I was thinking about my nephew's visit at the very end of this month (SO excited!!) and how to make things comfortable for his first overseas trip. I got to thinking how to make up the guest room bed for him.
In Germany there are rarely flat sheets. There is a fitted sheet on the mattress and on top a duvet with a removable cover for washing; pretty much bedding you would find at Ikea. I actually find it quite practical, like a comforter and top sheet rolled into one! But this can be confusing for Americans who are not aware of this. They may, as some Americans I know who will remain anonymous have done, use the duvet cover as a top sheet, and the uncovered (naked if you will) duvet on top like a normal comforter. I know some Germans, who will also remain anonymous, who found this quite amusing.
There is another difference in how the bed is made. The duvet is not always simply spread out across the bed. Instead, it is often folded in half and laid down in the middle of the bed, with the foot and head of the bed exposed, and the pillow at the head of the bed.
This is a practice I have not, and likely will not adhere to, but since it has to do with my bedroom, a very personal space, I don't think I am offending many Germans by not adhering.
I told my sister about this, and she said that my nephew usually kicks the top sheet off anyway, so his bed will be made up the German-way for his visit. I'm sure there will be plenty of other things for him to experience that will be 'different' to him during his visit. All of which I will blog about, with his permission of course. ;)
We don't adhere either...have imported flat top sheets to use under the duvet (with cover, not naked), because the physical exercise involved in getting the cover back on the duvet is exhausting, so I don't want to do it on a regular basis. :-)
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