While on my #ChasingSummer roadtrip through the South I got a chance to talk with my German friends about various Germany VS. USA differences. Our ideas of “Freedom” is one concept I found interesting.
Freedom to me (Team USA) is having my own car. With my own card I am totally independent; I can go where I want when I want. Continue reading
Normally death is an abstract concept to a young person such as myself. Thinking about burial plots, funeral costs and things of this nature is something that I would never even consider.
However, while on my #ChasingSummer roadtrip through the South I got a chance to talk with my two German friends about the various Germany VS. USA differences. One difference I found fascinating was about German grave sites.
Now the reason this subject came up in conversation was because of our stop in Charleston, SC. I was informed by my Aunt that my Great-Great-Great Grandpa was a prominent member of the community back in the day and even had a wharf named after him (Adger’s Wharf). My mom had asked me to go to his gravesite and take photos since she is interested in geneaology. So off I went to the cemetery dragging my two German friends along.
A relative from long ago
Here’s where it gets interesting. When we got to the site, my friends were astonished that although he had passed away in the late 1800’s his grave was still present. They asked me who was paying the rent on the space.
Hold on: Renting a grave site? What?!
They explained that Christian graves in Germany are rented out to the family for a period of say, 20 years. After that, the family has to pay more money for the space otherwise their stone will be removed and someone else is put in the spot. After many years (let’s say 60 +) the members of the family (if there are any left) might stop paying, thus allowing a new person from a different family to be placed in their stead.
Now I can understand this because the country of Germany is many years older and is a lot smaller than the US. But seeing as how people here generally stay in the place they are originally buried, this seems a little odd to me. I told my friends that you can find graves here dating back to the 1600’s and that keeping the graves makes it a lot easier to trace family history.
We can trace our family back to settlers on the Mayflower
However, I can definitely understand why families might stop paying for the gravesite of the deceased after a certain time. For instance, take my Great-Great-Great Grandpa’s grave. If we followed the German system and it came time for renewing his rental “lease” I probably wouldn’t do it. I know nothing about him, I don’t live in South Carolina and besides he’s been dead for over a century. Now if it came time for the rental “lease” on my Grandpa’s grave to be renewed, I would definitely do it since I grew up with him and it’s nice to “visit” him once in a while.
According to article I read renting a burial plot in Germany ranges from $900 to $5,000 (EU) for 20 years. Comparatively, in the US burial plots can be bought anywhere from a range of $1,000 USD upwards to $10,000 USD as shown by this website. It’s all about location, location, location!
I find all of this sort of funny because this is something I would probably never have known about if it hadn’t been for being at this place, at this time with some Germans.
It’s definitely something interesting to think about, especially if I ever set a story in Germany!
For more information about Germany’s burial practices check out this informative article.
For the past two months I’ve been off adventuring with one of the best travel buddies ever, my friend Marieke.
This is how I met her:
Feb 2010- I had just arrived to Townsville, Australia to study abroad for the semester and was worrying about where I was going to live. I couldn’t find on-campus housing and was instead placed in a hostel near the Uni until I could find my own place. I had never been to Australia before, never lived off campus before either, and in general was feeling kind of anxious about meeting people and finding my way around a foreign country.
Lo and behold, my hostel roommate turns out to be a German girl named Marieke who was also studying abroad at James Cook University just like me. She needed to find a place to live as well, and so we began our life in Australia by room hunting together. We ended up in a house near campus and from there we traveled a lot around Australia during our school vacations.
I don’t know if it was luck or fate that brought us together but whichever it was, it’s been awesome having a friend who likes to travel as much as I do and who I get along crazy-well with.
When Marieke decided that she wanted to come to America for her first time ever and travel, I was totally on board. Marieke started her trip in September in New York City with Sabine, her friend from Germany. From there, they came down to DC and spent some time touring the city with me. After about a week we hit the road heading south and chasing summer.
I have travelled to many amazing places and seen amazing things, but this really the first time I’ve gone on a massive road trip with friends. Over the course of 39 days, Marieke and I travelled to 11 different states and drove over 6,058 miles (9,749 km)!
Sabine was in the USA for exactly a month and together we all travelled for three weeks on the road, hitting up five states. Marieke and I were sad to see her go back to Germany from Miami since she also was an amazing travel buddy! Still, the fact that she was able to get a month off from work was awesome! (Germany: better working conditions that America!).
First time at Ihop for Sabine!
I had never travelled through the South before, so let me tell you, it was an experience. There really are idiotic white people who wear/carry confederate flags… >.<
However, for the most part, we had a great time. Almost everywhere we went we met so many kind and generous people who helped us with our travels. It was great because we also got to meet people with such a wide variety of careers ranging from things like being a dolphin trainer, to an Engineer for the Marines, to a cruise ship bartender, and a writer for Apple, among others.
Besides meeting people, it was fun to explore new cities and try activities I’ve never done before, like Parasailing, along with trying new foods, like Alligator sausage.
Alligator Sausage in Gumbo
That tiny dot... that's Marieke and me 😉
It was also interesting hearing Marieke and Sabine talk about the subtle and very distinct differences between the US and Germany. Expect a forthcoming blog post on this!
After all these travels, it was hard to go back home to join real life and fall weather, especially since Marieke flew over to the West Coast to spend a few weeks in California before heading back to Germany. Now I will just have to start planning my next big vacation with Marieke & Sabine! We’re thinking Eastern Europe : )
If you want to see more pictures from our trip check out my flickr
Our #1 roadtrip song
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TilW9kN2E0c
Below I’ve included a list of my favorite/least favorite cities and also must-do activities if you are venturing in the South!
Favorite Cities:
Sobe
Quapaw Baths in Hot Springs
Least Favorite:
Must dos for people traveling in the South:
North/South Carolina
Pedro from South of the Border
Georgia
Savannah
Florida
at Wakulla State Park
Texas
Me & Marieke at the summit of Enchanted Rock
Arkansas
exhibit @ the Clinton Presidential library
Tennessee:
Great Smokey Mts. National Park in Oct