Firstly, the pictures accompanying this post aren’t from today. Today, we’re riding a bus for 6 hours, so count yourself lucky you don’t have to look at the road all day like I do.
Oh, it’s not actually that bad: I like long car trips, and this bus is approximately 10 times bigger than our motley crew requires, so space is NOT the issue. But I didn’t get on here to talk about this bus anyway, I got on here to talk about Germany!… obviously.
What to say? I couldn’t make a statement about all of Germany without feeling fraudulent, because A) I haven’t seen it all, and B) it’s a whole country. You can’t just throw around wholesale stereotypes of entire nations, I don’t think it makes sense. I sure wouldn’t appreciate it about the USA.
But you know, I HAVE found one universal personality trait among the German populace that I’d like to take a moment to discuss: They all act like people. Some of the couples hold hands, some don’t. Some strangers smile at you, some don’t. Most little kids are cute, hotel workers are polite, people on the street sometimes less so. It’s… recognizable. People are people! I find myself slightly surprised by this revelation, but I suspected it all along. It takes a lot more than 6,000 miles to iron out all of the wrinkles in the human spirit.
None of this to say I don’t feel like a fish out of water over here. I don’t speak German! Makes finding the bathroom a bit of a trick sometimes. Sure, most people speak English pretty well, but it’s a concession on their part, an accommodation of my ignorance. It’s a bit embarrassing and kind of a bummer.
But, even as an American tourist, deaf and dumb to the locals, somehow doomed to stick out in a crowd just because of my posture or my shirt-
Even then, I’m finding peace. Turns out, you can get comfortable with anything, even the ACTUAL feeling of being uncomfortable. Such are humans. We adapt, we improvise, we overcome. I’ve made it this far, and I’m not done yet.
All right, Germany, what else you got?
The People’s Car 