complicated administrative procedure
My German social security card came in the mail last week. It took a year of various bureaucratic procedures to become part of the German system. And I’m guessing from the English translation that they provided with the card that it won’t be easy if I ever want to extricate myself from it. Here’s an exerpt:
"In case of non-submission, a complicated administrative procedure will be initiated…(t)his procedure is expensive and uncomfortable both for you and for the competent social security institution."
germanification
EuroYankee’s 20 Sure Signs of Germanification:
1) You switch over to full-fat everything: milk, yogurt, cream cheese, cheese in general. Sure, it tastes better, but it’s also "healthier" (wink wink).
2) You consider German bread delicious and declare it one of the things you’ll miss most about Germany when you leave.
3) Outrageous prices seem normal: Seven euros for a cocktail ($9.40). Two euros 40 cents for six bananas ($3.22). Two hundred forty thousand euros for a small two bedroom apartment ($322,000).
4) You expect to be treated like shit by waitresses and store clerks.
5) You cringe at the sight of overweight American tourists sporting skimpy shorts.
6) You start substituting German words in English conversations. Strassenbahn instead of streetcar. Apotheke instead of pharmacy. Bio instead of organic.
7) You stop complaining about stores being closed on Sundays.
You find yourself thinking: Clothes dryers are completely unnecessary!
9) Umlauts start looking cute.
10) Even when talking to other Americans, it still seems easier to use the metric system.
11) Nothing seems more refreshing than apfelschorle (apple spritzer).
12) Last name only when answering the phone.
13) When on a bicycle, you feel like you have as much of a right to the road as cars.
14) You uphold the unspoken two-cake minimum when inviting people over for Sunday coffee.
15) Hot days don’t come often, but when they do, you head straight for the shade.
16) You find yourself thinking: Americans are so short.
17) Mmmmm. Currywurst.
18) You recognize the names Franz Beckenbauer, Lothar Matthaus, Oliver Kahn, Jürgen Klinsmann.
19) You find yourself secretly proud of Angie.
20) Planning ahead is a good thing.
