Kreuzschlitzschraubenzieher

People ask me how long I will be in Germany..."A long time" I say...although I really have no idea how long...it could be a year or it could be 10 years.

Either way, I am extremely interested in learning the German language. One of my coworkers who started on the same day as I did, is German. His name is #5. There were five of us newbies who started at the company on January 4th, and he happened to be the last one to introduce himself. I happened to be the first, so when we see each other, we refer to each other as "#5" or "Funf" pronounced "foonf" and #1 or Ein (rhymes with 'nine'). Since #5 is German, he has decided to introduce me to one new German word per week. Last week the word was "Kreuzschlitzschraubenzieher" (pronounced: Croitz Schlitz Schrauben zeehuh). This is the German word for "Phillips Screw Driver." Since I have enough German colleagues to practice with, I decided to practice all weekend as well. It was a real hit at the bar scene and many people were entertained that this was the word I had learned so far.

The ironic part is that I have bought a bunch of ikea furniture and yesterday, I realized that I only have the screw driver with about 10 different flat head parts, and not the phillips one. Luckily, I was able to locate the nearest hardware store and tell them "Ich möchte ein kreuzschlitzschraubenzieher bitte!" =)

One of the first weeks I had to learn Lohnsteuerkarte, which is "tax card" and it is very important to obtain for salary purposes.

My word for this week is Adventkranzkerze, which is a tad less usefull...it means "candles on an advent wreath."

Totes MaGotes

If you haven't seen the movie "I Love You, Man" then this story may not make sense... It is about a guy who needs to find more guy friends, and how awkward he is while trying to establish a friendship. The first time I saw it I was with my Mom (I love seeing movies with my Mom!) and we both thought it was entertaining, not amazing...

The main male character who is looking for guys friends is seemingly awkward when trying to arrange plans to meet up with some potential new man friends and ends up saying things like "I will see you there, or I will see you on another time!," or "Totally...Totes MaGotes..."

Luckily, I am a bit better and making friends and usually say things that are socially acceptable and sometimes even funny in a witty way...

So, I spent the holidays with my family (my mom, brother and sister) and my brother is really into movies...and my brother is really funny. He also watches an astonishing amount of movies and has an incredible ability to remember movie quotations. Almost everyday of our European Vacation, he managed to find an appropriate time to say "Totes MaGotes," which ended up being hysterical.

So now, as I am trying to settle into a new German company and make a good, solid impression with my coworkers, for some reason "Totes MaGotes" is at the top of my vocabulary. The best part of this scenario is that I still think the phrase is hysterical...because it reminds me of how funny my brother is, and how entertained my mom, sister and I were each time my brother would say this...only a few weeks ago. Ironically, my new german coworkers haven't actually seen this movie and have no idea what I am talking about. Soooo, a tiny bit awkward? Totes MaGotes! =)

Working out

So, I love to work out. I like challenging my body to do more than just sitting in a chair, staring at a computer developing back, wrist and eyesight problems. I love Bikram yoga, triathlons, normal yoga, running with a dog that I no longer have, biking, hiking, climbing... really, I love most outdoor activities.

Except when it is -12 degrees Celsius. I actually refuse to look it up and see what the temperature is in Fahrenheit simply because I think Celsius makes more sense, even though I grew up with Fahrenheit. Since I barely understand anything else around me here in Germany, I figure, I might as well learn celsius as well. Also, -12 Celsius just sounds colder. And when attempting to run outside, my nose freezes which means I start breathing through my mouth, which means the cold air is hitting the back of my throat directly, which means I am in perfect condition to acquire bronchitis or pneumonia. Since i dont yet have a doctor and have no idea how to call and set up an appointment, I am really trying to avoid activities that would give me either of the above.

