Carving Some Fresh Powder

With all the effort around moving last year, we missed the ski season in the Alps.  So this season, I made it a top priority to hit the slopes as soon as possible. 

The Friday before Christmas break I took a day off and went snowboarding with a colleague.  We set off for a small resort just on the edge of Austria called Seefeld.  There we were - while many others labored away at the office the day before Christmas break - amongst the fresh alpine air home to some of the world’s greatest winter athletes.  This was really the perfect skiing condition- fresh snow and empty slopes.  In fact it was so empty that I would expect the resort probably lost money this day.  I started the day slow, adjusting to the new board, and I was feeling like a real professional out there- perhaps because nobody was around to see my falls.  Eventually my ego got the best of me though, because after a few hours I began attempting jumps (if you can call it that) and maneuvers that were outside my ability and taking some pretty rough falls.  In the end, a half day was enough, considering there were no lines for the lift.

 Having conquered one alpine mountain, I was anxious to take Julie out to the slopes so she could test out some skiing herself.  The other weekend we were invited by one of Julie’s colleagues to join him on a trip to Garmisch (home of the 1936 winter Olympics).  We purchased the Garmisch Ski Express ticket, which includes a round trip train ride plus an all-day ski lift ticket for just 42 EUR- a very reasonable deal I might say.   

We set off early Sunday morning and 2 hours later we were at the base lift and rental shop.  Eager to hit the slopes we rushed renting my board and Julie’s skis, and after boarding the first gondola Julie realized she left her poles back in the lobby.  I guess it goes without saying she is still VERY NEW to skiing.  But no worries, us guys took a quick run back down the mountain to get warmed up and retrieve the poles, and we were all reunited in no time. 

After wearing Julie out on the baby slopes, I spent the rest of the day trying to keep up with Zsolt on the rest of the mountain (who grew up in Canada and is a very good snowboarder).  At one point we ended up on the steepest part of the mountain, which in my opinion deserves a color beyond black, where I managed to slowly slide/roll/tumble my way down to the bottom (while Zsolt rode down pretty much flawlessly).   Later I learned this trail is known as “Kandahar” which is the downhill speed course used for the Olympics in 1936 and other world cup competitions.  At least the views were beautiful up here, and thanks to Zsolt’s new Intel phone, we have some pictures.

One of the surprises of Garmisch was the vast number of English speakers we heard.  It really felt like we were at a ski resort in Colorado and there happened to be just a few German tourists….a very strange feeling.  In fact during our lunch break, I think we heard more English than German!

After some lunch on the mountain and a long break to recover from my Olympic tumble, I joined Julie on some smaller slopes which were serviced by T-bar lifts.  These are the lifts (less common in America) where a T-bar suspended from a running cable drags you up the mountain while the skis/snowboard remains in contact with the ground.  I think this kind of lift is unpleasant for all, but especially worse for snowboarders who must straddle it between the legs and ride up with one foot unclipped from the bindings.  As I was riding it for the first time I encountered a very steep hill when the lift was stopped, which left my straddling this T-bar, dangling from one leg as my back leg was unclipped from the binding, for what felt like 30 minutes at on a 45 degree uphill slope.  Needless to say, I’m not the biggest fan of T-bar lifts after this.

As we were leaving we stopped in a lodge near the base to kill some time before our return train.  We were shocked to see all these random American brands/products and one section was stocked just like a Walgreens or CVS from the States.  Ecstatic that I found David Sunflower Seeds, I rushed in line to purchase them, noticing that the prices were even marked in $USD!   And that is when the cashier politely explained that this was an American military operation, and only those with valid military I.D. could make purchases (or enter the building, but somehow we escaped that notice). It finally made sense why we heard so many Americans on the slopes: we were in the vicinity of a large US military service.  Sadly, I was not able to purchase my sunflower seeds, but I’m just glad the troops aren’t deprived of them (thanks for your service!).

That was our first (hopefully not last) time skiing in Germany!  We both paid the price the next day, and Julie’s grapefruit size bruise on her leg gave us weeks to remember just how much fun we had.

Fact: Dr. Pepper tastes better in America

You might think I am crazy, but Dr. Pepper from the States tastes different than Dr. Pepper here (bottled in the UK I think).  How much different?  Enough where I found I don’t like the Dr. Pepper I found here.  And since American Dr. Pepper is my favorite soft drink, I found myself adding one more thing to the list of American products I cannot find here, or if I do find here, are different.

Here are my top food products that you people in American should not take for granted.  And I know these are all packaged goods, and I could try to make things myself, but where is the fun in that when a company already makes them good enough?

