One of the best things in German culture is definately Bretzen. Such a lovely thing! If I ever moved out of Germany, I honestly don’t know how I will survive without my daily source.

What is the best place to get Bretzen in München? Go to Bretzelina. I think everybody has passed it in Stachus Passagen in Karlsplatz.  The best place, without a doubt. Really fresh stuff. It costs a bit more than in your average Bäckerei, but I don’t think 60 cent is a lot.

I recommend!

Apparently there’s quite a fe things that I find unbearable here in Germany! Fortunately they are just petty things. In general I absolutely love München.

However, grocery stores. Cashier. Why do they not have bigger space to load the paid items into one’s bag? Do you know what I mean? I’m used to that I can take my time to put all the things into my plastic bags. Here the standard is that there isn’t enough space so when I have paid my things the next in queue is giving me the evil eye for not hurrying up.

Go figure. Maybe it is just my problem.

I love the ice cream cafes in München. Thank heavens for the big Italian population here in Monaco (Italian name for München)! They make sure that we get good ice cream.

My favorite place is Scarletti in Neuhausen. Their have more than enough of flavours to choose from… The service is friendly and also my allergic husband can get his special portion there. You might want to prepare for a long queue as it is quite popular amongst the locals.

But the wait is worth it.

I love Euro, I really do. In my opinion evey European country should join the Eurozone immediately. It is so handy to have the same currency! Some countries opted not to have it, like Denmark and Sweden, but I’m pretty sure their opinion will change at one point.

Finland made a drastic decision with the Euros when it was taken as the official currency. We blocked out 1 and 2 cent coins entirely. Finland is an expensive country compared to some other Euro countries so I don’t think we would have used those much anyway. The smallest coin therefore is the 5 cent coin.

So in the list of Things that drive me grazy in Germany are definately those small stupid coins. They only fill up space in my pocket and I hardly use them. I roll my eyes and prepare for a long waiting when in the queue Frau Schwarz takes out the purse and start to give the cashier all the small coins…

In my opinion, the least useful invention in the world: 1 cent coin!

The last days of the school are here!

Isar

Today we had a test in the class. We had to write an essay about Germany or München. On Wednesday we will get it back. Fortunately I had already written a blog posting about the German TV, so I wrote about the same subject. The topic was clear so I could concentrate on the grammatics etc.

Do you know the feeling when you all of the sudden realized that you made one awful mistake again and again? I had that about 10 minutes after the test when we were reading a text in the class. “Ein Mann”, 2 N’s: “man” with 1 N when you use the passive form.

Live and learn.

I don’t know about you but one thing that drives me crazy in Germany is the TV. Or more precisely the dubbing. In Nordic countries we do not dub, but watch the programs in their original language with subtitles.

I am not fluent enough to follow the German TV. Therefore I do not have a clue about current discussion topics for the average German. My knowledge of local news is close to zero, I’m afraid.

What I try to follow are some veeeery light programs. My favorite is “Slag den Raab”, a game show without a heavy discussion. The music shows are also easy to follow. At leat I try something!

We have about 40 channels in our household. The TV is usually turned on BBC or such English-speaking channel. I just cannot bear to watch some popular international shows in German. Let me ensure you, “Sex and the City” was a pure nightmare in German. Carrie just does not sound like that originally!

So TV is out of a question in my freetime. What we do is rent plenty of DVD’s nowadays. Fortunately usually the original tone is automatically included there. Thank heavens for DVD’s.

I have lived in a few of the flattest countries on earth, namely Denmark and Finland. The highest point of Denmark is 171 m (!). In Finland the hills reach up to 1300 m, but I come from the area where there is none of that in sight.

So guess what I’m doing when I drive up to the Alps? Yep, it’s “oooooh” and “aaaah” and “look at that” all the way.

Last weekend I visited Oberstdorf which is about 2,5 hour drive from München. It is a nice little town in the middle of mountains and there is plenty to do in the area. The town center is car-free and it is very compact. The shopping opportunities are not the greatest unless you want to buy outdoorsy clothing. Plenty of restaurants, the turist-info is helpful (and they speak English) and even in this out-of-season time it is very lively. Cannot but recommend!

Below are some photos of Nebelhorn and Söllereck peaks where we visited.

In the class today we had an interesting discussion about women’s situation in different countries: do women work, when do they get married, have children etc. I was suprised that it seems to be mainly in Germany where the whole Hausfrau thing is still strongly alive. Naturally our survey was limited, but we had representatives from European countries all the way to Equador.

I am, too, here as a Hausfrau. It is not that I prefer to, but it is hard to find a job if your German skills are limited. Most likely I would get some cleaning job etc but as I have 2 university degrees, I find it as a bit of waste of my skills. So instead, I have decided to put my energy on learning the language.

I am certain that I am not unique. How much potential is Germany loosing on Housewives?

Germany is a country where single income families are supported. Here we can survive with just a husband bringing the bread on the table. In other countries the women work because they simply have to. They do not necessarily have an option to stay at home with the children.

So here I have opted not to enter the working life unless I find something meaningful to do. It truly is a luxury situation. Instead of working long hours I can take more part in my daughter’s life, embrace the new German culture the way I want to, do the things I like.

Long live the Hausfrauen!

I missed the lesson yesterday due to a totally jammed back. Well, instead I got to speak German and got my first experience of the German health care system.

I woke up at 3.oo AM and couldn’t move. Quite scary, actually! Even though I have lived here for more than a year I haven’t been to a doctor yet. I didn’t have a Hausarzt. Not a good thing when you are seriously in pain and have no idea where to go…

I rememberd I have seen a sign of an Arzt center from about a block from away where I live. Got there, barely, but I got a doctor attending to me immediately as nurses saw how much pain I had.

Then things moved along quickly. I got a neck supporter, pain medicin and a note for an X-ray at another medical center in the same building. Fortunately everything was ok. No problems with the spine, just muscle problems.

My experience of the German health care system? It works! I have a private health insurance so maybe that helps, too. It seems that the doctors speak fluent English and do not find it uncomfortable. At the reception and with the nurses I used German though. Hurray!

Hopefully my back gets better fast and I can come to lessions next week. The coming weekend will be boring if I don’t get to go anywhere. Fortunately the Eurovision song contest final is on Saturday!