„Die Nacht wird Hell”

Translation: "The Night will be light (beer)." 

There are only two hopes I have when I wake up: that the health insurance card comes in the mail, and that the internet modem magically appears in the room when I’m out eating at the cafeteria. 

For the past three weeks I’ve had a searing toothache whenever I eat or drink cold or hot foods. A week before I left for Germany, I had a crown put in, and although I followed all the instructions, I have a feeling it fell out. 

The lack of internet I can deal with. I practice my languages, I write, I go out, I play games. I explore. 

And during this time, completely alert without my headphones, I’ve realized the extent of German beer-culture.  You can walk around outside with beer. You can drink it by the river mid day. You can choose your restaurant based on what beer they serve. There’s a Chinese biergarten, a Greek biergarten. Cheesy replicas of ancient statues and all; and I might even visit the Greek biergarten. I’m curious as to how good their 10 € moussaka is. But, obviously, that should be saved for a special occasion. However, it only opens in the evening - a bit spooky, considering it lies besides a graveyard. I guess it’s something for the ghosts to do.

Irodion: The Greek Biergarten. But how Greek is it?

There are other food-related items I’ve noticed, besides the abundance of coffee and bread shops. Surprisingly, the orange juice here is incredibly underrated. I’ve been craving the clean, orange taste it since I left the youth hostel. It’s honestly the best orange juice I’ve had. 

Organic food, too, is sometimes cheaper than the synthetic. It’s true that the organic peanut butter looks a bit like misty facial cream, but on a budget, it’ll work. The meat, however, is incredibly expensive. And I feel like half of the meat is schweinefleisch. 

And of course, even the student cafeteria is much better than at my institution. Sometimes I can get a meal for less than 2 €. Still, the downstairs cafeteria, which is similar to a cafe, is brimming with bread and meat items. So this morning, when I was telling myself to get the pasta salad, I still went for the schnitzel. 

And so it’s lucky for me, that I’m in Germany with a bad tooth. Although I have to reject a lot of hot or spicy foods right now, there’s plenty of bread to fill the void.