Friday, March 30, 2018

American Home vs. German Home

We have lived in Germany for about seven of the past ten years, and sometimes we forget just how different our German home is when compared to an American home. Since we recently had my sister and her family here, they asked questions about some things and it made me remember just how different our home life is here.  Some things we love!  And some we would really change if we could.  Charlotte helped me make a list and take some photos to share.  My house isn't spotless in these photos, but I'm not trying to impress, just share and remember what this house was like.

One of the first things you see when you enter our German house are our shoes.  This is a cultural thing in a lot of countries, not just Germany, and I am a fan.  Outside shoes are taken off when you get home and you either walk around in your socks or Hausshuhe (house shoes; slippers)  We even have some pairs of machine washable Hausshuhe on hand in various sizes for visitors.  The floors are mostly hard and cold, so it is nice to walk around the house in your cozy inside shoes.  And there is less dirt and debris tracked around to clean up later.

The bathrooms have a lot of differences.  Let's start with flushing.  The little button is for a little flush, and the big button is for a big flush.  This particular toilet is floor mounted, but in our last German house and most newer homes, the toilets are wall mounted and there is no tank.  There is just a button on the wall.

 Shelf toilets! 
These are maybe kinda on their way out in Germany, but you still see them around a lot and we have two in our house.  I guess the idea is that after you do your business, you might want to inspect it before you flush it??  I am most definitely not a fan!  Most especially because we live in a house with four small children who OFTEN forget to flush, and there are no fans in these bathrooms.  It is too regular of an occurrence around here to step into a very stinky bathroom.

Again, because this is an older German home, we have bidets.  Bidets are for washing your bum.  We don't use them and have sealed off the lids and use them as a place to hold a towel, change of clothes, magazine, or whatever.

We don't have a large water heater in our basement either. Instead we have these small hot-water-on-demand heaters in each bathroom, and one under the kitchen sink.  They are supposed to be more energy efficient and the water can get VERY hot.  I do tend to run out of hot water when I hand wash pots and pans if I leave it running, but if I give it a minute, then I have more hot water.

Our bathroom heaters are designed to double as towel racks.  I love this feature!  Why aren't all bathrooms of the world like this?  It's very nice to have a toasty warm towel waiting when you get out of the shower.

Light switches and outlets.
German light switches are more like flat square plates that you push.  They also tend to be lower than American ones.  For some reason the light switches in this house are VERY low.  (I usually turn them on and off with my knee when my hands are full.)  The bathroom light switches are outside the bathrooms.  Which makes no sense at all, but they are. Also there seem to be a lot less plugs in general and there is like ONE spot in the house where you can plug in your modem.

I love German windows!  
All of the windows in our house can be opened wide like a door or "gekipt," tilted inward like this to allow airflow.  Our windows also all have Rolladen.  (The metal shades that you can see on the right-hand window in the picture.)  Most of ours are operated by a button and can be open, closed like blackout blinds, or somewhat open like in the photo... like to allow airflow on warm Summer nights. In our old German house (and in our current basement) the Rolladen are operated by a pull cord on the side of the window.  

The airflow and ability to block light are super important for controlling humidity and temperature as German homes do not have air conditioning.  (I'm sure there might be a few that do, but it is seriously frowned on as energy wasting, expensive, and unnecessary.)  In the Summer I get up early-ish and throw open all of the windows to air the house, and then close them and the Rolladen on the sunny side of the house to block the heat of the sun.  We call this "cave life." In the Winter, I still open the windows wide for short periods to regulate the humidity in the house- to prevent mold mainly.  The German word for this totally needed airing process is Stoßlüften.


Our heaters are different here too.
These are pretty standard German radiators that I have seen in every home.  They work great but dry the air out like crazy.  Some people use radiator humidifier things, but I just do the Stoßlüften and run a diffuser occasionally and that works for us.  Again, there is no AC, so in the Summer we just use fans as needed.


Open riser stairs.
I know some houses in the US have these, and yes some German houses have closed risers, but most look just like this.  They totally freaked me out when the kids were little and learning to crawl!  A friend of ours actually had her little boy fall through her stairs once and break his arm. They're also kind of a pain to sweep and vacuum as the dust falls two stories to the basement. But that's a good chore for our kiddos these days.  

Another good job for my kids these days is taking out the trash. 
(I can't believe I just took photos of my trash cans.)  Germans take recycling seriously, and my main concern about posting this photo is that someone is going to point out something that is in the wrong trash can.  The blue can is for paper.  The large part of our white can is for packaging, also known as the yellow or Gelber Sack. The small part of our white can is actual trash, or the Black can, or Restabfall.  Our outside Black can is a little lager than a standard US kitchen trash can and gets picked up once every two weeks.  That was really tough when we had two kids in diapers!  

