German License Plates

In the U.S., one can tell which state a car is from based on the license plate. That can make for fun "Car Bingo" games for kids on long road trips, and it provides a reason for why another driver is driving so irratically.  "Well, no wonder. He's from Illinois!"

In Germany, one can tell what city or county a car & driver are registered in based on the license plate of the car. This gives passengers, who want to distract themselves from the speed their husbands are driving, something with which to occupy their minds.  "Oh look - there's a car from Esslingen!  And there's one from our area!"

The first one, two, or three letters on a German license plate indicate where the car's home is. Typically, the larger the city, the fewer the letters. Berlin is B. Stuttgart is S (and cheeky residents like to pay extra to choose the next letters - EX, followed by several numbers). One notable exception to the "big city, one letter" theme is Hamburg, whose license plates are HH, for Hansestadt Hamburg (indicating it was in the Hanseatic League back in the Middle Ages).  Esslingen, which has a population ca. 93,000, has the code ES on its license plates, and I still get a warm fuzzy feeling everytime I see a car from there.  One gets good at figuring out what the various codes indicate.

Since we live in a very small village near a very small town, we don't get our own code. We have to go with FDS, for Freudenstadt, which is the capital of our county. That abbreviation felt a bit awkward at first, since that was the common abbreviation of a feminine product sold and advertised when I was young.  I got used to it, though, and whenever we're traveling out of area and I see an FDS license plate, I get a homey neighborly feeling.

That's Martin's license plate.  You already know what the FDS means.  The EM is for Elizabeth & Martin, and the numbers indicate our anniversary in American date format. That's supposed to help him remember each year.  The blue bit on the left has 12 yellow stars in a circle (the symbol of the European Union) on the top, and a D for Deutschland below.

Recently a decision has been made that folks living in Horb can have their own license plate code again!  Old-timers are thrilled because they can reclaim their identity and not have to ally themselves with those city folk in Freudenstadt. Newcomers can claim their allegiance to Horb and assimilate more quickly. There is much excitement about this decision, but changing to the new plates is optional.

Horb's new license plate code will be HOR.  

I think we'll stick to FDS.

Getting Around in Germany

We live, as I've already explained, in a very small town. The somewhat larger town of Horb lies in the valley below and has a train station.  The station is probably a 40-minute walk from our house, or an 8-minute drive.  From this station I can get to any city or town in Germany that I want to visit, relatively easily. I don't need a car to leave town and go somewhere shopping for a day.

My daughter and parents are coming to visit in December, and they would like to see some Christmas markets during their stay. Martin will be in the office most of the time, and I'm still not comfortable driving, especially long distances. In Wisconsin, this would have been a problem, and we would have spent a lot of time sitting at home. Here all we have to do is get down to the train station, and we can go to Nürnberg, Ludwigsburg, Konstanz, Esslingen, Stuttgart, Freiburg, and any number of charming towns.  We can get to the small nearby towns by bus, and the bus stop is a 4-minute walk from our house. The bus schedule is available online, so we don't even have to stand around and wait at the bus stop.

This is one of the brilliant things about life in Germany - the accessibility of public transportation. In Fond du Lac (Wisconsin), one is stuck if he doesn't have a car. There are buses in Fond du Lac, but I never met a person in 19 years of living there who used them. Oshkosh is 20 minutes away by car and has nice opportunities for shopping, but if you don't have a car or know someone who does, you can't get there.

Martin's mother has been staying with us for a few days, and tomorrow she takes the train back to Esslingen. It will cost her €8.40 ($10.80), and the trip takes about 75 minutes.  She doesn't like driving out of Esslingen, and so if it weren't for the train, she wouldn't be here unless Martin had driven there to pick her up.

When I go to Esslingen without Martin, I take the train. I always bring a book, but I usually nod off for a nap. I couldn't read or sleep if I were driving! Driving in Germany is no fun anyway. The roads are packed with cars, campers, and semis, and although there are sections of the Autobahn where there is no speed limit, there are so many cars on the road, constructions zones, and traffic jams that one rarely has a chance to drive faster than 70 mph. Besides that, parking is a big pain. Parking garages are your only hope, and squeezing into those tight spots takes some real talent or a Smart car.

It's just one more reason why I feel lucky to live here - I live in a small, quiet town where there's next to nothing going on, and I don't drive much yet. If I get bored and have a free day, I can choose a town to visit and buy a train or bus ticket for a day trip there and back. It usually takes longer than driving by car, but it's convenient and makes travel possible even for those who don't drive.

