1. When you go to a grocery store to buy something here, the checkout line is different. The cashiers don´t stand. They sit in chairs. I think it is a good idea. If I was a cashier, I think I would rather sit than stand.
2. Commercials. German television has an annoying amount of commercials just like American television, but they are spaced out throughout the program a little differently. In the U.S., we have a little bit of the program and then a little bit of commercials. In Germany, they have the program without commercials for a really long time and then they have a long time of commercials. The commercials last for like 10 minutes or more. Without commercials as often, if you have to go to the bathroom and you don´t want to miss the show you have to hold it for awhile.
3. People take their dogs everywhere with them. Dogs are allowed in places here where they are not allowed in the United States. People take their dogs with them to the bank, to the grocery store, and to other stores. The other day I went to the shoe store to look for a pair of shoes and there was someones dog just laying there on the floor waiting for its owner to pick out shoes. No one was holding it or anything.
4. Many public restrooms here are not free. You have to pay to use the restroom. I was going to use the restroom in a shopping center once, but then I saw that you had to pay and I turned around and walked back out of the restroom.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
One Month
I have been in Germany for a little over a month now. Wow! I cannot believe it. The time really does go by so fast. It is amazing all of the different things you feel and experience as an exchange student. Those feelings and experiences are really hard to explain, and only other exchange students can fully understand them. Sometimes you feel so happy and excited about everything, and sometimes you feel lonely. The lonely times are still filled with an amazement that you are really living in another country. Every time I look at a map, I see where Germany is and where West Virginia is and I am like "Wow. I am in Europe." It is unbelievable. In my month here, I have already started to notice small changes in myself. You do things you would never do in the United States. It is kind of like you lose all fear. You aren´t afraid to try to speak to other people in another language and make mistakes. You know you will make mistakes, but it doesn´t really matter. You are not afraid to go up to complete strangers and ask them for help. You are not afraid to go up and make friends with kids in your school who you don´t know. You are not afraid that your questions will sound stupid. All of these things, I would have hesitated before doing in the United States. Now I do all of these things without even thinking about it. I have also learned that most places in the world probably look better on postcards and in travel books than in real life. The things that you don´t get to see on postcards or in travel books are the people who live in all of these places and their lives. I have learned that the people and what they do makes a place special. I am so lucky that I am getting to experience the lives of people in another part of the world. I am getting to learn about them, their history, and why they do the things they do, and therefore I am learning about the place they live in as well. I love just talking to my family and friends here. They learn a little about me and I learn a little about them. It is funny to see all of the differences in the way we live. In the end, we realize that we can still get along, live together, and have fun together. One of the things I love about my family and friends here are that they are different. They can help me learn new things, and I can teach them new things as well.
I had a discussion with my host parents the other night about things German people think about the United States. Here is a list of things they told me Germans think of when they think of the United States.
The United States is only made up of big cities with skyscrapers. They didn´t know that small towns like Kingwood, West Virginia existed until they found out I was going to be living with them.
People in the United States only eat white bread. Germans don´t think you can buy dark bread in the U.S.
People in the U.S. only eat fast food. They don´t eat apples or bananas.
Everyone in the U.S. is always chewing gum.
All people in the U.S eat for dinner is steak and all they eat for breakfast is eggs.
Everyone in the U.S. has big cars.
There were a lot more, but that is all I can remember right now. It was so funny hearing all of this.
I also tried German McDonalds in my first month here. It is pretty much the same as McDonalds in the U.S. They don´t have as wide of a selection I would say. You can choose between two different types of fries at German McDonalds. You can choose German fries or American fries. The fries we have at McDonalds in the U.S. are like the German fries. I don´t know where they got the idea of these American fries. We don´t have them at our McDonalds. My host parents thought that was cool.
