Deutschland fur alles!

I knew it took me long to write this first chronicle from Germany. So many times I wanted to fill this blog and renew it again like in my past trip to Brazil. However, getting adapted to really live in another country (first time in Europe!), with a foreign language which I do not speak, takes a while to finally assume it, accept it and why not love it. There are so many aspects I would like to share, reflex and comment. As the new title of this space says “Tómate un café conmigo”, take a coffee with me and get involved with the lines you will find below.

The starting point was not easy. After a long trip in the plane, for a newcomer as me, not having my luggage on time, getting lost in the city and feeling a complete stranger was a little shocking. On the other hand, despite not everyone speak English, being helped by a total stranger, and finally finding new friends and nice people to share a beer with, can cheer you up more than you had expected.

As a Peruvian trainee in Bonn, Germany, many of the experiences I will tell you will not surprise you; tens of blogs like mine are posted in the Web. The ones I used to read before coming here.

Germany is also a country of immigrants; most of them from Turkey. This immigration process started decades ago; as a result, more than 3 millions of Turkish and their descendants are part of Deutschland. In the streets it can also be seen people from Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and some from Asia and Latin America.

DHL, the company I work at, is a “melting pot” of different cultures, colors, accents from countries of all over the world, and a portion of Germans as well. DHL is part of Deutsche Post World Net, the enormous German holding that owns DHL (originally from US), the national mailing service and a bank. For instance, in my department my colleagues are from Singapore, Philippines, Nigeria, India and Germany. With more than 500,000 employees worldwide, it is the 3rd biggest employer in the world.


There are two aspects than make a balance in Germany, the stereotyped serious and rude personality of its people and the worldwide famous beer culture. The first statement is definitely false. I shall say you find any kind of people everywhere; however I cannot say that most of locals are warm and sweet. Their manners are in general polite, however as this is another continent; people maintain their distance with their gestures or their tone of voice. The second statement I will amplify in the following paragraphs.

I live in between this international context and the real German environment. I share my flat with young people from Bulgaria, United States, Hungary, Turkey, India and Spain. So far in these first days, I have met employees from Nicaragua, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Portugal, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa and so on…

In Latin America we use to toast with a great smile and energy but we do not look at each other’s eyes. A European costume is to shake glasses while staring at each other, or it is said that you will have “7 years of bad sex” (the number of year depends on the number of glasses you have taken, this figure changes according to different people and various amounts of alcohol in their blood).

As an initial overview of the city I live in, Bonn used to be the capital of Western Germany during the communism period when Eastern Germany was controlled by the Soviet Union. Therefore, Bonn is a city that host international offices such as the head office of United Nations, and also headquarters from important companies such as T-Mobile and DHL, where I belong now.

The region that surrounds the Rhein River used to be part of the Roman Empire centuries ago, this is the reason the nearest city to Bonn is called “Cologne”, a very important colony with a profound Latin heritage. In Bonn, the main church called Munsterplatz has more than 1,000 years…and the “Dome”, the Cathedral from Cologne took a similar time to be constructed. The tiled floor and labyrinth-type-of street give the region a particular charm. The beautiful landscape on the river side is complemented by 19th century residences and medieval ruins which are sitting over many green hills such as the mountain of Drachenfelsweg ("Drachen" means Dragon).

Bonn is also the city of Beethoven, the genius musician. Beethoven statues are all over the urban scene, not only in the middle of the platz but in every store, corner, block; these alternative sculptures are painted with a funky artistic sense.

Cologne and Bonn are 30 minutes distance by train. Something I am fascinated of, is the Gothic and obscurantist architecture that is found in these cities. The Cathedral from Cologne I mentioned before, the “Dom” is giant and itself is more than 50 floors, it was built throughout many centuries and subsequently partly destroyed by the II World War (35% of Bonn and Cologne were destroyed at that time). The construction is like an enormous puzzle, made of newer tiles and very antique pieces. The restoration process never stops, therefore no matter what time of the year you visit the Dom it will always have workers repairing its dark walls. Inside the church it is barely lit up, the lights remain as old candles which bring up a sensation of experiencing a middle aged spiritual scene.

So it is time to come back to famous beer culture from Germany, let’s list first the principal food icons from the country in order: Beer, chocolate (nothing to envy to the Swiss ones), bread or as people call here “Brotchen”, wurst such as sausages, salami, ham, etc. (We say in Spanish “embutido”). These elements can be found in all colors, sizes, flavors.

The beer is really cheap (for German living expenses) and people from the region will always recommend the one from Cologne or Koln which is called “Kolsch”. Once I arrived to Germany I went to a bar and I saw these half-liter glasses which do not last more than half an hour in people’s hands. The flavor is strong and it is called Weizenbier which means “Wheat beer” (Cerveza de trigo), the most typical beer from the region of Bavaria. Weizenbier can also have fruits added so you can find even a Banana Weizenbier, the color is darker and it is not as transparent. Anyway every classification of beer here compiled other subtypes. Flavored beers are also common with tequila, lemon, grapefruit, Cola, even with Brazilian’s cachaca.

Here as it in The Netherlands, people utilize very often their bicycle to go anywhere; they even transport their babies in an extended baby carriage. Transport system is very organized; buses and trams go to most of the urban areas. The train system is very convenient to go, especially for party people when they go to Cologne for clubbing (on going people go drinking something, on the way back everyone is sleeping). But seriously, train is still a very common way of transportation within the country and to other cities of Europe. However, flight tickets are getting more and more competitive.

That is all for now, see my following post for more curiosities!