Thursday, May 22, 2008

So long Dusseldorf...

I'm truly enjoying my time here in Germany! I've enjoyed the local atmosphere and the differences in culture. Things such as the attitude towards dogs and there intensity toward football (soccer) have amazed me, and I'm excited I was able to be a part of it! The most frustrating thing to me, however, is the language! I wish I could speak or understand German better just to communicate with the people I meet and learn even more. It doesn't act as a barrier, or at least, it hasn't so far! I met a nice local man on the tram two days ago who shared his experiences in the United States with me, and I was able to share my experiences in Europe thus far with him. It's interesting the different perspectives we had on the states, which flipped places on Europe. He thought the states were a very safe place and picked up on the state rivalries that existed. I thought it was interesting that they had similar rivalries, like that between Dusseldorf and Cologne. The difference that exists between North and South Germany reminds me a lot of that between the northern and southern US. Another thing I found different, was the number of vet schools here, 5 throughout the total country is quite a lot, considering Germany is the size of Montana. The accessibility of the entire country and surrounding still amazes me and continues to do so as I head to The Netherlands tomorrow!

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