Doing simple things here sometimes can be a lot more complicated than you think it is. Mailing Christmas cards, for one. The expected procedure: You take your Christmas cards to the post office, label an envelope with the correct address (yes, you don’t use your own envelopes; they have to be provided by the post office here – that, I learned early on when I first got here). You place your cards inside the envelope, pay the appropriate amount for the postage fee and leave the post office with that deep sense of satisfaction that you’ve yet once more accomplished to do something successfully. So goes the theory. Now to the practice (the way I experienced it two years ago): You get to the post office, show the clerk your pile of cards and explain that you would like to mail them internationally. And that’s when the frown comes. Not at the word “international.” That’s not the difficult part, really. That frown comes with the statement that these cards cannot be mailed, because they …

It was supposed to be the cause for great happiness – the Weihnachtsstollen, a Christmas treat I had brought from home this summer for the sole purpose of enjoying it during the Christmas season. You see, living in a country that doesn’t celebrate Christmas except for like two hours on Christmas Eve, also means you can’t have any of those specially delicious treats many of us from so-called Western nations take for granted during this season. At least in my home country, we have tons of all sorts of Christmas goodies that contribute to everyone gaining so much weight this time of year. So, for me having a few of those things exported here, makes Christmas just a tidbit more special. It got really “special” today, when I finally decided to break into my precious little Weihnachtsstollen. So special, in fact, that I’ll probably remember it for some years to come. Well, I had consumed one full piece already, and I was happily munching on the next one when I realized something tasted rather odd! …