Traveling Abroad

In connection with their philosophy of IDIC -- Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations -- the Vulcans in the Star Trek universe sometimes proclaim, "I rejoice in our differences." Lovers of exploring strange new worlds and meeting intelligent ETs in fiction, however, don't have to leave Earth to discover real-life alien cultures, if only slightly, subtly alien. Spending last week in Germany to visit our daughter and her partner (who moved there last August), I encountered several unexpected differences from my familiar world in a country with a language and ethnicity closely related to my own. (An extraterrestrial linguist would probably consider English and German dialects of the same language. The parents of one of my grandfathers immigrated to the U.S. from Germany around 1880.)

Some highlights of our trip to Freiburg im Breisgau: The Mundenhof, sort of a zoo but more of a nature preserve. It started as a refuge for animals rescued from abusive or neglectful situations and still fills that role to some extent. The animals roam in large, open outdoor areas. The facility is divided into sections corresponding to the various continents. We managed to see most of them but not all, too exhausted to walk the full circuit. One cool feature was a peacock who wandered freely around the grounds and perched on top of a fence as if deliberately posing for a photo. Our daughter showed us around the Alstadt, the old city center, including a 900-year-old cathedral. Another day we went to the town where the historical Faust died. On Saturday, we took a train excursion to a touristy village in the mountainous Black Forest region. Lots of shops selling cuckoo clocks. After lunch at the lakeside, we took a short cruise on the lake in a small tour boat. Returning to the Alstadt late that afternoon, we found we couldn't get into the restaurant where we'd hoped to have dinner, this being the weekend with a (very loud) music festival going on. Fortunately, we did get to eat at a nice small-plates place. On our last full day, Sunday, my husband and I attended an English-speaking Anglican church, with a small and very welcoming congregation. They had a potluck lunch after the service.

Differences that struck me: As predicted, almost everybody we met spoke some English, many of them fluently. (What do you call a person who speaks only one language? An American.) On the frequent occasions when we got lost, there was usually a nearby kind stranger able to help. Ubiquitous public transportation: Buses, trams on tracks, and of course trains for intercity travel. Our daughter's German housemate said she wouldn't own a car at all if not needed for getting to work. Unlike what I'd read online, though, we couldn't pay cash to board the bus. One has to deal with ticket machines and credit cards everywhere. You're on your own. The bus drivers basically ignored us except once when telling me to sit down rather than block the aisle. Oddly, most often nobody even asks for a ticket on the bus or tram. (On the train, they always do.) Either they trust the public or screening every passenger for payment is more trouble than it's worth. And there's Uber in Europe! Tipping: Suggested percentage amounts are much lower than in the U.S., even in restaurants; apparently German servers get paid a living wage. Environmental awareness: We were told the government actively discourages people from driving personal cars unless absolutely necessary. (That policy didn't prevent rush hour traffic from being as congested as ours, though.) High gas prices and related taxes are considered a feature, not a bug. Glass and plastic bottles have deposits and can be returned for cash, a system that hasn't existed for a long time in the places where we've lived. Dual-flush commodes, unlike in the U.S., seem to be universal. And speaking of plumbing, most restrooms were not only high-tech but super clean. Climate: Because of the high latitude, darkness didn't arrive until after 9:30 at night, which I expected. But I didn't realize the high latitude combined with altitude -- in the mountainous Black Forest region -- meant Freiburg wouldn't necessarily have the summer heat typical of June at home. For the first few days, mornings were actually chilly. Luckily, we brought jackets. On the plus side, there was barely any humidity compared to the east coast of the U.S. Food and drink: I don't remember being offered a salad dressing choice at any restaurant. All salads had a standard yogurt dressing. Choice of "still" or sparkling water was always offered, with sparkling as the default, and it didn't come with ice unless specially requested.

I can hardly remember how my husband and I got around on our own in England back in 2002, aside from the advantage of speaking the local language, with limited electronic magic compared to nowadays. On this trip, if it hadn't been for internet access and our cell phone roaming plan (so we could call our daughter for instructions whenever we got lost again), we would have been so far up the creek we would have lost our paddles in the rapids.

Margaret L. Carter

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