Am I Being Stereotypical?

It's almost a month since I moved to Germany and it's still quite the adjustment, not gonna lie. There have been several bouts of homesickness-- friends, family, food...and through it all, Ben has been wonderful and supportive.

German people are not unfriendly or stand-offish like people sometimes stereotype. The people that I've met have been very friendly, considerate, and accommodating. I still feel like an awful American stereotype walking around because I can pretty much only introduce myself, ask where you're from, and answer yes/no questions: ja...nein...danke. Not exactly ideal for creating deep meaningful conversations.

Through Ben's friends, I've met and hung out with more Germans. When they can, they usually speak in English, just for me. There can be a group of 4 Germans plus me and they will all speak English just to make me feel welcome and comfortable. I feel so spoiled and a bit awful at times. My German can't improve fast enough. I feel self-conscious about fulfilling American stereotypes. Do I talk too much? Maybe too loudly? Use my hands too much? Am I too energetic? Do I come off as fake? I think I will feel more comfortable as my German improves and I will feel more at home. Although, I am amazed at how well many Germans can speak English.

And when it comes to food, to be honest, I miss eating Chinese food more than I miss "American" food. Ok, all with the exception of peanut butter. I was so excited about the German bakeries, but that has long worn off. I just want some good old peanut butter and honey on toast. I still haven't found a good Chinese restaurant, but I've heard that there are good Indian restaurants around. Also, I found it amusing that Italian restaurants are considered the more low-key restaurants here. Such a contrast to the States where they're considered more "fine dining." Ben and I have found a couple of small Asian stores. They're small and don't carry everything, but I can get some basic sauces. None carry giant 20lb bags of rice though... (not that I really want to carry that all the way to our apartment from downtown)

It's an adventure and I continue to learn. It can be embarrassing at times, but it makes for good stories. :-D

Ok, so I realized that I've only been taking photos of food lately. So here's my compilation:

Döner: Turkish immigrant influence.
Kind of like a Gyro. We had ours with
chicken, lettuce, tomato, onion, and
a choice of sauce. SO DELICIOUS and
now I want one every week.

Ben made bread dumplings for dinner one night.
What a great way to use up stale bread!

Found a "French-inspired" German bakery in downtown.
Ben loves croissants so we had to try the French-German
style ones. They were pretty good.

I have officially experienced the German cafe/coffee culture.
Sat outside a cafe for hours chatting with a new friend
and sipping milk-coffee.

More German baking: Donauwelle, standard
German cake. (Marble cake with cherries,
pudding on top and chocolate ganache)

Famous fries by the University. A.k.a. fries
flavored mayo. Hung out with some girls
Saturday night and had to try the curry-mango mayo.