Stuttgart
First Trip to the City
The way my flights worked out ended up being perfect. I landed at 2am Chicago time and forced myself to stay awake until it was dark in Germany so I could adjust to the time change more quickly, luckily it worked! I spent the first couple of days in the city, each time visiting a different part.
The first question my German friends asked me was, "Is it true that in America, high school is really like the movies? With the cheerleaders, the football players, and the nerds?". You can't go against the most common of all sem-true American stereotype of high school, so I told them yes, it's true.
The first question my German friends asked me was, "Is it true that in America, high school is really like the movies? With the cheerleaders, the football players, and the nerds?". You can't go against the most common of all sem-true American stereotype of high school, so I told them yes, it's true.
My Student Resident Hall
The girl that picked me up from the air port, Anita Tauberger, first took me too my student residence halls via a quick train ride and a bus ride. It may have been the initial shock of realizing I would spend four months in this building, but it smelled and looked horrible. I tried not to make facial expressions until I decided whether it was actually gross and I was used to the luxury of Forbes Hall, or it wasn't that bad and I was just being dramatic. I think that it is still TBD. Regardless, the room is very big and has an awesome view so there is nothing to complain about. I have my own bedroom and share a bathroom with another girl named Kim. There is a community kitchen on the floor below me where students typically make fancy dinners. I am still on sandwiches but maybe I will graduate to pizza soon.
After I dropped all of my stuff off in my room, Anita and I took a bus and a train back to the City to meet her boyfriend Tobi. It is only about 15 minutes away from the University, but goes by really quickly because the ride is through forests and hills that look over the entire city.
Another fun fact is that T-Mobile is considered the best phone provider in Germany. I learned this while trying to buy a German SIM Card. I also learned that Apple products are not NEARLY as popular in Europe as they are in the US. Everyone here has a Samsung phone. I learned that this is because it is easier to invent your own software and style of operation with the Samsung phones versus the iOS system pretty much has everything developed for you. Classic German engineers! So, one of the only things that makes me a "typical American" is that I have an iPhone and even more so that my iPhone matches my MacBook.
After I dropped all of my stuff off in my room, Anita and I took a bus and a train back to the City to meet her boyfriend Tobi. It is only about 15 minutes away from the University, but goes by really quickly because the ride is through forests and hills that look over the entire city.
Another fun fact is that T-Mobile is considered the best phone provider in Germany. I learned this while trying to buy a German SIM Card. I also learned that Apple products are not NEARLY as popular in Europe as they are in the US. Everyone here has a Samsung phone. I learned that this is because it is easier to invent your own software and style of operation with the Samsung phones versus the iOS system pretty much has everything developed for you. Classic German engineers! So, one of the only things that makes me a "typical American" is that I have an iPhone and even more so that my iPhone matches my MacBook.
The Food
In the city, I had my first taste of "typical Swabian food". Swabian is a type of dialect in Germany and it is similar to the way we would say Cajun food is a typical "southern" dish in the US. So typical Swabian food is the kind of food you would eat in Baden Wurttemburg, one of the states of Germany. We ate at a restaurant called Todis and I had a dish called "maultaschen". There are many different kinds of maultaschen, but the kind I had was similar to a big beef ravioli and topped with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and pesto. It was delicious! Also, there is regular coke here and their generic coke is called Afri-Cola. Tastes exactly the same, but was chemically engineered by German students to taste like Coke but not be AS bad for you.
Tobi and Anita have also made me a "typical Swabian" breakfast. It looks like the big pretzels we dip in nacho cheese, but it is called "brezeln" and it is eaten with butter or Nutella!
One thing that I initially found to be smart, later it would be annoying, but German people do not carry credit cards around with them. Not that many college students in the US do either, but there are a good handful of kids who have access to their parents credit cards and use it to buy food, clothes, gas, and the occasional bar tab. So even though I had a credit card for emergencies, not every store is equipped to handle the transaction, rendering it almost useless. People typically only use credit to buy houses or cars and not so often the little things. I guess this type of lifestyle could avoid a lot of the debt that some people in the US face, especially the people that don't understand you will eventually have to pay off a credit card bill, but when I was running low on cash it is a little scary knowing I can't just use my card.
