Exchange Aftermath: 101 I Miss About Germany

 

I am looking at you, Germany.

Well, as the Germans might say, die Zeit ist vorbei. 7 months in Germany filled with happiness, sadness, anger, doubt, laughter, discovery, fun and above all, freedom. It seems so surreal that my time in Germany is already over - I remember feeling so lonely and overwhelmed here in March and April and thinking the 2nd of August was such a long time away. But now, as life always seems to unfold, I'm lying on my bed, cramming for an exam and procrasti-taking a trip down memory lane on the eve of the end of another chapter of my life (update: I am writing this now as I sit in my flat in Canberra - classic Ruohan procrastinating on procrastination...)

The litany of things you get told when you tell people you are going on exchange include "you're going to have the best time of your life!", "get drunk!", "eat a sausage!" (when Germany is your destination, at least) or "you're going to make so many amazing friends!". I have been fortunate to experience all of that ... and so much more in not only Freiburg, Germany but also Europe.

I have had moments when I was so homesick when I was in Berlin that I would cry when I woke up in the morning or so happy to be here in Germany that taking each step here was like walking in some surreal life that you still can't believe you're really living. Exchange is like everything everyone tells you and so much more. Even during the times when I felt like I hit rock bottom, I was learning, gaining new experiences and discovering who I am.

Now, this is all starting to sound all Love, Eat, Pray and preachy, but I ask of you to let me have my 15 minutes of sentimentality and nostalgia. I've kept all this mush inside for my whole exchange and it's about time I tell the world how much I am going to miss Germany and all the trappings that go along with it. So in order to restrain myself from writing something along the lines of an exchange eulogy, I present to you a much snappier list of 101Things I Miss About Germany...

 

ERMERGERD I AM SO EXCITED TO BE IN GERMANY!!!1!11!!

1. Freshly baked pretzels from the bakery for like 60c.
2. A can of beer for 30c (or just alcohol, full stop).
3. How Germans love putting corn as a pizza topping.
4. The way the Germans write the number '1'.
5. The lack of German jaywalking (I break this rule all the time, but I think it is really adorable how much obedience they pay to traffic rules...)
6. Schwäbisch Cuisine - Potato salad, Cheese Spaetzle, Schupfnudeln, Maultaschen
7. Separating the rubbish - I am going to miss the yellow sack and the Green, Brown and White glass containers...
8. OH MY DÖNER KEBAPS. I CANNOT BEAR TO LEAVE YOU.
9. Going out at like 2 am in the morning and lasting until breakfast (which is also conveniently a Doener).
10. The football culture and watching the World Cup as a legitimate reason for being absent.
11. Grilling...German style.
12. My love-hate relationship with Deutsche Bahn. Particularly worthy of mention are - having to sleep overnight in Munich Hauptbahnhof because we missed our connecting train to Budapest due to a suicide on the tracks and every hostel in the area being booked out due to the Championship League game between FC Bayern and Manchester United, being delayed 6 hours due to a cabel fire on the tracks and having to sneak onto the next train and then taking a ferry (yes, a FERRY) to Denmark, riding in the ONLY carriage without air conditioning on a 35 degree day and not being able to open the windows (they literally would not open).
13. Listening to German hits, or just German music period.
14. The controversies surrounding German inability to build an airport, a concert house and a new train station network (hint: Berlin, Hamburg and Stuttgart).
15. How "mega" is still a commonly used adjective.
16. Caipirinhas  - how come I have never drunken this cocktail Down Under?!
17. Staring back at Germans who love to stare at me. :)
18. Smiling at Germans who love to start at me. ;)
19. The chocolate and OMG HARIBO aisle in the supermarket.
20. THE CHEESE AISLE IN THE SUPERMARKET - FRISCHKÄSE!
21. That Germans write decimals places after a comma (e.g. 1,33 instead of 1.33).
22. Germans carrying bouquets and flowers on the way home from work.
23. Adorable German primary school groups riding on the tram.
24. That feeling of walking into a massive supermarket for the first time and being overwhelmed by everything. Like seriously, I did not know it was possible to have like 100 types of bratwurst.
25. The self-service bread slicers in the supermarket.
26. German drug store makeup - I definitely have self control problems.
27. Receiving letters and emails addressed to Ms/Mr Zhao because no one knew what gender a name like Ruohan could be...
28. The look of surprise on people's faces when they ask me where I am from.
29. Germans telling me how much they love New Zealand and how they know someone who did a working holiday in New Zealand.
30. Really scarily well trained dogs who don't run up to play with you.
31. Germans knocking on the table at the end of every lecture and seminar.
32. Birkenstocks, Deuter Backpacks and Jack Wolfskin jackets.
33. The self-serve bread slicing machine in the supermarkets.
34. BULGUR - WHERE CAN I BUY THIS IN AUSTRALIA?
35. The trams and efficient public transport system.
36. Having like 5 supermarkets on one block.
37. Apfelschorle and Spezi.
38. The Reclam section in the bookstores.
39. The Autobahn.
40. The 1st of May celebrations.
41. Pfand (aka deposit) on my bottles.
42. Being able to take a train like literally everywhere (except Iceland).
43. Ritter Sport - vanilla, raspberry waffle flavour I love youuuuuuu.
44. Hearing "krass".
45. Ridiculously good looking German men.
46. Hearing the adorable German accent when they speak English.
47. Having to register and de-register yourself from every city you live in.
48. Having to pay the compulsory radio and television tax.
49. Pickled fish of all sorts, in a jar, looking a bit gross.
50. Pickled sausages in a jar, looking also a bit gross.
51. The lack of regard for separate cuisines in Asia (e.g. "ASIAN RESTAURANT! CHINESE RESTAURANT...that serves pho and bibimbap).
52. How ridiculously expensive sushi is.
53. How meat is cheaper than fruit and vegetables...
54. Dirt cheap public transport.

