Just a Little Fish in a Really Big Sea....

So, I was inspired by a friend today. Upon finding out I was going to Berlin, she commented that I would "just be a little fish in a really big sea." I seized the turn of phrase and have decided to compare my American home to my German home, just by statistics. So here goes nothing....or something.

Home Base (AKA U.S.A.)

Sherman

• 1,553 people in the town, village included
• 36.4 square miles, 94.2 square kilometers
• First settled around 1823, formed in 1924 from a part of Mina township
• Part of Chautauqua County
• About 30 minutes from a McDonalds
• Less than 600 kids, kindergarten to grade 12, all in one building
• Average Low: 14ºF, -10ºC; Average High: 80ºF, 26ºC
• Only child, two dogs

Chautauqua County

• 134,905 people
• 1,500 square miles, 3,885 square kilometers
• 29% water
• Formed 1811

Deutschland 

Kladow

• 13,628 people
• 5.7 square miles, 14.8 square kilometers
• First mentioned in 1267
• Part of Spandau 
• A little brother, two little sisters, a dog and a cat

Spandau

• 223, 962 people
• 35.48 square miles, 91.91 square kilometers
• Wikipedia won't tell me how old it is...
• Kant-Gymnasium Spandau: about 900 kids, grades 5-12
• There's practically a McDonald's across the street from my school, which is about half an hour from Kladow
• One of the twelve boroughs of Berlin

Berlin

•  3,450,889 people
• 344.3 square miles, 891.85 square kilometers
• Around since the 13th Century
• Capital of Germany
• Average Low: 28.6ºF, -1.9ºC; Average High: 74.7ºF, 23.7ºC
• About 500 McDonalds' in Berlin

So.....in summary....Berlin is big. Really big. And I'm really excited about the weather. Especially since they barely get snow. And Sherman gets pounded. 

It's really sinking in now. I'm actually going to Germany for a year. It's pretty scary. Scary exciting, that is. Today was the last part of my high school career that actually matters. I mean, Baccalaureate and Graduation, but today was my physics regents (big scary state test that every high schooler in NY has to take for every Regents class they take), the last thing that was graded. So...I have two more events as an American high schooler. And then I have a year of events as a Rotary Exchange Student and German high schooler. Ich bin ein Austaschstudent.