February 18, 1993
He's twenty-one, was born in California, grew up in Texas, moved to Germany at the age of fourteen, and lived there and attended a Department of Defense (DOD) school until he was eighteen, when he moved back to the States to go to college.
His impression is that German behavior is different, but he doesn't find it bad. He remarks that, in terms of the way Americans define "friendliness," Germans seem "to themselves" sometimes, but seem "outgoing" and "friendly" at others. As demonstrated already, whether Americans perceive Germans as "friendly" or "unfriendly" depends on the situation. On the street with strangers, or with strangers in a shop, Germans tend to keep to themselves, not "intruding" on the space or time of the other, not making small talk as Americans often do. However, in restaurants, when dealing with tourists, Germans often speak with one and carry on a long conversation, reflecting American definitions of "friendliness."
He also notices that Germans tend to have leisure time to sit at cafes and have a beer with friends. So while Donna Hudson and, later, Monika Roubach think Germans are rushed because of the fact that stores are not open very long in the latter part of the day or on the weekend, he, along with Amelia Bohne and Martine Hoffmann-Johnston look at the way Germans sit at cafes and therefore find them not rushed and hurried. Again, the perceptions are situational, and it depends on what aspect of culture one is observing. Indeed, Germans cannot shop at all hours of the day and every day as Americans can and are perhaps more hurried in that regard. Yet, on the other hand, many do also take time for a beer at the pub with friends, which Americans often find refreshing and "unhurried."
To me the Germans are to themselves. They don't walk around saying, "Hi, how are you?" I think they think that's a little superficial of Americans, because Americans are always doing that. If they're in the Fußgängerzone (pedestrian walking zone),[1] they're just on their own. They're going to shop, or whatnot. They're very to themselves to me.
So they don't say anything to strangers?
Not really. At least, not to my friends and myself. But, you know, if we would go out at night, at dinner it was different not having a host or hostess seat you. You'd go find your own seat, and if it was crowded, you could sit with other people. They didn't mind. It really didn't seem to me that you interacted with them, but you were at the same table.
They're friendly, but they're not. I don't know how to explain it. I mean, I've run into some Germans who are just really nice, you know, very interested in American culture, and they just wanted to know more about it, so they would talk to you. And they wanted to speak English. They didn't want to speak German; even if we wanted to speak German, it didn't work. If we would go out, they would hear us talking and say, "Oh, are you Americans?" And they would start speaking English. Sometimes we'd like to speak German, and they would help us, which was kind of nice. Sometimes they expected you to know it all, like if you went into a department store and you asked for, like, directions to the bathroom, and they'd give you these long, drawn-out directions. "You have to go up this lift and go this way and that way." Basically, I could understand it, but they wouldn't help out any way in English.
But not on the street. Most of the time they seemed quite content to be by themselves. On the street you talk to yourself or your friends. No one really talks to you.
What else do you remember?
Something that comes to mind is, they like leisure time a lot. My friends and I would go to a beer garden and just sit there for hours and hours and hours, and they didn't mind. It's not like here: "Here's your drink; here's your dinner; eat it. And here's your bill. Leave." It's just like, "Sit there for as long as you want." Your friends come and go.
They really seem to appreciate leisure time to me. They would just hang out. That was kind of nice. You weren't in a rushed atmosphere, except for, like, if you had to work or go to school or something. But like on the weekends during the summer when it's really nice to sit outside, it's a lot nicer to be outside than cooped up inside.
So you didn't feel any pressure to leave a restaurant or cafe?
No, not at all.
Was there anything else that made you think they enjoy their leisure time?
They get a lot of vacation.[2] They have a ton of vacations--it seemed that way, 'cause I think the Germans where I worked went to school for three months, then were off for a couple of weeks or so. I'm not really sure how their system worked. They went to school all year round, and every other month, it seemed like, they were off. It's like, the mountains would be crowded when you'd go skiing. Then if you'd go to Italy or Spain, the beaches were crowded. So they always seemed to be everywhere. You couldn't go anywhere in Europe without meeting a German. They like to travel. ... Just all the vacations they had.
