Public transportation

Something I really had to get used to during my first days in Austin was the bus system. I have never used public transportation in the States before. And of course I am used to the German system. Well, here are a couple of differences:

1. In Germany, every stop is announced. Not in Austin. Here you have to know where you want to get off and you have to know where you are. So when your stop approaches, you pull the stop-string. (I am not sure if that's the official name, but it is a string pulled horizontally across the windows that you pull when you want to get off the bus. The driver then hears a sound signalizing that a stop has been requested.)
But the bus drivers here are very very nice, so it's not a problem to ask them when it would be best to get off the bus to get where you want to go.

And getting off the bus too late usually isn't a big problem either as all of the stops are pretty close to one another.

2. Austin does not have a map that shows all the stops on one route. The map shows a couple of stops referred to as time points. These stops mostly are a reference point that tell you when the bus is supposed to be at that particular stop. So you have to figure out if you would be ahead of or after that time point and do the math. And even if you figure out when the bus is approximately coming to pick you up, it never does. I haven't had one bus on time yet.

3. And, just one more proof of Austin's friendliness towards everybody: When people get off the bus, they thank the driver!I think this is a great thing and I will try to enforce that in Germany, also. That just reminds me of a story I experienced with my German roommate a couple of weeks back. We were on a bus getting home from uni. The bus route makes a loop so that both buses #146 going different directions take the same route and have the same stops for a while until one of them turns right and goes to the town center while the other one goes straight ahead. Well, at one of those stops a little, thickset black woman who wasn't very fluent in German asked the driver if that was the bus going to Wackenberg (the end of the line). Instead of answering her politely, explaining to her that she needed to wait for the other bus #146 or just telling her he didn't know (I am not sure if he did) he just closed the door again, mumbled something and drove on. The poor lady just stood there and stared after the bus. I am not sure if the driver was German by birth, but he definitely was by heart. That was just awfully typical of Germans.

American Food

I actually could have registered for a class called American Food. I didn't.

I really try to live healthy here and cook myself instead of going to Subways, Werndy's, McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell etc etc etc.

But then I bought bagels. I couldn't resist. I have a professor back in Germany who originally comes from New York. She has once told us that German bagels aren't as good as American ones. Germans only make rolls with a hole in them and call them bagels. The ones we get at our university cafeteria supposedly are not the real stuff. I always thought she was jsut exaggerating a little. I have been to the States before, I know how bagels are. I always liked our cream-cheese bagles at the cafeteria. And everybody knows that the United States aren't exactly the country known for its culinary finesse.

But then I bought bagels. And...wow...she's right. The bagels at our cafeteria are okay, but really, they're nothing more than rolls with a hole in the middle! So, Mrs. Knox-Raab, I officially appologize to you. American bagels really are better.

How refreshing...

Sometimes I think, Germany has a lot of stupid laws.
For instance that one saying that a swarm of bees becomes ownerless if the owner himself doesn't go after them immediately. I guess something like that must have happened before, but seriously, I just love that one. Everbody should have a swarm of bees...

Or that law saying that it's illegal to drive through a puddle of water and splashing onwalking pedestrians with water. I mean, who really does something like that? Who accelerates when seeing a puddle AND a pedestrian (right next to the puddle of water of course). No, in my little world, people don't do things like that.

I know the US have strange laws and prohibitions as well. Like the one from Portland, Maine, saying that men aren't allowed to tickle women under their chin with a feather. A whole chicken is fine, and tickling her under her arm is fine, too. But the chin/feather combo just doesn't work. Or the one from North Dakota where it's illegal to wear shoes when sleeping.

But I guess some essential laws are missing in this country. Like the one saying it's illegal to drive through a puddle of water and splashing onwalking pedestrians with water.... oh yeah, you gotta love Austin...

And the moral of the story is: never walk back home with your arms full of groceries after a heavy downpour if you have to walk alongside a three-lane street!

Yeahaaw!

Hey everybody,

most of you who read this know me and are only waiting for me to write about my experiences far far away from home. For those of you who don't know me: my name's Jessica and I am from Germany. Originally. I have been in Texas for a little more than a week now and I am starting to feel American again. I guess that's always been part of my personality since I have spent a year abroad and went to High School near Seattle. And now this: Texas! Total contrast to Seattle, I can tell you.
For one thing, there's the heat. It is hot!!! I've been told that before I came it hasn't rained for about 60 days and it has been close to 40°C every day. That is a big change. I'm from Germany. In the summer, we get rain there. :)

But let me start from the beginning. I came here on August 17th, the birthday of my Mom. (That really wasn't a way to celebrate it, I know, Mom. Sorry! But we'll celebrate twice next year, okay?) So the airport already was a big deal. I flew before and I knew the drill. But I guess I really only understood I was leaving home for almost a year when I was at the airport. So let's play a little game called "What would Jessi do?". I actually have a friend playing this game once in a while (thinking of you dearly, over here!) because sometimes I really have good ideas and I can be very reasonable and logical. Well, that doesn't always work. So I am at the airport and supposed to go through these metal detectors. What do they detect? Yes, right, metal. So a smart traveller would wear as little metal as possible, right? The smart traveller wouldn't want to be aggravating, right? Well, back to the game. What would Jessi do. Of course Jessi wears pretty much all the metal she has. Hmmm... Let's see. At home that morning I was smart enough and switched the shoes with the metal clasp for simple Chucks with no metal at all. And at the consulate general in Frankfurt, where I applied for my visa, I learned, that I should take off my watch. I did that at the airport, too. But I still had a metal button on my pants and rivets. They don't hold anything, are good for nothing. They're just supposed to be pretty. I like pretty. Of course it beeped when I went through the detector, but by the time I was in Houston and got checked out for the third time I got used to that. Sorry to all the passengers who missed their connecting flight because of me.

After 22 hours of spending my time in planes and at airports I arrived in Austin. Tired, but happy. I took a cab to get from the airport to the hotel where I would be spending my first night. The driver seemed nice. She told me she's originally from Switzerland and started driving. After probably 10 minutes she asked me for the hotel's phone number, called them and asked where it's located. The she turned around and drove part of the way back. Way to go!! That's the American entrepreneurial spirit!!

But still, I like Austin. And it's gonna get even better, I just know it.