Week 13 - Differences I See Between Germany and U.S.A.!

Week 13:

Hello again everyone! This week was yet again another week of adventures and learning in Freiburg. One story that I thought I’d share with you all is from my Religion class. I don’t really know why I think this story is interesting, but I hope you enjoy it. Basically religion class started off by the teacher presenting a photo of a photo from the show, “Pretty Little Liars”. Normally in class I stay quiet and listen but this week teachers have been calling on me quite a bit and I’m not sure how I feel about it. It’s good that they’re forcing me to speak more German and step out of my comfort zone, but it’s also really stressful. The whole class gets really quiet and listens to me very attentively since I normally don’t talk in front of the class. The attention kind of freaks me out. It’s a little intimidating speaking German in a room full of fluent speakers. Even I have to admit when I’m speaking English with people who don’t speak fluent English, I pay attention to their mistakes and mispronunciations. Anyways, in Religion, the teacher called on me and asked me to describe what I see in the picture. I could feel everybody staring at me and I could feel my heart rate start to go up and I’m sure my face got red. All I could think of at the moment was “there are 5 girls”, and “they’re wearing black dresses”. (Obviously I said it in German). Afterwards a few minutes later I thought of so many more much intelligent things I could’ve said than such simple things, but the moment was over and I had said what I said. After that I was just kind of feeling embarrassed and wishing I knew more German. The next thing we did was read from the Bible. As soon as I saw it, I told myself, “Don’t get frustrated, the Bible isn’t easy even in English so don’t expect yourself to know it”. We read a pretty long section and on the inside I was just so frustrated. I wasn’t expecting myself to know everything of course, but I didn’t know anything. I couldn’t tell you a single thing about what it was about. It was so discouraging and I felt like I knew nothing. Then the people around me asked if I understood and in my head I was like, “No of course not! It’s the Bible and it’s really complicated”, but instead I just laughed and said, “no, not really haha”. People were trying to explain it to me but it was such a long piece and it was very hard to translate. Eventually we all gave up trying to translate and while we were supposed to be discussing the story, instead we all just got off topic and talked about other stuff. They asked me about school in America, and they asked me about what language school was like, and they were all very impressed to learn that I’ve only been learning German for 3 months. They explained that German is a very complicated language with Nominativ, Genitiv, Dativ, and Akustive, and that even Germans don’t really know German. Especially because there’s no English equivalent to so much of the grammar. Hearing them say that really made me feel so much better. I guess I just like this story because in one class period I had such a rollercoaster of emotions. I went from happy to embarrassed to frustrated to happy again. Those girls who were talking to me really ended up making my day and if they hadn’t told me how impressed they were with my German, it probably would have made me be in a bad mood all day. It was also nice because it was girls I usually don’t talk to so it was also nice just to talk to different people. To be completely honest, sometimes I forget how high of an expectation I’m actually setting for myself. It’s only been 3 months so getting frustrated with myself when I can’t read the Bible is a little ridiculous. At any rate, I think it’s just a good reminder to never forget you don’t know what kind of day someone else is having, but having a nice conversation with them definitely won’t hurt. If you work at a school with foreign exchange students, or know anyone learning another language, please have a conversation with them and keep in the back of your head the extra layer of challenge they have to overcome everyday. 

Another thing I thought would be interesting to write in my blog is some of the differences I’ve noticed between Germany and America. I should point out that some of these differences could also be related to the fact that I’m living in a bigger city now, or it could just be of where in Germany I am, or even it just could be who I’m living with. This is all just my opinion. But at any rate I still think it’d be interesting to compare. 

Firstly, in the winter, I really noticed a difference in winter apparel. I feel like almost every single girl/ woman wears a long coat. Like the kind that lies around mid-thigh instead of at your waist. In Colorado at least, I feel like everyone just wears coats that end at the waist. But when it was cold outside and I looked around, the significant majority of woman were wearing “parka style” coats. Another difference in winter apparel I noticed is the use of scarves. I think scarves are much more popular here than in Colorado. 

Another difference is walking barefoot. As soon as the weather got warmer here, I’ve noticed many people lose their shoes and just go everywhere barefoot. Not everyone, but many people. And here stores don’t seem to mind. I distinctly remember “No shirt, no shoes, no service” signs all over in the summer in Colorado here, but here when it’s hot, I see people with no shirt and no shoes going into shops and buying things successfully. To be honest I think it’s kind of gross to go barefoot in the city but it’s their feet not mine. 

