Published August 17, 2007
I just read a funny story in the newspaper here today. It seems that a picky squirrel in Finland has taken to stealing German chocolate from a store.
Apparently the squirrel goes into the store at least twice a day to savor its favorite treat. It only steals one particular German chocolate, a foil-wrapped chocolate egg whose hollow body holds a surprise, usually a small toy. These chocolate eggs are called "Kinder Surprise" (Kinder = Children) here in Germany, where they are very popular among the young and old alike. The hidden treats are normally miniature toys, which many adults have taken to collecting.
The owner of the store, which is in the town of Jyvaskyla, says that the squirrel is not attracted to any other food. He heads straight for the eggs, removes the foil, eats the chocolate and then leaves the store with the toy. Can it be that he is also a "Kinder Surprise" collector? Or perhaps a German squirrel that got lost across borders?
Speaking of eggs, I got a response a few weeks ago from someone who read my last column. In it, I was wondering why eggs in Germany sit on non-refrigerated shelves for days at a time before being sold. The reader said that eggs actually have a natural protective coating, which keeps them safe to eat even when not chilled. In the USA, the FDA has a directive that eggs must be washed before being sold, thus eliminating the coating, thus making cooling necessary. Wonderful what you can learn from people thousands of miles and many borders away! Thanks Hatsumi!
Still, I wonder if those hard-boiled, colored eggs that are on display for weeks at the checkout counter are safe to eat? Hmm, maybe someone has an answer to that?
Here's something else amazing for today's "across the borders" theme. A woman from the U.S. wrote to me after obtaining my address through my blog www.strangerinastrangedeutschland.com. She - Diane - was very upset because her daughter, who lives in Holland, had lost her dog in Cologne, the city I live in. She said she knew it was a long shot, but she asked me if I could help in any way.
Well, being a dog lover myself, I sent Diane's message for help to the American Women's Club of Cologne and any other organization I could think of. Diane kept me updated about what she and her daughter were doing to find the pet - such as posting notices, making calls, etc. And over the following days we found out a bit about each other.
To our surprise we discovered that all three of us are Buddhists, although Diane and her daughter are both obviously better ones than I am. In celebration of Buddhism, their dog was in fact named "Karma". Diane is currently working on a Ph.D. in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and her daughter is studying Tibetan Buddhist law and even met the Dalai Lama during a trip to India.
Anyway, after several weeks of uncertainty about the whereabouts of Karma, I got this e-mail:
"I just wanted you to know that your information was invaluable-after many calls and sending photographs to several different places, we were incredibly lucky, and found Karma. It feels like a miracle-I really did not think there was much hope, given the circumstances, being so far from home and in a foreign country, but your information was directly responsible for us finding him. My husband flew from Miami to Amsterdam to support our daughter, and they drove to Cologne, to pick Karma up. It was a joyful reunion to say the least! You, and others, have restored my faith in humanity, and that's (almost) the best part for me."
I would say, it was just great Karma that Karma was found again. And it goes to show that the world hasn't gotten "smaller," as the saying goes. It has actually gotten bigger, because it's less bound by borders - which means that all kinds of amazing things can happen.
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