My First Days in Cologne

It is Wednesday and I have now entered my fourth day in the city of Cologne, Germany. A lot has happened in just three days, and I think I have finally gained more of a bearing on what is all happening around me! From my past international experiences, finding the rhythm of a different culture is an incredible experience. So far, Germany has proven this again. I would like to highlight some interesting points and finds from the past couple days here.

Getting Around – German Trains

This one had me puzzled from day one. Obviously, Germans are much more of a public transportation / pedestrian / cycling society. Fewer own cars and MANY people crowd the subways and train stations every day. Bicycles line fences and racks at every public place. I have nearly been run down by a bicycle several times because not only do they have sidewalks in Cologne, but bike paths next to nearly every sidewalk. These are separated only by the style of bricks used on the pathway. The trains themselves come in three main varieties (from my observation so far). These are the local trains, the regional trains, and the high-speed trains. All of the trains are operated by DeutscheBahn. When we first arrived in Frankfurt, we quickly mixed up the three systems! The local trains (the s-bahn and the u-bahn) operate within a tight radius of the central station in a German city. For various rates and passes, one can travel on these trains. The farther out one travels, the greater the cost. The regional trains travel between cities and across German states. These cost more and typically consist of many various stops along the countryside. When we traveled from Frankfurt to Cologne, we used the regional train system. The views were beautiful as we traveled near the river. It is easy to understand why many would use this train system, as the stops included many smaller cities along the way. The final train system is the high-speed or “Inter-City” train system. The IC and ICE (Inter City Express) are trains which travel without many stops between major cities. They travel at high speeds, take the most direct routes, maker fewer stops, and cost the most.

Food

The food here is pretty incredible. Point one made.

Cost: Eating out is more expensive, but purchasing food from a store such as Aldi’s is muchmore affordable.

Quality: My first observation was that many German foods are made with fresher ingredients.There are many bakeries and most sandwich shops use only fresh bread. Cold cuts, meats, and wurst are also all fresh.

Breakfast: Fortunately for me, the breakfasts are especially great (I am a morning person…and also a breakfast person). They serve heated cold-cuts on heavy wheat and rye bread (the slices are thin, but the bread dense). In addition to Musli (cereal), fresh fruit, hard boiled eggs, and yogurt, they serve drinks such as tea, coffee, juice, and milk. The coffee is especially great. Thankfully, this meal is included in the youth hostel price.

Portion Size: In general, I have noticed that German meals are typically small in portion size than those in the US. This is a fortunate change. Instead of the 32 oz. “gulp” drink with a value meal, one is given a much smaller cup. This change is welcome. Even bottled drinks come in smaller portions. Since we are in Europe, the unit system becomes much simpler. Forget ounces! …I would like a half-liter please! I will say that portions CAN be large though. I went to the Brauhausfrühstück on Wednesday evening and ordered Hämchen (pig’s knees). That sounds a little gross, but it was delicious! That was a large portion size.

Restaurants: In general, most German restaurants (at least in Cologne) are smaller and usually contain some form of outside patio or beer garden. Food is served as it is prepared (one person could get their food 10 minutes before another person at the same table). As stated earlier, the cost is a little more than in America. I should probably also mention that beer gardens and fresh bakeries are EVERYWHERE… oh, I think I did mention that… well, it’s true.

Perhaps this is different in smaller towns? I think Cologne is very tourist-centered, so I will hold my final conclusions on this thought until I see more of the country. I think smaller German towns will bear the most truth once visited.

Ice Cream: Okay… this is simply better here. Creamy. Rich. And CHEAP. Sorry USA, you simply do not compare. Okay… maybe I’ll give St. Henry Dairy Dream a shout-out since it has The Best rocky road EVER.

Water: It has bubbles. Mineral water!

Shopping

Phones: On Monday afternoon, we walked to a Saturn electronics store to purchase German cell phones. Obviously we cannot easily use our American cell phones over here (unless we have an international plan… or enjoy racking up very large cell phone bills at home). I purchased a simple Nokia model (which I believe is still more up-do-date than the Razor I had just a year ago at home) and a simple pre-paid minute plan from a local Aldi Süd. Three cents per minute for all Aldi to Aldi phone calls! Not too bad, considering the only contacts I have over here so far are my fellow Cincinnati engineers who share the plan. It was fun programming and registering the phones in German language. We were all sitting in our rooms scratching our heads for a decent amount of time until we finally solved the puzzle. It seems that the main networks over here are Telekom, T-Mobile, O2, and Vodafone. The one I purchase was Medion Mobile by E-Plus.

Movies/Books: While in the electronics store, it was funny to see where the film culture was focused. We learned this from Herr Rademann, but when I actually saw it, I had to laugh. Most movies, and even music to a great extend, were American! Many were the same titles and big-name releases we know at home. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and even Batman were all on display in this Best Buy style electronics store. On Tuesday, I was able to explore the Nuemarkt with four of the guys from the group. Here we visited a bookstore, where again I noticed the influence of American culture. Although somewhat less than the Hollywood influence, it was still relatively strong… especially in the young adults section.

