Mini Mission # 18 - Host a Dinner Party

Remember Gran Torino? The scene where Clint is invited to the BBQ
is hilarious. Source

Maybe you've made some friends by now? Your fellow regulars, or maybe your neighbors who you see at the bakery? What about inviting some of them to your house for a dinner party? This is a great way to get to know your new acquaintances better and also to show off your culinary skills. Don't have any? No problem! Just do something easy. You could even order in. 

Here are some ideas for an easy dinner party with your new friends:

• Make some local dishes - try your hand at whatever seems easiest! Or better yet, ask your new friends to give you their favorite recipe. Maybe they want to help you with the prep work?
• Introduce your new buddies to your favorite recipes from home. Go crazy. Think Mac and Cheese and Nachos, or a chili bar! 
• Try a potluck. Invite your friends over, provide beverages, and encourage everyone to bring their favorite dish. It's a great conversation starter!

Did you host a dinner party? Which approach did you choose? I love to try my hand at local dishes, but for a no fair gathering I always resort to my home favorites, because no one knows better! 

Mini Mission # 16 - Visit the Market

Markets are the first place I visit when I arrive in a city. They are my absolute favorite way to get an exclusive (and delicious!) glimpse into local life. But buying stuff at the market? Way. Scary. Similar to buying bread, purchasing items at the market can be pretty darn terrifying. The vendors talk quickly, there are hoards of people standing in line behind you, and there are no convenient price tags. But successfully obtaining the ingredients for a lovely picnic at the market - that is one fantastic feeling.

For this mission, head out to your local market - if you're brave, pick the loudest most bustling one - and buy some great food for an afternoon picnic or your evening dinner. Required language skills are minimal - you'll need your numbers, the names of a few food items and your good old pointing finger. If you visit the market often, you might even become a regular!

Was your market excursion successful? Which stand is the most intimidating? For me, it's the meat vendor!

Mini Mission # 15 - Order In

A telephone call in a foreign language is a terrifying thing. All the usual helpful nonverbal cues are missing and it's just you, the handset, and the voice at the other end of the line. This mission is meant to introduce you to the world of making a phone call in a foreign language in a controlled environment, and the bonus is that you can to enjoy some delicious delivery food as a reward.

The first step for the mission is to choose your delivery restaurant, find the menu online (or scan the pile of paper ones that surely land in your mailbox weekly), and choose what youd like to order. Refresh your vocabulary with numbers, the word for delivery and your address, and dial that phone! Don't worry, you'll do just fine - order what you'd like, hang up, and double cross your fingers that you got the message across. You'll find out when your order arrives at your door (or not!). 

Were you able to successfully order food? What is your favorite take out cuisine? In Germany, I like to order Thai food or Sushi for a change of pace...

Mini Mission # 10 - Find Replacements

This post made me so hungry. Just like Lucy! Image via New Lantern

I know, we're all guilty of it as expats. There are items we just HAVE to have from home. I have a little list that I keep in the back of my mind, and whenever someone asks "I am going to the States, can I bring you anything?" I jump down their throats with "OH YES TWIZZLERS AND DEODORANT AND BROWN SUGAR ANDANDAND." 

And it's so lovely to have these things- they enable me to drink my coke through a candy straw and smell good and bake chocolate chip cookies for all my German friends. But there is something to be said for flexibility, no?  

When I first moved to Germany, the list of my "must-have products from home" was LONG. We're talking not only the above mentioned items, but also toothpaste, gum, baking soda, jeans, diet coke, ketchup, maple syrup..... seriously, a really long list. But then I figured out that they have colgate toothpaste at the stores in Germany! And baking soda is actually called "Natron" and you can get it everywhere. Moral of the story: I found replacements for most of my "must have from home" items and as a result, I felt so much less dependent on my poor fellow expats to schlepp me back my essentials. 

So this is your mission: choose one of your "must have from home" items and find a replacement in your new home! Food products are often really easy to replace if you do some googling. Often, the products you are looking for are actually available but they are sold under another name! And sometimes, you just have to let go - maybe you can get used to the taste of European Cola Light? Perhaps that weird herbal mint gum could grow on you? You'll be surprised how much your flexibility will open you up to new possibilities in your home away from home. If you want to take it a step further, make this mission a regular feature in your life, and do your best to "wean" yourself off of your home favorites. 

Let's be realistic - we will always have things we miss from home (as we should! Target! Sunday shopping!) but it feels great to free yourself from so many nostalgic necessities. 

What "from home" item did you give up and find a replacement for? What could you never live without?

Inspired to...

This week, I am inspired to...

...use this service to travel without luggage (how cool is that?) via @joannagoddard

image via Cup of Jo

...visit the Chinese-Portuguese mishmash of Macau (and the food looks delish too...) via @runawayjuno

image via Runaway Juno

...stock up on Easter accoutrements at Munich's Viktualienmarkt (this one is totally doable for me - just around the corner!) via @laurel_robbins

image via Monkeys, Mountains and Maultaschen

...study up on these international food etiquette rules via MSNBC

Photo via MSNBC

...and visit Rome (but avoid these tourist pitfalls!) via @traveldudes

Image via Travel Dudes

What were you inspired to do this week?

Mini Mission # 3 - Eat Something Weird

Photo c/o Wikipedia

Even the most adventurous eaters have a food that is popular in their new home, that they wouldn't dare to eat. Leberwurst? Durian? Haggis? Well in this challenge, your job is to eat one of those foods. Maybe you don't have to start with the scariest of foods. But branch out!

Here's what you do: head to your local grocery store, and roam the aisles. Pick up a few items that look mysterious or even slightly scary. Bonus points if you order something from the deli counter. Buy your mystery item(s) and head back to the safety of your home to give your new item a try. If it's awful, there's no shame in spitting it out and brushing your teeth. But who knows? Maybe those Botamochi or that Mole sauce will become your favorite new dish (this happened to me with Leberwurst!). And if not? At least you can say you tried - and you will know what to avoid on the menu next time.

If you are feeling extra brave, try this mini mission at a restaurant, and pick an item randomly off the menu. Enjoying your mystery eats? What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten? Is there any dish that seemed totally strange to you when you arrived in your new home, that now seems totally normal?