German DVD Store

I don't know if you have noticed, but I have added a little button to the top right hand corner of the blog. The "German DVD Store" button will take you straight to your one stop shop for all your German DVD needs in America. It is powered by Amazon, so you know you can trust them. It's just an easy way to find German movies in the US.

Jungle Jim's International Market Grocery Store Cincinnati

Trying to find German products in the ailes of your local grocery store can be quite daunting. Of course there's always the World Market which does have a limited supply of German products (such as Teekanne tea and Bahlsen cookies) though the emphasize is definetly on "limited." Let me tell you about a place on the other hand that has huge selection of the products that you crave. That store is Jungle Jim's International Market in Fairfield, Ohio (right outside Cincinnati). Not only do they have a large selection of German products, they have about 150.000 products from 75 countries. If you can't find it in their 300,000 square foot store, I doubt you can get it anywhere else in the US.
I don't consider Jungle Jim's a regular store. It is more or less set up like a theme park. It all starts in the parking lot, which has signage just like your about to park at Six Flags. Once you enter the store, you might be surprised by all the animatronics. My favorite section in the store is the British foods part. Their section looks like a part of Robin Hood's Sherwood forest. They have a talking Robin Hood up in the canopy. The products are arranged around the trunk of the tree. The vast hotsauce section is appropriately adorned by a fire engine. Everywhere you look you will find neat little animatronic displays. You'll find a singing cereal band and a rocking Elvis lion. The German section is rather plain but has huge selection of products you won't find anywhere else.
Going to the bathroom is an experience all by itself. Their bathroom was ranked best bathroom in America in 2007. It looks like a Portapotty on the outside but the plastic shell is just a facade for a pretty nice bathroom inside it. The first time I went I actually didn't go to the bathroom there, since I didn't know the Portapotty was just a front. I did find it strage though, that they didn't have real bathrooms. Now I know better.
So if you are ever in Cincinnati region and in the mood for adventure shopping, go check them out. They are located 5440 Dixie Hwy in Fairfield, Ohio and open 7 days a week. It's well worth the trip. Check 'em out at http://www.junglejims.com

Pros and Cons of being German in America

CONS

1. David Hasselhoff - Not a week goes by I don't here about David Hasselhoff's success in Germany. The crazy thing about it is that his success happened in 1990, almost twenty years ago. It's American network television that actually still puts him on TV. At least he stopped singing though.
2. Wiener Schnitzel - People love telling me that I must love Wiener Schnitzel. I quit telling them that Wien is a city in Austria a long time ago.
3. Having a baby in America full well knowing that we would get some serious money from the German government, but since we pay American taxes, we don't get anything.
4. Heidi Klum - She is pretty annoying on Project Runway.
5. Dieter from Saturday Night Life - Not every German is as crazy about electronic music as it might seem. Even the new AT&T commercial shows us techno cracy Germans.

PROS

1. Going out to eat - Why does American restaurant food taste better than German restaurant food.
2. Having a talking VW beetle on television is pretty cool.
3. Nature - America has a lot of it, and where else can you have deserts, jungles and snowstorms in the same country.
4. Being the hub of all pop-culture is pretty neat.
5. Every American has a Germany story. Somebody was in the military and loved it over in good old Europe. Therefore Germans are popular. We should be happy were not French.

Introduction

Germans are masters of blending in in America. Even though we are the largest ancestry group in the US with over 45 million Germans (almost 15% of the whole population) one couldn't tell just by looking at local grocery stores. While other cultures are well represented, German products are hard to find. While you can find the occasional Haribo and Werther' Echte product, others are hard to come by, if you don't know where to look. This blog will help you find German products. I will take you to stores that cater to us. I will also review German movies and books you can get in America (Thank God for the internet, otherwise we'd be stuck watching "Das Boot" and listening to Rammstein). Here you will find everything German. Feel free to participate in the comments. Have fun with my blog!