im Vergleich zu Amerika

So today being Wednesday, November 25th, means 2 things: 1, tomorrow is Thanksgiving back home and it makes me a little sad to know I won't be there, and 2, that I have officially been here in Germany for four weeks as of today! That seems so crazy to me, because in some ways I feel like I just got here. But that is really not what this post is about. My title says "Compared to America" and I would like to share a few observations I've made now that I have been living here in Deutschland for pretty much a month. There are--what I think at least--three things that the Germans do WAY better than us Americans, and I don't think we'll ever be able to catch them in these three arenas.

1. Brot. German bread is DELICIOUS and bakeries are EVERYWHERE. Dr. Atkins would hate it here, but bread is an essential part of the German diet. Our bread can't come close to this stuff.. trust me.

2. Schokolade. Mmmmm. The chocolate here is so good. Plain and simple. It is smoother if that makes sense, and just plain better.

3. Bier. Okay, so this is a given, but it's true. The beer here is amazing--if you enjoy a good beer from time to time, such as myself ;) There are SO many different beers to choose from. I looked it up and found that within Germany there are about 1,300 different breweries throughout the country. That is more than any other country--EXCEPT the US, which has around 1,500. BUT keep in mind, Germany is just a little smaller than the state of Montana. So there are 1,300 breweries in a country that is not that big.. which of course results in 2 things: Amazing beer, and ever better selection. Every region has there specialties. Living so close to Köln, Kölsch is king, which is fine by me because it has fastly become my favorite, (it also can only legally be brewed in Köln--I can already see my mom now repeating this fact over and over again at this years New Year's Eve party..) This past weekend while in the south visiting Naemi, I actually found myself missing Kölsch. Mmmm it's delicious. The other thing that fascinates me about German beer is that there are so many beers to choose from, each having it's own flavor, but all are made with the same ingredients. Der Reinheitsgebot, or "German Purity Law", was put into effect in 1516 stating that breweries throughout Germany could only use 3 ingredients: water, barley and hops. Although, Yeast was later added to the list. Still to this day, German breweries must comply with this law. Soo interesting! Got to love beer--and the Germans do :)

Now for my other observations. Some other things that the Germans do better than us:

--Public transportaion. This is a big one. It is so easy to live without a car here. The U-Bahn can pretty much take you anywhere you would need to go within the cities and once there, you can walk everywhere. If you need to go somewhere further, their trains are wonderful. Something that is definitely lacking in the U S of A.

--Cars. I know this basically goes against what I just wrote above, but when you are in the market for a car, I don't think it's hard to imagine which country does them better--especially with the American car industry going down the drain. I mean, what would you rather have? A Ford/GM/Chevorlet or a Mercedes-Benz/Audi/BMW?? We may have invented Das Auto, but they perfected it.

--Healthcare. This one's easy.

--Knowledge of Foreign Languages. Almost every German knows some English, or at least another language. Most can speak at least 3. They start learning foreign languages (mostly English first) at a young age. I am envious of them for this.

--Travel/Vacation. Germans love to travel, and they truly see the importance of seeing other cultures and places. They also get MUCH more vacation time to do so. Required (by law) vacation days given to a German worker in a year: 24. The required days given to an American: none.

--Meat. Leave it to the Germans to seriously have like 284640387 ways to eat meat. The Meat counter at the grocery stores here pretty much takes up the entire back wall. It's crazy. And their "street food" of Bratwursts and sausages are really good--especially considering they're like €2.

--Mustard. Also known as Senf here. I love mustard. I could put it on everything. And lucky for me, Germans do put it on almost everything! And theirs isn't like a boring yellow mustard like we have.. it's just.. mmmm so good.

Now for the things I think we do better:

--Sports. Okay, I know I am super biased here, but thank god for my brother and the SlingBox so that I can watch American Football. I went the first 2 and 1/2 weeks or so without it and it didn't feel right. I try enjoying soccer games when they're on here.. but.. its just not the same thing. And besides soccer, there isn't really much else to watch. No hockey. No basketball. No baseball. Certainly no lacrosse. Nothing.

--Education system. I'm not saying ours is perfect, but I think it is a better system than the one here. Here, everyone is provided with "primary schooling" by the government. But once you're about 12 your future is already planned. At that time, based on teacher recommendations etc. you are filtered into one of 4 "secondary schools". But out of these 4 schools, only about 1 really gets you ready and puts you in a position to go on to a university. So, as I see it, you're basically told whether you are going on to college or not at the 5th grade. That seems crazy to me. Also, the experience that one gains in college in the US I think is far better than one found here. And I'm not just saying that because my 5 (yes I said 5) years at WVU were the best years of my life so far..

--Mexican/Latin food. So, back in the US we have a lot of Mexican immigrants, and therefore a lot of Mexican food etc. That isn't the case here. There are no Mexicans (sub Turkish), so spicy Mexican fare is out of the question. And if you do happen to find a Mexican place here.. good luck if they get it right.

--Men. Alright, so again, I know I might be biased, but I'm sorry, when I see guys I want them to be that--a guy. The men here care A LOT more about their clothes, or their hair on a daily basis than I ever think a straight American would/could. Where are the guys with the 5-o'clock shadows here??? Oh yeah, they shaved because they care too much. Dumb. Move.

--Music/Movie/Entertainment in general. The US definitely runs the table when it comes to this. Our music is better. Our movie are better. Our TV shows are better. Thats why most of them can be found here (but dubbed in German). Family Guy was on the other night here.. in German.. let me tell you.. it's hilarious.

--Friendliness. Once you meet German friends, they are awesome, and they will be your friends for life. HOWEVER, it is extremely hard to break into a circle of existing German friends. Germans don't seem to be as open to talking to new people that they don't already know. Which, trust me, makes it really difficult to meet new people if, like me, you are coming here alone.

--Snow. I've been told by numerous people that in the bigger cities (like where I live in Bonn near Köln), it never snows due to pollution. It just rains. Which. Sucks. Big. Time.

--Washers/Dryers. I don't really know why, but for some reason it takes like an hour for one load of laundry to make it through the entire wash cycle. And about 2 hours for the dryer. And its not as if these washers/dryers are out of date. It's just the way they are. Slow.

Alright, well I think those are my observations as of now. I'll update again soon. If I don't write tomorrow, I hope everyone back home has a wonderful Thanksgiving with their families and friends! Liebe Dich, Megan