CHRIS: Final Thoughts

Goodbye Deutschland

I have learned so much from this trip. It’s been super interesting to see how people of another culture live. I have also become vastly more comfortable speaking German. When I first got here I was secretly terrified to talk to any of the Germans. Since then I’ve become much more comfortable and have no fear whatsoever with talking to them. I surprised myself at lunch today when the waiter tried to rip us off. Genie and I ate at an Asian restaurant. The food was very good and reasonably priced. I had some curry chicken stuff.

When I went to pay the waiter didn’t have any Kleingeld or at least that’s what he told us. So Genie and I gave him two 10s and six Euros in coin money. He then gave me a five and walked off. The meal was only 15.50 and we soon realized that he was trying to rip off the Auslanders. I guess it was the end of his shift because he changed clothes and tried to walk out. He tried so hard not to make eye contact. I spoke well enough German to call him out about it when he tried to leave. At first he pretended like he didn’t know what I was talking about and that I was speaking another language. Another waiter walked over and I explained what happened. He then gave me a ten and we left. I was so proud of myself.

I would also like to mention that this has only happened once since I’ve been here and I’ve eaten almost every meal out. 99% of the time at restaurants the waiters are courteous and go out of their way to help you. That’s the way it’s been with everyone. If you get lost or need to find an ATM all you have to do is ask someone politely and they will help. The German society is very orderly and polite. Even the homeless people are polite! The first day we got here Kendall and I sat down near the train station and had a snack. Two homeless people approached us and we had a conversation with them. The whole time they used the formal Sie and when I said that I didn’t understand something they took the time to explain it to us. In America if two bums approached us I would’ve feared for my life but here I didn’t feel threatened at all. That’s something I’ll definitely miss. In Deutschland I can go almost anywhere any time of day and feel perfectly safe.

In fact I’ll miss almost everything about Deutschland. The food, the people, the weather, the beer, the beer gardens, the Strassenbahn, and countless other things. I’ll definitely miss hanging out with the group too. The group on this trip has been awesome and I can say without a doubt that this has been one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. Everyone has gotten along well and I’ve had so much fun.

It is definitely time to go home though. I want to see my family. My sister and Ryan are home from Korea and I want to see them. I also want to play my guitar again. I have missed it so much! I haven’t played guitar in forever the calluses on my fingers are starting to disappear. I can’t wait to go home but at the same time I can’t wait to come back someday. I’ve had such a good time here and learned so much. Everything has been wunderbar.