Also something I noticed while in France--and maybe this is just a side effect of having tradition of eating two hot meals per day instead of just lunch or maybe it's just my being not used to traditional family life in Germany/USA--: it feels like French society is much less 'progressive' with respect to semi-equal division of household labor between men and women. Almost all of the cooking was done by women in both houses I was in as well as most of the washing up, cleaning, and laundry. Not that this isn't the norm in Germany or the US, but it was kind of like a glass of cold water after living for 4+ (really 10+) years in places with relatively equal division of labor (where there is labor to be done).
There were definitely some moments in Hélène's kitchen while we were getting dinner ready or when I was taking back dishes when I felt completely out of place--not just in terms of me being a visitor, but also in terms of me being young and male. I'm going to let them think what they want, but maybe they'll just chalk it up to me being American and our strange, cultureless way of doing things. In any case, I feel like when we were with the German family earlier this year, I didn't have the same feeling of being so completely out of my normal setting.
Makes me wonder about the family of the future (mine and in general) and how all this will be negotiated. Probably more fairly than what I saw in France. I know I for one am not going to be doing both the cooking and the washing :P.
Showing posts with label unterschiede. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unterschiede. Show all posts
3.1.09
La semaine du fromage
A quick break for some French... I really enjoyed my whirlwind tour of Paris, if only for the amazing sandwiches I messily devoured on the street:
This particular specimen was bleu d'Auvergne, jambon, raisins, nuts, and something else tasty. It was just what I needed after walking from one side of the Seine to the other and looping around to see the two main islands (which are amazing!). Unfortunately I almost lost my teeth on the bread.. Good French bread is apparently supposed to give you a major jaw workout when not eaten in small chunks. I also got a lovely little chocolate torte, but failed to restrain myself for a photo.. Just use your imagination. (Incidentally, the place I got the sandwich was called Legay and I'm fairly sure it was smack-dab in the middle of the Paris gay quarter. I was amused.)
I also had a lovely tour de fromage chez Hélène and chez Marie. The French, of course, keep cheese at arm's reach for every meal, and, with the exception of my sick day, I tried to get in as much cheese-time as I could. I had the most amazing goat's milk cheese, and when I got back to Germany, I tried to find it immediately. This is the specimen in question:
It is so nice and creamy! The outer layer is smooth like brie, but the inner section is a little drier and crumbly like fresh goat cheese (which is what it is, just the outside has ripened a bit). The goat taste is mellow and complex and hides the moldy taste of brie that I am a little wary of. I didn't have a baguette, but it went pretty well with some leftover fladenbrot. This one is definitely becoming a staple in my box of cheeses!
(Incidentally, I didn't have the heart to tell Marie and Bernard that German baguettes are only slightly less-wonderful than French ones. And the croissants are about the same :P. I think they might have turned me out early if I had dropped that one... Now the challenge is to find ANYWHERE in the US that has good baguettes. Maybe it won't be such a challenge in Boston, but I'm betting there won't be a bakery on the corner.)
 |
| From Fromage and Würstchen etc |
This particular specimen was bleu d'Auvergne, jambon, raisins, nuts, and something else tasty. It was just what I needed after walking from one side of the Seine to the other and looping around to see the two main islands (which are amazing!). Unfortunately I almost lost my teeth on the bread.. Good French bread is apparently supposed to give you a major jaw workout when not eaten in small chunks. I also got a lovely little chocolate torte, but failed to restrain myself for a photo.. Just use your imagination. (Incidentally, the place I got the sandwich was called Legay and I'm fairly sure it was smack-dab in the middle of the Paris gay quarter. I was amused.)
I also had a lovely tour de fromage chez Hélène and chez Marie. The French, of course, keep cheese at arm's reach for every meal, and, with the exception of my sick day, I tried to get in as much cheese-time as I could. I had the most amazing goat's milk cheese, and when I got back to Germany, I tried to find it immediately. This is the specimen in question:
 |
| From Fromage and Würstchen etc |
It is so nice and creamy! The outer layer is smooth like brie, but the inner section is a little drier and crumbly like fresh goat cheese (which is what it is, just the outside has ripened a bit). The goat taste is mellow and complex and hides the moldy taste of brie that I am a little wary of. I didn't have a baguette, but it went pretty well with some leftover fladenbrot. This one is definitely becoming a staple in my box of cheeses!
