16 Oct '05 - + 16 - 22 Things I Will (and Will Not) Miss
We're planning to leave Hamburg in ten days, returning to the United
States in a bit over a month. Here are some of the things I will
really miss when I'm home, and things I won't miss at all.
Miss - Cities as the Center
- St.
Louis is a great city in some ways, but it is a good example of a
problem common in America but uncommon here: the city center is dead,
surrounded by growing suburbs. In Europe, the city itself is the
focus. The city is alive with pedestrians, partiers, and shoppers
throughout the day and week. Pedestrian zones in almost all
cities and towns are the center shopping and gathering areas.
Residential areas near the center are preferred (inner city is not a
negative thing here). Autobahns stay out of the city center
instead of enabling the flight of people and business from the city, as
the Interstates do in America.
- When visiting a new
city, I know that I should head to the center to find the best
sightseeing, the best restaurants, the best tourism information,
etc. I also know that I can see the best of the city without
needing a car. With the exception of a few select cities in
America (Boston, New York, San Francisco), that's just not true
there. It's definitely not true of St. Louis.
- Public Transportation
- Related
to the earlier point, public transportation is usually much better in
Europe than in America. Between buses, subways (U-Bahn), suburban
trains (S-Bahn), and regional trains, one can get almost anywhere one
needs to go cheaply and quickly. In St. Louis, we'll need our
cars to do almost anything.
- Bike Friendliness
- We ride
our bikes almost every day here. The main roads in cities usually
have bike lanes for us, and the drivers look out for us and respect
us. Because of all this (and the more centralized cities), many
people bike to work every day, and I biked to class every day instead
of needing a car. It improves health, traffic, and
pollution. I'll bike much less at home without such a
bike-friendly environment.
- The Alster
- Our favorite
place to bike is around the Alster, the large lake in the center of
Hamburg. Depending on the day, you can see executives biking to
work in their suits, rollerbladers getting exercise, old women taking
their dogs out for walks (or vice versa), picnickers, and
sunbathers. The route goes through parkland, past a small marina,
in view of the steeple-packed downtown, in front of consulates and
places of worship. The closest analog I know of in America is the
lakes of Minneapolis, but this is much nicer.
- Wind Farms
- When
traveling through Europe by car, bike, train, or ferry, one is likely
to see windmills everywhere. It's a wonderful form of energy
production that I'd love to see take better hold in America.
- Metric
- As
an engineer-by-training, I'm familiar with the Metric system. As
a temporary resident of Europe, I've lived with the Metric
system. It's so much simpler than what we have in the United
States. I'll miss it.
- Fußball
- I'll be able to see
soccer in America, but I won't be able to watch Confederation Cup
games, UEFA World Cup qualifers, and Bundesliga games in person.
- Kölln Heidelbeer Müsli
- This cereal is fantastic. It has blueberries and yogurt. I love it.
- Gelato
- Italian ice cream stands throughout Europe. Yummy.
- Erdnuss Flipps
- Imagine
the big puffy Cheetos. However, instead of being flavored with
cheese, imagine them tasting like peanut butter. Mmmmmm...
- Brotchen
- Every
week, for €0.40 (about $0.50), we buy a packet of six partially-cooked
dinner rolls. We heat them at 200 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes,
and they are fresher and tastier than any pre-made breads in America.
- Cheap Wine
- Bottles of good wine in grocery stores for $3-4. We'll have sticker shock when we return.
Not Miss - Smoking
- Europeans
smoke a lot. They smoke pretty much anywhere. This was
driven home yesterday at the soccer game, where people smoked
frequently in their seats. I didn't realize how nice the
non-smoking sections of American stadia were until experiencing
frequent second-hand smoke yesterday.
- Tiny Streets
- We
rented cars a couple times, and the tiny streets of the old city
centers are a nightmare to drive through. Of course, those
streets are better left to pedestrians since they predate cars, so it's
not really a problem in the grand scale. However, after making a
couple wrong turns and ending up in areas where I couldn't turn around,
I'm glad not to worry about those streets anymore.
- Mexican Food
- More
specifically, what passes for Mexican food in Germany. I know I'm
too Minnesotan really to know good authentic Mexican food, but what the
Germans do is just to far the other way.
- Late-Night Baseball
- We
love the Cardinals. Of course, they don't show many MLB games on
TV here. Thankfully, a friend lets us watch his TV through his Sling Box
Unfortunately, we're in the Central European time zone, so the evening
games start in the middle of our night. Yesterday's game was at
3:30 PM in St. Louis, a 10:30 PM start here. Since it was the
NLCS, we watched it, staying up until 1:30 AM to see a loss. It
will be nice to be able to watch games at a normal hour again next year.
five comments, already:
It sounds like most of what you’ll miss (aside from the foods) are things you knew you would like about living in Europe/Germany. Did you find them to be better than you thought or do you think you just had a good idea of what the most appealing parts of European living would be for you?
Rob - 16 October '05 - 11:37
Living in northern California, I get good wine that cheap as well. I also remember what mexican food was like in St. Louis, and I find your nostalgia for it amusing :)
Rich Unger - 17 October '05 - 14:31
I found Bike Friendliness to be better than I expected. I’d seen the crowds of bikes before, but had never experienced (or conceived of) driver being respectful of me. The Alster was better than I expected, but I didn’t know about it at all before.
I think most of what I mention above are things that fit my overall political and social philosophy, so you’re right, they’re not really surprises.
Lance Finney (link) - 18 October '05 - 13:20
As a minnesotan transplanted to germany, i am missing: dr pepper, cheetos, mexican food and Eichgten’s Hidden Acres String Cheese (the best… ever… anywhere). I need to get help from the united states armed forces in this matter.
Arnim Sauerbier - 12 January '06 - 11:18
Arnim,
While I was there, I once had a craving for Taco Bell. I searched to see if there were any Taco Bells in Germany, and I found out they are only on military bases, and only for military personnel. Oh well.
Lance Finney (link) - 12 January '06 - 21:30
