Looking for a souvenir for friends or relatives? That can be quite troublesome, I know. Often I look for interesting cloth shopping bags. The grocery store in the Böblingen City Center mall has ones with a nice print of Böblingen on it.
When DH and I went to the Bürgeramt last week to get my university degree validated (complex story), they were selling these nice umbrellas for Eur 25. It’s a painting of Böblingen printed onto an umbrella. You can get it in either folding umbrella size or walking stick style – the one in the photo is the walking stick. It’s nice and sturdy. It’s certainly a nice change for a souvenir. You can also buy them at Leder Maurer in Böblingen, although it’s no problem to walk into the Bürgeramt and ask. The receptionists sell them, and one is hanging right on the ceiling near their desks.
We went to the Bürgeramt to have my degree validated because of the social security system. In order to assess how much retirement pay I’ll get from Germany when I retire, they count all of the time I’m working in Germany, plus other certain time, namely the time I spend post-high school full-time getting a degree. Pretty cool, that’s a boost of 4 years credit.
