Today I hit the wall. I went to bed at 8 and just crashed. I´m still so tired! We walked for miles and miles and had to walk up 7 flights of stairs twice... which lead to an unairconditioned room. The shops, houses, and plants don´t have air. So far the weather is gorgeuos, around 80 and sunny.
We went to Wasgau bakerz and logistics. They are a distributor of groceries to the shops in the Rhineland region. They provide fruits and vegetables to our troops stationed near here. The funniest thing is we require them to keep our produce seperate from theirs in the warehouse and request bigger produce! They manager said that us Americans are bigger and like everything big. They think we are a wasteful nation. But of course they have small fridges (Think of a camper fridge) and tons of farmers markets and little shops in their neighboorhood. Many use public transit, so thez wouldn´t be able to carry much anyways.
My German friend, Ulrike picked me up after the tours and took us to her career counseling office. It was facsinating. She introduced us to another counselor and we discussed the differences between the German and American educational and work systems. At 4th grade, the government & parents decide which of the 3 schooll systems the kids will go to. The schools range from below average students to top students. only 25% of students graduate from a university. The majority choose to learn a trade in the 9th grade.
She also took us out for the best coffee adn snizzetell and to the outlet malls. their outlet malls have the same shops, but are a lot more expenisive. the clothes are a lot smaller too. it was a wonderful afternoon.
