Ah, the splendors of downtown Stuttgart

On a recent walk through the downtown area, Andy and I decided to take some pictures of the sights. I've posted them here for you to see. In these pics you'll see the quaint little winterfest set up downtown, the Schlossplatz (large courtyard), the Könnigstrasse (main shopping district), and many nice buildings. We hope you enjoy!

Go, Go Gadget Bicycle!

I just love that the post office here delivers mail by bicycle. I'm sure they use vehicles for some of the mail, but in the commercial areas that are near to a post office location, Deutsche Post workers in yellow and black uniforms hop on bright yellow bicycles with a basket of mail and zip on over to make their deliveries. It's such a fun phenomenon, that I've included pictures here for show and tell. Maybe it's because the bikes are so bright and sunny, but looking at these photos just makes me smile. :)

Dirka Dirka

As we mentioned before, our apartment came furnished. What we didn't elaborate on, is that this includes not only the standard fare (bed, sofa, dining table), but also a slew of hodge podge items. This "hodge podge" includes things like children's towels, mismatched pillow cases, and, my favorite, a flowery coffee mug that lovingly reads "Dirk". Of course, this has now become Andy's mug; clearly he was destined to have Dirk as a German nickname. Who knows, we may even have to sneak that mug back with us in a couple of years.

In other news, we have now completed four working days here at MPI. While our first few days consisted of paperwork and introductions, we are now faced with some very serious decisions....including which lunch group to join, and whether it's better to bring a lunch or to eat at the Canteen. Actually, the subject of food quality at the Canteen can become a heated debate amongst co-workers (although most agree that it could be better----"The cook is English after all"). We thought it was more or less okay, although heavily focused on meat and potatoes.. but what meal in Germany isn't??

Speaking of food, it's funny the random stuff you miss from the US. I thought it might be enlightening to list some of the things that are hard or impossible to come by in Germany:
- peanut butter (I already mentioned it, but given it's importance it's worth mentioning again!)
- chocolate chips
- anything spicy.. Germans can't tolerate much more than black pepper (shout out to Cindy here)
- corn on the cob (after 5 years of oversaturation of this product, it remains to be seen if we'll actually miss it...)
- fresh cilantro
- mexican food (there is an abundance of Italian, Turkish, and Chinese though)
- sushi (just hasn't really caught on yet)
- raw sausage (the country is obsessed with pork sausage, but usually you only find it already cooked... no more biscuits and gravy here..)

I'm sure there are other random things, but I just can't think of them now. The things on this list by no means really affect our daily lives, but I just feel like these are some of the things we might appreciate a little more on return trips to the US. We, of course, can't complain about the abundance of excellent, cheap beer, fresh pastries, fresh breads, sweet mustard, and potato salad. The US has nothing on Germany in those arenas. Mmmmmmmmmmm, beeeeeer.

Guten Abend - Bier #2

WeihnachtsBier. It's a Schwabien (Southern) thing. Even better, it's a Christmas Bier! How cool is that! But what I couldn't get over was the heavy amount of hops in this brew. It was hoppy hoppy hoppy, and that's not my OC kickin in tonight either. While I haven't found the German Guiness equivalent, I'll keep movin on. So far, Germany is tops when it comes to lighter brews.. but when I find a good dark version I'll yell about it from the rooftops. Of which I have no idea how to reach our house's rooftop.. hmm.....

German Healthy vs. German Bad - Starring OATMEAL!

You know, we headed out to a super-happenin' German restaurant last night in search of some good German eats. We attempted the same during Wednesday's All Saints Holiday, but this dive only served drinks - go figure. I mean, if *I* were a saint, I'd only want a nip of whiskey instead of some heavy potatoes on my holiday. Anyway, I'm going to dub one restaurant "Murphy's" - named after Murphy's Pub in Champaign which means the food is greasy and bad, bad, bad for you. The second I'll name Tiny Goodness, because the food was relentlessly German yet NOT greasey, the presentation was awesome - plus they did all of this from an incredibly small bar. I think there were three tables aside from the bar (think small).