On the base we had German drivers, who drove the shuttle buses around, and if it was a German holiday, they wouldn't work. So we wouldn't have a shuttle. It seemed like every other week -- at least once or twice a month they were off. So you were walking somewhere on base (chuckles).
Keith Kyoto learned many ways of behaving in Germany that he had to readjust when he returned to the States. For one thing, he learned to drive in Germany. He, like Martin Lambsdorff, likes the driving system there. He also learned the German way of standing in lines and was rebuked once he returned to the States and "did it the German way." (See Ingeborg Brown's interview which follows for her views on American perceptions of lines and space in the United States, specifically Texas.) Finally, he discusses the differences in transportation in the two cultures, and his impression that the easy access to public transportation allows pre-driving teenagers more freedom and independence from their parents.
What else made an impression?
Compared to here, driving. Driving was holy. It was like religion to me. I mean, I learned to drive from a German instructor, and compared to the United States they're very disciplined. I mean, there's no way the United States could take a speed limit off a highway without everyone killing themselves. You know, I think that's why the Germans can do it--because they're so disciplined. They all hang out in the right lane. Then if they pass, they're in the left. And they make sure that they won't get in people's way, and people won't get in their way. And if someone were getting on the highway, people would let them on. They would all move over to the left lane. You might see one or two do that here, but not very often. So I've become very cynical about driving here. I drive like a Texan now. (Smiles) It's really sad.
You said they were disciplined. Was your instructor disciplined with you?
Oh, yes. If there were a stop sign, you would stop. If there were two lanes, you'd get into the right lane, unless you're passing someone. What else? I just remember he had this stick, and if your foot rested on the clutch for too long, he'd reach over and hit your foot, 'cause, you know, you shouldn't ride the clutch.
I don't know. Their cars and driving and everything--it's just so religious, it seems like. I mean, there are some people who don't have a car, which you don't need, because you have the S- and U-bahn (city railways and subway) and the trams, and that was really nice, but sometimes it's good to have a car. But the people who did drive and who owned a car--if you touched their car, if you leaned on their car, if you looked at their car funny, they'd take it kinda wrong.
But what about the speed limit? They drive faster, don't they?
Not really. On the Autobahn (German freeway) they do--a lot faster. [3] But on normal city streets, at thirty kilometers an hour (18 mph), if you're out of the inner city, it might be fifty (30 mph), and if you're in the country on a smaller road it's eighty (48 mph), but other than that, you know the limits of your car, you know the limits of yourself, and you just drive accordingly. So.... It's scary to drive here [in the U.S.]. I don't know, I was more of an offensive driver [over there]. I didn't really drive as defensively as I do now, because I knew what people were going to do. You know what to expect of people [in Germany]. You know if someone's going to signal, they're going to turn or change lanes. Here someone can go down the highway for fifty miles with their turn signal on, and they won't notice. And it's annoying, you know.
So the drivers are less predictable here?
Oh, very much so. They're scary.
So that's why you're more defensive in your driving?
[Yes,] it took me awhile to learn that when I moved back to the States. I would just get really mad when someone would do something that I didn't think they should be doing, little things, like crossing solid white lines, or getting on the highway and going immediately all the way over to the left lane and only doing fifty-five or something, when you have to pass on the right. I think it's illegal in Germany; I was always told it was illegal. You know, you do sixty-five in the right lane, you're just passing everybody, and you don't think twice [about it in the States], but in Europe you would. The left lane is always for the faster passing cars. You know even if you're doing two hundred fifty kilometers an hour, you're still in the left lane, then you move to the right until you're going to overtake someone else. So, it's a constant move to the right.
So, if you're driving, you're supposed to be in the right lane. If you're passing, you're supposed--
To be in the left. But if there is a crash on the Autobahn, you'll know it. It's so huge. It's always so big. There's at least ten or twenty cars involved.
Why?
Speed. If you're in the right lane, and someone crashes or loses control in front of you, you don't have very much time to react. I've seen some accidents where they just pushed the cars aside on the highway. I've seen some that have either caught on fire and couldn't move, or were just so mangled they couldn't move, so they would just push them over to the side, on the emergency lane. You know, people slow down just to look, to remind them to be not as crazy, to be a little more cautious. It was kind of scary.
