I've lived here so many years that Germany is home to me. When you feel at home, you tend not to notice your surroundings anymore. But every now and then, something reminds me things aren't the same in the US. Here are some simple things I love here in Germany.
I live in the area known as Franconia, where it's a tradition
to decorate fountains and bushes for Easter. Here's our Easter bush.
I'm a wimp when it comes to crafts, so I use plastic
eggs. Some go for gold and blow real eggs out, dry them, then paint the empty
shells and use them for decoration. At the beginning of Spring, when the
weather is often drab, perky eggs flashing from everyone's yard can be a real
pick-me-up.
Bakeries
Yum!
The best thing about most of these cakes (no,
unfortunately they are not calorie-free) is that they are not very sweet. Some
might look like they're piled high with sugary-sweet frosting, but it's actually
yoghurt-based or whipped cream. Real whipped cream, made (logically) by whipping real cream.
Organization
It's kind of a stereotype that Germans are organized. Stereotypes
are often fact-based, and here's one I love.
Example: every child in my daughter's second grade class has one of
these "folders" for organizing pens, pencils, rulers, erasers and
scissors.
Recycling
We have six kinds of garbage: paper, biodegradable, tin
cans, glass, plastics, and everything else. All but the last category are
recycled, at least to a certain degree. No picture here. Didn't think you needed to see our
garbage.
Watch this space—I'll probably be inspired to write more
about things I love about Germany.
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