Ami (n.) Yankee/American. This summer I'm an American abroad. I'll be spending the next month basking in the sunshine of Dresden, Germany--or, rather, the rain and cold of Dresden, Germany, but that's beside the point. This city and country are insanely beautiful and interesting. There's so much to do here from castles, gardens, mega shopping malls, boat rides, but only a week in, there's also a lot of things that confused this Ami.
Grocery Shopping.
Having never been abroad before, I expected grocery shopping to be almost universal, especially in the Western World, but grocery shopping here is...interesting. It's not completely different exactly but just so slightly off that it makes everything confusing. You have to bag your own groceries while the cashier slides them to you so fast, they might as well be ejecting them from a slingshot. You have to buy all your own bags so it really sucks when you forget yours at home or go on a spontaneous trip to the Lidl or Rewe. Strangest of all, the malls here have grocery stores in them. I went grocery shopping in a mall today--like what?
Restaurants.
I knew vaguely what to expect here. I knew tipping wasn't as much of a thing outside the US, and that waitstaff was a lot less friendly and alert abroad as well. But when I went into a restaurant with my dad upon arriving in Dresden and asked for a table for two, only to be met by blank stares, I knew I was in for something interesting. You seat yourself here, which is cool, but also led to a lot of confusion in the beginning because that is not at all what I was used to. Also, you have to give your drink and food order at the same time, which is so stressful. I am way too indecisive to know what I want to eat that quickly.
Then, there are food court restaurants. I ordered a panini at a food court restaurant at the Altmarkt Galerie and was feeling pretty proud of myself for having a near-fluent conversation with the girl at the counter when she said, "Sit down and I'll bring it out." I was confused and thought maybe I'd mistranslated what she'd said. The food was right there and it didn't need to be prepared, just pressed real quick. Besides, this was a food court, the food's usually instant. I stared at her confused before she gave me a look that said, "You're an idiot," and she yelled, "Sitzen Sie!" I did definitely sit after that.
No air conditioning.
I knew this going in, but I didn't realize exactly how hard it was going to be to live without AC in the summertime. Germany can usually be pretty chilly and windy, so most of the time, no AC is fine. But when it's hot, it's hot everywhere, and there's no way to escape it. I had to buy a fan only days after getting her and now I sleep with it every night like it's a pillow.
Kids.
There are literally children everywhere, just running around, without parents. They get on the train by themselves, go to the park by themselves, run several feet ahead of their parents by themselves. It's a stark contrast to a country where child leashes are a thing that actually exists.
Technology.
While technology is definitely a thing here--it's not a third world/developing country after all--it's a lot less intrusive, so to speak. You go to dinner and no one's on their phone. You ride the bus and people are reading rather than texting. You see people just sitting out by the lake or enjoying time in the square, and none of them have their phone out. But there are also some drawbacks to this. For example, my dorm doesn't have Wifi or cable. A college dorm doesn't have Wifi, in 2018. That's just weird to me.
