Here in Germany...

My friend Jenny suggested that I revive this blog so I can post stuff about my time in Germany.  I doubt that I will be good about keeping it updated, but I have decided to try to post some stuff.  This is not likely to be an organized journal, but rather, a series of things I’ve noticed and such.  Still, it’s better than nothing.

Today I am going to start with some observations about Germans/Germany:

People do not respect the sanctity of the queue here.  Twice in the week I have been here, while in line at the grocery store, I have seen a person with a few items slide in front of another person (who stepped away for just a second to look at something/grab something).  It seems rather rude to me but no one seems to mind.

Germans seem to prefer bigger sturdy bikes. I don’t really see the thinner road bikes here so much.

Apparently people here do not put milk in their tea.  My advisor told me that only I and the other American he knows does this (although he admits that he thinks Indians do this as well).  They also seem to put some weird milk product in their coffee (which might be condensed milk?).  I finally got regular milk today and my tea tastes so much better.

All hair styles are ago here.  Actually, it’s quite nice that there is more of a variety in how people style their hair here.  I’ve seen more curly hair like mine just allowed to be than I ‘m used to.  Of course, many people just go with straight hair, but I feel like I stand out less.

Although most Germans are thin and fit, there are definitely some more generous frames here.  I could buy clothes here (unlike in Japan or Korea where everyone was tiny compared to me).

Although people here are very concerned about recycling and stuff, I don’t see that many students carrying around water bottles (so far, I’m the only one I’ve noticed bringing my water bottle to the cafeteria at lunch).  Related, I don’t think people drink tap water here all that much...