There's a good bookstore in the ugly train station in Essen, Germany. In general, German train stations have excellent shops - better than the boring chain stores we get in the Netherlands - but that's not the point. I'm an intellectual, I want to talk about reading material. When I was there in September 2017, I bought two classic philosophy books because they were cheap, and I noticed two magazines that made me think "You two should talk to each other."
Translation: Psychology Today: Narcissists - What are they thinking? How can you live with them?
And myself seems to be a magazine for women who are so self-obsessed that they're not even interested in celebrities; note the three names in small print. The main article is titled "Now! No excuses - How to discover your talents and live your passions. Plus 5 simple motivation kicks."
I think this says more about our times than about German culture. On the other hand, there's also a heading on the left that seems very German to me: "Beauty can be planned - The best times for peelings, masks and serums."
Which reminds me of the one time I visited a beautician, who gave me 6 different samples of ointments for different times of the day. I decided that moisturizing was too difficult for me (an intellectual) and that I would grow old with dry, wrinkly skin.
Previous stories from the same trip: