Germany is nice, but food keeps me in France haha
More German than many Germans
281–290 of 543 posts
Re: More German than many Germans
#282This 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…
There’s something I find very distasteful about the idea of abandoning a country that provided you opportunity exclusively in the name of your own happiness. I think it’s the kind of attitude from immigrants that is greatly increasing anti immigrant sentiment. Become part of an old world people takes generations. Even in America, the branches of my family came here four generations ago and I view myself as American and would be accepted as such, but I still hold a high amount of gratitude for the original founders of the country.
Re: More German than many Germans
#283Mert, you seem like a great guy, and I agree with most of what you said. I'm also an immigrant.
> 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.
This however is categorically untrue. If Andrew Tate suddenly starts publicly repenting and then staunchly defends Ghislaine Maxwell, he is not facing his history properly nor admitting the worst things he did. He's just being as awful as he's ever been.
If most Germans had faced their own history properly and truly admitted the things it did, they would never have been such huge defendants of the genocide in Gaza. If they had drawn their lessons, the lesson would've been "humanity can get up to atrocious acts, and we need to act against these whenever they happen". Instead, they drew the lesson "we should outwardly act extremely sorry, and treat acts and people completely differently based on their religion/ethnicity". The "change of heart" in Germany over the last 2 or so years doesn't change this.
There has of course always been a minority of Germans who did already own their history, but in the last few decades that group never exceeded 20% of (ethnic) Germans.
Re: More German than many Germans
#284The 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…
I arrived at fish selling place at 15:00, he was collecting fishes back. I laughed and said something like “oh I thought I missed closing time!”. No answer, waited a minute, still no answer, then I left :( (Sweden)
I mean it isn’t the bus case, and I can understand the reasons, still may be put a sticker around telling the rules. But this kind of experience is there, no denying it…
Re: More German than many Germans
#285Earlier quoted context omitted.
Germany had a colonial empire though
A small one, and we do not have any ties no more to these states, really (in contrast to Spain, France and whatnot)
The German colonial empire was the 3rd largest at the time, just after the French and the British ones. There are still cultural ties.
I meant only the colonial empire, but you could also include nazi Germany colonial projects, they also had a lasting impact
Re: More German than many Germans
#286Earlier quoted context omitted.
no, it's the Berlin experience, even for many Germans 1. speaking German doesn't matter too much in Berlin, except older "Berlin Berlins" most people speak conversational English. I have even seen cases of _all_ personal in a caffe not speaking German..., more then once. 2. Over half the people in Berlin are "expat-like": ~20% of people in Berlin are not from Germany, 30-40% or so are not from Berlin and only there f…
> 1. speaking German doesn't matter too much in Berlin, except older "Berlin Berlins" most people speak conversational English This depends on the context: it doesn't matter to speak German in the stage of life where one doesn't interface with the administration (and therefore, older generations). But for those who settle, and are past that stage, German is a requirement.
> German is a requirement.
should be,
but de-facto isn't, like seriously you can live decades in Berlin without learning German. As a German I could fully stop understanding German from tomorrow on and in any situation except my parents it would work out, with only very limited issues here and there. Most which normally solvable with camera based translation apps (e.g. Google Lense), and some other by deciding which part of Berlin I spend my time in.
and legally it's only required if you try to get a German pass
Re: More German than many Germans
#287Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you also have anything from the last 25 years? :D Those are some old movies. I can suggest "Land of Mine" but it's now also over 10 years old.
Also, it's Danish, not German. :-)
Well yeah kinda. ZDF did help I guess? German / Danish production with Danish director, with mostly German being spoken.
Re: More German than many Germans
#288Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm also a foreigner in Berlin, and my guess is twofold: 1. Their German isn't good enough, which limits the pool of people you can connect to 2. They only or mostly hang out in the expat-scene, which limits the pool of people you can connect to
1) I am certified C1 German - studied in high school for 6 years. Granted, I don't like speaking German and will use English when possible, but it's not a matter of not being able to connect with them. 2) Shortly after moving in, I started dating a German woman. Lasted close to a whole year. That was more than enough time to meet a lot of her friends, I got to meet her family, etc. That was more than enough time and…
wowow C1 and dated a German? Sorry, you are basically a native
Re: More German than many Germans
#289Earlier quoted context omitted.
1) I am certified C1 German - studied in high school for 6 years. Granted, I don't like speaking German and will use English when possible, but it's not a matter of not being able to connect with them. 2) Shortly after moving in, I started dating a German woman. Lasted close to a whole year. That was more than enough time to meet a lot of her friends, I got to meet her family, etc. That was more than enough time and…
wowow C1 and dated a German? Sorry, you are basically a native
You take that back, right now!
Re: More German than many Germans
#290Earlier quoted context omitted.
German culture is very functional, rigid, and dry, and it serves people with that kind of mindset very well. However, it clashes strongly with typical Southern cultures, so it is no surprise that the parent mentioned this. People who value the "softer" aspects of life are not going to feel at home. There are certainly exceptions, and YMMV.
That's a pithy description of it all. If I hadn't met my (Greek) wife in 2015, I've probably would have left long ago. And to come of think of it, I think there is another aspect that influences this: Germans are not having as many kids as the immigrants, so the overwhelming majority of the kids in the kitas and schools are from immigrant families or immigrant/native mixed parents. This means that (at this stage in l…
That's a very Berlin-centric observation. Berlin is special; it's hard to extrapolate to the rest of the country.