The Kitchen

Long before Mr. Bloomsbury and I moved to Germany, we began watching every episode we could of House Hunters International on HGTV. Even if the couple wasn't looking for a home in Germany, we watched anyway trying to gain any insight as to how homes in different countries compared.

By watching these shows, we learned that when you buy or rent a home in Germany, you should have no expectation of it coming with a kitchen. Germans buy their own kitchens and take them when they leave! So there would be a room designated to use as a kitchen, but often they are left empty with just outlets and plumbing hook-ups for where the counters, cabinets, and appliances should be. 

When considering kitchens, what I'm used to is the attention given to its value added to a home. Renovating kitchens is a big business in the States and people spend huge bucks customizing their kitchen, whether they DIY or pay a contractor. So in Germany, how can you be sure the kitchen you put in your current home will fit in the next one? It seems like an awful large expenditure and inconvenience.

Thankfully, our apartment has a kitchen. But as much as the Americans live BIG, the Germans live small. The sink, oven, and refrigerator are all very small. (Perhaps these things are small so they can be easily moved?)

As you would expect, the oven switches are in German and the heat is measured in Celsius. I have taken a picture of the knob on my oven. Once again, my smart phone translation app comes in handy, though I still have no idea what the descriptions mean.

Our first night, I cooked a meal. Our first home-cooked meal in almost 2 months! I'll miss having a garbage disposal, but we do have a dishwasher. I think we'll get by just fine ;)

The kitchen

The refrigerator. Yep, that white box at the top is a freezer. 

The oven knob.