We heard today on CNBC that Walmart is pulling out of Germany. Apparently it can't compete with Aldi on groceries and has lost about a billion dollars there. Yikes. There was no Walmart in our region of Germany, so I never went. Actually, we passed one once and were excited, but then we realized it was Sunday and thus it was closed. I should've taken a picture; have you ever seen a closed Walmart?

I also got a kick out of this description of why Walmart didn't work in Germany:

To American eyes, the new ethics manual is standard stuff. But when Wal-Mart Stores Inc. distributed the newly translated code to German employees a few weeks ago, it caused a furor. They read a caution against supervisor-employee relationships as a puritanical ban on interoffice romance, while a call to report improper behavior was taken as an invitation to rat on co-workers.
...
Rivals continue to chuckle about the customer reaction when, initially, Wal-Mart offered services such as grocery bagging. It turned out that Germans didn't want strangers handling their groceries. And when clerks followed orders to smile at shoppers, male customers took it as a come-on.

I still can't put Walmart and Germany in the same sentence without remembering that German haircutter who complained to my husband that she couldn't walk around in an American Walmart in just a bra. Hilarious. Some stuff just doesn't cross cultural lines; I guess Walmart and Germany simply weren't made to mix...

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We watched the World Cup game. France played better and deserved to win, but soccer is a game where nothing happens for 60 minutes and then a penalty kick means you're the best in the world, so whatever. But what on earth was Zidane thinking? What a bonehead...

Oh yeah, and I opened the "toys" box: it was scarves and hats and one lone coat hanger. Fun for the whole family!

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We've been having a blast trying to decipher the English on the outside of our boxes. I just found my cutting boards in a box marked "wooden plates," and last night we giggled to find that all our DVDs and CDs were marked "cassette taps"; we've decided that we're calling movies "taps" from now on. And I know I saw a box in our old house that was marked "toys," but I've yet to find it here in this house. I'm dying to know what we own that the Germans consider "toys"!

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As we get ready to move back to the US, I have started thinking about our European experience. Lots of people who live here put up photos of the places they've traveled. I started thinking about our collection of travel photos. My husband and I don't travel much, and when we do, we're always alone. We've gotten pretty good at taking our own photo. In fact, when we were in Prague, someone offered to take our photo and we turned him down! We've got quite a running gag going of us in front of foreign stuff. And so I present to you our travel photos.

First of all, us in front of our house, right when we moved here

Then Salzburg

Frankfurt

Heidelberg

Garmisch for R&R

our cruise

Mulhouse for the Tour de France

and finally Prague

I think it's hilarious that all of our photos end up looking about the same. I love that. I can't wait to add similar photos of us in front of places like Mt. Rushmore, the Redwood forest, and Busch Stadium.

Posted by: Sarah at 03:28 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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1 Awww. You are so stinkin' pretty (and photogenic)!

Posted by: Erin at April 11, 2006 05:02 AM (7oVGv)

2 Those are great! Thanks for sharing.

Posted by: Kathleen A at April 11, 2006 06:55 AM (7qm8p)

3 Those are great! You two are adorable I can't wait to see the American versions.

Posted by: lizzie at April 11, 2006 08:10 AM (wxF45)

4 Mt. Rushmore???REALLY!!It's a 3rd of July fireworks display, to the tune of $1,000,000...if I ever go there, again, it will be for 3july...but going in the winter is cool, and usually the people are fewer...those ''great faces'' are about 7 hours, from me!spearfish canyon is awesome, when fall hits, and the leaves are changing colors, too...and custer state park, in the spring, with the wildlife and newborn babies..buffalo, deer elk.....''great faces, great places''...south dakota!i'm also 25 minutes away from the world's largest bird feeder..oops, i mean the world's only corn palace, in mitchell..so, don't be running around this state w/o a guide!!there's also some good fishing & those damned pheasents!...debey ps..glad to see erin's ''talking''!

Posted by: debey at April 11, 2006 08:33 AM (vAEec)

5 Such cute photos! They have a South Park feel to them....'Explanation=same pose, but the backgroud keeps changing.' I love it! It would be great if we could photoshop one and add Cartman.