There is one other trash in my kitchen, not pictured, which is our brown trash, or compost-ables.  I keep that in a bowl on the kitchen counter and it gets emptied daily.  We also have to recycle our glass bottles and jars at large recycling containers which can be found around town.  Our nearest ones are near the kids' bus stop so I usually take the glass recycling when I got to meet them at the bus in the afternoon.  About ten times everyday I still answer the question, "which trash does this go in?"  And I'm sure I don't always get it right.

There's more differences in the kitchen! 
First of all German water is HARD.  Like, way harder than any water in America.  It is safe to drink, but it really doesn't taste great (at our house anyway) and Germans don't usually drink it.  Instead they drink bottled flat or seltzer water.  We use a Culligan water cooler at home, partially for great tasting, cold water in the Summer, partially because the bottles are large and reused by the company, and partially because we can get fluoridated water which we think is important for our kids' teeth.

Because of our very hard water, we also have to use these additives in our dishwasher- Spezial-Salz and Klarspüler.  We tried not using these and our glasses not only got a calcium film on them, they actually got scratched up by the hard water minerals!  Crazy.
 
Another difference in the kitchen is our tiny fridge.
This is it, you guys.  Most German kitchens also have an itty-bitty freezer, but ours does not.  To compensate, we have an American size fridge/freezer combo in our basement. (On loan from the US Army, it is small for an American fridge, but much larger than this.)  Germans typically grocery shop every day or two and only for the items they will be eating in that time frame, so this would be totally sufficient for them.  But for our family of 6, it is ridiculous.  I do like how it blends into the cupboards though.

Door handles were another one of the items that Charlotte added to this list.
All of the doors in Germany basically look like this.  There aren't any round door knobs like in America.  In fact, Charlotte said, "Those round things?  I don't understand those." (Reverse culture shock is a real thing and our kids are going to have it bad when we move next year!)

Laundry is another thing that is different!
In Georgia I had a top loading, high capacity, washer and dryer. In Germany, we have these tiny little front loaders.  The washer, on the right, takes a really long time.  The shortest cycle I have found is 60 minutes... but we've timed it and it lies, it actually takes closer to 90 minutes.  And the dryer, on the left, is a condensing dryer.  So it doesn't vent to outside, but the water gets heated and condenses and I empty the condensing tank after each load.  It also makes the laundry room crazy hot and humid, so I tilt open the window whenever I am doing laundry. These are also Army loaners- which it is nice that we don't have to buy a set while we live here.  But with our large family, the laundry needs to be almost constantly in motion.  It takes us a week to catch up after a vacation or illness.  And to wash a larger comforter, I need to take it to the laundromat on base or have it dry cleaned.

And finally, German homes don't have closets.  They just don't do that.
Instead, people have Schranks or wardrobes.  Our house came with this one large Schrank already in the bedroom next to the master bedroom so we decided to treat this room like a closet.  Most people don't have that luxury of space, so they have small Schranks in each bedroom.  This Schrank holds the hanging clothes for our entire family.  Yeah.  My personal "hanging clothes space" is approximately 18-24 inches. So how do we deal with that?  We have dressers in each room, and we embrace the capsule wardrobe ideal.  It's different, but it works.

That's kind of a great mantra for living in a different country actually.  Yes it is different, but if it works, than just go with it. I am thankful for the time we've had to live in Europe and how it has opened us up to different ways of living, eating, traveling, and embracing life.  It has made us more flexible, resilient, and has brought us closer as a family.  I kinda hope this won't be our last experience with living abroad... but I am totally gearing up for some time in the good old US of A too!


Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Sushi night! No, seriously.

We don't eat much fish around here. I am allergic to shellfish and grew up in a family that didn't eat much fish and so it isn't really something I have learned how to cook well. Peer pressure is a funny thing though. Jake has been talking at dinner time for a week or so about how his friend at school LOVES sushi. Therefore it must be an amazing food, right? We like to encourage the kids to try new things, and it is unusual for Jake, in particular, to want to try new things so I bought a small tray of sushi from our local grocery store for everyone to try the other day. I bought the smallest tray, fully expecting to end up throwing most of it away.

Amelie gave it a thumbs up and said it was good... but she didn't actually finish eating that piece in her hand and didn't want to eat anymore, so I don't really believe her.

This isn't a great picture of Toby, but he actually DID really like the sushi and ate three different pieces.

Rob ate some and said it was okay, it wasn't his first time having sushi, but he's not a huge fan.  He's making this face because he put too much wasabi on his.

And Jacob.  He loved it.  You just never know what your kids will eat I guess.

Charlotte wasn't interested in trying it, and I steer clear of even non-fishy stuff from places that work with lots of seafood, (I have never, ever eaten at a Red Lobster,) because it is just too risky for me.  I once had a reaction from Chinese food that should not have had any shellfish in it, but was contaminated somehow.  

