Chinese love Germany

That became clear to me again during the past four weeks. We had Shiqi's parents over from Shanghai. It had been a long time since we had seen them, and for them it was the first time at all to see Mylène. Needless to say that those four weeks were over before we knew it.

My father-in-law had made a 10 day journey with a bus through Europe, visiting cities in Germany, Italy and France. As usual when Asians tour through Europe, the itinerary was ambitious, especially because this year it was hot throughout the continent. So with around 40 degrees Celsius my father-in-law was exploring Rome (in one day!) and many other cities, and sat in the bus for about five hourse every day! Despite the tough conditions, he enjoyed the trip a lot.

After he returned, I asked him which country he liked the most. Without hesitating, he said "Germany". And he told me that everyone in his group (he travelled with a group of Chinese) felt the same way. The reasons were:

1. In Germany, the climate is comfortable
2. The landscape is beautiful; it is very green everywhere.
3. Compared to most other countries, Germany is very cheap.

Well, there you have it! And I think the Chinese are right. Let's hope the Germans keep the price level stable. Then, Germany can be sure to continue getting high scores on the lists of favourite countries.
And when Chinese come to Germany in October, there might even be more to enjoy ;-)

Mineral water

It's hot in Germany. This year will probably be the hottest summer in history. When it's hot, one should not forget to drink enough during the day. What to drink? Well, the Germans probably don't have to think about this question long: "Water, please ... mineral water".

When I started working here in Germany, it occurred to me that most of my colleagues were drinking mineral water all day. I drank tap water to the surprise of my colleagues.

I was wondering whether it was just my perception that Germans drink so much mineral water compared to the Dutch. So, time for a small investigation.

Surfing around for a bit delivered some interesting results. Here is the European top 5 ,by Wikipedia.

1. Italians 203 liters/year
2. French 149
3. Belgians 145
4. Germans 129
5. Spaniards 126

The Dutch supposedly only drink 17 liters of mineral water per year on average, not even enough for the top-20. And the Chinese don't get further than 3,6 liters per year on average, although I am sure this number will rise quickly in the coming years.
Mineral water is getting more and more popular. Over the past decades, these numbers have risen strongly for most countries.

This site provides excellent information on mineral waters from all over the world. With 487 brands, the Germans come second, after the Italians, with 585 brands.With 19 and 63 brands respectively, the Netherlands and China cannot compete with those numbers.

As it seems, my assumption was correct: the Germans do drink a lot of mineral water. But they are not the only ones. And, to live up to their reputation, the Dutch prefer tap water ... why spend more?

Bye bye Fifa World Cup

The World Cup soccer is over. Time to pick up on blogging again.
I think the organisation of the tournament was a big success. But that was no surprise. Germans are generally good at that. They even managed to arrange beautiful weather for the whole duration of the tournament!!
And, most importantly, the whole country was in celebration mood for four weeks. This together with the fact that the German national team played very well, made even the Germans loose their minds for a while. Finally, after about sixty years, the emotional barriers were broken, and the Germans dared to show and wave their flags again. Especially with small flags attached to their cars, a considerable percentage of the population showed national pride again. It took a while before I realised that this is a big deal here. In many nations, people wave national flags happily on many occasions. But not in Germany. Because of WWII showing national pride was a sensitive issue.
I am happy to see, that these wounds are healing. The Germans have a right to be proud. It was a good tournament, and even their own national team was finally playing attractive football.

I do admit that I am happy the games are over now. Because it was not easy for a Dutch to live in Germany during the FIFA World Championship. If only our boys had played better ;-)