Random (hopefully interesting) facts

garbage cans in Berlin with little word plays

1. In Germany, you can buy milk with fat percentages: 1.5%, 3.5%, 3.7%.
(No "skim," 1%, or 2%.)

2. Germans say "Ah-chi!" [spelled "hatschi" in comics, etc] when they sneeze, not "ah-choo". Seriously.

3. On German TV, there is a warning on the screen before the show if there is product placement: "Unterstützt durch Produktplatzierung" 

4. The stop lights are on the other side of the street here. In the US, they are on the oppose side of the street, so you can pull right up to the intersection. In Germany, they are on your side of the intersection, so you have to back up behind the crosswalk in order to see them. 

5. In Germany you only pay (or get charged "minutes") when you make phone calls and place text messages, not for receiving calls or messages. I wonder if the difference is that the US has such a huge area...otherwise it doesn't really make sense. 

6. "Oil of Olay" (the brand) is called "Olaz" in Germany. By strange coincidence (?), the Y and Z are swapped on the German keyboard. (so when zou tzpe with the German kezboard it looks like this...) Michael's theory about Olay-Olaz: it's a typo. :)


7. NO public drinking fountains here. The only city I have ever seen with a drinking fountain is Hamburg, they have a few outdoor ones. But in the library I have seen students with their heads under the faucet in the bathrooms, getting a drink!! It's crazy! In the US you can plan long runs around parks that have water fountains...not in Germany. Don't expect one at the gym, the university, wherever. Nope. 


8. In Germany you can control the amount of water you use to flush the toilet...very environmentally friendly. :)

Spare rips, Barfers, and Michael Jackson (random funny stuff)

First, two shop owners who probably should have consulted English-speaking friends before naming their stores:

Above is a pet food store near us, the photo below is a kiosk in the Wedding neighborhood.

And from an Asian restaurant in Friedrichshain, hot beverages "against cold" (in German, gegen Erkältung means to fight a cold, in the sense of medicine you would take for a cold). Also, many Germans are particularly sensitive to garlic, which according to the menu's legend, is a a form of spicy. :) Note how dish #14 warns you that it includes garlic!

 And last we have a copy shop with a T-Shirt hanging in the window, "I love Michael Jackson"

Just some of the random amusement you get here every day walking around the streets, whether funny English translations, funny names of stores, or just weirdisms of living in a big city. :)

We also have a new rule not to buy any products that have an American flag on them as a marketing technique (that usually is things like soft bread, hot dogs, peanut butter, marshmallows, etc). This place below is also pretty crazy looking. They deliver "American food".  Sketch.

Kulturschock - things that make my sister laugh

Here are some pictures I've been collecting...things that made Elisabeth laugh or turn and take a double look, or make comments. 

1. You can buy a bundle of "Suppengrün" to make soup stock. She was like, "What? I don't know anyone in the States who makes soup stock!" They do make it easier with this little bundle.

2. You can buy animal parts that wouldn't be sold in American stores. Like chicken livers, hearts, lungs, stomachs. And turkey hearts, stomachs, etc...

3. Funny German Christmas decoration.

4. Bakery display: a gingerbread house made to look like cheese, with a mouse butt poking out of it. (hard to see in the picture)

5. Drinking in public. You can carry an open beer around in the streets here. Elisabeth enjoyed this tonight on the way to the Weihnachtsmarkt.

6. Berlin, du bist so wunderbar. (enough said)

7. Baby Hitler. And next to it, a poster, "Ich mache Quatsch"