culture shock... setting in

woah... culture shock. I went to the Livingston county fair, which I guess wouldn't be, ideally, that different from the town carnival that I went to in Esens before I left. But, I was wrong. First, in Esens at the Schuetzenfest, many of the booths and rides had an overly prominant "american" theme. Here, it was the other way around, it was German! haha! If only the two countries knew they idolized each other. Another difference, was that here, everything was soooo spread out. And, in the beer tent, the Americans weren't weathing the drinks as well. What was the biggest difference was the car derby. There cannot be anything more American than two hands full of corndogs, fried milkyways, and blooming onions watching cars and trucks going at each other till they all die. The more mud, fire, smoke, and crunched steel, the better!!! Yeeeehaww! It's not everyday you see 300 overweight americans in cotten tees cheering on reconstructed steel piles as the firetrucks circle in anxious anticipation!

As my week has dragged on, it has hit me how I have become much more aware of my punctuality, among other things. If I wanted to pick up the phone and talk to someone in Germany, I gotta do that before 2 or 3 pm. AND, i can't use military time anymore. That confuses me now. The Germans usually very concerned about health and how other people are feeling. I've picked that up too. But, that isn't a bad thing either. Spending so much time "at home" while in Germany, I also learned a lot about house keeping, etc.

I hope I can keep up a couple things about my german diet. For example, LOTS of bread. Contrary to popular opinion, the more carbs you eat, the better off you are. The greatest part is that carbs will "solidify" the fat deposits on your body. No more jiggles!!!!