• Yummy flour tortillas: Ok, this is aimed mostly at Texas, where a good flour tortilla makes the foundation for good TexMex food.  Here – you can only find the stiff Old El Paso brand. 
• Snack Pack Pudding:  For me, I miss the basic chocolate one.  Pudding here is more mousse-like.
• Good ole butter popcorn:  Germans prefer ‘sweet’ popcorn.  Not like kettle corn (I wish), but lightly sweetened.  You can find “American butter” salty popcorn in some American sections of larger grocery stores, but this is Jolly Time popcorn, who uses the word “butter” very loosely.  You know that brand, right?  No?  Take my word for it, you don’t want to – disgusting!  At least when I go to the English movie theater, they have it done right.
• Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup – again, you can find a weird off-brand version in some American sections of grocery stores, but again, disgusting.  Lucky for me I have should enough to last me while I am here thanks to a coworker visiting Germany.
• Blueberry muffin mix: Specifically - Betty Crocker Wild Blueberry Muffin mix.  Muffins and cakes here are a bit different – they tend to be rather dense.  American cakes tend to be fluffy and, say what you will, what I prefer. 
• Cornbread mix – Anything branded “American” – like pizza, soup, etc – probably has canned corn in it.  Because us Americans LOVE OUR CORN, right?  Whatever – I do love cornbread, and they don’t sell mixes here.  And I am not sharing my stash of Jiffy Cornbread mix.  Sorry.
• Varieties of Cake mixes and frostings: If you want American cake mix here – you will find 2 flavors: Chocolate and Carrot.  Frosting?  Chocolate and Vanilla.  Where is my Cream Cheese Frosting??  Spice Cake?  Red Velvet?  Life is hard.

To combat having to “rough it” over here, we often ask our visitors to kindly bring us items we are missing.  For instance, here is the food stash my parents brought over last year (not pictured – the other non-edible products they brought too):

So what is typically in the American section of German grocery stores (those that have one) that I haven’t already mentioned??

• Carter’s American flag root beer
• Marshmallow Fluff
• Rocky Mountain American Marshmallows
• Strawberry Frosted Poptarts (a brand I actually know!)
• Barbecue Sauce
• Cheese-Whiz style cheese
• Bisquick Mix (another real brand!)
• Some strange brand of Mac & Cheese
• Hot chocolate packets
• Griffin’s pancake syrup
• Crisco shortening

Isn’t that great that those foods sum up American cuisine?  I know I always cooked every meal with each of those items, just like Germans only eat sausage and pretzels, washed down by beer.

One thing missing from my list of products I can’t find?  Oh yeah – American Dr. Pepper. Why is that??  BECAUSE I RECENTLY FOUND SOME!!! Yes – imported Dr. Pepper cans!  I have recently found two grocery stores that have this.  I have bought their stock up a few times, and Noah finds this all rather amusing.  At one point, I looked up from trying to fit as many cans in my arms as possible, to see him snapping my photo. Whatever – at least I can now scratch something off of my list!   

525,600 minutes later…

We started our journey in Munich exactly one year ago – landing January 5^th, 2012 at 12:30 pm.  There were a few uncertain moments in the beginning, and we both had our “that’s it, I’m moving back to the USA” kind of moments (we still do sometimes – just not as often).  Though after settling in, the last year has been the most fun and transformative year of our lives.  There are absolutely no regrets, except for the decision to study Spanish instead of German in high school.

For those that do (or don’t) follow our blog regularly, here is a recap of the best and worst from Weiss aus Deutschland 2012.

Top 1^st year moments in no particular order:

1. First night in our completely empty apartment except for 6 suit cases, some hand me downs from Ellen, and a dorm sized kitchen….an unexplainably weird and amazing feeling.
2. Seeing a male stripper at a public restaurant on (or for?) my birthday and Julie ‘accidently’ taking me to a strip club after my first day at work (check the previous blogs).
3. Watching, partying with, and later practicing with the Munich Caribes baseball team.
4. Cramming in with 40,000 fans to watch the greatest sporting match I have ever seen in the FC Bayern vs. Chelsea Champions League final in Munich.
5. BBQing on the Isar River, if you ignore the multitude of naked old men.
6. Traveling all of Europe.
7. Living the Bavarian way- in the mountains, in the beer garden, or attending some festival in the city.
8. Our 13 visitors from home…thank you for all the trips to Marienplatz!
9. Our ‘Pangea’ international party – 18 countries represented!

Bottom 1^st year moments in no particular order:

1. Julie’s face plant and trip to the ER for stitches.
2. Counting down the days before we can move back to the US….after our 3^rd day here (Noah).
3. Getting locked out of the apartment, spending 200 EUR, even though we had our keys!
4. Getting speeding ticket my first time driving through the city of Munich.
5. Eating a sandwich out of partially raw bread, not realizing what ‘Fertigbacken’ means – ready to bake (also Noah).
6. Train delays/misses.  Especially the 3-hour delay after my train was hit by lightning.
7. Continuing with public transport – trying to figure out where a bus/tram stop is, only to learn by watching it leave you standing in the wrong spot.
8. Wearing canvas shoes (aka sponges) through snow that one (or ten) time(s).
9. Outfitting an entire apartment, from the light fixtures to the curtains to the furniture to the kitchen.  Though not as bad as it could have been without all the help from Aunt Ellen!

Hopefully 2013 comes with more ‘Top’ moments than ‘Bottom’ – but either way, we wouldn’t change anything in 2012.  Well, maybe one: eating that raw bread.