Ok. Now for some funny stories from my first month here. One night I was waiting for the train to go to swimming club. Me and about five other people waited and waited, and the train never came. All the other people finally went home. It had been about an hour since the train was supposed to come, so I decided to go home too. Then this group of about 15 guys came up to me and started saying things in German. At first I was a little worried because there was so many of them and nobody else was around. They turned out to be really nice. I told them I didn´t understand what they were saying. They asked me if I was from England. Everybody here asks me that when they hear me speak English. I am like does it sound like I have a British accent. I told them that I was from the United States. They asked me if I was from California. I said that I was from West Virginia. Then they started singing Country Roads. Everybody here knows that song. I think more people in Germany know it than people in other parts of the United States. They asked me why I was in Germany. I told them I was a Rotary Youth Exchange student. They said I was crazy for choosing Germany because it was so cold here. I told them I liked Germany. They were then trying to explain to me that they are lumberjacks. There English wasn´t great, so they did not know all the words. They were acting it out. They said they take the train to the forest and then they were using their arms to pretend to cut down trees. One of them also asked me if I had a boyfriend. After I told him no, he kept getting closer and closer to me. I kept backing farther and farther away. Then they had to go, but they told me they hoped I had a wonderful year in Germany. It was so nice. The whole way home I was laughing. I just kept thinking that I met a group of German lumberjacks at the train station. Haha. Ok. Time for the next story. There is a castle in my town from the 1200s. It is up on a hill above the town. It really is beautiful. After our German lesson, all of us exchange students usually go do something. One day we decided to walk up to the castle. There was a big pile of leaves, so we told the girl from Ecuador that she had to jump in it because in Ecuador the leaves don´t fall off the trees. The leaves were wet, so she didn´t want to get her clothes dirty. I gave her my jacket to use because I didn´t care if it got dirty. She was just about ready to jump and then she stopped. She said no that it doesn´t look like that much fun. Then I jumped in the pile of leaves. I jumped off of this stand that was beside the pile, and I went face first into the leaves. They were all laughing so hard. Apparently I had dirt all over my face and didn´t realize it. The boy from Guatemala then jumped into the leaves. He also had to use my jacket because he didn´t want to get his clothes dirty. It was so much fun. That evening I told my host parents what I did that day. My host dad was laughing and said he wished he would have seen that. Luckily, they videotaped me jumping into the leaves so he will get to see it.
It has been a great first month with many memories. I am excited for all the months to come.
I had a discussion with my host parents the other night about things German people think about the United States. Here is a list of things they told me Germans think of when they think of the United States.
The United States is only made up of big cities with skyscrapers. They didn´t know that small towns like Kingwood, West Virginia existed until they found out I was going to be living with them.
People in the United States only eat white bread. Germans don´t think you can buy dark bread in the U.S.
People in the U.S. only eat fast food. They don´t eat apples or bananas.
Everyone in the U.S. is always chewing gum.
All people in the U.S eat for dinner is steak and all they eat for breakfast is eggs.
Everyone in the U.S. has big cars.
There were a lot more, but that is all I can remember right now. It was so funny hearing all of this.
I also tried German McDonalds in my first month here. It is pretty much the same as McDonalds in the U.S. They don´t have as wide of a selection I would say. You can choose between two different types of fries at German McDonalds. You can choose German fries or American fries. The fries we have at McDonalds in the U.S. are like the German fries. I don´t know where they got the idea of these American fries. We don´t have them at our McDonalds. My host parents thought that was cool.
Ok. Now for some funny stories from my first month here. One night I was waiting for the train to go to swimming club. Me and about five other people waited and waited, and the train never came. All the other people finally went home. It had been about an hour since the train was supposed to come, so I decided to go home too. Then this group of about 15 guys came up to me and started saying things in German. At first I was a little worried because there was so many of them and nobody else was around. They turned out to be really nice. I told them I didn´t understand what they were saying. They asked me if I was from England. Everybody here asks me that when they hear me speak English. I am like does it sound like I have a British accent. I told them that I was from the United States. They asked me if I was from California. I said that I was from West Virginia. Then they started singing Country Roads. Everybody here knows that song. I think more people in Germany know it than people in other parts of the United States. They asked me why I was in Germany. I told them I was a Rotary Youth Exchange student. They said I was crazy for choosing Germany because it was so cold here. I told them I liked Germany. They were then trying to explain to me that they are lumberjacks. There English wasn´t great, so they did not know all the words. They were acting it out. They said they take the train to the forest and then they were using their arms to pretend to cut down trees. One of them also asked me if I had a boyfriend. After I told him no, he kept getting closer and closer to me. I kept backing farther and farther away. Then they had to go, but they told me they hoped I had a wonderful year in Germany. It was so nice. The whole way home I was laughing. I just kept thinking that I met a group of German lumberjacks at the train station. Haha. Ok. Time for the next story. There is a castle in my town from the 1200s. It is up on a hill above the town. It really is beautiful. After our German lesson, all of us exchange students usually go do something. One day we decided to walk up to the castle. There was a big pile of leaves, so we told the girl from Ecuador that she had to jump in it because in Ecuador the leaves don´t fall off the trees. The leaves were wet, so she didn´t want to get her clothes dirty. I gave her my jacket to use because I didn´t care if it got dirty. She was just about ready to jump and then she stopped. She said no that it doesn´t look like that much fun. Then I jumped in the pile of leaves. I jumped off of this stand that was beside the pile, and I went face first into the leaves. They were all laughing so hard. Apparently I had dirt all over my face and didn´t realize it. The boy from Guatemala then jumped into the leaves. He also had to use my jacket because he didn´t want to get his clothes dirty. It was so much fun. That evening I told my host parents what I did that day. My host dad was laughing and said he wished he would have seen that. Luckily, they videotaped me jumping into the leaves so he will get to see it.
It has been a great first month with many memories. I am excited for all the months to come.
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