Guest Post: Rosie @ Craftbotic

Have you met Rosie yet? If not you're in for a treat today! Rosie is one of my newest bloggy friends and I think you'll like her as much as I do! She's one crafty little lady and she co-hosts a blogger book club. If you haven't met her yet you should definitely go say hello. And while you're there you can read my guest post since we're blog swapping today! 

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Hello everyone! We're changing things up a bit today with a bit of blog swapping. If you are looking for Sue, she is posting on my blog Craftbotic - so if you want to read about her life in Japan in the usual witty and funny Sue-like way, you will need to pop over!

For this post, you're stuck with me: Rosie - the person behind the blog. So who am I? Well, I live in England, teach English, like tea, reading and....hmmmm apparently I am a bit of a stereotype.  I also love music, craft, creativity, writing, random adventures and travel...which is where this post comes in.  I spend a lot of time in Germany (I have a wonderful boyfriend who lives there - yup that's a longer story.) Anyhoo, as I don't speak German (he speaks English) and he quite often has to work when I go and visit, I have been slowly adjusting to life as the Germans live it.

Now, I could regale you with lots of German stereotypes, or make crude innuendos about their love of sausage, but where would be the fun in that? So instead, I thought I would share some of the things I have come to love about Germany and some of the 'quirks' I wasn't quite expecting! For the sake of symmetry and your time, I shall do this in two lists of three.

Reasons why Germany rocks:

1. They have the best sausage, I mean cakes. Look at the beauty of this specimen above, made at home by my boyfriend's mum.  She is a legendary baker and I have some pretty impressive shoes to fill if I am ever going to be able to make one of these on my own. And yes, it IS his favourite cake.  I helped her put the sprinkles on top; we had a lovely time....even when my lack of hand eye co-ordination meant I threw a handful on her floor.  Oops!

2. You can drink beer at 11am and it's relatively normal. Here I was casually sitting planning some lessons in the summer, overlooking a gorgeous cathedral in Trier, when I noticed I was the only cafe patron NOT supping a beer.  I wondered why the waiter looked amused as I ordered my 3rd cappuccino of the day.  Apparently, I was the odd one out, so I caved and had one beer. I then went home and had a nap because I don't drink very much and I felt a bit 'sleepy'. I have also found that they like drinking beer with cola. Me, not so much.

3. They have some really awesome traditions that we don't in England.  I'm not a big fan of holding Christmas day on Christmas Eve, but I REALLY liked going to the local village Easter fire. Sceptics may say that this was just another excuse to drink excessively and eat meat, but the idea of holding a fire  to celebrate the start of spring (symbolised by the burning of a Christmas tree) while having a drink and eating some meat is really lovely, particularly because the whole community comes out.  I met a lot of my boyfriend's school friends and had some very broken English/German conversation with them. 

It's all a bit 'Deutsche' for me (and therefore I didn't take pictures of it!):

1. The German language is wonderful - to those who speak it. I don't..and until last summer couldn't order a coffee without help.  I had never realised how shy I was without the ability to speak English. I am a bit of a chatterbox; English speaking is not just a way of life for me - it's one of my strong points. Without it, I don't really know who I am.  I can't wait to learn German as I miss communicating so much when away. I wonder how many years it will be before I feel truly comfortable?

2. Raw meat sandwiches. YUCK! According to the boy, the eating of minced meat and raw onions in a bread roll only usually happens after quite a lot of drinking*, I still can't imagine putting it in my mouth.  I was shocked to see the delicacy offered as part of the evening buffet at a wedding and by the number of men AND women who ate it.  Ewww. 

* apparently it's an acceptable breakfast snack or a 'birthday' treat too.

3. I have never seen so many orthopedic shoes!  Sensible footwear is everywhere and a major selling point appears to be comfort over style resulting in many shoes being very pretty (and expensive) but painful to wear OR seriously granny-like (and still expensive) and I would assume comfortable.  I'm not a heel-wearing kinda gal...but the idea of spending 80 euros on a pair of pretty pumps, is not happening. In my whole time there, I have found TWO shoe shops cheap enough to shop in and fashionable.  Luckily, one of these is in my boyfriend's city. 

So..there we have it! A little glimpse into my experiences in Germany. You can find these more regularly on my blog, Craftbotic: as well as lots of other projects you can join in with, from a book club to craft projects.  Come and say hi!  And if you haven't already been to see Sue's post...what are you waiting for? Go! Now! Go on!

Lots of love, hugs and high fives...

Rosie xx