I am sure that some of you are wondering what daily life is like in a small village in Germany. I will say that overall, the country has more conveniences than it did when I was here in the early 90's. A few things of interest: All of your garbage has to be separated into paper, household waste and organic. All glass containers have to be recycled, there is a bottle deposit on every drink bottle, glass or plastic. The shopping carts are always returned to the store because you have to deposit a euro to use one and you get it back when you lock the cart to the other ones. You bag your own groceries, in fact, you must furnish your own bags, unless you want to pay for the plastic ones that we are familiar with. You can buy fresh milk that is good for about 5 days or you can buy ultra homoginized milk that can sit on the shelf unopened for weeks. The bread is to die for, baked fresh each day with no preservatives. Laundry is an adventure. The wash cycle takes 1 hour and 20 minutes and most people hang it out to dry, which is a challenge at this time of year because it rains so much, so most laundry dries in the basement in a few days. Plan accordingly! You can use an international ATM machine, but don't do it on a Friday afternoon because the computer is overwhelmed since banks aren't open on the weekend and everyone wants some cash. Many local shops close at lunch and nothing is open on Sunday. Driving can be a challenge on the AutoBahn with my Ford Fiesta. There is no speed limit, however, I don't dare get out in the left lane lest I be eaten alive by a BMW or AUDI doing 100+ MPH. Pedestrians and bicycles always have the right of way. The typical answer when you ask for directions is, "It's hard to explain". It's best if someone takes pity on you and lets you follow them. The road signs don't say east or west, so if you don't know the name of the town that is in the direction that you want to go, you are in deep trouble. Most of the cars are small, but I will say that the Germans take their tractors seriously! They are huge! I get one channel that is in English on the Satellite, CNN International. Thank goodness for the Internet so I can keep up with what is happening at home. Overall, the people are much more healthy here than the US. All ages do a lot of walking and bike riding. The vending machines have coke and beer in them....When you go to a restaurant, they are never in a hurry to serve you and turn the table around quickly like at home. In fact, if you don't ask for the check, you might not get it for several hours! The pace and the conveniences of home are not present here, but it is much more personable and safe to walk through the village at any time day or night. Soccer ( what they call football) is wildly popular here.