March 06, 2004
Random observations from Germany
Random observation no. 1:
German beggars (or better, beggars in Germany, they are multi-national) are very aggressive compared to those in Bucharest. Yeah, the gypsies are insistent, and the street kids can pester you. But I never had the impression of being physically hassled. The first beggar (woman) who approached me caught me on the wrong foot (eh, German expression -- does this translate at all?). She came up to me, grabbed my sleeve, and said "do you have a Euro for me?", and I, startled, replied this:
"Oh. Eh. Wow, you look quite good for a beggar. Nice clothes. Bit dirty but warm. You look healthy, if very hungover. I live in Romania and the beggars there are so much worse off. I'm sorry, I just can't bring myself to give you anything. I'll take it back to Bucharest and spend it on the beggars there."
Left her standing with her mouth open.
I don't know. I do like the "I wish you a long life and kiss your hands" which I get from the Romanian beggars. They seem so much more polite. I know that is an odd thing to say, but it is striking.
Random observation no. 2:
Germans have too much money and they complain too much.
Random observation no. 3:
Germans are baffled when someone is nice and friendly to them but they like it. I guess I am very American in my small talk and people approach by now. Meaning, I smile at people without reason. I like to be friendly. What's so hard about that? It seems unusual, though. I actually had someone tell me that I was "such a sympathetic appearance" when I smiled at him at the breakfast table. Germans need to loosen up a bit. (I must say that his remark did much to lift my depressed mood after the troll encounter.)
Random observation no. 4:
There are not enough sit-down cafes in Frankfurt. Can anybody tell me what the sense is in standing cafes? Who wants to drink their coffee standing at a small table? I either want my coffee to go or I want to sit down to read the paper.
OK. That's it for now. I'm off to meet my mom and drive to meet my brothers. I'll report more weird facts about Germans from Mannheim.
Posted by claudia at March 6, 2004 10:32 AMGreat post. As Nietzsche said: "Kurz und gut, sehr gut sogar..." (That's the edited version, but you get the idea.)
It's always hard to imagine that Germany is Europe's largest economy, and third in the world, when you listen to them complain. It's like a grandmother that won't stop talking about her back pains.
Looking forward to the next update!
Posted by: Michael at March 6, 2004 05:03 PMHm. The beggars in NYC tell me to cheer up.
(Now Doug is murmuring, "Of course they do.")
Hope you are having a great time in Germany,
C.
Posted by: Carlos at March 6, 2004 05:18 PMHey Doug and Claudia (if you guys remember me from SHWI all that time ago....)
I happen to be studying in Germany right now (in Regensburg, near Munich) and found this entry very interesting. I agree that Germans are not nearly as friendly openly as americans. Many of them see Americans as superficially nice and friendly, although those that have been to America really appreciate the difference.
Yeah, if you smile too much they will think you are a little dumb, or rather, "simple." But once you break through the tough exterior they can be quite nice. Or go to Cologne for Karneval like I did. Germans letting loose... well, yeah they are letting loose, but you can still tell they are German! But it is interesting to see the difference.
On a different note, no beggar in Germany ever attacked me. Hope all is well with you guys!
Posted by: Stephen Lazer at March 7, 2004 02:18 AMI found the beggars in Toronto to be interesting. A guy started asking me and my boss for some money near the Needle and it took me more than a moment to register that he was a panhandler. At first I thought he was asking for directions...not NYC-like at all.
B.
Posted by: Bernard at March 10, 2004 08:00 PM