Little Things

One thing I'm really happy about so far is that I'm definitely getting more insight into German society this year.  I've had some nice talks with German students at my school comparing the US and German school systems and it's been interesting to hear what they have to say.  One of the main things I've realized is that there are many more differences than those which lay on the surface, but it's very hard to judge one or the other as being "better." If the certain system is well set up to work within the society, then I guess the fact that it works is what matters and both have pros and cons.  Even something like the lack of clothes dryers here is something that was at first frustrating, but now I've completely adapted and don't think it's necessarily a loss, because it saves space in a small apartment and is better for the environment.
However, I'll talk about these differences at some other point, because there are some other little things where I do have an opinion as to where something's done better.

Germany
* Chocolate - in general, it just tastes richer and yummier.  Plus there are many good combinations - look no further than Rittersport, with different chocolate concentrations or fillings like orange marzipan or hazelnuts.

* Bread - I plan to write another entry just on German bakeries, because they are so prominent
* Trains, public transportation, and walkability - this is really no argument, and also probably deserves its own entry
* Nature access - it seems to be a lot easier to just start walking somewhere and end up in a green space or field in the country.  This ties into the above point that everything's connected.
* Recycling - it seems like many more things can be recycled here and that it's more prevalent among businesses as well.  Plus they collect compost.

The US
* Water fountains - OK, this is one of those times where I also understand the German philosophy that limits lots of freebies, like free water at restaurants, I guess because water is indeed a resource.  But I'm not sure if that's the reasoning behind the lack of water fountains here.  I've seen only one in all of Germany.  And sometimes you just need a drink of water!
* Deodorant - Germans mainly use spray-on deodorants.  I decided to try it out 3 years ago and discovered it didn't really work.  Thought I'd try it in a non-summer setting.  No, still rather ineffective and weird to have to aim and have a wet spray.
* Fall foods - these are technically things that are missing rather than things done better, but apple cider and baked goods with pumpkin are both missing here.  Plus, to expand on fall, there's no visit to the pumpkin patch and no Thanksgiving.
* College classes - at least in comparison with Oberlin, I've been much happier with the set-up of classes there than in Germany.  Too much time seems to be taken up in German seminars with students giving presentations on the reading, plus there's much less writing involved.  There's also much more distance between students and professors.
* Customer service - since it's a cultural thing for Americans to be outwardly friendly, it's not as justified to then fit non-Americans into this framework; however, I don't think it's a bad thing that Americans do seem to be friendlier when it comes to customer service.  I haven't had any awful interactions here and many people are very friendly, but there's also much more indifference.