What else?
I started skiing in Europe. I learned how to ski in the Austrian Alps. The mountains are almost the same here, and I just started skiing here in the States this ski season; and people in lift lines are so nice [here], and they're organized and, you know, they have attendants that say, "Okay, this line come forward. Next line come forward." And in Europe it's no holds barred. If you just stand there and let people get in front of you, you're going to be cut in front of all day.
Any line in particular. Here people keep their space. People here like to have their two feet of personal space, but in Europe I don't think they notice that, or if they do it's not that big of a deal. 'Cause when you're in a lift line, you know, you've got these skis that are two meters long, and you might be a foot behind someone. Your skis are in between their legs, and on the other side of their leg next to their buddies. Lines are different. You have to learn how to push and work your way into things, or you'll just sit at the back of the line forever. No idea why that is. It's just the way it is.
I kind of did that when I went skiing in New Mexico last month, and people got a little upset with me. I just kept pushing; I mean, people would leave a space this big, and in Europe if you do that, if you give people two feet between them, you can just cut right through. And I did that, and I got my lecture for the day. (Smiles) Lines are just different.
So you were able to adjust both ways.
Yeah, I'm a little stubborn, but no reason to get mad or upset about it. Just go with them; follow. That's the best thing. I mean, you can't change the whole culture. You can try, but it'd take more than one person. Lines are a big deal.
What else?
The transportation system is outstanding. When you're fourteen years old, you can go downtown--go watch the Bavarian soccer team play at the stadium--by yourself with your friends. It gives you a little more independence. You have a little more freedom from your parents, because you don't have to say, "Oh, Mom, Dad, can you take me to the soccer game?" Even if you'd go out at night to some club, you wouldn't have to worry about driving. The trains stop running at maybe 1:00 in the morning. And that was nice, because the trains were always on time. They were rarely ever late, so my parents said my curfew was the last train home, into the base, so that was around 12:30 or so. It was just nice having that freedom to go wherever you wanted to.
In the U.S. you have to rely on your parents or your friends' parents, or you have to have your own car. It's just horrible. Pollution is really bad. I think pollution in Europe was pretty bad, too. They had a really high gasoline tax. I guess in the eighties they just used regular leaded gas. We brought a BMW back from Europe, and it still runs on leaded gas, so we have to use a lead additive. And that's a heavy pollutant.
Keith Kyoto agrees with Amelia Bohne. Clubs (Kneipen) are great places to "hang out" with your friends when you are a teenager. By sixteen you are allowed to buy a beer, and, as noted earlier, clubs or pubs are there for friends to meet and socialize. He also remarks about dogs in restaurants and comes to exactly contradictory conclusions about them from what Donna Hudson did. Note also that he did not notice children in restaurants. (Read on in Ingeborg Brown's interview to find a German reaction to children in restaurants.) Finally, he discusses the German food that he enjoyed as a teenager.
You said something about clubs. Did you go to clubs in Germany?
Yeah, we'd go and hang out--there were some dancing clubs we'd go to on the weekends, or there would be some bars where we'd go and just sit and talk. I was fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen. They didn't care. And I thought that was kind of neat, where they put the responsibility on you, not your age group, because I think that taught me and a lot of my friends that the main idea about going out and hanging out is not to get alcohol and get drunk, but to go out and have a good time. But here, if you're under twenty-one, people make it a point to go out and get beer, whatever, and to get drunk. I think it's neat that they give you that kind of responsibility at a younger age.
Are the bars and clubs different from here?
Yes. Especially in Texas. I've been to some in Seattle that were different, but it seems that in Texas everybody goes to a bar or club to meet someone to go home with them that night. But in Europe you go with a friend or a bunch of friends, and you're just there to talk and have a good time, or go dancing--whatever you want to do. Here it's just a big "meat market"--what we call it. It gets annoying. It's not what I'm used to. I still haven't gotten used to it.
In Seattle it's more like Europe, I think. You just go with your friends. I'm sure there are some clubs there that I didn't go to that are like the ones here in Texas. But I went with my brother, who's ten years older than I am, with his colleagues, and we'd just talk and sip on a beer. Most of these guys were married, so it was also the age group. We didn't want to go out and be rowdy. We just wanted to talk--sit outside and talk. I'll retire there. (Smiles)
What else?
