The main language here is German, but many people also speak English. Many kids here start learning English at a very young age, around 8 years old. There are also different "dialects" of German, which are like different ways of speaking based on the region. Many people can speak standard German or "Hochdeutsch" (hawk-doit-sch), as well as the dialect of their region, and English.
Germany is part of the European Union, so they use euros. Like U.S. money, there are paper bills and also coins. Unlike U.S. money, the euro paper bills are different colors, depending on the amount, so it's a lot easier to find the right bill.
A bottle of water costs about 2 euros, which is about $2.25 in the U.S. At restaurants, you usually don't get free tap water, and lots of people here prefer to drink "mineral" water or sparking water out of bottles.
This week I enjoyed a lasanga dish with my German roommates. Along with the usual noodles, cheese and sauce, the lasagna also had lentils! I'm in the Swabian region of Germany, and lentils are popular in Swabian foods. I also tried a Baumkuchen (baoom-koo-shen) cake, which literally means tree cake.
