I'm becoming a *real* German

So, maybe we haven't mentioned this yet, but there are a couple of stores here that have weekly Angebote (offers) that drive the masses wild. Aldi and Lidl, both mainly just regular grocery stores, have special, super-cheap offers twice a week, which they announce with flyers the week before. These offers are not groceries. They're things like computers, roller blades, costumes, paint sets, flower pots...pretty much anything goes. These offers are notorious for drawing large crowds that huddle outside the store early in the morning and then rush inside once the doors open at 8am. Since stuff can sell out fast, it's the only way to guarantee you'll get what you want. Especially hectic days are women's workout clothes days and laptop days. Sometimes people throw-down to determine who's gonna get the last medium white t-shirt.

Anyway, last Thursday I joined the ranks as one of these crazy people. Lidl's flyer advertised cat toys, and so I thought it would be fun to race over and get Zulu a cool cat tree...you know those things with the scratching post and levels for them to climb. They were only 40 Euros, and in the US they're easily $150 or more. My friend Petra agreed to drive me and then guided me in the ways of the Lidl-craziness. Sure enough, when we arrived at 7:50am there was already a line forming at the doors. It was really funny to see what people bee-lined for. One woman bought two Singer sewing machines, while another guy bought all 24 shoe racks out for sale. Meanwhile, I carefully picked out a red cat tree for Zulu.

I can't wait to go back for the next Angebote day and just watch the crowds. Our friend Guillaume likes to do his regular grocery shopping on Angebote days, just to see all of the people in action. From his stories of mayhem, it sounds like these Angebote days are people-watching at its best. And you thought Germans only cared about beer.