German Lifestyle Change

There are many difference I have noticed about being here in Germany after only a week. I was reading an article recently about the fifteen things Americans don't notice. How much water is in the toilet, the portion size, how loud we are and the list went on. Before I came over here, I find it easy to admit I overlooked every single one of those things. Upon my arrival, everyone from here that we came in contact with commented on EACH of those things. As time goes by and I begin to take hold of the subtle differences, I become self conscious of our american habits. People don't talk on trains or busses, they don't waste much time to stop and talk to the people they pass on the street, it feels like they are always on a mission to accomplish the task ahead. On the other hand, we are embarrassingly loud on the bus -especially altogether, and we are always in the way of people trying to get somewhere -that could partly be because we are always lost and not acquainted to having bike lanes. In the end, if we subtracted all the time we waste on a few minutes of talking or not paying attention, we would have as much free time in the afternoons as they do. It is quite beautiful really, the lawns are always filled with people in the late day while they visit with their friends and family. It's a complete lifestyle change for someone who is used to getting home at the end of the day, making dinner and going to bed.
The history is absolutely overwhelming. Everything here is aged, and if you pay close attention the little details can tell you how old something truly is. In Amsterdam walking down the street, if you look up you see hooks on the roofs of the buildings. These are there because they used to be warehouses and the hooks were used to pull goods up to the top since there was no elevator. -You can also find much of this in Germany too. The roman ruins are beyond any expectation you could have for them. The way they heated their houses using a floor beneath their home with hot stones and fire, and also the way the vent was positioned so that it flowed up the outer walls and kept them warm. They even invented the concept of a "hot tub," with less than half the technology and architectural concepts we have today. Even the latter years like the building of the Cologne Cathedral, it is so intricate and detailed it is hard to believe how much they did with such underdeveloped machines. Once you realize it was built in the year 1250 (even though it took them over 600 years to "almost" complete) it becomes even more unbelievable. It shows that there aren't any excuses for something being too big or too much to achieve.
The museum experience was beyond compare. Our tour guide not only taught us about the history of Germany after WWII but he really made me question how much we take for granted. When there was nothing, just being able to see trinkets in a store and window shop was an inspiring form of hope. What would life be like if we were inspired by only window shopping? Knowing that it was right there in front of us and not being upset we had no money, but happy that it even existed at all. The story from the "other side" changes the meaning of German history completely. There are many other things we have visited that I would love to share about, but I will put them in another blog. All in all, I haven't been here very long and it has already exceeded every expectation I had.