Tea and all things British

A quiet week in Bautzen. The days are getting shorter, and colder, and now after two weeks of rest, I am ready to take on school again in a couple of days.

And with the Christmas season approaching I've had to start thinking about home again, and that got  me thinking about differences between here and there and, although I love it here, I realised there are a few things I miss about England:

1) A decent cup of tea

It took me a little while to realise that, in Germany, when you are offered a cup of tea, not to expect a steaming hot milky brew. The possibilities of the kind of tea that you might be given upon answering in the affirmative are virtually limitless. I've been given everything from bright green liquids (that actually turned out to be a quite a nice apple tea) to a dandelion and burdock brew to an Earl Grey. Now, I'm not opposed to herbal and fruit teas - in fact, I rather like them, but I do like to have a say over which one I'm getting, and sometimes I just want an English Breakfast Tea. With milk! (It took me a few error-filled outings to realise that this has to be specified, and that I do have to brace myself for the looks of incredulity).

2) Heart-attack Breakfasts

Not that I have these very often, but sometimes of a weekend morning, going to a cafe and ordering the greasiest, eggiest, most bacon-filled treat just sounds like heaven. Saying that though, I cannot fault the breakfasts here. Fruit, boiled eggs, bread, jam - I do have to admit, they are delicious, and there is none of the stodgy, greasy feeling one gets after they've had a huge fry-up.

3) Baked beans!

Being this canned delight's number one fan, I am having serious bean withdrawals. They are tough to find, and some Germans don't even seem to know what they are! When trying to explain them a couple of weeks ago I was met with nothing more than a blank stare. Going from being a student who bought 10+ cans of beans at a time and storing them in the cupboard 'just in case' to having a bean-free larder has been a strange experience, and having a beautiful easy meal of beans on toast with cheese sprinkled on top will be the first thing I have when I go home for Christmas.

4) How are you?

Having been brought up on a diet of small-talk and empty conversation, I was a little perturbed when I brought my habits here and was offered not much on response. On walking into a room and seeing someone, I would immediately start off with "Hallo, wie geht's dir?" (Hello, how are you?), and at first was a little confused why I would always just get the simple response: "Hallo, gut" (Hello, good), until I brought this up in conversation with a German who enlightened me on his people's ways. "Ah yes, you British just ask everyone how they are, even when you don't care. In Germany, you would only ask that question if you genuinely cared about the answer". It's not something I can shake off easily though, if at all.