(Incidentally, I didn't have the heart to tell Marie and Bernard that German baguettes are only slightly less-wonderful than French ones. And the croissants are about the same :P. I think they might have turned me out early if I had dropped that one... Now the challenge is to find ANYWHERE in the US that has good baguettes. Maybe it won't be such a challenge in Boston, but I'm betting there won't be a bakery on the corner.)
6.11.08
Amerika wählt!
That was the TV announcement headline all night long (and morning). And wählen we did!
The perspective from Göttingen was perhaps a little less exciting than what I saw in Chicago on TV--no screaming masses or even horn-honks as are quite normal for the football (soccer) season (even late at night). I debated getting dressed and going into town around 4 AM, but then remembered that I have no bike now and buses don't run late, and it didn't really seem worth it since there probably wouldn't be many people up and about. And I was very comfortable reading and working at home.
So far I have yet to meet a single person who didn't seem excited that we've chosen a new direction. Not surprising as some 80% of Germans are pro-Obama. I actually don't know who the other 20% is, but I imagine some bit of that is from psycho-neo-Nazis in the hills somewhere. Fortuntely Germany has a lot fewer of those than the US (and Tennessee in particular).
The news coverage was rather complete, but I found it very funny to be watching German commentators who are clearly not used to American-style elections. Every 5 minutes or so there was a review of the Electoral College system and shocked faces discussing the long lines and historic-yet-pathetic voter turnout. (Germany has manditory voter registration and turnout is apparently usually in the 80-90% region. The thought of long lines and voting machines is also foreign and apparently un-democratic in my critical German friends' eyes. And German elections are on Sundays--FINALLY! so this is what people here do on Sundays!)
I'm going to have to rewatch the speeches sometime as they were voiced-over so loud that I basically couldn't hear the original English. It's very odd because the German was off by a few seconds and if I started to listen to it I couldn't easily go back to the English without missing some. So eventually I gave up and just listened to the German. And they talked during the Pledge and Anthem. Not amused here!
As an aside, German elections are very boring. I think people here must have been a little relieved to have some excitement. Germans don't actually get to vote for the Chancellor, but insead vote for Bundestag (Parliment) members and for a political party. The winners of votes go to Parliment as well as about as many party-chosen officials. The entire thing seems silly and complicated to me, but the Germans like it that way apparently. It also makes the system very un-popular in the sense that German politicians have no incentive to cater directly to the general population with populist promises. Very important when you remember what happened to the Weimar Republic in the 1930's.
Also, some phrases from the night:
"Wir wollen ein bißchen vorsichtig sein..." -- that is, Germans hate risk. They refused to call it at 4 when it was clear all Obama needed was CA and WA.
"Gänsehautmoment" -- goose-skin moment. This became very boring after about five uses.
Any state name, esp. New Jersey, prounounced by the German announcers.
The perspective from Göttingen was perhaps a little less exciting than what I saw in Chicago on TV--no screaming masses or even horn-honks as are quite normal for the football (soccer) season (even late at night). I debated getting dressed and going into town around 4 AM, but then remembered that I have no bike now and buses don't run late, and it didn't really seem worth it since there probably wouldn't be many people up and about. And I was very comfortable reading and working at home.
So far I have yet to meet a single person who didn't seem excited that we've chosen a new direction. Not surprising as some 80% of Germans are pro-Obama. I actually don't know who the other 20% is, but I imagine some bit of that is from psycho-neo-Nazis in the hills somewhere. Fortuntely Germany has a lot fewer of those than the US (and Tennessee in particular).
The news coverage was rather complete, but I found it very funny to be watching German commentators who are clearly not used to American-style elections. Every 5 minutes or so there was a review of the Electoral College system and shocked faces discussing the long lines and historic-yet-pathetic voter turnout. (Germany has manditory voter registration and turnout is apparently usually in the 80-90% region. The thought of long lines and voting machines is also foreign and apparently un-democratic in my critical German friends' eyes. And German elections are on Sundays--FINALLY! so this is what people here do on Sundays!)
I'm going to have to rewatch the speeches sometime as they were voiced-over so loud that I basically couldn't hear the original English. It's very odd because the German was off by a few seconds and if I started to listen to it I couldn't easily go back to the English without missing some. So eventually I gave up and just listened to the German. And they talked during the Pledge and Anthem. Not amused here!
