Week One, We're Here!

Ok, we made it.  Our first week has been a blur of beer steins, wine glasses and excessive amounts of pork. So, a few fun facts for all you curious folks, some things I've noticed about the day to day life here Bochum, Germany.

1. Beer is, in fact, cheaper than water here.  At least it's cheaper than bottled water.
2. Germans are ridiculously fond of bakeries, and who can blame them.  There are almost as many bakeries as there are places to have a beer and they are filled with amazing breads and treats to grab and eat as you walk...Awesome.
3. Things are cheaper here, and more expensive.  Eating out, having drinks, buying food at the supermarket and buying hygiene products and such at DM (The German Shoppers Drug Mart) is all MUCH cheaper than in Canada.  Like ridiculously cheaper.  For example, Kierstie and I had two 23cm Pizzas (9 Inches), a beer and a bottled water for 13 euros, tip included.  Not that you have to tip, nobody here does.  But hey, we're Canadian.  Electronics and anything "cool" is about 20-25% more than at home.  Clothing is about the same, unless the brand is from America, then it's WAY more than home.  Hollister is popular, and pricey here.
4. The train system here is amazing.  At least the little bit that Kierstie and I have had experience with.  We've been to Essen, a neighboring city, and we also took the train from the Airport in Dusseldorf to the Flat here in Bochum.  It was 20 Minutes from the airport with 8 bags.  It wasn't easy, but we managed and carrying all that stuff up to a 4th floor walk up wasn't fun.  Special thanks to Cary and Christian for that.  I think the metrolinx peeps should grab Rob Ford and Karen Stintz and come here for the scoop.  There's a train line right outside our flat and the train is literally quieter than the cars.
5. The mix of people is something else.  Everyone lives much closer together so the freaky, weird people are all up front and on display.  So far I have seen a raving madwoman who swilled wine right from the bottle while screeching at random, Sid Vicious style punk people and a very diverse range of beggars.  The "normal" people just walk on by the weirdos and beggers as if they don't exist and everything just moves along, it's all very metropolitan.  All in all, it seems that the key is to mind your business and everyone else seems to as well. 
6. Finding common things (to us) can be hard.  There are things that they just don't do here.  For example, coffee cream.  Simple half & half that you can get in any gas ststion or grocery store at home is all but non-existent here.  We searched for days and Kierstie finally came up with Kaffee Sahne, or Coffee Cream.  You're thinking "Well, there you go.."  but nobody buys it so not many places even have it and it comes in a little tiny package that is totally cool and foreign all at once.  They either use milk or condensed milk here.  Not cream.  Even Starbucks uses condensed milk.  Sacrelige!  Other examples are Kuering coffee machines/pods (Oh how I miss you), barbeque sauce (they have it, but it sucks), prime rib (they are pork people here) and wine from New Zealand. 
   
7. Not everywhere takes a Visa credit card.  We were shocked to find this out.  Major retailers like Saturn (German Best Buy) and even Ikea don't take Visa.

There are dozens of other differences, I'll do my best to explain as I go.  Maybe I'll even convince Kierstie to post something from time to time.  Until then, it's off to the Rathaus (City Hall) either tomorrow or the next day to see about getting us "official" in Germany.  We heard that the state sponsors beginner German classes so we are excited to see where that takes us.  We're picking up bits and pieces of the language here and there but in all honesty, I have yet to meet a person who couldn't understand English.  I'm told it's common for English speakers in the area to never bother learning German.  That won't be us, we're here for the experience and learing a culture mean learning the language, right?

Until next time...

Ian