2 months!

Into the second month! Weekend in Austria was amazing with a wonderful family and many great memories. The video in the upper left shows the actual Christkindlemarkt (Christmas Market) we went to in Vienna. In other news- Ian has almost got a job (woohooo!)& we are continuing to work on papers (sigh). NEXT- London.

We have added some new features to the blog. On the lower left there is a link of sights in Berlin. We also have a slideshow of our pictures in the left hand column. We are currently trasferring our pictures from Webshots to Flickr so if you wanna look at either disorganized mess of pics just go to either of those sites and look up beakymcgee & the photos will be there.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I think Ian & I are just going to go scavenge around & buy a 1/2 a chicken! Maybe if we're lucky we'll find a place that will show the Macy's Day Parade & football. That's the essence of Thanksgiving right?

The Continental Shelf

One of the biggest differences I've found about our apartment in Germany and our old apartment back home (besides of course the shower in the kitchen), is the idiocy of our German toilet. I hope you all don't mind, but I shall try my best to describe this phenomenon.

Like most toilets around the world, you would expect to poo right directly into the water at the bottom of the toilet bowl; however, many toilets here in Germany have a small porcelain shelf that catches the poo. Then when flushing (and hoping the water pressure is good enough and the poo not too hearty), the poo should just slide right off into the lower basin and disappear forever as it should.

This "lay and display" idea is monstrous to me. It just sits there on the top shelf and continues to stink up the bathroom the entire time as you try and finish as quickly as possible. Gone are the lovely days of crossword puzzles and PSP games while I passed through one of life's many pains in the asses... yes, the pun was intended. And I thought Germans were the best engineers...

We're ready for our close-up Mr. DeVille

We have been trying to organize our huge load of photos since arriving but have had numerous requests to just see the pics SO:
http://community.webshots.com/user/beakymcgee
they are a bit of a mess which we will keep working on. In the meantime- enjoy

(if you have trouble with the link just go to webshots & the username is beakymcgee)

Alcohol anyone?

At times it may appear Americans have a peculiar relationship with alcohol, but I have come to believe we ain't got nothing on Berlin baby!

The recycling here is amazing but has led to some strange sights around town. It is more economical to buy a case of 20 beers each time because you pay a deposit on each beer to be refunded upon return. You buy your case of .5 L 20 beers + case and when you bring it back get 3 Euro to spend at the store next time! however, there is the ordeal of taking the case back to your home. One person on each side with people on bikes whizzing by, kids running away from their moms....it is tempting to use the case like a battering ram & just take people out.

When shopping for beer, woe be to those that do not check alcohol content. You may be sipping on your first beer of the evening thinking "Gee, I feel a little funny" only to later find that beer you were sipping on was 9% and you are waking up with a killer hangover the next morning.

And if this were not all strange enough, there is the alcohol aisle. Ah yes- an entire aisle of Hard A in just about every mini-mart, grocery store, or mom & pop shop. The varieties of Vodka, Rum, and variations of Jaegermeister Oh My! We walked in to a grocery store, innocently checking out the vegetables when we stumbled upon a free sample- of vodka. "Oh yes sir", I would like to sample that vodka. A word you learn quick in Germany is "probiert", it means to try & is often followed by free goodies.

The last little oddity I will talk about here is the drinking on the streets. Ian has adapted to it quite quickly, but I still feel a little scandalous taking a swig out in the open air. Gone are the ways of concealing alcohol that we see in the States: no paper bags, backpacks, or mislabled pop bottles. People drink proudly- it is fierabend all week for some. My eyes have been opened, for better or worse, that drinking in Germany is a whole different sport.

(p.s. Why is there a picture of strange guys in ledehosen? This group of teens dropped their crate of beer in Marienplatz, Munich on their way to Oktoberfest- and they were laughing! That's how you know they were drunk)

On a completely different note- we are off to Austria on Friday! A family friend is going to show us around her town of Ebreichsdorf as well as Eisenstadt, Baden, and of course Vienna. To the Alps!

Football in Deutschland

Football, the kind played with your hands- not your feet. Elusive in Berlin, Ian was able to hunt down a game in Freidrichshain with a bunch of other fans. We made it just in time for the highly anticipated Patriots v. Colts game & the room was packed! A lot of American guys, a German or two, & a Swede all fell into speaking in English with all fo its colloquialisms & slang. We have resisted the temptation to hang out with English speakers till now, but the trade off was some leads on jobs, advice on how to go forward, and proof that other determined Americans landed in Berlin without much of a plan & have thrived. Thank you Toy Town, thanks fellow ex-pats, and most of all thank you football (although the Colts should have won).

They love stamps... lots of stamps.

Well, Ebe and I are officially registered with the local town hall. A rule in Germany is that you must register with your local town hall whenever changing addresses. We've been kind of bad and waited until today to do it. The process wasn't all that difficult, but we were a little nervous going in because our landlady has never registered, so we didn't want to get her in trouble. Needless to say, after a few questions in German, a glance at our passport, and some data input, we were given a piece of paper with a stamp showing that we have officially registered.... yay. Apparently German bureaucracy loves stamps. We finally have a document that is stamped, and now all we need are a few more to finally apply for an extension on our VISA.

After all this, I think I need a coffee. Which reminds me of a little rant I had with Ebe outside the Fernsehturm one day. Back home, Seattle being home of course, you order a coffee and you have your choice of 4 different sizes... short, tall, grande, and venti. Germany seems to have the choice of two... small or large, and the large isn't even that big! I order a large and get a cup of coffee the size of a short back home! Now, if I can still hold my hands still enough to perform a vasectomy on Kevin Federline, the coffee was too damn small. If I'm not running for the nearest john for fear of befouling my pants after my cup of coffee, the coffee was too damn small. I want to be shaking like a whore in church or Michael J. Fox after my coffee. Oh sweet Seattle barristas, how I miss thee.

German v. American

There are many subtleties to appreciate in the difference between Germans & Americans. Ian & I are going to watch a football game tonight & Ian posted to the group to ask about details. An interested German also had some questions. Guess which one is Ian:

nw2berlin
Post #99

So Salama's tonight eh? What is the going rate for beers there? Do they have any specials or anything? This dollar/Euro conversion is really kicking my ass.


winterfeld
post #100

I'm new within this topic, .. is it possible to join your group this evening in Salamas bar?