The inconspicuous differences between lives in Solingen and Phoenix, Sociology, College Term Papers.com


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The inconspicuous differences between lives in Solingen and Phoenix

The inconspicuous differences between lives in Solingen and Phoenix As I arrived at Phoenix in September of 1999, I was very excited to see this famous city and it’s country and to get to know everything about it. But with the time I realized that Phoenix is not more different than my town in Germany, Solingen. It’s a not a big city but it is a very beautiful one with many small streets and small houses around them. I had even the impression that the life in Germany was more exciting than in Phoenix. Now I’m living in Phoenix for over one year and I can say now that there are many differences between those two countries which had a big influence at our further lives. I’m talking about differences which you can’t notice if you go there for a vacation, you have to go to those countries to live there for some time and then it’s possible to say what the differences or similarities are. One of the differences between Germany and the USA is the heat. The heat in the US was at the beginning simply to hot and dry for me and I was not used to live with such climate. The hot weather outside didn’t make it easy to do something else. I couldn’t stay outside in the sun even for a few minutes. In the first two months, the most of the time I was sitting at home watching TV. Even in the evenings the heat was still there so you were not able to go outside. Sometimes I had the feeling that here are only 2 times of the year: summer and winter. In Germany on the other hand, the climate is very varied. There are all four seasons of the year. In the middle of the year you can expect nice weather and on the end and the beginning it’s mostly cold. In summer you are able to go out in the evening because is getting cooler outside so it’s perfect to go out. An another reason, why these two cities are different is the size of them. Phoenix is very big and scattered. the stores or places where you could have go out were pretty far away from our apartment. Mostly I needed a car to go out somewhere. The buses are stationed only on few places and they arrive in very long intervals. So after a time, we realized that we had to buy a car. In contrast to Phoenix, during our time in Solingen, we used the car mostly for longer trips. The whole city was connected with bus lines and they were coming to the bus stations every ten minutes. If we had to go somewhere in the city, we used mostly the buses. We saved our gas money and were there always on time. While in Phoenix you have problems to find the time to go out with your friends, in Solingen, I was most of the time able to plan something at a short time. Every day after the school, I went to the downtown of Solingen with some friends or alone and we were walking through the streets full of stores and joking around. I did this almost every day in the week. On the weekends there were many places to go out with friends like many clubs and cafe’s in Solingen or in the bigger towns next to us like Dusseldorf or Cologne. This cities are famous for their streets to go out there and have a good time. People from all West Germany came over to these streets to have fun. So it was never boring even in a small town like Solingen. I could always do something if I was bored. A another good example thing that verifies the deference between these unlike cities is having a job. To have a job in the USA is a very important part of a life, especially for the younger generations. The only thing is that many of them have to sacrifice the most of their free time for their job. After few months I spent here I got a job. I was usually working six days in a week. But these days went so fast that you were not even realizing when the week was over. When I came home from work I wasn’t in the mood to go out or doing something else but to relax because I knew that I would have to stay up early in the next morning. And it was every time like that as long as I was working there. In contrast to Phoenix now, during my time in Solingen by working weekdays only from two until eight o’clock, I wasn’t too tired to go out with friends if I wanted to but I mostly went home to prepare for the next school day. sometimes tough, after the I used to go out with friends and had just a great time. I’m not sure but very often I had the feeling that I couldn’t allow myself something like this here in Phoenix. I think that the life in the USA is just more restrained and serious in that case. Even if you have a job, it’s very hard to work full time and go to college at the same time. By working 40 hours a week, you just don’t have sufficient time to study enough for the school. You are to tired to concentrate on the tasks and if you find the time, you are probably then not getting enough sleep a day. Whereas in Solingen I had a job and I went to school at the same time. The most of the time I went to school till 2 PM and then I went to my job. I stayed there mostly till eight o’clock in the evening. After that I still had about two hours to study. On Saturday, I worked mostly 12 hours, so I still had the whole Sunday off to learn for the school. Finally, an another point that also makes a big contrast between these two big countries are the strict laws of the United States. Especially in case of the law for the youth. Even if we have the free time, the young people like me just don’t have the opportunities to do something. In Phoenix if you are not 21 years old, there are just no opportunities to go to a club and have a great time. Every club in my region is asking for an ID. You need to be 21 years old to in a club to dance but if you want to buy a weapon, you just have to be 18 years old and that’s the main point what is making me thinking. Whereas in Germany, on every weekend I went out to a club or a cafe without any problems, where nobody has asked you anything. The most time we stayed till early in the morning and had a lot of fun. Even without alcohol we had always a great time. The point is that we could go to any club in Germany without any difficulties, of course if you wanted to buy alcohol, you had to show your ID but at least they are giving you the possibility to go out and have fun, in contract to Phoenix. Although there are really so many differences between the two cities and the fact that I miss Germany a lot, I have already accepted that I’m living now in the United States and who knows, maybe after I spent more time in Phoenix, I will accept it as my new home. I can remember the time as we just came to Germany. I have needed quite a time to make it become my new home. So in conclusion, if somebody wants to describe the differences between two cities or countries, he probably will need more time than I had already. But however, one thing that I’ve learned through so many times changing my home is that it doesn’t matter in what country you have to live, after an specified time you will make it to your new home, it’s just the question if you want it to. Bibliography:

Word Count: 1369