Checking the arrival time

Since I still don't plan on driving further than to and from the train station in Horb anytime soon, I am grateful for the accessibility of the buses and trains. I feel somewhat environmentally friendly, as well. The trains and buses are still going to be running their routes whether I'm on them or not, and leaving the car in the garage saves us gas and  doesn't cause additional air polution.

I'll use that as my main reason for not doing much driving over here!

Rolling Bakery

Bildechingen is a very small village of 2200 inhabitants. The closest bigger town is Horb, which has 6000 inhabitants, and it takes about 5 minutes to drive there by car. Horb is down in the valley, and Bildechingen is on the top of the ridge overlooking the valley.  There is a shopping area about 20 minutes away by foot, where one finds such businesses as Real (a super center with just about everything plus a grocery store), Norma (which is like Aldi), a hardware store, a garden center, two car dealerships, a beverage market, a pet store, a saddle shop, and a McDonald's.  Down in Horb there are several grocery stores, pharmacies, banks, cafes and clothing shops, a flower shop and a bookstore, and quite a few restaurants and pubs.

Germans are very proud of their bread, and rightly so. Unfortunately, though, as has happened in the States, the small local bakeries are having a hard time competing with big we-have-everything stores, especially in smaller towns where people have to drive to a grocery store for most of their purchases anyway. At the big stores the bread, pastries, rolls, and cakes arrive in bulk frozen and are baked in their ovens. It tastes fine and it will do, but it's a treat to go to a real bakery, where the baker makes his own dough, pie crusts, and cakes from scratch.

We don't have a bakery in Bildechingen or in the shopping area 20 minutes away.  We have something better. Every Wednesday morning a van drives into our neighborhood and stops right in front of our neighbors' house!  The driver honks the horn to let us know she's there and opens up the side of her van like a kiosk. She has loaves of many different kinds of bread, rolls, baguettes, pastries, big pretzels, and a few cakes.

I can't believe my luck! This van doesn't stop down the street or around the corner - it's 10 paces out our front gate.  She arrives in the morning around 8:45, which is right around the time I get hungry. My biggest challenge is going to be holding back and not buying too much.

Every Tuesday evening around 7:30 there's a fruit and vegetable truck that does the same thing, and we'll happily support this farmer's business as well. I don't get quite as excited about healthy veggies as I do about bakery, but I definitely appreciate the convenience.

I am very happy to support the local farmers, butchers, and bakers, even if their prices are a little higher than in the big chain stores. The food is better quality and fresher, they appreciate the business, and they're very friendly. The baker this morning asked me if I'm new here (today was the first time I saw the van - I don't know how I've missed it in the past 4 weeks!). As I left with my treasures, I said "Auf Wiedersehen; Bis nächste Woche!" ("Good bye; see you next week!")  She will definitely see me again next week and every week after that.

Things to Get Used to 2: Doing Laundry

Another thing I'm glad I knew better than to take for granted while living in Wisconsin was the ease and speed of doing a load of laundry. I don't know how the high-efficiency washers and dryers work in the States, but I had to listen, watch, and take notes while Martin did a few loads in order to get down the steps of doing laundry here.

Just to compare, I'll start with the 6-step and 4-step processes with my machines in Wisconsin, followed by the processes here.

Using the washer in Wisconsin:
 1. Open washer.
 2. Throw in clothes.
 3. Pour in soap.
 4. Close washer.
 5. Select "cold, warm, or hot".
 6. Push "on".

The usual load took about 45 minutes.

Using the dryer in Wisconsin:
 1. Transfer clothes from washer to dryer.
 2. Set dial to the mark between "drip dry" and "very dry".
 3. Clean out lint trap.
 4. Push "start".

The usual load took about 40 minutes.
Total steps: 10   Total time: 85 minutes

Using the washer in Germany:
 1. Turn on faucet.
 2. Open washer.
 3. Throw in clothes.
 4. Close washer.
 5. Open soap drawer.
 6. Pour in soap.
 7. Pour in fabric softener.
 8. Close soap drawer.
 9. Select desired temperature in degrees celcius (this turns machine on as well).
 10. Push "start".

A normal load takes 2 hours 45 minutes in the washer.

Using the dryer in Germany:
 1. Turn off faucet to washer.
 2. Transfer clothes from washer to dryer.
 3. Turn off washer.
 4. Turn on dryer.
 5. Select how dry you want the clothes - cupboard dry, ironing dry, damp dry, etc.
 6. Tell dryer how fast the washer spun the clothes (default "1000", change to "1400").
 7. Push "start".

