(From Week 3)
Living in Germany has been a little difficult these past two weeks, due to some odd culture I’ve encountered. I had not known that Germans do not drink regular tap water regularly, nor do they have ice, or even air conditioning. These luxuries that we take for granted here in America are mysteriously gone from the German culture, which was a shock to me.
The lack of air conditioning has to be the most inconvenient thing I’ve had to deal with during my stay. Not only is it hot and humid out, but while we eat or take our classes we must reside in somewhat damp and uncomfortably warm rooms. I’ve talked to other Europeans we’ve met from Kapito, and they too are a little surprised. A Spanish friend explained that in Spain they don’t always have air conditioning, but it is more frequent than in Germany.
This entire situation was completely foreign to me, so to speak. I can notice that Germans tend to sweat it out, but they don’t notice themselves sweating. It’s the most peculiar thing I’ve seen; they are so used to being uncomfortably warm and sweating, that they don’t even notice it. I hope that in the next two weeks I can also form this habit.