Posted by: Vonn at April 11, 2006 10:10 AM (dEgRi)

6 Have you guys ever thought about asking somebody else to take your picture for you?

Posted by: Will at April 11, 2006 07:16 PM (eIQfa)

7 My boyfriend and I do this all the time, too! I mean we have loads of photos of us taken by someone else, but I have such a fondness for these photos, because they have such a fun feeling to them, instead of real posing. I plan on collecting all of ours and putting them together in an frame soon.

Posted by: CaliValleyGirl at April 14, 2006 08:34 AM (apdbD)

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We went to Prague today.

Golly, I just love Europe.

MORE TO GROK:

Pertinent link: 17% of Americans view the US negatively

Anyway, I was just being snarky with my photo. However, I will say that my husband and I are two of the stingiest people you'll ever meet, which is part of the reason we hardly ever travel. So it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth when we spend money to go to another country and have to see crap like this. We also went to the Museum of Communism, and while we were happy to see them tell communism like it is, I was extremely disheartened to see that some of the stuff in the gift shop made fun of the US and George Bush. This just doesn't seem very appropriate to me, nor did the other poster that said something like "Remember when the US stood for freedom?" I don't see why that kind of "joke" has a place in the Museum of Communism.

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Cold Fury articulates something I've been thinking for a long time:

If the libs want government health care, gun control, and cradle-to-grave nanny-statism, there are plenty of places they can go to get it — and planes, trains, buses, and ships leaving every day. But this country is the only hope for those of us for whom liberty and respect for individual freedom and responsibility is paramount. It’s time we reminded them of that. We might not be quite on the right track just yet, but we’re definitely at the station and heading for the ticket window.

There's nowhere else in the world as far to the right as the United States. If you want to live in a world that's further to the left, move to Europe. But we Americans who want a world that's further to the right have nowhere else we could go. We just have to hope our country doesn't drift left.

MORE TO GROK:

I read the first few comments and realized that it just wasn't worth my time to clarify. This morning there are double the comments, and it seems some people out there did understand what I meant.

If I were somehow the exact same person that I am right now, but I got dropped off from a spaceship and was told to choose where I want to live, I could only choose the United States. It's the only country that comes close to representing my value system. (My husband smirked and said, "Well, there's Hong Kong and Singapore, but then again we might get put in jail for dropping a gum wrapper.") However, for people who are strongly in the left camp, if they got dropped off from the same spaceship, there are perhaps several countries they could choose to fit their values: Canada? Sweden?

I never said "love it or leave it". However, I certainly respect people who do this. My good friend from college sold every belonging she and her family had and moved to France. They knew certain aspects of getting settled might be rough, but they wanted to be in France. And I respect and admire their determination. I applaud them for having the gumption to pack up and move to somewhere that better fits their way of life. It wasn't easy for them to disrupt their life so, but they did it out of conviction. Sadly, the experiment didn't work: a year later neither of them had found a job and they moved back to the US. Interesting that her French-citizen husband got a job much more easily in the US.

I admire this couple for giving it a shot. They're like the reverse of immigrants who came to the US a century ago looking for a better life. If I thought that there were anywhere on earth that would suit my values better than the US, I would do everything I could to move there. Show me Galt's Gulch, and I'm there. But the US is the closest we've got. That's why we on the right really worry about it shifting closer and closer to countries that already exist. We've got nowhere else to go...

I never said lefties have to leave. But they've got the option to if they want.

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The other day, a few friends told me that the grass is always greener. After having lived in France, Sweden, and now Germany, I've grown into a person who thinks the grass is always greener in the United States. I don't see myself coming back to Europe ever again, unless someday we have a child stationed here (God forbid we're still in Europe that far into the future.)

That said, I know there will be some things that I will miss from time to time. I'll miss spatzle from Herman's, garlic soup, and all the other uniform German menu items that drive me nuts now but will sound so yummy when I haven't had them in a while. I'll miss calling my mom for two cents a minute. I'll miss going into a public restroom and knowing that the stall door locks will never be broken. I'll miss magpies. And I'll miss eating my weight in warm sugary almonds every Christmas.

