Choice: Less Is More

An expat's trip to the US is rarely a holiday or an opportunity to see somewhere new. It usually consists of (1) Visiting family and friends, and (2) shopping.

Each time I go home, my list of must-haves is smaller and smaller. In some cases, I've found reasonable substitutes here; in others, I've decided I just don't care so much anymore. Upon arriving home from 2 weeks in NY, I exclaimed to Herr J "But my bags were 8 kg below the limit...I could have fit so much more!" I guess this is a good sign...I've been working to deplete the stocks in my closet and I've realized there are only a few things I need from home.

Still on the list...

But what always strikes me is the sheer number of varieties of the same product. And I think it's gotten worse.

I have sensory overload when I go to CVS or Wallgreens (don't even get me started on Target!!). I just stand at the shelves with no idea what to buy because there are 28 different choices for each product, and I'm usually just thankful to find one of something where I understand what the product is! Now there are about 10 different varieties of Sudafed, plus an equal number of the store brand and 5 variations on how many pills in the box. Yet, they're pretty much the same - the good stuff behind the counter, or the weaker stuff on the shelf. Luckily I got to CVS an hour before closing.... I wanted to buy the classic St. Ive's Apricot Scrub, but now there are different formulations of it, plus the store brand. While of course I want to make my own decisions, I now see the space that advertising and magazines fill in trying to convince me what to buy!! If the marketing people weren't out there telling me how their product is differentiated from the others, how would I know what to buy?

The choice is just too much for me sometimes. And I'm realizing that a lot of things in life are like this.

For example, I've taken quite a few trips in the past month, and while I feel each time the packing is better, I still end up having packed things I never wear on a trip, and it's still a decision what to wear in the morning. I'm a pretty careful packer....I had a carryon and a half-empty small checked bag for a 2 week business trip. But still I had too much.

Our trip to Finland was an interesting experiment...Given that the temperature was mostly below freezing and the activities outdoors, the lodge provided clothing. Socks, boots, gloves, fleece, coats, hats - everything! All I packed for a 10 day trip was a couple of pairs of black leggings, 4 tops, underwear, a couple pairs of socks, a sweater, the boots I wore, and some warm long underwear. There was plenty of room left in my carry-on sized bag! The amazing thing was that I ended up with one shirt unworn. But even more amazing - getting dressed was so simple! With such a small range to choose from, life was much simpler.

A passage from Olivia Goldsmith's Fashionably Late struck me as quite true on many levels (including the impossible mission of returning anything in Europe!):

Karen had forumlated a few theories about why it was so hard for women to look comfortable and stylish. American women didn't know how to dress partly because they had too much. She remembered a French woman who had once visited Belle. Chic, elegant, and a Parisian attorney's wife, the woman had looked in Belle's closet with horror and asked: "But how can you dress well? You have too much to choose from!" As the brilliant shoe designer Manolo Blahnik had said, "It's all a question of selection, to choose less. That is something Americans do not understand. They think more is better."
Karen had observed that French women, even the middle-class ones, wore expensive clothes, but they had far fewer things than Americans and formulated their ensembles much more carefully. Of course, they learned the hard way not to make mistakes: it was next to impossible to return merchandise in Paris. Can you imagine the attitude?

The same happens here. It's changing with the advent of all the "disposable fashion" of H&M, Forever 21, and similar stores carrying low priced, trendy clothes. But in general, many Germans invest in a relatively small amount of quality clothing that will be wearable for many years. The German style is a little more classic (sometimes described as "boring") than the French (more feminine) or Italian (much more fitted, and on the flashier end of still being classic styling), but the attitude toward purchases is similar.

Even before this, I admit I have too much stuff. I have a bad habit of not wanting to throw out anything that is still functionable or wearable....though my definitions may be a bit skewed.... Also, I have almost 15 years of clothes suited to hot climates and driving everywhere. So realistically most of my clothes and almost ALL of my shoes were unsuitable for life in a cobblestoned city that has a long winter!

I've been trying to cut down and to also get rid of things that I don't or shouldn't wear. And to remember that when I replace something, I need to actually throw out the old one! I employed a new strategy during my trip to New York...I packed things that I really needed to throw out, and then I threw them out after wearing them. Socks with no elastic and small holes, too big underwear, and hair brushes that I had replaced because they were worn out (but still worked passably...). And throwing them out at the end cleared the way for chocolate chips and other goodies!

How to Write A Pop Hit

As we discovered from our David Hasselhoff concert outing (and schlagermusik and the Eurovision Song Contest....), one of the keys to music that the crowd enjoys is giving new words to familar tunes.

