiar items with an unfamiliar twist. Mexican food doesn't seem to be well-understood here. It's almost as though someone misinterpreted the characteristics and ingredients common of Mexican food. For example, this is Mexican dip:

Roughly translated, this is "ideal with grilled meat and fish, potatoes, salad, vegetables, french fries, and toast." Interestingly enough, none of the Mexican restaurants I have ever been to really focus on those dishes served with dip. Tortilla chips here are more like Doritos, salsa is not spicy, and nachos just taste wrong. Also, tacos are tortilla chips. This is all quite confusing. However, it gets more confusing:

This is a Mexican fish fillet that is filled with corn and tomatoes. I don't really understand.

Milk is sold both cold and shelf-stable here and eggs are sold at room temperature. 

Potato chips are also different here. Besides Pringles, chips are all paprika (pepper) flavored. There is a large selection of paprika flavored snack items:

Coca cola, Sprite, and Pepsi are common here, as is mineral water, tonic water, etc. However, the containers are 1.5 L and most bottles include a deposit. It is common to see people on the street with gigantic containers of soda, juice and the like:

There are some foods that I have gotten really attached to. For example, Doppelkeks (Double cookies) are awesome! Bryan loves Doppelkeks too!

There are also some awesome salty snack packs here. There are tiny compartments of pretzels, crackers, etc. Bryan loves these more than anything else in the store.

Probably the best item is this:

Although there are tons of familiar and new, delicious items, there are some things from home that I miss. Macaroni and cheese doesn't seem to exist here, and I have been craving it for weeks! Brown sugar, canned soup, chocolate chips, and marshmallows are also not found in the grocery store. Some familiar American brands are in stores like Netto and Aldi, but the best bet for imports from home is the gourmet grocery store in the basement of the department store in the city center.

Overall, the grocery stores are much smaller and a larger percentage of the store is devoted to beverages, dairy products, and sauces than at home. The product section is also smaller than you would see at Hy-Vee. People tend to go shopping more frequently here, so you don't see overflowing carts with enough food for a week or more very often. It's taken some getting used to, but I would say I am now an experienced international grocery shopper.

I hope you enjoyed hearing a little bit about the more mundane details of our life here.

Touring the City

Hi All! This week we were fortunate enough to be able to tour some more of the city. Bryan's department was hosting a conference this week about the Straßenbahn (street car system) and how to plan a city around that type of transportation. Bryan's boss let us both come to one of the evening events: a tour of the city on a private Straßenbahn car. It was very generous of him and very cool! We got to ride around on an adorable tram (it was specially decorated) and go across the city while Bryan's boss explained what we saw.

We spent a lot of time in Grünau, which is a part of the city that contains a lot of old Soviet housing. It has a reputation for being a not so good part of town, but it's not as bad as it's reputation suggests. As Bryan says, "it's just that everyone is old." There are a lot of grocery stores and open areas, so it is actually convenient for older citizens to live there, but the city is concerned about getting more young people and families to move in.

However, when it is cloudy and gloomy, it can look pretty depressing:

We've noticed that the weather here can change in a matter of minutes. As we write this, it is both sunny and thundering outside. There have been two heavy rain showers today (and some hail), but the sun has been out inbetween. On Wednesday, one of our roommates invited us to a cookout, but we had to cancel because of a storm. This is what it looked like outside our window:

But within about an hour, it looked like this:

As for the rest of the week, we visited Leipzig's Weinfest in the main square. We sampled some wines and also listened to a jazz band. It was nice to recognize the words to some of the songs; several of their songs were in English. The band had some awesome hats with sunflowers on them and one of the members decided to perform a solo while standing on a table:

It was a pretty awesome festival. We were slightly younger than the target audience, I think, but we fit in pretty well.

One of our roommates is moving this week and had a going away party to celebrate. His party was on the first day of summer, and he cut down a tree so that he could dance around the Maibaum (May tree or May pole). It was highly amusing!

This week Bryan and I also found an "English" store. They sell a lot of tea and also some packaged food from England. The best part is that they have a lending library of books in English. I joined right away (it was 5 Euros) and have already read three books. When you are finished reading a book, you just exchange it. I am determined to make friends with the shopkeeper by the end of the summer!

Have a good weekend, everyone. We'll leave you with some random pretty photos from the week:

So, there are a few odd habits that are okay here. For example, it's apparently okay to walk around without shoes. The picture above was taken on a busy street in the city centre today. I don't really think it is okay, since the ground is covered in broken glass and cigarettes (I think everyone smokes at least a little). Oh, and you know, it's a public street!

Here are a few new pictures from this afternoon. There are two giant churches in the city centre. One of them is the church where Bach served as cantor. It also happens to be Bach fest right now. I've heard he is making a live appearance on Sunday.

Just kidding, guys! Bach's dead.

All of the taxis here are a pale yellow and are Mercedes, BMWs, or Volkswagons. Don't worry though, taxi drivers are just as reckless here as at home. That is an international trait it seems!

In addition to all of the pastries and Kuchen (cakes), there are a lot of street food. My current favorite is the Pommes (french fries) from a particular vendor on one of the main squares downtown. I like them plain. If you order ketchup, it gets squirted in a gigantic pile on top, which makes eating kind of gross and messy.
 

This is where Bryan works (more details from him below). I think the blue sign is the best thing ever. According to Bryan, it means that this pathway is a shared space. I think it was an excuse to put a lot of symbols on one sign. Either way, it is pretty sweet.

We went to a bar today that specializes in Paulaner, which is Bryan's favorite German beer. I tried Radler, which is beer mixed with Sprite. It was just about as good as it sounds... but there were a lot of bubbles, which was a definite plus. For dinner, we took our first foray into German food and stumbled upon a restaurant that seemed to specialize in vegetarian and gluten free food. Bryan had about 10 different options for dinner, which never happens! I had white asparagus (Finally! And it was everything I had hoped for!) in a chicken and cheese thick mixture/dip. Delicious! Hard to go wrong with that!

Below is a picture of the Altes Rathaus (the old city hall). Similar name to the building where Bryan works, but now it is a museum. It is surrounded by a giant construction site, several places to get gelato, and a Burger King with a patio.

Bryan: I've been learning a lot about Leipzig's post-socialist history this week. I'll be taking part in a conference/field trip next week about Straßenbahnen and city development. Straßenbahnen are streetcars that will run you down if you're not paying attention. They're the best. 

The Neues Rathaus where I work is a massive piece of industrial symbolism that (I was told) was meant to show Dresden (the royal, cultural neighbor city) that Leipzig was stronger and of course more important. I was also told that the tower is the tallest city hall tower in the world. I'm not sure if I believe it though.What I do believe, though, is that it is enormous and the seemingly unsafe pseudo elevator that does not stop is great when you work on the fifth floor (which I do). However, when you're on it between floors when the fire alarm goes off and it stops (which I was), it's quite an unsettling feeling.

That's about it... tell us what you've been up to! The best way is to e-mail or Facebook Steph. Bryan will likely never respond to you. Seriously.