The Blonde Abroad: September 2010

A lovely church in Dornstetten

It’s nice to be the oldest kid in the family. Even though I am not the legitimate child, I am treating as one of the Bok children, and it is fun. Being the oldest, I actually feel cool for once. My little brother and sister think the dumbest and most ridiculous things I do, is cool. So that works for me. Niklas, my host brother, helps me with my homework. German grammar is insanely difficult. Even Germans have a hard time with their own grammar. I could go on for days to explain the complexity of the language, but I won’t bore you with this. Instead I will tell you how much I suck at playing cards, and how much fun it is to embarrass oneself in lacking the ability to even shuffle cards. My family is huge fans of card games, and they insist that I join in… I insist on drinking while playing so it numbs my frustration of the game. Anywho… there is a game that we played .. I don’t know the name, but lets just say the point scale ranges from the lowest 21 to the highest 200 points. Everyone averaged about 150 and well, I averaged at 21. Yeah, even drinking Schnapps sounds appealing at this point. In times when your dignity and pride are completely smashed, you might as well continue to make fun of yourself for others to enjoy. I continued to say I was blonde and Polish, and they got a kick out of that.

Cassie (a family friend) Rolf and Moi having our nightly Schnapps

Sunday was again family day. Since my family knew I used to ride horses, they took me to a horse show. It was great being around riders and the beautiful horses. I miss the sport very much, and it is my dream to ride here in the country side. After that we drove to a town called Freudenstadt where we checked out a cave. We were in a Besucherbergwerk from the 1500’s . The name of this cave adventure was Heilige Drei Könige. It was a cave tour. Since the whole tour was in German, I could only understand maybe about 10% of what the tour guide was saying. He has a strong Schwäbisch accent, and there was no way I could even try to understand what he was saying. So I just went along for the ride and dove down deep into the cave with the other tourists. After the cave diving experience we then drove to a town called Dornstetten where we looked at the most typical German style homes. These homes are called Fachwerkhäuser, and they are what the auslanders imagine Germany to be. They were absolutely the stereotypical Deutsch homes. I loved it! Now I just need to wear my Lederhosen and joddel and I will be a true German! Just kidding!

Dornstetten mit Simone

We were stylish cave women

Horse Show

Freiburg

Freiburg not Freiberg. There is a difference! This past weekend’s excursion was to Freiburg. Every weekend the students get to go on an excursion to other German towns. It took us three hours to get there and three hours back. The train ride wasn’t that bad because we would switch trains every hour. So everyone better pay attention to the next stop, or their asses would be left behind! Germans are very punctual, so you better be on time or you are S.O.L as my mother would say…

The scenery was beautiful and the Black Forest is always nice to look at. Once we got to FreiBURG we took a walking tour around the city. In a lot of German cities every Saturday there is a farmer’s market where one can buy great chocolate, flowers, produce, cheeses, breads, and of course Fleisch (meat)! The town is very nice. I like the layout of the city, it’s easy to navigate through . The Münster church is fantastic. I love checking out the various churches here in Europe, because they are so captivating and powerful. I could also say that I went to church this week, so again, mom and pops would be happy. I like the churches here much more than in the states because of the beautiful architecture, décor, and detail to every piece of art within the church. Even though I may have different views on religion or maybe even a more liberal perspective, I appreciate the beauty of these buildings and take in the moment instead of being frustrated about historical or religious views and biases. I believe you should educate yourself not only scholastically, but by also a first hand perspective by actually being there in person. One can really learn about history or a culture not only by reading about them, but by viewing the environment.

So I guess the church was the main highlight of the Freiburg trip. I got a kick out of the cool Burger Kings and Subways here in Freiburg. Burger King and Subway are in a beautiful medieval building with gargoyles as décor. Only in Europe!

Food

Food is very important here in Deutschland… well I guess it is important everywhere else too! But I would like to take a moment to explain my take on the German cuisine.

Viewer discretion is advised!!!! If you are a vegetarian, you might not want to read this next blog or view the pictures.

So like I said before, I have eaten chocolate and bread for every meal. Germans take their Bier (beer), Schokolade (chocolate), Brot (bread), Käse (cheese), and Fleisch (meat) very seriously, and they are good at it. Atkins, Southbeach, and the Hollywood cleanse are unknown here. One doesn’t really need to worry when you walk everywhere and when your food is fresh and not processed.

Turkish influence is very prominent here in Deutschland. It is a torn relationship between both parties. They have their love/hate relationship. But for me, I am in love… and what I love the most is Dörners. These hefty sandwich-like/ pita stuffed deliciousness satisfies my cravings everyday.. well a few times a week. I have scoped out every Turkish place here in Horb, and I have found one that I became a regular at. The owners know me and treat me like a princess because I have recruited other students to go there. The place is called Shilly’s and the owners are Yassi and his wife Shnea… I think this is how their names are spelt. Anywho.. they are wonderful people that give us free shot of Schnapps and Schwarz Tee. Everyday I try something new from pizza to vegetarian Döners, but my favorite is the Fleisch Döner im Yufka. It looks like a giant burrito, but is filled with purple cabbage, lamb, onions, tomatoes, tons of feta cheese, and a secret sauce… it tastes like a cucumber sauce. This is a tasty treat.

