A First Week in Germany

A single week and a few days have passed since I arrived in the historic European city of Berlin, though I must say, it feels like I’ve been here for much longer. The initial surprise of the cultural differences have somewhat faded away, the style of living already feels somewhat routine and familiar, though every day there’s a brief reminder of my tourist ignorance. Continue reading “A First Week in Germany”

Initial Reflections.

Berlin is awesome! Of all of the cities I’ve been too, this is the only one that I would like to live in. The public transportation is very efficient and it doesn’t feel packed like other cities. The food is also very delicious. The doners remind me a lot like the food in Kazakhstan and the bratwurst is very good.

Some things that I didn’t expect were that there are so many nice cars here and that the city has a big emphasis on recycling. Every car in the city is either very expensive or it is very well kept and still a nice vehicle. There is also a large tax put on every bottle you purchase that can be refunded if you recycles them. The tax greatly helps people from leaving their bottles around or just throwing them out.

Some things that I miss from the US are free water and air conditioning. You have to pay for all of your water and their are no water fountains for you to drink from. It is hard to find a cold drink in Germany because most people don’t use ice in their drinks. They also don’t have any air conditioning so it is very hot all day until the sun goes down.

Initial Reflections on Germany

My first week in Germany has made many great impressions on me. I’ve been able to discern a lot of differences between my home in the USA and Berlin, specifically.

My very first surprising observation was made right after getting to the airport in Berlin. It became clear right away that almost everyone understands English and that most important labels or signs have an English translation on them. In fact, our first church service was given in both German and English! Continue reading “Initial Reflections on Germany”

Another Transition

Transitions, whether big or small, always bring different emotions; sitting on 8-hour plane rides and walking through different airports always signal change. It didn’t fully hit me that I was in Germany until I saw different posters in German in the airport and saw different style buildings and classy cars while going to St. Michaels Heims on a public transportation.

Continue reading “Another Transition”