A shell on the sidewalk

I’ve been sick with a cold since Saturday but I dragged myself out of the house for about 20 minutes just to get some air. I walked down the street and on my way back I found a shell on the edge of the sidewalk. It was one of those snail shells. I found myself wondering how the hell it got there. Shells are usually associated with water. There is a pond several miles away, but still, how did it get there? Did some snail decide to do some wandering or maybe someone picked it up while they were out walking and it fell out of their pocket. I just found it really strange and it got me thinking about where I normally find shells, in or by the ocean. This brought me to start compiling a list in my head of things I miss from home in Connecticut. These are in no particular order, just the order they come to mind.

1) First and foremost, the ocean. God, I miss salt water and everything associated with it, the smells, the sound, the treasures you find, and…

2) Seafood. They serve seafood here in Southern Germany, but nothing like good old New England seafood. I have yet to eat lobster here; it’s not normally on the menu. If it is, it’s pretty expensive and nothing like we’re used to. The salmon is wonderful here as well as the steamed mussels. Where they get them and how fresh they are, I don’t know. Everything tastes fresh. Great fish markets here too, but there isn’t an ocean anywhere near here. It’s a mystery. I just really miss lobster and steamers dripping with butter.

3) Dunkin’ Donuts, Bess Eaton or Krispie Kreme bakeries. The bakeries rock here. This is the best bread I have ever had and there are bakeries everywhere, but every once in awhile I just miss donuts. The only donuts I’ve seen here are called “Berliners” (there’s some historical story to the name, but I can’t remember it right now and my husband, Mr. History himself, is deployed for a few weeks). Basically, they’re granulated sugar coated jelly donuts, typically strawberry or raspberry. That’s it, no crème filled, assorted jelly filled, chocolate filled donuts at all. I guess that’s for the best.

4) Music selection on the radio. Yes, you can hear top 40, hip hop, classic rock, classical and traditional German music on the radio, all of which I like, but no Motown, blues, funk or much alternative. I did find a college station which plays more alternative, but it’s often too alternative if you know what I mean. I usually listen to this great classic rock station which plays an awesome assortment of classic rock, anything from Frank Zappa to an obscure Janis Joplin tune to Nirvana, so I kind of get my fill there. Not enough though and I was never one to down load music, I guess I’m just lazy. I did finally buy an MP3 player, but never opened the package! I guess I’m archaic.

5) Available parking. Parking is a challenge here. As I’ve previously mentioned, Germans are planners and let me tell you, there are barely inches to spare. You will feel quite claustrophobic in the parking garages here especially if you own a big, American car. Most European cars are much smaller, thus parking spots are small too. Even for the small cars. There is no extra space here in Germany. Every square inch of it is accounted for and has its purpose and the same goes for parking spots on the street. I have not and will never be able to master parallel parking; it’s just not in my genes, so I will often search for an alternative space. We live in a third floor apt and have to park on the street which drives me crazy. I can’t wait to have a driveway again someday!

6) No language barrier. After living here 2+ years, I’ve kind of learned to tune things out. It’s exhausting and frustrating trying to learn and understand all the time. I understand enough of the language to carry on a conversation, ask what I want, answer questions, and get around, but it’s frustrating not understanding everything. It’s a bummer turning on the radio to the news and maybe getting a slight gist of what they’re talking about. I often feel very out of touch with the world. Plus there’s dialect here too, which I don’t understand at all.

7) Obviously, my family and friends. Yes, they’re only a phone call away, but with a 6 hour time difference, which is a bummer if you really want to talk to someone but its 3:00 am on the East Coast. I have refrained from waking people up.

8) Concerts! I was a concert queen back home. Love concerts and music and would go to at least a half dozen a year, especially with the conveniently located Arena at the Mohegan Sun. The concert scene here in Germany is much less convenient and plentiful. There are a few arenas close to me, but I’ve found I’ve gone to more shows in the smaller venues, which are actually better. Again, the problem is the variety isn’t here or the frequency. This is Europe and more European stars will naturally tour here and the big, mainstream pop stars—Madonna, Snoop Dog, Justin Timberlake, Pink (she tours here in Germany all the time), Bon Jovi, etc. NIN will be here next month and you have your hair bands (80’s music is huge here), but like I said above, not enough alternative or blues around. You will find obscure concerts here like DIO, Ted Nugent (both of which I’ve seen in a small setting which was great) Ah-Ha, Simply Red, Genesis (huge here), Dire Straits, Bryan Adams (also huge here), etc. It’s just different. I guess I was just spoiled with the convenience and variety back home.

9) American TV! AFN (Armed Forces Network) is available to us, but you have to buy the decoder and a satellite and we just never did it. We have “Premiere”, which is German which has about 6 movie channels that we watch and CNN. Everything else is in German. You can change the language on some of the movies, some of the time. There is a Series channel which has aired “Lost”, “Desperate Housewives”, “Sopranos” and “Medium”. Other series air on other channels which unfortunately are only in German. These series are aired sporadically and I honestly can’t say if they’re up to date or they’re showing last season because I’m so out of the loop! I have no idea what season of “Lost” we’re on now and “Desperate Housewives” is now MIA. We do on occasion rent series, however, it turns into a two-day, all night marathon which is not good during the week, but we’re so deprived! I recently rented the first season of “Grey’s Anatomy” just to see what the fuss is about and I’m now hooked. What season is being aired now? And the Superbowl….my Dad taped it for me. It is aired on AFN, sans commercials (something to do with AFN being owned by the government). Since there’s a time difference, it didn’t start here until midnight!

That’s it for now. I can easily add to the list, but this is getting long enough. I did want to mention that although I miss many things from back home, I have now discovered many wonderful things here that I will miss when we return to the states. That will be another list for another time.