white male consumer

Back in the spring, I knew what I needed to bring with me. All of the literature explicitly stated that we needed formal attire, for many of the field trips that we took to important EU institutions. I put off buying an outfit, right up until the drive down to NYC a few days before I flew out. We saw a promising store, stopped in, and bought a decent outfit. Except for the shoes.

I guess I thought they were kidding about the whole “formal attire” thing. Maybe they’d be lenient and let my creme-colored Pumas slide by. Turns out that they were pretty serious.

So I needed to buy shoes. At first I simply asked for a place to buy dress shoes. I checked out the recommended store, but they seemed to wholly stock designer names, at prices in the 100-plus euro range. A bit more than I wanted to pay. The second store I looked at was much more my speed. I found some dress shoes, on sale for 29 euro, and I even like them. I was truly fortunate. Oh, and the only time the whole language barrier came up, was at the end when I was checking out. The cashier asked me a question; I smiled, shook my head, and said “ja” uncertainly.

Why would a store ask whether or not you want the shoe box?

Yesterday, I ventured into a camera shop to get my digital camera cleaned (another thing that I could have done all summer, but put off). The woman working there spoke some English, but more importantly, was very nice about the whole not-understanding-each-other thing. It eventually worked out to 30 euro, and apparently they’ll call and let me know when to pick it up… Hopefully.

The hike in the Black Forest last Sunday would be told much better through photos than through text. However, I only had my film camera, and I don’t have easy access to a scanner. Suffice to say, it was a very beautiful hike. Lots of.. trees. Just use your imaginations, people.

Next, we go to the Alsace region, where we’ll tour a random castle, sample wine at a wineyard, and play tourist in a small French town. In approximately eight hours we leave. I need to catch some shut-eye. I’ll expand later, for now, make do with this half-ass, vague post.