As an aside, German elections are very boring. I think people here must have been a little relieved to have some excitement. Germans don't actually get to vote for the Chancellor, but insead vote for Bundestag (Parliment) members and for a political party. The winners of votes go to Parliment as well as about as many party-chosen officials. The entire thing seems silly and complicated to me, but the Germans like it that way apparently. It also makes the system very un-popular in the sense that German politicians have no incentive to cater directly to the general population with populist promises. Very important when you remember what happened to the Weimar Republic in the 1930's.
Also, some phrases from the night:
"Wir wollen ein bißchen vorsichtig sein..." -- that is, Germans hate risk. They refused to call it at 4 when it was clear all Obama needed was CA and WA.
"Gänsehautmoment" -- goose-skin moment. This became very boring after about five uses.
Any state name, esp. New Jersey, prounounced by the German announcers.
9.8.08
Freiheit
I've decided that Germans, and maybe Europeans in general, are a lot more concerned with matters of freedom and human rights than (as they would say) US-Americans.
This struck me as really strange at first--first of all, it was a little bit weird to be around people very vocally concerned about other nations' freedom and rights, and once I got used to it and began to appreciate it as something I should expect, I wondered just how the United States--mind, the 'land of the free and the brave' and 'give me your tired, your poor'--got flipped about so much. And not just concerning our own problems with human rights--I'm betting the nicer questioning methods in Guantanamo are worse than anything China has been doing recently--but also with respect to our ignorance and apathy of the problems being faced across the globe--problems that may or may not be directly traceable back to us and our self-absorbed ways.
A more-or-less impromptu Tibet-freedom protest in the city center. Does this look like anything that could ever happen in the United States? These are normal, middle class people! Not college kids, not angry teenagers (although, goodness knows, germany has enough of those!), not crazy liberal hippies!
I feel a little ashamed that I don't actually know that much about the China-Tibet conflict or the genocide in Darfur or any of the other major human rights issues currently raging (http://www.amnesty.org is helping with the ignorance--why wasn't i made to attend more amnesty events?! i only know half of last years board!). I don't know what the best solutions are, but I think I've started to pick up a little bit of German disgust with US-Americans' apathy though.
This struck me as really strange at first--first of all, it was a little bit weird to be around people very vocally concerned about other nations' freedom and rights, and once I got used to it and began to appreciate it as something I should expect, I wondered just how the United States--mind, the 'land of the free and the brave' and 'give me your tired, your poor'--got flipped about so much. And not just concerning our own problems with human rights--I'm betting the nicer questioning methods in Guantanamo are worse than anything China has been doing recently--but also with respect to our ignorance and apathy of the problems being faced across the globe--problems that may or may not be directly traceable back to us and our self-absorbed ways.
A more-or-less impromptu Tibet-freedom protest in the city center. Does this look like anything that could ever happen in the United States? These are normal, middle class people! Not college kids, not angry teenagers (although, goodness knows, germany has enough of those!), not crazy liberal hippies!I feel a little ashamed that I don't actually know that much about the China-Tibet conflict or the genocide in Darfur or any of the other major human rights issues currently raging (http://www.amnesty.org is helping with the ignorance--why wasn't i made to attend more amnesty events?! i only know half of last years board!). I don't know what the best solutions are, but I think I've started to pick up a little bit of German disgust with US-Americans' apathy though.
3.8.08
Kapute PlastIk
So I was just thinking to myself that europeans are really smart for using glass for a lot of things Americans would rather have in plastic. Pretty much any juice you buy here comes in a REUSABLE (mehrweg) bottle--even, or perhaps especially things like soda and beer. This is an amazing thing that American companies should pick up right now. The bottles, in theory, cost an extra 0.10 or 0.15 € (das Pfand) and there are receptacles that you return them to in most groceries, Getränkenmärkte (basically beer/wine+water+juice+some liquor store), and places with lots of vending machines--whereupon you recoup your change. I know some states have refunds for return of some types of glass bottles and maybe some plastic, but I don't think there is any state--even golden California--that has such and extensive tax/reward system setup. And while I suppose it's government supported, I think it's actually a company that collects the bottles and such. It's really quite an ingenious process given that it's probably much easier to clean and sterilize old bottles than have new ones cast. Granted, plastic is probably cheaper. Until there is some societally-accepted way (i.e. a way Republicans/Libertarians won't complain about--probably never going to happen (incidentally, shouldn't this be exactly the government's job? to regulate where free-market capitalism can't compensate for hidden costs--i.e. transfered health, environmental, and QOL costs)) to tax companies for the end environmental impact of their products, I don't think such schemes would catch on (wow, that's really hard to understand. good luck!).
