Odd German Way #11: Don't Mind the Muddy Clothes

In an earlier post, I was surprised how the Germans aren't too concerned about the purple fingers of their children and don't make them wear gloves or mittens in winter.

My latest astonishment falls into the same category.

Fräulein's wardrobe consists mostly of leggings and tunics. I think those are nice clothes for a child to play inside in. And when we go out and it might be a bit wet or muddy on the playground, it easy to pull an overall over these clothes.

Fräulein in her overall last January

I thought this would be a great combination of clothes for her to wear in the Krippe, too. But one day, when I was picking her up, one of the teachers wanted to talk to me. She asked, if I could dress Fräulein with a separate jacket in future, as "it is so impractical, if all the kids wear overalls".

Yes, I get the fact that it is easier to dress the kids with jackets than it is with overalls. But isn't it even more inconvenient, when their trousers get all wet and muddy on the playground and then they have to wear the same clothes inside the whole afternoon?

Visit to H&M to buy some new trousers...

And I cannot even imagine, how this will work when it gets colder outside. How can I find any trousers, which are light enough to wear inside, but warm enough when it gets below zero outside?

And no, I don't think this is only the way things are done at our Krippe, as I have heard similar stories elsewhere, too.

The odd German ways...

Oh, and no wellies needed, either.
Must go and buy some 'all-weather shoes'

*****
Olen aiemmin ihmetellyt, miten täällä Saksassa ei lapsillekaan pueta hanskoja tai vanttuita kun säät kylmenevät. Ja vielä kummallisemmaksi menee: minua kehotettiin pukemaan Fräuleinille päiväkotiin erillinen takki haalarin sijaan! Ymmärrän, että haalarien pukeminen isolle joukolle lapsia on varmasti hankalaa, mutta eikö hankalaa ole myös se, että lapset ovat sitten loppupäivän kuraisissa housuissa sisällä? Eivätkös haalarit ole suomalaisissa päiväkodeissa ihan arkipäivää?

Odd German Way No. 10 - Bring In the Police!

We were walking in the city center the other day. When we approached the Marktkirche, I noticed dozens of police cars around it. And on every entrance of the Schloßplatz (the area surrounding the church), there were several police officers.

My first thought was that there was something big going on and I wanted to find out what that was. But then I remembered that Germans tend to bring in a lot of police force when there is even the smallest event, in which some trouble might arise. Like when there is a football match, even in some of the minor leagues, the railway station is crowded with police officers with their helmets and shields.

Most of the times this armament seems a bit exaggerated.

And so it was this time, too. There was only a smallish demonstration by the Rathause.

I guess that the demonstration was against the air routes over Wiesbaden.
The noise of the flights started last year,
when the fourth runway was opened at Frankfurt airport. 

Odd German Way No. 9 - The Daily Airing

The German apartments do not have ventilation. This means that you must open the windows for a while each day to let the fresh air in. Even when it is cold outside. But, I quote Cara's blog post, "Ten minutes of cold is worth not having the mold".

I once saw a German TV program about lousy tenants. One of the tenants had not done the airing in the apartment and the window frames and bathroom ceiling were covered in mold. The tenant said it was the house owners problem, but the house owner showed that all tenants had been provided with instruction sheets, where the daily airing procedures had been explained. So, even though we haven't been given any clear instructions, I have realized that it really is our duty to keep the air fresh and dry.  

"Exhaled 3742 times,  cooked 1 liter tee water, watered the plants,
slightly sneezed 3 times, washed 2 pairs of socks and
cried 1.6 minutes while peeling onions... hmm...
according to my calculation the window should be kept 2.5 cm open now for 4.3 minutes..."
Source: Passivhaus Institut

I have previously thought that tumble-dryers are useless, but now I have changed my mind. As the weather here is very moist, you cannot dry your laundry outside most of the time. And because of the lack of ventilation, it takes ages to dry it inside. Plus the air inside gets very moist.

The only thing helping in refreshing the air are the small ventilators/blowers in the bathrooms. Usually these work so that when you put the light on in the bathroom, also the ventilator starts. It helps to dry the air a bit when you take a shower, but it does not actually give any fresh air.

