Yesterday I hung out with my friend Jess and although our original plan didn’t work out because of the rain, we ended up having a rather entertaining time at Globus. Globus is the Germany Walmart I swear. It has everything you need…well maybe not everything an American thinks they need…but most definitely enough for a German!
It’s hard not to notice the differences when you walk into a German grocery store. I always knew that meat, cheese, and bread were staples here but these three items take up about half of the store. The cheese counter has every type of cheese you can imagine and Jess informed me that there are more behind the counter that you have to ask for! The meat and bread counters go on forever and there are varieties of both that I have never heard of! I love all the pastries and it takes everything in me to keep from eating German bread every day for the entire time I live here. Although it really wouldn’t be SUCH a bad thing. There are so many less preservatives in the bread here so it’s really not as bad as eating a ton of Mrs. Bairds..so I’ve got that going for me.
The portions here are much smaller though. So not only do I have to deal with the whole metric issue (which is an issue because I am awful at math and hate converting) but I am so used to buying in bulk and nothing here seems to even come in large. Everything is smaller. I bought a bag of flour that was half of the size of the one I bought at the commissary. I also have to mention it because it is my biggest issue with living here and I love pretty much everything else but I miss big fountain drinks. I would kill for a Sonic down the street like I have had at every house I have ever lived at! I know this is silly but we had lunch at Globus and I had a Coke and would have loved to have it about twice the size with a ton of ice. German’s prefer no ice and probably think I am an ungrateful American but I was born into this and it goes back to our misunderstanding of “wanting” and “needing” but if I could choose one selfish need, it would be a Route 44 Dr. Pepper from Sonic. Please and THANK YOU.
We ran into lots of items that made us laugh or grossed us out and I tried to take some pictures. It’s hard to be discrete with my honkin’ camera and I hate being rude and obnoxious but some of the stuff we saw was just crazy and I needed to document it! I mean, SNAIL CREAM, really? lol.
The girls made it an adventure as well. Jess has two adorable little girls that joined us at Globus and were a source of entertainment as well. Samantha liked to gnaw on the shopping cart….I feel like I am throwing Jess under the bus because we weren’t too worried about stopping her but it was just so FUNNY! Eating lunch with these two was amazing as well. Jess blows my mind with her capability to feed herself and two children at the same time. I felt like such a loser just feeding me! They are popular too. The older German’s that were eating around us just loved watching them and asked all the regular questions that strangers do. I learn more and more every time I leave the house that I need to brush up on my conversational German. I feel like I can read it pretty well and I have a bunch of words under my belt but even the simple sentences kill me. I get nervous and my tongue decides not to work.
After Globus we went back to Jess’s house and had a coffee and some of our newly acquired chocolate while the girls napped. We talked about life and gardens and she even sent me home with some fruit from her tree. They are unfamiliar to me but they are called Mirabelle Plums and they taste a little sweeter than regular plums that I am used to. Pretty delicious and I might try to make a cobbler out of them.
As previously mentioned, I really love those photos of Sam and Lily. So you should send me the files stat. Also, I think I feel another "photography lesson" coming on… maybe that can be our next week date? I've got a lot of questions rattling around in my head. Oh, and I think my kitchen counter looks so glam in black and white ;o)
give me your email and I will make that happen today! and I think the lessons should continue to happen but I will just call them "hangout time with jess+2, added bonus=cameras" oh and I thought the dof was really cool in this pictures of the counter… http://www.flickr.com/photos/dear_life_i_love_you/6038144004/in/photostream
Yes, I love that pic, too! And I just realized you answered me ;o) (I need to subscribe to posts I comment on so I don't forget to check if I get a response.) Anyways, thejesses@gmail.com.