A trip to the doctor's

Yes, I did make a visit to the doctor’s this morning, but it really wasn’t that interesting. Germany’s got the whole universal socialist health care thing going on, and basically what I’ve gathered and from what Eric told me, is that Germans will go to the doctor anytime they feel the least bit unwell. In America, we’ve got a completely different mindset, where we’re not going to see the doctor unless we are dying.

So I filled out some forms and waited a loooong time, and then saw the doctor who thankfully spoke English. He listened to my breathing and said I don’t have pneumonia which is always good, and then prescribed me some antibiotics and said it should be gone within a week. I paid him 10 Euros, and then paid about 13 for the medicine. So that’s really cheap, right? But I’m also under an insurance plan here so that’s why I say my trip to the doctor really wasn’t that interesting—I didn’t see socialism in action at all.

Since I went to the doctor I missed the group visit to the churches and the bridge, but I can hit those up in the next…five months (word.) When the group got back we tried some “curry-wurst” for lunch which was pretty good, and then went shopping for Fasching/Carnival. I spent entirely too much on an Erbeere (strawberry) costume, but I had to have it. It’ll definitely be making an appearance at Halloween come October…
I am now in my apartment cooking some dinner (just pasta, I’m not feeling particularly adventurous…) and sipping some tea PRAYING to get better soon. Becca and Will are meeting Brock and his German friends for a Stammtisch and I really want to go have a beer and socialize with people, but I just feel so tired all the time, and I know that if I push myself and go out, it’ll only take longer for me to get better.

That’s like, what you do here though—you go out. My apartment has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a big closet, and a kitchen. No living or common room, no TV, no gaming systems. Because unlike in the States, all the students here go and socialize at bars and cafes or go to the disco. Another HUGE difference is that every person in Germany is not glued to their cell phone. Almost all of us have gotten our phones by now, but rarely use them because they are on prepaid plans, but Germans with their normal contracts on phones are not nearly as attached. And I’m not trying to laud every aspect of German culture here, because there are quite a few things I already miss about American culture, but that is one aspect in which they’re doing better.

And I keep meaning to post pictures on here but always forget. Regardless though, I have been uploading all of them to Facebook if anyone would like to check on that. I'll try to be better about the blog in the future though!