Most of all, I'll miss the military community we live in. There's something about plopping a few thousand Americans into Nowhere Germany that brings people together. We might never live on another post again, and I'll miss knowing that all my neighbors are going through the exact same experience as we are. It might be a long time before I can show up at another neighbor's house with knitting and Bud Light and stay until midnight. I'll miss bumping into friends at the commissary (except I can't wait to stop bumping into some of those jerk high schoolers!) I also love how there's only about two degrees of separation between people here, so you're always finding out that the Jennifer your friend works with is actually the Jennifer who's your neighbor, or the wonderful experience of teaching an adult at the university and then finding out you're teaching her son in seventh grade.

There will be things I'll miss: I can't even let myself think about leaving Erin and Kelly. But three years here is plenty, and I'm proud to admit I'm homelandsick.

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Mark Steyn: ItÂ’s the demography, stupid

Can a society become increasingly Islamic in its demographic character without becoming increasingly Islamic in its political character?

This ought to be the left’s issue. I’m a conservative—I’m not entirely on board with the Islamist program when it comes to beheading sodomites and so on, but I agree Britney Spears dresses like a slut: I’m with Mullah Omar on that one. Why then, if your big thing is feminism or abortion or gay marriage, are you so certain that the cult of tolerance will prevail once the biggest demographic in your society is cheerfully intolerant?

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They're making the driver's license test easier in USAREUR. I wonder if they'll still have the question on whether the car or the man with the donkey cart has the right-of-way...

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I laughed into my pancakes this morning when my husband told me Johnny Depp is disillusioned with France:

DEPP: 'I CAN'T STAY IN RIOT-RAVAGED FRANCE'

Hollywood star Johnny Depp is so shocked by the riots raging through France, he's considering abandoning his home in the country.

The FINDING NEVERLAND heart-throb moved to Europe when life in Los Angeles became too violent.

He has since divided time between the two continents - but he fears France will be scarred permanently by the current troubles.

He says, "It's insane, that setting cars on fire is the new strike.

"I went there (to France) to live because it seemed so simple.

"Now it's anything but. I don't know how they'll recover from this."

Hahahahahahaha. Newsflash: life isn't "simple" anywhere.

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1 BWAHAHAHAHAH!!!! I have a red spot on my trou from where my ass is bleeding for the poor sap.

Posted by: Jim - PRS at November 20, 2005 11:00 AM (oowdc)

2 Wasn't he one of them hollywood types that left the U.S. because we elected Bush and were going to hell in a hand basket? Wonder where he'll go next?

Posted by: Sgt Hook at November 20, 2005 12:18 PM (jlMVG)

3 Irony is so fun, particularly in the morning, eh? Maybe he can team up with Gwyneth and Madonna to find an alternative to England and France. Perhaps Antarctica? Pretty sure there is very little terrorism there.

Posted by: JCK at November 20, 2005 01:36 PM (J9ixV)

4 Sgt Hook: IIRC, it was less towards the President and more towards America in general. Something about us being like a big dumb puppy or similar. So we're like Charlie, I guess.

Posted by: Patrick Chester at November 21, 2005 01:18 AM (74cXW)

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I realized after reading The French Betrayal of America that the divide between the US and France is even worse than I had thought. And these commemorative stamps just sicken me.

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1 But these are Palistinean stamps, not French ones. Suppose that Saddam had issued stamps with the famous picture of him shaking hands with Rumsfeld in 1983, both with big grins. Would that make you sick, and if so who would the object of your disgust be, Iraq or us?

Posted by: Pericles at September 24, 2005 04:06 PM (EpPuP)

2 Um, yes, that too would make me sick. That said, I still think the two situations are a bit different. We backed Iraq over Iran as a lesser of two evils, and I bet anything that Rumsfeld wishes he could make that photo disappear. Can you show me any time that France has shown regret or disgust over supporting Arafat? We admit it sucks that we supported Saddam; Arafat died in the comfort of France.

