‘Mama always said life was like a box a chocolates, never know what you’re gonna get.’ – Forrest Gump
The little unexpected experiences waiting just around the corner are what make life interesting. Sometimes they’re a pleasure and sometimes they can be a pain, but to me, they are the dark and light tones that an artist adds to their artwork to create interest. They are those spices added whilst cooking that turns each of us into a masterchef!
Neither, Rob or I can speak a word of German and so naturally this has resulted in a few expected and unexpected experiences. I figured that this was life’s way of awarding me with a new fun game. And so we played!Game 1: Pre-Paid Phone Cards Game
We had prepared for this game by bringing an old phone from home. The pre-game plan was to buy a local sim card for it on Day 1 so I could save expensive global roaming on my iPhone Vodaphone bill and just keep it for special occasions and emergencies. The game was in full swing and we were ahead! What we hadn’t realised was that the German messages we kept receiving were warnings about the need to top up the credit. The umpire declared ‘Out’ and booted us from the game while we were chatting to Max back home.
Wanting to get back in the game we brought in the reserves off the bench. The lovely patient guy in our local Vodaphone shop listened to our message, explained they were warnings, showed us how to check our usage, sold us more credit, added it into the phone for me and then said come back and he’ll do it again whenever I need it. Easy! Victory to Vodaphone!
Game 2: Buying Stock Cubes Game
A version of this game was expected and we knew it would come hurtling full force down the road towards
us and so yesterday Rob bought a dictionary. I do believe he was convinced it had been absorbed magically overnight and so we headed into our local supermarket and took on the challenge to buy stock cubes. In retrospect, I believe it was a rare bravado rarely seen since Monty Python’s Black Knight!
While I started with a preference for chicken stock cubes, after 30 minutes of searching row upon row of stacked shelves, I was prepared to take anything that resembled taste in a crumbly block, a powdered jar or a liquid paste you squashed, squirted or squeezed! Eventually, our tiny treasure was found hidden on the bottom shelf next to the needles in a haystack and nowhere near the spices, sauces or soups. The word ‘bouillon’ was the big hint and then it was just a matter of finding one with a chicken on it as opposed to the cow or the green bush. Easy! Victory to the Black Knight !
The Black Knight has now taken to reading the paper… in German. I’m fascinated because he really looks like he knows what it says!
Game 3: Surprise Shopping Game
The first step to playing the Surprise Shopping Game well is to learn to read the pictures. I thought we’d both mastered this basic skill when I went to buy coffee prepacked in tubes. Coffee is simple to find. There are always hints like espresso, cappuccino and mild. It’s just a matter of feeling the packet to work out if it contains beans, powder, bags or tubes.
Yesterday I bought a tall box. It was the right height and shape. The pictures indicated that inside were coffee tubes. We felt, squeezed then shook the box. Rob agreed! We bought it. Ok… I do understand that you never really know the results until you get your latest surprise find home and unpack. Yes… it is only after you utter those famous words, “Open the box and let’s see what’s really in it!” do you find out if you’ve hit a home run or been caught out.
Darn! Caught out! I’d forgotten about pods. I had especially forgotten about pods stacked on top of each other to a great height in a tall box! Not so Easy! Victory to the Supermarket!
Final Game
There are so many games when shopping and I have enjoyed buying fruits, meats and cheeses that we don’t see at home and I actually have no idea what they are but it is fun trying out these new tastes.
I’ve been putting some pretty little red berries on my yoghurt each morning along with raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. I think they might be cranberries or even possibly elderberries and therefore have the potential to be crushed or juiced for cocktails or wine. If someone could please let me know then I’ll move them from breakfast to the correct time of day.
But the most fun game is played at the end of each day. I’ve named it ‘Which Red is Best?’ while Rob plays his variation named ‘Which Beer is Best?’ The ‘Arcobrau’ is now my local pub and I’ve started to try each and every one of the reds on the wine list to find out which one I prefer best. Easy! Victory to Fiona!
- Prost!
