I have learned this and a few other things since the winter
weather has plagued Germany over the last few weeks. Before the New Year, Münster was hit only with a few inches
and a couple other dustings—snowfalls that brought cheer to the faces of
children and adults alike, creating quite picturesque scenes for the Christmas
Markets.
2013 started out actually quite warm, but also quite
dark. There was a cloud covering
over the entire region that blocked any rays of sunshine, but also blocked any
extreme temperatures. It remained
in the high 40s no matter what time of day, which was quite pleasant despite
the lack of sun. A couple weeks
into January, Münster received its first rays of sunshine—pedestrians stopped
in their tracks to stare up and squint their eyes at the foreign light.
Unfortunately though, with the sunshine came the drop of
about twenty degrees in temperatures and snowfall upon snowfall upon
snowfall. Having spent the last
four years in Boston, I am no stranger to extreme snowfalls and quite cold
winters, but it’s getting a little ridiculous here. At BC, we were quite spoiled during the winter, because we
had amazing snow services that cleared up the paths right away (and actually
last winter, we barely got any snow at all).
Münster on the other hand, does not have such services. The main roads get plowed, but all of
the side roads remain covered in a brown and disgusting slushy mess. I’ve mentioned that Münster is the
German capital of bikes, so the bike lanes remain clear for the most part, but
because for about a week, it snowed every day (and the lack of sunlight
prevented any of it from melting, along with the sub-freezing temperatures) the
bike lanes have been reduced to tracks not much wider than the bike tire
itself. Luckily, my commute to
school is less than ten minutes via bike, mostly along one main road, so I
haven’t had too many problems, but it’s still quite a pain.
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| Aasee iced over and covered with snow |
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| But of course the snow can be quite pretty |
My iPhone 5 finally arrived from the States last week but
because the value was so much, I had to go to the customs office to retrieve
it. This office was in the
outskirts of the city where all the factories and industries are (a part of the
city I didn’t even know existed!)
The buses didn’t go there, so I decided to take my bike…the day after it
snowed half a foot. This was the
day I learned you can’t ride a bike on snow. Once the tire touches the slush, it literally just slips out
from under you—so I basically felt like I was trekking through the Arctic
Tundra just to retrieve my freakin’ phone.
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| You all can tell I made a pretty big change when deciding on a new case... |
I don’t hate snow but I’m definitely not a fan of it, and
it’s starting to get pretty annoying, but I just keep telling myself that as we
approach the end of January, the worst of it is hopefully over—already noticing
the days getting longer anyhow!
Because of this incessant snowfall though, I had to take
matters into my own hands and join a gym because I couldn’t continue training
if the weather was going to remain so cold and unpredictable. My roommate goes to the gym next door
but it’s quite expensive which is why I didn’t join when I first moved here,
but I decided to suck it up and just spend the fifty euro per month. It’s quite a nice gym and as I said, a
three minute walk next door, so I never have an excuse not to go.
I’ve been a member for a week now and am so happy with my
decision to join. I can run
whenever I need to, rather than having to be a slave to the weather, and I can
go to spinning and body fit classes, as well as finally use weights again. I haven’t been a member of a gym since
I was at BC, because I decided not to pay to use the Plex over the summer, and
I forgot how much I love it.
Working out again combined with drinking less has really put
this year off to a positive start.
I am getting over a cold that I caught this weekend, but otherwise, I
just feel absolutely fantastic and don’t have an irresistible urge to consume
chocolate every second of every day.
Joining the gym has also helped me integrate more into
German language and Germany itself.
Around November and December I wasn’t really speaking much German at all
and only hanging out with English speakers, so one of my New Year’s Resolutions
was to be involved in more German, no matter what it was. I’ve been speaking more German at
school actually, and chatting with my roommate more (especially since he helped
me with the process of joining the gym) and now I’m surrounded by Germans
speaking German at the gym. Even
when I run on the treadmill (Laufband),
there are multiple televisions in front of me broadcasting German news
headlines.
As part of my membership, I have to do this Check-Up
appointment, where I meet with a trainer and get a card for workouts and my
body type and all that jazz. What
I find most interesting about sports and activity between Americans and Germans
(and Europeans in general) is that Germans love playing sports together. It seems everyone is involved in some
kind of sport, no matter what age and no matter what level, but “working out”
is not as popular. This weekend I
met another assistant from Ireland and he was telling me how he really wants to
travel to America especially because working out is like a culture there. Those were his exact words. And I stopped to think about it and
realized he makes a valid point. I
don’t have a lot of friends that are involved in actual sports teams or clubs,
everyone just works out at the gym or runs. Americans are very independent in their fitness endeavors,
whereas Germans are much more social.
That came up during my appointment today, because the trainer was asking
me what kind of sports I did, and I had to explain how I don’t actually play
any sports, but work out a ton, and run five times a week. He didn’t really understand that I
didn’t actually play sports, but that
I still considered myself quite fit and active because of all the running I do.
Just another example of an interesting cultural difference!
To end, here’s a preview of what I’ll be donning for
Karvenal celebrations in a few weeks!
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