A Brandenburg Story

So today was a beautiful day in Brandenburg for once. Warm and sunny. I decided to go to the city shopping streets to run some errands. On the street was a young woman, probably a few years older than me who was standing near a tent. She stopped me and we had the following encounter. Entirely in German mind you. All translations are loose. All words in Italics are thoughts running through my mind.

Girl: Excuse me, do you have a minute to save the animals?
Me: What?
Girl: Save the animals?
Oh, a humane society thing like in the newspaper.
Me: Oh, sorry, I am not allowed to have animals in my apartment
Girl: (laughs) No, I am not going to bring you any animals. It's to raise money.
Me: Oh.
(pause)
Girl: You're not from here, are you?
Me: Um, no.
Girl: Where are you from?
Me: America
Girl: (incredulous sounding) And you live here now??
Me: Yeah, for a little while
Girl: What are you doing in Brandenburg?
Me: I am a teaching assistant for a year.
Girl: Oh. Good! I didn't know why someone would want to live in Germany when they could live in America.
(pause)
Girl: Here, take a pamphlet. You can look us up on the internet. Bye!

So I find this encounter weird for a number of reasons. I have found Germans to be incredibly blunt anyway. Asking me what the hell I'm doing in Brandenburg Germany seems to be a daily occurrence. Most of them want to know how I ended up here and not in Berlin or Munich or something. I think the Fulbright used a dart board. However, being stopped on the street by someone is a little unusual. That person being really friendly and outgoing is also unusual. And that person telling you that America is better than Germany in some roundabout way is REALLY unusual. Typically I get something more along the lines of "America is destroying the world" or "How do you like Brandenburg then?"

So, I just wanted to share the randomness of living in Brandenburg with all of you.