European Time

Something was lost when our ancestors immigrated to the new world.  They left something behind in the old. 

As Chuck and I were walking through the streets to 14th century Wieden last night looking for a place to grab a bite to eat it was a remarkable sight to see thousands of Europeans sitting in their sidewalk cafe's casually chatting away with one another.

Now I have noticed ever since I arrived that any German restaurant would immediately go out of business in America.  To us the restaurant business is all about turning over customers, to the Germans this is a foreign concept.  Last night we sat down for a couple of locals brewed beers and a bowl of soup.  The people at the tables around us looked as through they had been there for quite some time when we arrived.  When we finished our meal over an hour later, there had been no movement at the tables around us.  These men and women continued to casually have thier drinks and quietly converse.

Germans in Bayreuth talk  for hours while enjoying their local bier.

This is the next difference I have noticed.  Background noise and the need to talk loudly. After hours of consuming some pretty stout drinks, the conversation does not get loud, there are no obnoxious drunks.  Hell, I have yet to see a drunk in a country that regularly consumes alcohol every evening.  The only drunk people I have seen are American soldiers stumbling in the back gate of the post around midnight every night. 

So I have to wonder why the difference.  These people are our ancestors and we still hold many of their traditions.  Yet somehow our lives are far more frantic and stressed.  I hope that our young soldiers can learn at least this much on this training mission: slow down and enjoy life.