"The nights were long and cold and scary..."

It's going to be a long winter. I realized something today while pondering the myriad of ways in which Germans (and probably many Europeans) live differently than Americans. It's a big one: temperature regulation. I have yet to see any air conditioners in Munich or it's surroundings. This is not terribley surprising as summers are not nearly as hot here. However, Germans also seem to have a preference for open windows and doors (even in the earth shaking wind we had this morning). I predict I (with my low tolerence for cold feet) may be very uncomfortable this winter. In some sense it all makes sense, the way in which Germans don't heat or cool their houses excessively. They seem (whether through legislation, temperment, or economic neccesity) to be very conscious of the environment, with a huge and successful recycling effort (it far outshines New Jersey's mandated recycling) wherein even bio-waste (ie- compostables) are separated out from the general non-recyclable waste. In a country with 90 million people, that is about the size of NY state, waste could quickly become a huge problem otherwise.

At any rate, I may wish I had packed more sweaters in a couple of months.