Three Ways Germans Can Spot Us

Ah, the class yesterday was so fun!  The guy doing the main briefing was Hagen Volke, the Cultural Adaptation Liaison Officer.  He was so hilarious!  I am now armed with a ton of information on German culture (can you say Fun Fact Friday?? ;o) )  and also some helpful information on who to contact for this and that or where to look for such and such.  Plus I met a few cool gals.  OH and they gave us $10 toward lunch at Chili's!  (there's a HUGE Chili's on base, right across the street from where we were.) 

So not only did I get a baby-free day, but I got a nice, cheap baby-free lunch!  And I got to do some baby-free shopping and get a haircut, too!  It was a very relaxing day for me... Momma got the break she needed!  And is feeling refreshed and ready to go!  (Which is a good thing cause the house is in need of some cleaning and I'm behind on laundry!)

Lily is getting up soon so I'll leave you with this info from Hagen...

Three Ways They Spot Americans:

1. Water bottles.  Apparently we Americans are more hydrated than the Germans.  But they also pick on us because this means we tend to need public restrooms more often... and finding a free public restroom in Germany is not very common.  (Usually they're for paying customers, and even "public" ones cost a euro or so... not a big deal.) 

2. Closed Rolladens.  He said you can always tell which houses are the Americans because a lot of us keep our rolladens down almost all day.  He joked that we're vampires or something... "I don't know what you do in the dark all day... walk around naked or something?" 

3. Sliced Pizza.  Apparently pizza is not a finger food in Germany.  Around the KMC most of the pizza shops are used to "us" and prepare the pizza "American style".  So I asked Hagen how it's traditionally served here... he said that pizza is served in individual pies and eaten with utensils :o) 

We are guilty of 1 and 3.  Though I usually carry my water bottle in the diaper bag.  And I'm probably not giving up staying hydrated just to avoid using public restrooms :o)  Also, I like eating pizza with my hands!  But I'll keep my rolladens open except for the "appropriate" times!