“Welcome To Michigan” - The Jump Into Winter Experience

Two more weeks have past and right now I am in my fifth week in the USA. Meanwhile I got used to the daily American life, so far many things are already quite normal for me, which have been very overwhelming in the beginning.

Now I am feeling comfortable in stores with all the grandmas and grandpas sitting and cruising around with small electrical caddys through the widths of Walmart. When I hear a beep in the store, I know that it might be a granny backing up around the corner. I am always prepared for a caddy crash ;-)

Another thing is: cars and trucks in a bad condition wouldn’t have a chance to get a wheel on roads in Germany. In the U.S. it is not a problem driving a car which is falling to pieces. I pass those cars everyday but still with an uneasy feeling right next to them.

On the other hand there are many luxury cars and pickups, more than twice as high as my car, glaring at me through my rear window with their headlights on every traffic light :-D. I think I should get some sunglasses even if it’s winter.

Winter impressions in Royal Oak

Are you thirsty?

Yes, you read correctly, the winter started already in Michigan. One day we had a beautiful fall and the next morning there we had -10 degree Celsius and snow – in the middle of November. Even the bottle of water in my car was absolutely frozen. I heard on the radio today that this is the coldest November we had in Metro-Detroit since 1880.

Even though winter began I am having a good time with my friends. One awesome experience we had was in downtown Detroit when we went out for dinner. We went to a restaurant recommended by some locals and the waiter gave us a five minute how-to-dine-in-this-restaurant briefing.. I must admit, I quit listening after a few minutes – because I was sooo hungry – but listened again to the most important part, I guess, when he was talking about the green-red card in front of each. It was a signal for the waiters: green means “more meat”, red means “no, thank you”.

Waterfall arts in the building's aula

Next to an extraordinary buffet with cold dining, a range of waiters were swarming through the restaurant and offering each table huge spits with different kinds of delicious meat. Stopping at a table, they started cutting some slices of meat for you. The variety started from house special beefsteaks, pork filets, lamb, to bacon wrapped chicken and so on… all in all sixteen different prepared kinds of meat. It was like heaven on earth!

One more unforgettable experience was my first visit to an American cinema. It was the most relaxing experience ever: adjustable leather seats, enormous space in front of you and broad armrests (no fights with your neighbor to settle your arm down ;-))  – I thought this is like first class in an airplane, with the difference that the screen in front of you is much bigger. We have been watching the movie “Interstellar” - I recommend it to you!

Another two weeks of my internship in America have passed, but this is just the beginning of the exciting stories I will keep you posted on.