4 Kultur-Texte

Stay off the Bike Path:
I haven't personally encountered being hit by a cyclist but I've seen and heard about many accidents. From the blog I learned that German bikers are graces with a huge bike lane and as a pedestrian if you are not careful and alert you will easily be knocked off your feet, literally. I feel like this is a rare occurrence considering the lack of bike lanes in America or many be just where I'm from in Oakland, California. You hear many complain about "sharing the road". Because there are not many separate lanes for bikers and they are forced to ride on the road with cars since they are not allowed on sidewalks. At places like UC Santa Barbara my friend always tells me her crazy run ins with the bike lane. This school is basically like a beach resort and unlike the University of Michigan they don't have busses to take you from campus to campus or class to class so you are forced to walk or ride a bike (considering southern California weather permits the use of a bike as transportation). I hear of people getting hit and have actually witnessed a scooter and bike accident. I imagine that type of traffic is much greater in Germany.
Crossing the Strasse:
From this blog I learned that J-walking is basically a crime in Germany. Someone will give you a nasty look or cuss you out apparently. Here, j-walking is perfectly normal as long as you don't do it in front of a cop and as long as there are no cars coming. In Germany it seems like the cars speed up to try and hit you so they can dramatically honk and make their point. To me that is very obnoxious but I guess it's about the principal.
The right answer in Germany might be the wrong: This blog was pretty self explanatory. In order to save yourself extra hardship and money make sure to be specific when dealing with ticket agents or others in general because the logic is much different and would usually cost you money in the end. This blog paralleled with There's no such thing as a free ride shows me how much of an upright people Germans can be. It also shows me that if you happen to loose your ticket at the station you are skrewed.  I know on the West coast with BART in America there have been times that I have gotten on without a ticket so I know now if I went to Germany that wouldn't fly. Thats also interesting because when I entered the tram in portugal I was able to get on without paying ass long as it was crowded enough for me not to be sought out.
The last blog greatly illustrated the "orderliness" of Germans. I was a little bit confused about the one way street thing but I guess I just didn't get the joke. lol