Sausage

When one thinks of Germany, they always think of sausage. It’s true, the sausage is good, but there is a special sausage here in Deutschland, and that is the “Currywurst.” Berlin is known to have the best Currywurst, and thus so far, I would say Berlin’s is the best! Currywurst is sausage that is doused in a reddish- brownish curry sauce. It looks kind of like teriyaki sauce smothered on sliced sausage. A bun is served on the side, and you eat it however you like. There is even a song about Currywurst that we sing in our class.

Currywurst

Since I am living in a Schwäbisch area, it is necessary to talk about the Schwäbisch dish I have already had numerous times….Spätzle. It is so common here that when one uses sweet words of endearment or gives another a pet name, they call the other a “Spätzle. ” You are probably wondering what the heck Spätzle is… well I myself am still trying to figure it out. It is a noodle made out of a pancake like substance and thrown into soups or casseroles. It is a common dish here in my state of Baden Württemberg.

I had to make this picture big, so you can get a good idea of what the meat looks like.

Fleisch

The other night I had an assortment of meats. Some I loved, and some I have no desire to try again. Some looked like they had just been removed from the animal it came from, and others were in a tube. The tube meat wasn’t so bad, in fact I kind of liked it. I had Leberwurst. Growing up, I thought Leberwurst was absolutely disgusting, but slab that on a piece of bread and we will call it a day! It is pretty great! The other meats I am partial to. I had this type of meat called “ Schenken Schpekt “ and it was a dark red block of meat with a thick white outer shell of fat. It had the texture of sashimi and one can eat it alone or with breads and cheese. If you mix it with cheese and bread or even Leberwurst, it’s okay, but by itself, I wasn’t a fan of it. I think it might be an acquired taste. I then tried a type of meat that came in a circular block form. This meat looked liked it had various types of other meats crammed into one big block. It had a gelatinous layer of fat mixed in and completely covering the outer shell. This meat was called “ ? “ and I only had it once. I wasn’t a fan of the texture. But I tried everything. Here in Germany, the hot meal is served for lunch and for dinner people eats lighter meals like various meats and cheeses with tomatoes or cucumbers. I eat tomatoes and cucumber everyday in every kind of form. From caprese salads to cucumber salads, it is a staple to my everyday diet. One can’t pass it up, because the tomatoes and cucumbers are fresh from the garden and so lecker (delicious)!

Coffee (Kaffee) is very strong here! I like it because it gets the job done. I met a few Germans that will say coffee in the USA is shit, and in some ways I agree. But for those who don’t like strong coffee, I don’t know if you could handle the coffee here in Germany.

Every day when I get home from school my host mother offers me a snack. The snack is usually a cake my mother had just baked or some sweet delight. Desserts are different here. They aren’t as sweet. Lots of foods here are made to enjoy the natural flavors of the food itself . Adding extra flavoring isn’t a common thing like it is in America. One is supposed to taste the flavor of the food. So for the sweets here in Deutschland it is different. I like the cakes and desserts my host mother makes. They are lighter . I also like the super sweet desserts in the USA as well. It just depends on my mood.

Simone with Bisquitrolle... Super good!

Chocolate is a staple to my diet. I have it for every meal either in my Musli in the morning, Nutella on my bread, or as a snack, chocolate is consumed heavily. The chocolate candy bars here are soooooo good! I will miss them very much when I leave Germany. There is an amazing assortment of chocolates with great fillings that melt in your mouth! My favorite is a dark chocolate with a mixed berry yogurt filling. Mmmmmmm! I will be sending my parents back to the states with loads of chocolate.

We sit by the river after class and drink beer. This bottle cost $0.65 cents. Good and cheap!

Beer (Bier)

Das Bier! The beer is better here in Deutschland. Hands down. I don’t think anyone could argue with that statement. Germans have perfected their beer for centuries, so why would anyone try to compare or compete. The taste, the smell, and the alcohol percentage is higher = besser Bier. It’s not like drinking American beer that is watered down. This beer actually has some substance. I might be a beer snob when I return home to the states, and I apologize for that in advance. Unless you get your beer from a microbrewery, I don’t know If I can return to Miller or Budweiser. I might have to because I will be so broke I won’t be able to afford anything else. And it’s true! There is a beer boot. I drank out of a 3 liter glass called a

“ Leisel “ with real life Germans cheering me on. Another point which most Europeans follow is the cheering – toast of the drinks. One MUST look into the other person’s eyes while toasting (Prost) otherwise it is 7 years of bad sex. It’s just a tradition, I don’t know if it is true or not. So if you are in Europe and wonder why everyone is starring into your eyes while you are toasting, they are doing it so they won’t have 7 years of bad sex.

Every night I drink with Rolf our Birnenbrand Schnapps and sometimes a Hohenberg Sekt. It is not a champagne, but tastes like a champagne. I don’t know how else to describe it. Another fun fact, Germans recycle everything!!!!!!!! So when you buy bottles, you can return them to any store and get a ticket back with credit or money on it to buy whatever in the store. There are like 5 different trash cans in public places for glass, plastic, paper, fruit peels... and many more.