The first “culture shock” which I felt began when I stepped foot on European soil in the Munich Airport in Germany. As I arrived, I noticed the beautiful and articulately designed airport,, with terminals that featured only non-American airlines. This was not as shocking as it was just interesting to see. As I got to customs, I was surrounded by many people from around the world, but very few were from the United States or spoke English. When I had to speak with the customs officer, and I was questioned about my money and travel plans, it sort of made me take a step back in a way. As an American, I am so used to having everything my way and without question, and traveling without my intentions being necessary to the authorities. I quickly passed customs and walked to the center of the airport. There were many stores, all with German writings. In the plaza, there was a large bar with delis, that people of all ages were drinking alcohol at. Seeing kids younger than myself drinking alcoholic beverages at 9:00 am was definitely an interesting feeling. The first real shock I felt was standing in that lobby, and hearing no speak English. I felt a little crazy, because I was thinking in a language that sounded nothing like what others were speaking around me. As I proceeded to my gate, I also became shocked by the large glass smoke lounges throughout the airport, like the one picture above. Smoking is much more normalized in Europe, and passengers and pilots alike were sitting in the lounge for a cigarette break. I also ventured into a store filled with different things which might be good for travel, when I noticed that they had explicit magazines in view of children, which was shocking to me because of how “modest” people try to be in the US. Once I got to my gate, the final shock that I felt at this time was that the policemen carried around large rifles, something very different from officers in the United States. Although I experienced many shocking things, it was great to get a glimpse of how other cultures are in such a short span of time.