Yeah, merge it with the Soccer America thread! I'm glad someone else agrees with me: "It didn't help I was in Germany, a country that isn't the most friendly in the world."
Germany does have problems. Every store is open for just about two hours everyday... the same two hours. The business owners don't want competition, so there isn't anything open (well, maybe excpet bars). Taylor Twellman had the same problem. Whenever he needed to buy food or something, he couldn't. I could not imagine being 16 and living in Germany.
Restrictive store hours are a lame excuse. Most stores are open until 8 pm during the week and closed all day Sunday. Although it's pretty inconvenient if you're used to having Safeway open for 24 hours, it's just something you need to get used to. There are actually benefits to not being able to shop on Sundays. I found out that you're almost forced to relax at least one day a week as you're not driving to grocery stores/shopping malls. I doubt that I am the only person who had a positive experience in Germany. It's always harder to adjust to a new lifestyle/culture if you keep telling yourself "this is not the way we do things back home..." Remember when in Rome, do what the Romans do.
The great thing about living in Europe were the bakeries. They had the best bread. It's so much better than the prepackaged stuff here. Things are more relaxed overseas. People aren't in such a hurry. They are a lot more polite too.
I agree. There is much more of a human orientation, there. Top spots for me were England (particularly London), Denmark, Austria (Vienna) and Budapest (the last I definitely recommend). Sorry, folks, Germany, just did not make my list. I would like to add that the times I went to Europe I did so from another foreign country in which I resided for many years. I was in no position to compare Germany with the United States.
I've been to Germany a couple of times plus I speak German. It really isn't that bad over there, but it depends if you're in a really small town or in the city like Frankfurt because in lifestyle, there's a really big difference. In bigger cities there's alot of people on the streets and the shops are open for a longer time each day and on Sundays. In small towns the shops usually do open on Sundays but only for a couple of hours. It's probably really inconvinient when the super markets are open only at 3 3hr intervals each day. It's not as bad as people think but it's definately a change from what you're used to in the US.
This isn't exclusive to Germany! It's just like it used to be where I grew up and to some extent still is. There are many many places like this in our country. We are so spoiled rotten here in the US. Lame excuse is right.
Still today, I can go to my hometown here in the good ole USA and they roll up the sidewalks about noon Saturday and remain closed till Monday. Sundays were for going to Church, visiting family, having a nice Sunday dinner, and relaxing. All in all, not a bad thing really. And hey, that county isn't dry. Some neighboring places you can't even get a drink on Sunday!
Oh, and I was really impressed with LD's attitude. I wonder though if the uncertainty isn't playing on his mind quite a bit. He doesn't seem like he's mentally in the games since he came back from WC.
I looked at Borders today for that magazine, and they didn't have it. They had only 2 magazines of Soccer America, but they weren't the one w/Landon on it.
Just curious, how old were you when you were in Germany. I agree with "when in Rome" but it must have been a huge culture shook for a 16 year old SoCal boy to move to Germany with out his family.
Good point. I'm sure that there are a lot of us who have had the experience of having to leave home (even when you're older than 16) and getting quite homesick.