Dogs are everywhere. You see more dogs than children in restaurants. I remember that. At least it seemed that way. And dogs are so well behaved. If there were two or three other dogs in the restaurant, they would ignore each other. They'd just sit under the table. They wouldn't beg for food. Sometimes these huge dogs! That was neat. They were just everywhere. Maybe once in awhile you'd see a kid in a restaurant, but very rarely. Always dogs. I just remember seeing dogs. I don't remember seeing that many kids.
Dogs are really nice. They have them everywhere in Europe. Most of the time I've seen them on a leash. I can't remember seeing one just running around everywhere. In a restaurant they'd set the leash down, and the dog wouldn't move. They were really well behaved. If you walked by someone's fence and they had a dog in there, it wouldn't bark at you. The dogs were kind of passive. They pretty much knew how to act.
They're allowed in restaurants, malls, and stores. They're really well behaved. Very rarely will you see a couple of dogs barking at each other. They are better behaved than children, I think.
How did you react to the food in Germany?
It didn't make much difference. I remember a lot of fried food. The Wienerschnitzel was a fried pork cutlet.... A lot of fatty foods, now that I think about it. They had very good French fries. I remember Germans and Belgians especially have really good French fries. And they use mayonnaise. And they'll use ketchup on some of them. Mostly mayonnaise, so that was kind of interesting. It tasted good. A little fattening.
Why were the fries so good?
I don't know. Maybe because they used animal fat to fry them in. I'm guessing. Here a lot of people use vegetable oil. It's better for you, but their fries were really nice. They had MacDonald's, too. They even sold beer in MacDonald's, which was really gross. Compared to the beer you could buy anywhere else, it was just really bad beer. It was a lower quality beer, I guess. But it was interesting. There was MacDonald's and Burger King, and we had Wendy's for awhile until it turned into Pizza Hut. We had a Baskin Robbins. And this was all in downtown Munich.
It wasn't on the base.
No, it was on the economy. We called it "the economy." If you'd go out, like downtown, or if you'd go shopping outside of the base, it was always "the economy," we called it.
Was it cheaper on the economy?
At first it was cheaper when we moved there: like one dollar bought three marks. Then by the time I'd graduated and left, one dollar bough one mark, fifty. So everything got real expensive.
So did you eat American food at home a lot?
Yeah, a lot. You know, we have a totally Japanese background. My dad is, I think, second generation American-Japanese. He met my mom in Tokyo when he was in the Air Force. So she was born and raised in Japan. But my mom makes the best American southwest chili I've ever had. It's really good. My mom cooks mostly American. She cooks a lot of rice. She likes rice. But she cooks American. She made hamburgers the other night. She made stew last night, because it was so cold. I can't remember the last Japanese thing she made. She made smoked turkey for Valentine's Day, and we're still eating that. We're a Japanese family, but we're so Americanized that there don't seem to be any roots left, except for physical appearance. I can understand Japanese, but I speak more German than Japanese. I wish I spoke more Japanese. My brother and sister are the same. They took classes a couple of years ago to learn Japanese, because they wanted to learn it, but they gave up. It's a hard language to learn. It's a lot different from western languages. German and English are pretty similar.
When he first arrived he had trouble adjusting, but once he'd been there for a while, he enjoyed himself. In this section he talks about the fun in taking the train and traveling, the kinds of walks he went on, and the snow--all fond memories today.
Anything else? Did you enjoy living there?
I loved it. I hated it at first. I didn't want to go, because I was in my little high school group, and I was looking forward to high school and getting a driver's license at sixteen instead of eighteen. You have to be eighteen to drive in Europe.
But my dad made it sound really nice. He just said, you'll have a chance to go skiing, which you won't in Texas. And he said all sorts of other things, too.
So when you got there, how did you feel?
(Laughs) I was fourteen. I was feeling sorry for myself. I didn't want to go out and make friends, because that was the first move I'd ever made for my father--for the government. But my brother and sister, who are ten years older than I am, had moved five or six times. It had been unusual for us to be based in one place more than five years. And we were in Europe for a total of seven. They kept extending and extending our stay as long as they could. Finally they closed that base down. We don't have a home in Munich anymore, which is sad.
