Internet Saga, III

So the last time we spoke, I left you wondering whether we got Internet because it has been two weeks.

The appointment with Kabel Deutstchand was for weeknight evening between 4- 6pm. Since the main cable box is in a neighbor’s apartment/storage in the basement, we scheduled an appointment for him to come at the same time.

The husband came home early, 3:45 precisely, to get this show on the road. At 4pm he looks out the living room window and sees a Kabel Deutschland truck. He ecstatically says to me, “he’s here!” So we wait for the technician to ring the bell. No ring. Then he pulls away we presume to search for parking. 30 minutes later while we’re wondering about the technician our neighbor with the basement apartment knocks on our door and hands us a note. It says (in German) “We tried to call you and ring your bell, you were not home. Please call us to reschedule your appointment.”

Confused, the husband asks the neighbor where he found the note and he tells us it was hanging on our name in the front door when he walked. What!?!? We have been home this whole time. We are enraged which triggers serious swearing, so much so the sailors would feel uncomfortable.

We call Kabel Deutschland to find out what happened and the lady on the phone says she will have to call back with details. 3 minutes later we get a call from the same lady and she tells us exactly what the note said. “The technician tried to ring your bell and call you but you didn’t answer.” The husband says to her, “you just called me so my phone works.” She had nothing to say but offer another appointment couple days later. See what I mean about service?

And we know for sure our bell works we even tested it after this debacle.

We are still shocked this technician downright lied about ringing our bell and calling us. This brings this Internet Saga to a brand new low.

Week 10 and still no Internet.

Service

Service is defined very differently here in Deutschland. I can go as far as saying it’s still the one area that needs some work, actually it completely lacks compared to other countries I’ve visited.

Restaurant service works on a different model than in America. In America, hosts greet customers as soon as they enter and take them to the seats. In Deutschland there are no hosts; customers seat themselves, generally. If a restaurant is really busy then a server helps to find the next available seat. Then a server comes to take drink orders and generally brings glasses of water for the table, in America. Here, they take the drink orders but also ask for water orders. Water isn’t free so the question is stilles or gas? (Still or Natural- both bottled.) Once the server brings out the drinks, customers order their dinner, as is the case in America.

Here’s the major difference between restaurant services in the two countries. Here once the dinner order is placed, the server is rarely seen or asks for anything else. If drinks are finished, it is the customer’s responsibility to flag down the server to let them know. Once the food comes out (sometimes with the server, sometimes with a food-runner) and if there is a problem, again the customer has to flag down the server for attention. This is especially trying when the entire restaurant is packed. The same rule applies for checks. Once the dinner plates are cleared, the server is still buzzing around the restaurant taking care of other tables. In Germany (and possibly all of Europe) it is considered rude and hurried for a server to bring customers’ checks to their table soon after dinner/dessert is finished. Also important to note is dining- out, like coffee breaks, is special; customers dine for hours and hours and don’t want to be interrupted when enjoying the company of their friends and family. And the other side of the coin is the server wages. Wages here are much better than in America for servers therefore the need to be overly friendly and turnover tables quickly doesn’t exist. Servers work on a decent wage therefore their isn’t the need to get more and more customers on their tables in one night. Coming from a food industry, I do like this about the German system. I appreciate that German servers get good wages and aren’t having to work extra hard and be extra nice for their tips. I must add, customers tip about 5- 10% at the end of the meal for extraordinary service. Otherwise, customers round up their bill to the next whole number.

And although I understand the restaurant server system, I can’t say I agree with it completely. I like that the servers aren’t working on below minimum wage, like in America, but I would also appreciate some attention to the customers since we are paying for the meal. More than me, I am married to someone that is very impatient so this concept of flagging down a server for another drink or waiting for a check is beyond tolerable.

Moving away from restaurants customer service, in general, is unresponsive. Having lived in America and India and knowing the Indian culture, the customer service in Deutschland doesn’t come close to anything we’ve experienced in either countries. Here, when a company makes a mistake they don’t apologize or try to fix the problem, instead they offer another product or appointment time to make it better. We’ve experienced this couple times, say Internet Saga and Part II. Neither of the companies we are currently working with have apologized that it’s taken this long to get Internet or as much as try to find the problem and fix it. It’s startling to us both that one company went as far as saying that we had to find the main cable box ourselves if we wanted Internet.

