Autobahn

My max speed on the autobahn today was 170 km/hr (105 mph). The most I have ever driven on the autobahn was 210 km/hr (130 mph). This is how driving should be. Fast from point A to point B, unlike the american wide highways begging to be driven on yet where you are so limited in terms of speed.

The end of Schwarzfahren

Today the authorities that be went so far as to check our tickets in the H-bahn at the university. Since Till looks shady, they didn't believe in his Studentenausweiss/ticket so he had to show his license. The problem was that he was much skinnier and his nose looked different. Somehow though he smiled right and the old man let him go

return to dortmund

I had forgotten most of what innen Stadt looked like. The street names are hit or miss, whether I remember them. The Hauptbahnhof felt very familiar - maybe because I was always traveling. The Strassenbahn is right outside Till's apartment jst as it was 6 years ago when I lived in the city.

The people I have encountered at the shops and restaurants are still genuine and friendly.

Till tells me there is hope for an expansion and growth in Dortmund because they have made the wise decision to build up their technology park and with that they attract much business.

Grocery stores are the same. Smaller carriages than the USA and you need to pay to use them, although you get the money back. Less selection but really good choices. Water and soda bottles are shaped differently - they are curved into an 8 shape, so that you can grip them in the narrow middle of the bottle. The cashier sits on a chair instead of standing. She tells you the total, gives you your change and says "bitte schoen" and nothing else.

my way vs the way

In all of life you do not have unlimited choices. You do however have choices. Based on where you choose to live and who you are and what you ask for, these differ greatly. In the USA, our motto is "Have it your way" In Germany, their motto is "choose from one of our ways."

Maybe in part this is my fascination with Germany. I have always been curious of those things which were opposite of my beliefs and philosophy.

carol strictly adheres to german rules

Carol is usually a take it as it goes type of gal. In Germany, a transformation occurred. All of a sudden she began to follow all the rules to the letter. For instance, she no longer crosses the street when the pedestrian light is red. She doesn't speed when she drives a car. When we were at the gas station pump, she didn't want to first go inside to use the restroom for fear that she would get in trouble for leaving the car parked by the pump for a minute without actually pumping gas. She has become one with the regulated German life once again.

For me it is not so. I refuse to be so regulated. In the end I convinced her to leave the car at the pump while we used the rest rooms. I guess I am not a good German nor will I ever be.

they'll keep the change

carol went to a cheese bread at a bakery and a diet coke. The total came out to 2,05 Euros. Carol gave the lady a 10 Euro. The lady looked in the register and for change only found 7,90 and instead of giving Carol back 8,00 since the store was short of change, she gave Carol back 7,90 Euros and said sorry that she didn't have the change.

In America Carol would have received the 8,00. It was almost as if it was Carol's fault for not having enough change.

dortmund doener

I went inside a doenerladen with till and asked for a doener fully loaded with pommes, or french fries, inside it. They didn't understand at first but once we explained it again they were happy to oblige. This time it was a doener how it should be made with the addition of french fries. The combination was delicious and Till kept asking for another bite of mine.

rasmus visit

My old friend Rasmus came to visit from Essen last night. We used to play civ together at till's and drink. I guess what I remember most about him was that he would stay until we drank all the beer then he would go home and that was that. We knew to keep the fridge stocked if we planned on a long game of civ.

Today he looked very similar to 6 years ago. He is still very political, I would say with a radical prowar leftist filosophy. He is still smoking tobacco. Now he is content with his life as a teacher in Essen and prefers Essen to Dortmund.

He spent some time telling me about Rock am Ring. I think he really enjoyed that. One day if I live again in Germany, I will go there.

First Doener

I went to a Doener restaurant and asked for a doener with french fries inside the bread with the lamb meat. They responded that I must be confused and mean the platter with fries on the side. I said that I wanted the fries inside the bread. This provoked a discussion and me telling them that this is how it was done in Dortmund. They were skeptical but one woman, the manager, heard my plea and gave the order to give me my doener how I wanted it. They reluctantly agreed.

It was ok but not as good as I hoped for. This doener had fries and lamb meat inside the bread with nothing else. Nevertheless I ate ravenously as Carol and her mother waited for me. This was the price they paid so that I would accompany them shopping.

After shopping we were on our way home and I ran into the manager. I thanked her profusely for the doener made my way. She said she still didn't believe that doener's were made with fries in DOrtmund. I conceeded that they were special request and the guy had to like you to make it like that. She was satisfied that her business wasn't missing anything and i was satisfied that I got my food the way I wanted it. We smiled and parted ways.

Marco Polo

I was in the mall shopping with Carol and her mom. We went into the store Marco Polo and I was incredibly bored so I approached the worker and asked if she knew about the game Marco Polo from the USA. She did not so I proceeded to explain it to her and how it is played inside a swimming pool. Then I offered suggestions about how it could be played in her store and how it might drum up business. At that point Carol and her mother left so I followed and will never find out if my idea becomes implemented.

carol's humble beginnings

I was toured through the neighborhoods of Carol's youth today. I saw her small high school that was under full construction. I saw her parent's neighborhood, which was very suburby and not urban by any means.

This was a great realization for me as she has always picked on me since I mostly grew up in the small suburb of bristol, CT. Now I see that her Hamburg is Hamburg in name only. Had this neighborhood been in the USA, we would have given it a suburb name. As it stands it is technically still a part of the city of Hamburg.

More to the point, this affirms that you don't have to be born into city life. You choose it one day and it becomes a part of you.

Met in the Park

La Traviatta was performed in Central Park today.