Like most of my classmates, I have begun getting into a routine of waking up, coming home, studying, going out, going to bed etc. I also feel a LOT more confident in using the transportation system (I will also mention that I'm not really looking forward to returning to TransPerth after experiencing DB).
Before I arrived in Germany, I had an image in my head of what kind of place I would be going to- and what kind of people there would be there. After being here for over a week, I realise that the image I had was very different from reality. Primarily, I was not expecting the sheer amount of cultural diversity that exists in the modern-day Germany. My host mother explained to me that in Baden-Württemburg, around 25-30% of the population are of non-German descent- primarily of Turkish origin. You can walk anywhere in Stuttgart- from Königstraße to the Hauptbahnhof, and see this from the various types of restaurants alone. The famous Turkish Döner Kebap, for instance, is something you can pick up from any one of the numerous Turkish fast-food shops that are all over Stuttgart. To me, the extremely popular Döner represents the real, modern-day Germany: a diverse and multicultural society, not a country of only "European" character. This has been an interesting thing to see and experience, and it reminds me a little of back home and our own wide cultural variety. It has also made me more aware of the falsehoods of cultural stereotypes.
Bis bald,
Dan.
Hey Daniel,
ReplyDeleteyes I too find I have found a good routine of pretty much the same things as you!Unfortunately it has been going too quick and I want to savour every moment aswell. The transport system is way better than the one at home, Perth could learn a few things from Stuttgart!
That statistic is a really interesting one, to think that most residents are not even of German descent. Wow! You are right about the region being of multicultural character!
Haha there are Kebap shops everywhere! But I agree that the last week has gone really fast and I also want to enjoy as much of it as I can because before we know it we'll be heading back home.
ReplyDeleteYeah the time flying thing i think is a real feature of the routine setting in, I'm going to start cramming more into my weekends and empty days for sure!
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah the European character is so diverse it's hard to pin down, a bakery cashier told me and Jack she thought we were dutch! so i guess you never can tell haha