German Food: Part One of Posibly More Than One (Day 10)

German Food:

More than this

Eine Lebenschmittelgeschäft (Grocery Store) in Alexanderplatz

To start this up, I just want to note that I've officially passed the equivalent of the McDonalds test of foreign language proficiency (McTFLP). In addition to no longer wondering whether I am capable of acquiring food for the next meal, I have had some modicum of confidence in my German abilities returned to me after successfully negotiating a cell-phone contract "auf Deutsch."

Given this new-found sense of self worth, and all of the culinary opportunities offered to me by having a reasonable expectation of being able acquire "vittles" on a regular basis, food has become something of a concern for me. This is especially true as I've found that each additional dollar (largely worthless and pronounced "euro" in Germany for some reason) I spend on food (the ephemeral "marginal euro") has a direct impact on my happiness unmatched by almost everything else in my life. I'm hungry, I buy a pretzel, bam, instant satisfaction. The extra euro I spend buying fresh vegetables instead of frozen has a similar effect. My advice is, and I'm willing to bet that the adult readers can corroborate this, if you are looking for a way to directly increase your happiness, spend a few extra dollars (or "euros") per day on food.

If all of this gives an impression that I'm living it large, let the discounted reality of the nearly broke city of Berlin disprove this illusion. As a college student I can tell you, the second part of to living the good life is knowing where to buy your extra food. Moreover, because Macalester's budgeting policy seems to factor in some additional spending on "beverages," the teetotallers among us (of which there is one) are free to splurge on a little extra fruit.

Current Standard for the good life: Being able to go into a grocery store and buy whatever I want without feeling guilty about it financially. A luxury that is never to be taken for granted.