There are a lot of things to get used to in Germany, most of which I knew of ahead of time, but even so. Here are some of my observations so far, in case you are curious.
-Awesome public transportation: it is easy to use, but coming from somewhere with subpar buses (in Grand Rapids it would take me an hour on the bus to get to to work when I normally drive 15 minutes), it still takes a while to get the hang of things. but I have a month-long bus pass, so I can practice all I want :)
-Dogs are everywhere here. And they are so well trained here! A lot of people don't even use leashes. And people take their dogs everywhere. I overheard a coworker say they heard that they like dogs better here than kids. Sounds like I belong here! :)
-People don't seem to like to be handed money here. Most restaurants have a little dish where you place your money and they place your change.
-When I first got here I remember thinking that the sidewalks were not as clean as I remembered them being last time I was in Germany (when Taber and I were both studying abroad). Then a few days later I saw a cleaning crew sweeping up the sidewalk. There's the Germany I remembered!
-While traditional German food is tasty, I also appreciate that they seem to embrace restaurants of all sorts of ethnicities. There is a wide variety of different foods to try.
-It is sometimes hard to practice my German with people because it is very obvious I don't speak German very well, so a lot of people will just answer me in English to speed things up. Helpful, but also sometimes frustrating. But more often than not, it's a relief.
Anyway, enough of my musings, now I will give you some pictures of my favorite places and buildings and such so far. Ok, more than a few pictures. you know me.
I'll start with the city centre, in which you can find an awesome pedestrian area and a big market sqaure. And an old and new Town Hall.
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| the New Town Hall |
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| Town Hall in German is Rathaus. Insert joke about politicians and rats. |
Right next to the Town Hall is the Marktkirche, Market Church. Because is it is the main Market Square.
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| The Heathen Wall - a remnant of the wall surrounding the town when it was a Roman settlement |
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| A cool mural downtown |
Then closer to the office we have the Landeshaus, the Lutherkirche, and Central Station.
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| Originally built for the seat of the state parliament, now it is home to the Ministry of Economy, Transportation, and Regional Development |
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| Lutherkirche - Lutheran Church |
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| the door |
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| the inside is even more beautiful |
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