Anyway; back to my other point. I was just thinking this when I went to lift my curtain and--POP--one of the little PLASTIC clasps breaks. There is absolutely no reason to make these things out of plastic. In fact there seem to be many reasons to make them of brass or steel or, hell, dried hemp--not the least of which is that they are holding up a moderately heavy object which will be raised and lowered 3 times a day and thus transferring (why on earth does that have two Rs? transfer-ing. why, english?) a good bit of stress to whatever is holding them up.
Come to think of it the most traumatic of my misadventures here have been due to unnecessarily cheap things breaking (also: by bike light died the other day. just fell right off. i think i'm illegal now!). So I guess even in Europe people have to some degree bought in to the American mentality: It's cheap! If it breaks, I'll just get another and throw it away! Who cares about the island of trash in the Pacific?!
I'm saddened.
Anyway; back to my other point. I was just thinking this when I went to lift my curtain and--POP--one of the little PLASTIC clasps breaks. There is absolutely no reason to make these things out of plastic. In fact there seem to be many reasons to make them of brass or steel or, hell, dried hemp--not the least of which is that they are holding up a moderately heavy object which will be raised and lowered 3 times a day and thus transferring (why on earth does that have two Rs? transfer-ing. why, english?) a good bit of stress to whatever is holding them up.Come to think of it the most traumatic of my misadventures here have been due to unnecessarily cheap things breaking (also: by bike light died the other day. just fell right off. i think i'm illegal now!). So I guess even in Europe people have to some degree bought in to the American mentality: It's cheap! If it breaks, I'll just get another and throw it away! Who cares about the island of trash in the Pacific?!
I'm saddened.
27.7.08
samstags in der stadt
what would saturday be without a nice bike/walk through the streets of the innenstadt (inner or old city area--filled with small shop with apartments above)? how is it that nashville (or any us city really) survives without nice little fachgeschäfte (small, specialized shops, usually with handmade items) and a big fußgangerzone (no driving area). abundance of german words because i find it pathetic that these things don't exist in the us.
obstkorbchen: small shop with fresh and dried fruit, nuts, vegetables.
delicious turkish pastries. i regret not getting the feta and spinach one, but there is always next weekend!
ice cream is everywhere here in the summer. as it heats up, everyone seems to have a cone in hand. this is my half-devoured stracciatella (which i never knew the name origin of--i really want to try both of the alternative meanings!). the panna cotta was sublime, however, and will probably get my .80 € next time (compare to 3 $ for maggie moos!)
obstkorbchen: small shop with fresh and dried fruit, nuts, vegetables.
delicious turkish pastries. i regret not getting the feta and spinach one, but there is always next weekend!
ice cream is everywhere here in the summer. as it heats up, everyone seems to have a cone in hand. this is my half-devoured stracciatella (which i never knew the name origin of--i really want to try both of the alternative meanings!). the panna cotta was sublime, however, and will probably get my .80 € next time (compare to 3 $ for maggie moos!)
23.7.08
22.7.08
deutschland macht grün
deutschers are kind of obsessed with getting off the top 10 list of CO2 producers. interestingly, germany is currently the largest global producer of wind power, with almost double the current production capacity in the united states (despite much less land and less open space). just in my area, which is hemmed in with low hills and widely populated, there are at least 5 sets of 3-5 windmills, and i saw a lot more on the train ride here. the north of germany is much flatter than the middle or alpine-approaching area, and i think there is a lot more wind and wind-power there.
from afar they look small, but these things are really quite huge.
generally they are located away from cities--i've heard because of noise, flitting shadows, and the general annoyance of having a huge tower next to your house. these are about 30 minutes away from my apt by bike.
and some people (like me) think wind is just fun.
i haven't seen as much solar power here, but apparently it is a big deal as well. a little unexpected given the latitude and the rainy/overcast summers here.
from afar they look small, but these things are really quite huge.generally they are located away from cities--i've heard because of noise, flitting shadows, and the general annoyance of having a huge tower next to your house. these are about 30 minutes away from my apt by bike.
and some people (like me) think wind is just fun.
i haven't seen as much solar power here, but apparently it is a big deal as well. a little unexpected given the latitude and the rainy/overcast summers here.
