As mentioned in my previous post, I have been in Germany for one month; here is a list of few things I have learnt so far about living in Germany:

• Dry everything! Nothing dries…you need to dry the shower after you have one else it never dries, washing takes forever to dry – stuff just stays damp – this was never a problem for me in South Africa.
• You need to be a speed packer in the grocery line – seriously it should be a sport – I must say I am becoming somewhat of an expert at this – it’s easier just to throw everything back into the trolley and pack it into bags in your car J
• In Germany they drive on the wrong side of the road….they might think it’s the right but nope it’s the wrong side!
• Speed limits can go from 30 to 70 to drive as fast as you want back down to 70 and then 30 all within a 1km distance.
• ALL chocolate in Germany is good – even the ‘cheap’ kind – I am not a fan of German sweets though.
• It is not just cold it’s FREEZING here…this morning was -1˚C and its only autumn – me thinks this South African is going to suffer this winter.
• Layering is the key to keeping warm – it is just tedious putting everything on to go outside and taking it all off again in the house which brings me to the next point.
• Central heating is epic! Best invention ever – it is just super confusing for the brain when you sitting inside and you nice and warm it makes you think it’s not cold outside…it’s still cold outside, which brings me to another point I learnt the hard way, sunshine does not equal warmth – nope not here – the sun might be shinning but it’s still 2˚C.
• Kids really do walk around by themselves, walk to school, take buses and trains by themselves, play in the street by themselves – it’s weird.
• German bakeries are awesome!
• There are lots and lots and lots of different types of bread in Germany.
• You need to pay to use a trolley in the grocery store, you get it back, but you need to pay.
• Recycling is big in Germany – you HAVE to recycle – I like this and once you get past the confusion of it all, it is pretty simple.
• Cleaning your house in Germany is the same as cleaning your house in SA (except for the extra drying part) NOT FUN!
• Washing clothes becomes more complicated but I know have a wash room in my Keller (basement) so getting there.
• When you move from SA to DE and have to figure out how Euro’s work – it’s by far one of the most confusing things so far…I still haven’t figured out what’s cheap and what is expensive….it is hard to wrap your brain around paying €1 for 3kg of flour….feels like you paying R1 but you not….and €0.29 for a yoghurt….then you pay €9.99 for a pair of boots – you think wow that’s cheap but is it? I don’t know…this point I am still trying to get – I will get back to you at a later stage when I figure this part out.
• You need to air your house out – no matter how cold it is outside – you need to let air flow through your house – I am still figuring out how often I am suppose to do this.
• Germans don’t browse – when you go into a shop – you buy something and you leave – you kind of need to know what you want before you go in – this doesn’t apply to all shops but most of them especially the little ones like the bakeries, stationery shops etc.
• People in Germany drive just as bad as people in JHB and are very impatient drivers.
• Germans like to walk…rain or shine…freezing or not – they walk. In fact the weather doesn’t affect anything – you just carry on whatever you were planning – guess cause if you waited for good weather to do stuff you wouldn’t go anywhere.
• You really do need to be able to speak German to get around and be able to hold a conversation with people, yes English is their second language and yes some people speak English but not everyone but this is Germany and yes they speak German (shouldn’t really be much of a surprise there).
• That is all I can think of right now but I am sure I have learnt more – I will add to my list in a few weeks. Till next time.