Munich was one of the nicer places to be based. Berlin was a nice place. Nuremberg was nice. But you get these small towns, like Osterholz, Bamberg. Those are like out in nowhere, so Munich was a nice city. You could go downtown. You could get a train, and go to the mountains, go to Austria or Italy, just like that, and do whatever you wanted. That was one of the most favored places to visit for anyone that we met. It was funny. All the American tourists would come down to Munich, and they would meet us, but they would want to go see all the sights, and we'd already seen them. So it wasn't a big deal to us anymore.
But getting back to trains. You know they have that really good transportation system. Like I say, you could just go downtown, get to the Hauptbahnhof ('main train station') and go to Austria, or go to Italy. I think we went to Czechoslovakia once, which was really interesting. But you could just go anywhere--didn't need a car, just walk around. Get some comfortable shoes. These (indicates his shoes) have seen a lot of Europe.
Anything else you can think of?
A lot of walking. They like to walk a lot. They have these clubs, [4] and they would just go and walk for like five or ten kilometers. It wasn't a sport, but it was just something to do with your leisure time. And there are really parks to walk in. A lot of people rode bicycles. They seemed to try to stay away from their cars, unless they had a long road trip somewhere--or had to commute a long way. But it seemed that most people took the trains or rode their bike or walked. I did one of those walks once--Volksmarsch.[5] We did a night Volksmarsch, and we had to carry these torches. It was cold, and I was a little stubborn sixteen-year-old who didn't want to be there, so I complained and whined the whole time. (Smiles) We went out of town. We were in some town. I think we were in Berchtesgaden, I'm not sure. We started there, walked through some hills on paths, walked to another town. I think we stopped and had Glühwein[6] there, which I don't like. It's just weird! And that was about a ten-kilometer hike. Now that I think about it, it was fun, but when you're sixteen, you don't want to do that.
Is the Glühwein too sweet for you?
Yeah, and it's just weird that it's warm. And, for example, I went skiing somewhere, and they had warm Dr. Pepper. I didn't know Europeans knew what Dr. Pepper was, but they had Dr. Pepper heated up in this big pot. It was the grossest thing! They liked it! We put ice in it. Europeans don't use that much ice, either. You go to MacDonald's, you might get two or three cubes. That's it.
Okay. Anything else that comes to mind?
Snow. A lot of snow. In the south. The first winter I was there, I'd say it was in November, I woke up, and I thought it was kind of bright for November, and it was just--[it seemed we were] waist deep in snow. It was about a meter of snow (more than three feet). And they didn't close school. I still had to walk to school. I made my way through it all. I put on my snowpants and walked on to school.
And that's neat. They know what to do when it snows, and they have the machinery. And the roads are clear. And we had three other American communities that commuted to our school. The Autobahns and roads were clear, so they still had to come to school. Snow or no snow, we still had school, and everybody worked. The snow was really nice. It was a big change, coming from Texas. No ice storm (a northest Texas phenomenon)--it was all snow.
He did notice differences in the use of money or credit cards, but he liked the German system in some ways.
Did you notice any difference in the use of money or credit cards?
It seemed like everything was cash. I just remember seeing all these deutschmarks (German marks). I don't remember seeing plastic. I think I did actually use a credit card once when I went to Italy. I didn't have any money to come home, so I had to use my parents' credit card. (Laughs) But it always seemed to be cash. You'd go to the cashier, and you'd give them the article (say you bought a shirt), or whatever you were buying, and they would rip something off the ticket. They would pass the shirt over, you'd pay for the ticket, then they'd pass it down again. There were always three people, it seemed: one person took your item, and took the ticket off, and put it through the electronic sensor, then the cashier at the cash register, and then someone would wrap it and put it in a bag. And you paid the person in the middle. It seemed there were three people always. And it was always cash, which was nice.
Why?
