Back home - enjoying good old German breads

I came back on Wednesday and strangely the jet lag really didn't hit me this time - I even woke up at 6AM local time one day - very strange because you usually can't seem to get out of bed when you come over from the US. Maybe it's all the excitement, paired with some nervousness about what's to come. But one thing I have been noticing and it's almost scaring me at times is how quiet things are here - objectively they really aren't especially since we have the world cup going on with late night games almost every night and people are sitting outside all night, but in my perception, things are really, really peaceful and quiet here. To the extent that I think, I'm still asleep - I don't hear the constant honking, ambulance sirens and loud trucks that I've become used to.

At the same time, I'm confused by the silence of the people as well - and I don't mean friends obviously, but rather random people on the street, in the supermarket, next to you at the bar - I am so used to people just chatting you up in the elevator or on the way to the subway, I keep on wondering why people are so quiet. Additionally, I want to apologize each time I pass a bystander but then remember, it will seem strange to them when they hear me mumbling 'excuse me' 'sorry about that'.
I'm sure this is temporary but I am also struggling a little with listening to and just speaking German all day - of course this is my native language and it's also easier to express certain things in German for me but I sure miss the ease of the English small talk - just being able to ask people - how are you? Makes starting a conversation so much more comfortable.

As it is the summer, I really enjoy people's urge to sit outside, go to the park, cycling or for a swim but it sure is interesting to go into stores and there is no air conditioning. I never noticed it before, even the subways seem to smell a little here - I guess the A/C in the NY subway absorbs some of these horrendous smells.

Today is Sunday and it seems especially quiet to me. Might be because it's still early and there was a very late game last night but it's also because Sunday is a quiet day here in Munich. Shops are closed and you need to rise early to be able to make it to the bakery. Yet, everyone makes plans to go to the lake or the mountains - it's an excuse to really take time off which is much needed in our busy lives. So let's embrace it...

While there are some adjustments and it's interesting to observe oneself adjusting back and forth, there are many things (and especially people) that I have missed greatly and I am so happy to be back with them. One of the foods I have missed the most is the proper Bavarian pretzel and I have to tell every one of my colleagues in the US who kindly tried to get some authentic German pretzels in NYC - you just simply need to come here and try ours. They are worlds apart... I keep on wondering why Germany has such a bread oriented culture and I think it must go back to the middle ages or even earlier where the foundations were laid out - bread and beer I guess are closely related. Almost as much as the bread do I enjoy the different cheeses which you can probably get in NYC as well but they are just so outrageously expensive that you usually end up with your regular, good old cheddar cheese. One thing I will miss and that I haven't found out why it's not as accessible here is Hummus - it's in every food store in the US, almost considered a basic staple food and here I'm assuming you need to go to special Middle Eastern stores to be able to find it. Oh well, that will make me venture out to explore my new, old city a little more. For the time being, I'm out to catch one of these bakeries with their delicious selection of breakfast rolls ;-)