1) Eating real bacon. 'Nuff said. Speck is by no means bacon.
2) Mexican food. Germany doesn't have so much of that, by and large. The one Mexican restaurant I found in Basel seemed like a few Francs too many to shell out for Mexican food, when I'm used to paying about five bucks.
3) Whole Foods. Seriously, Germany, you haven't even come close with any biomarkt I've seen. I love the food here, and I appreciate the great quality dairy and eggs...but what if I wanted some organic, free-trade cocoa powder? What then, Germany?!
4) Flat-rate cellular telephone plans. Yeah they exist. I'm just not eligible for one because I'm not here long enough. .09€/text, .09€/min, 9.00€/MB of data. FML. So much for bringing my unlocked Blackberry.
5) Really "free" toll-free calls. It's nice to know that Kimberly-Clark is there for me, free of charge, if I have questions about using their bathroom tissue to wipe my bottom. If I need to call Nivea Deutschland with questions about their antiperspirant, it'll cost me Eurocents a minute.
6) Gargantuan coffee beverages. I shell out about 3€ for maybe two shots of espresso. I'm looking for a good three to four shots for that price. Yeah, Starbucks is here, but I thought somehow it would be easier to replace my blood with espresso in the European continent.
7) A basic understanding that things probably should be open on holidays and weekends. No, Germans aren't lazy. Germans are just under some interesting impression that the entire state or country is observing a Catholic holiday and that no one anywhere would need to purchase groceries on such a day. I think if stores stayed open, they'd actually experience quite an influx of business on holidays. Whatever. I rest my case. Until that day, I'll have to schlepp on over to the gas station for milk and bread and eggs on the Himmelfahrt.
8) Grocery baggers. Seriously, grocery clerks have it so easy in Germany. They get to sit down, scan groceries, and do practically nothing else. You're expected to bag your own damned groceries, and bring your own damned bags. (Unless, of course, you'd like to shell out a damned .20€ for one of their store's Tüten)
9) The standard system of measurement. I know, it's a backwards system. But right now it's 20° outside and I've got 6 liters of milk in my fridge and my chorizo costs 3.50€/100-g and I haven't been this confused since I saw the movie Vanilla Sky.
10) Not having to pay to be hydrated. At restaurants, it's kinda gauche to order tap or Leitungswasser without ordering another beverage. And ordering water by itself results in a 2.50€ bottle of Gerolsteiner showing up at your table, usually with carbonation. Lucky for me, I appreciate the carbonated goodness. This is not the case with some other Americans I live with here, though. And as for those Americans who disregard the gaucheness of ordering Leitungswasser and do so anyways? Well just imagine a little four ounce glass filled with water brought to you, with no refills in its forseeable future.
"10 Things I love about living in Germany" list is forthcoming.