Posted by: Sarah at September 24, 2005 05:40 PM (mX8Ke)

3 Yes, I certainly agree that Rumsfeld would give anything for that picture not to exist, LOL. Look, I don't have any great love of either the French or of Arafat, so I'm not exactly on the opposite of this from you. But I think the picture with Rummy and Saddam illustrates the fact that in foreign policy we tend to pursue our own perceived interests, even when these conflict with higher principles, and this is certainly no less true under Republican presidents than Democratic ones. We therefore can't get too high up on our high horses when other countries do the same. P.S. Just a reminder: We already had intel indicating that Iraq had used poison gas against Iranians and Kurds when that photo was taken. So when Rumsfeld talks about how it was obvious that we had to invade Iraq in order to take out a leader who would do such things, remember that knowledge of these crimes didn't keep Rummy from making nice-nice with Saddam when he thought there was some short-term benefit for us involved. There were some things to be said in favor of this war that made some kind of sense, even though the case against was stronger in the end. Saddam was a butcher. But how can we take a point like that seriously out of the mouth of a person who was so obviously personally untroubled by it? And if the press is really so liberal, why wasn't this picture on the nightly news every night, instead of just on liberal blogs?

Posted by: Pericles at September 24, 2005 06:05 PM (EpPuP)

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I just think that this German political campaign is in very poor taste (via Oda Mae). I don't even know what else to say about it, other than to point out how inappropriate it is.

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We got a very good deal by buying our dog here in Germany: normally in the US a Tibetan runs around $1200. I don't know if we'll ever be able to afford one again! However, I really wish we were in the US for veterinary services. So far Charlie has been to the vet twice, at two different places, and he needs a third visit at a third doctor. Our on-post clinic is closed because the vets are deploying, so I have to find a German vet to get Charlie his last set of shots. I called some places today and had a hard time communicating. It's frustrating dealing with something very important and new to me -- caring for a living creature -- without having one consistent vet I feel comfortable turning to for advice and services.

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1 You could try getting a referral form your breeder maybe.

Posted by: Mare at August 29, 2005 06:47 PM (KmNMw)

2 I met another American couple here who had a little Yorkie, and they were pleasantly surprised by the German vets here. Their dog had to have an operation that would have cost them over $1K in the US, but only paid 200 Euros for it, plus were able to get the tax back. So, I am sure that once you do find a German vet, things will go smoothly.

Posted by: CaliValleyGirl at August 29, 2005 07:10 PM (Qa18+)

3 My vet is very good, can't say he's all that cheap though, but fair. He speaks English very well. He is in the Landstuhl area if you care to drive. The # is 06371-914314. Good Luck

Posted by: Mrs Greyhawk at September 01, 2005 06:35 AM (QLGwB)

4 Just fyi - at a meeting last night with members of the VCSC, I heard that they are supposed to be sending reservists here in October to fill the open Vet slots. I don't know if it's the truth or not, but thought I'd let you know

Posted by: Susan at September 01, 2005 10:24 AM (FmIVz)

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It's funny: it was easier for me to keep up with Red6 when he was Iraq than when he lives five miles away. Since he and my husband aren't in the same unit anymore, we don't see each other that often. We try to get him over to our house once a week for dinner, but he's a busy, busy man.

Anyway, I was excited to see this exchange he had with a French reader, which led me to a cool blog in French. Herve runs Le Monde a L'Envers, which more or less means "the world in reverse or upside-down or inside-out or something". It's always good to see we've got French support.

When I went to France a year ago, the main thing I wanted to do was return to St. Avold cemetery. We got there right at closing time, which didn't give me much time to linger, but I did go into the caretaker building. I wanted to sign the guest book, and what I found brought tears to my eyes. So many people from all over France had visited the cemetery and written encouraging comments. I found so many attaboys and gratefulness for my country. People said that the US was the best or that they stand by us. Often it was just a triumphant USA!! written on the side. I was so touched by that guest book, and I'll never forget the words I read that day from our individual allies.

Thanks for your blog, Herve.

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My husband and I haven't made it to Berlin yet, but it looks like we might not get to see this Checkpoint Charlie memorial site. Apparently it's being bulldozed this 4th of July. I certainly don't understand why memorials to the Cold War are supposedly turning Berlin into "Disneyland". It's funny to me that it seems many Germans want to forget the past...while Americans are busy trying to build a why-they-hate-us at Ground Zero.

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You know what I want more than anything in the world? Shoelaces.

I've had this pair of brown shoes for many, many years, and the laces finally wore out and broke. I checked all over post, and all I could find was black and white laces. I tried to hit some German stores, but I could never figure out where to get shoelaces. I gave up and sent the broken lace to my mother, hoping she could find something similar to what I need. And every day I open my closet, wishing I could wear that freaking pair of shoes.

