Wild Boar Sighting
I finally saw my first wild boar in the forest tonight! I wasn't in the forest mushroom hunting in the middle of the winter, which I wouldn't do anyway since I think mushrooms are disgusting...
No, I was just peacefully riding through the little tram on the way from teaching English to the family to my next student several villages over. The old-fashioned, wooden-interior, 2-car tram stops not far from the family's house. Its route goes through the rest of their village and then through the woods until the next village. From there I can take the train to my next student's village.
The few times I've ridden this tram I've peered out the window trying to catch glimpse of a wild boar, as they are apparently swarm the those woods. The mother of the family has told stories about sitting in their fenced-in backyard and hearing the snorts and grunts of the boars coming out at night looking for garbage since their house is on the edge of the woods. She has even witnessed a boar dragging her trash can down the street at 4 am, leaving a trail of garbage. And supposedly last year in March a big pack of wild boars entered a north-west suburb of Berlin.
Anyway, since the evening provided a little more light tonight than usual, I looked hard and eventually saw my first wild boar standing in the woods. I have to admit, I have a fear of wild boars since moving to Germany. They are probably the most disgusting animal ever and to think that they are dangerous when their little piggies are with them...and could ram and maul someone with their big under-bite fangs just makes me want to gag... So it's not like I wanted to see one because of their dashing good looks...but I'm glad I witnessed it finally.
That reminds me about the time I got to see a pig as a pets in Berlin. Not a wild boars, luckily, but still. It was back when I was living in the dorm on the west side of Berlin. One gray, rainy, and drab day when I began making my way home after getting some groceries and I heard an older man calling out to his pet to come inside. A dog, I thought. Wrong. The man was calling his pot-bellied pig, named coincidentally "Piggy." The pig, Piggy, apparently wasn't ready to go in and was ignoring his master's annoyed "Piggy, come here!" commands. Why should it want to go inside? He was having such a good time splashing through the dirty, cigarette-filled street puddles! I took one look and jetted over to the other side of the street as I tried to hide the look of disgust on my face.
Another funny pet fact here... The Americans I had Thanksgiving dinner had a new puppy, named "Shoko," the short way of saying "Shokolade," or chocolate. To us a normal dog name, right? They said that all their German neighbors had wondered about the naming of their dog. Seems they all use real people names, like "David" and "Nancy" for their four-legged friends.
On a different note, I've never been a fan of veggie juices like carrot or tomato juice, so maybe a fan of one of them would not find this so gross, but I saw a very disgusting looking juice the other day at the grocery store. And as if the Germans couldn't make it MORE possible to make fun of their favorite side dish, what do I find on the shelf? Sour kraut juice! There was even a picture of sour kraut on the front of the box, as if to make it look more appetizing. Eww!!
And finally, to more logistical things, I have finally booked a flight for home and will be arriving on March 15th and leave on April 2nd. It will be fun to be home and catch up with family and friends....not to mention sleep in peace after this maniac neighbor has been screaming through so many nights here. He's actually here as I write and is yelling and screaming at his mother. I plan on calling the police again soon if it keeps up or else I won't get any sleep tonight. I called the police 2 nights ago as well....sigh.... I'm already craving the peaceful, star-filled night sky at home. And at home I won't have to worry about getting eaten alive by an ugly wild boar...
Update: The shouting ended last night at midnight. I slept well and no police deployment was necessary. Thank goodness!
No, I was just peacefully riding through the little tram on the way from teaching English to the family to my next student several villages over. The old-fashioned, wooden-interior, 2-car tram stops not far from the family's house. Its route goes through the rest of their village and then through the woods until the next village. From there I can take the train to my next student's village.
The few times I've ridden this tram I've peered out the window trying to catch glimpse of a wild boar, as they are apparently swarm the those woods. The mother of the family has told stories about sitting in their fenced-in backyard and hearing the snorts and grunts of the boars coming out at night looking for garbage since their house is on the edge of the woods. She has even witnessed a boar dragging her trash can down the street at 4 am, leaving a trail of garbage. And supposedly last year in March a big pack of wild boars entered a north-west suburb of Berlin.
Anyway, since the evening provided a little more light tonight than usual, I looked hard and eventually saw my first wild boar standing in the woods. I have to admit, I have a fear of wild boars since moving to Germany. They are probably the most disgusting animal ever and to think that they are dangerous when their little piggies are with them...and could ram and maul someone with their big under-bite fangs just makes me want to gag... So it's not like I wanted to see one because of their dashing good looks...but I'm glad I witnessed it finally.
That reminds me about the time I got to see a pig as a pets in Berlin. Not a wild boars, luckily, but still. It was back when I was living in the dorm on the west side of Berlin. One gray, rainy, and drab day when I began making my way home after getting some groceries and I heard an older man calling out to his pet to come inside. A dog, I thought. Wrong. The man was calling his pot-bellied pig, named coincidentally "Piggy." The pig, Piggy, apparently wasn't ready to go in and was ignoring his master's annoyed "Piggy, come here!" commands. Why should it want to go inside? He was having such a good time splashing through the dirty, cigarette-filled street puddles! I took one look and jetted over to the other side of the street as I tried to hide the look of disgust on my face.
Another funny pet fact here... The Americans I had Thanksgiving dinner had a new puppy, named "Shoko," the short way of saying "Shokolade," or chocolate. To us a normal dog name, right? They said that all their German neighbors had wondered about the naming of their dog. Seems they all use real people names, like "David" and "Nancy" for their four-legged friends.
On a different note, I've never been a fan of veggie juices like carrot or tomato juice, so maybe a fan of one of them would not find this so gross, but I saw a very disgusting looking juice the other day at the grocery store. And as if the Germans couldn't make it MORE possible to make fun of their favorite side dish, what do I find on the shelf? Sour kraut juice! There was even a picture of sour kraut on the front of the box, as if to make it look more appetizing. Eww!!
And finally, to more logistical things, I have finally booked a flight for home and will be arriving on March 15th and leave on April 2nd. It will be fun to be home and catch up with family and friends....not to mention sleep in peace after this maniac neighbor has been screaming through so many nights here. He's actually here as I write and is yelling and screaming at his mother. I plan on calling the police again soon if it keeps up or else I won't get any sleep tonight. I called the police 2 nights ago as well....sigh.... I'm already craving the peaceful, star-filled night sky at home. And at home I won't have to worry about getting eaten alive by an ugly wild boar...
Update: The shouting ended last night at midnight. I slept well and no police deployment was necessary. Thank goodness!
posted by Heidi at 3:21 PM
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