Just 1 more week...

And we'll be back. Finished that incredible year in America's West. 

I'll miss the sun shine, the be-whomever-you-want-to-be attitude and even the unreal American smiles. I'll miss the humming birds flying around my head and I'll miss definitely the cheese cake at Barnes and Nobles. 

We'll be settling now. My own German and I. Buying a house in the green heart of Germany. We're getting a dog. And maybe even some babies. I'll need to speak German accent-less now. 

And you know what? I also look so much forward to that. I'll finally travel to Berlin (Shame on me - I have never been there) and learn to eat bratwurst without mayo. I' ll write travel stories now on hidden secrets in Germanland. And will join the local I-don't-know-what-yet Club to meet some people. I might even go to school and finally learn what all this dativ and genetiv is about. And tell my own German - cause he has no clue. 

Yeah. Even without sunshine - I'll be all right. 

Alice goes West

I have kept it quite for a while. But there comes a moment where you just can't hide it...

We're moving.

Again.

Not sure for how long yet. Months? A year? Years?

Alice goes West.

Fortunately, living with an own German will give me enough material to discover Germanland. It's culture. And it's people. But maybe not as intensive anymore as before... I'll just have one German now to watch.

You were many lately to join me. In discovering Germany. And I loved you for that. Feels a bit less lonely. When being a foreigner.

I can only hope you'll join me again.

The blog is ready. I'm there.

Read Alice goes West. Don't forget to put flowers in your hair.
You find the blog at http://alicegoeswest.blogspot.com

About a Porsche in the garden house

When blogging on the German culture, there are things that are unavoidable.

Bratwurst. Beer. Lederhosen. And Porsche.

The great example of German engineering. Part of a culture. A summum of national pride. No, there's just no way of denying Porsche.

People in my home country are keen on having their own house. With an own garden. And an own garden house. We put money in the earth, said my father always. Germans put the money in their car. And it is true...

Germans just want their own Porsche.

No matter how your house looks like. Or your garden. It all looks good with a Porsche in front of the door.

So, here I go. Testing all elements of German culture.

I drive the Porsche.

And today, I am proud to be - a little bit - part of that German culture. Cause when it comes to Porsche, there is just nothing to say against it. It has a figure as one seldom sees. A style what makes everyone turning it's head. A speed that graps you by the throat. It's fast. It's sexy.

But most of all...It changes the human being. When holding that German steering wheel in your hands, you "feel" like having a figure one seldom sees, like turning heads around. You start slow. Changes gears quickly. To a speed that graps you by the throat.

Germans don't want a garden house.

They want to be fast.

And sexy.

Hmmm.... Germans...

What you pay is what you know!

When living abroad there are some things you just don't understand. No matter how you try.

Take the train.

As an example, I mean.

While the rest of Europe is trying to push down prices for public transport, a German train ticket is extremely expensive. And you don't even get a cup of coffee for it...

Why?

It's not because Germans drive faster on the highway, that you pay more for even faster trains. No... the train to Paris is just as fast. And cheaper.

It's not because you have nicer seats. Or not because you get something to drink. Or to eat. No. I must say the French do better again... A free meal in first class when travelling to Paris.

So, why do you pay - much, much - more for a German train?
It's probably because they claim they are never too late.
Germans are always in time.

And when they are not - like yesterday - you get every itty bitty nitty detail about why you will arrive 1 minute and 40 seconds late.

And because no other Europe culture know why they're late, you pay more in Germany for a ticket. What you pay is what you know!

That's it. I suppose.

A museum for your wallpaper...

When you're living abroad, you enjoy discovering so much more...

It rains. And we have tickets for the Kassel Museum of Wallpaper.

I just never realised you can have a museum on wallpaper. I even never realised it is a business. I mean, there are people really writing a businessplan to sell wallpaper. There are actually people thinking about wallpaper design. About the color that will be "in" next season. And the texture.

You just never realise that when looking at a wall, do you?

Tss...I just love discoveries!

After the museum - in the rain- I even decided what I want to do in a next life.

But it won't be wallpaper design...

Deutsche gründlichkeit - what it means...

That's then what I call "Deutsche gründlichkeit".

You get to the movies. Pick out your film. And buy your ticket.

The ticket-counter-German:"And where do you want to sit?"

Me:"Excuse me? I already told you which film."

The ticket-counter-German: "No, where do you want to sit?"

Me: "Eeeuh?"

The ticket-counter-German:""Ok - do you want to sit in the front, the middle, or the back?"

Me: "Oh, the middle, please."

The ticket-counter-German: "Ok - at the right, the left or the middle seats of the middle row?"

Me: "Eeeuh..the middle seats of the middle row."

The ticket-counter-German: "Row 10, Seats 10 and 11"

And then I walk into a movie theatre for more than 200 persons. With tickets number 10 and 11.

The theatre is empty. Or better - almost. There are about 15 others. But vou hardly see them in the open space. It's dark. And finding my seats is a hard job to do. But I did not dare to take any other place than my own.

Deutsche gründlichkeit.

Row number 10. Seats 10 and 11.