Sunday, March 1, 2009

This is not Mississippi

So, I haven't much to tell you, minus the fact that my mom and sister are for sure coming to visit me! They've made reservations at a local hotel, received their FIXED passports, and purchased airplane tickets. It is really happening, and I'm counting down the days! I want to update my blog, so I have been keeping a running list of differences between here and home. Some of these differences are European, some German, and some are just local to Dresden. There are plenty more to come.

1. They like to eat standing up at some places, like the mall or McDonalds.
2. You cannot leave your key in the door on the inside and expect to be able to open from the outside. Not cool.
3. They’re a lot more affectionate.
4. They like extreme colors in their hair.
5. Germans recycle everything. Including plastic bottles with soft drinks. And plastic bags for bread.
6. BODY ODOR.
7. Shoes are taken off at the front door and replaced with slippers.
8. They repeat outfits… a lot.
9. Toilets do not have handles.
10. Salsa = suck
11. Their tops to plastic bottles are really strange. Let me see if I can explain this: Instead of having two pieces break apart when the seal is broken, the lower half piece just splits apart from itself in two places, but stays connected to the top half of the top. VERY annoying.
12. They don’t commonly sell antiperspirant. Only deodorant.
13. Their light switches aren’t like ours. They’re similar to clickers.
14. They don’t give refills.
15. They don’t use ice in their drinks.
16. Their cars are tiny. Like a baby.
17. They don’t sell very spicy things.
18. They don’t like cinnamon candy.
19. You have to pay for bags for groceries and convenient stores.
20. They don’t use trashcans at fast food restaurants. Instead, they have places for you to set your tray.
21. They don’t tip. If they do, it’s very little.
22. They listen to American music everywhere.
23. They sell their milk and juice in VERY small cartons.

That's all for now. Stay tuned.

German word:
der Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung--speed limit

Shoes to Slippers

Small Cartons

No handles for toilets

Crazy bottle top

Light "switch"


All the trash to be recylced

6 comments:

Spring said...

Love this post... so funny! Keep 'em coming! And I promise there's an email coming your way... it's a work in progress! Have a good week! ;)

Anonymous said...

HEY DAY! HOPE YOU ARE GREAT! I ENJOYED GOING TO DINNER WITH YOUR FAMILY THE OTHER NIGHT FOR TODD'S BIRTHDAY., ALTHOUGH, IT WASNT THE SAME WITHOUT YOU AND CORKY!!! TALK TO YOU SOON AND STAY SAFE!!! TK

Laura said...

Hey Day Day-
we are so looking forward to talking with you on sunday. love this post!keep up the good work-
MA

Katie said...

oh day!
what a funny list to read. :)
I love that they recycle so much - just today, I went to recycle the empty bread bag, and felt a little crazy doing it, but your germans make me feel more sane!
keep the list coming - it's such a neat way for us over here to see a bit of german life! it's those little things like light switches and milk cartons that make it such a foreign experience...
keep workin hard dayday... the prayers for yall are still coming!!
love you and miss you :) and i'm glad to hear the germans are so affectionate! you know a few extra hugs everyday is right up my alley!

prin said...

Does the milk expire in a short time? When I was in Ireland, it expired in three days...

And the deodorant thing? From what I've learned in my dog food research, Germany is way concerned (and ahead of us over here) about carcinogens. Maybe since the active ingredients in antiperspirant have been linked clearly to breast cancer, they try to prevent the public from over-consuming it... Or maybe they just don't know. lol

How is the meat? I somehow expect German meats to be wicked awesome. :D

Day said...

Yeah, the milk has a very short life over here, like 3 to 5 days! And meat--they love pig in all forms and fashions. I'm not complaining, tho! The turkish folks that live here have definitely made lamb popular over here, too. So yes, German meat is pretty wicked awesome!