Out and About

In the little bit of free time I have, I try to go out and have some fun. Here are some of the things I've done so far.

Baking Trade Show - Set in the warehouse of a large baking supplies distributor, this is the most enjoyable trade show I've ever been to. Not only was there free food and beer, there's even a clown and musicians to keep you entertained. Of all the people there, the clown chose me to be his partner in his hat juggling act. I think the crowd was doubly entertained by the juggling and by my complete lack of German.







Confirmation - Was invited to a confirmation 2 weekends ago. It started with a church service in the morning, where the teenagers stated their commitment to follow Jesus. It was then followed by a celebration, which was 6 hours of almost-continuous eating and playing games. It was a lot of fun. Notice the brass band playing on the church tower.





Wedding / mini-Mercy Ships reunion - A couple from the ship got married this past weekend in Germany. The ceremony took place in a beautiful church, and was followed by a huge coffee and cake reception. I had the honour of making their wedding cake, and was relieved the cake made the 200km journey intact. There were about 10 Mercy Shippers there, and we had a great time catching up with each other. The wedding was in the wine country part of Germany. The typical landscape includes vineyards, rolling hills, open fields, and the occasional nuclear power plant.

Behind the Scene

Today, I'll take you behind the scene and show you what the bakery looks like.



This is where everything begins, the dough mixer. 4 adults can sit comfortably inside each of the mixing bowls.



The dough is then divided . . .



. . . and shaped. We're making pretzels here.



2 of the bakers hard at work. The trolley in the background is full of rye bread dough proofing, to be baked in about an hour.



Racks and racks of bread rolls. There's always a traffic jam in front of the oven.



There are 3 ovens in the bakery,



and one of them even has an IP address!



Krapfens, or Berliners, which is basically jelly donuts. So yummy, especially when fresh!



Not sure what's going on here. Maybe I won a prize for doing such a good job cleaning up?

What's a typical day like?

In case you're wondering, here's what a typical work day looks like for me:

0130 - rise and shine, or yawn

0200 - start work. The first part of the day is about baking, preparing for baking, the actual baking, and additional steps after baking. For example, pretzels need to be coated with an alkaline solution to give it that dark brown colour, slashed and sprinkled with salt before baking. After baking, danishes and other pastries are coated with a sugar glaze to make them look irresistibly yummy.

0600 - breakfast. While the bakers take a break, the bread is being delivered to the shops and other customers.

0630 - preparation. The second part of the day is about preparing for the next day, and the following week. Some items like bread rolls and pretzels are made daily, while others like danishes and apple strudels are made weekly. Depending on the day of the week, we have a list of items to prepare. One thing is for sure, this being Germany, I get to roll and shape a lot of pretzels! The items for the following day will be put in a special temperature and humidity controlled room, and will be ready for baking the next day.

1130 - lunch. I love having a delicious hot lunch waiting for me when I'm done work. I think the German way of having a big hot lunch and small cold dinner makes much more sense.

1330 - nap :)

1530 - read, email, learn German, walk, etc

1730 - dinner with the family, listening to the conversation, don't have a clue what they're talking about, but it's fun guessing what they're talking about.

1830 - read, email, learn German, etc

1930 - time for bed. The alarm will sound all too soon.

While the work is challenging, I enjoy it tremendously. Each day passes by so quickly. I can't believe this is my 5th week already.

Last weekend, I was invited to a confirmation ceremony (a teenager confirming his commitment to follow Jesus), and made this cake. Well, the pastry chef made the cake, I just wrote on it. The writings' far from perfect, but it's a start.



Thanks for reading. I'll write more about my new life and post some pictures in the hopefully not too distant future.