T.K. Maxx

Yes, for those of you, this is really TJ Maxx, but here in Germany it would just sound odd. There is a new one in Regensburg, and it is AWESOME! The kids toys are actually all in English, or English and French...pretty cool. And the housewares area...that's dangerous. I love it! But, I did have an interaction with one of the check-out ladies that was quite funny...

So, my friend Janda and I went to go and check out. I get in the line where all the little things to buy are...you know, little candles, candy, little toys for the kids...you know what I'm talking about. I tried to find a picture of it online, but for some reason couldn't....weird. Maybe I'll try to take a picture of it next time I'm there...since there WILL be a next time!

Ok, so, I get in the line next to where all that suff is (and the first register and the end of the line is #1). The little light comes on that I should go to register #2, so I head on over. The lady gives me a look like she is wondering what the hell I'm doing and says, "Die andere Dame war zuerst." (The other lady was here first.) I was like, "Nein, sie war nicht in der schlange." (No, she wasn't in the line.) She said that I was in the wrong line and that I needed to go to this other area (one that didn't go by the little things to impulse buy and one that was scrunched up against a rack of clothing). Then came the best line ever. She tried to explain to me why this is. She told me that the store is set up "nach Amerikanische Weise" (in the American style). What?!?!?! Are you kidding me? Did she really just say this? So, my response was..."Huh...Ich bin Amerikanerin und ich habe sowas nie gesehen...und ich habe schon viel beim TJ Maxx in den USA gekauft!" (Huh. I'm an American and I haven't seen a set-up like this before and I have shopped a lot at TJ Maxxs in the US.)

So, I went and got in the "real" line. When it was my turn, I went up to the counter and tried to explain to the lady why it was all wrong. She told me that there were Americans there that set up the place...my guess...something got lost in translation. I think I'll speak to the manager next time I'm there so that he knows that those little things are there for impulse buying, not for the people who want to return things (which was that first line) to look at. I need to show them how it's done...

However, I do think I need to take this as a compliment as well...the lady thought I was German...I think my German is getting better...at least my accent :)

Corn yogurt anyone??

Anyone? Well, what about popcorn yogurt? You don't think I'm serious?

Let me tell you a little story...

I was at the store (Karufland) today and I wanted to get some Froop...my new yogurt obsession that was on sale this week. (If you live in Germany and you haven't tried it yet, you MUST! It is so good!) Well, they were sold out...darn! So I went for my other favorite...Almighurt. It is also amazingly good. During the different seasons, they usually have some sort of seasonal flavor. My favorite of those is when they do sometging with pomegranate or cranberry...YUM!

So I head over to where the Almighurt is going f or the normal ones, peach-passion fruit and strawberry. When all of a sudden I see it. Corn yogurt. Are my eyes deceiving me? Nope. Corn yogurt. Oh, and what is that next to it? Yup, that's popcorn yogurt.

Now, I must admit, I nearly pee myself laughing. This is hilarious! Are they serious? I thought Germans only put corn on things and then call it Mexican. So, is this their take on Mexican yogurt? Nope. I have no idea what they were thinking. Markus thinks it is a joke for Fasching, but really. They will spend million on making this crap, but hey, it did get me to write about it on my blog didn't it?

Video of my taste test (I'm kind of glad I have a cold right now and can't really taste):

Video of Charlie's taste test...he eats everything, so he is not a real good judge of taste (BTW: he was just too excited to sit when I told him...):


Would you want to eat corn or popcorn yogurt? Yeah. I thought so.

Actually from what I've been reading from some German blogs...people actually like this stuff!

"Wourld Rally Championchip"

Here in Germany, you will see lots of cars (ok, not lots, just more than in the US) with window stickers on the back. No, I'm not talking about those that have the children's names on the back. I'm talking about those that take up the ENTIRE rear window.

I know, I know. There are people in the States that like to do this too. I remember after Selena died, there were loads of cars with some sort of tribute to her. There are others that have the confederate flag foiled on the back window (those I really dislike!).

Here in Germany though, they seem to be a different breed, those that put giant stickers on the back of their car windows. They are young (not that the confederate flag people are not) and they seem to watch just a bit too much of MTV's "Pimp my Ride". You see the occasional "Playboy" with the playboy bunny on the back.

However, then you get those that try to be cool by writing in English, but they really come off looking like illiterate dumbasses. Take for example, the dude in the "pimped" Ford Fiesta. He had his car lowered, had some "sweet rims" on and to top it off, he had a spoiler...on a Ford Fiesta! But what really blew my mind away (and made me point and laugh, and then kick myself for not having my camera on me) was the window sticker that this cool dude had.

It started off well enough. At the top there was "WRC" in fancy writing, then it had the big Ford logo in the center, basically taking up the entire window. But what really made Markus and I pee our pants was what came next. Underneath the Ford logo were the words "Wourld Rally Championchip". I kid you not! Markus noticed that he keenly replaced the "s" with a "c" in championship. Then while we were laughing with that, I noticed the awesomeness with which he spelled world.

Seriously, what did this guy think as he was ordering it?
Cool Dude: Yes, I'd like to order a custom sticker for my car.
Salesperson: Ok, so we've got the letters W-O-R-L-D, R-A-L-L-Y, and C-H-A-M-P-I-O-N-S-H-I-P...is this right?
CD: No, no, you've misspelled that! it is W-O-U-R-L-D and C-H-A-M-P-I-O-N-C-H-I-P!
S: Uh, I'm pretty sure it's not, but whatever you'd like, your the customer.

Use spell check cool dude!

So, moral of the story is that if you see this guy driving around Regensburg (which is where we saw him) you have every right to point and laugh at him. I give you permission.

Now is about the time when we come to the debate as to the use of English in the German language...but that shall be saved for another time. Sarah and Cliff have already hit on this point (as have many other expat bloggers) and I think I'll wait for another awesome example before I go ranting on about that again :).