Finally, home sweet home

Houses here usually come with nothing when you rent or buy. That saying "what did you bring? the kitchen sink?" is true to Germany. Houses come with rooms and a bathroom fitted. Nothing else. No lights, no kitchen cupboards, sinks, taps etc, no curtain racks, even no in built cupboards. After a long hunt after two months here, we found a lovely place in the old town (Altstadt) of Heidelberg. 2 months is actually a short period of time here to find somewhere to rent and that came with a hefty commission to the real estate agent (they call it provision) which wasn't so pleasant.

We were also lucky enough to find a place with a kitchen, but as you can see below - no lights. Thankfully my man has a drill, a table to stand on and some idea of how to install light fixtures!

We had to buy most things new to fit out the place which comes with the pros of having new stuff to get comfy in but the con of ikea assembly. Bought new knifes, and I trialled the effectiveness of them on my finger - whilst trying to cut bread as hard as a brick (damit Germany, get some self raising flour or something!), I found out its easier to slice clear through your finger & nail than the actual bread.

Everyone has been asking for pictures of the new place - so below is what it looks like in its current state. Hopefully next update will have a slightly more liveable slant on it (couch comes in 2 weeks, chairs for tables 3 weeks and we'll stop sleeping on a mattress on the floor this weekend when the bed frame shows up).

The living room

The Kitchen

The hallway

Creature comforts

Instead of finding something weird to report about Germany, instead I have found something rather decent. The toilets.

Some of you may/may not know, I seem to have a strange fascination for public toilets internationally. Thailands 'no flush, just use a bucket of water' method, also Thailands 'don't flush the toilet paper' policy, Japans squatters & built in bottom cleaners, Italy's Piza was my first experience of the automatic toilet in 2003 and of course the awesome American public bathroom hand dryers by dyson.

Although I loved living in Canada, one thing that I couldn't get past or understand was public toilets.

Canadian toilets have three vital floors:

1. You can see in - the doors have large gaps on each side (hinge and handle side), below and top, so you can see if someone is sitting, standing or doing any other business that is TMI ! To Canada's defence, my boss once told me she liked the Canadian loo encasing as it provided her the safety of not being locked in a claustrophobic jail cell..

Picture I found on the internet that sums it up

2. They are structured like a pigs troff. Longer than your home toilet. Why can't they be the same as ones in Canadian households? And what's with the a gaping hole at the front of it for no particular reason I could see.

3. Cleanliness. Some reason public toilets in canada are treated with the utmost disrespect (for you Vancouver-ites saying "huh?"… one example to prove my point: The Cambie pub bathrooms) and on numerous occasions I thought I'd contract rabies (especially at any pub after 10pm).

In experiencing Germany, thus so far they are satisfying my 'norm'. Here privacy is key - so you get a giant, completely enclosed room to do your business (Including hook to hang bag & coat, often enough room to even change clothes - or take off jacket without touching the toilet seat). Sometimes the Germans go a little overboard with the whole 'privacy thing' but this is one time I'm thankful. The toilets are the same as my house so there is no confusion on what to do and I'm also very excited to report that germany has rotating, self cleaning toilet seats. I'm yet to find one, but when I do, oh that will be my new local spot.

So Germany, as with most of the items in your country, thank you for being clean, private and internationally normal (by my standards).

Things that fascinate me

Its not that often you get to be a kid and experience new things that fascinate you over and over. Unfortunately with age, this becomes a rarity.

For me, I'm lucky enough to have found the child like experience again here in Germany every time I pass by one of the numerous GIANT wind turbines, the Graduation Towers and the city of BASF (a chemical company).

Let me explain....

Wind Turbines: Everywhere you drive, looking across the skyline, you notice a Wind Turbine. These colossal structures are bigger than I ever expected up close, totally random to the green natural landscape yet surprisingly engaging to watch for long periods of time. They even have a soothing "whoosh" sound. Every time we go past in the car I either need to squeal and look out the window till I can no longer see them, or I stop conversation just to catch a glimpse and awe at these amazing structures.

Graduation Towers: It is a sea smelling wood giant house type thing - in short. I don't quite understand the concept of these still, but basically these things are used to produce salt or just to produce the smell of salt air. Thats not the fascinating part. Its that people come from all around to breath in the air given off by them as a 'therapeutic' treatment. Because they don't have sea air, this is the next best thing. For an Australian who's always lived close enough to water, its strange to watch people all walking around this structure just to breathe the air.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduation_tower

BASF - in Ludwigshafen:

This is a massive chemical company that has created a mini city of strangely structured buildings, smoke stacks at every corner and an oddly lit night culture where all the lights are left on 24 hours. The fascinating part is the look of this city. It is structured so differently, brightly and almost creepy that every time we go past, I can't help but want to know what is going on in there. Unfortunately its not easy to understand the imagery over a blog, and this site provides a snippet of the entire structure/city: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3415/3253192969_cd5fa6670d.jpg or this site http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/210880/210880,1213156979,1/stock-photo-chemistry-production-by-night-13626184.jpg.

I feel its like going into the ocean, as deep as you can go, and all of a sudden you come across a brightly lit, strangely structured city without the normal high-rise buildings or house night lights. Or, as my boyfriend describes it (for you nerds out there), its like in Star Wars Episode 1, look for the city under water, Otoh Gunga .

Those are the main three things for me for now, but there are more! Here are some other minor ones to note:

- The gypsies are rich but act poor

- They play John Farnam on the radio WAY to often

- You need your passport to use a library (but not allowed to borrow a book…?)

- The bread is always stale, and they find it the best in the world. They also will eat it plain. Maybe the germans have more saliva?

- Garlic never leaves your hands when you chop them. I'm six days after chopping and still smell like an italian kitchen.

- You answer the phone, instead of saying hello, you state your last name as the greeting.

- I will get killed by oncoming bikes. My brain doesn't quote acknowledge bike lanes - therefore I pay no attention to where bikes get to ride and people get to walk.

Eat My Words

It will be hard enough having to retrain my brain on the alphabet, numbers and grammar.. but here is something I never thought I'd come across…. animal noises are different.

When adults ask the child "What noise does the rooster make?" a completely different noise comes out…

Stewie from family guy summed it up perfectly for me here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1n0zdeTaRk

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry...

Today I started my first day of german language school. Its in the heart of Heidelberg and when we move house into Heidelberg (November), it'll be about a 5 minute walk thankfully (instead of the 1 hour 45 min commute now). I'm in a class of 10 people, me and 9 middle eastern men who speak a touch of english and no german either. Practising german with each other proves to be harder than expected due to heavy accents on both sides and therefore causing more confusion. Also being the only female in the class may prove interesting (or lonely) when the men only wish to talk amongst themselves. The teacher seems very patient (thankfully) but the speed of which they expect you to pick it up I will find challenging.

They say the key to learning a language is the more people speak to me in German, the more it should seep into my brain and I'll understand. It seems like that method - so far - isn't quite working - I have a permanent blank look on my face in school and when buying lunch in the city.

PS. it seems I may have jinx'ed myself (well, or someone else) with the last post. Tomorrow I'm off to a funeral at the very same graveyard.