Border Crossing Experience

It is always interesting to see the different types of cultures that we can find everyday in our current location. Sometimes it means just heading no more than ten miles in one direction to find a completely different culture to immerse yourself. Allowing yourself to cross over to a different culture that you are unfamiliar with is always and adventure and, if looking through the right lens, can discover a multitude of new and insightful ideas and thoughts. For me this immersion into a different culture would be one that would take me across the Atlantic Ocean. Just recently, August 2015, I decided that I was going to travel across the pond to visit my good friend who is now living in Landstuhl, Germany. I had been to Germany about two years before this time but since it was on

So for the next two weeks I was going to be traveling a foreign country with no knowledge of the home language. This idea was a bit nerve racking but then it was exciting at the same time. As the days went on we began to do some traveling to nearby towns and locations. What I discovered in this border crossing experience was the difference in the neighborhoods and overall feeling in the atmosphere compared to our busy streets in America. Towns were smaller and less modern that I was so accustomed to back home. Streets were narrow and buildings seemed to be stacked on top of each other rather than spread out as much as possible. There was an absence of retail stores and fast food chains that lined every street corner. Yet, it was more peaceful and relaxing. The stores were small local businesses and there were more residences in apartments than there were suburbs. It was quiet, besides the few sounds of cars driving by, unlike the bust streets that make up cities in America. It was a culture that focused not only on tradition, but one that kept focus on the environment as