How sweet to be an idiot, as harmless as a cloud…
Mar 7th, 2006 by B.
Well what do you know, I’d given up on the housing committee ‘approving’ us, but it turns out we’re up to muster after all. We’re officially the newest tenants on Tieckstrasse and will be picking up our keys (hopefully) this Friday. We also checked in on our housing shipment and it’s due to arrive in Bremerhaven this Sunday. I can not find the words to express how much I miss my bed.
***tangent***
If there are future expats who one day read this blog… take it from me, the thing you really need to bring from home is your bed. Mattresses here are like futons with pokey coils… they’re horrible.
***end of tangent***
The rumor is we’ll have our things by the 28th and I’m counting the days.
As far as our integration goes, I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to absorb most of the culture here and fit in fairly well. There’s one thing, though, that I don’t think I personally will ever get used to. And that ‘thing’ is dining like a german. I’m not even talking food, although they do seem a little overly fond of organ meats and scary looking white/gray sausages. Nope, I’m talking about the art of dining.
Germans are very formal. When eating, you hold your knife in your right hand and your fork in your left hand the ENTIRE time… and when you’re done you set them on your plate (in an ‘x’ formation) and this signifies you’re finished. Doesn’t sound all that bad, eh? Well, try it. I’ve been working diligently to get used to eating this way, and it’s just not happening. Also, everything is eaten with a knife and fork, and I mean everything… pizza, knife & fork. Sandwich… knife and fork. Slice of cheese… knife and fork. It’s crazy.
On this day..
- A film trifecta. - 2007
I cannot switch the knife and fork. The most i can muster is not putting my left hand in my lap. My mother beat table manners into me. It is so uncomfortable to switch to deutsch for me. Its like trying to pee in my pants. Yes I can do it, but i have to try really really hard.
It’s only really the North Americans that cut food, put knife down, and use fork in right hand. The whole of Europe, and most of the former British Empire hold their knife in their right hand and their fork in your left hand the ENTIRE time.
Forgot to add - Great news that you got the flat and that your shipment is turning up soon
I had not realized our old smiley friend was German …
fork left … knife right
gutten appetite !
http://users4.ev1.net/~ozomatli/smiley/smileyeat.gif
Yep. It’s really hard to explain to my kids why they do it one way here and another way in Canada and then try to get them to remember which is which. People are going to think we’re raisings slobs.
At home when no one’s looking we take a more informal approach to dining ie: if you can get it to your mouth without dropping it on the floor, anything goes.
I’ve done the switch, it was too hard to bump elbows with everyone. Now when I’m in the US I’m totally confused about how to eat, I keep going between the two styles and get all schtizo. But, are you sure about the “X” formation? My fiance made sure to teach me that when you’re done you lay the knife and fork together in the 3-4 o’clock position on your plate with the blade of the knife facing you (and not your dinner partners so that you won’t ‘cut’ them).
But then again a big x in the middle of your plate is a pretty clear, universal signal and not so anally detailed as the one I just described…:-)