Deutschland versus the US

I don't know if it's the pregnancy hormones working overtime, but lately I am really missing Deutschland. I'm constantly wrapped up in nostalgia, thinking about all the little things that made life in Germany so different from the US. To indulge in this, I've decide to make a list of the stuff I miss, and just so I can keep a balanced perspective, I'm also going to list the things that I like better here.

Things that I miss about Germany:
- Bakeries on every corner. I think I anticipated this one a bit, but good bread and pastries in the US are not easy to come by. Good bread I think just doesn't exist here, and good pastries require great effort to hunt down. In Germany, even the regular supermarket had an amazing bakery as part of the package deal.
- Public transportation. I find myself missing the bus and bahn system in Germany. It was so easy to get around without worrying about driving and traffic and who was going to stay sober (although in my current state, this last worry is non-existent).
- Nice cars. I had conveniently forgotten how many junkers there are in the US. The fact that it's legal to drive a car that spews smoke from the engine, fumes from the tailpipe, is missing its tail lights on one side, and has a bumper held on with duct tape is truly amazing.
- Speaking German. I can't really fault the US here, but I do miss speaking German. After being immersed in a second language for 2 years, speaking English with other English speakers just doesn't seem challenging enough.
- Wasen/Oktoberfest. As my German friends know, I am a sucker for Wasen. Those beer festivals in Germany are so fun. I miss singing silly songs at the top of my lungs and dancing on the table benches. I miss getting served beer in ridiculously large and heavy steins, and I miss eating giant soft pretzels. Sigh.
- Beer. There's no contest when it comes to German vs. American beer. German beer is better tasting, cheaper, has higher alcohol content, and comes in bigger bottles. What's not to love?
- Restaurants in the forest. The whole culture of taking a hike on a Sunday and eating a delicious meal at a tiny restaurant nestled in the woods is entirely missing here.
- Kaffee und Kuchen. The cafes in Europe have us seriously beat in the categories of coffee and cakes. Their desserts are so intricate and amazing, and even compared with the most admirable American joints, the coffee there is simply better.
- Proximity of borders. We were definitely spoiled when driving a couple hours west, south, or east took us to another country entirely. Now we have very few things in short driving distance, and driving to big cities in neighboring states is at least a 10 hour drive.
- Doner Kebab. Possibly the best fast food every invented. The Turkish version of a Gyro. There are doner kebab stands all over Germany, and intense debates can ensue over which ones have the best ones. For a hangover, there is no better cure.
- Ritter Sport. Delicious chocolate bars. Although you can get some flavors here, pretty much all my favorites aren't exported to the US. Guess I can't blame the Germans for keeping the best to themselves.

Things I like better in the US:
- Mexican food. There were so many times that we ate "Mexican" food while in Germany, and it was just never the same. They would get the concept kind of right, but then do things like use kidney beans instead of pinto beans, gouda cheese instead of queso fresco, and ground pepper instead of jalapenos. It was basically a mess. Not to mention that avocados in Germany are nothing to write home about, and salsa there is more sweet than spicy. Here, mexican restaurants are more abundant than stoplights, and pretty much everywhere you go is good. And, things like pan dulce and horchata are easy to come by thanks to the Mexican grocery stores.
- Thai/Sushi/Korean/Vietnamese/Chinese/Indian food. Actually, save for German food and Italian food, the US has Germany beat in almost every ethnic food category. We particularly out-do them when it comes to Asian cuisine.
- Slang. Even though I miss speaking German, it's so nice to be back in the world of slang. In Germany, I hardly ever used English slang words and stuck to a reduced vocabularly to be more easily understood.
- 24/7. It is so nice to not have to worry about the grocery store closing before you can get there after work, or needing eggs on a Sunday when everything is closed. Shopping is so much easier when you don't have to meticulously schedule your shopping trips within skimpy store hours.
- International sections at grocery stores. One great thing about America is that you can get almost any ingredient for any dish of any ethnicity pretty easily. Even Wal-Mart has a decent international section, and if you can't find what you're looking for in a big supermarket, you can almost always find a small specialty market that carries what you need. In Germany, it was really hard to find authentic ingredients for so many things. Although, it was always funny to see what they had in the America aisle....is our cuisine really defined by Pop Tarts, marshmallow creme, and Kraft mac anc cheese?
- Late night food. Hungry for a pizza/burrito/burger at midnight? No problem! America has the late night food thing down pat. In Germany, when the bars close and everyone spills into the streets tired and hungry, there's almost no where to go. We often wondered if we'd be overnight millionaires by selling pizza on street corners at 2am.
- Cookies. Although the Germans are good at making meticulously decorated Christmas cookies, simple drop cookies like oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip, and snickerdoodles are non-existent. And when things like chocolate chips and brown sugar aren't sold on the economy, it makes it hard to whip them up at home.