It is often said, Germans very rarely apologize for a mistake. The idea is if they apologize then that’s admitting they have done wrong and *gasp* one cannot admit they are wrong. Which leads to accountability; there isn’t any of it. People generally pass the blame on anyone and anything to save themselves from the blame. So the bottom line is if they don’t apologize then they are not admitting to being at fault which means they aren’t wrong, someone else is.

Like when we ordered our kitchen. We talked to 5 different people in the course of 24 hours to figure out what the problem was with the scheduled delivery date and each person blamed the previous person we talked to. Finally the last guy said it was the sales associate, Viktor, we ordered the kitchen from who made a mistake. We never talked to Viktor to find out the truth to that but it was so easy to blame him since he wouldn’t to be able to defend himself on that phone call.

So the least I can say is although Germany has done some things right, customer service isn’t one of them. That’s an area that needs many, many more years of improvement before it can compare to other countries.

Making it a home

I've been cooking like a mad person in our "new" kitchen. After some of the experiences (finding an apartment after seeing 16, not getting internet and still not having internet, washer isn't delivered on time), I've been inspired to release my creative juices in the kitchen. Comforting meals is just what we need. Cornmeal slow cooking in a saucepan while the meat braises in a skillet is the ultimate comfort food.

I always knew that stone ground grits could be interchanged with polenta and vise versa. (Polenta is the name of an Italian dish made of cornmeal.)

Last year when a friend returned from her North Carolina trip with a pound of stone ground grits, I was thoroughly content. We made shrimp and grits few times while living in the US, however I never remembered to use the grits in place of polenta, until Germany. Moving to Germany changed many things but one thing I recalled (learning in culinary school) was stone ground grits can be used to make polenta.

So here is a simple recipe for Polenta using stone ground grits and instead of shrimp, I made it with braised chicken, just as good.

Leeky Grits (No pun intended)

1 tablespoon butter
1 leeks (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced, cleaned*
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1/2 cup stone ground grits
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon chopped parsley

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add leeks, and cook for 3 minutes, while stirring constantly. Add garlic and jalapeno pepper and continue to cook for 1 more minute. Add water and milk and bring the liquid to boil. Gradually whisk in grits. Add salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until mixture is thick and creamy, stirring often. Add more water if necessary for thinning. Cook the grits, covered for about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

*Leeks have a lot of dirt inside them. My best technique is to slice them thinly and soaking them in a bowl of water. Remove the leeks from the bowl with your hands by picking them up out of the water; don’t dump the water out with the leeks in a colander, the dirt will come out with the leeks. Repeat until the water is clear and no dirt or sand is settling at the bottom of the bowl.

Braised Chicken with Polenta or Grits

2 pieces of bone-in, dark chicken, (leg and thigh bone jointed)
1 tablespoon clarified butter
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons chopped parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste

Season chicken with salt and pepper, on both sides.

Heat clarified butter in a medium skillet on medium heat, add the chicken, skin side down and brown on each side for 3-4 minutes. While the chicken is still in the pan, add the garlic and jalapeno pepper. Cook for 1 minute, making sure the garlic doesn’t burn.

Add wine and simmer until reduced by half. Add the salt and pepper, tomatoes, lower the heat and cover the skillet with the lid. Cook the chicken in the simmering liquid, basting every 5 minutes. Cook until the thighs are tender, about 20 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook for 5-8 more minutes. Sprinkle with parsley (I was heavy handed on the parsley; use only 2 teaspoons). Serve over cooked grits. This is also great with egg noodles or pasta.

Lamb with Vegetables and Stuffed Tomatoes

The weather is getting cooler and I am looking forward to making roasts and stews. As a nod to the start of cooler season, I made this roasted lamb and vegetable dish. Since I knew that wouldn’t be enough food to feed us a healthy dinner, I made stuffed tomatoes as the 2nd side. Both the Lamb and Stuffed Tomatoes were inspired by Mark Bittman.