Australian comedy band Axis of Awesome has taken this a step further and offers entertaining proof to their hypothesis that the key to writing a pop hit is to use the same four chords.

These guys are truly awesome. I'm jealous of all of you in the US who have the chance to attend one of their 2011 tour dates. If they don't tour continental Europe, we might just have to hit the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August.

Enjoy!

Back Home...

We're back home in Munich after a whirlwind month. After weekend trips to explore Viennese tortes, fine German automotive engineering, salt mines, medieval cities, and the former East-West border, I began a new job with 2 weeks working on Long Island. Even better, I was able to meet up with some good friends in NYC while there.

Those of you who know me well, know my history of horrendous luck with travels....72 hour trips home for Christmas, lost bags, volcanoes, snow storms, mechanical problems, and so on. This time, I knew I was tempting fate booking so many trips close together. So, with less than 24 hours home between a weekend trip, NY, and a trip to Japan, I had packed very carefully for all three trips. I had a few hours Friday to run home, swap suitcases, and get back to the airport in time to meet Herr J for our long-awaited trip to meet friends in Japan. What we hadn't counted on was the disaster in Japan....

Luckily we were able to cancel everything going to Japan, and Herr J quickly put together an amazing adventure for us in Northern Finland. Even more lucky, the "Is there a doctor on board?" announcement (my 3rd or 4th!) did not result in an emergency landing and I was able to get home, pack for a new trip, and make it back to the airport in time.

A week of winter sports in a national park, with homecooked meals and no TV or internet was the perfect break. And of course we tried some Finnish beers. Stay tuned!

Munich 2018?

Throughout the city you'll see banners emblazoned with a blue and white hot air balloon. These have been popping up at every event in Munich and Garmisch for almost a year, but now are out in force across the city.

These are part of Munich's campaign to host the 2018 winter olympics.

Munich is pitching these as the "sustainable" and "friendly" games, and if it wins would be the first city in history to host both the summer and winter Olympics.  

How would this work? The events requiring special topography (you know, actual mountains...) would be held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, with some events at Koenigsee.

Of course, the one big issue is opposition from the farmers who own the land by the slopes in Garmisch. In order to have any large event, they must lease fields to the event to allow people to get to the slopes. The farmers are protesting the environmental impact on Garmisch and have threatened to refuse to lease the land for the Games.

Munich was selected as a candidate, along with Annency, France and Pyeongchan, South Korea. The Olympic committee has just visited the candidate cities and will make the announcement in July.

Both Munich and Garmisch have hosted Olympics before - Munich would love to have a friendly Olympics to balance out the memories of the tragedy of the 1972 Summer Games and Garmisch wishes to forget the 1936 Winter Games that it hosted under the Third Reich. I didn't realize it, but the IOC had also awarded the 1940 games to Garmisch before they were cancelled due to the outbreak of WWII.

Munich Olympic Ads are everywhere...there was a foozball table wrapped in an ad at my gate at the Munich airport. Even Rischart, who is a big supporter of the bid, got into the spirit of things by topping their chocolate krapfen with chocolate wafers emblazoned with the Munich 2018 logo

Who will win? It's hard to say. Most predict that the decision is between Germany and Korea. Korea may have the edge in diversity, as the previous Games will have been held in Europe (in Sochi, Russia). Additionally, it was a candidate city in the last two bids, so some feel that its time is due.

Germany, on the other hand, has been praised by the IOC for the government's clear committment to the games. With the 2006 World Cup, Germany has proved its ability to successully organize a major world sporting event. And Munich deals with a few million visitors descending upon the city every year to drink vast quantities of beer. And, though on a much smaler scale, Garmisch has proved its capabilities with the World Championship Alpine Skiing.

The German love for winter sports is clear; though holding the Winter Games in Asia will likely inspire far more new winter sport lovers (as winter sports are not big in much of Asia...not having winter makes a difference....). And internally there definitely are some issues to work out with the Garmisch-Partenkirchen venue.

In terms of venues, Korea has presented an incredibly compact site and has already constructed some new arenas. Germany is pitching sustainable development and plans to integrate the Olympic venues from the 1972 Summer Games into the new plans, to create sporting venues good for both summer and winter events.

And what of France? Their initial bid was spread over 4 cities in the French Alps, and was criticized by the IOC for being too spread out. They revised the plans to focus on two venues (same as Munich) but stil face challenges with the plan. Their budget is relatively low, and the plan doesn't seem to have the same clear governmental support as does Munich's. However, it's still equally in the running and could surprise everyone.

