The Bavarian countryside

It's perfect, not a thing out of place. When we speak of Germany, we speak of its precision, not just of machinery but of architecture and of people, exact, precise and homogeneous. Everywhere along the Romantic Road, that was what we saw. It's fun to visit but I don't know about living under such conditions. The problem with such perfection, precision and homogeniety, is, the people's behavior is expected to be the same, the homogeniety of thought, everybody goose stepping to the same drum beat. Bernd lives just outside Cologne and constantly harps against that kind of control. In fact he tells a story of a few years ago, while leading a group through the hills of Cappadocia, they met 2 German girls who were totally lost and unprepared, they had no water or any other provisions, they were embarassed, saying that if the people back in Bielefeld should hear about it, about their lack of preparation, they'll probably be shot. (a metaphor). Bernd said, 'don't worry, I wouldn't tell anyone, I'm from there too.'
In most places we visited, the educated young would tell us that they would love to move to America, not that the USA is so great but it's the only place in this world where anybody from anywhere could make it big if they work very hard. It is the price we put on freedom, the freedom of thought, the freedom of prosperity, where money is not a dirty word, where making money is not a crooked scheme. The beautiful thing is, they, wherever they're from would fit right in. The whole world is represented here, we have Little Saigon, Little Tokyo, Korea town, Chinatown, it doesn't matter if you're Jewish, Greek, Armenian, Mexican, South American, Asian, European.....We can sell hamburgers and make it big, MacDonald's, we can sell a cup of jo and make it big, Starbucks, we can sell a can of soda and make it big, Coca Cola. We have 25 year old billionaire, Zuckerberg of Face book.
We do not have such orderly neighborhoods, such manicured fields, such cute little cottages. Ours is a mish mash of everything. Los Angeles, more than any other place in the USA is the most mish mash, it is where the world lives.