21.7.08
sonntags
gar nichts ist sonntags geöffnet!! dummer deutschland.
und deshalb habe ich heute gar nichts getan. teppich saugen, (veil) essen gekocht (und gefrisst), dracula geliest, regen geschaut, usw. glaubt mir, es war sehr langweilig.
i really cannot express here how boring (langweilig) today actually has been. but rain (regen) and generally unfavorable weather (zerfürchtbares wetter!) has kept me inside for much of the day. i occupied myself for a while watching scrubs (done with season 6! where am i going to get 7?!) and then by reading (lesen) dracula (dracula)--which has, incidentally, become much better in the past few chapters; still horrifyingly 19th-century. and eating (essen). i've gone through 1/2 a head of red cabbage, 200 g or so of wild rice, some bread, most of my cheese purchases from the other day, yogurt (joghurt--initially translated to 'jog-hurt' by some germans--as if asking if had muscle pains), and other random bit and pieces.
ok, i'm being uninteresting. ending this.
und deshalb habe ich heute gar nichts getan. teppich saugen, (veil) essen gekocht (und gefrisst), dracula geliest, regen geschaut, usw. glaubt mir, es war sehr langweilig.
i really cannot express here how boring (langweilig) today actually has been. but rain (regen) and generally unfavorable weather (zerfürchtbares wetter!) has kept me inside for much of the day. i occupied myself for a while watching scrubs (done with season 6! where am i going to get 7?!) and then by reading (lesen) dracula (dracula)--which has, incidentally, become much better in the past few chapters; still horrifyingly 19th-century. and eating (essen). i've gone through 1/2 a head of red cabbage, 200 g or so of wild rice, some bread, most of my cheese purchases from the other day, yogurt (joghurt--initially translated to 'jog-hurt' by some germans--as if asking if had muscle pains), and other random bit and pieces.
ok, i'm being uninteresting. ending this.
15.7.08
fahrräder
did i mention they really like bicycling here?
it's a bit of a national obsession. it's really nice too, because they have the perfect infrastructure for biking basically everywhere. along every major road are both biking and walking lanes (biking denoted by red brick work or paint, walking by black). signs with distance to landmarks are everywhere and my street is actually a bike/bus only street for most of the day.
pretty much everyone owns a bike too. in front of the train station (see below) there are about 4M parked and collecting rust on the weekends. apparently it hasn't always been this way--an idea that gives me some small hope for the united states. 10 years ago or so, there weren't many bikers at all, and it's only since the gov't started increasing gas taxes and building lanes that people have become really interested in it as a means of daily transportation. it's a little strange too, as it's really very rainy here and not always a fun place to depend on a bike.
in addition to city riding, it's also really easy to get out into the country on a bike. the fields and forests have paved or smooth gravel paths for farm/forest equipment (sustainable logging is pretty common here). it's nice because these automatically make an amazing system of bike paths that go from little town to town. just last night i spent 2-3 hours biking through the farm and forest on the north western side of town.
my bike, formerly equiped with rockin' blue handlebar extentions (stolen this past weekend after my stupid lock drama), is pretty nice. not as light or fast as my one at home, but definitely sufficient for my needs here. it's probably good that it is a little more sturdy as i've been taking it off on some wild country adventures. bikes here are apparently supposed to be equipped with a light for night driving. mine actually doesn't work, but i'm hoping the politzei won't notice.
sadly, i'm paying 10 €/month for this thing. this wouldn't be that bad, but i'm sure i could have bought a used one here for less than 120 € and then resold it. ah well, it's not too bad a solution.
it's a bit of a national obsession. it's really nice too, because they have the perfect infrastructure for biking basically everywhere. along every major road are both biking and walking lanes (biking denoted by red brick work or paint, walking by black). signs with distance to landmarks are everywhere and my street is actually a bike/bus only street for most of the day.
pretty much everyone owns a bike too. in front of the train station (see below) there are about 4M parked and collecting rust on the weekends. apparently it hasn't always been this way--an idea that gives me some small hope for the united states. 10 years ago or so, there weren't many bikers at all, and it's only since the gov't started increasing gas taxes and building lanes that people have become really interested in it as a means of daily transportation. it's a little strange too, as it's really very rainy here and not always a fun place to depend on a bike.
