Hallowhat?

So, it's crazy that it's already November! I'm coming up upon my third month here next week, which in a way is surprising, since I remember when I was like, "Aha! I've been here a week!" At times time seems like its flying, but at others, well, not so much. Anyways, to catch up:

Hallowhat?.
There is really only one word to describe Halloween here in the Germ, and that word is disappointment. Indeed, I prefer to call German Halloween "Hallowhat?" The tradition of Hallowhat here is growing very slowly...sort of like my German. Hahaha. Actually now that I think about it, Hallowhat here is a perfect comparison for my German. Let's embark on a metaphor: no decorations, only the basic ideas, functioning on a child's level. Carved pumpkins, skeletons, and the like were few and far between. I think that the holiday was a time for all of us Americans here when it really struck us that, scheisse Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore! I got especially sad when I saw my friends' pictures from home... trust American college students to make Halloween an excuse for a four day party weekend. Nevertheless, what the Germans lack in Halloween, they make up for in the Christmas season.
Obviously (or not so obviously?) Thanksgiving doesn't exist in the Germ. Let me insert a quote here by my dear friend Alexa, provided yesterday whilst talking about Thanksgiving, for shits and giggles...

"Thanksgiving is obviously only celebrated in America right? Haha I sound dumb.
But idkk.
Wait, I'm dumb.
Obviously."

Boy, I miss my friends!
So the point is, when Hallowhat fades out of its dazzling glory here, supermarkets and stores bring out no pilgrims, nor turkeys, nor cornucopias. In fact, my friends, we have already started the Christmas season! I walked into Penny Markt on November first to be greeted by jolly old St. Nick, advent calendars, and little chocolate snowmen. In the spirit of the two month Christmas season, I decided to be the best older sister ever and picked out two Milka advent calendars for the younger siblings, which I shall be sending back to the good ol' US of A shortly. Having been enlightened to the German phenomenon called chocolate, ranking with beer-drinking, lederhosen-wearing and wurst-eating as the things that Germans do best, I take on the responsibility of making sure that the brother and sister don't have to wake up every December morning to the fake chocolate plastic crap that's found in American advent calendars. No, they're going to wake up every morning and thank the Rotary gods that their sister was sent to the Land of Chocolate Happiness.

Speaking of chocolate happiness...

The Return of the Chocolate Fruit
Yes, folks, you read correctly. It is my pleasure to announce that the chocolate fruit stick is BACK!
My slight depression due to the Hallowhat season was quickly dissipated when I learned that the Winter Dom was on its way back. Because really, who needs Hallowhat when you have a chocolate fruit stick? Nobody, that's the answer. As a quick refresher, the Summer Dom was where I first stumbled upon my German destiny, which ended up being a loyal follower of Schokolade Frucht. So, imagine my extreme joy when I heard that the Winter Dom would be here until December. Actually, don't even bother, because only one who has tasted the deliciousness of this chocolate happiness could even start to imagine.
So, as you can easily believe, I invited my American friend Katelyn with me to go to the opening night of the Dom, which was two nights ago. Who am I if I don't spread my knowledge of the chocolate fruit stick to others? A scrooge, a bitter, bitter evil person, that's what. When I first told Katelyn about the stick, she, never having even heard of it, gamely played along with my enthusiasm. However, I turned her into a true believer last night, when we trekked through typical Hamburgan rain, umbrella-less, dressed to go out, all in pursuit of the chocolate fruit. Our game plan was to hit the Dom then head down to the Reeperbahn for a night out on the town, making it a very legit German night.
In typical German fashion, it started to rain when we got to the Dom, so we had to tactically plan our advance throughout the fair as we went in search of the perfect chocolate fruit stick, while at the same time trying to use the overhangs of the food stands to avoid the rain. Complicated, really. You see, we wanted the mixed stick, which was unexpectedly hard to come by at this time of year. The mixed stick contains pineapple, grape, strawberry, banana, kiwi, and sometimes apple. However, being late in the season, that assortment is quite rare, with the majority of sticks being just strawberry or just banana or just pineapple. At the first few stands we didn't find the right mix, so our conversation went something like this:
"Okay, so you see that fried dough stand? Run diagonally there, then head over to the bumpercars... look to the left, I think I see some fruit at the stand right next to it. And, break!" After repeating that process several times we had to settle for two sticks, one a pineapple strawberry mix and the other a banana and strawberry mix, which we shared to get the maximum effect. By the time we walked down the Reeperbahn to get to Grosse Freiheit, which is a street with a lot of clubs, my hair was soaking wet and I literally had rain running down my face. I take the blame, because I didn't follow the cardinal rule of living in Germany: Always, always, ALWAYS bring an umbrella. But I have no complaints; the ends justify the means, right? And you're wrong if you think that we don't have plans to go back tomorrow to get more. That's called obsession, folks.


