Hallo from Beautiful Frankfurt, Germany!
It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in Germany for about a month and a half now. Wow. What’s even harder to believe is that this is my first blog post! I’m pretty sure many people have been wondering why. Considering that it’s been over a month since my last blog post, it’s very surprising that my visitor counts have actually increased in this time! I’m sure there’s plenty of speculation as to why there have been no posts; Too much university work? Enjoying the awesome German beers too often? Or perhaps I was swept off my feet by a beautiful German girl, dropped out of school and eloped? If you thought about any of those possibilities…you obviously know me way too well, but sadly they were not the cause of my delayed blog post.
The true culprit would have to be my lack of Internet within my flat. While Frankfurt is AMAZING, the Germans seem to have a slight issue with the basic necessities in life – namely INTERNET. When I arrived in Frankfurt International Airport on March 1st instead of heading to my flat, I actually had to spend about a week in a hotel/hostel because the eight-bedroom house that the school found for us wasn’t ready for inhabitants with its lack of Internet and electricity. This is where my experiences with Germany’s terrible Internet services started. The hotel wasn’t horrible, but its Wi-Fi connection was in one word – horrendous. It would take about an hour to connect, and then it was as slow as molasses. You know you have a slow Internet connection when it takes more than 30 seconds for Google’s homepage to load up. This wouldn’t be a major problem if there were free wireless Internet options across the city, but sadly that’s not the case. Ironically, the only companies to offer free Internet are American corporations – Burger King and Starbucks – and it’s pretty terrible. Once I moved into my flat I thought my Internet issues would be long gone but…well you know where this is going.
It was always one thing after another. First, apparently it takes at least TWO weeks to get an appointment for Internet service. In Boston, Verizon will be out to your home within the week. Lucky for us, the technician showed up promptly four weeks later and installed the router. Only problem? Apparently our house was built before the World War, and there’s no Internet cables running to the house. Seeing the router and thinking you have internet just to be disappointed, reminds me of this YouTube video: Kid gets an Xbox 360 for Christmas. Opens it up only to discover a Xbox 360 box filled with clothes – all the while the parents are taping and laughing at his misery. Ouch.
Well It’s been about 6 weeks and I finally have some type of constant Internet! It’s like the Easter Bunny decided to take a few days off from Energizer and deliver my apartment some Internet goodness.
Now that I have some Internet access, expect many, many more posts. For now, here are some quick Germany observations for those keeping score at home:
- Yes, the rumors are true: In Germany, beer is cheaper than water! Ever needed a prime example of Economies of Scale? The cheapest beer (Grafenwalder) – plastic bottle and all – can be snagged for €1.50….per six pack. That comes out to about .25€ per beer! A comparable size of water (.51 Liters) runs you about .29€.
- The trains, buses, trams, and any other forms of public transportation within Frankfurt are on time about 99.9% of the time! In fact, if you are late to your destination by 10 or more minutes, you are entitled to a refund on that trip! I’m pretty positive some of my Boston friends fell off their chairs after reading that, so I’ll let you reestablish yourself.
That’s it for now! Stayed tuned!
Auf Wiedersehen
Categorized as Reflectives