Errands, A Lifestyle

My friend MQ told me that once I left my job I would not be able to understand how I was ever able to hold one and still get anything done. “Errands – a lifestyle” he called it. Today I understand this concept completely. Doing laundry, going to the market for tonight’s dinner, and washing the floors took me most of the day.

At first I couldn’t figure out how to insert a bill into the machine at the Laundromat to pay for the load. Unlike in the U.S., you do not insert money directly into the washing machine. Instead each machine has a number and there is one central console in which you insert your money and from which you turn the washer on. The problem that I was having is that I couldn’t figure out how to insert the bill. After a while a German man came in and I figured I’d watch what he did. (It was quite simple; the bill slot was shaped like a smiley face, not a straight line.) The guy noticed I was watching him and asked me (in perfect English) if I needed help. We talked a little (apparently he wanted to where I could possible come from that I didn’t know how to work a washing machine.) When he came back to get his laundry he brought me a cup of coffee.

After doing the wash I had to come home and hang everything up to dry. I am trying to be very European while I am here and not one single person used the clothes dry while I was there. K’s uncle just moved back to the U.S. after living in Germany for three years. He tells us that dryers are considered to waste too much electricity.

One thing that I can get really into about Germany is getting to shop at farmer’s markets everyday. But, even with markets that I know – like the Green Market at Union Square – I am not a fast shopper. It takes me one complete trip around the place to determine what I want. Then I have to go back and buy what I have decided upon. Here it takes even longer because I have no idea what to expect. Today, for example, in addition to have apples there were little baskets of plump raspberries. Is it raspberry season here? Will I see them all the time?