First Impressions- Germany, take two

I'm here again, so I thought that I'd give this blogging thing another go. Leaving home was even harder this time than the first time. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely excited to see Ben and have new adventures, but I just didn't have the same excitement before leaving as I did the very first time. Probably because I had such a good time with family and friends over the course of the summer. Anyway, here are some of my second first-impressions.

1. The high level of English spoken by Europeans-- this continues to amaze and embarrass me because my first thought is, 'Wow. They're good.' My second thought is, 'Why aren't more Americans that proficient in a second language?'
2. Professionally trained customer service personnel-- I've noticed in the States how rare and surprising it is these days to get really great customer service. It seems a little old fashioned, but the service personnel here really help guests and do it well and thoroughly.
3. Germans are still short and to the point-- I don't think this one is going to change much. I knew this, but it's still hard to adjust to it coming back.
4. Staring-- I'm not sure if I've ever written about this, but I've heard other expats talk about this problem. I thought previously that I was probably just being overly sensitive, but I felt conspicuous right off the bat again. I sometimes wonder if it's just because I look Asian?
5. "Eh, it's a bakery."-- sadly the bakery hype is over...at least for me. I'll probably go on a pretzel binge soon, but the initial reaction was underwhelming. :-( [This might be because my mother spoiled me with weekly fresh baked bread throughout the summer.]
6. "Ooh, I can buy carbonated water!"-- I really didn't like carbonated water at the beginning, but now I enjoy it once in a while. I actually had a craving for it back in the States, but stores only sell the small bottle for baking. On the other hand, I don't like the fact that I have to buy water again...GAH

Overall, I just felt more at ease entering the country. I have basic German language knowledge, understand the train system, and it always helps to have a phone plan.

I'll try to write once in a while, although I'm not good about publishing them. Until next time!