The clothes are usually "cupboard dry" in 1 hour, 58 minutes.  THEN...
 8. Remove clothes.
 9. Empty water collection tank into sink.
 10. Clean out lint trap.
 11. Rinse additional filter and lay out to dry.
 12. Turn off dryer.

Total steps: 22  Total time: 283 minutes (or 4 hours, 43 minutes)

It's going to take HOW long to wash this load of darks??

Even though the washer takes much longer, less water is used. The water comes into the washer and the machine spins the clothes once or twice, and then the clothes sit for a bit. Then the drum spins again, and the clothes sit for a bit. Apparently it costs less than 20 cents to run a load, considering water and energy use.  But if I don't put the load in before dinner, I'm going to be staying up late!

Sorting Garbage in Swabia

We live in the southern German state of Baden-Württemberg, in the area called Swabia.  Entertaining and informative books have been written about the Swabian people and their quirks, characteristics, dialect, and habits.  Swabian frugality is legendary, and they are also known for their orderliness, even more so than the average German.  If I ever write a book about immigrating to Swabia, I think I'll start with the garbage sorting.

In our kitchen we have three garbage containers. Three different garbage containers, with three different purposes. And there's another one in the hall. Each of these containers has a corresponding bin in the garage, and those are set out on the curb on collection day.

First, there's the gelber Sack (yellow sack). Into the gelber Sack goes all kinds of plastic and foil packaging waste: yogurt containers, foil tops of containers, tin cans, tin foil, deli meat wrappings, Zip-lock bags, empty tea candle holders and milk containers, etc.

Then there's the Biomüll (biodegradable waste). That's a small brown bucket with a lid, lined with a paper bag and newspaper on the bottom to absorb moisture.  Into this container goes food and garden waste, paper towels, toothpicks...anything that can biodegrade.

There's also a small Hausmüll (regular garbage) container for things like used tissues (though I think those could go into the Biomüll), diapers, cigarette butts, dental floss, and basically anything too gross to go into one of the other containers. One can purchase from the city (for 5 EUR each) specially marked small additional bags to put next to the garbage bin on collection day if one has more garbage than one should.

The last container we have in the house is for Altpapier (waste or scrap paper).  Newspapers, magazines, store receipts, junk mail, small pieces of cardboard, etc. go in here.

It doesn't end there. One can't throw glass bottles or jars into any of the above containers. Once a week or so I walk a bag of these items several blocks to the public recycling center, where I throw them one by one into containers separated for color. This must NOT be done on Sundays or holidays, however, due to the noise disturbance of crashing bottles.

Crates of beer bottles can be returned to the store where we bought them and put into a machine that spits back Pfand (the money we paid on deposit when we bought the crate). The other day we got about 14 EUR back in Pfand for returning several months' worth of stored up empty bottles.

For years I've had to ask Martin which garbage to use for various waste. Sometimes he's not even sure! In Esslingen rules for the Biomüll are stricter than here - egg shells can go in, but not eggs. Raw meat scraps can go in, but not cooked. Luckily for me, it's easier here in Horb and I have lists printed showing me what goes where in case I'm in doubt.

I should mention that "garbage day," which was so easy in Wisconsin, requires electronic reminders if there's any hope of us remembering what to put out on which day.  The gelbe Säcke are collected every 4 weeks on a Monday.  The "regular garbage" is collected every 4 weeks on a Tuesday. Biomüll is collected every 2 weeks on a Wednesday, and the Altpapier is collected every 4 weeks on a Thursday.  It would be nice if the collection all fell on the same week, but it doesn't. So our garbage schedule this month looks like this:
 Oct. 5  Altpapier (paper)
 Oct. 10 Biomüll
 Oct. 15 gelber Sack (plastic)
 Oct. 16 regular garbage
 Oct. 24 Biomüll

Woe unto you if you put out the wrong garbage; they won't take it, and you're stuck for another month with your old garbage in a container that's already full plus the new stuff.  If that happens, I think it would be best to go on vacation for 4 weeks, which of course you can't because then you'd miss all the other collections as well and be no better off.

This is the way it is here in Swabia, and there are no apologies or reasons to complain.  I've been somewhat familiar with the system for enough years to never take for granted the simplicity of garbage collection in Wisconsin, which would make most Swabians snort and shake their heads: two containers - one for garbage, and one for all recyclables. Garbage is collected every Friday, recycling every other Friday.  Among the Swabian quirks and characteristics, one will not find "simplicity."  :-)