Shopping Centers: In the United States, we have malls with many stores and lots of food. In Germany (I really am speaking through Cologne’s representation here), they have pedestrian zones with shopping EVERYWHERE. The order of operations is this… Bakery, Beer Garden, Store, Bakery, Beer Garden, Store… repeat. Germans in Cologne seems to be very on top of fashion sense as there are many jewelry and clothing stores. They also seem to be very into their outdoors and sporting goods. I counted at least three different major sporting goods stores within a one-block radius. They all compared to a Dick’s Sporting Goods, but were BETTER. The one actually had a pool in the lower level so that customers could test out canoes! WHAT??? The name is Jack Wolfskin. Check it out! I will be back for sure.

You can see again Harry Potter appears as a popular title. Note the difference in illustrations and author name notation. I think later I will buy a simple book in German to read and help sharpen my vocabulary a little. Perhaps that will wait until I move to Munich though. Classes with the Cologne language program are keeping me pretty busy at the moment. The new surroundings, people, language, and sites are not one bit distracting (insert a little sarcasm here). In general, I loved the shopping atmosphere here a lot more than anywhere I have ever been before. I felt as if I was in Epcot Disney world. Being outside in the nice weather with cyclists on the intricate brick sidewalks… seeing trains cross through the plaza… watching street musicians play Cannon in D on a street corner as evening fell… all of this kind of beats walking in a giant air-conditioned building.

La Carte: One begins to love the fact that everything is charged for in Germany. Want to use the internet? 5 Euros per hour, please! What to use the restroom? 1 Euro, please! What to use the stairs? …okay, that one is free.

Elevators: Small. They are all like the elevator in Carew Tower of Cincinnati.

Specialty Shops: Germans must be very big into Gummibären because these small shops are everywhere. Flea markets (Flohmarkts), bike shops, and kiosks (with drinks, newspapers, and snacks) are on many street corners as well. You can also find random shops selling only watches or handbags. I suppose one could find these in the USA too.

Beer

General Culture: Well, most of what you heard is true. I will verify that it is very liberating walking down a public walkway, a river boardwalk, or even a public train with an open bottle of beer. On streets downtown, one sees cigarettes and bottle caps. I have yet to see one “drunk” person though. From what I can tell, people respect casual drinking and most would advocate a beer at lunch. In Cologne, beer in restaurants actually comes only in a tall, narrow 0.2 liter glass. This is hardly the large pint size glass we can purchase in the states. I would say this in NOT consistent across Germany though. To my knowledge, each Germany city has its own special way of serving local beer. Here, the 0.2 liter tall glass is the way it’s done.

Restaurant Etiquette: First of all, if you walk into a beer house, seat yourself. We walked into our first one on Wednesday and asked the waiter if there were any tables. He asked how many tables we needed. Later we laughed at how dumb we must have sounded with our American accents. The funny part was that we had six people and accidently told them we needed six tables! Whoops! Anyways, once a person is seated and clearly states that a beer is in order, the waiter will arrive with a little carousel of beer. Do not take the carousel! We tried this. No good. Simply take the beer glass and place it upon your fashionable coaster. Each beer house serves a specialty beer, and typically the coaster reflects this. When you finish the beer, the waiter will sometimes bring out another round without even asking if you want another. I assume this is a part of that no-nonsense German culture. I love it! Of course we want another! Why not drink an entire 0.4 liters of beer in one sitting! The important part is that once you are done, you should place your coaster on top of your beer glass to indicate that the party is satisfied… the whistles have been wetted… and the time has been properly spent in good measure. The best part was that at one brewery we visited, you could order drinks in the house (for about 1.55 Euros per 0.2 liter) but you could also order bottles to go (for about 0.85 Euros per 0.5 liter). Again, you can see my earlier point about how food “to go” is cheaper than dining food.

Cologne Beer: So, I’ve already explained the types of glasses Germans from Cologne drink out of. The type of beer is Kölsch. The different brews of this Cologne beer are what separate beer gardens and breweries. So far I have sampled three. See below:

• Reissdorf Kölsch
• Malzmühlen Kölsch
• Früh Kölscch

So in general, one can see that even in a short period of time, this has been educational. What will happen over the extended stay? Who knows! Our first duty is to pass the German language and culture courses offered at the Carl Duisberg Centren. These are focused on sharpening our language skills before heading into a professional workplace. This is a requirement by the Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Herr Mainka is our instructor and he is a riot. I believe any good German instructor should have crazy hair, incorporate charisma into every small action (including placing sheets on an overhead projector), and use large amounts of satire and sarcasm. It has been engaging to say the least! I look forward to the next several days in this city. On Thursday we will be touring the city a little more formally and seeing more the Cathedral (Dom) downtown. Our weekend is free, so I expect there to be some adventure then as well.

Bis bald!