Culture shock

Since two days my girlfriend is back to Berlin. She was at home for almost two months. As i know from previous trips to the US (and I stayed at the most 6 weeks) it is hard and takes a while to adjust being back in Germany. Houses are so close together. I never thought about it before i went to the US for the first time but when I was back I felt a bit claustrophobic. People look so different, especially the teeth, it smells different (I will never get this deodorant-hating attitude some people have here). A lot of people on the streets run you over or pass very close and if you wait for a sorry you could spend the rest of your life where it happened.

Of course it was always easier for me to adjust again because i was born and raised here so i knew how it works in Germany. Back in 2006, during my first trip to the US, i always wondered why people constantly said Excuse me, when they passed 3 meters away from me, but i loved it fast because for the first time it was like my parents tought me. They told me to always hold the door open for people behind you, especially women, to offer my seat to the elderly or pregnant women on public transportation, etc. If i told my more conservative parents about my american experiences they always would say: Oh it is the fault of the 1968 student movement. They protested against the conservative and hierarchic situation in the German post-WWII society but they also declared manners as something superficial and unnecessary which were just designed to limit the potentials of people. Since I was born a lot later than 1968 I can't tell if it is true or not. I can just say that manners are not seen as something very important. I feel the need to add again, that not everyone is like that, there are exceptions, but the general observation i think, is like i said.
Back to my girlfriend. She is going through that early phase of jet laged-culture-shock. People are rude, unfriendly, the design of curtains, furnitures, rugs, etc. everything is better in the US, etc. I know this will take some days for here to really be back again but untill then i wonder if the only thing i can do is listen. But i can tell you it is not always easy because i beef about my country quite often but in such situations i feel the need to defend Germany. Life can be confusing sometimes.

The American brands of my life

Tomorrow i can start to count down untill my girlfriend E. will come back from Pennsylvania. She will bring an enormous pile of new clothes for me (at least i hope that:-) from the outlets close to her family's hometown. I think since I met her in 2006 i never bought clothes or shoes here in Germany. Since then it is ROCKPORT and TIMBERLAND which comfort my feet, and mostly BANANA REPUBLIC and GAP for clothes. I am always stunned when i go to a store here how expensive clothes are in the old world and how enjoyably cheep they are in the new world. Does anyone know a reason for that? America-The Shoppers Paradise!!!
When E. will be in Berlin again her luggage is also stuffed with other goods of COSTCO (Thanks to her G'Ma's membership), so life is at least tolerable here in Germany;-). Vanilla Extract, brown sugar, cream of tartar, evaporated milk, GHIRARDELLI morsels, Craisins from OCEAN SPRAY, SUNMAID Golden Raisins, canned pumpkin (yes, Thanksgiving is comming up), CREST toothpaste and all the female beauty stuff, i as a man never remember the name. She will have made good deals at TARGET and TJ MAXX and will have enjoyed amazing Mu Shu chicken at the best chinese restaurant i ever went to. Very important!!! she will also have had real mexican food at places like CANTINA LAREDO, etc.
My profound german friends will hopefully excuse my superficial thoughts of commerce and brands. Yes, you are absolutely right, the best american brand she will bring back is she herself!!! I miss you E.!!!

Smelly Europeans - Danny Granger Tweet

This is an insult to every person in europe. People never smell here, never ever!!!! At least not in Berlin;-).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/01/danny-granger-team-usa-fo_n_700457.html