Oh dear, it's finally happening...

...I'm becoming Germanized!

.

Yesterday I was sorting through our breadbasket - disposing of any that may have developed a slight blue tinge. (I simply adore German bread. And I'm discerning - my father's a baker.)

(Nb. - The absolute best bakery in Düsseldorf is Hinkels, just off Karlsplatz and the Blumenmarkt. People travel from miles around to buy bread there, and the queue on Saturdays is unbelievable, but it is more than worth the wait.)

.

The Ger-Man wandered into the kitchen just as I was finishing my bread-cleansing task.

"What are you doing?" he cried, and there was actual horror on his face.

"Um... ," cautious here as the Ger-Man hates waste and has been known to munch on stale bread before.

(There was an ugly bread related incident between the Ger-Man and my sister while on a joint family holiday a few years back. She was preparing breakfast for us all and had rejected an open half-full packet of days-old-white-sliced in favour of a fresh loaf. She's fussy about her bread -after all -her father's a baker too and she doesn't do stale bread -except maybe for stuffings. Things then got nasty and the resulting tea towel fight left visible welts...)

"Um," Bugger! Caught in the act - no use denying it. "Getting rid of the stale bread..."

"The Caspi-Man and I were saving that to feed the ducks!" he said, peering despairingly into the bin where the bread had disappeared underneath soggy remnants of our lunch.

"But you can't do that - THE SIGNS!" I said.

We live 50 metres from what I consider to be the most beautiful park in Germany. (I tell the Caspi-Man it's our back-yard, but because we're nice, we let other people use it.) It's huge, full of gorgeous trees, landscaped promenades, lakes, ponds and waterways, ornate bridges and lots of old and contemporary sculptures (even a Henry Moore!). Home to many varieties of bird life, including ducks, it is dotted with these signs:

Translated it reads: "Duck Bread is Duck Dead". And the Ger-man is knowingly violating the rules!!

And then it struck me .... I've become corrupted by the power of "Ordnung" and the German phenomenon of obeying the rules... I'll never fully fit into Australian life again!