Thanks, Blythe, for including me…

5) Name five things you love in your new country:

~ How safe it is here. I can walk the streets at 2:00 a.m… hell, I can go to the atm at 2:00 a.m. and feel completely safe.

~ How pet-friendly it is. Try in america to find a nice hotel that takes pets. It’s impossible. Try in germany to find a nice hotel that doesn’t take pet… Dude’s got it good here.

~ How helpful and friendly most germans are. I know, I know, many of you insist they’re rude, standoffish & surly. Perhaps it’s living in former east germany… maybe the Russians beat it out of them… but I have to say that all the germans I encounter (even the ones at the Führerscheinstelle!) are 100 times friendlier & more helpful than strangers I dealt with in the states.

~ The history. Dresden celebrated its 800th birthday last year. That’s over three times as old as America. The history in germany is rich and interesting.

~ The natural beauty and willingness to just leave things alone. In america it’s all skyrises & subdivisions. Here things are older, more natural. I love it.

4) Name four things that you miss from your native country:

~ 24 hour shopping!

~ Spicy mexican food… especially decent chips & salsa. Oh, who am I kidding, spicy anything really.

~ The variety of just about everything. With the exception of beer & wine (two things that don’t really ring my bell) I’d have to say america spanks germany (hard) when it comes to selection of just about every kind of food & drink there is.

~ Paying at the pump for gas. It sounds like a little thing, trust me, it’s not.

3) Name three things that annoy you a bit (or much) in your new country:

~ Crappy, dinky airports.

~ Lack of parking… especially non-parallel spaces.

~ Even though my girls aren’t part of the public school system, the whole gymnasium/realschule/hauptschule thing pisses me off royally. No child should have their future decided based on an elementary school teacher’s recommendations.

2) Name two things that surprise you (or surprised you in the beginning) in your new country:

~ How much casual english there is even though it’s not really spoken. I’d say at least a third of all print ads are in english, lots of branding is done in english and it’s pretty much all you hear on the radio, too.

~ How open minded and forward thinking germans are when it comes to things like marriage, sex and reproduction. Even though it’s a deeply religious country, it would still shock the socks of the Jerry Falwell crowd.

1) Name one thing that you would miss terribly in your new country, if you had to leave it.

~ Hmmm, probably its proximity factor to so many other great locales. Oh, and apfelschorle… I’m addicted to the stuff.

Ok, instead of tagging I’ll say that if you haven’t played and would like to… by all means, consider yourself tagged.