In the inner chamber of the Reichstag in Berlin - much fancy mirror

BERLIN:
55. "Zurück bleiben, bitte!"
56. Hearing more foreign languages than German on the streets.
57. Riding home on the U-Bahn Subway and Tram at 3am in the morning.
58. Walking around aimlessly.
59. Seeing the shit that goes on Warschauer Street at 6am on the weekends.
60. Waiting in minus temperatures for the night bus at 3 am in the morning.
61. Living in an old East-German apartment and calling it the East German Museum.
62. Museum Island!
63. Currywurst and the Berliner donut.
64. Opshopping in Berlin.
65. The M8 Line and riding every day at 8.15am from Bernhard Bästlein to Nordbahnhof.
66. The Berlinale and seeing Ralph Fiennes...even if it was for like 2 seconds.
67. When your subway line is being repaired and you spend about an hour using replacement transports methods...
68. Tiergarten and the Street of June the 17th.
69. East Side Gallery.
70. "Ick"
71. Ampelmännchen.
72. Brandenburg Gate (y)
73. Alexanderplatz and dat TV Tower.
74. Getting checked by the ticket inspector.
75. Buying a ticket for your dog or bicycle on the tram (1 Euro bargain!)

View of beautiful Freiburg from Schlossberg Hill

FREIBURG:

76. Being able to buy weird varieties of tofu such as "Philosophers Tofu" and "Dragon Tofu".
77. Seeing the beautiful sunset every night from my window.
78. Seeing the Black Forest every day from my kitchen window.
79. All my flatmates and the fun times we had, from pizza nights to an amazing flat party to just being generally the nicest and most helpful flatmates I could have asked for.
80. The flea markets. EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND.
81. The hippies and alternative kids with their dreadlocks and yoga pants.
82. Being an aggressive cyclist.
83. Bertoldsbrunnen and the most annoying construction works in the middle of the busiest traffic point in the whole city.
84. McDonalds Tor.
85. Awkwardly meeting people you want to avoid on your tram on the way home at night.
86.The Baechle and seeing little kids sail little boats in them.
87. Buying a sausage off Münsterplatz.
88. Hearing the Badisch/Allemanisch dialect.
89. Hearing the train go past my window every hour.
90. Being able to get to France and Switzerland under an hour.
91. Händelwohnheim.
92. Watching drunk soccer fans puking into the open fountains and waterways.
93. 1 Euro gelato. 1 EURO GELATO.
94. Wheit Rabbit Wednesday night jam seshes.
95. Ganter and Feierling beer.
96. Locally produced wine from Baden.
97. KAUFLAND and buying frozen pretzels and bread rolls.
98. Picnic by Seepark.
99. Climbing 3 flights of stairs to get to German class.
100. Schlossberg and the beer garden.


And the 101 thing is...

Being on exchange and having the freedom to do whatever you want. :)


Life is wonderful everyone, make the most of it!

Ruohan xx