Deutschland list

This is the city of Wuerzburg, and is about 300KB in size, so it will take about a minute to load on a slower modem connection.

So I think now’s a time to reflect on some of my thoughts about Germany. As I said earlier, I really should have done this a while ago but, well, procrastination is such a good friend of mine. I really should disown him as a friend but he’s been so good to me.

• Autobahn – I’m a huge fan! As soon as we left the Frankfurt airport, we immediately were on our way on of the autobahns. I’ll have photographic proof that we drove about 180 km/h, which is about 110 mph. We would have gone faster but we were in the equivalent of a car the size of a Geo it seems. Still, it’s nice to see a freeway in the world where cars are free to travel the safest speed not because of some random law but because of the condition of the roads. I think the least safe thing about driving on roads with no speed limits is the fact that no one is consistent. Some were going 130 mph and others were going 80 mph. Under any condition, that’s highly unsafe. But, the Germans get it more than Americans do in that sense.

• Metric system – The first time you see the speed limits and measurements in the metric system, it’s really strange. However, the more you see it, the less confusing it gets. It is still weird to think that we were in -10C weather at one point, but that’s really not a big deal. Most of the time we were there it was between -5C and 5C, which is roughly between 20F and 40F. Speaking of the weather, the area we were in was just perfect. I love the cold, even if it’s bitterly cold, I’m totally there. I think I’ve romanticized cold weather in my head a little too much because if snow were a person, I’d probably have an affair with her.Oh, I guess the other thing that’s almost depressing to think about, at least from a European perspective, is the fact that gas is bought by the liter. And it was $1.07/liter. Does that not seem like a lot? Well, to put it in perspective, there are almost 4 liters per gallon. Therefore, $1.07/liter of gas comes to $4.05/gallon! And I hear that’s pretty decent.

• Conversion rate – I hate this weak dollar. It was on average $1.31 per Euro for us. However, if we had use the other means for obtaining money, it could have been as high as $1.45. We lucked out because Bank of America, for certain bank accounts, does not charge any fees to withdraw money.So the price of the Euro was already expensive, put on top of that the fact that prices are pretty similar from there to here. For instance, what does a subway sandwich cost here? About $5 plus or minus a buck depending on what you get. What about there? It was pretty much the same number; 5€. However, 5€ is the equivalent to almost $6.50. That’s like adding about a 20% premium to just about everything you buy there. And then you realize that when you’re out to eat, you’re most likely not going to be able to save and just buy water. Everything costs something, therefore it adds up really quickly!

• History – I realize that learning about history here in America versus learning about history elsewhere is on such a different scale that you can’t really compare it fairly. When you go to England, you’re looking at literally hundreds and hundreds of years of history. Same with Germany, France and other places. Then you go to Italy and Greece and you’re more into the thousands. Next you get to the Middle East and Egypt area, we’re talking multi-thousands.We toured around a castle that had been in the city since about the 1400s or so (I’m probably off but I’m also just generalizing) and it makes you realize how amazing and significant those structures are to have been around for so long. And the castle in Wuerzburg even withstood a bombing from World War II that destroyed 85% of the city!

• Language – I can remember sitting in my Latin class, tired as can be, wondering when I would leave. I had nothing personal against the language, but sitting there studying something that I could hardly remember from a day to day basis didn’t interest me at all. And to think that the average student has anywhere between 5-7 years of foreign language from the start of high school to the end of college. I suffered through Latin, French and Spanish for about 5 years during the same period. I was determined to get through college without being forced to learn a language because it bored me to tears.Well, now I sorta get the kick in my ass as I go to Germany. I didn’t know a lick of German and it was obvious. Every time I tried to even say “Sprechen sie Deutsch”, I sounded like an American idiot with a horrible accent. I think most of it was even slurred. But, they obviously knew what I was asking. I realize how important it is to try and understand another language.

  But, this sorta goes back to learning the actual language. I hate textbook classroom settings. I’d much rather learn from immersion, by force of learning. I often feel like a child on the inside, and I guess this is where the child in me wants to understand it from a curious perspective rather than a technical one.

  We stayed with four British people while we were in Germany. I’ll tell you, me being so unfamiliar with the accents and language, it was almost at times like trying to listen to another form of German, but I knew that what they were saying was plain English in the very traditional sense. The accents would throw me off every now and then, but it wasn’t bad most of the time. I did, however, ask lots of questions and was fascinated by the accents. I would absolutely love to date a girl with a nice English accent! ;-) I’ll say, it’s just another world out there that would be so interesting to me. Hopefully really soon I’ll be on my way to London and England to see that country!

• Food – I almost forgot to include this on the list because I only could think of a couple of things to say, but I realize now I had more. I know how used to the American lifestyle of eating I am. I always enjoy eating my beef, chicken and wide variety of fruits, veggies and junk food. In fact, I’m so used to it that if I suddenly deprived myself of a certain kind of food, I would probably have to adjust. It wouldn’t be all that bad if it was just one the many things I eat, but it’s a totally different story if it were my whole diet.The first meal I ate was at a local restaurant which was really busy and popular. Many different people there enjoying themselves, having lots of conversations. I had no idea what the menu said so I had to ask. The first food I ate was a sandwich that wasn’t too bad, but was very unfamiliar in taste. And this was pretty resonant amongst many of the places at which I ate. They don’t really serve the same kind of beef, chicken or other foods that I’m used to. Therefore, during and after that sandwich, I could feel an anxious upset stomach coming on. It never really turned bad, but was present enough that I noticed a little. We then went to Wal-Mart to get some food to snack on during the week so that we weren’t spending like crazy.

  “Wal-Mart!” I thought, “I’m back home!”

  Well, as I should have expected, Wal-Mart doesn’t carry all the foods that I would have liked to see. In fact, I barely recognized anything. It was almost enough to make me homesick for some of my American food. We did buy some soups that looked pretty tasty, and actually were, but I mentally had to adjust because I wasn’t prepared for the difference. I realize that the more I am overseas, the more I miss my normal food!

  I won’t, however, say it’s totally a bad thing. I realize that my complacency of what I eat can easily bite back at me. When I finally go to the East, where the Asian countries are, I will once again have to adjust to their customs with food and know that in the end I will adjust and be stronger for it.

  So, the German food that I did eat was good, but nothing really stuck out as completely delicious. I think that my tastes would have to adapt and evolve over time, during the period I would be there. Oh yeah, one other thing… I never had a chance to eat a German bratwurst or wienerschnitzel! Out of everything I did, not one of either items. Shame on me! So, I now have another great reason to make a visit to Germany!

I have been pretty busy trying to figure out what moves to make next so in between all of this work I hope that I can find some time to get those photos up, hopefully by the weekend in fact. I’m so eager to hear any reactions to the photos I have.

I also am going to leave this post open ended in case I decide to add something else in the next couple of days that I forgot at the time. There’s just so much to take in at once and I’m still sorta on a high, enough that I’m ready to leave here and back over there.