Wow, I guess I should've guessed that most of my comparisons would be food based. Especially now that snacking is becoming as involuntary as breathing. :)

The Nürburgring

Only months after my racing introduction at the Porsche Leipzig factory, I found myself once again behind the wheel of a race-ready torpedo blastpheming the environmental conscience I try so hard to achieve. Reducing my virtual water quota or using natural power was left in a cloud of carbon smoke and tire bits. Please evereyone raise their glass to the Earth; I promise to continue crusading tomorrow. Prosit!

The Nürburgring is a 22.8km / 12.9m racetrack that was carved thru forest paths. Those of you not from the Midwest should understand that the German terrain here has "elevation", and by that I mean the dips, bumps, drops and other general unevenness that remains when a glacier doesn't void the creativity Bob Ross loved to portray. Changing elevation sprinkled with 73 turns and topped with speed results in one gigantic roller coaster. Multiplying that by you as the passenger almost resulted in aborting what little I ate today. And to you Grand Turismo victors: of course you understand how being spanked feels when reading about it on wikipedia. Try the real thing.. I promise you won't forget it.

To top it off, today was more special than usual: a company named RTS reserved the entire Nürburgring. I'm told a normal race day sees 100 or so cars on the track. Today I don't recall seeing more than 20 cars on the track at any given time. A 13 mile track with maybe 20 cars produces few meet and greets amongst those 73 turns. But nothing felt better than being bitch-slapped by the Porsche GT2 and club Aston Martin Vanquish pushing an extra 30km/h thru those turns you're sliding thru. Try following either of those... I dare ya.

Pictures are on their way, as they are spread amongst variouos equipment - none of which is in my posession at the moment. Also, we have video! Take Dramamine before you watch it tho. With any luck, you'll not just see

our adventure but HEAR the beautiful sound of my patented Nürburgring slide.. followed by Victor's "NICE".

I don't usually dedicate things, but this one goes out to my racing Hardy Boy:

Jim, because I somehow channeled Jim's 16 year old insane driving persona, albeit on a world-famous race track, regained consciousness, and then started driving like a responsible adult..

My One Hour of Glory

"Drive as fast as you can around this curve, and when I signal I want you to brake as hard as you can. "

Them are fightin words if I ever heard any, and the first time I tried this I braked like an old Lady. Actually I did it the second time, too, only moreso like an Accountable Adult - gently turning the wheel to avoid the wall of cones. But the third time I nailed it in a way that would make Will smile with glee. I crushed that brake pad so hard that I thought I'd break the damn lever. But my Stuttgart Stallion took it in stride, and brought me from 90 km / h to 0 in less than 15 feet. Holy Geez that was awesome. And I was just gettin' started.

My birthday present this year was extremely unique and a sexy way of kicking and screaming into The 30-somethings. For one whole hour, I commandeered (legally) an atomic-bomb red 2006 Porsche Carrera S and careened it around a specially-designed racing track the way you're not supposed to drive: hard and fast. Sure, I took it easy around the curves that scared the bejeezus outta me, but as soon as I had a clear shot ahead I punched the gas and didn't look back. The track is wet? It's 36 degrees F outside? I'm driving an 80,000+ Euro car with ZERO insurance on a track that was designed to mimic five of the most challenging curves of modern tracks? Exhilaration vandalizing every stone in my head, each twist leaving another spatter of paint obscuring .. well, whatever was there before.

No better than to learn the track from Sebastian, my Porsche Racing Instructor, who I fondly remember leading me out of a tight corner and saying "now go as fast as you can." God I love this guy. The first moment of sadness that day was watching him crouch down into his midnight-blue 911 Turbo huddled adjacent to our 911 Carreras. The second moment came when I realized there was no way in Hell I was going to keep up with that guy! Hey, I never said I stopped trying. He introduced me to the Bus Stop, the slalom thru the row of cones, the tight curves, The Hill and subsequent down-right-sharp curve, the tight s curve that I may have fishtailed out of (and recovered nicely I might add) when I asked for a little too much torque. The last moment of sadness arrived as I realized I waited 30 years to do this. All that sadness washed away remembering that my wife gave me this opportunity. And I Prost!'d this best I knew how: I ate it all up and left nothing behind but an awful smell Sebastian called "a Porsche Driver's Chanel No 5".

That tour may have been only one hour by your standards, but in my head it was hours of analysis reading the Carrera's responses to all of my questions. I ripped through that track testing the steering's range, the suspension's forgiveness, the strength of my hands holding that steering wheel, and also a fellow student's patience as I kept urging him to drive faster. At the end I walked away with electricity in my feet and the re-aquaintenace with an AMA-acceptable heart rate. But in usual form I thanked Sebastian properly and reminded him that we'll be seeing each other again. Soon.

Since we never received the official "ticket" for the Porsche Experience, there's still a second chance..

http://www.porsche-leipzig.com/en/leipzigangebote/leipzigpilot/default.aspx