Today was just supposed to be a day to study and spend time at home. It was so much more.
I woke up at 10am. I know in prior blogs I have said that I was exhausted by 8 and in bed by 9:30 but if you know me, you know that in bed is a relative phrase. In bed usually means reading, talking, or just thinking and then thinking and then thinking. I don’t really sleep all that much. It has been much worse this past week. it”s gotten so bad that I asked Frau Merchant what she would recommend to help me sleep.
I need to divert here to add another oddity of Germany. When you think of going to a drug store, I bet that Walgreens, Osco, or even the Pharmacy department at Walmart pops into your head. Think again. In Germany a drug store is where you go to buy shampoo, cosmetics, some snacks, cleaning supplies, and maybe socks and scarves. An Apoteke is where you go if you need any kind of medication. When I say any kind, I mean ANY kind. If you need nyquil, sudafed, ibuprofen, advil, pepto bismol, malox, allergy meds of any kind, sleep aids, any type of medication, you have to have a prescription. (Frau Merchant says I would need a prescription for Abreva if I developed a cold sore.) the remedy for this is herbal medication.
In the US, we kind of laugh at herbal remedies. Doctor’s often warn against them. They are looked on as a kind of hippy voodoo witchcraft thing. What people don”t realize is that every medication they get from a doctor or from the pharmacy has it’s basis in herbal medication. Seriously, Aspirin (the oldest medication on earth) is made from willow tree bark. Another selling point here is that because of how controlled chemical medication is, the herbal remedies that are available over the counter are highly highly researched. They are all passed through a process much like our FDA and for the most part, they are incredible.
So back to my very big sleep problem. I hadn’t been getting to sleep until after midnight, I was waking up at least three times a night, and I had to be up at 7. I was freaking exhausted. So I asked Frau Merchant what she recommended and she told me to not drink caffeine after three ( I am a die hard coffee drinker) and to set a bed time..like I will be in bed by midnight. These seem obvious, but they really aren’t when you are delusional with lack of sleep She also told me to buy chamomile tea and drink one or two cups about an hour before bed. So when I went grocery shopping with Jutta, we picked up some tea. I have an intense prejudice against chamomile tea, so drinking it is difficult. 
I also purchased Baldrian & Hopfen herbal sleeping pills. Last night I took them and I finally slept all the way through the night without waking up. YAY!
So I woke up at 10 with every intention of gathering my stuff and going to the little 
restaurant down the block and studying over cappuccino and then having lunch and coming home to cook dinner for the family. Fail! I took my time and drank coffee, brushed my teeth and hair, played with the cat, and then gathered my things and headed out the door. That is when the fun stuff started.
I was just chilling taking my time and wandering through stores on my way to the café when I got this sudden idea that I was going to buy a coat. They have these really nice coats here made of wool and tailored to fit so it looks like you have a shape instead of being a puff ball. SO I was looking through stores for one of these coats. Well, I come bopping out of one of these shops and trip on a broken cobblestone it hurt pretty bad, almost as bad as stubbing my toe. I looked down because when in pain I tend to look for the reason for the pain and I see that the sole is partially torn off my shoe. (cheap wal-mart shoes…that I love) So, I have to buy new shoes.
Most women would find this idea awesome. I have sold shoes, very expensive shoes, 
and I know how expensive European shoes are so I wasn’t excited; however, when I started looking I got more excited. I had resigned myself to spend a chunk of money, so I decided to find a pair I really loved and that looked very European because they definitely have a look to them. I ended up finding an entire brand that I think is AWESOME! After trying on several pairs to figure out what size I wear (a 39 in some and a 40 in others of the same brand…lol) I found a pair I think are great! $100 American later, I am walking out of the store in my new shoes.
After getting my shoes I happened to catch a glimpse of myself in a shop window and I looked terrible. I have been trying to grow out my hair and it was really fluffy curly in the back and straight and flipped out in the front and I looked homeless so I decided to get a hair cut. There is a place right near the house that is very funky and punked out so I went there. Turns out a haircut is only 12 Euro. That’s not bad at all.
I felt like a lottery winner when I came out of there with a haircut I liked and I am sure the stylists (that’s right, 2) felt the same way. They spoke NO English and I speak very little Deutsch. It was a lot of laughter and miming to even get going. While I was getting my hair washed (which, as silly as it sounds, is like a massage for the head when it’s done here) the girl who actually cut my hair was getting her station (half of an industrial barrel painted electric blue) ready.
I got out of the washing station (ten minutes later) and sat in the chair with a yellow cloth around my neck and we began the process of deciding what to do with my hair. This was awesome. The girl who washed my hair started miming for the length I wanted it. So I lifted a strand of hair and showed her. Then I pointed to the weird curls in the back and told her nicht (neesht means none) curls. So we had a starting point and the hair cut was begun. We were well underway when the dreaded question approached. The question I have trouble explaining to American hairdressers, that I have a cowlick in my bangs and if they cut it too short, it will stand straight up. After about ten minutes of miming, and about thirty minutes into the hair cut process, hair washing girl went to the computer and pulled up a German to English translator and had me explain it on there. It was a brilliant moment and after that, smooth sailing.
I love my haircut, I feel much more like myself. I even came home and plucked my eyebrows and now I feel more human. By the time we were done with the entire process almost an hour had passed and we all three were near tears from laughing so hard. I left a 3 Euro tip and headed home because it was almost time to cook dinner.
When I got home, everyone was just getting home from work and they all were very complimentary about my haircut. Jutta told me it was very lovely.
I took a shower because I was fluffing little hairs everywhere and then Klaus and I began the lengthy process of making yeast dough, which he had never done from scratch and I had never done in metrics. We both had good laughs several times baking together in the kitchen. He was making Rica, their granddaughter, her birthday cake. Her second birthday is tomorrow.
I cut up the cabbage, browned the ground pork, sliced onion and simmered it until it was soft while the bread was rising (it took an hour.) After the hour was up, I rolled out the dough cut it into squares, filled the squares with the mixture and wrapped them into balls. Then we waited another 20 minutes to rise again and baked them. They turned out perfect. I had been so worried I would mess them up because I was nervous about cooking for the family and when they came out beautiful I was thrilled.
When we all sat down to eat, Kay looked doubtful, but once we began
with everyone having served themselves one, it was quickly realized that cabbage burgers are very tasty (lecker) and seconds were had by everyone. We even had two left over. It was a success and I was very glad I had gotten to do something for the family. It was a good evening.
After we all ate, I retired to my room (I have always wanted to say that) and watched Findet Nemo. It was still a very good story, but the German woman who did Dori’s voice was good, but not Ellen. I will probably watch it again tomorrow. Jutta was so sweet to find it for me to watch. I think it might be good for me to listen to things I am familiar with in Deutsch. It may help my learning to speak it with more confidence.
Between my shoe randomly getting broken, laughing my butt of with the hairdressers, giggling with Klaus over baking, and the success of my recipe turning out beautifully, this was a great day. I am starting to feel at home here and it is helping a lot. I even successfully managed ordering my lunch in Deutsch, requesting a to go bag, and wishing the waiter a good day. I look forward to more days like this.
PS: I never did study beyond some minor research for a paper, between baking phases.
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