The fact that Fräulein takes her nap on the balcony, resolves the problem of airing for us. I always keep the balcony door open a crack while she is sleeping, so that I hear when she is waking up. I also keep the bathroom ventilator on and the door open so that the air circulates a bit. Although this isn't based on any complicated calculations, I hope it is enough...

Odd German Way No. 8 - Prof. Dr. Dr.

As I have posted previously, here in Germany people are called Frau Something and Herr Other, and only very close friends and family members use the first names.

A bit similar type of oddity is the use of titles. The Germans LOVE their titles.

And if you have a title, you are also given some extra bit of appreciation. A Finnish friend of mine, who is 'Frau Dr.', said that the only place where she uses her title is in the German speaking countries when she wants good service. Great that all those studies weren't for nothing!

The Germans are sure to use their titles anywhere their name is mentioned. Even when registering yourself into an online shop, there is either a place for 'Anrede' or a list of several titles to choose from.

Registration on baby-walz.de web page, where you can choose both Herr/Frau and a title.
How would a Prof. Dr. Dr. register here?

The titles are mentioned also in the mailboxes. But I have been wondering, how the titles are mentioned, if there is more than one adult living there. Neither Herr Welle nor I have any titles worth mentioning to the postman (if I had, this blog would be called something like 'Frau Prof. Dr. Dr. Welle'...). But if we both put our titles to our mailbox, wouldn't it then sound twice as fancy?

These titles are mentioned by a mailbox of an office.
I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures of mailboxes in residential area...

Odd German Way No. 7 - Alternative Medicines

In several occasions, I have noticed that in Germany alternative medicines, like herbal and homeopathic products, are used as, well, 'normal' medicines.

First I thought it was just something our Hebamme (midwife) was into, as she recommended homeopathic medicines for Fräulein's colic and my breast infection. But when I bought some medicines for Fräulein's cold from the pharmacy, I noticed they included some homeopathic ingredients as well.

Before Christmas, I went to the pharmacy to buy some gel for Fräulein to numb the pain caused by teething. After giving me the gel, the pharmacist wanted to introduce all the herbal medicines they had available for teething. I was happy with the gel.

This week Fräulein has had a mild eye infection. According to the doctor, the infection is most likely viral, so he prescribed some eye-drops for her. If those would not help her in 3-4 days, we should go back for a prescription for antibiotics.

A pair of watery eyes

Herr Welle picked up the eye-drops from the pharmacy. After a closer look of the product data sheet, we noticed that it was actually herbal medicine, made of plant called Euphrasia. There isn't much improvement in Fräulein's eyes yet, but I'll need to wait until tomorrow to say for sure, if these drops have worked or not.

I have previously been quite pro-modern-western-medicine type of person, but especially with Fräulein, I am more than happy to accept any 'gentler' medications, if they actually work. Thus, I don't want to give any label of 'good' or 'bad' for this oddity. However, I do remain quite sceptic about alternative medical systems.

But putting aside my own scepticism, I am amazed that these herbal and homeopathic products are sold side-by-side at the pharmacy and doctors prescribe them equally. Yes, the homeopathic system is originally a German invention, but I would have thought that in this country, the lack of scientific evidence of their real efficacy would be valued more.

Odd German Way No. 6 - Changing Eggs

Every time I visit our local grocery store Rewe, there is someone standing by the egg shelf. This someone is opening the egg cartons and looking closely at the eggs. Sometimes the carton is closed and put into the shopping cart, but quite often he or she moves the eggs from one carton to another, inspecting every one of the eggs in detail.

In Finland, I have never, ever seen anyone choosing the eggs one by one from different egg cartons, but here in Germany this seems to happen every day. I understand if some wants to make sure that none of the eggs is broken. But what kind of differences can be seen unbroken eggs? Color? Size?

The odd German ways...

Odd Geman Way No. 5 - Purple Fingers

A Finnish friend of mine visits the Netherlands quite often on business with her Finnish colleagues. Last winter, one of her Dutch colleagues had asked her, why Finns have this funny way of using gloves or mittens in winter.

What?!?

I have noticed, that people do not tend to use gloves here in Germany, either. Yes, it might not be -20°C, but Finns do put their gloves on when it gets below +10°C...

What I am even more surprised of, or even worried about, is that small children do not wear mittens here! Germans might dress their children in down jacket and use footmuff made of real sheepskin when the temperature is still above zero. But the hands of the children remain uncovered.

