It's All Relative

One of the things you find out when you travel extensively and, even more so, when you live in other countries is that everything in life is truely relative. From your sense of hot and cold, to your taste in food, to your definition of "beautiful", "on time" and "long distance". It all depends on your point of view, on what you are accustomed to, and what "normal" means to you. And what we don't often realize is that our perceptions, as much as they are based on personality and temperament, they are equally, if not more, dependent on our culture and the common thought of the society we are brought up in. And often times it takes us saying, "yes, this is weird, strange, like nothing I've done, seen, heard or tasted before, BUT it could be good once I get used to it" to break down these invisible, yet not insignificant, barriers. I firmly believe that one must acquire, or be lucky enough to be born with, this ability to see outside the lines, so to speak, and into the bigger picture in order to be a successful nomad. Not to say I'm the final word on "traveling well", but just to share my humble observations and personal experience.



This time, not unlike any of my other international experiences, has involved those same uncomfortable encounters that so often arise when you've unknowingly commited a social faux pas, that if at home would be perfectly acceptable. Well ,luckily, up until now, the number of ghastly faux pas commited on my part have been limited. However, I will share the few that I can recall with you, as well as other general cultural differences I have observed or been told about.



First of all, germans like asians firmly believe in the differentiation between outside and inside, or "house", shoes. You always always take your shoes off when entering your own or someone else's house, and are to promptly put on either slippers or those slipper socks with the grips on the bottom before proceeding any further. And whatever you do, DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT, walk around bare foot. That is the biggest faux pas of all. In fact, Katie, my predecessor, told me of one incident in particular, where she ran out of the house to quickyl get the mail (or post) from the postman without her shoes on, and he absolutely refused to give it to her until she went back inside and got some shoes on. That, my friends, is how much germans do not like the idea of barefootedness.



For the second difference, I will move to the table, which I have found is one of the primary sites for cultural differences to emerge. As in, the German way is very different from the Italian, is very different from the American way. For example, Germans always always eat with both a fork and a knife, never with just a fork. Because even if the dish doesn't require anything to be cut, the knife is used to gently and politely knudge a portion of the food onto the fork. Also, it is considered a major faux pas in germany to start eating before everyone has their food and wishes each other "Guten Apetit!" - something that has proven quite the challenge for me to remember to do consistently. Also it seems that napkins are not a commonly held tool of the table here. Which I find completely bizarre and somewhat disconcerting :-) Whereas in Italy, I was thought to be complete heathen whenever I dared eat a meal without a table cloth or, at least, a place mat underneath my plate.

Besides table manners, there have of course arisen a few issues relating to the content of my meals. One of which is the Germans affinity for breakfasts and/or dinners consisting mostly of bread and butter or cheese, pates, sausages, and other spreadables. And don't get me wrong I too am a lover of such things, but when it gets to the point that I'm having it 14 times a week, it can be a bit exhausting on the palate, per se. The same issue has arisen in relation to dairy products in general. I mean I thought americans were bad, oh no the germans have out-done us by a landslide in the dairy consumption world. In fact, I can feel a dairy overload coming on, and the strong urge for asian and mediterranean cuisines setting in ...ahhh save me non-saturated fats save me!! Speaking of which, I feel I must adequately warn you all about german milch (milk) in case you ever come here. It, like most european milk, is of the variety that comes in a carton and can be stored on the shelf for what, according to the american perspective, are unnaturally long and unsafe periods of time. However, unlike all the other euro milks I have had the german shelf milk has a very peculiar taste, an acquired taste if you will. A taste that for me is undrinkable straight up, or even on the rocks. Instead if I am to have a glass of milk here I am always obliges to heat it and add honey, so the characteristic cheesey taste is well disguised. Yummy huh??!

Moving on from food, there is the german knack for following rules. A knack that extends to such common american habits as jay-walking despite the illegality of it, or even just crossing at an intersection before the little green man lights up. Then there is the amazing capacity for maintaining quiet and avoiding all eye-contact in a crowded, rush-hour public transport facility, that I've only seen out-done by the British. And finally I am here to tell you that the stereotype of german "bluntness" is very true. They do not dance around the issues, they do not sugarcoat, and they, unlikc us over-sensitized americans, rarely ever ever have to think about self-censoring their opinions. They 9 times out of ten just call it like they see it. Believe me, though I would not ever consider myself to be an overly sensitive, there are still times where it can catch me off-guard.

So this is my initial observation of key cultural differences. Do expect follow-up entries of a similar theme. Laters!!