Roasted Lamb with Garlic and Parsley
Adapted from How to Cook Everything

1 (300 gram) boneless lamb shoulder, in one piece
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 tablespoons minced garlic
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Salt and black pepper
2 cups carrots, celery root, parsley root, onions (potatoes would work fine too)

Mince parsley and garlic with salt until fine. Use a thin-bladed knife to cut small slits in the lamb and push pinches of parsley-garlic mixture into them; rub the lamb all over with parsley/garlic remains and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Grind fresh black pepper on the lamb.

Roll the lamb shoulder onto itself and tie it with a twine. This will help keep the moisture inside the meat and prevent the meat from drying out while roasting. Allow the meat to marinate for 1 hour, up to 24 hours. (If marinating for more than 1 hour, refrigerate)

While the meat is marinating, chop carrots, celery root, parsley root and onions in large dices. (Free form is fine, just make sure all the pieces are the same size so they all cook evenly).

Preheat oven to 400°F

20 minutes before roasting, remove the meat from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.

Put the vegetables in a roasting pan, season with salt, black pepper, and olive oil. Put the roasting pan with the vegetables in the oven for 15 minutes.

Carefully add the wrapped lamb onto the roasting pan with the veggies. Cook for 15- 17 minutes for medium. Transfer the shoulder to a cutting board to rest for at least 10 minutes.

Slice the shoulder and serve hot or warm with roasted vegetables.

Stuffed Tomatoes with Rice and Sausage
Adapted from How to Cook Everything

4 firm ripe tomatoes
4 ounces fresh sausage, removed from the casings if necessary (I used 1 link of Nürnberg Wurst)
1/2 cup cooked basmati rice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Combine cooked rice, sausage meat, salt, pepper, and parsley.

Cut a 1/4-inch slice from the smooth end of each tomato (the stem end is typically flatter and makes for a more stable base). Reserve these slices. Use a spoon to scoop out all of the insides of the tomatoes, leaving a wall about 1/4 inch thick.

Sprinkle the inside of the tomatoes with salt and pepper, stuff them with the sausage and rice mixture, and replace the top slices. Spread half the olive oil in a shallow roasting pan that will allow for a little room between the tomatoes and put them in the pan. Sprinkle all with salt and pepper and put the roasting pan in the oven.

Roast the tomatoes for 20 minutes, until they are shriveled and the sausage is cooked through. Take a peek into the middle of one of the tomatoes; if the sausage is still pink, continue cooking. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

This couldn’t have been a more perfect meal for a chilly Fall evening. It was very garlicky and full of vitamins from the vegetables. We both enjoyed it.

Coffee Machines

Germans are serious about their coffee machines, Kaffeemaschine. I may say all Europeans are serious about their coffee and coffee machines in a week but for now familiarity tells me Germans don’t mess around when it comes to the machines. (Although rumor has it that Germans are the last (and least) of the European countries to ask about coffee because they don’t brew good coffee.)

As far as taste, it tastes 100 times better here than it does in America or India. (India knows how to do tea but not coffee, sorry people). I’ve never drank so much coffee in my life but I am thoroughly enjoying it. And not only is the taste good but drinking coffee is an experience. There is no such thing as “coffee on the go” or “to go cups”. It is order by the cup at the coffee shop or at home, sip and enjoy.

All this coffee drinking and café hopping has got us inspired to buy our own Kaffeemaschine. At the end of a day, a cappuccino is just perfect especially for the cold, winter days that are around the corner. For a machine, we’ve looked on Amazon as well as Saturn, the local appliance store. A good machine costs as much as 500 Euros, on the lower end. We’ve seen some machines that cost up to 3000 Euros. I think if I pay that much for a machine, it better wake me up in the morning, grind the beans, make the coffee, clean itself and make breakfast while I am busy doing other things.

As of today, we’ve agreed upon one on Amazon that is well within our budget and should be delivered soon if things go well. Soon is relative in Deutschland so as long as we get the machine, we’ll be happy.

I am hoping not only will it grind the beans, make the coffee, but clean itself when I am watching TV. That’s not too much, right?

Washing machine

In Germany, washing machines don’t fit into a spare bedroom or coat closet, they sit in the kitchen or bathroom. This is because of the water connection; most apartments are set up to have a washing machine only in the kitchen or bathroom. Since our bathroom is big enough for one person to brush their teeth, shower and take a shit, we knew we’d have to install ours in the kitchen. After having our kitchen installed, we measured the space left for a machine, 58cm. Yes, that small. Everything is small here, you know this already.

