This article was originally published prior to June 2, 2013. Due to a change in the content management systems, the initial publication date in not available. 

I had the conversation several times during my recent semester in Germany: on the bus, during orchestra rehearsal or while cutting tomatoes in my dorm’s small kitchen. “What cultural differences have you noticed,” inquisitive acquaintances would ask, “between Germany and America?”

Food and meal customs, I might talk about one time, or the differing university systems.  <br/>Sometimes I brought up public transportation, trash disposal and recycling practices, or the use of plastic bottles. Sometimes I brought up public transportation, trash disposal and recycling practices, or the use of plastic bottles.
Sometimes I brought up public transportation, trash disposal and recycling practices, or the use of plastic bottles.

Some things – many things – I prefer about Germany. The train system, the fact that almost everyone brings their own bags with them to the grocery store, peoples’ interests in other cultures and their willingness to learn other languages.

But some things I am definitely glad to have back about the American way of life, even the Kansas small town, small campus way of life.

I tend to overlook these while giving accounts of the cultural differences, and I will probably dedicate at least a couple columns later in the semester to aspects of German culture I would like to see transplanted to the states.

So I figure I’d better mention some of these good points before they again become commonplace and the exotic become so romanticized in my mind that I forget all about them.

Particularly after spending the last two weeks of the trip traveling around with my family, I had had about enough of the water situation in the land of Warsteiner and Becks.  Though I had had experience with German water before, I completely forgot it as I took my first swig shortly after arrival.

The immediate bubbling-burning sensation made me remember what I was dealing with. Carbonation. Club soda, essentially. For some reason, Germans prefer the acidic taste of their “Sprüdelwasser” to tap water and even the “still” bottled kind.

I asked for tap water a few times in restaurants, eliciting weird looks (which I could deal with) and occasionally a charge on the bill (which I couldn’t). I resorted to drinking my own brought-from-home tap water. However, after getting called out for it at a Chinese buffet, I was careful to do it only on the sly or to order something German. Carbonated apple juice, it turns out, is pretty decent and won’t raise any eyebrows.

As a result of the seeming tap water phobia is the almost complete absence of drinking fountains. For the thirsty traveler, it’s a case of the water-water-everywhere-but-not-a-drop-to-drink phenomenon. There are fountains in every park and town square, all bearing the sign “Kein Trinkwasser” (not drinking water). The only place I ever saw a water fountain was in Hamburg, put there, obviously, for the tourists.

The lack of tourists here is definitely one of the things I’m glad to have back. In Heidelberg, a walk from my dorm to the library meant either taking side streets or weaving through a mass of travelers, all stopping to take pictures, look at cheap souvenirs or attempt to read a menu posted in a language other than their own.

Not only was that dorm-to-library walk crowded, it was also pretty gray. Since being back at Baker, the greenness of the campus has really impressed me. Though there are flowers absolutely everywhere in Germany, large areas of grass and trees seem to be relegated to public parks and cemeteries. Here, I’m enjoying walking over a stream and through the grass several times each day.

And then, of course, there’s the language. It still surprises me sometimes when I realize that I can express just what I want to say, that I can half-way tune something out and still get a general idea of what was said, that when I’m done with this column, I won’t have to read over it three or four times so I can catch most of the grammatical mistakes that I undoubtedly made. That’ll be nice. I think I’ll go walk through the grass now, and when I get home, drink some water – the kind that won’t make me burp.