Venice is my favorite city in all of Italy and one of my favorite cities in all of Europe. My fascination with Venice began after I read the book, Death in Venice, by Thomas Mann. The book is thrilling and uncomfortable and romantic and intriguing. While reading the book, I could feel the humidity and stickiness of the hot, summer days in Venice. It is a mesmerizing book and one that everyone should read.
Exactly 3 years ago, I was 1 of 50 students that helped organize the Relay For Life of Washington University in St. Louis. As the sun rose on Francis Field the morning of March 6, 2011 (exactly 3 years ago), we proudly displayed the total amount raise: almost $260,000. By the end of the fundraising season, that total would reach over $275,000! We surpassed our goal by thousands of dollars and I left Francis Field feeling so proud and elated at what a group of college kids had accomplished. After being awake over 24 hours, I went home and crawled into bed for the next few hours. I awoke to the devastating news that a dear friend, Erica Gough Paul, had passed away after bravely fighting colon cancer. She was only 29 years old and recently married. I cried and cried and cried and when I could no longer cry, those tears turned into anger. I was angry that someone so bright and full of life was taken from this world too soon because of cancer. That’s why I Relay. I was given a second and third chance in life and it’s my responsibility, my DUTY, to Relay for those individuals that no longer have a voice to fight for a cure.
A few weeks ago, I briefly talked about my family’s 7 week vacation throughout Europe 2 summers ago. I mentioned that while in Europe, my family (all 8 of us) traveled by a stick shift minivan. While that was quite an adventure, I don’t think I ever mentioned how my family got over to Europe!
A couple of months ago, I published a list of USA/German differences on my blog. You can view that list here. I was initially inspired by this list. Well, my friends have now gotten on board and we’ve been keeping a running tab on my cell phone (or, as they say in German, my Handy) of other USA/German differences. Enjoy and, as always, please let me know any differences you might have observed!
1. Most men and women wear their wedding bands on their right hand. The engagement ring is sometimes worn on the right hand and sometimes on the left hand (depends on preference, I guess)
2. Most Germans have never heard about The Sound of Music. Ummm, excuse me? This is only my favorite movie of all time!
3. Germans don’t understand my name. “Jordan” isn’t a German name and usually they can’t pronounce/spell it correctly. However, the second half of my name “Beck Wagner” is really German…so Germans get super confused over my name and can’t tell whether I’m German or not 🙂
4. They don’t use washcloths in Germany.
5. Dryers aren’t super common here and if someone does own a dryer, it doesn’t fully dry the clothes (don’t ask why). Therefore, if I need something to wear and it is dirty, I have to prepare a few days in advance in order to give it enough time to dry.
6. They don’t use checks at all in Germany and think it is ridiculous that Americans still use them. Everything is transferred electronically
7. Germans use cutlery very different than Americans. As a right-handed person, I cut my meat with my knife in my right hand and the fork in my left hand. I then switch my knife and fork so I’m eating my meat (with my fork) with my right hand. Confusing, right? A right-handed German would cut their meat with the knife in their right hand and fork in their left hand…and would eat their meat with their left hand (fork still in it). Makes more sense!
8. Attention women: always bring your own tampons to Germany. They suck here and the first time I came to Germany, I called my Mom and made her send me multiple boxes of USA tampons.
9. Travel prices overall are much lower in Germany…especially between countries. That being said, Deutsche Bahn is still pretty expensive!
10. There is no minimum wage in Germany. Surprised? I was. There is a lot of political debate surrounding that right now and many people want to implement a minimum wage. (update: a minimum wage was implemented in 2015)
11. People need to stop wearing black tights with jean shorts. It doesn’t look good, ever!
12. German men and women all have the coolest glasses. Seriously, I just want to marry a German man who wears cool glasses.
13. The profession of being a Waiter/Waitress is much more respected in Germany. They get paid much better than their USA equivalents. Tipping is expected, at most, to be 10% because they earn such higher wages than Americans.
