"The Land of Beer, Sausage, and Sex Shops" reminds me of just how sexaphobic (yes, I made up a word. I think it's genophobia...) the US can be. I suppose it's not all of the United States though, because there's a pretty well-known sex store on South U. that people use as a point of reference all the time.

"Toilet Training for Visitors" was an interesting read because it seems that sanitary assistants are more popular in Germany than here. Lord knows we need assistance in that area, I can't tell how many times I've left the bathroom w/ out using it because the conditions were...unsatisfactory. I would rather pay a little pocket change to have the bathrooms in decent condition than not, personally.

Honestly, it's articles like "No Blood, No Entschuldigung"that make me wonder if I was really meant to be born as a German. Aside from the bitter old lady trying to let her grandson see the parade, physical contact (without harassment) seems completely fine to me. It always amazes me how much Americans value their personal space. Some circumstances seem odd to me, like people will actually go out of their way (stop in their tracks to wait the 15 seconds for you to pass through a narrow hallway) to avoid close or actual physical contact. What are we afraid of? Personally I think it's soothing to have some kind of contact with another being. Yes, the truth comes out; I'm that girl the article was referring to when it stated that Germans (or German's-to-be) will actually seek out physical contact, so watch out!

This and the fact the peanut butter apparently doesn't really exist are two things that make me hesitant to just move to Germany and be done the US (other than the fact that I can't seem to form a decent german sentence.) The "Flirting with the Fräuleins, Hunting for Herren" article stated that the male-female interaction shabang is left in the hands of the women! What?! The only way it work in my brain is if the man does all the nervous talking. I suppose that's all I have to say about that.

tschüss!

Imani Mchunu