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More German than many Germans

mertbulan.com

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Re: More German than many Germans

#411

Post by 9991 »

ventana wrote: post #390
55555 wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate? I don't quite grasp what you mean. Do you mean that the first three quarters of your life were more formative/adventurous and the last quarter was more driven by inertia and routine? I can relate if so, just not sure if that's what you mean.

In my forty something years of life so far, a quarter is a little more than 10 years. I lived the first quarter + ε in one place during my childhood, then moved to a different city for the college and lived there for another quarter + ε, and I'm spending a quarter + ε in a completely different country. The sum of these three ε cover the remaining quarter. The fact that I spent a quarter of my life in three different…

Just say thirds.

Re: More German than many Germans

#412

Post by asyx »

nylonstrung wrote: post #409

> 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. Except it's the most ardent country in the EU when it comes to arming and supporting an ongoing genocide in Gaza and suppressing dissent against that

I so wish somebody would go to prison for this.

Re: More German than many Germans

#413

Post by lynx97 »

Gud wrote: post #166
mr_mitm wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I, a German, went to Switzerland for vacation once. I talked to a Swiss guy about how I like Switzerland and all that. I told him how impressed I was with how organized everything is and how well everything works. The train system and public transport in general is wonderful compared to the one we have in Germany, for example. To my surprise, he said something along the line of "yeah well, it only looks like that fro…

I moved from Sweden to Switzerland, and I don't know what that guy was talking about. Switzerland is an extremely well run country.

I suspect natives have a more nuanced view of their home country, compared to expats who end up getting a tinted view. At least it likely takes a long time for an outsider to truly understand how things work. Reading the newspapers isn't representative, you know...

Re: More German than many Germans

#414

Post by Frieren »

rockyj wrote: post #32

A very nice read and pretty much my experience. I have been here for a quarter of my life now, I do not think I can live anywhere else now. People may not like me being here because of my skin color or whatever but I do not mind. I keep to myself and follow all the "rules" I can. In fact, I like most of the rules, rules are good because they ensure order, fairness and equality. Will a little bit of empathy be nicer,…

> and some are even leaving the country (around 100k left last year)

They have them in Spain, and they are retired. Do you want them back?

Re: More German than many Germans

#415

Post by [deleted] »

rockyj wrote: post #32

A very nice read and pretty much my experience. I have been here for a quarter of my life now, I do not think I can live anywhere else now. People may not like me being here because of my skin color or whatever but I do not mind. I keep to myself and follow all the "rules" I can. In fact, I like most of the rules, rules are good because they ensure order, fairness and equality. Will a little bit of empathy be nicer,…

[deleted]

Re: More German than many Germans

#416

Post by throwawayffffas »

Barrin92 wrote: post #381
vw_bulli wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't expect to be welcomed, but also not actively "unwelcomed" by many. I never said it's about racism; My extremely pale Italian friend was complaining about exactly this to me as well. The "Verbitterung" here (The fact that people apriori want to fight you, before even any interaction) is sad. Scandinavian countries are even more closed off, that's true, but they are not known to be hostile.

being German that's a sad thing to hear. I really do hope you stay because I think people genuinely do need to stand up to it, don't write us off too quickly. Verbitterung/Verrohung of public life seems to be omnipresent now, with the capital 'o' Other being attacked for everything. We ought to know better though. I've noticed it myself with my partner who is Japanese when visiting the country. Hostility I've not enc…

> Verbitterung/Verrohung of public life seems to be omnipresent now

It's not exclusive to Germany. I have been experiencing this further south in the continent and is visibly growing in the UK as well.

Re: More German than many Germans

#417

Post by magimas »

alphabeta3r56 wrote: post #313
bspinner wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would like to hear your thoughts on why that is the case.

Not the OP but to give you an example. Spines on books in German are written one way along the spine. While generally in English books it's the other way round. https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/comments/1n5booe/do_all_ger... Both have their trade-offs and most cultures are chill about it, but a lot of Germans will swear by the way it is done in Germany being the logical method. It is a vrry homogenizing culture that…

what are you talking about bro, I think you're really getting carried away here. Nobody cares about the direction of writing on the spine of a book. And your thing with sentence vs title case doesn't make sense because German doesn't even have that distinction.

