Day 19

Today was a travel day and was very uneventful. This post will be rather short. Around 11:00, I checked out of my Airbnb in Cologne and headed to the train station. My train to Frankfurt took about an hour and a half. The train was much nicer this time.

I arrived in Frankfurt Main Station and I followed the instructions that my Airbnb host gave me. Surprisingly, all my transitions went extremely well. The directions from my Airbnb host were spot on and I did not have to ask anyone for help. In previous cities, I was given information from my Airbnb hosts but I still had to go to help desks to ask how to get to my home. I took an S Bahn train to a certain location from the train station. At this stop, I just had to walk across the platform and take the U Bahn to my home. I was very stressed out about this travel because Frankfurt is a big city and I had to take three trains, but everything went smoothly.

My Airbnb room is much larger than I thought it would be. I am living with a family: a mom and a son. I have met the son already for about two minutes but he had to leave. I have not met the mother yet who is in charge of the home.

I walked to the grocery store, which was only five minutes away. I bought groceries for my breakfasts and dinners. It is so convenient knowing German. I can read the labeling on the food, and even ask for help. Today I had to ask where the eggs were located because I could not find them. All went well at this grocery store unlike the one in Cologne.

I went back to my Airbnb and cooked dinner. The rest of the night, I hope to plan what I am going to do in Frankfurt and research how to get to each place. I was hoping to meet my Airbnb host because I need help getting to these places and I would like to do laundry. I hope she comes home soon so I can talk to her. I am also looking forward to conversing with her in German.

Since there was not much to talk about today, I've been wanting to make note of all the culture differences I have been noticing here In Europe

  • Public transportation- get used to using this because it's how you get everywhere. From living in the suburbs where there is not public transportation, this was a difficult adjustment
  • Walking- When not on a train, tram, or bus, Europeans walk everywhere!
  • Bathrooms- Here they call them water closets. And often the bathroom is separated: one room with a sink and shower and another room with a sink and a toilet
  • Public Bathrooms- You must pay to use most public bathrooms here! I did not realize the luxury I had back home of free public restrooms
  • Style- Very plain and tight clothing, but very stylish. Their outfit looks effortlessly put together where as Americans often overdo their style
  • Restaurants- Water is not free, you do not have to tip because a surcharge is already built into the cost of the meal
  • Breakfast- A coffee and something else small seems to be the normal breakfast here, Americans take their breakfast seriously: eggs with a breakfast meat, pancakes, waffles, French toast, etc. I rarely see any of that here
  • Friendliness- I thought Europeans would be more friendly, wanting to talk to other people traveling. I was hoping that some people would approach me since I do get lonely traveling alone. I've observed that most Europeans have their headphones in and pay no attention to the people around them. You could be standing in line next to the same person for an hour, and they would not speak to you. Although Americans are always preoccupied with their phones in public, I feel as though we are a lot more friendly.
  • Smoking- I swear more than half the European population smokes. I find it disgusting and do not understand why they all smoke. 
  • Homes- Most people live in multistory apartments that are tiny compared to American homes. The homes that I have been in only have a kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. There are no living rooms here. American homes are mansions compared to European homes. The bathrooms and kitchens are also very small. I do not know how they function in this environment on a daily basis.
I am sure that I will come up with some more differences and will add onto this list later. 


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