After a month of excuses for not working out (trying to find a place to live, trying to furnish my apartment without being able to use a credit card since ikea doesn't accept credit cards here, trying to figure out what I am supposed to be doing at work, trying to learn german and make new friends...), I finally decided to buy a gym membership. I first tried to "shop around" and went to this gym right across the street from my house. Studio 90 is located right above a steakhouse, and while I was visiting, I was pretty sure all of the men in the studio ate downstairs every night, since they all looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was 50 Euro per month if I signed a year, and if I went month to month it was 55 Euro. Since I am still a newbie and still converting into dollars (which is a bad idea) I decided that was way too much considering they opened at 8:30am!! Yes, for some reason, German culture doesn't view working out in the morning to be necessary. I think the fact that some clubs don't close until 6am or sometimes just stay open may have something to do with this. Since I have to be on a train around 8am, I decided this probably wasn't the gym for me.

Fitness First for Ladies was my next stop. Here there was also a special, 39.95 Euro if i signed a year contract instead of 53.95 Euro, and I wouldn't have to pay the 45 Euro setup fee! Also, they told me that the gym opens at 7am, which they emphasized was very early. I thought about my other gym options (McFit, and InterSports) and decided this was a good option for me, especially since I can use all of the Fitness Firsts for Ladies and all of the normal Fitness Firsts throughout Berlin and all of Germany.

Then I figured out how to get a locker and hopped on a machine. All he buttons were in German and there were no pictures. =( I spoke to one of the ladies who worked there who spoke a little English and explained that I wanted "Hills" on the Eliptical. (This is a pretty standard request, I thought, and it is usually what I do on Elipticals in other parts of the world.) She basically told me that hills were very hard, and so they don't really do them on the elliptical, but rather people do hills on the treadmill. Haha. Soo, after some coersing, I convinced here that I really did want the "automatic hill setting" instead of the manual hill option, and she showed me which button to push. Victory!

Finding a New Wascherei

Still unable to interpret German directions online, I gave up googling washerei and asked my Hausmeister. He actually doesn't speak English either, but by pointing to the heap of laundry on my floor along with the new Laundry detergent I had bought, and my numerous different pronunciations of"Wascherei," he was able to understand where I needed to go. I gave him some paper and he drew me a map. Take a right, then a left and then a right, and it will be on your left hand side.

I have my two large Ikea bags full of laundry and I start trekking the few blocks to the wascherei. No wascherei to be found. Finally, I decide to go inside the Comfort Inn Hotel, and ask them where I can do my laundry. They tell me that there is one on this street, but it is 8 blocks north and on the right side. Finally, I reach my destination. I laugh at the intimidating machines and sit down. All the directions are in German. There are four rows of buttons and 16 different choices. A few moments later, someone comes in to pick up his laundry (thankfully!). I ask him for some help and he tells me i have to pay for a token to put in the machine! Luckily he arrived, because I was prepared to put euro directly into the coin slot. The machine fits 3 two towels and one sheet. It costs 4 euro.

This is when I pick up my exciting new pink bottle of oxidizing laundry detergent and show my new wascherei friend. He takes a look and shakes his head. "Dies gilt nicht für die Maschine" he tells me. Seeing him shake his head, I knew something was wrong. Then we played some German pictionary and he explained that this detergent I bought could only be used for soaking "really dirty laundry" in a tub...and that I couldn't use this with a washing machine, or the oxidizing bubbles would cause too much pressure and break the machine. (read: exploding washing machine).

Thank GOODness I was able to avoid that disaster! So, I bought a tiny bag of laundry detergent powder from the attendant (this particular laundromat was combined with a liquor store, to the attendant was usually on the liquor store side, and could speak to me through a window.) The tiny bag of detergent was .50 euro cents. (No wonder people don't like to do their laundry here! It costs too much!) It also costs .50 euro cents to dry your clothes for 10 minutes..

An hour and a half later, less 7 euros, I had a bag and a half left of dirty laundry, two damp towels and one damp sheet. Note to self: purchase a drying rack and a washing machine.

