There are so many things that I have been noticing, still, that are different than in the USA. First of all I noticed that on the tram they tell you to watch out for the gap between the train and platform. They don't say it for every stop though just some. When I went to D.C. they said to watch out at every stop. I assumed this was to prevent any law suit because someone "wasn't warned" about the gap. This may not seem like much but I have been noticing that the Germans don't waste time with stupid signs or warnings. You are expected to be competent. No sign on your coffee saying "contents may be hot"....doesn't that go without saying? Don't you know what you ordered, therefore, know if it is hot or not?
Another thing I have noticed is the paths and sidewalks. They are uneven. Now in the states you would probably need a sign or something warning that it is uneven. Here you are just expected to watch where you are going and not be stupid! I like how Germany thinks of their citizens....America must think we are dumb or something because of all the signs we need. Either that or people are greedy enough to sue over stupid stuff like that and win. For example the one lady that spilled her coffee from McDonalds. She knew she was ordering a coffee and therefore it would be hot. She should have been smart enough not to put it somewhere where it would spill on her.
Also a lot of people here smoke. Out in front of the house there is a vending machine for cigarettes, just right there for anyone to buy them. I am used to Boise where pretty much every public place is now smoke free. Even the campus of BSU is completely smoke free. Along with that is drinking. You can get alcohol at many restaurants and all grocery stores. I don't think there is a public drinking law because I have seen a lot of people drink their beers right out in public. That is something you definitely wouldn't see in the states.
Yesterday Heather and I got our school schedules for the month of March. I have a really good schedule where I start early in the morning and go with no breaks but I am done by 1pm or noon everyday. Heather didn't get so lucky and she has breaks in between classes and hers start way later. So I might not be seeing much of Heather once school starts.
So far we have only met one person from the USA. He said he was from Colorado but goes to school in Michigan. He is in the intensive German class so he will be in a different program than us. So I think Heather and I are the only ones in Studienkolleg, the only ones that we have seen anyways.
We haven't gone anywhere yet but April is filling up really fast. So far I am: meeting up with friends from high school in Trier, going to a soccer game, we have a trip to Munich, Neuschwanstein and a water park planned, we have a tennis tournament in Stuttgart sometime one week and I think we might be going to a theme park one day. So there should be lots of pictures coming soon. Oh yea...and there is school too!
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