My trip to Germany and experience with German people and language began even before I left the US. I've been learning about German things since I was very young so this trip is especially interesting for me. My first time speaking German with a native German didn't take very long, I met two girls from Germany during our layover in Newark, NJ. I sat and had my last American meal (chicken fingers and fries) and had my first conversation with the two girls. One spoke very good English and the other not so much, so a mixed conversation in German and English took place. One of the girls was going to Texas to see her boyfriend (why she spoke such good English) and the other was going to Mexico City. At first I was definitely worried about my German, as I haven't had much experience speaking with native speakers but she understood what I was saying and it would sometimes require English clarification and she would then explain to her friend what I was saying. The girl going to visit her boyfriend had to catch an earlier flight so she left and it was just me and a German that didn't speak much English. At first it was very difficult for me to remember certain words so our conversation was very limited. It made me a little worried that I would struggle when I got to Germany but I would soon find out that wouldn't be so true. So I said my goodbyes to her and boarded our flight to Tegel airport in Berlin. Our plane was nice and had touchscreen entertainment on the seatbacks with games, shows, and movies, so I was well occupied during the flight. So my sleepless venture began with the flight, as its nearly impossible for me to sleep on planes with so little space.
Once the sun had come up, I was able to view some of the European landscape and it looked surprisingly familiar. Once we arrived in the airport my excitement to experience Germany became overwhelming. After picking up our bags I went to exchange money and was surprised the rate was so high, around 1.50. When I received my money it was somewhat strange to think about how much value we give pieces of paper and how Euros at first seem like monopoly money or something. So after we exchanged our money we began our journey to the youth hostel. I was foolish for packing a bag without wheels because after taking a bus and a trolley I had a long trek with about 100 pounds of baggage to carry. By the time we got to the hostel I was dripping with sweat and was exhausted from not sleeping and carrying half my body weight in bags 5 or 6 blocks. Almost immediately after we got to the hostel we went out into the city and went to several different places. First we went to the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) and it was incredible to be there. My first impression of the city was that it was very similar to New York or a large American city. At the gate there were lots of people dressed up, face painted and in pose similar to places in New York, and there was a group of Germans doing a break dance show.
Then we went to the Reichstag (the German parliament building) which was interesting because the top of it has a large mirrored structure that was on the front of one of our German books and I never thought I would have the chance to see it in person.
After that we went to have our first German meal (which was actually Turkish). There are lots of stands around Germany that are Döners which offer a selection of cheap on the go type food. So I ate a Döner Kebab which was like a pita pocket with gyro type meat, it was good. Needless to say I'd already bought 3 or 4 German beers at random stores and enjoyed them throughout our tour of the city. It was interesting to immediately notice that Germans are very stringent on having exact change for purchases. They'll give you change but they sort of roll their eyes about it, and occasionally you have to round up. So after seeing the city we returned to the hostel for sleep (at least everyone else). I met a few guys from Michigan and Texas so we went out with one of the workers at our hostel to a place called Techalase. Techalase and the rest of the Berlin trip requires much more explanation so that’s it for this blog. Hopefully its understandable and forgive my choppiness there just is so much that's happened and so much to tell its hard to organize my thoughts, and those of you who know me well, know that I hate writing because its impossible for written words to encompass all that is in my mind.
So until next time,
Kyle
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