Typical German dinner: Sausage and potatoes.

Katelyn's first chocolate fruit stick ;)

Can't you see the happiness on my face?

****In my first post, second maybe, I posted a picture of myself and some friends in front of a grandma pole dancer. Well, this is her. I had to get a picture. That guy on my right? He says "Viskey." Keep reading for an explanation.

***Side note: Kate and I were talking about making an American dinner for our host families...in reality, though, we can't cook, and what is American food anyways? A hamburger? French fries? So we decided that we want to make them a selection of American desserts, like s'mores and dirt cups and brownies. SOO if anybody has any good ideas for a good American dessert to make, we would appreciate it:)

Whiskey vs. Viskey

Having been put in a jolly mood by our first chocolate fruit stick of the winter season, Kate and I headed to the 99 Cent Bar, a real German institution. As explained by the name, everything is indeed 99 cents. We did that, blah blah etc etc, then headed across the street to stand over the overhang of a casino as, hark, it was still raining. We were looking across the way at the sign advertising the 99 Cent Bar's drinks when we were confounded by a a question pertaining to German pronunciation.
As you may or may not know, Germans spell Vodka as "Wodka," since a "w" is pronounced as a "v" in the German language. However, right under "Wodka" on the sign was listed "Bourbon Whiskey." So we wondered, both extremely curious, if Germans say "Whiskey" or "Viskey." So, what do two American exchange students do in that situation? Conduct a poll, of course. Any person that walked by, be it man, woman, drunk or policeman, was asked, "Entschuldigung? Sagen Sie 'Whiskey' oder 'Viskey'?" The first guy we asked said "Whiskey," but, having been taught well by the American schooling system, knowing that one answer wouldn't hold up in a court of science, we expanded our poll. Good thing, too. In the end it came down to about 15 people that said "Viskey" and two that said "Whiskey," so we would have been very misled had we just listened to the first guy.


Kate and I outside of the Casino where we conducted the poll.



The Most Stereotypical Thing, Ever.
Okay, so we all know the typical German stereotypes: Germans are lederhosen-wearing, beer-drinking, sauerkraut and sausage-eating, blond hair, blue eyed, and humorless people. Out of all of those, I have found only two totally true: beer here is INDEED cheaper than water at times, that is a fact. Also, there is a lot of sausage eaten here. On the other hand, I have yet to see someone wearing lederhosen; there are a good amount of blond haired people here, but by no means a overwhelming majority, and my friends know how to have a good laugh.
A few weeks ago I went to celebrate my friend Jenni's birthday. She had a party at her house with a bunch of people, music, chips, etc...the usual stuff you'd find at a birthday party. Except one thing. I was looking around for the birthday cake, curious as to what a German version would be like, but only saw various types of chips and drinks. Then, I saw a covered bowl. "Ach, soo" I thought to myself. "There must be some sort of cake in there, perhaps cupcakes." So I lifted off the aluminum foil, fully expecting to see, at the least, cookies. What did I find, you ask?
Cake? No.
Cupcakes? No.
Chocolate chip cookies? No.

I uncovered a bowl full of sausages.

I kid you not.

All of the Germans were slightly confused when I burst out laughing. At that point, I wasn't even hungry, but I ate one because I just HAD to. It's the principle of it, you know?
I'm not sure if that's the norm at all parties, though. I'm one for two right now; last night I went to a friend's going away party, and there were no sausages. I'll be keeping an eye out though, from now on.

I won't be posting again for a while because tomorrow I am going to my favorite country in the world, Spain, to be with some of my favoritee people in the world :) Bis später!