Vaterland

After only a week here, there's not too much to report...just a few observations:
1. Germans make bread that you can leave to your children. Not that it's not good, but it's serious bread. I bought a half-loaf this week and the bag literally ripped when I picked it up. I think Germans must learn how to carry bread when they are small, but this info doesn't seem to have been transmitted in my genetic material. Anyway, it was worth it b/c it was really good and cheap and particularly yummy when spread with Nutella.
2. Ikea is pretty much the same here as at home, but the cafeteria/restaurant had a lot more options. The Swedish meatballs taste exactly the same here....I tried to instigate a meatball fight in the store, but my responsible boyfriend wouldn't play along. I thus claim victory. Seriously, I had never noticed how Ikea is full of young couples buying disposible furniture and really bad kitchen equipment to begin their cohabitations. It was pretty fun. Or maybe I was just high on being crowned Swedish meatball fight queen.
3. I look like I speak German, but I don't. I find this embarrassing even though I know it's not really my fault. Nobody's born speaking German. I begin a frighteningly large # of conversations by admitting this and wishing I could tell them that I'm not one of *those* Americans. I actually speak other languages besides English. I'm worldly, I swear. Sorry, I'm feeling particularly sensitive about this b/c I got yelled at by this woman at a German school (if I was there, you might conclude I'm trying to learn German) for not speaking German. Sigh......
4. They have flavored buttermilk here (like yogurt). I was all excited, but it turned out to taste just like liquidy/drinking yogurt at home.
5. They eat pancakes for dinner, not breakfast. Not dessert, dinner.
6. Germans are really into qualifications. For example, you can't even cut hair w/o going to school for 3 years and thus becoming qualified/certified. My haircutter (no mullet!) was shocked to believe that in the US you can get a job cutting hair just by being good at it.
7. I can't find baking soda. The baking powder and the closest thing they have to vanilla extract comes in packets.....which is all well and good, but what do you do if you don't use a whole packet, which you usually don't.
8. Apparently dachsunds are on the decline in Deutschland. I'm not sure if they are counting both bearded and regular dachsunds, but either way, it was in the paper. (On the same day, they reported that there's been a surge in the racoon population. ???)
9. There are a lot of poppyseeds here......not so many hamantashans, but I can fix that. Finding matzo for Passover will be another issue........