Frühling liegt in der Luft

SPRING IS IN THE AIR!

The best thing about making the decision to come to Germany rather than stay in the U.S. this past year was AVOIDING THE DAMNED POLAR VORTEX. Like seriously, did that Snow Queen from Frozen get pissed off at 3/4ths of the U.S.? Even Birmingham, Alabama (which by the way only gets inches of snow ONCE every 5-10 years) was COVERED in sheets of ice for like a WEEK. People were scrambling throughout the city TRAPPED in their cars on the interstate, forced to spend the night in stores, malls, etc. There were even several kids and teachers trapped at school.

And for those of you who were continously saying "that's what you call snow? that's nothing." No one is talking to you, so be quiet. If you're used to waist deep snow and Artic Circle weather on a regular basis, then no doubt what the Southern region of the U.S. went through was nothing, but we don't have salt/sand trucks, snow plows, etc. We hardly EVER get real snow. Just snow of the nonsticking variety, light ice, or flurries.

Bottom Line: The South just isn't prepared for snow. 

As the first day of Spring slowly approached (this was back in late March) I took it upon myself to get out of little ol' Reutlingen and venture to Stuttgart.

It was a Saturday which is the best and worst day of the week in ALL of Germany. Let me explain. Generally, stores and shops in Deutschland close around 8:00pm on the dot (with the exception of a few grocery stores that stay open until maybe 10pm or midnight). To make matters worse: NOTHING is open on Sundays except for gas stations and certain restaurants.With that being said, if you're like me and work ridiculously long hours and still need time for the gym it's hard to work shopping into your schedule (or maybe I'm just a bad scheduler).

Nonetheless, on Saturdays my day is filled with running errands around the city, shopping, markets, flohmarkts and still have time to enjoy your saturday. Things closing by 8pm can such a nuisance when you're coming from a everything-open-24/7 kind of lifestyle.

The local fresh market in Stuttgart, contains the freshest grown produce (both Bio- and Organic).  

I once thought these were a myth, Weiß Spargel (White Asparagus). I'm told that they taste just like regular green asparagus, but at 3 small baby bundles for 10€.... I'll never find out.

A view right outside the Stuttgart Neues Schloß. 

Front view of the Schloß (castle)

On my way to the Flohmarkt (Flea market)!

A day of shopping and soaking up the sun (I'm about 3 shades darker now), I headed back to Reutlingen, utilized what remains of my gym membership and relaxed with some good movies.



I get asked a lot "what are they feeding you over there?" So to answer that I did what Americans do and took a gracious photo of my food before actually praying or eating it. Below is what a typical lunch for me is like at my Praktikum with Bosch. It's crazy how much Germans eat just for LUNCH. This would be considered a soul food sunday dinner back home.

Kassler (salted/cured pork), Kartoffel Püree mit sahne, Sauerkraut, und whatever the word for "french style green beans" are in German. 

At this point in time it was early April. Just a few sweet days before my 23rd birthday (April 7th). Another friend and participant in the program, Chelsea, had her birthday on the 6th, so we decided to bring some friends together  from München and have a little BBQ near the beach. Chelsea lives in Ulm which is right on the edge of Bayern so after work on that Friday, I took a quick train to her small little village right outside of Ulm called Jettingen, got settled, and planned out our weekend. This of course involved a trip back to Tegernsee!

such a cloudy day and just a bit chilly in Tegernsee

the goods: buttcracks and loads of snacks

Laura (on left) wondering why is the Jim Bean almost halfway gone?

A German Coworker of Chelsea's(left) and Ryan(right) with his goofy (and by goofy I mean normal) face.

on the beach.
FYI: that super small silver pan near the blue beer crate is our "grill"

my fellow Aries buddy and birthday girl Chelsea, she's been growing that mustache for years.

"ECHT!!!??" KC's reaction after realzing Chelsea's mustache was in fact fake :/

good vibrations

Andechs Bier brought by Ryan, his praktikum/internship is in a Brauerei (brewery) in München so he gets free beer which lead to a series of drunken events.

Me:"I think these Biers are starting to kick in.... I feel very warm"

#Selfie ft. lips

#Selfie ft. seductive looks

#Selfie ft. Veronica's beautiful smile

We only spent the day there, but it was incredible. I'm actually surprised at how fast the day went. Once we got back to Chelsea's,  we danced and talked and laughed and ateeee and watched various episodes of Parks & Rec.

In Germany  (for whatever reason) it is custom to invite others to your birthday party to celebrate it with you, rather than having one thrown for you. I believe it is seen as a more intimate occasion.

Still a bit confused? I'll break it down like this. The person who's birthday it is, is required to do all the cooking, baking, and preparation. That means bringing or preparing cakes, cookies, drinks, and everything else for your guests. Prior to leaving for Tegernsee, I sent out an invitation email to everyone in the office so they could celebrate my birthday in the office with me on that Monday. I decided to bring a cake and cookies and other things that Germans could possibly enjoy.

A commonly made baked dish is a Käsekuchen or cheesecake. It's a lot different from the traditonal American cheesecake where there is loads of cream cheese and sourcream. In fact I don't think that a käsekuchen has any cheese in it at all and it does not even have to be kept cold. As you can see below.

an example of a traditional German käsekuchen

Nevertheless, I decided to make what I know as a cheesecake: with Philadelphia cream cheese, sour cream, and a graham cracker crust.

my very first attempt at making a cheesecake from scratch!

I also made Nutella cookies and brought in drinks and such. It turned out pretty well. I could tell my coworkers were not accustomed to an American style "Käsekuchen". One of the comments I received was that the cake tasted "very rich". No one got sick so I guess I made it through the clear. Since my birthday was on a Monday and I have done so much already I figured that I should just work rather than taking the day off. these projects are going to finish themselves!


Another fun fact that I recently learned is that in the Spring, when it is time for the clocks to spring forward, in Germany, it occurs about 2-3 weeks AFTER it has already occurred in the U.S. Weird huh?

As of right now, the weather is even warmer than before so there's been more cyclers, runners, and super old people with their walking sticks out and about enjoying the sun and I don't blame them.

Spring is in the air. Flowers are blooming. Bees are buzzing. So you should be reading this post outside instead of indoors!

Bis nächstes mal!