How are you today?

Edward is mad at me. I haven’t seen him in a loooong time, it seems like he doesn’t want to talk to me at all. Whenever I meet him on the streets he jumps away from me in huge, hectic steps. I think someone told him about my latest blog entries. Well, yes…. I have to admit that I was quite mean in terms of American food. And I don’t want to leave a bad impression of Americans. Therefore it is time to point out the really great things about American culture. (No, I won’t be mentioning the free refills in most restaurants because I’m finally not talking about food! ;-) )

 I perceived Americans as the most friendly and helpful people I have ever met in my life. It all starts with the genial “Hey, how are you?” whenever you enter a room, like a store, a restaurant or a classroom. At first I was a little bit confused, are they really interested in how I feel? And if so, what am I supposed to answer? “Thank you, I have constant stomach cramps since I had that egg sandwich for breakfast”  ???  So I decided, that a simple “Thanks, I’m good, and how are you?” might do it as well. It is always “nice to meet someone” and you always wish everyone a “good day” when you leave. That’s such a nice habit! Some Germans might think, that this is a superficial behavior, but I enjoy the fact that you treat everyone friendly and with respect

Most Americans I met try to help you whenever they can. They offer you to drive you to Wal Mart when you need something, even if it is more than a 30-minute ride away. They help you with homework, take you grocery shopping or to the pharmacy. Besides, my friends’ families are always happy to have someone around, they invite you for lunch, or to spend the whole weekend with them. There are at least three families that suggested celebrating my birthday at their house. Let’s see, where I end up partying at…. ?

My first American friend

Edward and I finally got used to each other. I’ve stayed in the apartment of Carpenter Complex on the University of Memphis since two months now and I think the little squirrel finally accepted my four months- presence in the room right next of his personal tree. It took quite a while to get to know to each other. Edward- don’t think I got inspired by the Twilight- Series here, I’m pretty sure that’s always been his name- was very curious in the first place, about the strange girl that is talking with this weird accent he has never heard before. He spent hours sitting on my windowsill, gnawing on his hazelnut, and watching me with excitement while I told him, who I am and where I come from.

I said that I am a 21-year-old German who flew all the way from Frankfurt to America to study Communication and Journalism at the University of Memphis. In Fall Semester 2009 I want to experience the college life with everything that is considered to be typically American: The University, the culture, the food, the environment, the music, the youth and everything else that is part of being an American college student.

When I finished my speech I figured that Edward isn’t really much a talker. But I could tell by the speed of his gnawing jaw that he wants to know everything about my experiences and especially about the cultural differences between Germany and America.

Well then, there is a lot to say. First of all I gave him some basic information that he definitely seemed to lack, eventually he has never seen anything else besides the tree he is living at and as never done anything else but finding, eating and hiding his beloved nuts. So this is what I told him: Germany is a country in Europe. It is neither the capital of Europe nor a part of Ireland. Belgium, France, Luxemburg, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands surround the country. Although the Netherlands is a neighboring country, we don’t speak Dutch in Germany, we speak German (it was quite hard for him to figure THAT out!) Despite all of Edward’s argumentation, I am pretty sure that Frankfurt is not the Capital of Germany and has never been so. Instead, Berlin is Germany’s capital. By the way: there is no gigantic wall that separates eastern from western Germany and Hitler is neither alive nor my friend. Most of the German girls don’t wear “Dirndels” every day and beer is not the only thing we drink back home. He was quite impressed, that we have dishwashers, washing mashines and microwaves and that we shower every single day. 

I guess it takes quite a bit to explain Edward how I see the American World through European eyes. Give that little friend of mine a voice if there is anything you want to know about how I experience America or Germany. I’d be more than happy to tell him and tell you about it afterwards.