Didn't Think of That...

Something I was thinking about is how this exchange has allowed me to encounter so many other things and ideas. So I thought I’d share some. It’s not like we don’t have or do these things in America (perhaps), I just haven’t seen it or thought about it before. (And I suppose there should be a disclaimer here that it’s only stuff I’ve observed where I am at). And I know there are many, many more, but these are just the ones I thought of at the moment.

Worcester Sauce: Um. Normally this goes with BBQ sauce, ja? Because my host mom had NEVER heard of it going with BBQ. And I had never seen it going into a vegetable and potato soup. Go figure.

Stirring on the Counter: People probably do this in America, but I just personally haven’t seen it. I was baking some cookies with some people the other day, and they put all the dry ingredients on the (clean) counter, made a hole in the middle and poured in all the wet ingredients and kneaded it right there. I was just a little surprised.

Bread Toppings: Breakfast here is almost always bread, with various toppings. It is usually normal things like jam, butter, cream cheese, and cheese, but also cottage cheese, yogurt, quark (which we don’t even have in America, I think) or sour cream. It’s surprisingly good when you mix it with some jam. Just hadn’t thought of that before.

Holes in Jeans: I’m REALLY (emphasis on really) not sure if this one is correct, but from some impressions I got, it’s not normal to keep wearing jeans if they have holes? Because people always point it out and ask if you fell down earlier that day. Um. No. I just have a hole in my jeans!

Thick Pieces of Meat: We definitely have this in America, but usually it is steak or chicken… I suppose it’s just typical German to have huge chunks of pig meat. Maybe. And always with mustard.  This probably doesn’t sound very surprising, but you should have seen the thing! It looked like a piece of pink bread!

Sharing Deodorant: That would be REALLY gross if it wasn’t usually a spray. Spray deodorants are more popular here, and I’ve seen people ask during breaks in class if they could borrow someone else’s and spray it RIGHT there. Maybe I’m just a weird American, but… I wouldn’t do that. 

Oats: Breakfast + oats = oatmeal, in my head. So I was just mildly surprised once when they mixed it in with some musli (healthy cereal, basically) and milk and ate it cold. Totally makes sense, but I had never done it.

Applesauce: This gets mixed into the weirdest things. Like rice. Or cereal. Or on top of bread.

Opening Windows: Windows get opened all the time, it doesn’t matter how cold it is outside. During the day, a lot of the time the back door is wide open. And several times a week my host mom will open all the windows for a few minutes to totally aerate the house. In breaks during class, people always open the window. I sit there and usually think “Are you CRAZY!? It’s COLD!” while most of the others enjoy it (though a few do seem to share my views :P)

Fresh Food and where it comes from: This is something we really don’t think about much in America, I think. For example, when we buy fruit, we don’t really care where it came from (California or Ohio or China or wherever), so long as they look and taste good. And who knows how fresh it is??? For some people in America, natural and bio food is important, but here it is REALLY important. A LOT of people buy organic or natural because it’s healthier and the animals are better treated, etc. That’s just something I’ve never considered (and I think I’m not alone), whereas in Germany almost everyone takes into account how good the quality and freshness is when buying food.

Living with another Family: Then there’s this general difference of living with another family, which functions in a different way than what I grew up with (duh, that’s true for every family). The biggest difference is probably religion, because I’m LDS and they are Catholic; there isn’t as big of a difference between the two as I thought, but there are some definite differences. Just encountering these other viewpoints have made me more thoughtful of what I think, and more aware/understanding/accepting of what others think.

 

I realize some of these are weird and totally random, but the idea behind it is that I have encountered a lot of different things that I normally wouldn’t have if I hadn’t come here. We get into these ruts and ways of thinking, and don’t always consider there are other ways of doing things or thinking about things.