Ballade in G Minor
I snagged the following off a bathroom wall. Also listed were stereotypes for pretty much every other major European country, as well as America and Canada. None of them were all that great (the reasons for being American all centered around a corrupt presidency), but I appreciated the German one... just cuz. #10 would have been helpful to realize a bit earlier.
TOP 10 REASONS FOR BEING GERMAN :
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Give them a second chance :
1. Oktoberfest.
2. Oktoberfest-beer.
3. BMW.
4. VW.
5. Audi.
6. Mercedes.
7. On a highway you can travel at a speed that would bring you to jail in any other country of the world.
8. You do not have to learn German as a foreign language.
9. You think Sauerkraut is delicious.
10. Contrary to common belief laughing is not forbidden by law (yet).
It did just strike me, as I was reading this, that I've stopped smiling at people in the street. I don't think I was ever fully-loony about it before, but you know, its a nice thing to do. When a stranger smiles at you, generally speaking, its just sort of like a friendly there are lots of good things in life reminder. But since being in Germany I've completely stopped doing it. I am shocked if someone even holds a door open for me anymore.
We were talking about this in my vocabulary class a week or two ago. It makes me sound like I'm in 5th grade, but we were talking about the difference between politeness (die Hoeflichkeit) and tact (der Takt). That led into a discussion about what good manners are considered in our home countries opposed to Germany. It was somewhat of a relief to find that Poles, Ukranians, Czechs and other assorted Europeans find Germans to be a little lacking on the politeness scale. People run into you in the street and don't say anything, no one holds open doors, and I've had people run into me while on my bike and though it was completely their fault, not said a word. I've seen people get smashed into and made to fall off their bikes, and the perpetrator will just ride on by like nothing happened. I've heard they're nicer down south. Though something I found interesting was that apparently men are supposed to go through the door first, under the guise of holding the door open for the lady. That really doesn't explain anything for me, but there it is anyway.
The thing that boggles my mind is that the concept of lines just doesn't seem to appear in the german vocabulary (figuratively speaking). For such an efficient, organized people, they just don't get it. And if there is some semblance of order, if you aren't able to smell the hair of the person in front of you, someone will come and just stand right between you. It doesn't happen to me as much as I've heard from other people, partly at least I think because I am somewhat aggressive about it, but really. Its just so weird.
But I guess the good thing about it is that when someone does hold open the door, or helps you pick up something you've dropped, its like they are the magical savior of the day. It makes you appreciate it a lot more, I guess.
I think the whole smiling thing came up because I've been reading up on Bangkok a bit recently. Apparently Thai people are big smilers. If plans work out, I might find that out for myself come March.
TOP 10 REASONS FOR BEING GERMAN :
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Give them a second chance :
1. Oktoberfest.
2. Oktoberfest-beer.
3. BMW.
4. VW.
5. Audi.
6. Mercedes.
7. On a highway you can travel at a speed that would bring you to jail in any other country of the world.
8. You do not have to learn German as a foreign language.
9. You think Sauerkraut is delicious.
10. Contrary to common belief laughing is not forbidden by law (yet).
It did just strike me, as I was reading this, that I've stopped smiling at people in the street. I don't think I was ever fully-loony about it before, but you know, its a nice thing to do. When a stranger smiles at you, generally speaking, its just sort of like a friendly there are lots of good things in life reminder. But since being in Germany I've completely stopped doing it. I am shocked if someone even holds a door open for me anymore.
We were talking about this in my vocabulary class a week or two ago. It makes me sound like I'm in 5th grade, but we were talking about the difference between politeness (die Hoeflichkeit) and tact (der Takt). That led into a discussion about what good manners are considered in our home countries opposed to Germany. It was somewhat of a relief to find that Poles, Ukranians, Czechs and other assorted Europeans find Germans to be a little lacking on the politeness scale. People run into you in the street and don't say anything, no one holds open doors, and I've had people run into me while on my bike and though it was completely their fault, not said a word. I've seen people get smashed into and made to fall off their bikes, and the perpetrator will just ride on by like nothing happened. I've heard they're nicer down south. Though something I found interesting was that apparently men are supposed to go through the door first, under the guise of holding the door open for the lady. That really doesn't explain anything for me, but there it is anyway.
The thing that boggles my mind is that the concept of lines just doesn't seem to appear in the german vocabulary (figuratively speaking). For such an efficient, organized people, they just don't get it. And if there is some semblance of order, if you aren't able to smell the hair of the person in front of you, someone will come and just stand right between you. It doesn't happen to me as much as I've heard from other people, partly at least I think because I am somewhat aggressive about it, but really. Its just so weird.
But I guess the good thing about it is that when someone does hold open the door, or helps you pick up something you've dropped, its like they are the magical savior of the day. It makes you appreciate it a lot more, I guess.
I think the whole smiling thing came up because I've been reading up on Bangkok a bit recently. Apparently Thai people are big smilers. If plans work out, I might find that out for myself come March.
posted by Meredesu at 10:04 PM
2 Comments:
Thanks! That would certainly be helpful. I hope it was a wonderful experience!
And also, in retrospect, are there any German places in particular that you would recommend to visit?
Anything that you have been to that has been entertaining as well as somewhat educational? I would hate to make the trip all the way up to lovely Germany just to be bored, ha.
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