The odd German ways...

Mittens on!

Odd German Way No. 4 - the Early Arrival of the Weihnachtsmann

I have found out, how Santa Claus has the time to visit children all over the world on Christmas! I had thought it has something to do with the time zones, but there is another thing helping him: he visits German children already on December 6th!

The previous night, Dec 5th, German children clean their shoes (usually boots) and place them outside the door. During the night, Weihnachtsmann (German name for Santa Claus) brings small gifts, like sweets, apples, nuts and coins, to the shoes. 

Well, this is what my German teacher told me. I guess Santa Claus visits only part of Germany, as for some children it is Nikolaus (dressed like Santa Claus but a different person), who visits on December 6th.

So, is this all the German kids get during Christmas time, some sweets and nuts? No, they will have another visitor as well: Chirstkind!  I thought Christ-child would be a boy, but my German teacher told me I should call the child 'she' (in German das Christkind is neuter). On December 24th, she brings German children their gifts. In many families, she also decorates the Christmas tree while the children are not home.

But you cannot fool these Christmas characters. They must know that we are going to spend Christmas in Finland and Santa Claus will visit us then, so he didn't bring us any treats last night. Or maybe our shoes were not polished enough...

Odd German Way No. 3 - The Nanny Has a Dull Voice

I have finally given up. I will never, NEVER, learn to tolerate the dubbing of TV programs.

First I thought it was just because I didn't understand the language. Now I am starting to understand REAL German programs, but I still cannot follow the American TV series, in which Desperate Housewives or CSI agents speak German. And as it cannot be the language, it must be the fact that I am only concentrating in being annoyed.

As you might guess, in Finland the TV programs are not dubbed. Historically, it has been because it is so much cheaper to use subtitles. But no matter what the reason, I think it has been a good decision.

First of all, it would just sound stupid. As Finland is quite small country, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito and Brad Pitt would probably all have the same voice. And it sounded weird even to hear the Donkey in Shrek to speak Finnish after hearing him with Eddie Murphy's voice.

Secondly, what could be better way to learn a language than to hear it daily on TV (well, being Expat of course, but I guess that is not always an option). Even older generations learn English by watching the Bold and the Beautiful. You can learn some very useful phrases, which are repeated there in regular basis, like "I love you, will you marry me for third time?" or "I'm going to have a baby with my daughters boyfriend".

But back to the situation with the Odd German Way. About a year ago I got really frustrated with this. So, we bought the Unitymedia TV packet, in which you get also some English TV channels. But quite soon the old episodes of Two and Half Men started to repeat themselves on TNT Serie and, unlike my husband, I'm not so interested in current economic situation, that I would like use my evenings watching CNBC.

And then about a month ago there came the last straw: they started dubbing E! Entertainment. Now my friends Kim, Kourtney, Khloe, Kendra and Holly all speak German. Why, WHY?!?!

So, we decided we would invest in Finnish TV programs. Well, they wouldn't need to be Finnish programs (most of those you can see free online), but this was the only way we knew how to get see fresh TV series, which are not dubbed in German. Yesterday we purchased a two week trial period of Finnish service called 'TV Kaista'. In this service, you get a digibox reserved for you in Finland. On this box, all TV programs from all 12 free Finnish TV channels are recorded. The TV programs are saved for four weeks and you can watch them from internet with your own user name and password.

So, now all Finnish TV channels are available for me to watch on my MacBook or on our television via PS3 (finally some use for the PlayStation!). The only minus point here is that you cannot watch them live, but only after the show is over. It is not a problem with TV series, but my husband was a bit disappointed when he realized he wouldn't be able to watch the ice hockey World Cup matches live with Finnish commentary.

And just my luck: yesterday the two week trial period cost 10€, today you get it for free...

P.S. If you were left wondering about the title of this post, I'm referring to the American TV show The Nanny, which is mainly based on the fact that the lead character has a nasal voice and a funny laugh. But in the German version her voice is plain and normal...

A Cow on a Balcony

I'm not sure, if this should be a part of series 'Attractions in Wiesbaden' or 'Odd German Way'.

Without any label, let me introduce:

A Cow on a Balcony

Keeping Warm

Most of my readers might say that the subject of this post should be "The Odd Finnish Way". But for Finns, there is nothing odd about this.

