1) Public Transport Ettiquette
There is none. Imagine the shock I had when - polite and British as I am - I witnessed a group of strong, sporty guys take up the easy access area of the tram whilst an old man stood for the entirety of his journey. I was standing too, but hey, I have strong legs that could carry me fine.
Yet don't be fooled into thinking that if you offered your seat to an elderly person that they would be thankful. Or that they would even accept it. Call it pride, call it entitlement, whatever, offering your seat to an oldie is a minefield!
Equally, I distinctly recall having to stand on the tram with my broken foot in plaster. Yes, some lovely young people offered me their seat, but getting to it on a crowded, moving tram was impossible so I said it was fine. However, the seat behind me became free quite quickly - hooray! - and was immediately filled by some guy who glared at me. Dude, I'm on crutches, have you no sympathy?! Oh and don't expect disabled friendly access everywhere. It is not so bad as other countries in Europe, but I had to hop the steps with the aid of a passerby. At least someone was nice...
2) Pointed Staring in the Street
Maybe I have mentioned this before, maybe I haven't (I've lost track of the number of times I've ranted about this) but if you come here, get used to the idea that you will be stared at, judged and dismissed on a daily basis. Coming from a country where making the smallest of eye contact with a stranger is considered a social taboo, this was crushing to experience. I worried constantly about my face - was it dirty? Did I have food in my teeth? And my clothes - do I stand out like a sore thumb? Do I look like a foreigner?
Soon I came to realise that people are just more direct here, and looking at people like you are weighing them up is normal.
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| The unlikely tale of a little auslander waiting for her tram first thing in the morning... |
And there is of course the creepy starers; those guys who think they have some right to you because you are female and in their presence.
I don't know in what circumstances I came to be the target of all weirdos ever, but it seems I'm on a priority list. Whether it is old Americans advising you to get pregnant, and get pregnant fast, to being growled at for daring to share the same path as a cyclist, I can't shake the feeling that there is a conspiracy.
3) Exact Change
Have a bill of €5.36? Want to pay with a €10 euro note because you have nothing else, not a cent? Well, you can, but you will be looked at in a passive-aggressive way as they attendant doles out your awkward change. Sorry, we foreigners just aren't efficient enough. And I hate carrying fifty thousand 1c coins in my purse. They are so tiny and impractical it isn't even funny. I miss sterling, with it's easy to recognise shapes and colours. *Dreamy sigh*
4) Pfand
I don't think there is an exact translation for this, as it is a concept that seems applicable only to Germany. Pfand is a small charge on top of the price of your bottle of beer/club mate/milk and you get that money back in the form of a coupon when you return the bottle to the supermarket. I actually really like this as it is an easy way to recycle, and you get a little off your shopping! I have heard of a joke among Erasmus students that goes along the lines of 'get drunk enough at the weekend and you can afford to eat the rest of the week.' For me, however, it's 'drink enough club-mate and get money off even more caffeinated beverages!'
5) Club-Mate.
Have I mentioned this before? I think I have, and what is more, I think I was disgusted with it. Not so anymore. I've done a complete 180° and now I love it. Which is appropriate, as my housemate informed me that their catchphrase used to be 'you get used to it'. And you really do... but don't get it from the Konsum down the road from where I live. I think someone shakes up the bottles (all of them - every single one) so that it fizzes up your nose.
6) Carbonated Everything
I guess this goes hand-in-hand with Club Mate, but all liquid is fizzy here. Even the 'still' water is carbonated.
Wtf?
7) Paprika Flavoured Snacks
Too bad Cheese and Onion, you don't make the grade.
8) Bio
Organic food! Ecological skin products! Vegan bacon! One thing I did not associate with Germany was just how easy it is to have an alternative lifestyle. It is ridiculously easy to be a vegetarian and it's not such a drastic step to turn vegan after that. (See? I told you to shift that obsession with wurst!) If you have hang ups about animal cruelty or damage to the environment then it is easy to find reasonably priced hygiene and beauty products. I like a brand called 'Weleda' and another (which is much cheaper!) called Florena, which both do great moisturisers (I want to bring back a case full of Weleda products...but I can't afford it!)
9) Straße-Fest
I have an inkling that this is for Eastern Germany only, but I may be wrong! In the times of the DDR people would gather on particular streets at particular times of the year and sell their hand-made goods/unwanted things, play music and eat street food. When I broke my foot I was so distressed to find out that I was going to miss the Westpaket that I went anyway. (What an adventure, and I couldn't have done it without my housemate!) We didn't see much because it was crazy busy (not to mention i-c-y) but fortunately it happens in Summer too, so I went again two days ago. Here are a few highlights. The art exhibition was odd... but maybe I'm not arty enough to understand this:
It's a hunk of plastic. *Shrug* But it was free to attend!
10) FKK
Freikörperkultur. Here is the Wiki page. But really. Ignore what it says and remember this: on a beautiful, hot summer's day by the lake, you will see the ugliest, oldest people baring all they have. It puts you off your Club Mate. Also, as much as I want to post the picture I have, I won't. It's not fair to put all of you off your Club Mate, now is it? So have a subtly Instagramed picture of the scenery instead!
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| Kulkwitzer See |
So there you go, ten things about living here in 'Schland. And on that note, five weeks today and I'll be back in the Shire. I still have that same desperation, but by throwing myself into uni work and seeing my friends whilst I still have the chance is helping me to appreciate what I have here. People keep telling me - and I guess I agree with them - that this experience will be my treasure, something to hold on to and draw strength from in the future. And as much as I really really reallyreallyreallyreally want to be home now, I'm trying not to wish time away as I don't want to waste the remainder of this opportunity. Thirteen year old me would not be impressed - and she has approved up until now.
-Rae
*Techno lingo for being a foreigner