14. Beds, overall, are much lower here. I also have an insanely high bed at home with multiple mattresses!
15. Uni fees, per semester, are about 150 Euros (at least in my German state). It’s really nice!
16. In the USA, most individuals don’t eat until everyone has been served or all the dishes have arrived. In Germany, people start eating when the food arrives. As a German told me, “Why would you let your food get cold?!”
17. No one wears sweatpants to class in Germany and they think it is super weird that Americans regularly wear sweatpants to class. In general, Germans my age dress up much more than Americans my age.
18. At the end of each class, students in Germany knock on their desks. It is a sign of respect and a way to say “thank you” to the Professor for their lecture.
19. Germans don’t celebrate their birthdays early. It is considered bad luck!
20. Kids as young at 7 or 8 regularly ride public transportation alone in Germany. The first time I saw this, I was a bit shocked but it makes sense because they don’t have school buses (in general). These kids are whizzes at navigating public transportation.
21. In the USA, we censor TV for nudity, sex, and swear words. In Germany, they censor much more for violence.
22. Germans tend to say (when speaking in English), “I twittered this” instead of “I tweeted this” because the verb for “to tweet” in German is “twittern.” Confusing, right?
23. Germans don’t count the ground floor as the first floor. So if you live on a German third floor, you live on an American fourth floor. And yes, I live on a German third floor. with no elevator. and 70 stairs (I counted).
24. Germans commonly blow their nose in public (and loudly) and it is seen as normal. Americans tend to be much more “secretive” about blowing their noses. haha
25. According to my German friend, she says that Americans are much more vocal in class on their opinions and we aren’t afraid to state them.
26. This same friend (who is female) said that American girls are much more likely to wear a headband or put their hair into a bun. Germans tend to wear their hair down much more than Americans 🙂
27. American professors are very warm and friendly compared to German professors. It is unusual to become close to a German professor while students and professors in the USA have much more casual and friendly relationships.
Berlin is one of my favorite cities in all of Europe. It’s a mixture of old, new, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Prussia history, USSR history, and the modern 21st century. I’ve now visited the city 4 times and every time I visit Berlin, it feels like an entirely new city to me.
Here is my last collection of photos from Newfoundland. To anyone reading this from Newfoundland, I’m kind of obsessed with Quidi Vidi beer and am quite bummed they don’t sell it anywhere besides Newfoundland 🙁 Such good beer! Please send some to me…pretty please?!
This past summer, my family took a 3 week, 5,000 mile journey to Newfoundland. Many people asked my family the simple question of Why? Well, I don’t think any of us have a good answer! My family loves going on road trips. Due to having so many siblings (6 others!) we tend to drive everywhere instead of flying. I’ve been to every continental state (just need to visit Alaska and Hawaii!) and about half of the provinces of Canada.
I. LOVE. FOOD. I was amazed by the amount of yummy food in Portugal. It is definitely a food lover’s paradise and I happily partook in eating through Portugal! Below are just some of my favorite foods from Lisbon.
Obviously, I started out by eating dessert before dinner because let’s be honest, life’s too short to not eat dessert! This was probably the prettiest gelato I’ve ever seen.
Pena Palace really does look like a fairytale castle with all of its bright colors! Plus, the castle provides gorgeous views not only of the area surrounding Sintra but also of the Atlantic Ocean and the Sintra Mountains. It is interesting to note that there are three castles and palaces located in Sintra. Alyssa and I, unfortunately, only had time to visit one of them. However, I took a picture of the other main palace (Sintra National Palace). The third castle, the Castle of the Moors, sits atop a giant hill and is the oldest of the three. I saw it but was unable to capture any photos!
I spoke to a few people who had gone to Lisbon, Portugal before and they all recommended I visit Castle of São Jorge. Considering the fact that I already think I’m a Princess, I obviously had to visit this castle.