Living with a German family and their habits

These two weeks living in Germany have been one of the most interesting experiences of my life. Although I was all alone there, with a family I didn’t know and with habits completely different from mine, my adaptation to their way of life was easier than I thought, mainly because of the good treatment of the Huter family.

Svenja (my German girl) and a friend of her welcomed me nicely although, evidently, we were very shy both of us. On the way to her house, which was thirty minutes away from the main city of Hamburg in a little town called Großhansdorf, this shyness became smaller while we told each other things about our lives. When we arrived at her house, she introduced me to her mother (Monika) who gave me a very warm welcome and smiled at all times during my stay there. But the one who really brought happiness to that house was the father ( Ingo Huter) who I knew a few days afterwards because he was always on business trips.

One of the main differences between the Spanish and German cultures is the food. From the first day I remember the strange face I must have worn during my breakfast: A tray with many kinds of bread, butter, marmalade, and cold meats. Apparently in Germany cold food is very common. Another difference is that most people drink fizzy water, I missed being able to drink still water. However, just as I was getting used to this, Monika started buying still water exclusively for me.

Other things that attracted my attention: Taking your shoes off and leaving them in the entrance, a very effective method to keep the house clean; the use of the bike, everyone used the bike to go everywhere; the day in Großhansdorf finishes very early, around eight o´clock everyone is at home, and has even had supper; in the public transport there rarely is someone to collect the tickets – which is both a good way to save staff and an excellent social education -. Of course, if they catch you without ticket you have to pay a heavy fine.

Svenja and her friends have a very similar way of having fun to ours: They go shopping to the malls, they watch movies at home or in the cinema; they also hang out in the discotheque or get together to have a party. One afternoon Svenja invited her friends home. We had a very nice afternoon: We watched a movie and then we played with some games she had. Another day we got together with her friends and went to a Hawaian party, where we had a very good time dancing and singing.