98% of Finnish babies take their nap outside (I have read this somewhere, but cannot remember the source). I know that some might think it is not healthy for the baby or that it is dangerous, as someone could steal the baby, but that how it is done in Finland. The main purpose is that baby sleeps better and longer in fresh air. In Finland, the recommended temperature limit for sleeping outside is -10°C. If the baby is born in winter, it is recommended to wait for a couple of weeks before putting her outside to sleep, and then starting with shorter periods.

When we were looking for an apartment in Wiesbaden, one of our main criteria - in addition to the 'Einbauküche' - was to have a peaceful balcony for the baby to sleep in. With the exception of about one month last spring, when my daughter wanted to fall asleep beside me, she has taken her naps outside, first in her pram and now in her push-chair. Luckily, our neighbors haven't called the child protection authorities...

Now it is getting colder again, so I need to make sure she is dressed warmly for her naps. Here are some of the warm clothes I have found nice:

Swedish Shepherd bootees made of real sheepskin

Finnish Kivat woolen hood
(a gift from our daughter's godparents)

Finnish Kaino woolen overall

Woolen mittens and socks,
knitted by my daughter's great-grandmother with Austermann Step yarn

All the warm clothes on...

... and then to the balcony with Bugaboo footmuff and mosquito net (no mosquitos here, but bees, birds and squirrels...).

Odd German Way No. 2 - Pack Up Your Kitchen!

When we were looking for an apartment in Wiesbaden, we browsed the Immobilienscout web page. In the search criteria, one of the options is 'Einbauküche'. I had heard rumors about it, but now I really understood: Germans take the kitchens with them when they move house!

In most of the apartments, also those to be rented, there is nothing in the kitchen. Well, 'nothing' might be an overstatement, as there are electric wires and pipes coming out of the walls and floor and there might even be a row of tiles on the walls. But there are no cabinets, no sink and certainly no household appliances.

As we didn't have the time or the possibility to start building a kitchen, we had to check the 'Einbauküche' option in Immobilienscout. This really narrows down the possibilities of apartments, as only about 40% has the 'Einbauküche'. We were going to rent a place and fortunately found one, in which the previous tenant was willing to sell us her kitchen. So, we bought the Ikea kitchen cabinets and dishwasher from her with reasonable price and had to go shopping only for fridge and stove.

Just like the kitchen cabinets, the Germans take all other cabinets with them as well. So, in an empty apartment there are usually no cabinets in the hall or in the bedrooms either. Some even take the parquet from the floors with them...

I can see the point, that this way you can get exactly the type of kitchen and storage space you need. But I cannot understand, how this can work in practice. If you are moving, you most probably are changing to different kind of apartment. How can the old kitchen fit into the new one? I cannot believe, that the kitchens are so similar, than you can just easily fit the old cabinets with a bit of fine-tuning. And if your new kitchen is bigger than the old one, do you just go shopping for extra cabinets? Doesn't it look weird, if most of the cabinets are ten years old and on the corner there is one new and shiny?

The odd German ways...

Odd German Way No. 1 - Being a Frau

I guess it is common knowledge, that in Germany you always address a person very formally, like Herr X or Frau Y. After living in Germany over one year, I still find this funny.

In Finland, we are used to very unformal way of approaching people. For example, if you get a VERY formal letter (e.g. about taxes or social benefits), you may be addressed with your whole name. But in almost any other situation, only your first name is used. For example, advertisers like to act like they know you well: ´Hi Maria, we have this great opportunity just for you!´. Also, in doctor's office you might be called in with your last name, but after that the doctor will use your first name. Finns only call older people ´rouva´ (Mrs.) or ´herra´ (Mr.), but otherwise ´Frau´ refers to being someones wife.

You can imagine that being used to the Finnish way, this Frau thing feels a bit odd. Before moving to Germany, I had been married only for six months, so I hadn't really been used to my new name. And then suddenly I was called Frau Welle in all situations! It feels funny that all letters are addressed to ´Frau Welle´, not ´Maria Welle´. And the electrician fixing our doorbell calls me Frau Welle, not Maria... It still makes me feel old and, well, wife.

So, I hope you see the irony in the name of this blog, and don't expect my blog to be very formal or wifelike! :)