"Wonders of America": No risk, no fun!

Germs – in German "Keime" – is another amazing topic, typical for the U.S.A. During our travels we noticed that Americans can become pretty annoying with their exaggerated fear of bacteria and germs. They usually carry hand sanitizers, antibacterial wipes and sprays of all kind in every purse and pocket (and, of course, store a whole cupboard-full of antibacterial chemicals in their households) to avoid getting infected or contaminated. Many people - in the States as well as in Germany – consume additives, artificial colors and preservatives with their "pre-fab" food in abundance, but your average American easily gets panicky when it comes to germs passed on by other creatures. They avoid buffets, don’t touch food with unwashed hands or don’t use public restrooms.


When we were on the train from Tucson to Chicago a dapper, healthy-looking, well-dressed afro-american lady (about 40 years old) entered the train at some early point of the trip. First thing she did before sitting down in her own sleeper compartment was to wipe the two available seats with special wipes. Then, she removed all cushions and blankets being provided (they were clean) and unpacked her own ones. She wore her own dressing gown and didn’t leave the (always completely darkened) compartment with the exception of one visit to the bathroom in the morning, half an hour before arrival. I am sure, she didn’t use the shower (one for each car) but some other wipes and sprays to make herself presentable.

She didn’t have any meals in the AMTRAK restaurant but let the car attendant bring her the menu and, later, the chosen dishes. Apparently she didn’t want to get in contact with any other passengers, coughing or sneezing (or talking to her?). She wouldn’t have gotten her own table in the restaurant car because they usually seat four people at each table. She didn’t touch a doorknob or switch in the car with her bare hands. Wow, she’ll possibly live long that way, but it seems to be a pretty lonesome and sterile life.

When we are having breakfast or dinner in the garden in summer, on our patio, which is completely covered by roses,it can well happen that a leaf or even a fly, lice or bee falls down onto the table … Also, our salads can be considered "organic" but, even washed twice, there can be a crumb of soil (hopefully nothing else) in the salad bowl.
Our two restrooms in the garden area are set up for a total of 26 gardens - and believe it or not, they are clean, though others may detect germs hidden everywhere. I think, something like a "natural power of resistance" can be developed, without using chemicals and thus provocing allergies. It’s even proven scientifically that kids growing up on farms, drinking raw fresh milk and playing in the dirt, dealing with cow manure and dogs and cats around, are much healthier, have much less allergies and are sick less frequently than kids living in super-clean, sterile conditions.

"Wonders of America" - Better nail care and worse yoghurt

Nail studios - in America you will find them in every nook and corner, in every strip mall, even in small towns or tiny villages. I do not have many female friends in the U.S. not getting nails regularly done in some studio. Not sure about men … Plus, acrylics are top-notch – these thick artificial plates on your nails – perhaps because they are easy-maintenance?

Until a couple of years ago you wouldn’t find many nail studios in German cities - the only service available was "medial pedicure" for elderly ladies executed with electric planes and rough files and other brutal tools. Nobody would have spent a thought to have his (or mostly) her nails done by somebody else. My mom did her own nails until she was about 83 and couldn’t almost see them anymore or bend down to her toes.

Now, in our neighborhood, which is still predominantly blue-collar (textile industry was big here formerly), at least five nail studios are to be found in a 3 km-perimeter – second most to hairdressers. You would think people in a down-to-earth neighborhood like ours can’t afford or wouldn't think of having nails done, but apparently not so. Seems like I am one of the few still using my own scissors and nail file every weekend.

Perhaps people don’t even know anymore how to do it ? Which reminds me of an article I read recently about kids today not being able to tie their shoe laces anymore. Shoe industry changed their production line in the meantime and offer more shoes with hook & loop fasteners. Manual dexterity to tie shoes is going lost, same with using zippers or buttons. Seems like kids' fingers are getting converted to use touchscreens, keys and mouses, but not to do „real“, haptic things anymore.

When shopping baby stuff with a friend of ours in one of these overwhelming huge baby superstores - the first time I’ve been inside such a store! – I was wondering about baby strollers. In America, where kids are mostly transported by car, strollers can’t be highly popular. While in Germany moms are pushing their strollers through pedestrian malls and around neighborhoods (and using them as weapons on densely populated streets or in shops), in America kids are sitting in fancy child car seats, and carried from the car to child care or to activities and home. In Germany cafés are a popular gathering place of the so-called "latte macchiato moms". Berlin and Munich are especially reputed for that. Sure sign of such an establishment is a collection of strollers blocking the entrance, mostly high-tech buggies, one of them probably more expensive than a bike.

