5. September 2010--Stephan, Stefan, Stefan, und Stephan

The first Dresdener I was in contact with, an email address given to me by the former assistant in my school, was named Stephan.  Its quite the fun name to attempt in a German accent.  In the coming days I ran across adds for rooms by a Stefan, then more Stephans.  A few days ago I emailed Stefan and Stephan, who had a nice room for rent.

I realized yesterday as I walked past the Straßenbahn stop that I was talking to myself.. a couple other people noticed directly before I did.  I have never had so much time to myself and, consequently, never had so much time in my own head.  I guess sometimes I don't realize how much the lack of consistent social contact makes me compensate within myself.  This must be exactly what happened after I emailed the Stef(ph)ans. 

This is a picture of the local trains--the S-bahn that runs several different directions, including out to Radebeul (which they pronounce "Rad-a-boil" here. .)

It took me by surprise how some of the smallest things make me realize the differences between America and Germany.  I noticed once I got off the plane that Germany lacks that foreign-jaw dropping feeling this time around.  I feel a sense of normalcy now with in a country that is a temporary home.  The Stephans pulled me a step outside of this feeling for a moment.  Many buildings were built in the early 1900's or before, the light switches were outside of the bathrooms (my hand consistently travels thoughtlessly up and down the inside wall of the bathroom), Peugeot is not only a bike brand from the '70s, the trains run on-time, and the people are speaking German (Hopefully soon the last will also be a small difference, I added it with this thought in mind :0)  ).  I like being used to and getting used to these small differences that make up the complex web that is apart of the culture. 

Thus my mind pulled and moved around a simple concept. Perhaps someday I'll thank Stephan for prompting my small reexamination of my life. Or, then again, probably not.

This is me sitting in my Pension-zimmer.. it was really nice to have my own space and bathroom although there wasn't internet in the room--or anywhere in Radebeul for that matter. I went around looking for it with no avail.