It was around noon yesterday when I decided I need to make myself some lunch. I didn’t know what we had around off the top of my head and even dreamt for a moment of being extravagant and ordering something for lunch but I remembered we probably had things to eat. So I meandered into the kitchen and looked around.

I took a baguette out of the freezer and flipped on the oven. In goes the baguette for a nice warm crispy treat. I pulled out a few cheeses and cut those up, sliced a bit of chorizo and pulled out radishes to wash and half. I started to assemble my plate and asked Ana if she wanted some of what I could pull together too. She said yes and assembled our two plates. Warm baguette, lovely cheeses, radishes with a bit of salt, a few slices of chorizo and lunch is ready.

As I ate I thought…well, how very European of me and I love it! This, I could eat for lunch every day and most weeks this meal will appear here and there for us. I joke that my partner would live off of bread, sliced meat and cheese if only up to her. I am a big veggie fan so often a veg has landed on her plate. She often says that it isn’t a meal unless there is bread which if up to me, I probably wouldn’t eat much bread.

After lunch, as a work time break for her and before I launched into an afternoon of writing, we took the pups on a nice long walk to a park we like. We took our time. There was a bit of sun and because the weather report was rain all weekend we wanted to take advantage. We threw the ball around with Pushkin and Luna ran in circles. We had a lovely time.

We made our way back and set up a coworking space. Missing coffee shops is a big thing for me this week so I turned on Spotify to a coffee shop playlist and made some espresso for us both in our stovetop espresso maker. With a little bit of Kinder chocolate on hand, we launched into our projects with smooth tunes surrounding us, great espresso and chocolate to fuel us.

This morning as I was chatting with a friend about the things I hope I don’t assimilate to, I have realized that yesterday was an exercise in some things I have enjoyed assimilating to and I hope I take with me when we move back to the states. I love taking my time over coffee and with people. The hour structure of the US scheduling just seems to abrupt to me these days. I like to linger with coffee and people. The lingering in sunny walks too in which the schedule allows for such things is something I don’t want to give up either. We walk everywhere around here. I haven’t driven a car in close to two years and most days I don’t miss it. The food is also something I like assimilating to. Espresso in the afternoon is delightful and with kinder chocolate, you can’t go wrong. Time is differently used here in really helpful ways and food seems to be a better balance than what US gets caught in with efficiency and rapid eating. I want to take my time with my radishes, thank you.

While I don’t want to get assimilated to the unfriendly nature of some German interaction, I have found myself appreciating the directness and honesty that comes with friendships with my German friends. I no longer am patient with the passive aggressiveness that you find in some fake US friendly exchange. I would rather know what is going on and that seems to be in abundance here. I still want to treat other humans with kindness so let’s not lose that but I am sure that comes with getting out of big city life too. We shall see.

But I will keep the afternoon co working space and the long walks, lockdown or not.