I'd kill to go to Walmart right now.

So many friends and family have been emailing us, wondering when we're moving back. I guess since the husband is home from Iraq, they assume we'll be moving soon, but we still have over a year left at this duty station. What's even worse is that now that deployment is over and stop move will be lifted in about a month, all of our friends are getting orders to leave. Nearly everyone we are friends with will be leaving this year, and some are leaving as soon as May. One close friend was telling me about everything that will be near her new home at Fort Shelby, including two Walmarts and a big mall. I am getting so anxious to go home.

We leave for our vacation on 1 May, with a week in Florida and a week on a cruise. It will be the first time in the States for both of us since Christmas 2002, and we're both getting quite antsy. I'm just ready to go somewhere where we know what everything is. We know what food is at the restaurants, what stuff is in the stores, and how far it is to our next destination on the map.

And maybe I can get some freaking brown shoelaces.

Posted by: Sarah at 10:49 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 It figures you come to Florida for a visit as I'm moving away - damn, I'd love to have bought you both dinner...... Soon, Sarah, soon you will have all the mass merchandisers you could ever hope for. Soon....all those wonderful American "thingys" will be available at your whim. Soon..... Meanwhile - enjoy your vacation!

Posted by: Tammi at April 13, 2005 11:16 AM (7K6EQ)

2 I'll look for your brown shoelaces. I live across the street from a Wal-Mart and a Kmart is next door. And a mall is only a 20 minute walk away. Could you send me a photo, if you have any? I don't want to buy the wrong shade or something ...

Posted by: Amritas at April 13, 2005 01:38 PM (+nV09)

3 Dear Daughter, I have been searching for tan shoelaces. I can find dark brown, white, off-white, black, etc., but no tan. A pair of tan 36" laces are on their way to you; they did not come in a longer length. If they don't work, I'll keep searching! I've gone EVERYWHERE I can think of to go! Still searching, Your mama

Posted by: nancy at April 14, 2005 01:01 AM (YuW6k)

4 It's funny, all those years we spent in Germany and after a few years all we could talk about was how much we wanted to go back to the States, where there weren't all these freakin' rules about not washing your car on Sundays, stores stayed open on Saturdays past noon, things were open on Sundays, and yes, finding shoelaces wasn't so much like a search for the Holy Grail. We've been back in the States for 13 years now (although I took a year break to go to Korea), and oh how I miss Germany, the food, the scenery, the houses with their tile roofs, the castles.... Human nature, maybe, always to want what you don't have.

Posted by: oldcontroller at April 15, 2005 01:17 PM (hhiiF)

5 ...and a big panama with a purple hat band!

Posted by: Walter E. Wallis at April 16, 2005 02:48 PM (MBCZx)

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I'm trying to get into the swing of things by reading blogs again. CaliValleygGirl has a funny tangential story about going to see Team America in Germany. Today is the DVD release date, and if they have it here, I'm buying it right after school.

I remember plenty of jokes about "American endings" when I lived in France. Europeans derisively called anything that worked out too perfectly an American ending, but we Americans like these stories. Our movies are modern day fairy tales where the good guys always win and the guy always gets the girl.

I'm also convinced that Flight 93 would've crashed into the White House or whatever its destination if the passengers on board hadn't been raised on good old fashioned Hollywood movies. If these men and women had never seen Passenger 57 or Air Force One, they might never have thought that they could've overpower the hijackers. One of the men on board even had a Superman tatoo; they were steeped in American culture and taught from day one that they can do anything they put their minds to. I honestly believe this is what brought Flight 93 down in a field instead of in D.C., and I'm ever grateful for the bravery those passengers showed.

But would they have had the guts to do it if they hadn't seen Wesley Snipes do it first?

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VDH is good this week:

Our cousins abroad cannot figure out why a crass nation of former European rejects, led by a cowboy from Texas, is wealthier, stronger, and more willing to sacrifice for principle than a more venerated, cultured, and aristocratic civilization.

Heh.

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Reason # I-lost-count why I hate our so-called allies.

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A warm welcome for President Bush in Slovakia.

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