Greek yoghurt has become popular in the last couple of years. Formerly it was tough to find "Total Yoghurt" produced by the Fage Company, a dairy out of Athens, other than in special deli stores or markets. But now, Greek nonfat yoghurt? I saw it first in the U.S. and, unfortunately it’s also available in Germany now. To get things straight, having traveled in Greece for many times: 1. Originally greek yoghurt is made from sheep’s milk (in the rather sparse and dry greek landscape it’s hard for cows to make a living) and 2. it’s fat, 10 %, smooth and thick and creamy like heavy cream and that’s the reason it is so good.

Also, in Greece yoghurt is yoghurt and doesn't contain anything else but milk, no additional fruit or other additions. In former times (and perhaps still on markets in rural areas in Greece) it has been sold out of the big bucket weight-wise. As a dessert or for breakfast it’s been served with an extra spoonfull of greek honey on top, perhaps a couple of nuts or pinenuts, but that is it. A 0 % greek yoghurt must contain a lot of conservatives and other artificial additives to still have the general consistence of greek yoghurt, though not the taste. I persistently refuse to eat any 0 % yoghurt, either the real stuff or none at all. Can save calories at other places, for instance by not eating anything fried or sweets. Wondering whether eating 0%-yoghurt is good for your nails?

"Wonders of America": Special Days for all Occasions

Earth Day, Secretary’s Day, Administrative Professionals’ Day, Valentine’s Day, Eat your Vegetables Day, Book Lover’s Day … and, of course, Mother’s Day… Days designated for a specific group or occasion are very common in the U.S.A.

Last sunday was Mother's Day and a good friend of us asked whether we worship our mothers in Germany as well. I told him: Yes, in general, we do, but, no, personally we don’t like it. I never understood the sense of a special day for something. Why Mother’s Day, please? Just one single day for a 24/7-mom? Once a year breakfast being served in bed by the kids, a flower bouquet or a box of chocolates as a present? Is that enough appreciation for all the daily work, aggravation and worries?

In our family Mother’s Day has never been a big deal. On the other hand, even as a middle school student of about 14 years, having to manage with little pocket money, I bought my mom flowers from time to time. There was a florist on my way from school and I always bought parrot tulips (don't know who liked them more, my mom or me...). Later at high school in the big city, I sometimes bought "chocolate bananas" at a chocolate shop I passed every school day. My mom loved them. I did it without good reason, not because I had bad grades or wanted to bribe her and not because I was such a good kid. And, mind you, my mom was no angel, rather on the contrary, but somehow I had the „congenial desire“ to show my appreciation from time to time.

Though our friends with kids may object and tell me that I am not a mother and can’t judge. I object, in my opinion Mother’s Day is redundant and unnecessary. Just florists and chocolate producers are the winners, not mothers in the long run. I am appealing to moms all around the world: Get up and boycott Mother's Day!

If you didn’t know: Mother's Day is an American invention - who would have guessed? It was first celebrated in 1908. A lady by the name of Anna Jarvis (1864 -1948) held a memorial in honor for her mom, Ann Reeves Jarvis, in a Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia. Officially it was recognized Mother's Day in 1910 and in 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed the official proclamation. Since then it’s always on the second Sunday in May, a national holiday. Already Miss Jarvis struggled against commercialization and nowadays it’s mostly the confection, floral and greeting card industries making big profits on this day. By the way, Mother’s Day cards aren’t very common in Germany compared to the U.S.A., but in contrast it has become popular to put an ad in the local newspaper to let your mom know how much you like her. Perhaps she’d rather have loved to get the money which the ad cost for a spa treatment …?

Same is true for Father’s Day on „Himmelfahrt“ (Ascension Day), end of May. This is always a good excuse for fathers to meet, get away from the family, make an excursion - preferably by bike - and get drunk, at least in Germany. Another (German) phenomenon is called "Allerheiligen" (All Saints Day, November 1st) – big deal! Then, people who don’t even know the spelling of „cemetery“, visit the gravesites of deceased family members or friends and play „sad“ and concerned. They will never see a cemetery again from the inside until same date next year. The people who care all year round, do the planting and cleaning and pruning, don’t need to circle the cemetery for 30 minutes on that special day to find parking …

Subject of this post was „superficiality“ or „illusion and reality“. Seems like there is not a really big difference between Germany and America.

