My classmates are the yolk of the egg

So, this Monday began a new term at the Goethe Institut and I have a whole new class, a much bigger one this time. It's an interesting, and rather international group, all men (but for me). One from Mexico, one from Sweden, one from Ireland by way of Scotland, one from Japan and one from Texas. Most of them, lucky bastards, are going to be living in Germany for at least 2 years for work, hence the need to learn German.

The ex-pat lifestyle appeals to me. I suppose I wouldn't want to move permanently to another country, but for a couple years maybe. My flat mate from last week asked me if I'd be willing to move to Europe and I had to think about it for a minute, but ultimately came up with the answer I just gave here, that I would but not permanently. Of course, that was before I'd been to Prague. I love Seattle and it will likely always be the one place in the world that I consider home, but Prague owns a piece of me now and I'd gladly live there for a couple years. Or here in Germany. I'd just want to stay long enough to absorb all the little details.

There are things you expect when you travel abroad, stereotypes of each country that turn out to be true like the fact that Germany is very logical, and very organized, that's to be expected, and Prague is kind of the opposite, very disorganized. For example, in Germany there are stop lights at every intersection, often three, one for bike traffic, one for foot traffic and one for cars, in Prague way fewer intersections have traffic lights and I didn't see a single pedestrian signal there.

Somethings though, some of the details, are surprising. Like the odd fondness for eggs in Germany. At first I thought it was just because Easter is coming up, and certainly the colored eggs for sale are because of Easter, but they really do love eggs here to an odd extent. I saw this postcard the other day that had a picture of and egg and said, "Du bist das gelb vom Ei", which means, you are the yellow (or yolk) of the egg. Clearly intended as a great compliment, because the yolk is the best part of the egg, but really, as a sentiment for a greeting card it's a bit odd.

The affinity for pork in all shapes and forms is something I could probably do without. They really enjoy meat here and especially pork. Schnitzel, Schweinbraten, Wurst, etc. I mean I don't necessarily mind it but it's a bit odd. The fact that you have to go to one store to buy meat, another for dairy products, another for fruits and vegetables and a fourth for bread is also odd. The fact that all the stores are closed after noon on Saturdays and all day on Sunday. The fact that all the buildings have a 0 floor (it's not the first floor, it's the ground floor, the second floor is actually the first). The way people always say you're welcome before you've even thanked them. I would expect a conversation to go something like this:

"Kannst du mir helfen?"
"Natuerlich. Was brauchst du?"
"Ich brauche eine flache wasser."
"Heir ist eine flache wasser."
"Danke schoen"
"Bitte schoen"

That's not how it goes though. When someone is giving you something, your change after you've paid for example, their "Bitte schoen" always comes out before you've had an opportunity to say "Danke schoen". If I were to live the ex-pat life I think I'd have to go home, or move to another city, once I got used to things like that. Once I no longer noticed at least one thing per day that made me think, "Hmmm, that's different" it would be time to go.

Unfortunately for me it will be time for me to go long before I reach that point.