5+Freiburg,+Germany

=__Welcome to Freiburg, Germany__=

__//Guten Tag, Raum 2!//__ (pronounced: Goo-Ten T-ahg, R-owm Tss-v-eye)
===This is how we would greet you if you were living in Germany, and it means, good day, room 2. Most people speak German here but we hear lots of different languages, like French, English and Turkish, because Germany is surrounded by 9 countries where mostly languages other than German are spoken. It is very common for Germans to know more than one language. In the part of Germany where we live, children learn English and French at school, and so when they are finished school they can speak 3 languages.===

__**What is life like?**__
===People in Germany live a lot like you do in Manitoba. They either live in houses or in apartments and they have all of the modern appliances that make life easier and more comfortable, like dishwashers and under-floor heating. In the toy stores here you can buy Lego and Playmobil, Barbies and Yugio cards. Kids go to school like you do and during the holidays they sometimes go south to a sandy beach. It gets cold in the winter, but not as cold as in Manitoba, and it can get hot in the summer.===

__So what is different?__
===Most kids bike to school and in Freiburg there are special biking lanes that keep cyclists safe from car drivers. Many people bike to the grocery store and "carry" their groceries home in a basket that is attached to their bikes.=== ===Instead of bringing a sandwich and apple to school for lunch, kids order a hot lunch from the cafeteria in the school. Most Germans eat their main hot meal at lunchtime and then have bread and cheese for supper. One of the most popular foods are sausages. A sausage in a bun is what Germans call fast food, though you can find McDonald's and Burger King restaurants in bigger cities, including Freiburg.=== ===Most cities and towns in Germany are very old and have buildings that are hundreds of years old. The big cathedral in Freiburg is 500 years old! The old part of the city has cobblestones and even little canals for water. These canals are special to Freiburg and in the warmer months you can see kids sailing toy boats in them.===