Leaving Germany

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I just boarded the train from Cologne to Amsterdam. Last night was fun... It was a bbq at Simon's friends house in Bonn. Most the guys there worked for the German equivalent of the FBI and they told some interesting stories which were sometimes translated for me. We had one final typical German breakfast and Simon and I headed to Cologne to see the Dom and send me off. After a sad goodbye with Simon I boarded the train and am saying ciao to Germany, after a wonderful 3 weeks.

From what I have learned, German people are, for the most part, very proud people. They are a little bit more patriotic than the majority of Americans that I know, but in a couple of my experiences they take it a little too far. IN some cases they are like a lot of European people, very hypocritical of Americans, but all they know is from the European news and MTV. I met one Dutch girl who said something about the stereotype that Dutch people have for Americans and I asked her to explain. It was different than the usual stereotype "all americans are fat, uneducated, and never leave their couches," this girl said that the Dutch have a problem with Americans because they are too nice. This confused me because anywhere new I go I am as nice and polite as I can be, always with a smile on my face. She said that most Americans that they meet are so nice that it comes off as fake and it is different than the typical European culture. I can understand what she means when I think of fake girls that I know, but i dont think that ill let it change how I act... Its way better to be too nice, than to be too mean.

The majority of the time, the German people that I met were extremely nice and befriended me very quickly. They loved to show me German life and were always excited when I learned something new or noticed something different than in America. Some were very curious to hear about life in America and others loved to brag about German ways, I always tried to act impressed. One thing that really did impress me was the German's view on WWII and the holocaust. The place where Hitler died has no marking whatsoever... They say that they do not want to recognize that his life had and value and he does not to have his life celebrated by even one sign. In many conversations some said things like how they understand that the world will never forgive them for the cruelty that happened in that time, but they were all well educated about it and are proud of the things that their country has done since that time. Which is something to be proud of... Even after being divided in half and devastated after the war, with their hard work ethic they have grown to be the most powerful country in Europe. The germans have my respect and I will always argue against the thought that 'all Germans are nazis.' Only some of them 😊

Oh did I mention that it hasnt escaped Americanization? Yes, it is very americanized. The entire trip I looked for a normal fashionable shirt in German, but every single one said something like "Hawaii surfshop" or some other stupid American saying, it was very frustrating. Everywhere you go you can hear American music being blasted by some car speakers or people singing along to Katie Perry's song "California Girls" (or something like that)

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