You can check out the official sites of Munich, Pyeongchang, and Annency to see their plans and slogans.

Update on Monday, May 9, 2011 at 17:46 by Frau A

While Munich anxiously awaits the 6 July IOC decision, a major hurdle to the Games was overcome this weekend - Garmisch-Partenkirchen voters approved the Games in a referendem.  At 58% approval, it was not exactly an overwhelming victory, but a vote against the Games by a critical venue may have hurt Germany's chances at winning the Games.

The issue is not resolved - there's still the question of getting individual landowners to lease the necessary land at the foot of the slopes - but it's one step further in the process.

Until then, the flags and banners continue to cover Munich.

Champagne Beer

We haven't had a chance to try Sam Adams' and Weihenstephaner's Infinium, but we did try a true champagne beer - Sylter Hopfen. While Miller High Life claims to be "The Champagne of Beer" (a title we feel more accurately describes weißbier), this beer truly is a champagne beer. In fact, it is labeled as a "Bierspezialität," as it cannot be called "beer" under German rules.   

So, what's special about this beer? 

• Natural ingredients for an organic beer
• Sylt Hops: The hops used in the beer are grown on the German island of Sylt. After much experimentation, they found that English hops best suited the unique island climate.
• Packaging: Packaged in champagne bottles, with individually numbered labels, embossed with real gold.
• Yeast: Brewed with two types of yeast, including French champagne yeast
• Fermentation Process: Fermented twice; the first, bottom fermented in vats. The second ocurrs in the bottles, at different temperatures, with each bottle rotated up to 20 times by hand during the second fermentation
• Dégorgement: Utilizing the champagne method, the cork is removed for a second (after fermentation) to allow the yeast to pop out of the bottle. The champagne yeast need to be removed prior to consumption, and this method allows them to do it naturally and avoid filtering the beer.

The company is located in Flensburg, which lies near the German-Danish border on the peninsula near Sylt. That this is a high end beer fits in well with Sylt's reputation as a destination.

But how does it taste?

I enjoyed it, but wouldn't drink it every day (plus it's priced closer to champagne than beer!). Herr J didn't love it, but thought it wasn't bad. Weißbiers are not his favorite, and the flavors that registered on the sides of his tongue were similar to those of a weißbier.

The first thing you'll notice is the major head on this beer. It pours similar to a champagne in that it takes much pouring and waiting in order to get a full glass. As you can see here, the flutes are all foam, with a sip of beer at the bottom. The extreme carbonation comes from the champagne yeast and the second fermentation.

In the mouth, however, it is not nearly as bubbly as champagne. Definitely more bubbly than normal beer, but not too crazy. Unlike German beer, Sylter Hopfen should be served very cold.

Since my only champagne flutes are red, we poured it into a normal clear glass in order to see the color (and also because it was too labor-intensive to get an actual glassfull!).
It's a darker beer, slightly cloudy due to the lack of filtration. Even with very careful pouring into a tilted glass, there's still a large amount of foam.
The taste is much sweeter than beer or champagne and very complex. So complex that it's difficult to identify the different tastes...there's a little of the champagne tartness, but the sweetness of a malty drink, and some very light hints of the clove taste of a weißbier.

Overall, it was an enjoyable drink, but not really a beer. It's something you should drink as an aperitif or wine. Perhaps it's a good wine substitute for beer drinkers who don't like wine?

We paired it with a cheese I saw when buying the raclette cheese. It's an Italian hard cheese (pasteurized cows milk cheese), called Bacchus. It looked very much like a wonderful parmesan-like cheese that was served in Tuscany with a wine jelly as an appetizer.  I crumbled it up and had some white wine and pear jelly. It was just the same as I remembered and a happy discovery!

If It Were My Home

This is a fun and interesting site...and easier than flipping through the World Fact Book.

If It Were My Home compares basic stats about average life in other countries. The first level compares all to the US, but you can compare any country here with another.

While many things are unsurprising, there are some shockers.

Of course, I had to compare the US and Germany

It's really no surprise that Germans use less oil and electricity, have more free time, and have a lower birth rate. I was shocked that it was half the oil and 40% fewer babies, but I do know the low birth rate is a major concern here and a big threat to the future of the social system.

However, I'm really suprised that health care spending is almost half that of the US. I know that based on my limited experience, health care (meaning bills for a doctor visit or minor surgery) is much lower than would be the same service in the US, but that's only one piece of what is a very complicated puzzle.

