Coffee? Baggies, Bottles & the Environment.

My friend/neighbor came by the other day for an afternoon visit, along with her kids. I warned her I had no coffee or tea or cake. She finds Americans fascinating, thankfully, and the gaffe was excused. While coffee is also popular in the states, of course, it is absolutely required here as a basic human need... every morning and afternoon. With cake. Often from a fancy espresso machine everyone has in their kitchen. Walk downtown on any afternoon and you will find little bakeries full of people having their cake and coffee. She asked in a rather shocked voice 'What do you drink in the morning?' Me: Orange juice. 'But don't you want something that's hot?' Now she sounds quite incredulous. Me: Occasionally hot chocolate. And I drink too much coke/pop in the afternoon. She tells me I am definitely not very German. I have yet to meet a German citizen who does not drink coffee or can tolerantly comprehend that I do not.


Ziploc baggies are friends to this household. Gallon-size, Quart-size, Sandwich-size... I love them all. Our relationship is longterm, co-dependant, and successful. Same goes for convenient water bottles. Unfortunately this is considered an illicit affair in the eyes of our new neighbors. It is only very recently that baggie imitations are available at the store and there aren't very many (no one is buying them). To be fair they have reason to show their condemnation. Neither are good for the environment - a high concern in Germany and climbing daily on my own priority list after watching the 'Planet Earth' and 'Inconvenient Truth' movies and living in an environmentally aware culture. The locals can remember winters 10-15 years ago when snow fell in this area for four to six weeks each winter. There has been exactly none the last several winters. Climate change, they believe. I attempt to negate the effects of my consumption by recycling all plastic diligently and purchasing our drinks in recycled plastic and glass at the 'drink market.' I am in training.


Language Love: I fear my greatest improvement in the area of language is flexibility. As in the muscles being used to desperately convey a concept via body language. All should fear to challenge me in 'Charades' when we are back in the states. I can expertly demonstrate adverbs and will kick your butt. Another funny thing in language is the concept of False Friends. A word looks the same in two languages so you think (hope) it means the same thing. One less to remember among 50,000! But no. It is not to be. An example. Take the highly recognizable word POISON. In English this is something very bad and pictorally represented by a red skull. In French, with an extra 's', this is the word for a Fish (swimms, yummy w/butter). And in German, with the same spelling as in English, this is the word for Gift (as in "This is for you!"). Beware, all who tread here.