Tag: Regensburg

It was the butter that did me in.

On By StevenIn Life In Germany8 Comments

It will take me a while to get used to grocery shopping here.  For one thing, you bring your own cloth grocery bag, or you pay for the bags you need.  You bag your own groceries-  there’s nobody to bag groceries for you, and the cashier doesn’t help- she’s just there to ring up your purchase.  (Mine was very helpful when I accidentally dropped my bank card and the conveyer belt took it away though.  That could have been very, very bad.)

The shopping carts are terribly amusing to me.    They here have four independently oriented wheels so it’s much easier to roll a cart completely sideways at a perpendicular to your previous motion than with carts in the US.  The first time I saw that action, I had a solid “what the heck?!” moment.  I’ll probably never use one of the shopping carts though because I have to be able to carry anything I buy home, and it’s a good ten minute walk.

Kaufland is a two level store.  The upper level is where you enter and exit, and it’s a circle that takes you past some electronics, some housewares, and some liquor and candy.  The first time I walked through, I was unimpressed because I didn’t even notice the flat escalators that went down to the lower level.

The escalators are flat to accommodate the shopping carts, as it turns out, because the lower level is amazing-  it’s where all the food is.  The lower level is layer out as a huge circle with cold storage, a big fresh produce section, and a very, very wide selection.

The selection is where I’m running into problems though, because I don’t know any of the brands.  Sure, every once in a while, I’ll see a familiar name.  So far, Palmolive, Kleenex, Calgon, and Swiffer are the names for home products that I’ve seen.  And there’s Heinz, Uncle Ben’s, and Kellogg’s on the food side of things.  (I was terribly amused at the McDonald’s brand ketchup, too.)  Beyond that, the names are all entirely different.  I can tell if I’m getting Kaufland’s house brand (Klassik, I think) easily enough, but anything else is sort of an unknown for me.

Adding to the frustration is that the language barrier is thicker in the grocery store than in a lot of other places.  I was getting dish soap this afternoon and I had to ask Robert if it said anything about cutting oil or grease because I don’t know the words for that yet.  A lot of things are easy to spot because they just are-  cheese is obviously cheese, in any language.  Ketchup is ketchup, even though you have some very interesting varieties that you just don’t see in the US.

Hot and Curry

So this was what I was doing a while ago.  I found the cheese, then I found the cream cheese.  Thinking that the butter couldn’t be far away, but still not seeing it, I fired up the translation app on my phone, flipped it around so that it would translate English to German for a change, and tapped in the word butter.  It came back with ‘butter.’

Butter slabI was incredulous.  The German word for butter is… butter?!  Naturally.   I looked around some more, and went another aisle or so down, and found… butter.  A variety of types.  (What the heck is truffle butter?!)   The shapes and sizes were unfamiliar.  Little tubs.  Slabs that just felt oddly measured.  No sticks- that’s not how it’s sold here, I guess.  There were some odd little tubes, too.

Butter tubI stood in front of that butter case, muttering to myself as I picked up various types of butter, turned them around, and put them back, for the better part of five minutes.  I’m quite sure that I was starting to worry some of the other shoppers.  I eventually chose one slab and one tub, not even thinking to check for salting-  apparently salted butter isn’t as common here, so I’m not sure how much I’ll enjoy the ones I chose. Oh well, it’s a taste adventure.

My best score of the evening may well have been the lactose free, soy based chocolate puddings that I found.  Well, at least I think that’s what they are.  The word ‘dessert’ is very clear, and schokolade and laktosefrei are obvious enough.  And the designs on the package look sort of puddingish.

I’ve already gotten attuned to looking for the word “soja” on dairy types of products, because that’s German for Soy.  Soja usually means laktosefrei, which means I’m a much happier person.  I haven’t been hungry enough to try them yet- I had dinner right before I shopped because I know better than to grocery shop while hungry, even here.

I can’t wait to try my schokolade dessert.  It might even make me feel better about the butter.

Mufasa!

