"How I Met Your Mother" Other Official Ending
During my first days working in Germany, I made sure to be super nice to all my colleagues Every time someone passed me in the hallway, I maniacally smile, wave and yelp, Hi How is your day will responses ranged from puzzled look a total lack of response Confused but not discouraged, I continued to try to work my charms on my new friends.
One morning, I passed Roger, the ministry he beams of laser statistician I with my eyes and screamed my usual how are you He paused for a moment, looking at me desperately and scratching the soft, wild hairstyle professor.
Do you really know that he asked, one eyebrow raised.
Uh, yes, I stammered, not knowing what to do with it.
Twenty minutes later, he was still strong on a breathless rant on how the GRASP students below basic statistics and unbearably messy datasets contributed to its ever increasing workload.
Eventually my discomfort detection Roger paused and gave me a blank stare Well you asked, he muttered, rolling his eyes before continuing down the hall from his office.
Germans don t like talking, and they do not like bullshit Idle comments and wellness messages not belong here Flirting German is particularly brutal; Your big nose looks good on your face is the best compliment you can expect to get in Germany.
Especially in the former East Freik rperkultur or free body culture, is an important part of German identity decades of oppression led to a special appreciation for the experience of freedom and nudity without direct relationship sexuality.
This can sometimes be difficult for Americans to purchase, especially when your colleagues invite you to casually naked sauna office or suggest a nude swim in a lake near adapt to this culture without getting weird took some grain, sharpness, and more than a few awkward encounters.
The pervasive fear of litigation that infuses most public activities in the United States is practically non-existent in Germany Germans take a more casual approach, due to public safety while hiking in S chsische Schweiz, a beautiful area mountain of Saxony, once I was commenting on the absence of guardrails and warning signs surrounding the steepest cliffs only a fool would fail to realize that a steep cliff is dangerous, my German colleague said matter-of-factly.
A few months later, after a snowstorm particularly brutal, I remember seeing a faceplant old gentleman on the ice waiting for the tram, he got up, wiped casually the trickle of blood on his forehead, and resumed his position on the platform without so much as wince.
Each year a local artist would a crazy party called Bimbotown in one of the warehouses in the district of Leipzig Spinnereistrasse The party was crawling with machines that this artist has made giant worms crawling through the metal ceiling, bar stools that chase their occupants at the touch of a button through the warehouse, sofas Buried and you thrown into a secret room, beds that can be driven around the party and through the walls it was an amazing event that could never have happen in the US because of all security breaches someone might hit their heads fall off a bed, get whacked in the eye and he was one of the best parties I've ever been at.
Unlike the Americans, the Germans are often more interested in protecting the others that they are protecting themselves with the mistakes of others.
When I fill out the paperwork to hire my first apartment in Germany, one of the secretaries in my office asked me if I had already purchased insurance.
Oh no, I said, I really have nothing t worth of insurance, to be honest.
It is not for you, she replied, puzzled is to protect other people, if you damage their property in some way.
Moving to Germany is an inexorable slowdown in the pace of my life especially in Saxony, there are strict rules as to when the shops open Most businesses are closed in the evening and all day Sunday Furthermore, benefit Germans common and usually vacation at least a month of paid leave.
That gave me some anxiety at first, especially when I forgot to leave work early enough to get groceries or didn t have time to go to the bank Over time, however, I learned to plan my days as well and enjoy the break tasks rather than obsessing over time lost After a few months, I sometimes leaving work at 15 hours to watch the football game with friends instead trying to cram in a few hours I still did as much as usual, but I felt much happier and less burned.
In Boston, jaywalking is a lifestyle The streets are so crazy and lights so uncoordinated that you'll die of old age waiting for the crosswalk When I arrived in Germany, I took this attitude with me, but quickly found that it was not universally acceptable behavior Although it is late in the evening and no cars are in sight, cross the street without passing right you will get some heat native Germans to think about the children being reprimanded top launched your path.
Same deal with forgetting to pay your tram ticket if you are caught, frozen gaze heaped upon you by a whole car full of people will be enough to freeze your blood The German system is based on those who contribute to the common good, even when there watching, and so free riders and violators are severely punished in German culture.
Credit cards are almost nonexistent in Germany This posed a problem for me when my US bank account decided to close after my first suspect attempted to withdraw money in Leipzig, but once I got the gap squared, being necessary to plan my expenses and live on a cash system helped me keep my finances under control.
A few months after my stay in Leipzig, I started to really feel like I got the hang of things I knew my way, I pretty much set up at work and at home, and above all, I felt like if I understood the German attitude.
One morning I making me a bike to a conference and felt like it was particularly difficult to keep the bike moving Jesus, I'm out of shape, I thought, panting my trembling legs around the wheels I tottered slowly in the street .
While I was waiting at a red light, a man on the sidewalk hailed me Ich kein Deutsch speak, I hissed, tired and irritated.
Your tire is flat, he said in perfect condition, clipped English, gesturing to my pitiful heap of a bike, I know I was lying, aggravated by this German guy statement-of-the-evident that I held my foot on the pedal, ready to throw myself forward as soon as the light turned.
The man paused and looked at me for a moment, not knowing whether to continue just that I have a pump, he finally stammered, waving his hand almost contrite in his backpack, I could pump your tire for you .
This article was published on February 11 Alexander Featured Photo 2015 Rentsch.
9 American habits, I lost when I moved to Germany, American, lost, displaced, Germany.