Dorf Life

You may be asking yourself, “What is Dorf life?” This is what it is called when you live in a small village in Germany. In my time in Germany, I have lived in two small towns. Between these two experiences, I feel there are many similarities.

The first similarity is grocery stores. The thing about grocery stores in small towns is that they are not open every day of the week. There are grocery stores in these towns that are open every day of the week, although the one that is closest to you may not be. This can be frustrating at times when you want to make a quick stop for ice cream or buy shampoo. 

Small towns also tend not to have the best public transportation. The public transportation in these towns tends to be much more expensive than in big cities. The public transport also tends to not run as often and may have to cover long distances, due to driving through farming fields, causing it to take a while to get from one place to another. 

Small towns also end up having fewer schools. This means that when you make friends, they may live 40 minutes by bus, where, in a big city, they are usually closer. This also means that when something happens in the town, everybody knows about it. This was something I personally was not used to, as I come from a decently sized city in the United States. Although I know many people on the CBYX program, who found this to be very similar to their small towns in the United States.