First Time in Europe, Great Start

 Dear Khukheper,

I spent the day in a cafe in a very busy part of Berlin to observe the people in this new environment. The experience came with a few surprises and a further glimpse into German culture and largely European culture. I have lived my whole life in the United States and had not traveled to Europe before this trip. I had some preconceptions as to what Europe would be like and a lot of them were met but there were some surprises. It is relatively quiet here and at a lot of the public places we traveled to we were the loudest ones there. It may just be that Americans are just louder than most cultures and are not aware of it. I expected most of the places that played music to play German music but they played mostly music mostly from America. Our music may be popular worldwide and they enjoy it as much as we do.

While I was observing the people and the interactions around the cafe I noticed some differences between Germans and Americans. The people seem more straight-forward and within themselves. I hardly ever saw a smile on anyone’s face and they never really talk with animation or excitement. I also learned that jaywalking is not very common here and they mostly wait for the light to walk. There is a laxer attitude on drinking and smoking here and at most restaurants I observed most people openly smoking. Usually in America the water served and sold is regular water but half the time the water served here is sparkling water. I found that interesting because I cannot see how a large group of people could enjoy sparkling water. In the aspect of culture it is polite to toast at the table when everyone get their drinks and make eye contact.

In the area I was sitting at I also saw a few correlations between German and American culture. The driver’s side on the cars are still on the left side like American cars which was surprising. There were a plethora of shops and restaurants serving all types of food from all over the world. I saw Italian, Chinese, Turkish, Mexican and many other types of restaurants around in the area. In terms of the architecture Germans utilize the space and the buildings they construct. On the top of many of the shops and stores were living spaces allowing for a regular flow of people to the shopping areas in the city. Despite the similarities and differences between the two cultures it has so far been an exciting and pleasurable experience.