Lotten, Lotten, Lotten

my first night in germany i was invited to a small town's annual festival celebrating the consecration of their church. there i quickly learned that every single german knows the words to "Hit the Road, Jack." even if they don't speak english they know the sounds. ever heard a biergarten full of people chanting words they don't quite know? fucking uncanny is what it is

i was also offered weed by a 15yo with two different colored eyes, & when you're jetlagged that may as well be an encounter with the fae

i need to emphasize that this amounted to maybe 350 people holding beers as big as bread loaves joyously leaning back & hollering HIDDA ROWJACK, GEDONCHEGHUMBAH NOMORNOMORNOMORNOMOR repeatedly

Something that's sweet about German is when you introduce yourself, you can say you're The [Name]. Like you're the main one. The Ambassador of your name.

Like, hi, I am the Felix. The Ultimate Felix. The Felix of All Felix.

Und dann triffst du jemanden der Diana heißt. Und sagst Jana, weil du dachtest, sie ist DIE Jana.

Something that's sweet about German is when you introduce yourself, you can say you're The [Name]. Like you're the main one. The Ambassador of your name.

Like, hi, I am the Felix. The Ultimate Felix. The Felix of All Felix.

Since @tachiehara 's post about Baden-Württemberg didn't have a poll and my dear mutual @zorilleerrant requested to click on something in that post, here you go!

Die Berliner Frage hat mich zu einer, meiner Meinung nach unterschätzen, weiteren wichtigen Diskussionsfrage gebracht

If tumblr goes down, we resurrect SchülerVZ or StudiVZ

doomed by the narrative but not to death. doomed to survive. doomed to stay alive inside the story. doomed to never escape the narrative, not even through death. you are allowed no exit. there is no way out for you and there never was. you couldn’t die if you wanted to. the narrative has a hold on you and it won’t let go. death is too sweet a doom for you. the story has something much worse in mind. there is no way out.

Goethe-Institut did a web series a while back aimed at new arrivals in Germany and I like how it make sure to teach people that a lot of Germans are rude af

like, this is a genuine scene from an ep:

#Ok but for a second there I was like #this is a bit exaggerated #it’s not that rude to say hi to strangers #just a bit weird #but then I realised #the rude person is probably meant to be the one ignoring the ‘hi' 

Well she’s obviously doing it wrong. You got to mumble “Guten Tag” in no one’s actual direction upon entering the waiting room. Then you don’t speak a word (you gotta grab a magazine though, because if you’re on your mobile people will find that asocial) until the doctor calls you and when you get back to retrieve your jacket you mumble “Auf Wiedersehen”.

If you say “Guten Tag” while sitting down it’s either because you’re passive-aggressively shaming the person you’re talking to for not saying “Guten Tag” (which is of course highly respectable, but weird if they did say it) or worse: 

You’re trying to make small-talk.

See also: when entering a crowded bus, tram, subway or train, you do not say a single word. You look for an empty bench. If there are none, you will have a neighbour. You stop at an empty spot and mumble something like “tschulli-ng” or “s-nch-frei?” to the person occupying the other spot on the bench. You nod in an upward direction. They reply a mumbled “türlich” while vaguely looking somewhere near your face and moving their bag if neccessary. You sit down, nod gratefully, and keep your mouth shut for the rest of the ride. Neither of you wanted this. You wanted freedom. Don’t bother each other.

If an entire bench in front of you becomes available at the next stop, though, it is not the polite thing to free your neighbour and yourself up. No, you stay right where you are. The silent stranger next to you is your silent stranger now.

Welcome to Germany. This is how we express love.

None of these people are joking.

And if you’re the one sitting at the window and you want to get off at the next stop, you begin to loudly rustle with your bag whatever, because that way you can signal the other person that you need them to get up without having to speak to them.

Like man I get scared of interacting with people but this just takes it to a whole new level.

and today i learn that i socialize in public like a german

It’s nice to be reminded sometimes that Dutch culture and German culture were one and the same for a really long time and in many ways they still are XD

Though here the other person probably wouldn’t actually shove a literal magazine in front of their face. They’d probably say “hello” back in a super confused voice while doing their level best to nonverbally express their confusion that you tried to interact with them in the first place and please don’t do that again.

I’m having trouble deciding between moving to Germany immediately or never going there ever.

Visit Sweden, spend at least 30 minutes in public there, then move to Germany and soak up the friendly social atmosphere.

(seriously. I’m Dutch, autistic, and an introvert and I sighed with relief when I returned from a trip to Sweden because thank fuck, here there are actual people engaging in verbal communication in public spaces. The constant quiet in Sweden freaked me out. Me. Who normally has to fight urges not to commit bloody murder on public transport because why do people have to make noise all the time. I was relieved to be overhearing 3 conversations and 2 phone calls at once because at least it was better than deadly silence. In Sweden the above image series would’ve ended not with a single raised magazine but with an entire waiting room full of people staring at the person who spoke in public like they’d personally kicked open the gates of hell and unleashed the armies of chaos.)

Anyway my point is Germans are actually quite friendly, they just don’t like small talk. Same mostly goes for Dutch people. And if anyone tries to convince you that we’re standoffish, visit our northern neighbors and bear witness.

This is fascinating. They need to teach this shit to American travelers, because this is probably why Europeans find Americans so obnoxious and we find them rude. The cultures could not be more different.

Entirely true. I remember seeing a post on Quora that was like “Europeans, what do you not understand about Americans” and one of the answers was a German saying we’re creepy because we smile all the time. Meanwhile I absolutely could not fathom inflicting my RBF on a stranger.

Ich habe eigentlich gerne gelesen, aber manche Bücher im Deutschunterricht...

Gerne auch mit Begründung

Leben des Galilei war eins meiner faves, quick read, ist dann vorbei, einfach zu interpretieren. Schlinnstes von allem Tschick. Fremdschämen hoch 10 und ich hab das in der neunten gelesen und es war definitiv below my level. Aber ja einfavh cringe, dieses Beyonce Geburtstagsbild, natürlich wird Isa zur romatic interest, und diese damals schon hinterwäldlerische coming out story. Ich versteh den Hype um das Buch nicht.

Unironically LOVE how the Nordsee is never there when you’re at the Strand. The Ostsee is such a people pleaser, but the Nordsee? Always gone. Keeping herself busy with the Mond, leaving you with Watt and Watt only. Honestly, love that for her

Vieja escuela Alemana