I've been in Germany now for half-a-year. I certainly have seen and learned a lot. And the most exciting thing to date is my wife's, Darlene's, arrival in Europe.
The cuisine here is amazing. I have yet to have a bad meal outside of a US Military compound. The food here is at once eclectic and varied. The "Mexican" restuarant in Germany is Turkish, with a "doener" stand on every corner. Then there are the Chinese restaurants, too, along with (of course) McDonald's, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bell. To date, outside of military posts, I have yet to indulge in American fast food.
We live in a gasthaus in a little Mannheim suburb called Viernheim (FEARN-hime). The people here are quite nice, and as varied as the food. Poles, a Yugoslavian (by her description), Bulgarians, Brazilians, and Germans work here. Darlene is now a stay-at-home wife, though she is preparing to return to college next month. Wonderfully, just the other day, as the Brazilian and Bulgarian came in to clean the room, she found herself dancing with them both.
Another wonderful woman here is a Pole who moved to Germany as a two-year-old in 1944 at the height of the Soviet advance west through what is today the Ukraine. Her mother, after seeing the Soviets and Nazis in action, decided that Nazis were better than Communists.
There are surprising things I have encountered, despite what I had heard from my Government and from the US media. First of all, Germans smoke like chimneys. They also "drink like fish." On top of it all, due to a history of ancient warfare and invasion, most meals involve pork and fried foods. This despite all the reports I had heard that Western Europeans live and eat more healthily that we Americans.
Soft porn and sex-phone adds are easily found after midnight on television. Nudity is easily found in full view at the newsstand, but there are sharp and hard limits on the nudity one can find in those magazines.
Libertarianism is an essentially unknown political philosphy here.
The Polizei have very broad powers, and there is no concept of police brutality. The Polizei will use as much violence as they feel necessary to control the situation.
Public transportation is common nationwide, though I have recently seen that more rural areas have fewer options. They DO have options, though, but taxes are high here, with a Value Added Tax of 19% on ALL items, to include groceries. The irony is that groceries here are surprisingly cheap, due to tax-supported subsidies to farms.
Overall, Europe has been quite the adventure and so far we are enjoying it greatly. The Lord continues to bless me, and I don't know why.
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8 years ago
