Suburbs are different in Germany

Martin had to make it to Düsseldorf for work this morning. It reminded us of how he used to stay over at my place, and how convenient that would’ve been today.

I don’t really miss Düsseldorf. It’s a really nice and safe city, but felt too small for me (population ~500K). I like the hustle and bustle of huge cities like Berlin.

Originally I intended to live in Köln (a big city very close to Düsseldorf), but then ended up choosing Düsseldorf on suggestion of my boss and the closer proximity to where Martin lived.

It all worked out when I landed myself a cute lil flat in Düsseldorf, which I do miss a little.

If I ever live in Germany again, I would want to live in Berlin, Hamburg, or Frankfurt.

I felt particularly homely in Hamburg, for some reason. Out of those 3 cities, I’ve spent the least time in Hamburg. So it’s weird that I would feel so strongly about it.

What I really liked about living in Germany was the fantastic public transit. It was so good that I would even chosse to live in the burbs, and I am NOT a suburb girl!

But German suburbs are very connected to the city, making it a good balance between convenience and space.

Martin and I considered moving to Duisburg, a suburb of Düsseldorf. It would take me 15 minutes to get to Düsseldorf on the express train, and would be an easy commute to Martin’s office too.

Sometimes I wonder what that would’ve been like. It was really really nice living with Martin, and it wasn’t too shabby living in Europe either.

But alas, I am in Toronto now. I like it here a lot, but being separated from Martin is Scheiße!

Reflecting on the past year and a half

Last year I graduated from university, and since then, I’ve visited 12 countries in 3 continents.

It was quite the dream come true!

If anyone had told me that after I graduated, I would get to travel and end up living in Asia and Europe, I wouldn’t have believed them for a second.

Cuz you see, I’m not the travelling or living-abroad type. I like my structure, my comforts, and Toronto itself. I would dream of going away on some exciting adventure, but didn’t think I could execute it for more than 2-week intervals.

I was lucky to be able to do all the things I’ve done, but I also worked really hard for it.

Throughout my whole undergrad career, I held 1-4 jobs while I studied a full course load. Back then, jobs just came to me and I said Yes to them because I didn’t want to shun my luck.

So I worked a lot, and I studied a lot. After paying for tuition, rent, and food, I kept entertainment costs low by going out for coffee, study dates, and having people over instead of eating out. My frugal efforts started to add up, and before I knew it, I was graduating debt-free with some leftovers (hence the travelling!).

I don’t recommend working that much to anyone, because it was too stressful. But I’m proud of myself for creating my own unique experience, and so grateful that I even had the chance. I learned so much, saw so much, and experienced so much.

I feel it has made me a better person; I care less about material things and more about people. I became more responsible and independent. I prioritize my life a lot differently than I used to.

In short, I feel like I’m growing up and moving on. I don’t really know where my life is heading, but I’m pretty excited about what’s next!

Old World Charm

Apologies! It’s been a while since I’ve updated. My reason being: we no longer have internet access . What happened was Martin’s sister moved away to a much nicer apartment that is closer to her work and bf. Previously they hared internet access via a wireless router, since they lived less than 100m away. Now Martin is trying to get his own provider, but it’s proving difficult for what I chalk up to ‘Old World infrastructure and service mentality’.

Martin’s knee is healing well. He can walk now without crutches, and is even back at work. I am still looking after him though, and carrying all the heavy stuff. The guy is a princess now (!), while I am the sweaty, out of breath person next to him carrying all his stuff. It also doesn’t help that we live on the top floor of a building that has no elevator. See what I mean about Old World infrastructure?!

We are doing well here though. We took off to the North Sea immediately after the Doctor said Martin could walk, and this weekend we may end up in Paris! Life is good here. I’ll post pictures later.

Take that, bacteria!

I extended my plane ticket for a few more weeks so I’ll be able look after my Sweetie while he recovers from his surgery.

He should be able to walk without crutches next week, but is still not legally allowed to drive until a few weeks later. That is, if he is on his pain meds, which he isn’t taking because he’s a picky German who wants to be able to feel his pain to know what’s going on. *roll eyes*

We’re having a good time here. He has sick days off, and I’m unemployed. So, we have all day everyday just to relax and occassionally visit his Orthopedist.

