First Week

In my previous post I mentioned people wanting to do things with me. I think I should clarify that. The barracks here remind me a lot of college, where everyone would gather around a room or hang out and tag along on mini adventures. It’s nice to have that again (living vicariously through my brother at least).

Still a lot of learning to do here. Apparently leaving cars unlocked (including windows being left open), not buckling up, not giving the right of way, and passing on the right are all felonies. Yup, that’s right. You have a passenger not in their seatbelt, and you could end up imprisoned for up to five years. You also need to have a lot of cash on you. A lot of places do not accept credit card or American money, and if you do get pulled over with a fine, you must pay it on the spot.

The health insurance is the same way, unfortunately. We pay everything out of pocket, then get reimbursed a certain percentage. Talk about messed up (but that one is the U.S., Germany’s health care is universal; anyone who says universal health care sucks is an idiot, I am sooo jealous… what if one of us broke a limb or something… how am I supposed to pay for that out of pocket? German health care we could be in and out without a thought about the bill).

I’ll be giving an hour and a half session the first week of February, then pairing up with my supervisor for the following session. Being unfamiliar with the format and what exactly to talk about, I am a bit concerned. At least I have another few weeks to figure it out. 🙂 In the meantime, just wrapping up some of the paperwork and learning the software here.