Postcard from Düsseldorf

Writing from Düsseldorf, Germany. We came to visit my auntie. Although it was raining yesterday and foggy and overall it was really horrible, we all had great time. My auntie cooked a nice meal for us. She prepared some delicious stuffed vine leaves, okra sauce with rice and some other lovely Arabic dishes.

Today we went to Cologne (Köln). The weather was slightly better than yesterday, a little bit colder but dryer. We had a nice long walk on the riverside (of the river Rhine). Also we visited the massive church (the Cologne Cathedral or Dom) very famous in the city. This building is really amazing, huge and once was the tallest building in the world until the Eiffel tower was built and overtook this title. Work stared in the 13th century and then stopped because of funding problems then started again and completed in the 19th century (after about 600 years). Wonderfully all the architects who worked on this building over the years didn’t violate from the original plan. Anyways, we went to the city centre for window shopping and we had dinner and then we returned to the hotel.

I still didn’t see any Germans except at the passport control in the Airport. I haven’t had to deal with any one else yet. My host is being as a translator, so if I want anything I have to speak to my auntie or to her husband first and then they do the rest. Are the Germans friendly? Can they speak English? Do they try to help you even if they can’t speak English? These questions I want to find out but I need to deal with them first. Even at the hotel, so far all the people I’ve seen here speak good English, but they’re foreigners so this doesn’t suggest that all or most Germans can speak English.

Before, when someone mentioned Germany I used to think Germany is a place full of Porches and luxury cars and they race legally on the motorway. I didn’t see anything of that. Normal cars common in any European country are on the motorway. Yes some of them go faster in some places than in other European countries but definitely not faster than cars in Kuwait.

In general, it is nice here but there’s no place like Kuwait :)