Die Ersten Tage In Deutschland

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Arrival - October 3rd

The plane ride wasn’t so bad. It was only about 7-8 hours. Not nearly as bad as the trip to New Zealand. It is always amazing to me how I get stressed out about things, and then everything works out fine with no complications. That is exactly what happened in this case. Wes’s buddy brought me to the airport, helped me get my tickets, I got on the plane fine, got there fine, got through customs fine, and met up with Sandra with no problems. It was so good to see her. We have been apart for 3 months, so it was great to reunite.

The only slight incident was a mistake on Sandra’s part. I think she was a little too excited, because she pulled a Kramer (Seinfeld Reference) and forgot where she parked. When I travel, I don’t exactly travel light because I like my things, but I wish that I would have packed light. Running around a parking garage for over an hour looking for a car while holding on to my backpack, guitar, and huge bag, is not fun. Eventually, she managed to find the spot where she was certain she entered the parking garage. From there, she basically just walked (from memory) where she had driven when she arrived. Soon enough, we found the car. It sucked at the time, but makes a funny memory now that we look back on it.

The Autobahn was interesting. Once she got up to about 170 km and people were still passing us like we had the parking brake on (Uncle Dave Saying), I knew that it was no joke. People cruise here. I think that the cities and towns are similar to the US in terms of speed, but the Autobahn is like Talladega Speedway. Also, lots of Mercedes and BMW’s.

Sandra introduced me to her Oma and Opa (German for grandma and grandpa) when we arrived at the house in Hähnlein. It was interesting, because they do not speak English, so Sandra had to translate everything so we can communicate. But it was a nice meeting and they seemed to enjoy meeting me, and having me here.

American - German Differences

There are a lot of things that are different about this country, aside from the Autobahn. For instance, this Keyboard I am typing on sucks, because the Y is where the Z usually is, and the Z is where the Y usually is. You don’t realize how often you use those two letters until you get them backwards a million times like I have in the last few Journal entries.

A lot of people back home would probably call me crazy (by the way - craZY....Z and Y that was a tough one) Anyway, where was I. Oh Yeah, friends and family would call me stupid for this one, but I have never seen this. Sandra’s Oma and Opa have cubed sugar. Apparently, it’s common to use cubed sugars for their coffee and tea time. That’s right, Coffee And Tea Time. Every day at about 3-4ish is coffee and tea time over here, and the majority of people exercise this, if not all of them. What else?

By the way, it just took me like 2 minutes to find that question mark on this damn keyboard. Love it...

Here's one. I was in The Supermarket the other day with Sandra, and they sell milk that isn't refrigerated. Apparently it doesn't go bad. I thought that was weird. Also, you have to pay money to use a shopping cart, and to get your groceries bagged. They don’t bag groceries unless you pay for the bags. Interesting....

Here's a good one. Houses in Germany do not have doorknobs on the outside. The only way to get into a house is to use a key to open the door. So, if I ever get locked out of the house while Sandra is at work, I'm pretty much screwed.

October 5th

Last night, I met Sandra’s Mom, and her boyfriend Jurgen. They could both speak “decent but not fluent” English, so communication was a little bit easier than with Sandra’s Oma and Opa. We drove up to Wiesbaden, where they live and we all went out to a fantastic Greek Restaurant. As far as I know, I have never had “actual” Greek food before, so it was a real treat. We got a couple of appetizers that were nice, but the meals were really good. I had a Chicken dish that was stuffed with garlic and cheese, and came with fried potato. It was like French fries kind of, but way better than French fries. Afterward, we went for a walk along the water. Then we went back to the apartment where I got to watch Sandra’s home videos from when she was a kid, which was quite funny by the way.

Today, I woke up and went for a 45 minute skate for a little exercise. Then we went for a drive. She brought me to a carnival because she wasn’t sure if I had been to one before, but it was very similar to the fairs that I have been to in Maine, aside from the Crepe stands. We walked by like 5 of them. Crepes were popular in New Zealand as well.

Afterward, we went to a very unique Pizza Restaurant. We got a somewhat standard pizza consisting of mushroom, salami, peppers....and egg? The egg is why I said “somewhat”. But it was the closest thing to what I am used to. The other pizza options were a bit different. They had corn and stuff like that on them. Weird....In my “Scenic Drive To Dunedin” journal you can read about a Spaghetti Pizza that Richard ordered in Oamaru, New Zealand....that was even weirder.

So far, Germany has been great, and the time spent has not been wasted at all. I only hope that things stay just as fun as they have been since my arrival. Fingers Crossed....

Hannibal - October 7th

So, Sandra has a rabbit, and his name is Hannibal. Today while Sandra was at work, I helped her Oma and Opa do some lawn work, and I thought Hannibal would like to hop around the yard outside because he’s always in his cage. I thought I’d be nice and let him out. Big mistake. That little bastard took off on me as soon as his feet connected with the living room floor, and he went straight for Sandra’s bedroom. So, I chased him upstairs and tried to get him to come out from under the bed. It didn’t work. He did a really good job staying away from me. In his eyes, I guess he thought that I was trying to hurt him or something, when really I was trying to do the little prick a favor. Long story short, I spent the better part of an hour chasing him around, and it pissed me off so much that when I finally caught him, directly back into the cage he went. Funny...but annoying....

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Photos

Sandra
Holding her little rat haha

Me
Holding Hannibal

Sandra
Sweeping

Back Yard
Oma And Opas Back Yard

Sandra
In Her Back Yard

Sandra
Eating food that I made for her

Hannibal
Sandras Rabbit