You are only what you eat

Sitting looking out at such a sunny day!

"In our European Union class today we talked about the differences between American and European culture. Before the class even begun I looked around and thought I kinda already got it. It was sunny today so we had a BBQ on the lawn. Since the tables were already set up and our teacher was comfortable he just decided to have class outside, and start it late. People were still drinking their beers from lunch and when class started I thought it was weird only until our teacher went to grab another one. And then after all this, class ended a good fifteen minutes early because the sun moved and it was getting in his eyes so he wanted to leave and enjoy to day. In a nutshell, class outside + drinking IN class + not so prompt times = European living. I could get used to this…

We are reading The European Dream in class and, even though we’ve only just made it through the intro, I can already tell it will be a fascinating read. Europe is just soo different. And I totally hate myself for just writing that because I have read that exact sentence so many times and been irritated at its vagueness. What is soooo different? Of course cultures and customs play a part in the difference but it is so much more than that. The best way I can describe it (after not even being here for a full week) is the discussion we had today about food. To Americans, food is something that needs to be convenient, fast food has definitely added inches our waistlines, and IN N OUT is a place to be revered. To Europeans, food is something you can get your hands on. The idea of ‘slow food.’ You know the baker that bakes your bread, the farmer that raises the pigs you buy and the milkman and his cows. To elaborate on this point, Jim (our teacher) told us that our turkey for Thanksgiving is already picked out and at a specific farm, getting fat for our dinner in a few months… how weird??!!? Jim brought up the common phrase, “you are what you eat” and then added the European spin that they say about us… “you are only what you eat.” If we play into this notion, Americans are nothing more than greasy burgers and a disgustingly high annual pizza consumption rate.

Completely switching gears I am enjoying every minute over here. Abbie was on the phone trying to get her calling card to work so I came outside and am sitting next to an open window in our house. It is so homey here I already feel like in a few weeks it is somewhere I am going to be happy to come back to after long travel weekends. Ava tends to pretty rose gardens that line our yards, when I look out the window I have to remind myself where I actually am. We are done with classes for the day and have some down time before dinner. I want to try and make it to the internet café tonight but with all this German I’m finding Abbie, LJ, Holly and I are usually in our room quizzing each other on the next days vocab. Oh but I now know that not all of this (seemingly) meaningless vocab studying is a waste!! We were at a museum today and this man ran into me and said something completely foreign and I ALMOST ignored it until a light went off in my little head and understood him… he said “Entshuldigung” which means “excuse me!” Look at me go! I’m totally going to be fluent by the time December rolls around J"