Some things just shouldn't be this exciting

Can you imagine being completely ecstatic to learn that your local Wal-Mart would soon begin staying open until 10:00pm?

Believe or not, residents of Rheinland-Pfalz, the German state in which I live, recently experienced such excitement. For years, stores in this state (and many others in German) have been required to close by 8:00pm Monday-Saturday and to remain closed all day on Sunday. That was probably one of the most difficult things for Will and me to adjust to when we moved here. Recently, though, the law was changed to extend the closing time to 10:00pm starting on December 1.

Deutsche Bahn ist immer spät!

I started studying German in Fall 2002, and throughout the six semesters of German instruction I had, one of the main aspects of German life which I was taught to hold in high admiration was the Deutsche Bahn, the German train system. Deutsche Bahn, I was told, is the best mass transit system in Europe and perhaps in the entire world. It is incredibly fast, they said, incredibly clean, and ALWAYS on time. You can count on the Deutsche Bahn to be where it's supposed to be, exactly when it's supposed to be there, they assured me.

With that knowledge well in hand, I arrived in Germany in late August to begin my year as a Fulbrighter here. On my first major train ride, I was nearly late to Fulbright orientation due to a massive train delay. I assumed that this was a onetime occurence, but over the next few weeks, I discovered that delays are quite frequent. Will and I began counting, and so far around 80% of the trains we've ridden have arrived at our destinations more than a couple of minutes late. That is why I say that Deutsche Bahn ist immer spät!

The Mannheim Hauptbahnhof (main train station)

Here comes a late train!

Karlsruhe Hauptbahnhof

Will, hoping his train will arrive sometime soon