I’ve officially been in Germany for two weeks now! It feels at the same time much shorter than that and much longer. So, I’ve decided to make a couple lists here to summarize my time here so far–hopefully at the end, I will be able to see both what progress I’ve made and how much more I’ll have seen in perspective.
Top Five Activities (so far):
- Cologne Cathedral. First major thing I did outside Koblenz, and also something that I’ve always wanted to see! Awe-inspiring and historic all at the same time.
- Shloß Stolzenfels. Both the first castle I’ve ever visited and a lovely piece of Koblenz history.
- Deutsches Eck. The huge monument to Wilhelm der Große overlooks the merging of the Rhein and Mosel, with a beautiful view of a nearby castle as well. I can’t wait to see it in summer when all the trees get their leaves back!
- Altstadt Koblenz. The old town area of Koblenz is a great place to wander, both because the architecture is very traditional and because the little shops are fun to visit.
- Meeting all these new people! I’m pleasantly surprised that I’ve managed to meet so many people in the short time that I’ve been here. I’ve eaten dinner with some very nice people from the sister city partnership, explored the city with some students, gone to Köln with other students, and have even been to church.
Top Five Weirdest Things (so far)
- Open all the windows? I understand, there isn’t any AC in the Wohnheim or at the school. There is no air circulation. But really, opening the windows all the time in the winter, when it’s snowing–they go a bit overboard. Thus, our hallway is always freezing and the girl from Texas is the only one who notices, apparently. Good thing I have all these warm clothes!
- Their kezboards are just a little different here. Onlz a few small changes, but enough to mess me up when Iäm tzping at home or at workßßsome of the kezs are switched around and the punctuation is all over the place due to the introduction of umlaut kezs. Might take some getting used to_ Convenient auf Deutsch though.
- The novelty of American products. I think we get really excited about European things too, but it’s just odd what they like here. For instance, they don’t eat doughnuts here so often, but they get really excited when they see a Dunk ‘n Donuts. It’s practically a tourist attraction, and they’re very excited about the new doughnut store in the mall. Speaking of the mall, they like it better than the cute shops on the street because it’s all indoors and you don’t have to walk through several streets to get what you want. Personally I like the European charm of the little streets, and I hate to think that they’re going out of business because of this big American style mall. Oh, and the mall has the only Starbucks in Koblenz, which they like as well. As an added note, the only place you can get a hamburger is at McDonald’s or Burger King.
- All the doors lock twice. Both at the dorm and at the office, I have had the hardest time with the locks on these doors. It’s not like it should be that difficult, but apparently Germans like security because you can turn the lock twice, making it super difficult to get into a locked room, I guess. It confuses me so much because I’ll think I’ve unlocked the door and then it will only be unlocked once.
- They eat mayonnaise on their fries. It’s really American to only eat ketchup on your fries, but the Germans do eat ketchup on their fries if there is mayonnaise with it. They even label it as fries sauce sometimes. It’s not really that bad, just strange.