I Live In A Place That…(Part Two)

As promised there is definitely a part two of the “I live in a place that…” posts. Just too much to share in one post! If you missed Part One please click here. Let’s get this party started!

I Live In A Place That…

…Snorts tobacco up their noses.
Snuff tobacco is huge here. This isn’t like chewing tobacco which is stringy. Snuff is a very fine powder, usually with a menthol smell to it. You take this stuff and snort it up your nose. You can take it in between your fingers and shove it up your nose as you sniff it up or you can put it on your hand and run your nose across your hand while snorting.
Here in Germany it’s whatever but when Toblerone takes a sniff of the stuff when we’re in the US it looks like he’s doing cocaine in public places! I’m always a little embarrassed and rush him to finish it up, lol. I mean, it’s not every day you see someone snorting something up their nose! There are actual snuff-sniffing competitions in Germany. The contest is similar to eating hot dogs but they are giving 60 seconds and a 5 gram snuff container. Whoever consumes the most and has the cleanest nose wins! Fantastic! You can see more pictures from this competition here.

…Christmas time traditions include singing with your family around a Charlie Brown tree.
Charlie brown trees are really the only ones they have. There are no full trees like we have in the US which was a GIANT punch in the throat when I had my first Christmas here. Almost shipped myself back home!

This was the shock shown round the world…

And Christmas morning. Did as best as I could decorating that thing!

I can’t speak for all German families but for Toblerone’s they gather at his Omi’s house and light the candles that are placed around the tree (charlie brown tree is good for this massive fire hazzard) and sing German Christmas songs. It’s actually really sweet and the tradition itself brings you the true spirit of the holidays: Family. I love my family’s traditions as well but they are just totally different. Let’s not forget that they only get one or two small presents from their parents. Like a bottle of whiskey and maybe some money. Leaving out the excitement of gifts, it brings you back to the simplest of times. Spirit of family and love. It’s a beautiful thing! But I’m not going to lie…I LOVE presents on Christmas morning!!

…Don’t sit around the tv in silence.
Only when you’re home with your spouse do you do this in German culture that I have seen. For example, when we go over to visit anyone we sit around a table, tv is off, and we talk for hours. Eat, drink, and be conversationalists. I actually like the most when we go to Toblerone’s parents house and we have dinner and then we move to the living room and his Dad is on wine duty. He’s always going down to the basement to get more beers or bottles of wine. The thing that is the most amazing is the actual ability to keep the conversation going. Toblerone talks to his parents every night usually just to check in and see how they are doing. So, when we go for dinner on the weekends sometimes, what is there to talk about?! How do they find so much to say? It’s like magic. But I love it.

…Wearing house shoes is a must.
Every house I’ve been in people have house shoes to wear. German houses are different in general, there are doors to every room rather than open doorways. This is to keep it warm in each room that you have the fire place on or the radiator on. Where in the US we have large rooms with no doors and the whole house is heated. Our house here has floor heating in the living room so we put that on and shut the doors and let the fire place do its thing. It stays nice and cozy warm where we are for the majority of the time. But the rest of the house can be cold or at least the floors are. German houses don’t have carpet flooring. It’s usually only tile or linoleum from all the houses I’ve been in. So, everyone wears socks and puts on their cute little house shoes. Not to mention, most homes have extra “guest slippers” for visitors. We have them too!

…Deodorant comes in a spray or roll-on form.
Ok, I’m a solid deodorant kind of gal and there is literally sometimes only one option at the stores for that. People love the spray on stuff which I HATE! I mean, where am I living?!?! People…let’s get some options going. So it’s always funny for me when I go home and buy deodorant, I stand there for hours going through all my options and all the different smells. Then here in Germany, I literally walk down the aisle, put my arm out, and grab the only option there is. It’s the same smell as all the others: Powder or whatever it is. Bleh. Not ok.
I think I may be living in a 3rd world country. (This just screams: First world problems..yikes!) And the other worst part, you’re paying an arm and a leg for half the size. Like, hello people…I have a routine. I put deodorant on twice a day. That’s two armpits, 5 strokes each, twice a day. I go through this stuff like mad. I’d say I buy a new one every two weeks whereas in the US it was maybe every month and a half to two months. Europe is expensive because they try to live like they are the size of ants.

Until next time, Readers!!! xoxoxoxo