Tobi and Anita have also made me a "typical Swabian" breakfast. It looks like the big pretzels we dip in nacho cheese, but it is called "brezeln" and it is eaten with butter or Nutella!
One thing that I initially found to be smart, later it would be annoying, but German people do not carry credit cards around with them. Not that many college students in the US do either, but there are a good handful of kids who have access to their parents credit cards and use it to buy food, clothes, gas, and the occasional bar tab. So even though I had a credit card for emergencies, not every store is equipped to handle the transaction, rendering it almost useless. People typically only use credit to buy houses or cars and not so often the little things. I guess this type of lifestyle could avoid a lot of the debt that some people in the US face, especially the people that don't understand you will eventually have to pay off a credit card bill, but when I was running low on cash it is a little scary knowing I can't just use my card.
I also ate Chinese food in the city. I never realized how alike the two countries are. There were Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Gyro and Burger places all over the streets. My first trip to McDonald's, I decided to be adventurous and order a "Chicken Burger". Different from the McChicken. It had a chili sauce on it and was spicy. Also, the burgers are all smaller than in the US and there is no "1 euro menu".
My absolute favorite food yet, is another typical dish for Southern Germany consisting of dough-y noodles, gouda cheese, bacon, onions, and salt and pepper. It is called "Kase spatzle". Tobi made it for me and even though I thought it was delicious and ate my entire plate, he said that restaurants can make it much better. Although, I really doubt anyone can make a bad combination of cheese, noodles and bacon. So, if you ever come to Germany and need a safe thing to order, I would go with this. It was so delicious, I highly recommend making it (mom)! It only took about 15 minutes!
You can also click on the picture to get a link to the recipe!
My absolute favorite food yet, is another typical dish for Southern Germany consisting of dough-y noodles, gouda cheese, bacon, onions, and salt and pepper. It is called "Kase spatzle". Tobi made it for me and even though I thought it was delicious and ate my entire plate, he said that restaurants can make it much better. Although, I really doubt anyone can make a bad combination of cheese, noodles and bacon. So, if you ever come to Germany and need a safe thing to order, I would go with this. It was so delicious, I highly recommend making it (mom)! It only took about 15 minutes!
You can also click on the picture to get a link to the recipe!
The Shopping
Outside of the park, the buildings are gorgeous.
I learned that Hollister is even more popular here than in the US. People wait in 3 hours lines to even walk inside Hollister's doors. Then, the atmosphere is the same. It is so dark; it is so hot; there are plants every where and the sales associates are just as bothersome. You can see in the building next to the clock there is a little hut, that is the entrance to Hollister. I couldn't get a good picture but the line was definitely as long as the line to Kam's on gamedays.
H&M is their favorite store. They will have 6 H&M's in one block. One for all men, one for women and men, two for just women, one for women and children. It is crazy!
They also have Abercrombie and Fitch, Claire's and a few other American stores. In Germany, Levi Jeans are upwards of 100 euros so hearing that they are pretty cheap in the US came as a shock to them. Converse gym shoes are also a big deal and are about 70 euros here.
I learned that Hollister is even more popular here than in the US. People wait in 3 hours lines to even walk inside Hollister's doors. Then, the atmosphere is the same. It is so dark; it is so hot; there are plants every where and the sales associates are just as bothersome. You can see in the building next to the clock there is a little hut, that is the entrance to Hollister. I couldn't get a good picture but the line was definitely as long as the line to Kam's on gamedays.
H&M is their favorite store. They will have 6 H&M's in one block. One for all men, one for women and men, two for just women, one for women and children. It is crazy!
They also have Abercrombie and Fitch, Claire's and a few other American stores. In Germany, Levi Jeans are upwards of 100 euros so hearing that they are pretty cheap in the US came as a shock to them. Converse gym shoes are also a big deal and are about 70 euros here.