Re: More German than many Germans

#418

Post by rglullis »

derriz wrote: post #394
rglullis wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a matter of not knowing the language. I grew up in Brazil but studied in a German school from grades 6-12. I used to watch Deutsche Welle more than I'd watch canned US sitcoms on cable. I can understand a joke, and I can even (most of the times) understand the intention of the joke. But it doesn't mean that I find it funny . As for "culture", I don't think we are using it in the same way. I mean in the sense…

BBQ culture is different in different parts of the world - I experienced what you describe in Switzerland once (bring and grill your own food). Where I’m from, it’s bring your own booze but host is expected to provide all the food. Where my partner is from, you’re expected to bring either dessert or salad - but not booze or stuff for the grill. I think you’re reading too much into some fairly minor difference in etiq…

Oh, it's not a "culture shock" kind of thing. I actually had no issue whatsoever going to a Sauna or even going swimming on the FKK hours. Like I said, I studied in a German school so I kinda knew these things are just a natural part of German life.

And it's not like I was "bothered" by him bringing his own food or wanting to cook it. It just seemed the guy was completely missing the point by being too focused on the "meal".

I just want to give one example of what I meant by "cultural differences", not that this one story cemented my opinion of Germans. Somewhat like trying to explain to an Italian that the North American idea of "getting coffee" means grabbing a Starbucks and walk around - or worse, driving to get it on a drive-through.

Re: More German than many Germans

#419

Post by foldr »

modo_mario wrote: post #110
schmorptron wrote: post #5

What a nice and heartwarming read! I'm german, and really hope we can pivot away from the rise of the far right. How that can be done, I don't know. I just hope we can do so before we start scaring away people like him who would otherwise come here, decide they like it, become germans, and end up making it a better place for everyone. (Part of it is I think we should make it easier and more incentivized to learn the…

>But a struggling economy, questionable planning for many years now, the "educated middle class" he mentioned in the post shrinking don't bode well for it. It's a prime breeding ground for scapegoat politics. I think one of the issues is that for the past 2 decades over here in Belgium as I think in Germany and other places there has been no middle ground left for people who didn't want this to the current extent. I…

>You have conservative parties who pay lip service but don't really make any effective change on the migration front

Net migration to Germany has fallen sharply since 2022: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SM.POP.NETM?locations=D.... In particular, that includes significant drops in asylum claims and migration from Syria and Afghanistan. Anti-immigration sentiment is almost purely vibes-based. There is no amount of objective reduction in migration that (i) could be achieved by sensible policies and that (ii) would make you feel the vibes that you want to feel. So your position is effectively an extremist one, even if you find extremism distasteful.

>There is no option to say 'you either do it well or do a lot less of it' without getting pushed to the far right.

This option is exactly who you currently have as chancellor. He's doing about everything that's reasonably possible (together with a few things that go beyond the reasonable) to reduce illegal migration. But he's not going to forcibly shut down Turkish-owned businesses. So let the far right do the dirty work. You had no choice but to support them because mainstream politicians couldn't make the Turks magically disappear.

Re: More German than many Germans

#420

Post by ralferoo »

ventana wrote: post #390
55555 wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate? I don't quite grasp what you mean. Do you mean that the first three quarters of your life were more formative/adventurous and the last quarter was more driven by inertia and routine? I can relate if so, just not sure if that's what you mean.

In my forty something years of life so far, a quarter is a little more than 10 years. I lived the first quarter + ε in one place during my childhood, then moved to a different city for the college and lived there for another quarter + ε, and I'm spending a quarter + ε in a completely different country. The sum of these three ε cover the remaining quarter. The fact that I spent a quarter of my life in three different…

Are they different ε or the same?

TBH, if using quarter here is just shorthand for "a decade", so it might be easier just to say plainly "I spent over a decade in each of A, B and C".

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