"Happy Easter" is Politically Correct. Right?!

Happy Easter everyone. It is Sunday March 31st 2013 and, in case you have randomly found your way to this page, I am Clark Newbold writing from Braunschweig Germany. On most Sundays, the majority of the stores would be closed, but on this Sunday it is a little different. I mentioned earlier that Easter is a much more important here in Germany that it is in the USA and this just goes to show it. Everything, and I mean everything (with a few exceptions) is closed; it will be the same tomorrow. Fortunately for me, there are a few places open so I do not have to starve in my Hotel room, for two days for which I am very thankful.

Because there are no life shattering changes going on at the moment, I can take a little time to give some advice and talk about some oddities I have noticed here. The hardest thing for me to get used to has actualy been ordering drinks in restaurants. I know, it sounds insignificant even to me, but it was more than a little irritating. Here in Germany there is no such thing as a free drink or "unlimited refills". You pay for everything (yes, even water) and you pay by the glass or by the bottle. It is very important that you pay attention to the size of the drink that you are ordering or (like me) you will be disappointing with this tiny little bottle of water. Another small note, sparkling water is much more popular here than it is in the states, so if you order a mineral water do not be surprised when it is bubbling. If you like beer, than Bavaria is the place to go. While  everyone is legaly required to sell at least one drink that costs less than beer, that does not mean the drink is the same size as the beer. While I was in Munich, beer was by far the most economic drink to purchase while eating out. To bad I don't like beer, not even German beer.

I would like to mention some possibilities that are open to those studying abroad. I highly recommend buying a portable DVD player and some DVDs once you arrive in Germany. The player can be a little expensive but most drives are set to function with a particular system and Germany's system is different than that in the USA. As such, you are required to change the settings on any US DVD player before it will work properly and even worse, you are only allowed to change this setting a maximum of 6 times. As for the DVDs, I suggest going to a second hand DVD/Music store. I purchased the first two Lord of the Rings (Der Herr Der Ringe), Shrek, Rush Hour, The Emperor's New Groove, and the first season of Friends for just under 25 euros. Just be aware that they will be talking very fast and it will be very frustrating. I suggest LOTR because they speak surprisingly slow and clearly in the German dubbing.

I am also going to take a moment to talk about the Amazon Kindle. I do so much advertising for their product that I really feel they should pay me, but what can you do? If you have never looked into a Kindle, I highly recommend it. In my opinion, it is by far the most superior eBook reader on the market. I do not want to devolve in a long discussion on the perks of the Kindle (of which there are many) but here is the shortest summary I can manage. If you want a mini computer, then you are looking for a Tablet and should search elsewhere. If you want a miniature library that can easily fit into your pack or purse, weighs less than 250 ounces, can buy new books from anywhere, has an amazingly long battery, is really cheap, hell it even...... sorry about that. The Kindle is nice alright. It also has a few incredibly useful but little known features.

Normally, the Kindle will only link up to the amazon site corresponding to the country it is purchased in, but it is possible to switch to a different country, say... Germany. This made it possible for me to find some of my favorite books in German providing very difficult but helpful learning material. It also has a built in dicitonary feature that is sooooo cool, I use it all the time to help learn new words and..... Sorry. you simply move the cursor before a word and it automatically searches the dictionary and displaces the results on the top or bottom of the page. It is also possible for you to change the default dictionary that the Kindle searches in. I purchased the Collins Concise German-English Dictionary at have not regretted the purchase at all. Now, when I read German, I simply move the cursor in-front of a word and it will show me the pronunciation and the English translation for the word!! One word of caution. This is by no means perfect, what with separable verbs, different dialects, diminutive forms of words, and flat out made up words, there is no way to recognize everything. I am glad that I brought mine, and if you love reading, I suggest you bring yours on your travels as well.

Here is another little oddity for you. They love eating cheese here almost as much as they like bread products, but you will very seldom see any cheddar or other yellow cheeses. It is difficult to even find some to by unless you go to a specialty cheese store. It never really occurred to me until I was eating at a Burger King here (one of the few places open for a few hours) and noticed the cheese on my burger was white. Weird huh? To account for all of this cheese I should probably go for a walk. In all seriousness, I try to go on daily walks to keep from going too stir crazy. While I am often only meet with marginal success, there are some very nice places to see here. It would only be better if Wyoming hadn't followed me to Europe. When I looked closer, there were indications that spring is on the way. I do not know when I will be able to post next so enjoy your Easter, and I will see you next time.