Oh, did you know, that even though Martin had surgery, that they don’t prescribe antibiotics for him? I had to ask the Orthopedist about this, because coming from a country that [used to] give out antibiotics like free-candy, this is just insane to me! But, the doctor explained to me that since there’s such a low risk of infection, antibiotics are not necessary.

I guess this is good, but were it me under the knife, I would be pining for antibiotics myself.

Lecker vom Bäcker

Martin and I went on a bike ride and stopped off at a bakery.

We got this delicious slab of fresh crumble cheese cake for only 2€!

It’s perfect.

German-Chinese food

You know how North Americanized Chinese food looks like this?

With deep fried sweet n sour chicken balls and wonton skins, *shudder*. I’m not a fan, not just because I’m vegetarian, but because it’s so greasy and gross.

‘Europeanized’ Chinese food isn’t overly greasy. This is how you make it. Take note if you want to start a successful Chinese restaurant in Germany.

German Work Environments

Boo, it’s half past 7 and Martin is still at his office. He’s preparing for a big, stressful business trip to France next week.

Even though I don’t live with him, I notice his long hours because we talk on the phone when he gets off work.

I used to think Germans lived the easy life: High earners, great benefits, great work environments, and tons of vacation.

While it’s true that Germans have more vacation days than North Americans, it isn’t true that Germans have it easy in the working department.

Every single German I know works very hard. They work long hours everyday, mostly without compensation for any extra work. They do this because it’s a cultural value to get the job done.

I wasn’t like this in Toronto. While I worked hard, I documented all my extra hours with the expectation that I will get paid for it. This is acceptable to me – I’m working, not volunteering (even when I’m volunteering I work within my agreed upon hours).

For my job here, I go to companies to teach business-related English. My classes are small (1-5 people), so I get to know my students well.

Mostly I feel like a work therapist, because people are so stressed with their jobs that our classes turn into an English speaking support group, facilitated by moi.

It’s a neat job. I’m learning a lot. But it totally bursts my bubble on romanticizing German work life.

European cars are prettier

I’m not a car person at all, but I can’t help drooling over cars here. I find European-styled cars prettier than North American-styled cars.

Here’s a standard car-model driven in Toronto, but Euro-styled. The Honda Civic:

Doesn’t it look different? I rarely notice Civics in Toronto, but here I find them outstandingly beautiful (for a car).

Someone on my street owns a silver one, and every time I pass by it I’m like “WOW, what car is THAT?” And it’s always the same car, lol.

This next one is a Mitsubishi Colt. I think it’s a hard top convertible:

Isn’t it SO cute?!

This is a Volvo C30:

Martin tells me it was designed all by women. Although it’s interesting looking, it’s not my favourite. Still though, Volvo’s look so blah in North America – at least they are cute here!

Here is another HOT car. An Opel Astra station wagon sports edition:

Station wagons are considered cool and sporty here. They have the same image as a sport utility would in North America, minus the gas guzzling.

That’s actually Martin’s car. We picked out new rims for his summer tires and really like the way it came out. It looks even better in person!

Week in Pictures

Over the week, I finally went and got a much needed haircut! Jimmy, the hair stylist in the background, was SO nice (and cute too!). He looks no older than 24 to me, but runs his own busy salon. I thought that was cool!

I don’t have any good after-pics but I really like the cut!

Martin and I found a new park right across the river from the Altstadt.

It was fun! But windy…

Laundry Euro Stylez

Right now I’m sitting at Martin’s place wearing his clothes and waiting for my laundry to be done.

I’m used to my parents’ big machine (you know, the average washing machine in North America) whipping out a load in 20 minutes. I could program 6 minute washes too.

But here in Europe, a cycle of laundry takes forever. Forever meaning 3 hours for one small load. If I was in a hurry one day, I could set it on quick cycle, which would take around 1.5 hours.

It’s just so weird. I mean, the machine does a good job of cleaning my clothes and all, but really – do I need them to be THAT clean?