Vegan Street Day & other non-vegan adventures

First a note: I wrote yesterday about green spaces and then saw this apartment building today. I passed this street many times before yesterday. I just didn't have "green" on my mind. You see what you want to see.

Today was Stuttgart's "Vegan Street Day" (VSD) and the event received a surprising amount of press. VSD used to be aimed at the vegetarian crowd. This year, they not only made the event vegan-specific, but they doubled the size, which is remarkable considering that the vegan crowd is even smaller than the vegetarian crowd. Vegetarianism is definitely catching on in Germany, but the stereotype of the Lederhose-wearing, three-times-a-day sausage-eating "true German" still remains. Whatever the case, the street day was definitely a success.

Vegan Street Day Stuttgart 2013

After touring the VSD, watching a few acrobatic acts, almost buying a cute T-shirt, and dodging countless animal rights petitioners along the way--(love ya, but I am not going to sign a petition based on a 5-minute spiel)--I visited the decidedly non-vegan cafe Zimt & Zucker ("Cinnamon & Sugar"). I've walked past this cafe several times, but almost never when it is open because, like so many cafes here, it's only open when I am at work and is rarely open when I have free time. That is, the American university/yuppie culture of studying, reading, and/or generally hanging out in cafes has definitely not caught on here. However, since today is a holiday (Pfingsten), the cafe  is open for a few irregular hours and I had a chance to visit. It turned out to be interesting, though perhaps more alluring from the outside and definitely better suited to visiting together with a friend. This is a forewarning for any of you who come visit me in Stuttgart! :-)

The knick-knack decor gives the cafe a "homey" feel.
Pittsburgh people: it also reminds me a bit of Zenith on the South Side.

How can you pass up a menu like this?!

That's all for today, dear blog readers. Now it's a rainy day in Stuttgart and I am making some non-Stuttgart travel plans. Stay tuned!

Green Spaces & Happiness

Scientific American published an article this week about how green spaces in urban areas are key to urban-dwellers' happiness and longevity. (Interestingly, the article also discusses how New York's Central Park almost never existed.) While it is commonly known that spending time in Nature often contributes to improved physical and mental health, many urban neighborhoods lack access to any sort of green space; "concrete jungles" are still the norm.

I am lucky when it comes to green spaces. I have been thinking lately about how much Stuttgart reminds me of Pittsburgh, and the integration of green into the urban landscape definitely counts as one item on the list. In Stuttgart, the green spaces are not always easy to find--you may have to consult the map first to know which streets will take you to the nearest park or to the trail you didn't know existed--but once you've tracked them down, these spaces become essential retreats from the always-on-go culture of urban living. Perhaps they even tide you over until you can get out to the countryside and breathe some fresh air. If you're living in Southern Germany, the Swabian Alps or the Black Forest are your closest options for recharging in the countryside, and either may be perfect for a long weekend or weeklong break.

Yes, this blogger here is already thinking about summer.

Being sick in a strange land.

Okay, Germany isn't that strange, but it can still seem unfamiliar at times. I've been sick for the last two days and stayed home from work today. It was just a head cold and a bit of a fever--nothing serious--just enough to make me sleep for most of the day.

As I was boiling water for tea this morning, one of my roommates asked me if I had been to the pharmacy. I hadn't, though if I had been sick for much longer, I probably would have gone. German pharmacies tend to be much more naturopathic-oriented than U.S. pharmacies. My roommate asked if I had let the pharmacist mix me a tea since that's one thing that pharmacists do here. I hadn't, and instead I looked through the teas we already had in the kitchen. More precisely, I browsed aimlessly through the teas while she instructed me on which tea was good for which ailment. I ended up mixing Salbei (sage) and Zitronenverbene (lemon verbena), both of which were loose and in full-leaf form. Had we had Lindenblüten (lime blossom??), I would have added that since it supposedly helps to fight the fever and soothes a sore throat.

This brings me to another point (generalization warning): Germans are crazy about herbal teas. I think we in the U.S. tend to lean toward black, green, and sometimes white teas, while here, people really make use of the herbs. I don't think I've ever seen sage tea in the U.S., for example, and the idea of creating a tea from sage never even crossed my mind before today. Other popular teas include: hibiscus, fennel, lemon balm, thyme, and stinging nettle (yes, the plant really does sting). Teas you would commonly find in the U.S. are easy to find here, too. However, when it comes to pure herbal teas, directly from the leaf, Germany could probably teach the U.S. a thing or two.

Reflection at 4 1/2 months

I have been in Germany for 4 1/2 months now, have been working at my post-doc for 3 1/2 of those months, and have lived in this new apartment for 1 1/2 months. Below are a few of the topics I most commonly think about when describing my experience thus far.

1. The Post-Doc: The first three months were extreme. On the one hand, it was (and still is) exciting to learn about so many new projects and to work with so many people who are fully engaged in their work. On the other hand, the first three months of the post-doc exposed every single one of my weaknesses regarding office work and consulting culture and barely left any space for me to demonstrate my technical and academic strengths. It was a relief when I recently had a few days to concentrate my efforts on finishing writing a scientific paper, as opposed to troubleshooting a time-budget-constrained consulting project. I definitely enjoy the academic-consulting blend for which my research group is known--it's one of the aspects that drew me to the department in the first place--I just wasn't expecting the learning curve to be so steep. Luckily, every day is an opportunity to improve. Soon my research group will also be working on an academic paper and I look forward to taking the lead on that.

2. Language Skills: My German is definitely improving, if only at a snail's pace. Some days are better than others, and this is especially true for my accent. My grammar is decent--not perfect, but decent--what needs most improvement is my vocabulary. At some point, I lost the habit of reading the newspaper on a daily basis; I need to pick that back up. Reading the paper is good for so many things: language, politics, current events, cultural references that come up in conversation. I also listen to more English-language podcasts than I should. (I listen to podcasts while working on monotonous computer tasks.) The problem is that I haven't found many German podcasts to replace (or complement) my English-language favorites, such as "This American Life", "Science Friday", or "Radio Lab". I'm sure there are some good ones out there; I just need to search a bit more.

3. Food: I love German bakeries and the seemingly endless varieties of hearty German bread. Germans pop into the bakery in the morning for Brötchen in the same way U.S. Americans pop into Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks. Someone at work joked this past week that, in addition to bread, German cuisine consists of three staples: noodles, meat, and potatoes. As far as stereotypes go, this isn't too far from the truth. The staples are just dressed up in different ways. That said, Stuttgart also has a wide variety of ethnic restaurants, especially Turkish, a few major organic grocery stores, and smaller import stores, such as Indian, "Asian", and "African." One of the first weeks I was in Germany, my friend Lilli took me to get real German/Schwäbisch Spätzle in an old town next to Stuttgart. That was by far one of the best "traditional" meals I have had yet.

4. WG-Life: "WG" stands for "Wohngemeinschaft" and refers to shared living spaces. Currently I am sharing a three-bedroom apartment with two other people. While in the perfect world, I would really prefer to have my own quiet apartment, there are many advantages to the WG-life. Perhaps first and foremost, I would never be able to afford an apartment as nice and cozy as this one in this popular and trendy section of town. Second, my roommates really are great. We share nearly everything, we buy food for the apartment (as opposed to each person buying for themselves), we cook together when our schedules allow, and we even manage to clean without much hassle. While there are certainly days when I just want to be alone, other perks, such as last night's impromptu game night can only happen in a WG.

So those are four of the biggest expat topics from my perspective, however I'm sure there are many more. Leave me a comment if you'd like to read about something else!

Germany in the Springtime