Shopping at Aldi Markt

Thirty years ago when I lived in Germany, we did most of our shopping (groceries) at a little store called Aldi Markt. Of course, back then there weren't very many large markets. People had little refrigerators and went shopping everyday for fresh eggs, fruit, etc. Now the refrigerators are a little larger and many people go shopping twice a week instead of every day. My memories, though, are of Aldi Markt, so today we went there. Claudia (I met her 29 years ago.) and her husband, Axel, took me. They don't buy very many things from there, but they let me have my fun.

Aldi is a discount market. Instead of having the shelves stocked and in good order, the items are simply stacked in rows and sometimes they have what you want, and sometimes they don't. They always have the staples, but if you want something special, you don't shop at Aldi. Anyway, it was fun for me to go back and buy a few things. There were candies from Haribo (gummy bears and other gummies), yoghurt, hocherhitzte Milch (milk that has been specially processed to allow a long shelf-life without being cooled), cartons of Saft (juice), and the thing that I remember most -- Speisequark!

Speisequark is sort of like yoghurt, but yoghurt only has about 3% milkfat, whereas Speisequark has about 40% milkfat! It is really rich! Sometimes it's eaten with a sweet fruit topping as dessert, and sometimes it is spread on top of bread with a few herbs and seasonings. I like it both ways. Wish we could get it in Provo! Anybody know of where it might be available? Well, I'll enjoy it here while I can.

Mach es gut!

M. Wheatley

Keyboard

I forgot to bring the right adapter for my computer! Argh! I brought a two-pronged adapter and I need a three-pronged one. Oh well. I'll just make fewer postings than I planned on.

Please understand that anything I post which sounds like a complaint is not really a complaint. I am simply identifying differences in the culture or day-to-day experiences between Germany and Provo.

First: The keyboard is different! The "Y" and the "Z" are switched. It must have to do with how often each of those keys is used in the respective language. The German alphabet also has a few more characters (for example: ö, ü, and ß), therefore the return key and uppercase keys have been reduced in size to make room for the addition keys. As I type, I have to watch my fingers to make sure that I type the correct keys. It takes a lot longer, but I am getting used to it. If I make mistakes, please bear with me and try to figure out what I am writing. It could be like a code. Here is an example: <#Todaz
Mach es gut!

M. Wheatlez
Oops!#
Oops again!
M. Wheatley