Crime

Coming from a small town of about 300, it is very rare to see crime. However, when you go to big cities there is always parts of the city, where you are told to never go because it is violent. If you go there you might not come back because of the shootings that happen.

Living in Berlin, the biggest city in Germany, I never once felt like I was in danger. My advisor told us, you should not worry about walking alone in Berlin. He did not advise woman to do that because they are usually targeted more, but if it was unavoidable he assured they would be fine.

Germany has pretty harsh penalties if you commit crimes and you don't get the same rights you would here in the states.

Murders seem like an everyday occurrence in big cities here in the U.S. I heard of one murder happening in Berlin in my four months there. As I recall, it was between drunk men and they beat the one guy until they killed him.

German Police (Polizei) van in the middle of Berlin. It is illegal to take a picture of a police officer in uniform, but not their vehicles.

Even in what outsiders to Berlin call, "rough neighborhoods," I believe that these areas are just poorer and not "rough" as a non-native would think. In fact, several nights I came back at 5-6 in the morning in the area with the highest crime rate in Berlin, called Kreuzburg and I felt just like I did in every other part of the city, safe.

In other European cities, I can not say the same as I do in Berlin. In fact in Paris we were approached by a Police officer and he told us we should leave the area we were in because it is quite a violent place to be. We took his advice and left. Even so, Paris doesn't have a lot of murders, but more thefts and acts of that nature.

Public Transportation

I briefly touched upon this when I talked about Europeans, Germans in particular, being environmentalist. Since going to Chicago over Spring Break, I noticed that the Public Transportation here in the United States is NOT EVEN CLOSE, to as good as in Germany.

The city trains don't run very often and are often late. Nothing is posted as to how to get somewhere. (Thank God for iPhones or I would of been so lost in Chicago) My friend, who lives in Chicago, said it takes an hour and a half for her to get to work and it would be a 30 minute drive.

It is very frustrating to see our transportation after coming back from Europe because their system runs like clock work and in America our public transportation runs like a broken clock.

Picture of the Chicago Metro in North Chicago

It is not necessary at all in Europe to have a car, but here you will get no where if you don't have one. We may add a lot to pollution as Americans, but until a more viable option comes available to us, we are going to continue to drive cars.

Attitude

Walking down the street in Berlin, you notice that Germany people do not stop to chit chat or say a friendly hello to you. It does not mean they are angry, they are much more reserved society and do not pretend they know you, so they don't bother you.

My host-mother with the very first day told me, "If Germans say something to you that seems offensive or and they seem rude, they are not trying to be rude and don't take it personal it is how we are."

This is a picture of my host- family. At first I felt like a stranger living with them. By the end of my stay, they were like my family.

This sounds like it would be awful to meet a Germany, but if you make the step to talk to them, they are very nice people. It will just not happen that they approach you first.

Füssball vs Football

Here in America, a lot of people, particularly men, are very passionate about football. I myself love to watch football and get quite into the games.

In Germany they take it to a whole new level. I went to a soccer game in Berlin and watched soccer games at bars. Germans go absolutely insane when there team wins. It is like a riot every single time the team is playing.

This is not only true for Germany, but for almost every European country. Most people live and die by how their Füssball teams, as they say in Germany, play.

I get upset when my team losses, but I get over it. In Berlin last year, the Hertha Füssball Mannschaft, Hertha Soccer Team, finished with a losing record, the people had a riot on the field. They were very angry their team was moving down a league and no longer in the top league.

Soccer Game in Berlin, in early November of 2010

The reason why Europeans hate American football. The response I got every time, "Football is to slow, you play 5 seconds and then take 30 seconds off." Which when you think about, is true, football is a slow pace game. 

One last thing I want to say about German füssball. They play almost all year around. Whether it be the German national team playing or the local team, games are always going on. Unlike here where there is such a long offseason for say football. Football fans, are left with watching other sports or like I did over spring break took a tour of a football stadium.

Lambeau Field where the Green Bay Packers play(Above)
Me at Wrigley Field over Spring Break. (Bottom)