So what makes Germany Germany?
#1. Lots of English (Tandem Team, Locker deposit, Research Center). Normally it's shockingly good English, but bad English is funnier. For example, the following quote I took from a sign hanging in my house's bathroom:
To this badly drawn boy who never flushes the toilet after he used it:#2. Bureaucracy. Labyrinthine bureaucracy. In order to get anything official done, you have to go to about seven different places that are spread out over the city. Each office is only open one or two hours a day (four days a week, if you're lucky), and most of them are open only during the same hour.
Please get used to it, that in Germany it's a well habbit flushing the toilet after using it no matter you used it for peeing or something else:
Always flushing the toilet after using!! [sic omnis]
#3. An irrational fear of spice. I feel like I'm pretty well known for having a very dull palette, but I can eat even the hottest German food. Curry, for example, tastes basically the same as ketchup. For the most part, "seasoning" is construed as either "salt" or "more salt."
#4. You never cross the street on red. Even if no cars are coming, and it's the middle of the night. Germans will wait for hours until the little green man shows his face.
#5. Business hours. Everything closes around 8pm and basically nothing is open ever on Sundays. The same goes for holidays.
#6. You don't wear bright colors. In fact, it is preferable to wear only black. Kirsten and Amelia have neon green coats. They get glares. Other popular fashion includes maroon hair for middle-aged women, large horizontal stripes, tight jeans with bright white words and designs, and the mullet (as I mentioned in a previous post).
#7. Everyone bikes, even middle-aged people. And bikers are dangerous. Walking to the U each morning is a bit of an adventure, because every five seconds a biker zips past, within inches of taking off your head.
#8. You "klopf" after class, which means you knock with your knuckles on the table as a sign of appreciation for the lecture.
#9. Germans love to sort trash. Depending on what type of garbage you’re throwing away, you use one of about a dozen trashcans. Glass gets divided into three bins based on color. Plastics, cardboard, paper, etc. also get separate canisters. Foodstuff gets thrown into a lidless bin, apparently to rot until someone gets stuck with “Mülldienst” (trash duty) and has to throw it into the dumpster.
#10. Germans are more interested in American politics than Americans are. The first question every German will ask you after the obligatory incredulous "You're American? But you speak German!" is "Who will be the next American president?"
So those are some of the many nuanced differences between America and Germany. Life here is overall very similar, but as I mentioned, there are certainly some differences. I definitely don’t mean any of the above to sound harsh (except the bureaucracy comment – that really irks me). Germany is hands down my favorite country outside of the US at this point, and the people here are basically all unbelievably nice, friendly and helpful.
But guess where I'm going to be all of next week? So I'm kind of skipping out on class - ah, probably not the best idea, since it's just the second week, but oh well, I already have the tickets…
-MOSCOW!
Now if you're the stereotypical American, you're probably sitting there, eating your 10lbs McCheeseburger after a long day of plowing your cornfield, and thinking to yourself, "Moscow's the capital of London." Well no, that’s wrong. Moscow's actually in Russia. You can learn loads about Russia from my blog from last year, or you can simply wait for sweet updates throughout the upcoming week!
Viel Spaß und bis dann!
7 comments:
First!
I really enjoyed this post- I was wondering what you would say to the differences of life here and there.
When I first got to Germany, I often cut across streets and crossed at openings in the traffic, as I would in the US, not waiting for crosswalk signs, or even corners and crosswalks. I got yelps and bellows from the locals, and found out I was lucky I wasn't caught by the police- jaywalking is strictly enforced.
I too almost got run down by the bikes.
Also- I want to add that I am taking up klopfing as a sign of appreciation after reading your posts!
*** (this is me Klopfing)
One of the things I enjoy most about travel is observing the similarities and differences between countries and areas of countries.
Several people that I have worked with have had assignments in Germany, and they all remark on the difficulty getting used to the beauracracy in Germany. They also all remark on how nice and helpful people are.
Hi Colin, another rainy day here!
So nice to read your post and hear your observations of German life!
I loved the comment about klopfing; this is the only one I had not observed before firsthand, and since I am an instructor/professor, it is especially amusing to me.
I will need to teach my students to do that!
I am excited to hear about Russia, especially since this will be your second time there.
Have a safe journey.
much love
Wow! I thought you were not able to post for awhile, and didn't look (like every day, like usual). Well, now this eve (18) it was like reading a long and interesting letter. Thanks Colin. Esp I liked the differences between Germany and America. That burocracy would drive me batty. Really slows "things" down I'm sure. Couldn't begin to comment, too much at this point, but Colin, I LOVED every single bit of your blog. And will be re-reading again.
And now Russia! Love, Gr Pat
hi colin,
ich finde deinen blog echt spitze!^^ und vor allem super-witzig,
aber eine sache stimmt doch nicht ganz. zumindest nicht bei mir. stell dir vor, ich warte nicht auf das grüne männchen! NEIN! ich lauf einfach, wenns gerade passt.:-D LOL
und die deutsche bürokratie nervt uns deutsche auch ganz besonders...^^
mach weiter so , dein blog is super!
liebe grüße claudi
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