A Fool Goes to Germany

Guten tag! Yes, that's right, I am writing this newsletter from my bed here in Germany. I hope to drum up some business for us overseas and that means having to suffer through cake, candy, beer, and sausages. Poor me.

I've been here a couple days now and I think what strikes me most is parking. Not that I am driving, but rather seeing where and how people park cars in Hamburg is something else. Earlier today I was walking along this narrow hill street and the sidewalk is covered with parked cars. I leaned over to the person I was walking with and said, "This can't be legal." No sooner than at the next car we see a sign that says parking on the sidewalk is permitted (which I wish I took a picture of because it was a funny picture of a car half on the curb). Yesterday I saw cars parked under an overpass between the pillars that hold it up.

Beyond that it hasn't really felt very different to be living here. Well, I suppose it was a bit weird when a guy got onto the subway and started playing an accordion and collecting change. Very surreal.

Have you been to a foreign country and remember what struck you as different that you weren't expecting? Are there things you expect to be different if you went to one? Discuss it on the forum!

Words from The Fool:

Jet lag isn't my problem. I adapted instantly to the timezone change. The real problem is that as I am writing this it's 7:13 AM Pacific, but 4:13 PM here. This causes some issues when people want to call me, as they either have to be up rather early or I have to be working rather late. It should be interesting to see how I hold up to a schedule that has me working mornings and nights but not during the day. Sounds foolish?

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Happens all the time here.

Well, when I went to the UK, I saw warnings everywhere. The thing that was odd to me, was that it also said how much you would have to pay if you didn't heed them.

You don't have buskers where you live, friend Fool? (Ha! I know your name at last, but I won't give it away! My ambition was merely to learn it). We have too many buskers, but there are a few who aren't bad.

Just communicate by email, it's easier and no-one has to be deprived of sleep.

You must have seen some eye-poppingly beautiful architecture already. Lucky you!

Yes, I am currently still in another country. My husband and I are in Belgrade Serbia at the moment. What seemed strange to me besides the time change, which took me forever it seemed.. Was the toilets. They way they flush is weird to me.
Its been doing nothing but snowing, it is a winter wonderland over here! But I think its beautiful.

Ok I found another fun one. I can order a beer at McDonald's

It's Germany; you can probably order a beer at the dry cleaners.

We were in a small town in Austria. It was freezing cold and raining, and we were lugging these gigantic backpacks around, no umbrellas, trying to figure out up what cobblestone street/steep hill our hotel was located on. I think we'd been up and down and around the whole town, and were extremely miserable and irritated at our friends who swore they had the directions down (let's just say this wasn't the first time we trekked aimlessly in multiple directions looking for something ).

We were back on the main street, and all of a sudden, we see this procession coming toward us down the middle of the street, led by a priest. They moved silently, carrying a casket through the horrible weather, all the mourners with black umbrellas walking behind--probably at least 100 people in total. It was like nothing I had ever seen before.

We didn't know the protocol--every funeral procession here in the states is in cars, and you move your car off the side of the road to show respect, letting all the mourners pass. So, we moved off to the sidewalk and just stood, heads bowed & rain pouring down on us until about 5 minutes into it, a man hurried past us--guess you don't have to do that But, it was really sort of hauntingly beautiful

@Argoyle:
That's insane! Ordering that there! Next someone will say you can order a bottle of water from a trash can!
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And I never been to another country. I have heard that the British are always making fun of Americans for years. If one asks you how to spell Ohio and you spell it wrong they will put it all over the world on the media!

@princessbinas- With good reason. Americans took English and changed it completely. And English is the only thing the British are very proud of.

@theone: to be fair, everyone changes languages so much that there's no such thing as a 'pure' language. For English, you got: Canadian, Australian, Indian, British, Shakespearean, Old English, Middle English, etc. 'dialects' or whatever you call it versions of english. Brits have their version of it as do everyone else who speaks english. But even the Brits one isn't the 'original' English either lol.

Seriously, try to read and understand Old English without a translator. It sounds nothing like modern english.

Lols, I'm not blaming anyone. I'm just saying that it's the reason many Britishers dislike Americans

They hated us ever since we broke away from them. Now many Americans make fun of accesents 'and' what they call 'chips' is really french fries. *eats saltless baked ones homemade style* *Nom* *Nom*

edit: I barley understood a word while looking and hearing it. Good grief!

Haven't been outside the US besides Mexico, but I was little during that time so I don't remember much.

However, an example a bit closer to home: Non-Asian Communities. I have grown up and lived in a predominantly Asian community so I'm very used to seeing Asians pretty much everywhere. So when my family and I visit non-asian communities, it's a bit uncomfortable being the only asians there. Funny thing for me was that Asians shops have the hanging meet and stuff in the their shops. I remember some tourists in Chinatown were gawking at it XD

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Sincerely doubt that otherwise the British would hate the entire world

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About 'French fries'... makes my ears cringe every time. Fries aren't a French invention, but a Belgian one. T.T So hontesly, chips is a much better word than french fries.

Bah, you think french fries were bad? Americans AND THE WORLD think fortune cookies were invented by us Chinese.

THEY ARE NOT! We just stole them from the Japanese lol.

And Confucius did not say any of those sayings

Really? I thought Fortune Cookies where made in the U.S.

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Well, chips is the original word. Even now in most countries, besides the US, it's called fries, not french fries.
Not that I care, I'm neither French nor Belgian xD

@binas: Japanese Americans = ...Japanese americans XD

@theone: But I am. Belgian I mean I know most people call it either fries or chips, still America = big part of the world (though not as big as China or India ^^; ).

Anyway, I feel we've gone slightly off topic?
Another thing I noticed when visiting UK is in local restaurants/pubs they don't come and take your order. We actually waited quite a while at the table, but then just decided to go and ask when they were coming to take our orders xD