(Chuckles) Citibank Visa. I owe them for the rest of my life. That's why. Credit cards get you in debt. Of course, it's nice that you can get almost whatever you want with plastic, with a credit card, but it's still smarter--economy-wise--to pay for everything in cash. No interest, and you don't have to worry at the end of the month whether you have enough money. I remember seeing those ATM's (automatic teller machines) at banks, and it always seemed like Americans who were using them. They were in central downtown, and people would just stick their card in and get their money. Traveler's checks and cash really. You'd keep them in your shoes and in your pockets and different places on your body, so that if you got robbed, they couldn't steal it all at once. If you went traveling, you'd do that. A friend and I went to Italy, and in Rome [everybody said] there were so many pickpockets, and if you were on a bus, and they packed you in like sardines, you couldn't tell if someone had their hand in your back pocket pulling out your wallet or money. So you kept money everywhere you could think of that they couldn't get to.
And when you were at home, would you just take cash when you needed it?
(Laughs) Ask "Mommy and Daddy" for money, put it in your wallet and go. No one cared. But if you're traveling, or "eurailing"[7] or something, and you go to some of the bigger places like Paris or Rome (Paris was pretty bad), or Berlin, then you need to know where your money is and be a little more cautious than you would at home.
How did you know those particular cities would be bad? Was that just general knowledge?
Yeah. You'd meet people, and you'd talk with them before you'd go somewhere, and they'd say, "Oh, Rome. Be careful what you do with your money. You can really get ripped off." It's just word of mouth. People tell you.
We met this honeymoon couple from Florida who weren't prepared for the cold. They thought it would be warm in Rome. It was last January. And they even had shorts. They didn't bring any warm clothes, so they had to buy all new clothes. And we were on a really crowded bus with them, and he had his wallet in his back pocket, and my friend and I had the wallet and the pouches that go inside your shirt, so we had them tucked underneath our turtlenecks and our sweaters, so it was really hard for someone to get to our money unless we were held up or something. And we got off that bus, and this couple had had [something] like five hundred dollars stolen right out of their back pocket. But we had our money. And we felt kind of guilty, because we didn't tell them. I guess you have to know a little bit about where you're going. It's really hard to go somewhere blind and expect everything to work out okay. Being prepared helps. Talk to people.
As others said in their interviews (Amelia Bohne in this section and Paul Meier in the next), nudity is perceived differently in Germany from the way it is in the United States. Keith Kyoto discusses his adjustment to different customs in Germany. In addition, he found hygiene different, and in large crowds on sunny days could smell body odor, which for Americans is almost anathema. (If you go to Germany, do not expect to smell body odor continuously, for you will not!)
Can you think of anything else? ... One thing some Americans notice is nude sunbathing and things like that. Did you expericence that?
Yeah. It was kind of strange at first, then all of a sudden--I felt kind of strange being on a beach with clothes on! And I had a lot of German friends. It was no big deal. I guess it's just the different cultures. I don't know how to explain it. There are no inhibitions about taking your clothes off or anything.
How is the German attitude different from the American?
It's not sexual. It's just natural, I guess. We'd go to this river, the Isar. I think it ran through downtown Munich. It ran outside downtown, too, through the Englischer Garten[8], the park, and you'd just go and hang out. And people would go swimming and go sunbathing. It was no big deal. There were some city swimming pools, too, where people would lie out naked. It's European, I guess.
It was uncomfortable at first, because living in America you've got that mindset. It's just different.
So after awhile it was just normal to you.
Yes. Very much.
So you had to come back here and readjust.
(Laughs) "Everyone's wearing clothes. I don't understand!"
What about the differences in hygience or women not shaving?
They're becoming more Americanized, I think. They're getting that American cultural ideal. At first it [not shaving] bothered me, but then I thought, "No, it's natural. It's no big deal." It didn't bother me after awhile.
I didn't understand the hygiene part, though. You know, you'd meet some people, or you'd go somewhere and it was really crowded, and they'd smell really bad, and--I don't know. I never did understand that part. I don't think I ever tried to. We went to a concert one summer, and it was just so hot in the stadium, and it was just like being in a sauna with people that really smelled. It was really uncomfortable.
Did you smell people everywhere you'd go?
