![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
On Germany
Aug. 27th, 2006 03:05 pmA random collection of observations about Germany:
Germans are taller than Americans. I’m short, and I notice.
There’s no such thing as throwing things in “the” garbage in Germany. All garbage is separated (or rather, YOU separate all garbage) into any number of different categories. Off the top of my head, these are the ones I can easily name: plastic/packaging, paper/cardboard, biological (i.e., food), metal, batteries, clothes, brown glass, white glass, green glass, furniture, and “Rest,” which means whatever else is left over. Which means an incredible number of different garbage collecting containers in your house. I’ve lived here enough to figure out the system (and be convinced that Recycling Is The Way Of The Future), but teaching the kids is showing me—again—just what a complicated system it is.
Playgrounds are much funner—and more dangerous—than in America. Zip cords are cool.
Kids do a lot more on their own than in America. We were on a train the other day and some ten-year-olds got on all alone with their bikes, rode a few stops (that’s a few towns) and got off. Everyone can ride a bike from the time they can walk, and with so many buses and trains, everyone is much more mobile, despite age. And older people don’t limit themselves, either. Grannies on bikes are very common sights.
Forest paths are marked on maps. Paths can cut through fields and forests and are public access, no matter who owns the field or forest. It is perfectly normal to see signs in the middle of the woods showing which path to take to which village, even if they are miles away, and at a distance no American would ever walk.
German picture books (and advertisements) have a LOT more text than their American counterparts.
German novels for children seem much safer than American books. Nothing is too scary. Presumably, YA books get scarier, but there are definite limits in media for children to make them feel safe.
The Aztecs may have invented chocolate, but the Germans have perfected it to a divine art. Yum!
Everybody irons everything here. Which sounds annoying, but it makes sense. Germans have tiny washing machines (and tiny families), and they usually don’t use dryers. (It’s believed to be a waste of energy, maybe?) It rains all the time, so your options are to 1) hang up your clothes and let them sit there for days inside, or 2) iron them and hope that shortens the drying time by a few days or weeks. Hence, everything gets ironed, even underwear.
In Bavaria, anyway, towns often have a hill with built-in caves with doors. These are Bierkeller, and it’s where they store beer. The things look just like hobbit houses. Usually once a year, there’s some kind of festival and everyone goes up to the hill and drinks beer. For those who don’t drink (like me), it’s still a family-friendly event, with music and food and sometimes even carnival rides.
And finally, the road signs are rather entertaining, and if I can figure out how to post my photos of some of them, I will.
Germans are taller than Americans. I’m short, and I notice.
There’s no such thing as throwing things in “the” garbage in Germany. All garbage is separated (or rather, YOU separate all garbage) into any number of different categories. Off the top of my head, these are the ones I can easily name: plastic/packaging, paper/cardboard, biological (i.e., food), metal, batteries, clothes, brown glass, white glass, green glass, furniture, and “Rest,” which means whatever else is left over. Which means an incredible number of different garbage collecting containers in your house. I’ve lived here enough to figure out the system (and be convinced that Recycling Is The Way Of The Future), but teaching the kids is showing me—again—just what a complicated system it is.
Playgrounds are much funner—and more dangerous—than in America. Zip cords are cool.
Kids do a lot more on their own than in America. We were on a train the other day and some ten-year-olds got on all alone with their bikes, rode a few stops (that’s a few towns) and got off. Everyone can ride a bike from the time they can walk, and with so many buses and trains, everyone is much more mobile, despite age. And older people don’t limit themselves, either. Grannies on bikes are very common sights.
Forest paths are marked on maps. Paths can cut through fields and forests and are public access, no matter who owns the field or forest. It is perfectly normal to see signs in the middle of the woods showing which path to take to which village, even if they are miles away, and at a distance no American would ever walk.
German picture books (and advertisements) have a LOT more text than their American counterparts.
German novels for children seem much safer than American books. Nothing is too scary. Presumably, YA books get scarier, but there are definite limits in media for children to make them feel safe.
The Aztecs may have invented chocolate, but the Germans have perfected it to a divine art. Yum!
Everybody irons everything here. Which sounds annoying, but it makes sense. Germans have tiny washing machines (and tiny families), and they usually don’t use dryers. (It’s believed to be a waste of energy, maybe?) It rains all the time, so your options are to 1) hang up your clothes and let them sit there for days inside, or 2) iron them and hope that shortens the drying time by a few days or weeks. Hence, everything gets ironed, even underwear.
In Bavaria, anyway, towns often have a hill with built-in caves with doors. These are Bierkeller, and it’s where they store beer. The things look just like hobbit houses. Usually once a year, there’s some kind of festival and everyone goes up to the hill and drinks beer. For those who don’t drink (like me), it’s still a family-friendly event, with music and food and sometimes even carnival rides.
And finally, the road signs are rather entertaining, and if I can figure out how to post my photos of some of them, I will.
