Hello from Germany
Posted by Ben on August 16th, 2005
Ok, so I’m a slacker and haven’t updated this site in a long time. But, I’ve got a few slow minutes here today so I thought I’d update. I’ve been hopping over to Germany for work a couple times in the past 2 months.
The good stuff - the Autobahn, good drivers, good beer, good cars (in the US, a full-size rental is a Ford Taurus - in Germany, it’s a Mercedes-Benz C-Class), Germanic efficiency, Coke in glass bottles, excellent food, and Lufthansa business class.
The stuff that would be better if I wasn’t an ignorant American - Communication (I know a little survival German, social pleasantries, and that’s it)
The bad - no air conditioning in hotels, no ice in the drinks, gas at 1.25/liter = 5.96/gallon, Lufthansa flight attendants that keep talking to you in German after you only address them in English, and my cellphone costs $1.30/minute.
Still, I’m having a very good time over here. We’ve got a good team of people who’re good to work with on the job, and good to have a beer with at the end of a long day or over the weekend while we’re all still here.
I’ve had a chance to do a bit of sightseeing while I’ve been over here. Hamburg and Hannover have both been nice cities to visit. We’ve hit festivals in both cities, and I’ve also had a chance to check out a few smaller towns - Celle, Hille (the town where my mom’s family is from), the concentration/POW camp at Bergen-Belsen (where Anne Frank died), etc.
But, I miss home…