The long flight across the pond
Monday, July 16, 2007
By Lisa Andela
We started out from Grand Rapids on Friday afternoon about 3:30pm. The flights went really smoothly all the way to Bremen. In general, there were no major delays or hold ups. All our luggage showed up at the Bremen airport with us and we got on the tram to go to the guest house where we will be staying for the coming weeks. We were all quite exhausted. Some of us slept, some of us quickly unpacked, but most of us went out on the town to explore. The Stadtmusikantan festival was going on when we arrived in Bremen. Stadtmusikantan is the legendary tale of the donkey, dog, cat, and rooster who traveled together to become musicians in Bremen (look it up, it’s an interesting tale). The festivities included many little kiosks to buy food from and vendors. For dinner, the students went to Becks am Markt. It was a great place to eat, and was located right in the city center. We learned quickly about the German culture as it differed from America.
First of all, we noticed a significant amount of bikers around town, as well as a popular use of the public transportation. Germans seem to strive toward cleaner alternatives. With the same concept in mind, they seem to strive toward cleaner waste management as well, and it became apparent that recycling was all the rage. Unfortunately, we also quickly discovered that German culture does not include free tap water or free refills for your drinks. Bummer.
With all these discoveries in our minds and new food in our stomachs, we finally let our confused, jet-lagged bodies fall asleep.