Britta's Letters from her life divided between city-life in German's capital Berlin and life in a Bavarian village

Saturday 19 January 2013

"Too much of a good thing can be wonderful"


As you all know through my (more or less late) blogs - 'You are Witty and Pretty', 'Britta's Happiness of the Day' and 'Gardening in High Heels' - I am not always dishing out light fare.
So - this blog will be substantial, nourishing and yet: sublime.
I'm talking of - yeah, you've guessed it by now: CHOCOLATE.
Last week I emerged from the bottom of my MSP (Monumental Secret Project). (For that moment) I just had enough. So out I went. Took the underground to Gendarmenmarkt. Looked into the shopwindows of http://www.fassbender-rausch.com/manufaktur.html  . Another woman did the same - we grinned at each other, and went inside, talked a bit about fashion. She was from London. And then we looked into the shopwindows again. From inside out.



I am not sure whether you can see on the pictures that here the Gedächtniskirche and the Brandenburger Tor are made entirely from chocolate (and cookies).  Absurd. Monumental. Kitschig.
Like two schoolchildren we looked at each other again, and giggled in helpless mirth. " Eat Art!" I breathed. "Wohahah!", she roared. "Epoch-Making!" .
Before studying at the university in Mainz, after my A-levels in Bremen, I worked for two months in the Hachez chocolate factory in Bremen.
Though normally I chirp in with  Mae West's saying  "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful", I didn't after being allowed to eat as much chocolate as we wanted. After three days we didn't want any more...
Being quick with my hands I was soon allowed to work by the piece (literally: we had to fill boxes of chocolates - every woman at the production line had a special section of the box). Piece work brought more money. And interesting insights into real life. I learned:
1. Age is relative. Being almost 18 was here extremely old - the co-workers were my age, but had left school long ago and  looked at me pityingly as if I were a 'box of chocolate on a shelf' (not married yet!).
2. I learned that "Non vitae, sed scholae discimus" (Seneca - and no: I didn't quote it wrong!) is utterly true - you might also say: a pinch of experience is worth a peck of theory. Fifty Shades of Whatsoever is an innocent Sunday School book - compared to the graphical visual way those girls depicted their Secret Lives on every Monday morning at work.
3. A pearl of wisdom for life: Things in a different box with different print (and price) are not always different - believe me, dear brand-buyer. From that time on I do - with only a few exceptions :-) - the double-blind-test.
4. If you love something dearly - like chocolate - after a short alienation you will like it again. I do!
Though: in modertion. Because: "Too much of a good thing can be ..."




20 comments:

  1. During my university years I worked at number of odd jobs - asparagus picker, bank teller, cashier in a department store, sales clerk. My experience was similar to yours - I was (tolerantly and mostly affectionately) viewed as naive, past my prime and amusingly over-educated. I enjoyed every summer, but was always satisfied to tell my parents that I'd found yet another good reason for staying the course through my degree work!

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    Replies
    1. Dear Pondside,
      yes, same, same! But a good experience - for a certain time. When I look what we got per hour: I will not trust my eyes.

      Delete
  2. Hmm, let's see. I am listening to the song by Depeche Mode, 'Just Can't Get Enough,' which I chose before opening up your post, dear Britta. What say you to that? In case you've never heard it, here it is.

    Now, as to a pinch of experience, that is about as much as I have had. Lots and lots of theory, though! Enough to cram at least seven lifetimes.

    I think I shall fetch a bite of chocolate ...

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    Replies
    1. Dear Suze,
      such a coincidence. I know the song (here we cannot play your link because of Gema-copyright law - concerns half the songs on youtube). Enjoy your chocolate!

      Delete
  3. Hello Britta:
    And here we are, on Sunday morning when we should be at church, drooling over the sight of all this wonderful chocolate and reading your very entertaining and amusing post. And is there any better than German chocolate? We think not having literally scoffed the most wonderful box brought to us by our German friends at New Year.

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    Replies
    1. Dear Jane and Lance,
      I could dive into dark chocolate! Today I will watch again Dame Agatha's "The Chocolate Box", where you see a very young Hercule Poirot (Suchet) at the time when he still worked for the Belgian police.

      Delete
  4. I can't imagine working in a chocolate factory...think it would kill my love for chocolate. I do not know the Hachez chocolate company... I am a big fan of Leonides from Brussels...lots of butter and cocoa butter.

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    Replies
    1. Dear Janet,
      it only does put you off when you are working there (chocolate has a very intensive - let's call it: smell) After some time one is seduced again. Hachez/Feodora is making excellent chocolate. I love Valrhona. And to think that chocolate is even good for your health - isn't that great?

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  5. Remarkable chocolate sculptures. What a wonderful way to take a break from your project!

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  6. Dear Sue,
    they are - peerless? Inimitable? And a break sometimes has to be :-)

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    Replies
    1. Peerless, inimitable both excellent words! And I'm pleased to see I've managed to "crack the code" to comment while on the iPad. Not without its glitchiness, but at least possible!

      Delete
  7. Dear Suze,
    I'm glad about that, too!

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  8. I gain weight just looking at these pictures!!!
    I do not know the Hachez chocolate company but I LOVE Nutella! That's my favourite chocolate!
    Lovely post.
    Happy week end.
    Bisous, Babi

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  9. Dear Babi,
    I share your love for chocolate! This Berlin manufacture even has a chocolate-restaurant (it is surprising in which meals it can do a lot of good). A beautiful weekend for you too (here we had 13°C - minus! - but the sun makes it lovely). Bisous XXX Britta

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  10. Love this post! Strangely, I was not fond of chocolate when I was a kid. But I love to eat it today. Speaking of chocolate, I watched an encouraging news (BBC) about it last spring. "People who eat chocolate regularly tend to be thinner, new research suggests..." Chocolate may help keep people slim?!!

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  11. Dear Sapphire,
    strange how taste changes: even 3 years ago I didn't like coffee, drank only tea. Though I loved dark chocolate always. They say there are some goodies in it for health - that it should be good for staying slim: what a nice surprise!

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  12. Hello Britta,
    I'm just reading that you have worked in the Hachez chocolate factory in Bremen. That's great! I enjoy your chocolate post! For a while I had to take a bus passing the Hachez factory twice a day. Every time when the mental work at my job under impossible deadlines almost drove me mad I imagined myself working in the chocolate factory having the lovely smell of chocolate around me all day long. - A romantic idea. - I live in Bremen. I have never been in the Hachez factory. I still like chocolate. Greetings, Gina.

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  13. Dear Gina,
    Bremen is such a lovely city - still many of my friends live there. I thought it 'mellower' than Hamburg (where we lived 6 years, and which I love too).
    Chocolate is a great antidote to stress (and I am not talking of the benefits of magnesium, which it has too) - the sensuous experience is so great!

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