Repeat after me…

This lovely month

I will tell jokes…
& pay compliments
& send things in the post
To people I love.

And generally make it my mission
to spread Togetherness wherever I go.

I will test the theory…
That there are only six degrees of separation* (*really, there are)
& I will meet new people
& say yes a lot
& just kind of…see what happens
& where things take me…

Yes June (although my diary actually says July which is clearly a misprint), you are the month of 
go-with-the-flow-who-knows-where-we’ll-go, you are.

From my awesome Bright Side diary.

Repeat after me…

Hooray!

At last flip flop o’clock is here

& this month of May, I will get out & about

Yes: Out of my comfort zone*
(*which is where the magic happens)

I will spend at least 82% of my time in nature*
(*including a night under the stars)

Indeed, Alfresco will be my middle name*
(*I may even get deed poll involved to make this official)

I will run til my legs hurt

& laugh til my belly aches

& have picnics.

I will go to places I have never been

& have seven kinds of adventure.

Yes, May, you will be a breath-of-fresh-air kind of month, you will.

N.B. I reckon only running, adventure etc are easily achievable. And picnics. Definitely laughing is ticked off.

Not sure why I have called this “Hunting for Herman” as there has been no hunting. Here are a couple of quick observations from my time in Germany:

• They are a nation of pop sock wearers. Do you know what I mean? These. I associate these with OAPs (sorry for any offence). Germans wear them all the time, with pumps, with court shoes, etc. I mean I vaguely get it (this is because I have been indoctrinated and now have adopted this fashion), they mean your feet don’t get as sweaty in the cheap shoes that make feet sweaty. However they are so gross! It does mean that shoes that may rub in the heat, don’t. As I said, it’s just an observation…
• The word “Entschuldigung” means sorry. I don’t hear it very much as the German people bash their way around places, isn’t it the equivalent of “excuse me please”? I know us British folk apologise for anything even when we don’t need to (case in point here) but seriously, have some manners…

Now Entschuldigung I just need to go and buy some more pop socks…

I’m a bit late publishing this month…

Repeat after me…

I am amazing
I am wonderful
I am brilliant

And April is going to be the best month yet.

I will be kind to myself each & every single day & not waste a moment worrying* (*I might waste them messing about or eating cheese instead)

But I definitely won’t worry.
especially about things I can’t change.

Instead

I shall focus on today…NOW…this minute
And make the very most of it.

I will turn off the TV,
Get outside, get creative,
& get more me than I’ve ever been before.

Yes April you rock. And so do I.

I have now been here for 4 whole weeks. This “Hunting for Herman” lark has worn thin, I spend too much time in Irish bars. This weekend, more time will be spent in Irish bars because it’s St. Patrick’s Day and it would be rude not to. Therefore perhaps it should be renamed “Hunting for Harry” if Harry is an Irish name? Although, really it shouldn’t be called “Hunting” at all, as I am not desperate and nor am I hunting. I am just enjoying the surroundings.

Further observations of my time include and there is a theme here:

• Germans keep their rubbish in the cellar (a dangerous place to go in my house… smashed my iPhone down there). How does it get collected from the cellar?! When you live on your own you don’t generate all that much rubbish especially as it has to be split for recycling, so this is all rather strange to me…
• If you buy a bottle of drink in a shop, a plastic bottle, you pay an extra 25 cents on the price shown. You can take the empty bottle back to a shop to collect the 25 cents. This just baffles me. You see people ferreting in rubbish bins for stuff to get the money. 
• You can be fined 5 euros on the spot if you are caught jaywalking. I mentioned that I break this ruling a lot here. Surely this involves unnecessary paperwork at the police station? Which then needs to be recycled and kept in the cellar.

More soon…in the meantime I’m off to the English Shop in Cologne to get some Robinson’s squash. That’s what I really want - the Germans like bottled water, but it’s nasty stuff. Doesn’t taste as good! Probably the recycling antics that go on…

In part two of my observations of the German culture (see part 1 here), written after lunch with an Italian colleague who told me about German men and the dating scene here, I have made the following discovery:

It’s quite possible that I won’t find Herman, Dieter, etc here (partly because I frequent Irish bars) because I have today discovered:

• German men do not approach girls in bars
• German men do not pay on the first date (don’t get me wrong, I’m a generous soul but there is 50/50 and being made to feel special).

So where do I meet Herman? And then when I’ve met him, we’ll just go for a walk in the park, as that’s free. Maybe we’ll put a padlock on the bridge in Cologne - something I really don’t get.

Other observations I have made over the weekend:

• Buses have seats that face backwards here. This doesn’t help those who suffer from travel sickness…
• Everything is closed on Sundays (I knew this before I came, but it is literally everything aside from a few places to eat and drink). The Germans shop like crazy on Saturdays - think Oxford Street at Christmas and queues in the shops like there is a new Apple product for sale. Therefore on Sundays, the only thing to do is go to an Irish bar and discuss such findings…