Weird

I am trying very hard not to call anything I encounter weird or unusual. I realize that if the German people were to come to my country they would find many things different from their homeland, but that does not make either of us weird. As such, I am just saying different, because it is different from in the United States.

There are quite a few differences. For instance, on the roads, there are not yellow dividing lines between oncoming traffic. This can make it a little confusing when lanes are disappearing. It makes me wonder how they know which side is which. I think it must be intuition.

I do not know if our shower is the standard for all of Germany, but I can tell you the specific shower in our apartment is different. It has a glass door that opens out and wedges onto the tub, but it does not go all the way across; it only covers about 2/3 of the shower. So the floor can get wet with splashing, and you get cold while you shower. I do not quite understand the advantages of this arrangement, but at least it is clean so I cannot complain.

One major difference is the water, or wasser. By default, it comes with gas (carbonation). This I truly do not understand, it must be a taste thing. Water is supposed to hydrate you. Carbon dioxide will dehydrate you. Combined together, and you have made a completely pointless beverage. We were able to buy bottled water on the base that does not have gas so at least we are hydrated, and it does not come out of the tap that way, so we can drink it at home. In restaurants, we have been ordering non-water things. Joe prefers bier or Coca-light. I favor apfelsaft, which is apple juice and quite tasty.