On By StevenIn Life In Germany1 Comment

You might have noticed that there are more posts from me on weekends-  that’s because I have more time to myself.  Week days are work days, which means I usually don’t have as much time to think of things to say.  Not so with weekends.  Especially Sundays, where I have to find ways to fill the time because nothing is open.

Today I filled some of the time by going to see Disneys Der König Der Löwen, also known as The Lion King.  I’ve been thinking about seeing it for a while, but I’m glad I waited-  I found that I could actually follow more of the German now than I would have been able to a few weeks ago.

I’ve always been somewhat facsinated by the voice actors who dub over well known parts on television and in movies.  While watching television here, I found that the German version of “How I Met Your Mother” was really fun to watch because the voice actors who cover Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel, and all the rest really do sound like their American counterparts- almost uncannily so.

That was mostly the case with the German cast of the Lion King.  They had a hard time matching someone to the timbre of James Earl Jones, but everyone else was more or less spot on.  Here’s a sample of my favorite part of the movie:

Something else that I found interesting was that despite the massive shift in language, many of the songs retained a rhyme scheme.  On those parts where I could pick out the translations, I noticed that they had changed the order of the words around to make it fit the rhyme scheme. It seems to me like that would be somewhat awkward, but I’ll have to ask a native speaker for their opinion.

Something else that I thought was interesting was that while most of the songs were English in the original were in German, Zazu’s “Nobody Knows” while he’s in the cage was in English.  And in the bit where he sings “I’ve Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts” in the English version, the German version changes to a little tune I’ve never heard before. I’d be willing to bet that it’s a song that is very common to people who’ve lived in Germany all their lives, though.

All in all, a very fun outing.  And one of the previews was for Die Muppets!  I can’t wait to see that one.

Unfashionably Random

On By StevenIn Life In Germany4 Comments

So about the fashion sensibilities here in Regensburg:

  • Skinny jeans are in fashion.  So are Converse of all colors and materials.  I’ve seen some really neat ones.
  • Among the younger set, the Justin Bieber haircut is very popular.  I giggle quietly every time I see it.
  • Every so often, I’ll see someone wearing an outfit that would seem normal in New York or Miami and it makes me do a doubletake- track suits, New York Yankees ball caps on sideways, gold chains.  You know the style.  This made a lot more sense after I took a different route through the city one night last week and passed a “Thug Life” store.  I can’t make anything that amusing up.
  • For the most part, people here tend to be pretty well dressed.  So much so that I feel a little bit shabby every time I walk outside.  I’m sure I’ll get used to it after a little while.  Or maybe I’ll just start dressing better.

pax-lyngdalOn the subject of clothing, and where to put it, I purchased a wardrobe yesterday at Ikea, the “Pax Lyngdal.”  I paid a bunch of extra Euros to have it delivered and assembled here, but it will be worth it because that thing was heavy to even get up to the cash register- I don’t want to think about what a pain it would be to get it up a flight of stairs.  And the front doors are frosted glass and aluminum- I’d much rather someone else do the heavy lifting and assembly on this one.  The only down side to having them deliver and assemble is that I won’t have it here until the 22nd of December, but in my opinion, that’s totally worth the wait.   My clothing can stay in boxes for another week and a half, no problem.

I went back to the Christmas markets last night with new friend Elena, and I wound up having bratwurst to counteract the alcohol in the Gluhwein. Blueberry this time, and it was delicious.  I wanted to get the bratwurst with sour kraut, but I waited too long and they ran out, which was a shame because it smelled amazing.  Instead,  I had what the girl behind the counter called the traditional way.  Spicy mustard, horseradish, and something else I can’t remember.  I think she was just messing with me on the horseradish.  It was damn tasty though.

