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| Thanksgiving Dessert Table in Freiberg last year |
With that said, let me talk about how things are different for me here!
When we arrived in Freiberg and got settled into our small apartment, one of the first things we had to do is go grocery shopping. There was a neighborhood store, NETTO, only about 200 yards from where we lived by the Temple. Talk about culture shock! Of course the produce was recognizable, at least most of it, but reading those German labels was difficult! Dale always goes shopping with me so that is helpful.
I was already starting to change my attitude. It was strange, but I was pretty much loving cooking and shopping. It became somewhat of a "puzzle" for me and I wanted to learn everything I could about German foods and cooking here. After we were transferred to Darmstadt and working with the Young Single Adults, I knew why. I cook a great deal, sometimes as much as 4-5 days of the week and for as many as 20-25 people. I have learned so much and ready to try new things all the time. Dale used to tease me about watching Food Network at home, but now he has enjoyed many meals that I initially learned about on Chopped, Rachel Ray, or other shows. I actually know more food and cooking terms in German than Dale does! I also make exceptionally good "Kase Kuchen" or Cheesecake from Quark - a dairy ingredient only found here and in other European countries.
While we were still in Freiberg, I could send Dale for things we needed at the last minute which leads me to my story about Salsa. We decided we wanted to make Tacos because we had managed to find Tortillas. I sent him to find anything that looked like Salsa. He was gone quite a while and came home with a bottle of Zegeuner Sauce. We opened it - smelled like Salsa, looked like Salsa - poured it in with the meat. It tasted awesome and it made wonderful Sloppy Joes! We use it all the time now for that purpose. Oh - and we did eventually find Salsa.
I also just had to order a Slow Cooker from England (not available here in Germany) and, in fact, two of them. I actually own 12 slow cookers in America - yup - I said 12! That is a subject for another time but just to clarify, 7 of them are in buffet servers. But after coming to Darmstadt, I got a very large one to use for the YSA Center. One of the sweet members here that we work with was amazed that I would turn it on and leave home for the day! She just could not believe it would work and not burn down the apartment building. I have used them over and over again for the past 15 months.
Now that we have discussed cooking here are a few examples of how things are done differently here with regard to food and cleaning:
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| Apartment Kitchen in Freiberg |
1. Most Germans who live in apartments, like us, have very small kitchens. Thus, they have very small refrigerators, and tiny or no freezers at all. Because of these small storage areas, they must go shopping at least every other day. There are bakeries on every corner, because they buy fresh baked goods pretty much every day. The breads and pastries are very tasty. Unfortunately for us, we have a hard time resisting them. They still have their traditional meat and vegetable shops as well and the fresh produce here is usually very good.
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| Typical Produce Section in a Market |
2. As you may know, Germans are famous for their drinking. They have large separate stores just to sell drinks. They sell everything from regular water to hard liquor. I think it may be because they don't trust their tap water!
3. There are certain staples that I am used to cooking with in America that are simply not available here or extremely hard to find. Things like liquid vanilla, American brown sugar, pecans, and there is no cream-of-anything-soup in cans. However, I have learned to substitute and make do and in some cases, it is better. I will certainly miss some of the great ingredients I have found here.
4. GARBAGE COLLECTION!! This has been a learning curve for us. With 84 million people in an area the same size as Montana, they have obviously had to control their refuse. The stores hand out free garbage bags especially for plastics. We also have to separate paper, cans, compost, and glass. There are also collection areas for used clothing and shoes. They have special city collections for old furniture and appliances. The bad thing is, they only pick up the garbage twice a month in the summer, and once a month in the Winter. You have to admit though, they are more environmentally aware than we are in our smaller cities.
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| Laundry Room in Freiberg |
5. In all three of our apartments we have had to do our laundry in another area of the building. That is better than going to a Laundromat or something so I am not complaining. However, it has been harder here in Darmstadt and our first apartment in Freiberg because the Laundry Rooms are in the basement and involve many stairs. Also, the washers are much smaller and so we do more batches. They are also programmed to save water and so the wash cycles are longer. We are just grateful we have had dryers. Most of the young missionaries only have washing machines.
I could certainly go on for a long time, but the bottom line is this. I have learned to love living here in Germany. I have learned so much about myself and my ability to adapt. I was very nervous about living in another country and had so many misconceptions in my mind. Change is usually very difficult for me, but I get better at it everyday. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had of serving this mission with my wonderful husband. We love the gospel and our testimonies have grown so much. Heavenly Father has blessed us as we learn to love and serve the people here in this beautiful country. We can all do hard things!
