People

Overall the people over here are really nice. Most do speak at least some English. Those in the touist industry are fluent and readily speak English for me. Many locals do not speak English. One elderly woman outside of Kaysersberg said something to me in German while we were walking through the vineyards. When I responded with "English?" she threw her hands up in the air and made this sound as if to say, oh nevermind, and kept walking.

When I have stayed in rooms at hostels with other people in them (a lot of rooms have just been me), the people I'm staying with do speak English, or at least have a good understanding of it.

But, Everybody here smokes. I knew a lot of Europeans smoked, but it is kind of hard to find someone who doesn't. You can't smoke inside any building, but you can smoke by standing in the doorway. You can't smoke inside the train station, but the outside platform is fair game. And many people roll their own cigarettes. The first time I saw it was by a girl about my age on a bus in Amsterdam, so I wasn't exactly sure what she was rolling. But I have seen it several times since, by many different people.

Since everyone here speaks German, and I don't know really any German, I have been reluctant to sit down with people I don't know and just start talking. When I hear people speaking English I tend to be more open to popping in to their conversation.

I am finding German to be a hard language to try and learn. I am relying more on my English here.