We are home. So much to share...highlights: Dulles sucks in comparison to Munich's airport. American mentality isn't alway inferior to European thinking, but we really are a bunch of me-first resource-gorging wasteful beasts. My piglet smells so good (except for the one time we smelled his poopy diaper--that made me heave.) I already miss piglet's sounds--the cooing, the drinking milk, his cries, everything. We pick up our kids today! Grandpa visited my kids at the pet resort on Sunday. Angel and Davis both sought love and attention from him and my dad was smitten. Cara bit one of the resort workers. We had gluwein every day we were in Munich. The Christmas market at Marienplatz freakin rocks. I bought yarn from three stores. Not "a lot", but enough that I spent "a lot", especially with the crappy exchange rates. The department and grocery stores are so clean, orderly, and tidy. It makes you want to shop. Maybe Macy's should take some notes and improve their dumpy rat nests for stores.
There were several things that make me appreciate being an American. Like having a clothes dryer and dishwasher. Having waitstaff at restaurants work for tips (German norm is 1 Euro regardless of bill amount). People aren't as friendly or courteous in Germany. Smoking is allowed in eateries, cafes and restaurants.
Holding a US passport afforded much less scrutiny than all those from ghetto countries. German customs and security was much more thorough than the US. Does our TSA and Customs even have a pulse? CBP had numerous signs saying they were the face of the US and pledge to sincerely welcome all to our country. Yeah. I said hello to our customs guy and he didn't even look up. Our entire transaction did not yield a single word or sound from him. Welcome to America, land of the apathetic, lazy, and indifferent.
I can't wait to see my kids today. Today is family bonding day. We will stay home all day and just be together. Purrrrrrr
2 comments:
Welcome back. :)
I wrote a heartfelt response to this blog weeks ago, but just realized that I clicked on the wrong damn button and it was never saved. Dammit.
Yeah, the shops here are more clean and organized, but does it really make you want to shop? You mean you didn't see the bad attitudes, ugly faces and stares that basically said "What the hell are you doing? Are you gonna buy something or not? Give me your damn money and get out of here, you are wasting my precious time of doing nothing." I went to a shore store at 7:50pm one evening just to browse. This woman walks up to me and asks if I need anything, and if not, then keep in mind that the store is closing in precisely 10 minutes!
You think US Customs is bad? You mean you didn't get stares while going through German Passport Control? Stares that are like "Oh, you have a US Passport... how is that? You look Asian, so shouldn't you come from China? There are Chinese people in the US? Let me just flip through your passport a couple of times just to make sure that it's real and my eyes are not fooling me."
Did you know that in Germany the cops can just walk up to you and ask to see your Passport and Visa to see if you are an illegal? So just because you don't look white on the outside, they are entitled to single you out, pester you in open public and give you a hard time even though you are not an illegal alien. If I get pulled over speeding, then they certainly have the right to do a complete background check, but just to randomly walk up to me and ask for my papers because I don't look German, how is that not racism?
I miss the good ol' US of A, the land of equal opportunities and the free (even if it is sometimes only lip serivce... hey, lip service is better than blatant racism anyday).
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