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More German than many Germans

mertbulan.com

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Re: More German than many Germans

#171

Post by ido »

14u2c wrote: post #124
beeforpork wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The driver is not allowed to open the door anywhere but at a bus stop, the company running the bus forbids it. Quite strictly, actually. I think it is mainly because of insurance things. It is the same in a traffic jam when you are on the bus and the next bus stop is just a few meters away, and the bus is stuck and nothing moves -- impatient people will get angry because they want to leave the bus, but the driver is…

Is it typical for a company to run the busses? Somewhat interesting as that's one thing in the US that is rarely privatized. The driver, etc. will be a direct employees of the municipality.

It's usually a company owned by the city or the state, e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berliner_Verkehrsbetriebe

Re: More German than many Germans

#172

Post by master-lincoln »

suslik wrote: post #79
lqet wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you get run over by a car or bicycle while trying to board a bus outside an official station, or if you trip, the bus company is liable, and the driver will be in very big trouble. Also, wehret den Anfängen! If they started doing this, it would set an example: it would make it very difficult to keep the schedule, and would invite people to just walk into traffic to busses stopping at a red light.

I see it like this: Me: I'd like to get out here please. Driver: But it can be dangerous... Me: Noted. Good thing that is not your problem. And when I am hit by a camel while departing the bus, that is my problem also. But of course, most cultures do not support this line of reasoning - you need to be taken care of weather you like it or not. This approach is well tolerated by most people, but saddens and irritates p…

Don't talk to the bus driver while they are driving is also a rule.

> Me: Noted. Good thing that is not your problem.

As if... when you get injured while leaving the bus, do you really believe the bus driver would just mind their business? There is another rule that demands you help people in emergency situations

Re: More German than many Germans

#173

Post by aleph_minus_one »

amval wrote: post #16

I am myself an immigrant to this country, one that has had itequally easy, if not more. Lately, or perhaps for the last couple of years, I've struggled with negative feelings about the country. I do not like the direction things are moving politically and economically, nor how germans talk about politics, and the biggest reason to want to be in Germany is the very high living conditions one can have here. Culturally,…

> Culturally, it is hard not feel detached when Germans themselves seem uninterested in cultural aspects that are normally a reason to want to learn a language (literature, films, etc).

I rather disagree:

Many German movies that are produced don't fit my taste (the reasons are a little bit off-topic), and there exist quite a few Germans who think similarly. I could come up with a list of German movies that I like, but this is something that would take a little bit of thinking/effort.

On the other hand, in my experience/observation/bubble many Germans are quite interested in German literature. I could very easily come up with dozens of books of German authors that I like (of course, such a list would be strongly biased by my own taste).

Thus I would claim that (native German) literature is much more deeply ingrained in German culture than (native German) movies, and I am really surprised that you seem to live in a strange bubble where nobody in it seems to be interested in reading belletristic books.

Re: More German than many Germans

#174

Post by markvdb »

tasuki wrote: post #119
inatreecrown2 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was such an unusual thing for me coming from Germany to Italy. The Bus driver would stop at seemingly random places to pick up or drop people off. Once he stopped at the cafe to pick up his newspaper!

> Once he stopped at the cafe to pick up his newspaper! The horrors!

I once was in a train making an unscheduled stop in the middle of the fields. The driver picked up a colleague who stood waving next to the rails...

Re: More German than many Germans

#175

Post by master-lincoln »

anonreplier wrote: post #85
suslik wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see it like this: Me: I'd like to get out here please. Driver: But it can be dangerous... Me: Noted. Good thing that is not your problem. And when I am hit by a camel while departing the bus, that is my problem also. But of course, most cultures do not support this line of reasoning - you need to be taken care of weather you like it or not. This approach is well tolerated by most people, but saddens and irritates p…

Have you got time to get that in writing with an official witness?

Has the bus driver time to read this and do the other passengers have the patience needed?

Individual solutions make an operation less efficient...

Re: More German than many Germans

#176

Post by usrnm »

spider-mario wrote: post #52
bambax wrote: post #13

The first time I was in Berlin I had to take a bus. It was just leaving the stop as I was getting there, but stopped at the next red light. So I ran to the bus and knocked on the door. The driver looked at me with a concerned look to see if something was wrong, and once he understood I was just asking to come onboard outside of the regular stop, he laughed. Not ironically or in a mean way: it was a genuine laugh like…

> Being French, I have a hard time understanding why you wouldn't. I too am French and I’m more puzzled by you than by the driver. Am I secretly German?

Are from the Alsace region or maybe your ancestors are? If so, maybe not so secretly

Re: More German than many Germans

#177

Post by vw_bulli »

pelasaco wrote: post #97
vw_bulli wrote: post #81

This resonates with me a lot, and reading it gave me some positive emotions about Germany which I unfortunately have less and less with each passing day. This country gave me a lot. Moving here from a third world country, the jump in my quality of life was immeasurable. All the rules everywhere were for me a blessing, coming originally from a chaotic city. Despite never taking any German courses, I had reached C1 lev…

> As much as I adore Hamburg, I can't imagine growing old here. Why not? > Like many Germans, I see my future somewhere further north. Is it similar to people moving from Berlin to Brandenburg... What's driving that trend? And how do people who already live in those regions generally feel about the migration from big cities into more "rural" areas? From their perspective, it probably isn't entirely positive. It can p…

> Why not?

By no means did I mean Hamburg. If Hamburg was a country of its own I would love to live here to my last day, enduring the social-skills situation. The reason why I do would not like to settle here permanently is more about German politics, which makes one vomit. Additionally, the recent reforms to the pension system here pissed many young people off, and the trajectory says it will only get worse.

> Like many Germans, I see my future somewhere further north.

Berliners move to Brandenburg when they make a family and want a bigger house :) My (and many Germans') intention is more for the whole package. In my case I meant moving to a completely different country, not just region. In the case of Norway: (Relatively) much less disgusting politics, solid pension and stable economy, less hostile environment, and of course breath-taking nature. Lots of this is subjective, so take it with a grain of salt :)

Domestic migration within Germany doesn't really bother anyone AFAIK, since Germany's birthrate is very low anyway so no significant pressure arises. And if you move from Hamburg to Schleswig-Holstein nobody would notice. If you move from Hamburg to Bavaria (why would you?), that's a different story.

Re: More German than many Germans

#178

Post by aleph_minus_one »

i_am_a_peasant wrote: post #134
juvvel wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

German films are mostly not great, but if one wants to get immersed into the language, music and literature are much better places. And also comedy. The language allows for some great puns.

A lot of good video games have decent German dubs, it was how I reached B2 German.

> A lot of good video games have decent German dubs

This in my experience only holds for AAA titles.

For many smaller games, the German translation/localization is so bad that if one's English level is not insanely bad, it's even more comfortable to play the English version, and use a dictionary for lots of words (i.e. invest more time using the dictionary than playing the game) than tolerating the pain of how bad the German translation/localization is.

Re: More German than many Germans

#179

Post by k__ »

I think, the main issue with German rules is that we haven't embraced digital technology 100%.

All these rules would be way less cumbersome if they didn't come with a bunch of literal paperwork.

Re: More German than many Germans

#180

Post by HSO »

> What stayed with me is that this is probably the only country in the western world that faced its own history properly, admitted the worst things it did, and built a lot of its identity around not repeating them.

what a load of 2010s and hamburg vibes but this part stuck out for me.

how can someone, especially from that part of the world, look at germany post oct 7 and conclude anything other than that everything was always a self-stroking lie and propaganda

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