Culture Shock!!

>> Cultural Shock <<


Although I’ve learned some German culture before going to Germany, the journey to Germany still brought me some cultural shock.

Some people in Taiwan assume Germans are aloof and bumptious.
However, this kind of stereotype is totally wrong.

Germans are actually pretty friendly especially when you are able to speak a little German.
Most of time, there were Germans who come and talked to me. Therefore, don’t worry that you would become isolated if you go to Germany ^^

They might first talk to you in German.
However, when they find out that you can’t speak German, they will have conversation with you in English.


The most interesting thing is that if they see you are an Asian, they may speak Japanese. (= =”)

Please forgive them (even though I really wanted to hit him at the moment :P)
Because for foreigners, Japanese may be the easiest Asian language. Moreover, of all the Asian languages, the pronunciation of Japanese is more like German.

For example, I had a lot Japanese friends who speak German so well, but they are not willing to speak English.



I remembered there was once English learning cram school making fun of German’s English in their promotional commercial. A lot of people presume that German speak poor English.
This supposition is also wrong.
Actually most of teen Germans can speak fluent English. Besides, because of the regional relation, their English are more like British English.



Furthermore, I met some black people in Germany. Well, due to a lot of movies, many Taiwanese people think the black are dangerous. However, they’re not. You can on the other hand get along well with them. You can show something you knew about black such as hip hop, slangs like “wat up?”, they will love you more.


I’m sooooooo appreciating that I had a chance to travel and learn in Germany which not only help me to improve my German but also let me learn many cultural differences and life experiences.

Fine feathers make fine birds

What kind of clothes should you actually bring to protect yourself from getting cold or from sunstroke?

I went to Germany in summer vacation. The weather was quite warm and comfortable then. The weather is just like the autumn in Taiwan.

The average temperature in summer time is about 20~22°C.
It only gets colder when rain comes. However, Germany is not the country which rains a lot.

Usually you should bring some shirts, jeans, just something you wear in autumn time.
However, avoid getting fever in rainy day; you should also bring a heavier jacket with you.

In winter, the weather is awfully cold.

The overcoat you bought in Taiwan might not be warm enough for you to get over the extremely cold weather in Germany. Therefore, I sincerely suggest you buy the coat and heavy garments there, for the quality is good and definitely warmer than the one you bought in Taiwan.

Buying clothes in Germany is not as expensive as you think.

There’s actually a discount offered to every foreigner who buys apparels in Germany. Foreigners are assumed to buy clothes with taxes.

However, if you buy the garments over 25€ in total, you can bring the clothes home without taxes.

Tips:
Bring the receipt to the customs before you get on the plane.
And you can gain back the taxes you paid in the shop.

Buying clothes over 25€ is not difficult especially when you buy a overcoat or you can buy clothes together with your friends :)

Besides, because the weather condition in Germany is very dry (particularly for Taiwanese who get used to live in the humid weather, some people like me even get peeling without having lotion on skin), you should bring some body lotion and lip moisturizer with you or you can buy some in Germany. They are quite cheap and practical because Germany is also known for its lotion!! ^^


Weather data for Heidelberg:

http://www.intellicast.com/Local/History.aspx?location=GMXX0053

DB Reise!

Living a month in Heidelberg, traffic is of course an essential element should be mentioned!
Even it’s absolutely a great pleasure walking on Heidelberg streets.
But if you have classes starting from nine in the morning, you still need to take busses

Usually, it takes 1 Euro per bus trip
School will offer you Semesterkarte- 40 Euro for you to take busses as many times as you want in one month
Besides, it’s not only be used for busses but also for S-Bahn and Strassen- Bahn (like LRV), so it’s quite cost effective

This bus card is like your amulet; bus drivers won’t examine whether you have the card or not
But sometimes, irregular police officers get on and check if you have the card or not
Once you break the law, you need to pay 40 times of the original price. That is 1600 Euro!!!




Train
In Germany, the railway is called DB (Deutsche-Bahn)
ICE is the fast but the most expensive one

There’re various train types in Germany
If you want to take train traveling around Germany
You can go to Tourist-Information in the train station and get more ideas about it

If you are going to plan a German trip, http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
This can help you to arrange about the time

Moreover, my suggestion is it’s better for you to buy the ticket in Germany, not book the tickets here in Taiwan. ^^

Feast in Heidelberg

It’s said “To the people foodstuff is all-important”
Of course, living in Heidelberg for the whole month
Eating is quite a significant stuff should be noticed

For food,
I don’t usually have lunch in Mensa (student cafeteria)
There’s about 2~3 Euro you will spend in Mensa

lunch at Mensa

My recommendation, once you want to have your lunch or dinner in Mensa
You should always try their cake which cost about 1 Euro

and will give you paradise feeling after finishing it

Come on! this is a true Blackforest Cake

which contains a little wine in it! :)

In Germany, my suggestion is you can some rice, but you wouldn’t like to try it again!
So it’s better for you to have pasta or spaghetti

The rice indeed looks not so delicious

Don’t worry about eating spaghetti everyday will drive you crazy because you can change many favor as you want. There’re many seasoning for you!!
I’d created some interesting favor of pasta while living in Germany and I also believe it was then my cuisine improve for cooking everyday is like adventure and exploration

Drinking:

If you love drink milk, living in Germany may seem as a paradise for you
It costs about 0.56 Euro per liter
Only 28 NT dollars can bring you strong bones!!

Moreover, juice is a good choice for you to keep vitamin C
Also about 30 NT dollars can bring you a beautiful face

Can't you see the beauty contains in it? :))

Of course, while traveling to Germany, you shouldn’t miss beer!!
For Girls, I especially recommend you Radler
For some German boys, they think it’s just a drink not even an alcohol
However, for some who dare not to drink much alcohol, Radler may be your best choice

Refreshments:
Ice cream!! Various special favors you can image!
I’d once tried some special Portugal wine favor and it was awesome

In Heidelberg, there’s a special kind of refreshment- Heidelberg student kiss (chocolate)

The originator of the Student Kiss wanted to help the young flirting students. He named them student kisses so that the young men could present these chocolate to the young ladies that they desired at one point later to give a real kiss to.
What a romantic story in Germany :D