These are all averages and general stats, but it's still interesting to play around. Apparently the French work more hours per year than the Germans and Canadians use more oil than Americans....

via LifeHacker

Sweet Sixteen Matches - Weissbier and Dunkel

Having selected the four representatives from the Helles/Pils half of the beer tournament, we moved to the other side to select the top four from the Weissbier and Dunkel regions.

Again we invited friends to help with the voting, and made a hearty beef stew to help absorb some of the alcohol...we knew anything with Dunkel, Oktobefestbier and Starkbier involved was potentially dangerous!

We began the games with a contest between two variations on Weißbier - Löwenbräu's Löwenweisse (a traditional unfiltered weißbier and another underdog victory for Löwenbräu*) vs Paulaner's Weissbier Kristallklar, which was like discovering a new style of beer. Equally shocking was the outcome - the Kristallklar pulled out another victory! What was most fun was hearing the reactions of our German friends.  Germans (especially in Bavaria, which has such a long and rich tradition) are very traditional and reacted to the kristallklar weissbier much like people reacted to Crystal Pepsi:  that's not what it's supposed to look like!  That's why we had everyone taste the contestants "blind".  In fact, by filtering the weissbier, it becomes a little less "mouthy" and a little fresher, almost riding the fence between a weiss and the beloved helles.  It took the contest by a clear 2/3 margin and left many scratching their heads, saying "I voted for a kristalweissbier???" Luckily, we have seen our friends since and the Free State of Bavaria ("Freistaat Bayern") has not revoked their citizenship for liking a filtered weissbier.

* Question: Is it correct to call something an underdog when it's this big and commercial? But really, Müncheners give Löwenbräu the short shrits and NO ONE thought it would get anywhere in the tourney...

Next up we had another traditional weissbier vs a dunkler weizenbock. After beating out all the other unfiltered weißbier, Andechs' Weissbier Hefetrüb took on the Erdinger Pikantus, which had blown away its weißbier and oktoberfestbier competion.

(Note:  At this stage in the tournament, we were past the point of comparing beers of the same style.  This changes the dynamics of the tasting... even more than before, votes represent preferred rather than better beer.  We noticed a few people vote against a style that generally is not to their taste, but most tasters appreciated all beer types and voted for the best of that moment beer.)

 

In this case, our tasters appreciated the Erdinger, but the smoothness and balance of the Andechs again delivered a convincing victory.  That has been the story of Andechs in this competition - the Andechs beers just work.  Maybe it's the water and water treatment they use, maybe they have exceptional braumeisters, maybe God really does want a monestary to win. Who knows?  But from the first hit on the tongue to the finish, this Andechs is a beer your can savor as a rich brew but not get taste fatigue after an entire bottle.  The vote istelf was about 80/20 for the Andechs Weissbier.

After the above matches, we're left with a future battle between Andechs' unfiltered weissbier vs Paulaner's filtered kristallweissbier for the champion of the weissbiers...a VERY important trophy in weissbier-loving Bavaria!

 

 

The Pikantus tasting was a good transition toward the darker, stronger beers of the Dunkel region.  In fact, we begin with another Erdinger. The Erdinger Dunkel, whose rich taste beat out the other dunkelweisbiers, was up against Hofbräu Oktoberfestbier, the only Oktoberfestbier to survive.  This was a close vote, with only swing of 1-2 people that made the difference.  The Oktoberfest was familiar and well-liked, but the complexity of the dunkel eeked out the victory.  Some proposed a theory that with a different/lighter meal (we had beef stew) the Oktoberfest would have won.  Perhaps the food made the difference, or perhaps because this was a later tasting (after 4 other beers) the dunkel stood out on its own more strongly.  In any event, the Erdinger moves on and the Hofbräu goes home.

And then our last match was the battle of the Paulaners. Like Andechs, Paulaner has had a lot of success in the beer tournament.  This matchup had Paulaner Original Münchener Dunkel, which defeated the Schwarzbiers in our very first matchup, vs Paulaner Salvator, which won The Dark & Dangerous Round. The Salvator surprised us in many ways - first, we never thought it was that good before...it's what you drink at Starkbierfest because that's what you drink...., and second, we always are served starkbier in the old-style pottery mugs, so we thought it was much darker and opaque than it really is.  The Paulaner dunkel had a nice roasted malty sweetness, but the balance (a bit more hops to it) and finish (more alcohol!) of the Salvator made the difference bay a margin of about 3:2.  The starkbier was truly "stark" (strong) tonight!

 

And now we have set for our regional finals the next matches:
Weißbier Region - Paulaner Weissbier Kristallklar vs Andechs Weissbier Hefetrüb 
Dunkel Region - Hasseröder Premium Pils vs Augustiner Edelstoff Export