Tag: blogQ2

After being in Germany a week it still doesn’t feel like home, which is to be expected. It is still a completely different country on the other side of the world that speaks an entirely different language. The people don’t look like they are from another continent, they look like a lot of people I see around west Michigan, only they might not even speak English. 

I didn’t expect the food in grocery stores to be different. This may seem obvious but Its weird walking into a market and not seeing American brands like Cheetos or Mountain Dew. Also, the grocery stores are much smaller and everywhere. This may just be because it is a big city but I think it’s noteworthy. Aldi is here which I didn’t expect. 

I miss not being able to drive places. The public transit here is good especially for longer distances, but I just want to drive. It’s so much easier to drive than wait for a bus and then wait for a subway. A bike would probably be idea for shorter trips around town but I miss the freedom of a car. 

I wish people drove like Germans back home. Everyone is on the same page and if you’re distracted, the world will let you know. Germans get places. It is not uncommon to hear tires squealing when the light turns green. Even the bus drivers are on a mission. 

The first thing I noticed when arriving in Berlin was how similar it looked compared to other cities in the United States like New York city, Chicago and Grand Rapids. Stores are very tiny, especially restaurants. some places had seating completely outdoors. One of my favorite things about Germany is the law stating that candy can’t have artificial ingredients unless stated on the packaging. In my opinion this makes candy so much better. The emphasis on public transport was new to me as well. The streets are quite cramped and not as many people here can afford to own a car than in the USA. I was mostly excited about the food when arriving here and I can say I have gotten used to German city culture fairly trouble free.

First impressions of Germany were very different than what I was expecting. I feel like I really nervous by the fact that everybody doesn’t speak your language, but I once we got the Amsterdam airport I realized that it really wasn’t going to be as bad of a transition as I thought. We had a good amount of interactions with people the first day or two, from a brat stand, to getting food in the airports to even just trying to read all of the signs that we couldn’t understand. Despite all of this, I felt like I was just another part of the crowd. Nobody cared that I didn’t speak German to my friends, and they understood my broken German as I tried to order, even laughing as we had a misunderstanding.

After the first couple of days everyone started to get more comfortable with everything, we started to learn the bus system, and could get almost anywhere in the city, and walk where we couldn’t. It was so different than the US because for the majority of people, this was their reality instead of having a car. From this point on we started to comfortable with the fact that no matter what you guys are going to come off as Americans, especially if we butcher saying something in German :).

I miss the feeling of having the ability to be alone and drive wherever I want to without worry, but it is a small sacrifice to make in light of the awesome experience we are having. To be honest a lot of the European things make sense, but also are hard to adjust to. There are a lot of parts of the culture like daily grocery runs that would be hard to accomplish in the US, but other things like using cash everywhere I really like.

I’m really looking forward to continuing to explore and getting used to the rhythm of the city. Its so disorganized, but its kinda interesting to see it that way, because there are two major centers of everything, and a lot of clashing infrastructure. It makes for interesting sightseeing :).

Adjusting to Germany has been a lot of fun. It is always interesting to learn how another culture functions, and because we are staying longer than your average vacation, I have been enjoying learning to navigate it as if I was a local. It has been very interesting to learn to navigate public transportation – previous to this I had used busses or trains a couple times, but we can’t get anywhere here without them. Learning which bus lines take you where and how to connect to your destination was tricky at first. The biggest thing I didn’t expect about Germany was all the trees. Berlin is a big city but it has way more trees than big cities in the US do. The trees are interspersed in between building and along streets and help to give a less industrial feeling to the city. I also did not expect all the bike infrastructure. Germans clearly utilize bikes to go places frequently, and unlike in the US where I feel like I might be hit by a car when I bike, Germany has bike lanes built into all roads and sidewalks that cars and buses respect. The US could benefit from a system like that. The thing I miss most from home is the convenience of driving myself places and being able to communicate with everyone and read all the signs. I’ve noticed the German I know is decent for getting around but not good enough to fully understand what’s going on. However, when I go home I think I will miss the Nutella and Brötchen for breakfast every day.

I have really enjoyed my time in Germany thus far. I find it convenient that everything is within a reasonable walking distance or can be accessed by public transportation. I didn’t expect the trains to be as easily accessible as they are, as I thought bussing would be more common. One thing I’ve definitely taken note of is how wonderful the food is here. I didn’t expect bakeries to be such a casual, common thing, but I am quite enjoying that experience. Many of my breakfasts and lunches have been supplied from a local or chain bakery, and I wish that was more common in the states. I have not had a croissant that tastes like the ones here, and I will miss them a lot when we return home. I do, however, miss my car. One downside of public transportation is that you don’t run on your time, you run on theirs. I miss the accessibility of my car. I also miss cereal quite a bit. Ava and I had a conversation about having a bowl of Froot Loops the other day, and it made me miss my sugary cereals that I eat for breakfast every day at home. I miss my family and friends too, of course.

This past week in Germany has been full of new discoveries. Some things I will miss when we return to the United States are the Haribo gummy bear selection. In every grocery store I have been in there are flavors and shapes I’ve never had before and there is a Haribo store in downtown Berlin with even more (so far my favorites have been the Smurf shapes, the sour pasta, and blue raspberry straws). I am also going to miss the crusty rolls that St. Michaels Heim has at breakfast every morning as they are the best way to consume Nutella.
I find the transportation infrastructure of Germany to be impressive and fascinating. There are bike lanes on almost all roads (and on the sidewalks so you don’t have to worry about being hit by a vehicle) and extensive bus, above and below ground train systems. They seem to be a popular alternative in Berlin to fossil fuel burning automobiles and it has been a fun challenge to navigate the bus and train routes. Another interesting thing is the lack of paper towel dispensers. Instead, there are reusable drying cloth dispensers, which you pull down on the cloth and it gets sucked back in when you are done. This low waste system along with the successful public transportation systems show how much more sustainable Berlin is compared to the U.S. which I think is pretty cool.

This first week in Germany has showed me both how different and how similar Germany is to home. My first impressions are good. For me, I can’t make a very close comparison between city life here and in Grand Rapids since I don’t live directly in the city. Getting from place to place takes much longer here using public transportation rather driving my car anywhere I please at home. One thing I have noticed is that you are never far from a bus stop, and the rail system is huge. There is a bike lane next to the sidewalk and you have to stay out of the bike lane or you might get hit by a bike. It is really weird seeing so many of what we call “foreign” cars here. After one week, I can still count the number of American cars I’ve seen on my hands. There are many more exotic cars here than in West Michigan like Porsches, Lamborghinis, and Ferraris. One thing here I wish we had at home is a food called a Doner, you can get it in bread or in a box. They are very good and are a lot of food for the price.