Another difference that’s kind of funny to me is that here cashiers sit in chairs while scanning items at the grocery store. The reason I find this funny is because I remember reading different posts online about how ridiculous it is that cashiers in America have to stand while everywhere else in the world they get a chair. And even the other day while at the store, I heard some tourists talking about how when they go to America, they’re going to ask why they have to stand. Haha

Next is cough drops. When I first came here, I didn’t really understand why everyone was so obsessed with cough drops. I mean what’s to like? They taste like medicine. Well recently I had a cough and I bought some and now I know why everybody eats them like they’re candy. These German cough drops really are delicious. People here share bags of cough drops in class, and people get really excited when someone breaks out a bag of cough drops. It’s like candy, but you don’y have to feel as guilty eating them because they’re not as sugary. Basically, while in America, most cough drops taste like medicine because that’s what is is, medicine. But here cough drops are like tea flavors that naturally soothe the throat. So it’s basically like gum that you suck on. 

The next topic is differences i’ve noticed in school. To start off, everyone uses graph paper for everything. At my school in Longmont, the only time people use graph paper is for math, but here it’s used in every class. I have to admit it’s pretty handy when ever you have to make a chart, or whenever you need a vertical line. It’s really useful. I think I’ll start using graph paper more often in Colorado. Along with school supplies, everyone here uses pens instead of pencils. At my school in Colorado, I have some teachers who take off points when you turn in homework written in pen or when you take a test in pen. But here it’s the opposite. Teachers prefer for you to use pens so they can see everything you write and so you can’t change answers on tests. It makes a lot more sense but I really prefer writing in pencil so I avoid pens whenever I can.

The next difference is hair ties. Here everyone uses these hair ties that are like spirals and are made of rubber. The only thing I can compare it to is like the bracelet that is sometimes used with whistles. Or like the bracelet that’s given to you when you lock your stuff in a public pool. I don’t know if that makes any sense. But basically the kind of hair tie that’s like a rubber band with fabric around it is not popular. I even remember when Parimah (the exchange student that lived with my family last year) needed more hair ties, she had a hard time finding the spiral type she was used to. 

This next one might just be the family i’m living with and not all of Germany (I’m not sure). But basically here lunch is the main meal of the day. My family in Colorado usually has dinner as the main meal meal of the day. But because most schools here don’t have cafeterias, and can’t handle lunch duties, most schools dismiss around 1 PM and everyone goes home and has a big lunch. Then dinner is something small like some bread, or leftovers from lunch. 

The next difference is that everything is smaller here. Refrigerators, stores, but most of all cars. In Colorado the car I drive is a Honda CRV. It’s pretty rare I see a Honda CRV here, but when I do it looks huge! It looks like a big suburban or something but compared to the cars in America it’s a very normal size. When I first came here I was amazed by how much smaller the cars are, but it would be hard to drive a bigger car. The roads and streets are so much narrower here. I don’t think I’d like driving here because I prefer nice wide roads. 

Next is smoking. There isn’t too much to say about this one except that I see so many more smokers here. Or at least it feels that way. People even roll their own cigarets. When I was in language school I’d always know when we about to have a break or when class was almost over because he’d start rolling up his cigaret. 

Next is to do with school drills. At my school in Longmont we have fire drills, lockdown drills, tornado drills, evacuation drills, and lock out drills. We have them all and it’s pretty often we have to practice them. I’d say 2-3 drills per month. Here we haven’t had any drills since I’ve started at the school 2 months, ago. I asked Renate and she said they usually have 2 fire drills per year and that’s it. But I don’t even know where over a 1000 girls would go in the city if we had drills. 

Now as for actual updates from this week, there isn’t too much to say. The school week was pretty normal. Then, on Saturday, Renate, Timo, Noah, and I went to an event at Timo’s Kindergarten. We did some volunteer work there for a few hours. Simple things like adding more sand to the sand pit, weeding, and some people built something but I’m not sure what it was. Then we all had a potluck-like lunch which was delicious. Renate brought potato salad and chocolate cake, both of which were amazing. There were many salads and also lots of bread. It was all delicious. After that, Rahel and I went to dance class and our friend Anna came. It’s a small class but I think it’s better with a smaller group. Then on Sunday, Renate and Andy went out for the day while Rahel babysat. She did a great job. I didn’t help that much, but I helped make a really big lunch and we had a lot of fun doing that. Overall I think Rahel did a great job taking care of the boys and everyone had a lot of fun! On Sunday I also got to FaceTime with my mom and 2 very good friends. It was really nice to catch up with them. I miss just hanging out and talking with my friends. 

This is the only photo I took this week, sorry for the lack of photos. But this is a photo of the lunch we made together and Timo posing with a green bean in his mouth!

All in all it was a very good week. Also now I am officially past the half way point in my German exchange experience. Time is just flying! As always if you have any questions or comments feel free to email me! Have a great week!