Murphys: For kicks we ordered food that neither of us really understood. I picked out the word "berger" (koenigberger) and she picked out .. actually I have no idea how she chose her dinner. I usually give her a hard time about what she picks either way, so her choice being another unknown German option essentially put us on an even playing field. When we received our plates, we were both surprised. There was nothing resembling my idea of a "berger," only three meatballs, rice, and a gravy. She ended up with two fried eggs and potatoes. Our friend Shravi reminds us that potatoes are an intentional "butter delivery mechanism." Hats off to her, as these were fried potatoes with butter (but they were goooooood!). We went home in search of oatmeal to purge our bodies of the dangerous fats and cholesterols, only there's no stinkin oatmeal anywhere around here. For those of you that are new around here, I love oatmeal. Just ask Russ M. and Michael from CCH.. I probably told them my favorite oatmeal recipie three times over the past year and a half of working there.

...And now I'll tell you:

Mix together:
1 cup of Quakers Oats normal oatmeal (not the quick stuff)
1 cup of water
2 raw eggs

Cook in the microwave for 1.5 minutes, stirr, then another 30 seconds

Add ground flaxseed, walnuts, a little bit of clover honey, stir.

EAT.

It will keep you satisfied until lunch.. guaranteed. Maybe toss in some yogurt around 10:30AM if you finish your breakfast at 8:30AM. But YMMV.

Okay, now about Tiny Goodness: The food was really good - definitely my first choice for you many visitors who come our way over the next few years. About 6 euros bought me two bratwurst with a whoppin salad (it was served on a normal sized plate). German salads are usually layered. The bottom is composed of German potatoes (what else?), then lettuce, then thinly sliced sweet onion and tomato wedges. Toss in some special oils and spices, and it's really tasty. The two bratwurst were red (rotbratwurst) and sat alongside a small helping of German yellow mustard and horseradish, but I don't believe it because I've never had sweet horseradish. Good Good Good. She ended up with a soup with dumpling-like (or maybe ravioli-like?) things called Maltasche. Basically they are pasta with meat + spices on the inside. Very nice! All in all a bit salty, but for her 5 euros they gave her three or four huge ones. We shared our dinners as usual, and complimented our plates with some large Hacker-Pschorr Hefe Dunkels. Ahh, Guten Apetite!

Until next time, when I continue giving strange monikers to our visited restaurants to protect the innocent.

Germany: What You Didn't Know... (muahahah)

Change is an important catalyst. It not only forces you to continue learning, but it instills a healthy level of respect. After all, things change for good reason, right? Well, let's test that theory. Here is a growing list of non-obvious differences with which I'm learning to live:

(1) Window Blinds.

Strangely enough, window blinds are on the OUTSIDE of windows. The ones on our house appear to be part of the window frame, running along a track (that may be built into the actual window frame?). It's a charming difference, IMHO. Oh, and they aren't flimsy like the plastic or metal alternatives in the States. These babies are hefty. I bet they'd protect against turret gunfire or ICMBs. (OK, Maybe not..) I bet they're a pain to clean though!

(2) Leaning Buses.

I regularly ride the bus (because my ongoing Sherlock-Style bike hunting has not yet produced satisfactory results. Es dauert Zeit, damnit! :) ). What is most interesting, is that when the buses pull up to the curb, they actually lean to the curb. Why don't they just install steps that come out to the oncoming bus citizens? Well, they have those, too. Every time I feel the bus tipping, two things happen: I start to remember bizarre scenes from the Titanic (how can you forget that fabulous "I'm Flying" scene with Kate and Leo so lovey-duvey at the front of the Titanic?) - and the hook to the "When you dip I dip we dip" song. Thank you, Everybody, my Ping-Pong mind will be here all week.

(3) Lights On, Lights Off.

This is somewhat inconsistent - especially inside our first apartment which we've already vacated, but if you're from the States, then you turn the lights ON by turning them OFF. Yep, inverted light switches. It rocks! If coming to another country where you can't speak their language, why not have some more fun by giving the light switches the ol' 180 degree swicheroo? Since we left our board game Cranium somewhere in the storage locker, this has kept the creative juices flowing...

