5 Cool Things about Germany

I was fortunate to live in Germany twice for a total of around 5 years. Once when I was actually in the Air Force and the other time as a contractor for the Department of Defense.

When I first arrived in Germany I absolutely loved it because of its novelty of it. It was completely different in almost every way that you could imagine to America. Then as I travelled to neighboring countries I kind of forgot about what Germany had to offer even though I lived there.

Upon returning to live in Germany after being away for about a year and a half I quickly remembered what I had been missing.

My list of 5 cool things about living in Germany...

1) The cars and the driving -- What came first? The touring car or the or the impeccable highway system? I don't know but either way the Germans have mastered both a long time ago. Okay dude, your Mustang is fast off the line but how do you feel when a BMW 520D (yes, diesel!) station wagon full of kids passes you on the Autobahn at 160 MPH around bends to boot? Where else do you pass police cars on the highway going over a 100MPH and not think twice about them.. Nor do they think twice of you?

The thing that is awesome to me about driving a German car in Germany is that people do not look at you so pretentiously like they do in other countries. Whether it is a BMW, Mercedes, Audi, VW or Porsche they are driven by everybody and anybody. These brands are seen in Germany the same way Chevrolet or Ford is seen in America. To me that is cool.

2) Turkish food-- Where to begin?! I guess the classic Döner kebab that tastes best in Germany (and I have tried it in Turkey...) Think of it as European fast food. Typically the place you order it from has a window on the front of the shop and you stand on the sidewalk and tell the guy what you want. About 60 to 90 seconds later he hands you your sandwich. Depending on where you are it will cost you anywhere from €3.50 to €5.00 for one. They have been in the news lately, as some 'news agencies' like to report the obvious as news.


3) Location, location, location -- Where I lived was 4 hours to Paris; 3 hours to Munich; 5 hours to Zurich; 3 hours to Brussels; and 6 hours to London... Enough said.


4) German mentality -- The Rule of law. Germans live by it and seem to love it. I have been yelled at by a German (who was actually obstructing traffic to yell at me) for riding a bike on the sidewalk and then an hour later for not having a headlight on the front of my bike and a flashing tail light on the back by another German. I once got pulled over on an access road between two highways by an unmarked German police car. He didn't stop me for driving 140 MPH in a 50MPH zone. No, that is understandable as it was a only a half-mile stretch of straightaway connecting two separate highways. He pulled me over for passing on a solid lined road...

There is no litter. People think nothing of keeping their trash in their pockets until they come across a trashcan. It seems to be a religion here in the UK to dump your trash wherever you please.

When you live in a place where people have little or no respect for the law it makes you appreciate a nation where the people comprehend the reasons and benefits for the whole of society in following them.

5) The American bases -- It is perhaps the most remarkable thing to me that I lived in a foreign country where you are surrounded by a new culture and language but have any 'touch of home' that you desire at your fingertips. I lived on base and off base in Germany and saw the positives and negatives of both but crossing back and forth between the two was truly something that made my stay in Germany much more enjoyable.

Want some Lucky Charms, Snapple Iced Tea and Hostess Donuts? Go on base and get it at the Shoppette or Commissary!

Want some Punica multi-vitamin juice, fresh Brotchen and Milka chocolate? Go off base and get it at Real or Toon!

First trip to Luxembourg

I arrived in Germany to live in the spring of 1999 and quickly caught the traveling bug. Within a couple weeks of settling into my dorm room I was invited by my 'piss mate' (I had my own dorm room but shared the bathroom with the guy next door.) and a friend of his to go to Luxembourg City, Luxembourg.

Luxembourg City is only about 45 minutes to an hour drive from Spangdahlem Airbase but is very different from Germany culturally. Although the ethnic Luxembourg people speak a dialect of German the actual language of the government is French. So for example all the road signs and restaurant menus are in French.

It would not have made any difference to me why 'piss mate' was going to Luxembourg as I would have gone even if he had told me he was going there to sell me to Gypsies. As it turned out I need not be worried of Gypsies. We were going to The Utopolis movie complex on the edge of the city.



We parked the car outside the complex in a dirt parking lot that is now home to two world famous banks and walked inside to purchase tickets for the next showing of The Matrix. We had about an hour or so before the movie started so we went upstairs and got some seats in a very chic looking bar with a very high ceiling and large glass windows overlooking the main street.



After sitting there and soaking in the European chic bar scene we went to get some popcorn and drinks before heading into the theatre. Two things that were initially very strange to me was that if you didn't ask for ice in your soda they wouldn't give you any and you had an option of two different kinds of popcorn. Salty or sweet.

Having tried Salty popcorn for my whole life of course I HAD to go for the sweet popcorn... And I loved it. It is crunchier than salted popcorn. Perhaps it has some toffee or honey mixed in with the sugar and butter. Very rarely would I ever get salted popcorn when visiting the Cinema after this.

With my hands loaded with sugary treats to stuff my face with for the next 90 minutes we went to find some seats in the theatre. The theatre screen looked bigger than what I was accustomed to in America and the seating was much steeper. The seats were more comfortable as well from what was available in most theatres in America in the late 90's.

So when the lights went dark and I was expecting the movie previews to begin I got a slight surprise... I was sitting through commercials for milk, beer and car insurance in French. Thankfully these ended and the previews began and the movie shortly there after.

The movie was the original in English but had German and French subtitles on the bottom. I actually became quite used to this and it helped me to learn some German and French words as well.

Once the movie was finished the lights came back on and the doors that are typically used for the emergency exits opened and we followed the crowd out. Upon walking down the stairs we found ourselves back in the main lobby where you purchased tickets. They seem to have the system setup so that you couldn't leave this film and go to see another one without paying... Good Idea I guess.

We got out of the cinema well past midnight and drove back to Spangdahlem but many more trips to Luxembourg would be in my future. The place had a different vibe to it. I couldn't put my finger on it at the time as to why it had a different atmosphere that Germany but it didn't take me too long to figure it out.

Calm between the 2 'storms'...

Certain areas of the UK are having major issues. They are not really accustomed to that much snow in most parts of England so when they get the smallest amount of say 3" or 10cm they lose their marbles. It is a similar problem to what southern states in America have to deal with. Every once in a while they get hit with a snow storm and have no capabilities to remove the snow.

Here in Birmingham we received about 3" of snow but in some other areas of the southeast they got up to about 18". Imagine that with no plows or the proper rock salt to aid in dissolving the iced sidewalks. I saw on the news they said that they emergency services have received a 40% increase in 999 calls. Apparently many an old person is walking to the corner store to buy some milk and a newspaper and slipping in the sidewalks and breaking various bones.



Even though it was snowing all day Monday the kids had school but then the Birmingham City Council took the unusual step of issuing a blanket closure for all city schools for Tuesday. And then we had no snow at all... To be fair to them the sidewalks were very dangerous though.

Apparently we are supposed to get another storm tomorrow and then again on Friday. It will be interesting to see how they handle it. A lot of parents are upset that the schools were closed because they had to stay home from work. The news said 1 in 5 workers stayed home....

A New Beginning...

This is the first time I have ever really attempted to seriously keep any form of a journal and I am curious as to how it will turn out.

My intention is to try to strike an even balance between current events happening around me with memories of events from my past. Particularly, the past 10 years that I have been living and traveling around the world.

I hope that this will act as a magnet for my memories of events that me and/or my children can look back on in the future and reflect at how fortunate I have been in my life while maybe learning from my mistakes and errors in judgement.

Although, I must admit...

I have no idea where this will all lead...