When I was offered to come to live in Germany, my first reaction
was that if I had never considered coming to this country even for
holidays, why then would I consider living here. Nevertheless, I
was asked to give it a try and my mindset would change, and so it
did!!
The following 10 statements are an attempt to summarize the
cultural learning I have had about my beloved Germans during the
2 years I lived in Mainz, in the Rheinhessen region of Germany.
The intention of these statements is not to stereotype, nor to cause any prejudgment. On the contrary, it’s to break some paradigms of what many people told me about
Germans before I came here.
In any case, it’s a very personal vision of a very small part of this
country that I call “my Germany”. For my German friends, I hope
you don’t feel offended in any way. You know me and you know I
do it with the best of the intentions. For my non-German friends, I
invite you to put down any pre-conceptions and have a first hand
experience with this wonderful people in this beautiful country. In
case you want a closer experience I can put you in contact with
the amazing German friends I made during my time here.
So here it is, the top 10 things I learned about (my) Germans:
-
1. Germans are very modest with their language skills. They will
always say they only speak a little English, even if they're very
good at it. They always said I was speaking great German,
even when I was only saying "Morgen" every morning. This
was a great encouragement to keep it up with learning the
language.
-
2. Germans plan well in advance, and most of the times they
stick to the plan. From what to do in the weekend (two weeks
in advance) to summer holidays (one year in advance).
Spontaneity is (generally) not understood and can create
conflict.
-
3. Germans enjoy life, they celebrate a lot and they have a lot of
fun (specially when there's beer and/or wine involved),
including dancing (on their own, careless style). Germans love
going on holidays, and truly enjoy them (no wonder it’s one of
the countries with more paid vacation days). Germans
(generally) drink to have fun and not just for the sake of
getting drunk.
4. Germans have a celebration for every month of the year... Fastnacht, Frühlingsfest, Johannesfest, Weinfest, Oktoberfest, Weihnacht... Except for November, which is the month to get depressed and die (yes, they also plan for this) - 5. Germans are very respectful towards others and value their own freedom as well as other's freedom to think and act on their on way, as long as it doesn't break the rules. This freedom includes from being gay to being naked (for further details, google ‘FKK’)
- 6. Germans are very inclusive and caring for fairness and everyone's well being. This can be seen from their social security and health system, going through welfare of employees, to smaller daily actions. They cared a lot for me and they helped me out every time I needed it, even when I had only known them for a couple of days
- 7. Germans are very punctual and value time a lot. They count in minutes, compared to my "more relaxed" Latin-American culture that counts in blocks of minutes (5, 10, 15, 30...) Therefore they expect others to be punctual as well, except for DB (national train system) which is their little shame of inefficiency. The only exception is when they come to my place, since they're respectful for my Latin culture, so they "plan to be late"
- 8. Germans are very pragmatic, straight-forward and efficient. When decisions need to be made, they're just made without much romanticism. They work just the needed amount of hours and they don't over talk on things, they just get things done
- 9. There are many rules which Germans do their best to stick to in order to have a harmonious life in society. They expect others to also comply to the rules and don't even think of the possibility of someone breaking them (i.e. why would anyone take your unlocked bike from the street if it's not his)
- 10. Germans enjoy nature as part of their life and value a lot connecting to it... A walk in the woods, a swim in the lake, a picnic by the river or simply taking some fresh air outside give them the dose of nature that they need in their daily life
Finally, the following may sound naïve, but it’s coming from true
feelings and not any philosophical background. I must say that
before coming here I had a vision of Germans that was built by
media, movies and history. Having lived here and having had first-
hand experiences with German people I must admit I was wrong. I would love that when people watches movies about the World
Wars or comes for weekend holidays to Germany and visit a
concentration camp don’t judge current German society based
only on that. It’s true that we must remember the history of
humankind in order to avoid such things happening again, and I
can say that Germans are the first to remember this. But for me it’s
also true that all Germans cannot be judged by what a few did
many years ago. The Germans I know are well apart from that, are
tired of being judged by the whole world for something not done
by them, their parents or they grandparents, and they just want to
enjoy the beauties of life in all their expressions.
Because of all of this, I can proudly say today I’m a little German inside.
Because of all of this, I can proudly say today I’m a little German inside.
