Because all of the government rental houses (that means we rent a house from the government as opposed to a private rental, a house rented from a German) around the base that my husband is stationed have barely-par appliances, if we want filtered, cold water (not a knock on German water, my water-buds just know what they like) we subscribe to Culligan. That almost-as-tall-as-a-person water jug that has the blue and red handles for cold or hot water? Yes, that’s what we have in our house. Water-cooler conversations? They happen anytime someone comes to my front door.
Now why it’s in my entryway, well because whoever designed the layout of the house that we’re renting, didn’t really design it. They put all the right pieces in the house – a kitchen, a powder room, a living room, a place for a dining table, an entryway – but just kinda threw up walls and added a kitchen with no thought to location or size of these spaces. My kitchen, entryway and powder room are all connected and right at the front door. My powder room, which also happens to be about ten steps away from a different, but full bathroom, is about the same size as my kitchen. So when we needed a place to put the water stand, it was either the kitchen, powder room, or entryway. There was no room in the kitchen. And call me crazy, but I don’t know that I want to get water from a water cooler in a bathroom…
My Culligan is in our entryway, visible from my front door, and there is jolly older German man who delivers water jugs to us every two weeks. The whole point about sharing our water subscription is to share that, today, he dropped off water jugs. We always talk about something, whether it’s travel, or his horses, or something local that’s happening. Today I said “The air is so cold, I just want it to be warmer.” To which he looked at me and said “Abi, it is still winter in Germany.”
I mean, I know that…but we just got the sun back here in Bavaria and I was just wishing out loud that maybe the temperature could match the sunny vibes. I had to laugh as I was reminded, in a true German persona, that it IS still winter, Abi. Cold should be expected. This is my third winter in Germany and they are the worst. It’s a bit better when we are reminded that the sun does exist; usually January through March are the months when it’s a gamble whether any of those rays will come across the skies. But even on those sunny says, it is still winter (Abi) and winter is the worst.
Part of the reason it’s the worst is because spring, spring in Germany is amazingly beautiful. Maybe Germany’s best season ever! Everything turns all the really good shades of green, and there are kilometers and kilometers of bright yellow fields that just the sight of them makes you happy. Fests start happening, all the flowers (and Germans are the most serious about their flowers) start blooming. You could not live in a more magical place than Bavaria in the spring.
But, it is still winter over here so I’ll just grab my glass of filtered water and deal.