"Wonders of America": Cocktails and Coffee "on the run"

Studying American cocktail menus or looking at the display of one of these currently highly popular cupcake stores makes me dizzy and longing. So many varieties, such great choices! I have to admit that I don’t know much about cocktails – Gin Tonic, Margarita, Manhattan and Martini and Punch on New Year’s Eve – that’s about it. I have also to admit that I am always overwhelmed how bartenders or "mixologists" succeed in mixing five or more different ingredients in one delicious drink and how they keep track of what is compatible.

Cupcakes are usually being eaten on the streets, from food trucks, or bought in mostly tiny little shops. Coffee is mostly being drunk on the run in America – therefore it’s "coffee to go" or "Kaffee Togo" how a German friend of us calls it. Pastries come with the coffee and are mostly pretty uniform and eaten in a hurry as well.

In contrast, it (still) is a good old German (and even more Austrian) tradition to have coffee & cake in the afternoon. Not on the run, but comfortably seated, either in an old-fashioned "Kaffeehaus" or "Café" or at home with home-made cake and freshly brewed coffee. As a child, I remember that there was no Sunday and no birthday party without coffee and cake in the afternoon. Around 3:30 or 4 pm the table was set with the best fine china and silverware and a cake or tart (baked from scratch usually on Saturday afternoon) and (often) heavy cream stood on the table. If it was a larger group coming together more cake was brought by other guests. If my parents were in a generous mood or didn’t want to stay home
we took a long walk first after Sunday lunch and ended up in a restaurant or café for coffee and cake (or ice-cream for us kids).

A couple of days ago, when we had a fresh rhubarb cake with real heavy cream (not artificial spray cream) and coffee at a friend’s place I was thinking that this is actually a good old tradition and that it will probably die out with our generation. Until a couple of years ago there were quite a few traditional cafés or "Kaffeehäuser" in the city center, now it’s just a handful left. One of the traditional, large ones is still holding the fort on City Hall Square. Since it’s pretty expensive, we sometimes wander along the display and admire all the choices of cakes, pastries, tarts and chocolates and buy one piece to take home. There are no free refills of coffee in the café and it gets expensive to have coffee & cake being served sitting down.

There is another small café in old town with just about five tables in an old-fashioned living room atmosphere and they are famous for their Bienenstich (bee sting cake). Love it. Most cafés modernized in the last couple of years and are also offering lunch. A traditional "Café" didn’t serve full meals and didn't sell baking goods like rolls, pretzels or bread (that’s done by bakeries) but they just produce confectionery and patisserie. Nowadays modern cafés with coffee-to-go and standardized pastries and snacks à l’Americaine are starting to take over in Germany as well. They call themselves "Powwow" or "Henry’s Coffee" and appeal to a younger crowd.

In Austria coffee&cake culture is even more elaborate. And, these guys still keep to their own coffee varieties like a "Brauner", "Einspaenner", "Kleiner Schwarzer" or "Verlängerter" instead of taking over all these confusing, fancy American descriptions like "Latte" or "Skinny Mocha" or "Frappuccino". All come in different sizes (tall as the smallest, followed by grande and venti), with different kinds of milk, flavours, roasts etc., and they are usually so hot that it takes a ten-mile-drive or a three-mile-walk at least until you are able to drink your brew without burning your mouth.

A new trend in America is coffee roasters – like breweries you’ll find them in the neck of the woods now - besides of the qualities of the beans used, they serve really good, hand-crated coffee, drip, french press or machine - you’ve got your choices. This trend of high-quality coffee is bouncing back to Germany – even in Augsburg a few small cafés popped up doing their own roasting and careful preparation. Of course, no free refills, as it is a good custom in the U.S.A. Our American friends never understand, when visiting, why they have to pay for each (small) cup separately.

In Germany fancy percolators have become cool. They weigh a ton, are huge, but grind fresh beans and make fresh coffee at the same time. And, they cost more than a good bike. Also, they are restricted to one cup at a time, which is a big disadvantage in my opinion: Though it may keep people moving and burning calories, somebody always has to jump up from the table to get another cup. There is nothing like a big pot of coffee on the table, preferably a porcelain pot where an old Melitta filter on top did a great job before in producing real drip coffee.

The other days we were in some special place, "Samoca", a coffee roaster with a café operated by handicapped people (under supervision). They have a great variety of coffees to buy as beans or ground and they offer coffee breakfast - a cup of coffee and a croissant - for three Euro. Actually, it would be fair if they would charge more for the "wellness experience" involved. You get slowed down. Nothing goes fast in there, patience is asked for. Not only with the handicapped employees, but in general. Cafés can have a very positive effect as well.