in addition to city riding, it's also really easy to get out into the country on a bike. the fields and forests have paved or smooth gravel paths for farm/forest equipment (sustainable logging is pretty common here). it's nice because these automatically make an amazing system of bike paths that go from little town to town. just last night i spent 2-3 hours biking through the farm and forest on the north western side of town.my bike, formerly equiped with rockin' blue handlebar extentions (stolen this past weekend after my stupid lock drama), is pretty nice. not as light or fast as my one at home, but definitely sufficient for my needs here. it's probably good that it is a little more sturdy as i've been taking it off on some wild country adventures. bikes here are apparently supposed to be equipped with a light for night driving. mine actually doesn't work, but i'm hoping the politzei won't notice.
sadly, i'm paying 10 €/month for this thing. this wouldn't be that bad, but i'm sure i could have bought a used one here for less than 120 € and then resold it. ah well, it's not too bad a solution.
9.7.08
deutschland als fremden land? was?
thinking about germany as a foreign country is actually quite a challenge now. it's amazing how much you can adapt in just a month (the 6th passed by without my noticing). i know i used to think of germany like i imagine most americans think of europe: vast countryside, mountains in the distance, cows, horses pulling carts, ruins of castles, people walking around in lederhosen (maybe just germany and austria), straw thatch, und so fort und so weiter. for better or for worse, those days are past. for the most part anyway...
i maintain there is still a lot of old-time atmosphere here. part of it i think is that everything is so much closer together in the cities, but once you reach the edge, you are immediately thrown into farm land. every single valley seems to be filled with wheat, corn, and various other crops. just 10 km south of berlin's very center, you can find fields. and while some of them are operated by large companies instead of traditional farmers (actually not that many?--but then 124 acres is a lot of land by my thinking), crops are purposefully staggered to prevent land deterioration and land on the edges is mostly left wild. it's a stark contrast to california/florida mow-and-spray tactics and even more so to iowa maize maze monoculture.
despite the immediacy of agriculture, there isn't much else of the 1700s still around. this particular region of germany never had much lederhosen (i understand bavarians still put it on for sepecial occasions, however) and despite the 1.40 €/L ($8 something per gal) people are driving (very small--more on that later!) cars instead of livestock. don't know how long that will last though! electricity, as i discovered last time i was here, is--in fact--quite common, although there are no power lines anywhere in the city (presumably underground). at times in fact, i feel like germans are a little ahead of the technology curve: their trains are amazing, the buses are clean and quiet, aforementioned power lines, recycling, induction cooktops... ok, perhaps i'm just impressed by their attention to conservation. for the most part though, it's just a regular, modern country, with all (well, most...) of the comforts of home (minus ubiquitous internet).
herberhausen, landkreis göttingen
you have to admit though, there are certain places where you'd be hard pressed to prove were in the 21st century...
i maintain there is still a lot of old-time atmosphere here. part of it i think is that everything is so much closer together in the cities, but once you reach the edge, you are immediately thrown into farm land. every single valley seems to be filled with wheat, corn, and various other crops. just 10 km south of berlin's very center, you can find fields. and while some of them are operated by large companies instead of traditional farmers (actually not that many?--but then 124 acres is a lot of land by my thinking), crops are purposefully staggered to prevent land deterioration and land on the edges is mostly left wild. it's a stark contrast to california/florida mow-and-spray tactics and even more so to iowa maize maze monoculture.despite the immediacy of agriculture, there isn't much else of the 1700s still around. this particular region of germany never had much lederhosen (i understand bavarians still put it on for sepecial occasions, however) and despite the 1.40 €/L ($8 something per gal) people are driving (very small--more on that later!) cars instead of livestock. don't know how long that will last though! electricity, as i discovered last time i was here, is--in fact--quite common, although there are no power lines anywhere in the city (presumably underground). at times in fact, i feel like germans are a little ahead of the technology curve: their trains are amazing, the buses are clean and quiet, aforementioned power lines, recycling, induction cooktops... ok, perhaps i'm just impressed by their attention to conservation. for the most part though, it's just a regular, modern country, with all (well, most...) of the comforts of home (minus ubiquitous internet).
herberhausen, landkreis göttingen
you have to admit though, there are certain places where you'd be hard pressed to prove were in the 21st century...
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