Buna ziua! Ma numesc Henri… blablabla… blablabla. Sunt din Germania.
Mentioning that I’m from Germany is sometimes interesting. Some people don’t care where exactly I come from, though for a certain amount of them it’s the starting point of a nice and instructive discussion.
So what comes up then?
Topic Nr. 1: refugees
Not only Romanians also other volunteers and people from other countries ask me about the refugee crisis. “What do you think about the refugees?” and similar questions are often asked. Mostly people are curious why we host such big numbers of them and especially what people in Germany think about them (welcoming, restrictive etc.). Quite often the conversation goes on and comes to very stupid point (refugees could be possible terrorists, aren’t they criminal?). In Romanian I feel accepted and welcomed as a German guy living here. However, I can’t imagine the same situation if I’d be a Syrian refugee. Romania has almost no foreigners or even if there are foreigners they come from Moldova which is basically the same country (#Basarabia-e-Romania). So the majority of people here isn’t very welcoming to refugees, whereby it’s hard for them to understand other attitudes.
Topic Nr. 2: German mentality
That’s actually my favourite topic. It always becomes funny. Before doing my EVS I just read about prejudices about Germans, though now I can confirm that most of them are the most typical ones. Germans are seen as disciplined, in time, straightforward and focussed, utterly unrelaxed, working, perfect car builders, organizing & rule lovers, polite, cold, not so sociable as others and aloof. By the way: Of course we don’t have fun or any (acceptable) sense of humor.
I do my best to fight against from images of Germany – in both ways. I mention that we have a lot of fun (which is shocking for a lot of people!) and also sometimes stop working and have a relaxed weekend. On the other hand I feel obliged to be honest. When I tell people about Cologne or the “airport” in Berlin I’m very satisfied to have destroyed their image of Germany as well-organized and performing country.
Anyway, it’s hard to generalize opinions about Germany, though I measured two main opinions (to make it easy).
On the one hand there are people who don’t like the plenty of rules in Germany which contain and prevent freedom and fun. Also they think we are very cold, don’t like people and socializing. So their image of Germany is one of a very good country regarding infrastructure and economy, though a very bad one when it comes to living and enjoying your time there.
On the other hand there are people who really appreciates a well-organized and strict way of living with a lot of rules and a solution/way for everything. Also they appreciate our mentality. We’re not seen as unsociable, but as people who are polite, not pushy and easy-going. Moreover, they are amazed how smooth things work in Germany and would like to come or live there.
Whereby we come to the next point…
Topic Nr. 3: Why the hell are you here? I’d love to live and work in Germany!
Sometimes, as I wrote also before, people wonder why I am here. A lot of them would love to work somewhere else (for instance in Germany) for higher salaries, with a higher living standard in a working state offering a future perspective. It doesn’t happen too often to me, but what should I answer then? I usually point out why I chose Romania (curiosity), that I like it here and appreciate a lot. That I also don’t really think about living here in the long run I mostly conceal.
In the end
I was surprised how many stereotypes exist about Germany. Both, the too positive ones as well as the unjustified ones. I lived for quite a long time in Germany and I know more or less how it is. For other people it’s the same than for me with Romania: Just go and see how it is in reality.
Knowledge Builders 3 