GLOBETROTTERS UNITE - PART II
Sep 12, 2000
For reference, this subject is amply covered by http://www.h2g2.com/A346790
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Still here - And going places!!
Sep 10, 2000
This place is really addictive. I have been on line to H2G2 every day (except when on holiday) since I found it. Perhaps we ought to start a therapy group. Not that I want to kick this habit. Yet.
If anyone reads this before 30 September it's your lucky day. There is a meeting to be held that weekend - DO NOT MISS IT. Check it out at:
http://www.h2g2.com/A418394
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- Latest reply: Sep 12, 2000
MORE THINGS I WOULD MISS IF I LEFT GERMANY
Jul 25, 2000
- Windows that open inwards, letting in enough air to air a room and enabling cleaning without engaging a steeplejack
- showers that actually have enough strength to wash off the soap
- taps that mix the water to an intermediate temperature (not one of each or one with two outlets, where you can still feel hot and cold water
WHAT I WOULD BE PLEASED TO HAVE AGAIN, AS FOUND IN ENGLAND
- toilets everywhere
- warm water in public toilets for washing hands
- kitchens with doors out into the garden. In Germany you come in from the garden with mud on your shoes only via the patio doors, into the lounge, - you know, the one with the light beige carpet. Especially the children (children with muddy shoes not beige carpets)
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Survival kit for moving to Germany
Jun 13, 2000
I have saved this from a forum which might be in danger of being removed, as a lot of thought went into it.
These are some tips and ideas for someone moving to Germany from England, which I have gathered over the years:
The red tape is incredible. You have to register with the local authorities to live here, and get a
residence permit (but I should check up on that one, the laws might have changed). It is not
necessary to register with the local Consulate. This just has the advantage that if anything
happens to you while you are in Germany, and you have some means of identification with you
(presumably British or similar), the police can contact your nearest and dearest via the nearest relative as registered at
the Consulate.
Do try and learn the language as quickly as possible. Always carry a dictionary and/or something
to write with. And join a class. This may be organised for you if you are working or a student or an
au pair. It is also a good place to meet people of the opposite - or even the same - sex - who you
can speak in your mother tongue to. And start learning before you leave. Practice converting
prices into your own currency so you don't get caught out shopping.
If you're coming from Britain, you will miss:
Tea (bring at least 1000 teabags - this is well over the limit, but hardly likely to be discovered, if
they are all in separate socks.
Branston pickle
Dettol
Marmite
Radio (bring tape recordings of Radio 4 programmes and make sure someone back there in
blighty can keep you supplied.
smoked haddock
(Others are welcome to enlarge on this list... can't wait to see what you all write)
In Germany give the following things a try:
- Coffee flavoured with vanilla, chocolate, and exotic things like amaretto, orange cream, cherry,
.... are available in sachets. Surprised these are still not available in England, where on the other
hand they have the sachets of cocoa with orange and mint flavours.
- Sauerkraut you must try. It is absolutely vital to counteract the inordinate amounts of pork the
Germans eat. They also add mustard, which has the same effect of breaking down the fat.
Sauerkraut must be cooked for at least an hour, you can't just pop it in the microwave.
- the Bavarian form of pork is Haxen - a leg of pork, or weisswurst - fat, white sausages
- Beer here in Germany is subject to the rigorous "Reinheitsgesetz" which forbids any additives.
Once got used to, it's probably quite addictive.
- riding a tram
- a football match (?) have never been, but it must be a good way of meeting people and you'd
have something in common, if it's your sort of thing.
- Try and find a cinema which shows the films in the original version - or at least the original
version with subtitles - watch out for "OV" (means Originalversion) or "OmU" - Original mit
Untertiteln - original with subtitiles.
Do take notice of what it rather patronisingly says about separating your rubbish somewhere else
on this site (not sure where, sorry). It is a perfectly sensible and normal thing to do. Find out exactly what the local system
is. You separate tins, plastic packaging, glass, paper, biological stuff for composting, and the rest
produces about a small bag per week. Where possible try and avoid it altogether by using
returnable bottles, buying fruit & veg loose, etc, etc., as it may be charged by weight.
People are shocked about the price of petrol now just having topped the 2 DM mark. It is cheaper
from "Freie T" petrol stations or from the stations attached to supermarkets. It is almost always
self service.
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GLOBETROTTERS UNITE
Jun 7, 2000
I would like to start a campaign against the uniformisation of towns. Not only in Britain are all High Streets becoming the same, but the chain stores are spreading like computer viruses and making it hard to recognise whether you're in Wroxham or Wuppertal. Woolworths, McDonalds, Sock Shop, ... these are three that you will certainly find in High Streets in Germany. In each country there are more identical twins.
It would be nice to start list of places (shops, cafes restaurants, pubs) which make a town different. OK I will admit there might be slight differences, like in one place you go slightly downhill from Marks to Boots and in the other flat or even uphill, and the Post Office is on the left of Woolworths rather than on the right, but basically the components are interchangeable.
Two examples of individuality that I would like to mention to start with is Heffers in Cambridge, England, and The Tea Shop (can't remember its exact name) in the Kornmarkt in Speyer, Germany.
Globetrotters should try and avoid chain stores when shopping in strange towns.
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- Latest reply: Sep 13, 2000
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