It turns out that many, many Germans speak very strong English (including the manager of the Airbnb where I stayed), and practically any important information I needed to know in the airport, train station or elsewhere was written in English as well as in German. Certainly, it was easier to find my way around Bonn in English than it would have been to find my way around Paris in English – in Paris strong English speakers are fewer and farther between. In any case, I didn’t speak any French all weekend, which felt a bit strange given that I’ve been speaking French practically all fall, but that made for a nice change.
One of the other things that struck me in Bonn is that it is literally much less dense than Paris, in a very literal way. There is much more space in-between buildings, the sidewalks are much wider and the city in general has a more sprawling feel than Paris, where one has a sense that the entire city is being squeezed together as tightly as possible.
In short, it was certainly instructive to see a few of the infinite cultural differences that exist within Europe.
Works Cited
“About: Un Bonn.” About | UN Bonn, https://www.unbonn.org/about.
“Birthplace of a genius.” The Beethoven Story. Bonn, Germany
“Court musician.” The Beethoven Story. Bonn, Germany
Gaillard, Marion. “Charles De Gaulle et l’Union Européene.” PO 382, IES Abroad Paris French Studies. 10 October 2022. Lecture notes.
“St. Remigius parish church.” The Beethoven Story. Bonn, Germany
“Palais Schaumburg.” Path of Democracy. Bonn, Germany