On the other side of the machine, we put a cart that we brought from America that I would like to use. The cart is 60cm. We decided to buy a machine that is 50cm, smaller than normal. Normal is 60cm. And although 50cm is not regularly available it is likely to find one. We searched high and low, at Saturn (Germany’s version of Best buy), Amazon.de and local papers. Finally he saw an ad in the paper for a 50cm machine at a local store, Poco. He went to the store the day the machine was on sale to order and the associate tells him they’re out of stock. 2 hours after the store opens and they’re out of stock of the one machine we wanted? Clearly, the demand for smaller sized washing machines is big.

Later that day he finds out another Poco has some in stock. Upon arriving at the store, he asks the associate for details; price, delivery charge, installation charge, size, etc. Everything is fine until the associate says 60cm for its size. Surprised, the husband points to the ad in the paper that advertises 50cm. And the associate’s response: “Printing typo, we don’t have a 50cm machine. Never did”

What a disappointment.

After this debacle, we decide it would be best to get a 60cm machine since it seems impossible to find the smaller one. And I would replace the cart with a smaller cart. No matter what, we need a machine, as soon as possible. It’s becoming annoying to have to carry weeks of laundry to the Laundromat. Finally, we order a machine from Amazon.de and request delivery for Wednesday 14/9/11. On the scheduled date, we find out the machine won’t be delivered. It won’t be delivered until 28/9/11. They decided this on their own without asking us. Neither of us still know why this was the case but we're happy that the machine did deliver on 28/9/11.

We've done a load of laundry and it works like new. Now it’s onto finding and buying a dryer. Wish us luck….

Internet Saga, II

If you aren’t up to date on our Internet saga, read this first.

So after all this happens with Alice, we decide we want to have Kabel Deutschland provide Internet service to us. Another expat couple that’s also here with work told us that Kabel provides free calls to America in their package, more the incentive to go with this company. Their system works on cables and not the telephone wiring. The husband calls Kabel Deutschland and starts a new contract with them to provide service, in the meantime we still have an outstanding contract with Alice. They are much faster and schedule a date 2 weeks from the phone call.

When the technician arrives, he looks around the apartment and the basement to see the connection. He says he can’t find the main cable box so therefore will need to come back. Again this exchange is all in German, broken German at best for me. I quickly call the husband and ask him to speak with the technician. They agree that he will continue to look for it in the building with my help and the husband will come home early from German class. We search around some more and even ask our 1st floor neighbor if she knows the whereabouts of the main cable box and since she has no idea we continue to search. Finally the husband comes home and I halt the search and let the men figure it out. After 1 hour of searching the entire building, they turn up with no answers. Both of them agree, the main box is in someone’s apartment but neither the technician nor the husband know which apartment. Before the technician leaves he tells us it is our responsibility to find the main cable box if we want to have internet from Kabel. This is when we both look at him, laugh and say “are you kidding me?” He didn’t think that was too funny because he repeated "if you don’t find the box then no internet."

After much begging, a Kabel technician came out to our apartment recently to help us find the main box. With his help, we've figured out that the main cable box is indeed in a basement apartment. Unfortunately for us the tenant uses the apartment for storage. And since he isn’t ever there, we scheduled a new meeting with both the tenant and Kabel Deutschland technician on the same date, hoping to turn on the internet in the next couple weeks.

Where are we? We have 2 open contracts with 2 companies and after having lived in this apartment for 8 weeks we still don’t have internet. Thankfully, Kabel technicians and customer service has been very helpful and friendly while Alice and Deutsch Telekom customer service and technicians are rude. Last week, Alice sent Deutsch Telecom technician to look at the wiring one more time and the technician called that morning to say he wasn't coming. No explained reason, he just wasn't coming. At this rate, we'll schedule any one to come over that will give us internet service, even America. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? We joke that we’ll be lucky if we have internet in the next 6 months.

On another note, I am happy to report that 2 weeks ago the husband figured out a way to use internet at home for free, sort of. We connect our iphones to the laptops for wifi. This is at no extra charge on our cell phone bills and works efficiently thus far. The only problem with this is we can’t skype with family and friends because of the low bandwidth. Hopefully once we have real internet, we’ll be back in business. Let’s hope.