Not everywhere. Sometimes. On a hot summer day. Or if you're skiing. More in a crowded area. You wouldn't really notice who it was, but you'd notice the smell. And I don't know. One of my German friends told me that water was really expensive as a utility. I guess that could be the reason why.
It's just when I would go out on a really warm day, which isn't too warm. Just when there seemed to be a crowd of people. You'd go into a store and smell it, or you'd smell someone with a really bad smell.
And their hot days are not like ours in Texas.
Nowhere near.
According to Tatsachen in Deutschland (Frankfurt/Main: Societäts-Verlag, 1992, p. 10), Germany's ranges of temperature are different from those in many parts of the United States. In Germany winter temperatures range from 1.5 Centigrade (34 degrees Fahrenheit) to -6 (21 degrees Fahrenheit). In the summer in July they might average 18 to 20 degrees, (65 to 68) although it does get up to 85 and occaisonally 90 degrees, especially in certain regions. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area averages for temperatures are as follows: January's average low is 36 degrees Fahrenheit (circa 2 degrees Centigrade), its average high is 56 (circa 13 Centigrade); in July and August the average low is 75 (circa 24 degrees Centigrade), the average high 95 degrees (35 degrees Centigrade). Information was obtained from Tourbook Texas. Heathrow, Florida: American Automobile Association, 1992, p. A129.
Keith Kyoto continues by describing why Germans do not, on the average, have air conditioning. He then continues with his opinions regarding house-building practices and workmanship in general, impressed in the 1980's as Mary Schmidt had been in the 1950's.
No one had air conditioning, it seemed. Everyone just opened their windows. And we had a nice place. We had all these trees in front of us that shaded us from the sun that would start in the East, where the sun would rise, and make its way around. Our house was always cooler, always shaded. And it was built so differently from ours here. It wasn't bricks and insulation and a drywall. It was these one-foot-thick cement blocks, and they always kept the house nice and warm or nice and cool. Our house [in Germany] was better built. It would keep the heat in in the winter.
I had a friend who had a house that was right in the sunlight all the time, and it was warmer than normal. If the windows were open, it would just draw in the heat. We were fortunate to have trees.
So you say the houses are better built there?
Yeah. Here I've seen a house go up in about ten days. There it seemed like it would take a couple of years! You'd see a chalet being built in Austria as we were going down to ski, and it would always seem to be just one step ahead of where they were last week. And after a couple of years you'd finally see someone living in it.
Of course, a chalet's big.
Yes. But it seemed like they took their time building things. Things are just better built, I think. Especially houses. Cars. Cameras.
So you think there's better workmanship?
Very much. I have a friend who's a jeweler, and he went to some seminar in Europe, and he was just blown away by the way they, for example, mount the diamonds, the way they heat the gold to reshape it or whatever. I don't know very much about jewelry, but he said they take time to do things. You know, you can see that in their cars and their houses and their cameras. Leica. You can buy this small camera body, and it's about fifteen hundred dollars just for the camera body alone, compared to the Japanese cameras. Leica would be like the Rolls Royce of cameras really, because they're so well built. They're nice.
Finally, he discuses his German friends and the meaning of the Abitur for them, when they take the long exam at the end of their college-preparatory years.
Anything else?
On base we mostly hung out. I didn't hang out that much with Germans, but I had all my American friends, and we'd go and do things. We'd go to other cities. We'd just run around in our little group, which is natural, I guess.
It was different to have German friends. They seemed to be more relaxed about things. The only time I ever saw my German friends really get stressed out was at that test at the end of the school career--the Abitur. That was the only time I'd ever seen them stressed. And they'd go to school from 7:00 to 12:00, or something like that, and then they'd want to go hang out, and we'd still be in school until three something. But that was the only time I ever really saw them stressed--at the Abitur.
A Verein seems to be a western German phenomenon. Of eastern Germans polled, all but one said they do not belong to a Verein. The one who did said s/he belongs to a fire department organization, which does not seem to mesh with western German definitions of Verein. Only two western Germans do not belong to a Verein. Those who said they do, belong to the following Vereine: sports (three people), singing organization, women's choir (two people), Alps Club for Friends of the Mountains, paddle club, dance club, gymnastics and tennis clubs.