 |
|
A View of America
Driving, drinking, eating, shopping and more... by Paula Venth May 23, 2009 — I always wanted to travel to America – to the United States of America- far away from my home country- far away from Germany. You just need to have a look over the world map and it reminds you how big America is. I would like to visit as many states as possible. I have been living in Ashland, Massachusetts for 8 months as an au pair with an American family. I am getting used to the “American way of life.” But how different are things over here and what opinion do “non-Americans” have about the States? The first day I came here I was amazed about how big everything was. I drove on a highway with a huge car and enjoyed the view. Now I am one of them, driving on the big roads in between a Jeep, Chrysler, pick up or a limo. I like the opportunity over here that you can get on the big roads very easily. In Germany we do not have main streets, like the Route 9, with lots of shops. But we do have the Autobahn, which is more like Route 495 or I-90. Even American people told me that they have heard something about our Autobahn, which takes people everywhere. On some parts a person can drive as fast as they want, because there is no speed limit.
It is easy to drive a car over here,
because most of them have an automatic transmission, which has
no need for shifting If you are going to drive too fast by the way, the police are going to stop you– I am sure about that. I have seen a lot of police cars on American streets. I was amazed at the beginning, but now I got used to it. We don’t have so many police cars driving around in my home town. In Germany we have special machines, which takes a picture of fast drivers and makes them pay money. Besides having community helpers here on the streets, like policemen, there are a lot of restaurants located all over the place. There are many fast food restaurants, like McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, and Dunkin Donuts. It’s so easy to stop by, because they are all around. I don’t like unhealthy food that much, but I tried some new things here in America, that I really like. I had my first bagel, bacon and pancakes. I am going to miss those things. There are so many opportunities over here to get unhealthy stuff — more than in Germany. You have the possibility to get whatever you want. But foreigners need to be careful with what they order. I am talking about the size! A small soda in America would be the same like an “XL” size in Germany. It is said about America that everything is big; big cars, a big choice of everything, big fridges, even the weight of the people. I agree with first three things but I don’t like the stereotype that people think all American people are fat. Of course there are some people, who have problems with their weight, but it’s not any different in Germany. I even see a lot of people doing sports. Americans are very active. Overall, I like the way that American schools are making their students participate in sports. In Germany our schools don’t have teams, that are play against other school teams. Here there is soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, ice-hockey or football school teams. I like that a lot. I even like to watch these things, because they are a kind of new for me. The main kind of sport in Germany is soccer, which is very popular with boys in my home country, more so than here. If I am not watching a typical American sport I am hanging out with my friends on the weekends. Going to the mall is one of our favorite spare time activities. I am not used to having a mall around where I live in Germany. Over there, I need to take a one hour ride to get to a bigger city where they might have some stores. I like the malls here very much and I do like the opportunity to go shopping every Sunday. It’s amazing. The prices are even cheaper here and you can get more clothes for less money. The Sundays in Germany are the “death days.” Nobody is doing anything- the stores are closed. I prefer the way they are doing it in America. It ´s giving you the feeling, that you even can be active on a Sunday. The American people don’t know what it means to have a break, I guess. They need to be busy all over the week and every day is worth it. Sometimes in the evenings my other au-pair friends and I go out to clubs. Because of the fact, that we are under 21, we can only go into certain clubs. It is inconvenient because I don’t have the choice to go to clubs as in Germany. At age 19, I can’t even drink alcohol here. These are the rules here and I need to live with them. I don’t need to agree with them though. You can drive a two ton lump of metal that can be potentially fatal to yourself and others at 16 but not enjoy alcohol until the age of 21?! I think the legal age for both activities should be 18, the age you legally become an adult, like in Germany. I believe one of the biggest problems in America is that 16-year-old drivers are not mature and responsible enough to have their licenses at such a young age. There are things that I like and don’t like about America. I am going to miss America and the Americans though. Especially the openness and immediate friendliness of Americans. I didn’t expect that at all. They are not as self -centered as the majority of the German population. All in all I can say that I enjoy being here. I still have three months left before I need to go home. It has been a good experience to spend a year abroad and see another part of the world. I will deeply miss the people I have met, and those I have come to know.
|
|
The Hopkinton News TM online only at HopNews.com ©2009 HopNews.com All Rights Reserved. 508-435-5534
|
gears. Some American people, in my opinion, drive rather
aggressively. Nothing can be fast enough for them– just go in
between two cars, as soon as you see a tiny gap in between them,
use your horn and never waste time.