A christmas basket of updates

I’ve spent the entire month of December collecting wonderfully blogable material, and as Irony would have it, the more I collect, the less time I actually have to write about it.

I head back to the states in T-minus 19 hours but before I go I would like to first recap the events of December—if not for you, than for my own memory bank—and then officially document what my perspectives on Germany at the almost official half way point of this Fulbright adventure. (wow. )

Here is my brief and picture filled recap of the month of December:

Plätzen are German Christmas cookies. They are also famous for gingerbread houses, but that was a bit too much effort for my roommate and I on a Friday night...

Germany does a few things really well. I already mentioned the abundant vacation time, and if that weren’t enough: they ROCK Christmas. Buddy the Elf would feel right at home in any-town Germany during the Christmas (not holiday) season. Christmas markets on every corner offer the finest of festive nick-nacks and junk and (more importantly) a wide variety of hot alcoholic beverages in collectable mugs. The lack of open container laws allow Germans to shop for Christmas crap all nice and toasted. 

Here are a few pictures from Cologne, Lübeck, Vienna, and Salzburg.

Karlsplatz, Vienna at night

Pretzels in Salzburg...so german

Salzburg Altmarkt

"Kitsch" aka Christmas crap in  Lübeck (and sadly the only picture that turned out from that day)

Every market had it's own theme in Cologne. This one was "angels". I wish you could see how creepy the mugs looked....

In order to obtain these Christmas market pictures I had to do a lot of traveling. It’s really a rough life over here…let me tell you.  From December 8-12 I gallivanted around Salzburg and my old stomping ground, Vienna, with 2 high school friends who also happen to be Fulbright’s (what are the chances!?). Salzburg was beautiful and charming in the Alps with the snow, and we managed to absorb the cultural decadence of Vienna in one huge day. Here are a few pictures of our journeys.

My old Apartment in Vienna... life was rough then, too

The old party kitchen, newly inhabited by girls who take much better care of it

Tribute to the Plague in Vienna.. notice the decadent street decorations. Merry Christmas everywhere!. 

Our Vienna experience was topped off by watching the premiere of Don Giovanni in the famed Vienna Opera. Thanks to heavily subsidized culture in Vienna, we poor students could get standing room tickets to this incredible show for a mere 4 euro. Glad I don’t have to pay those taxes, and thank you Austria!

Our view. While far away, still right in the middle AND only 4 euro. 

Our opera goggles helped. 

In addition to gallivanting, December held within it a broadening of my German movie horizons (mostly in the form of watching Germany’s best looking specimen Til Schweiger in assorted romantic comedy’s)  an abundance of Christmas parties and 3 snow days. Even as an "adult" (?) Snow days are still the most exciting thing ever. Did I mention that life was rough over here?

And now for the important stuff: pre-homecoming perspectives on Germany and what I miss about the states (which indirectly tells you about what is lacking over here from my perspective).

• FREE REFILLS
• ·      Ice Water 
• Positive attitudes and general optimism 
• People wearing kakhis and nice clothes
• Over the counter medicine
• Central air (and warm floors)
• Water fountains
• NO SMOKING!
• Free public bathrooms
• Big Kitchens
• Big BEDS, BLANKETS, MATTRESSES…my mattress here sits on a bed of wood planks and is 2 inches thick and my down comforter could fit comfortably on a toddlers bed.
• Garbage disposals—(did you know that Germans have never heard of something in the sink that grinds up the stuff you don’t eat and takes it away? Germans of all socio-economic classes collect their scraps and food and eggshells etc in a plastic bag and a micro sized trashcan and have to empty it in the correct compost pile when they take out the trash—which takes a long time because ALL of the trashcans are micro sized and sorted for paper, plastic, bio, and rest. YUCK)
• DRYERS. For real.
• Saying hi with a smile.
• Pandora, Hulu, Netflix, and the majority of music and/or videos on Youtube
• Mexican food
• 569-DINE/ take out/delivery in general
•  Cheeseburgers
• Ranch Dressing

I’ll stop at that. I’m not back YET, and this list is just making me hungry now.

And here are the ways I think I’ve become German so far… It'll certainly be interesting to see how I feel when I’m actually IN the states, and if there will be any unexpected culture shock.

·     

• I take short showers (no wonder Europeans smell SO good)
• I wash the dishes without constantly running the water
• I answer “how are you?” with a neutral to negative response (though I can’t wait to change this)
•  I ask about politics in casual conversation almost immediately
• I state my opinions more directly than before, though I’m still pretty American in my politeness and passive speech
• I unplug things when I’m not using them
• I walk and/or ride my bike everywhere (including through and in the snow)
• I wear pants to work out (again… looking forward to changing this)
• I go grocery shopping several times a week to get what I will make for THAT night, but not more (this phenomenon has to do with very small refrigerators I believe)
• I eat everything on my plate (I think this one has to do with the aforementioned bio-trashcan)
• I dream in German now
• I wear socks and thick shoes all the time, and take my shoes off at the door
• I eat a cold, medium sized breakfast, BIG hot lunch, and cold snack for dinner
• And most scarily of all, as I was walking home from a friends house a few nights ago around 11:30PM, I stopped myself at the "DO NOT WALK" sign. There were no cars for miles and it was the middle of the night, but I could NOT make myself walk across the street. When I finally got tired of waiting I felt as exhilarated and nervous as if I had just completely and intentionally run a red light with my car. This is a pretty big sign that I have, in fact, started becoming very german. 

I look forward to viewing America and my time in germany from a new angle once I finally get home. I mean, sorry, IF I get home. 

I’m praying like a righteous woman that the northern European sno-pocolypse stops in time for all the American students and fulbrighters trying to get home for the holidays. Prayers and good luck in this direction would be greatly appreciated. 18 hours and 11 minutes! 

See you soon!