Normalcy or Novelty?

Blog Assignment number 2.... Time to set the scene!

I've now been in Germany for almost a month, and there are things here which seem so normal to me now, but are such a novelty when I think about Canada! For example the open air markets that are in every Platz big enough to hold them... selling produce, knick knacks, antiques, and meat. SO MUCH MEAT. Some of my friends told me I would have a hard time being a vegetarian in Germany, and I shrugged it off, saying 'Germany doesn't have fruit or vegetables??' Of course, Germany DOES have food that is meat-less, but it IS harder to find. Eating meat here (especially duma, a sausage and sauce combo that is sold on the street like hot dogs) seems like a more entrenched way of life than in Canada, where vegetarian and vegan restaurants are available. In the markets I have to be careful which rows I walk down, I once found myself faced skinned pigs hanging upside down inches away from my face, and Patrick once asked for chicken on his pizza and was told his only option was sheep's meat, revolving slowly on a spit behind the counter. So I am still doing my vegetarian thing, but it seems strange and out of place here... I don't mind though, it just makes ordering in restaurants difficult, I feel like such an idiot, pulling out my phrase book to try and decipher the menu, asking 'Does this have meat in it?' to servers who may or may not speak English, and usually look at me like I have 2 heads or something... If only I spoke more German - I should try and learn the names of every random kind of meat possible so I can stop pestering the servers! So I am always a little concerned when my food comes, depending on my confidence in the clarity of communication with the server. I asked once in a supermarket if someone could tell me which kinds of soup had no meat, and the guy working there looked at me like I was crazy and told me I was in the wrong kind of supermarket. But there doesn't seem to be a RIGHT kind of supermarket for a vegetarian, they all carry the same stuff!

So the food here is not really what I am used to. I can't find cheddar cheese anywhere, although they DO carry my favourite kind of frozen pizza! But what is really killing me the price of chips. I am a chip addict. And here everything is either sour cream and onion (not my favourite) or paprika flavoured. Seriously, I had no idea that there would be this obsession with paprika, or that a small bag of chips would cost 3.5o euros!! That's over 5 bucks for a teeny bag of chips!! So I must get my chip habit under control or go broke... But I see why people in Germany seem to be so fit, everyone bikes everywhere and avoids junk food since it is too expensive!

And the bikes! They are everywhere! I am more in danger of being hit by a bike than I am of being hit by a car. Drivers are so considerate, there are pedestrian crosswalks with no lights, and as soon as I even look like I'm considering stepping onto the street what little traffic there is grids to a halt, including buses and streetcars. In Toronto I would never dream of not looking twice before crossing the street, and even then it can be risky business. Here I'm sure I could step out onto the street and wander around blindfolded and never get hit (don't worry Larissa, I won't try it!) But car culture is very different here, it isn't nearly as prolific as in Toronto and Canada.

Finally the atmosphere! The places I have been so far, Bonn and Munster, OOZE history, it seems as though every building has a story to tell. Wandering the streets of Munster at night, through the old part of the city when no one was really around was like being in a different time, everything is restored from the war and looks the way I imagine it would a couple hundred years ago and more. This is something which Canada does not have, this deep character that comes with a long history. I love Toronto, but the gray concrete and skyscrapers have nothing on a church built in 1230, and our dirty sidewalks lack the charm of cobble stoned streets.

Some more pictures are on the way! Though I don't love whipping out my camera every 2 seconds (does anything scream tourist louder than that?) I am comfortable enough with my foreigner status to snap pictures at will - I want to remember this journey! And I would love to improve on my photography skills, since I seem to be artistically challenged when it comes to painting and drawing, maybe one day I can take good photos! So forgive my sometimes sad attempts at photography, I don't quite seem to have the knack yet of capturing the beauty around me, but some things don't translate as well into photos - they need to be experienced, breathed in. However, I hope they give some idea of my experiences here in Germany...