Auf Wiedersehen

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Its strange to think that after 3 months in Germany I have now spent just over 1% of my life here. Granted that perhaps seems not so much, however it differs slightly from the 4 days that our original plans had us staying. So today is the last day, so much has happened since we arrived in May. The World Cup, a month long festival in every village, city and town in the country. Trips to Medieval Castles and Towns, A weekend in Paris, A week in Spain, our own little apartment, a music festival, beer gardens, bars, nightclubs, restaurants. Its been a great time.

Germany is an interesting country, one that is rich in history both of the good and bad variety. This town for example has a history dating back around 1,500 years. Each region has its own culture and different traditions. Tübingen is in Swabia which differs greatly from the neighbouring Bavaria, and people from the north even have trouble understanding the language down here. The entire country has only been re-unified for 17 years after 40 years of separation. Infact re-unified may not even be the right word, perhaps re-unifying suits better.

The next generation will be telling for Germany. Its central geographical and economic position in Europe mean that its importance will be everpresent, but how well the language and culture survive will to me be the most interesting. Its predicted by the end of the century 5,500 of the 6,000 languages now spoken will no longer exist, hopefully German is not one of them.

Its hard to say if I will be back in Tübingen but hopefully one day I will, I have had such a fantastic time here and recommend anyone travelling to Europe to firstly make sure you see the south of Germany but also get out of the big cities and into the beautiful little towns that are everywhere down here.

Well thats all for now, tomorrow I meet Kristian and we head off to Sweden.

Auf Wiedersehen!

John

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