Geroge Walgden

was the name on a letter I received today. According to the Grünenthal company doctor, Mr. Walgden is apparently in fine health.

Really. You'd think that they'd get it right at least once. I've been Waldgen up until now, so I suppose it's a step in the right direction. Now all they need to do is devoice that velar stop, and Bbo's your uncle.

I've started to learn Dutch at the Volkshochschule (German evening class type place). I missed the first lesson, so not only do I not have the advantage of German as a first language, I also spent my first two-and-a-half hours catching up. Well, it's five hours a week, so I should pick it up fairly quickly.

Bureaucracy here is worse than I had anticipated. The following things are necessary for other things:

a) You need health insurance to offically live in the country.
b) You need to officially live in the country to legally earn money.
c) You need to have a German bank account to get health insurance.
d) You need to have a German bank account to legally earn money.
e) You need a job to legally earn money (of course).
f) You need a job to have a German bank account.
g) You need health insurance to have a job.
h) You need to have money in a German bank account to get health insurance.
i) You need to have money in a German bank account to get an internet connection.

All of the above means that it's a bugger trying to get settled in in Germany. And whatever you do, don't try and move over here without a job. The state will leave you to rot.

Not many new Vorteile or Nachteile. On the plus side, the ice cream is of course quality and cheap. On the minus side, maps are rubbish. The map of my area showed a train service that hasn't been running since 2001 and a path that supposedly stopped in the middle of nowhere even though it actually just kept going. Oh for Ordnance Survey.

Ritter Sport Ratings

Blood Orange: 7/10
Lock up your daughters when this chocolate's in town; it's a crazy rollercoaster ride. There's a distinct bite to it, and it's as tangy as you might expect. As with lemon, it might have done better with dark chocolate, but that's only a minor quibble. I'd wholeheartedly recommend this full-bodied quadrangle.

Sunny Crisp (sunflower seeds): 6/10
An interesting idea, this one. Full marks for creativity. As a crunchy variant it measures up well against the classic Knusperflakes, although it isn't perhaps such an engaging eat as some, lacking the epic flavour of rhubarb and yoghurt et al. There's also the problem that the sunflower seeds have a tendency to drop out of the chocolate and land on the floor, and are thus (after approximately 3 seconds) rendered inedible.

Cappucino: 8/10
This was simply magnificent. The soft, creamy texture of Ritter milk chocolate lends itself well to such combinations. This one was in fact so melt-in-mouth-tastic that I sucked most of the pieces instead of chewing them, wanting to get the maximum sensory experience. Even the fact that I'm not really a coffee drinker didn't significantly affect the pleasure I got out of this one.

An apology
The long and silly word that was the title of last week's entry should have been Unfallschadenbegutachtung, rather than Unfallschädigungsbegutachtung. I mean, obviously. I'd like to apologise to the good people at the shop down the road for any distress that this misrepresentation might have caused.

I'm not going to edit the original post, though, as the original erroneous version is slightly longer and sillier and therefore a smidgeon hilariouser.