(4) Your Mama Wears Cool Shoes.

No joke. We visited "H and M" the other day (a trendy clothing store that I was always told was inexpensive.. Since when did "normal" jeans cost 60 bucks?) and ran into bazillions of women older than us wearing super cool shoes! Who are these rock stars! Or, more correctly, why don't our older women wear cool shoes? This sweet old couple (say, in their 70's) were out for a walk.. and the lady was wearing these track-style shoes, bright yellow. Really slick! At first I thought she was a safety monitor helping people cross the street, but in reality she is just a hep Kat. Raaaar.

(5) DIE NANNY.

It's bad to pun all over the words of this awesome culture, but I can't help and laugh when I run across DIE NANNY on the TV (when we had a TV with cable, that is). Yes, the article "The" in German is DIE (at least it is in this example). What's most fitting is that most people who watched The Nanny with Fran Drescher were usually thinking to themselves, "DIE NANNY," because of her supremely gravely voice that just seemed to bring the best out in people. Well, now y'all can realize how much you have in common with your German neighbors. Bring on the Wurst! (that's sausage, you noodle).

(6) Administration Is A National Pasttime.

I hear about "red tape" all the time in relation to the States, but Germany has us beat - hands down! Granted, this is my first trip to live abroad, but I found the level of paperwork (and signaures needed) incredibly cumbersome. But what it DID have, was ORDER. God Save the Germans! They LOVE clear, concise order so much that I bet you'd get fined for skipping GO and collecting your 200 bucks in Monopoly. Here's what we experienced (extremely summarized) to be allowed to live here.

Step A, receive job contract
Step B, sign up for health insurance by proving you have a job contract
Step C, receive a work visa by proving you have health insurance
Step D, receive a residence permit by proving you have a work visa.

In theory this is all smooth-runnings, eh? What I left out were the many, many hours spent tracking down people for signatures, translators, recommendations, secretaries for A through D, more signatures, clarifying details, etc. And this was all with HELP! I can't imagine coming here without the friendly help of our MPI co-workers.

Change is usually a good thing, but in this case it is why I now hide in my closet and refuse to come out. Rumor has it the storm has passed. But now we're off to go pick up our mobile phone, which was delayed because we needed 26 legal forms proving our apartment's lease contract, our work vista, or residence permits, our passports, bank account numbers.. holy cow!

I intended to write my list of 10, but this last one pooped me out. Auf weidersehen, y'all.

Our All Saints Day Outing

Since we had the day off yesterday, Andy and I decided to cash in our newly purchased monthly bus passes and head downtown. We had been told that all of the shops would be closed for the holiday, but still thought, "surely there must be at least one store open." But, there weren't. When we got to the Stadtmitte around 10am, the streets were deserted. We were among an elite group of strollers that came downtown to window shop. This actually turned out to be quite fun. Whereas on a normal day, window shopping is only for the brave (since stopping to gaze will likely get you mowed down by a hurried shopper), with the streets empty we had all of the time in the world to peer into each and every store. What was really cool, was that each and every item on display had its price posted right next to it. So we knew right away which stores would be worth coming back to (i.e. which stores were cheap), and which ones are over our heads (like the one with the $3300 chef's knife in the window).

Although none of the retail shops were open, there were a few cafes open and there was also a little winter festival set up (Wintertraum). There were several small food stands there, with Glühwein, Bratwurst, cookies, confections, strudels, you name it. There was also an ice rink, which had the coolest thing: 3-ft tall plastic animals with handles that children can latch onto for balance when they're skating. We ended up eating bratwurst and currywurst for lunch there and sharing some spiked, hot wine....very tasty. Being there definitely got me excited for the huge Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) that starts November 30th. It's gonna be awesome. Cookies and crafts and carolers and Christmas trees everywhere! I can't wait. :)

For now, it's back to werek! (insert Scottish accent here)