One thing we are going to blog about a bit more this year is day to day life and oddities about living in Germany. Starting off this series, in an example of the European perspective which is to value the well being of the worker rather than solely the profits of the company, the public transport firm in Hannover is taking place in a current round of public sector strikes. The strikes revolve around a current pay raise, but more importantly, a raise in the retirement age to 67. That means, for 3 days over the last 2 weeks, no buses or subways ran in the entire city. For Kevin, this is a 3 mile commute! Unfortunately, we still haven't gotten around to picking up bicycles as an alternative transportation method, therefore, going by foot it is.
One of the oddities about the German language is the lack of descriptive verbs for walking and running. There is one verb, laufen, that can mean either based on context. Otherwise, you have to say something explicit, like strolling, or going by foot, to make it clear you were merely walking somewhere. This became even more difficult for Kevin to explain to coworkers that he walked to work, but ran home. Hopefully for the sake of this confusion, the strike ends soon.
One of the oddities about the German language is the lack of descriptive verbs for walking and running. There is one verb, laufen, that can mean either based on context. Otherwise, you have to say something explicit, like strolling, or going by foot, to make it clear you were merely walking somewhere. This became even more difficult for Kevin to explain to coworkers that he walked to work, but ran home. Hopefully for the sake of this confusion, the strike ends soon.
Our subway station locked down due to the strike.
