Germany - Part 1

I don't even know where to begin. One thing I know for sure, though, is that I won't bore you with a chronological diary of what I did and where I went. Frankly, that stuff is boring. If you really want to know, send me an email or leave a comment. Instead, I think I'll highlight some of the things I found interesting and strange in the land of the efficient.

1. Everyone drinks fizzy water.

Not sure what that is about. On the flight there, I asked for orange juice and water. The idea of sparkling water didn't even cross my mind. But when I went to drink the clear liquid, I almsot gagged. Yuck. Fast forward 2 days and I found myself being offered fizzy water or juice at every turn. When it was determined that I despised the stuff, I was given a teapot with my own tap water in it to drink at the dining table (when I wasn't drinking beer). And apparently Johanna's mom couldn't figure out why I didn't like the fizzy stuff.

2. Taking rides from strangers is common.

This one isn't so strange, I suppose, but a common way for people to travel in Germany is to "hitchhike" with others going in the same direction. It makes sense for students because the train is often too expensive. So this is how we got from Koblenz to Schmalkalden. We met some random dude, and another fellow hitchhiker, at the train station, loaded our stuff in his car and took off for the east.

3. I pass for a German.

That was perhaps the most unnerving thing. On the plane I felt like an idiot because the flight attendants were talking to me in German and I had no idea what they were saying. As well, it was weird seeing white people speaking a language other than English. And boy did I hear a lot of German. My only hope for standing out as a foreigner was my toque and camera. Contrast this to Egypt where as little as the reflection of the sun off my pale skin tells me apart from the locals.

4. Stereotypical German villages do exist.

This I found to be really cool. The images of old German villages I had in my mind were verified 100% in Schmalkalden. What a magical place to leave, although I understand that it suffers from the same small town syndrome that every other small town suffers from: few jobs and restless youth.

5. Cold meals for dinner, hot meals for lunch.

It was like having dinner for lunch and lunch for dinner. Not sure I've ever had that, aside from having breakfast for dinner (which is an amazing phenomenon if you've never gone down that road). See the food blog for more info.

6. You're not in trouble if you get caught with a beer in your hand while driving.

Fascinating stuff. As long as you're below the legal limit, it doesn't matter if you have an open beer in your hand. This is completely opposite from Canada. The kicker in Germany is that if your keys are within reach when you are over the legal limit, then you're in trouble. This eliminates the Canadian classic of getting drunk and passing out in your car (if you have one) and in someone else's if you don't. Note that this is closely related to getting drunk and passing out in a snow bank.

7. There has to be at least one non-alcoholic drink on the menu cheaper than beer.

Beer isn't that cheap in real terms, however when you compare it to the price of every other drink it is ridiculously cheap. I guess this is why sparkling water exists...because it will always be a bit cheaper than beer, while still not being free. What this meant for me was that beer was the obvious drink of choice at any restaurant meal. You definitely didn't hear me complaining about that.

8. All English movies and shows are dubbed in German.

Perhaps this is not surprising, but Johanna made a good point when she said that they should at least have some English programming to help the population learn English. And after hearing Homer Simpson's voice being butchered, I was in full agreement. Ironically, the only shows they do have in English are on MTV. Oh, and that same channel shows the dirty versions of all the new music videos.


Still to come:

-Christmas
-New Years
-Leipzig
-Other things