Selecting the right Laundry Detergent

Normally, I don't spend more than a few minutes in the laundry detergent section of a grocery store. Luckily, I live right above a grocery store and so I thought I could make a quick purchase before running over to the laundrymat (Wascherei -- pronounced "Vasher-eye"). I locate the aisle with cleaning supplies and find the detergent section. There are white bottles, blue bottles, pink bottles, black bottles and a variety of other color bottles. The black bottles i decided were for dark/black clothes and the white bottles said Weiss on them, which is White. Now I had a load of new colored sheets and a bunch of jeans to do, so I knew I needed detergent for 'multicolor' clothes.

There were so many options. I finally chose a bottle with some smiley bubble faces on the design, with a word that looked similar to "Oxidizing" on the front. I thought, oxidizing bubbles will definitely help my clothes become clean! I grabbed the bottle and looked at the back, just to make sure there were images of clothes on the back, instead of dishes, and I took it to the register and bought it. I was so excited to have successfully selected some detergent that I didn't even realize that I left the detergent in the store. As I was about to cross the street, a man came running after me, shouting in German and pointing back to the store. Haha. woopsies.

So I grabbed my laundry detergent and ran across the street, only then realizing that the wascherei I was hoping to go to had gone out of business. =(

“Augustiner”

December 23rd, dinnertime

By the time my family arrives at the Hotel, I have already wandered around the area surrounding the hotel and have found an “Asia Super Markt” and quite a few “Erotik Dance Halls.” Interesting. I also located a row of Christmas markets and an Ice skating rink!

We walk around and try to find the most German restaurant we can, even though I explained the amount of Bratwurst I had consumed during the last few days on my expedition to find an apartment.

We decide to go into a place called “Augustiner” – Best choice ever! I highly recommend this restaurant! The waiters and waitresses looked like they were dressed in outfits made in “The Sound of Music” and there were Christmas lights and decorations everywhere!

Augustiner Großgaststätten

Neuhauser Str. 27 | 80331 Munich

Tel: +49 89 23183257 | Fax: +49 89 2605379

www.augustiner-restaurant.com

History of Augustiner: Since 1328 on Augustiner beer had been brewed within the monastery of the Augustinian Brotherhood near the cathedral of Munich. After nearly 500 years of tradition, the secularization in 1803 and the following privatisation led to a privately owned company: Augustiner Bräu.

I ordered the goulasch and my brother ordered this gigantic “meat platter,” which contained duck, rabbit, beef, and venison. Goulasch is my new favorite meal!! I can’t believe what I have been missing out on all this time! It is a bowlful of tender meat, either prok, beef or venison, slowroasted with the most delectable vegetables and tasty sauce! I have decided that I will now measure a restaurant on its Goulasch…Augustiner gets an A+.

Off to Munchen

Decemer 23, 2009

Germany is cold! Today I am flying to Munchen to meet my family for the beginning of our holiday vacation. I am hanging out at the airport, eating a brotwurst, because that is all they have that is warm and tasty under 3 Euro. It is the 16^th Brotwurst I have had in the last 8 days. I go through the security and sit at the gate and a lady starts speaking over the loadspeaker…in german, which I still can’t understand. A guy sees me looking very confused staring into a german-english dictionary and tells me that the roads are icy and the planes can’t land, or take off, and that the plane we were going to fly on has been diverted to another aiport. I smile, and say “Ahh, Danke!” and eat some gummy candy.

Since I have some time, I may as well talk about gummy candy. Gummy candy here in Germany is amazing. Usually, I would consider gummy bears to be for children. Here, gummy candy is akin to a gourmet treat and adults love the gummy candy! The only word in the ingredient list I can understand is Fruchtsaft. “Fruitjuice.” Since I have been overloading on brotwurst instead of fresh produce, I consider my little pack of gummy fruits to be quite healthy.

Four hours later, we land in Munchen. The flight is only an hour. I arrive at the hotel and decide to walk around. Here in Munchen, it is a balmy 40 degrees, and I decide to leave my arctic-polar-goose-down-puffy-marshmallow-coat in the room.