RE: USA - Germany

"When people always ask me, what the biggest difference between the US and Luxembourg is, it's always hard to answer because there are so many differences. Food, laws, school, weather, attitude of the people and much more are different from the things in California."
Claire


I know I already wrote about this theme in my introduction but there are so many differences between Germany and the US, just like Claire said. Probably I should write California - Germany, because I haven't been anywhere else in the US yet... Anyway, in my last post I wrote about the schools so I'll continue with food. Firstly, in the US everything is bigger, like Claire wrote too, e.g. the smallest coffeecup here is "tall", in Germany however "tall" is the biggest one. Or scoops of ice cream, pizzas... (a whole pizza in Germany costs as much as one slice here , but it has a different consistency, it's thinner and not with so much fat.) Generally there's not so much fast food in Germany. What I really miss here is a bakery with fresh wholewheat bread, buns, pretzels, croissants... But instead we have not as many Starbucks as here. In Augsburg we haven't a single one. Free water in restaurants is also unusual, you sometimes get it for free with a cup of coffee, but only in noble cafes.
Like the food it's also with cars: the smallest one here is one of the biggest in Germany. A funny thing is that my dad said in Germany how wasteful the Americans are, because they drive with open windows and turned on air conditioning and now he's doing the same. :) That isn't good of course, but it's always getting pretty hot in the car...
The weather is very different too, it's not as hot and sunny as here and we have much more rain. Oh and we have snow!
Like Claire said, the attitude of the people here is very different than of Germans. Not all, of course, but in general. In California everyone is so relaxed and open-minded. Like, when I went to a cafe with my family and we spoke German to each other, they said "Where are you guys from?" and after we told them "Welcome to the United States". Also on my first day of school here, everyone was so friendly, helpful and interested. And first of all you notice it in sports: When somebody almost score a goal they say "Good job" here, but in Germany you often hear a "Boo". I hope I can change my attitude here and come back to Germany with a more positive thinking!