So, final results?  I guess I will be picking up sushi from time to time to go with our meal when we make Asian food.

Monday, March 12, 2018

Garmisch with the Haydts: Partnach Gorge and other fun

Last year while everyone was skiing, Amelie and I explored Partnach Gorge.  After seeing my pictures from that day both Rob and Pam wanted to visit there so we all went.  The Gorge entrance is actually a mile or so from the parking area, and we weren't all thrilled to be up and walking so early, but it we agreed it was well worth it in the end.

One of us managed not to have to walk the whole distance.  (Uncle Mark seemed to enjoy indulging Amelie nearly as much as she enjoyed being indulged.)

Once we got to the Gorge, everyone was excited to explore and look at the amazing ice formations.  The path goes very close to the edge of the gorge, and sometimes through dark tunnels which the kids found super cool. (Though that meant a lot of ducking for Rob.) 

Here come a lot of pictures!











I read somewhere recently about how important it is to experience "awe." We felt awed by the Zugspitze the day before, and Partnach Gorge is another place that gives you that feeling, for sure.

Then it was time for a little downtown window shopping, and what did we find!?!? Chocolaterie Amelie!  You just know we spent some money in here.

Souvenirs were purchased, mediocre pizza was eaten, and we just had a relaxing afternoon followed by more time in the pool and hot tub.  Our kids love getting to spend time with their cousins.

The next day was set aside for skiing.  Sadly, it being March, the snow at the bottom of the mountain, where lessons are held, was not great.  I took the kids in to get their rentals and lessons and found out that there were no lessons that day!  There weren't even any instructors on duty!  That was a bummer, but at least the Haydts got to get a day of skiing in.  The kids entertained themselves very happily at the hotel being silly.

We spent some time at the playground...  
Walked to the nearby base for lunch...

Played in the crunchy snow for a bit...
And of course, spent a long time at the pool.
They weren't too bummed about missing their ski day in the end.

On the drive home the next day, the kids rode home with Rob in the truck to get schoolwork done and get ready for dinner while the Haydts and I stopped in Rothenburg. I didn't take many pictures at all, but we did visit the St. James church, the Medieval Criminal Museum (torture devices, etc), do some shopping, and have lunch.

The most famous thing in St. James is this.  It is the Holy Blood altarpiece, carved in wood between 1500-1505.  It is really intricate and beautiful, though a little dusty.

Back at home we had a raclette dinner and played some Ticket to Ride before everyone had to get to bed.  Th next morning the Haydts were off to Iceland, and we were back to school and work.  It was a short visit, but we really enjoyed spending time with family and making some new memories together. 


Garmisch with the Haydts: Sledding the Zugspitze

Last week my sister came with her husband and two of their kids to visit. They had a difficult time getting here due to massive snowstorms on the East Coast, and were actually delayed by a day, so as soon as they arrived we headed for the Alps for some Winter fun together.  We stayed at Edelweiss Lodge again.  It is an American hotel for US service members, and while it isn't very "European" it does give us a nice break from doing everything in German and we actually feel like we are on vacation.  So we like it.

Despite all of our time spent in Garmisch over the years, Rob and I had never made the trip to the top of the Zugspitze.  This is the tallest mountain in Germany and you ride a HUGE gondola to the top.  (Or you can take a cogwheel train.) I decided for my 40th birthday this year, that i wanted us to all go up to the top and do some sledding together.  We enjoyed this little alpine horn band before hopping in line for the gondola.

The ride up was surprisingly fast!  I took this photo out the window from the visitor's center on the peak.  This is the glacier skiing and sledding area that is actually below us.  We took another gondola down to the ski lodge in the center of this photo to go sledding.

There are some SERIOUS sledding runs up here.  The kids and I stuck to the family runs because a number of people told us that the other runs were too dangerous for children. I had a great time and was not at all sad to skip the more dangerous runs.  Especially after Rob, Mark, and Leah all had serious crashes... one of which may have resulted in a broken or bruised rib. 

Just being up there made me happy.  It is really spectacularly beautiful.

There is also a small church on the glacier. I thought it was super cute, and they actually hold mass there every Sunday.

Sledding selfie.

The downside of the family sledding area was that they didn't have a lift to take you back to the top.  The kids quickly became tired of trudging back up the slopes dragging their sleds. Slightly thinner air at nearly 10,000 feet may have had an effect too.

I'm glad we went!  This was a memorable day and despite having VERY tired kids after a few hours, we had a lot of fun.

When the kids were just DONE, Leah (who was hurting from her sledding accident) and I took them back down to the hotel and we relaxed in the pool.  Edelweiss recently redid their whole pool area and it is very kid friendly and nice. When everyone else got back from the glacier, we met up for dinner, and ate a hearty German meal.