I’m still not sure what to do with myself on Sundays here-  it’s forbidden by law for businesses to be open on Sundays here.  One of my friends told me that they’re challenging that law now, but I doubt it will change while I’m here.  There are only a few exceptions.  The business in the train station stay open because they’re ostensibly for travelers.  The Arcade opens for a few hours in the afternoon- not the shops, just the restaurants.  Lots of small business run on Sundays; call centers and the like.  Emergency services like police and fire are on duty.  And of course the bus system runs.  It’s just the shops.  If you need medicine on a Sunday, I’m pretty sure your only option is a hospital- the apothekes (sort of like a pharmacy, but not precisely the same) are never open on Sundays.  My routine on Sundays now that I’m in an apartment with no Internet connection (Damn you Kabel Deutschland!) is to sleep in, then hop over to the Arcade for some tea and Internet time in the afternoon.  I’ll probably wind up going over to the Cinemaxx today to see der König der Löwen, in 3D.  I don’t know enough of the language yet to really follow everything, but I know the movie and the songs well enough to still enjoy it.  Plus I really want to hear James Earl Jones dubbed in German.

A note on the Cinemaxx- they do some movies in originalfassung (original language) on Monday  nights- I’m really hoping that the Muppet Movie makes it over here soon; I really want to see that one quite badly.  Right now it’s Puss In Boots, which I have no interest in seeing.  Come on, Muppets!

At ninety-eight, we all rotate.

On By StevenIn Life In Germany4 Comments

This is a story about a revolving door.

One of the things that I see a lot of here that just doesn’t exist in Florida is the giant revolving doors that are in front of big stores, shopping malls, and so forth.  Like this one.  Well, exactly this one.   There are regular doors on either side of the revolving section.  That’s important in another paragraph or so.

Spinning Cage Of Doom!

Over the last few days, I’ve noticed that the shoes that I wear to work are starting to disintegrate.  They’re cracking badly on the spot that creases when I kneel down and the upper bends.  The damage is severe enough that my feet are starting to get cold from the extra air flow, so after work today, I decided to walk over to one of the shoe stores I’d seen in the Regensburg Arcade.

Whenever I walk over to the Arcade, I always decide whether to use the revolving door or the regular door based on a combination of where it is in the spin cycle, how crowded it is, and how much I’ll have to slow down when I get into the spin chamber.  Tonight, I saw that it was just closing, so I angled to the door on the right instead.  As I was approaching, I heard laughter from the other side, and when I looked up, the revolving part had stopped cycling entirely and had trapped one guy in a blue jacket inside.

I felt bad for this guy, trapped in the middle of the revolving door.  Normally you can push them, but this one was motorized so it seemed to be locked in place.  Anyone who’s known me for a while knows that it’s in my nature to stop and try to help people.  I’m not a doormat and I won’t usually go out of my way to ridiculous lengths to help people, but on a night like tonight when I have plenty of time, I can’t pass up the urge to help.

Two problems:  First, I don’t speak enough German to converse with everyone around me.  Second, I had no idea who to tell if there was a problem with the door.

The first thing that I did was to walk the full circle around the revolving door, looking for controls, buttons, and so forth.  By this point in time, the poor guy trapped inside had noticed that I wasn’t just walking by like the other shoppers, and we exchanged amused glances.  Some people would be freaking out; this guy was cool as a cucumber.   It didn’t take long to figure out that none of the controls were helpful-  they were designed to open it fully for wheelchair passage when it was already moving.  I did find a light panel near the top that showed that it was in a fault condition-  it seemed to think there was an obstruction.

A helpful passerby, the only person to stop and help besides me, suggested that we try pushing.  We had already done that, but we tried it again, without success.  The new helpful person went off to the information desk (which I did not know existed) to tell them about the situation.  As he walked away, I continued to try the different controls and levers and such on the door.  After a few minutes, new helpful guy came back and mentioned that he’d told the management and they were on their way.

While we waited, the guy stuck inside the door realized that the center partition of the revolving door was also a door, and this allowed him to move to the other side, where he could have better access to the part of the door that I was trying to get open.  Once he was directly opposite me, we managed to successfully turn the door just enough for him to slip out.  He thanked me briefly, then was on his way.

Here’s the really funny bit.  While all of this was going on, most people were just walking by.  Unbeknownst to me, however, a group of four guys sitting at the restaurant just to the right of the revolving door had been following our little adventure, and when my blue jacketed friend finally slipped out of his revolving cage, a loud cheer went up from the table.  When I turned to look, they had beer glasses raised in salute.  I couldn’t help but laugh.

The trip to the shoe store was a success, too.