My idea of Germany before I visited the country was that the people are rough and unfriendly. So, as I jetted in at Frankfurt Airport on Sunday, May 20, 2007, I was looking for these particular traits in officials at the airport. Well, I couldn’t trust the airline staff”s smiles, after all, they are paid to be friendly, aren’t they?
But the airport was my first ‘testing’ point. I was disappointed, I must say. I just went through every checkpoint with ease. Well, except at one point when an airport official at a security checkpoint took my face products and threw them in the bin because the laws of the land do not allow a certain amount of liquid products into the country. The details are sketchy, as you have rightly observed, which means I wasn’t listening to her explanation but rather I was thinking I had finally met a German.
I tried to negotiate. The explanation that my skin is sensitive and it only tolerates certain products–hence the justification that I had to have these products–fell on a deaf ear. Well, who could blame her, a rule is a rule and you don’t bend it for one desperate African lady. But somehow I thought she would understand and give me back my stuff.
Your guess is as good as mine, she did not. “I am sorry” were her last words. She must have been truly sorry for me, if her facial expression was anything to go by.
An hour later, I was aboard Lufthansa 172, heading for the capital city–Berlin. In another hour, I was at Tegel Aiport. Guess what I found, two ladies–Sabine and Rita– and one man–Christoff, were waiting for course participants to the IIJ/InWEnt Multimedia and Online Journalism course. I happened to be one of them. Their friendliness was so captivating and somehow infectious. But wait a minute! I thought this is Germany where people are not supposed to be friendly? Well, the three gave me another impression of Germany and made me look forward to the days ahead.
But one man nearly spoiled all this. Few hours later–in a supermarket–we met this German guy who, I thought, was mean. I and two collegues happened to be at a tomato section when this man walked by. Some tomatoes were on the floor and my assumption was that he thought we were responsible for the mess. He was not amused and said “You Africans, and Asians, you think you can do whatever you do in your countries here?” Not the exact words, but the meaning remains intact, of course add to it a serious face and harsh voice.
I asked my colleague from India what the man had said but, probably not wanting to repeat what the man had said, told me to ‘forget about it’ which I did. What with an exciting first day in class. The organisers, facilitors were so nice, they made Germany a home outside home. So, it is not surprising now to see Germans smiling at us and offering to help, people are different after all.
I am yet to get used to the public transport system–the trains, the buses. The idea of building a friendship with a ‘map’ and relying on it almost day in and day out seems to be an exciting experience, especially considering that I and geography do not ‘speak’ the same language. But I am learning.
The language is another problem. I barely have to ask for me to find a product I want in a supermarket as almost all of them are in German language. If I have to get by, the German-English dictionary has to be my friend from now on.
Overall, I can feel that I will enjoy the two months in the country. The weather is warm and nice. The training is super. The participants are great. And of course the food! Perhaps, let’s talk about the food later because I am getting hungry already.
Hey lizbeth, you write really well — I enjoyed reading your post!
Just thinking about our impressions of Germany and how some of them are wrong, I figured at least some of it has to do with the way the press works.
I mean, where did we get the impression that Germans can be mean and even xenophobic? From what the newspapers and TV channels report about the place. And so many of the stories about Germany are about skinheads and resentment against immigrants and stuff like that. But of course, newspapers usually latch on to bad news, not good — it makes better headlines. So a few bad incidents can become a stereotype of the country which may not be entirely true.
The same thing can happen about our countries. India sometimes still gets portrayed in the western press as an exotic place with elephants and snake charmers. At the other end of the spectrum, there are a lot of articles in the western press about India’s economic boom. Those are the stereotypes.
The reality: most of the elephants and snake charmers are around only for the tourists, and the economic boom is yet to reach beyond the metro cities to the millions of villages in the hinterland.
See what I mean? It really gets me thinking about the power of the press to create stereotypes in people’s minds.
Comment: well-written experience in Germany, which make me want to read again
hi, i think you write really well too, very interesting story
I hope the supermarket incident is a isolated one. On the whole the people here seems peace full. the greatest problem is the language.