I’ve never been particularly good at thinking up insightful answers to broad questions on the spot, a trait I share with many people my age. After going to study abroad in Berlin last year, people tend to ask me about it. One of the most frequently asked questions of this kind I receive is, “How was Germany?” It seems like a simple enough question, but you’d be surprised by how hard it is for me to answer. The only thing I ever say beyond “It was good” is “I miss the public transportation.” I don’t think I ever say what I am really thinking: I really miss the cheap, high-quality chocolate…
The second-most frequently asked question I get is, “How is Germany different from here?” Now this I actually was prepared for. When I was in Germany, I kept a list of things that I noticed that were different between northern Germany and the U.S. I also talked with my American schoolmates in Berlin and my Canadian father about their observations. After talking about missing Cheetos and the variety of good peanut butters, we all came up with some key differences.
The first difference that stands out is the wait-staff at restaurants and store clerks in Germany vs. the United States. In the U.S., they greet you with large smiles and ask you if you need help finding anything or they show you to your table with a huge smile. After living in Berlin, those kinds of welcomes are very overwhelming. Waiters in Berlin give you a quick smile, your food and the bill. Store clerks may give you the quick smile, but mostly they just ignore you. Northern Germans do live up to their hostile reputation.
Another difference that I noticed is that in schools, students rarely use pencils. They use pens, and not just normal ballpoint—actual fountain pens. Everyone has their own and learns to write with it from a young age. Their stationary stores are a sight to behold, with every kind of high-quality pen and paper invented. The best part is that a chain of these fancy stores is called “McPaper.”
One of the differences that surprises people the most about Germany, myself included, is the lack of free public restrooms and water fountains. Water fountains are not just not free—they are nonexistent. On top of that, restaurants don’t serve free water but at least the restrooms are free there. Because in other places, you have to pay to use them. In restrooms located in shopping centers and next to train stations, they have a small charge of 50 cents that you put into a machine before it lets you in. Other “Water Closets” have little old cleaning ladies that glare at you if you don’t put some money in their tip bowl.
The third most-frequently asked question I get is, “Do you miss Berlin?” Yes, very much so. I miss the silence of the subways on the way to school and the disapproving looks my loud American friends would get on the way home. I miss the bakeries at every intersection and flower shops at every train station. I miss the summers when the sun would set at 10 p.m. and the winters when the moon would be full by the time I got home. I miss when everyone would lay out next to the river in the brief hour of sun in the cloudy season. I miss the old ladies who reminded me of hens with too much red lipstick speaking German. I miss the small parks tucked away between buildings that you happen upon when trying a new route home and the big parks that took you away from the bustling of the city.
Now with all that you’re probably asking, “Meredith, why did you come back here?”
Well, dear reader, I’m pretty crazy about trains and buses and trams. But I’m also pretty crazy about weekly thunderstorms, downpours, swimming in the Haw River, the sound of the crickets in the summer and hushpuppies. Last year, I missed those things, along with over-enthusiastic waiters, pencil sharpeners in every class and free public restrooms and water fountains. If there’s one thing that moving away from your home can do, it’s making you appreciate everything you took for granted for so long.
– By Meredith Avison