Hmmm....

I find it fascinating to meet new people in Germany. Everyday I speak with people from all over the world. People who have all come to Germany for one reason or another. So far I have met people from Spain, Romania, Montenegro, Italy, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Poland, Taiwan, China, Nigeria, Mauritius, Israel, Turkey, Tanzania...I think that's all... Everyone has a different reason for coming to German and taking a German course. Some people, like myself, have come to German for a loved one. Some have come because they want to make a better life for themselves and their families. Others are here because they have always wanted to spend sometime in Europe. Some for work, some for studying, some as an au pair....you get the idea....


Everyday I learn something new about they world so I thought I would share a bit of my new found knowledge:

• In Israel, young men are required to complete a mandatory 3 year service in the army. ( The guy in my class from Israel said that he could only dream of going straight from high school to college.)
• The US should start using the Metric System. Seriously. The rest of the world using it and I find it quite embarrassing that I do not have a firm grasp on Celsius or square meters.
  
• American television is really popular in Europe. I had a whole conversation with a guy from Italy about television. He was highly amused that he had seen so many television shows that I had not.
• Lots of people where the same clothes multiple days in a row. (It took me awhile to get used to concept too.)
• Every language has different names for countries, cities, and languages. It gets confusing after awhile.
  
• Doughnut are loved by people the world over.
• As are french fries.
• It is not common to drink large cups of coffee in the more in most parts of the world. ( A girl in my class had about 1/2 L of strong Italian coffee one morning. She told me today that she seriously regretted that decision.)
• Most men in the world are not afraid to wear a scarf. I used to think that men never wore scarves until I moved here. Nearly every man I see on the street wears a scarf when it is cold outside.
• Apples to Apples does not translate well into other cultures.
  
• Wedding rings in the US are much flashier than wedding rings in the rest of the world. Most wedding really are just simple bands made of either gold or white gold.
  
• Most women from South America have this effortless beauty about them.
• One family houses are not common in most of the world.
• You can get asparagus year round in Italy but not in Germany or Poland.
• Americans start working at a much younger age than most other cultures.
• Classrooms in German are similar to classrooms in the US.
• Most cultures eat a lot fish (2-3 times a week). Except in Germany because Germany doesn't have a lot of fresh fish.
  
• Despite the fact that Atlanta hosted the Olympics 14 years ago, a lot of people have never heard of it.
  

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. More to come....