Gifts and Presents
you be careful:)
Some time ago as I was invited to the Christmas eve celebration of a German family and also experienced this kind of occasion for the very first time, I did feel so embarrassed at the scene of exchanging the Christmas gifts. This was not about how expensive or how cheap a present you sent (of course I would say a tin of cola is surely not acceptable^_^), but about the manners there. In China as invited to a feastful dinner or similar occasions, it’s quite frequent to hand over your present at the first moment you see the host to show your gratitude. That son lived with me together in an apartment so I wanted to give my gift to him who’s in my sense on behalf of his whole family. But he just refused and said I should save this until we were at his home. So I had to stuck it into my pocket again, which was embarrassing enough to have killed me.
And later as we arrived at his home, I remembered his words this time and just observed how things went on. But out of my expectation there came an American girl too who was also invited, and now I had a problem. I just prepared a good and “big” present package for the while family and this girl got some more small presents along with her so that she could also send them to others at presence. Surely you can image how enjoying I felt to receive her cute present with empty hands on my side. If this was in China, I could at least spare the following terrible scene, because we Chinese never open the gifts at once to express our happiness and thanks. But here in Germany I have to, like others do. So again I had to admire her gift to be so wonderful in front of her while not daring to see her face.
So this is my unforgettable experience and I would very much suggest my fellow countrymen to keep in mind^_^!
Bureaucracy in China and Germany
Bureaucracy has a history!
Talking about this topic, people somehow always have to sigh. I was confronted with so many cases even before I left the university, let alone was could have happened when starting your career. In both countries there dominates a real funny word to describe this phenomenon, namely the “stamp country”. So in this sense if you want to get things down, you normally have to get well prepared for possible torturing and suffering. I almost did not got my graduation degree cause I missed the appointment with the chief for 10 minutes later due to a traffic jam as I came a far way from 2000 km to Beijing, yet the chief said “you have to come the next year for it!” And I don’t want to talk about how picky and tricky my visa inspection process had been.
Now I’m in Germany, people get caught in the same situation. For a bank card you have to deal with the clerks for like years and at last it turns out that you have to contact their head bosses from far away via telephone yourself. After that, there would normally be a long time for you to wait and get relaxed. And according to Hofstede’s theory which I recently am engaging in, this would be described as PDI, Power Distance Index, which says to which degree people perceive and accept the bureaucracy and privileges of powerful people. No wonder, in both countries the index is high.
So one very important tip for you to carry on your life in Germany and China is that you always prepare yourself enough time and try you best not to burst into rage, which only brings you more trouble and mess your life up easily.
C’est La vie!
Eating manners
Our way of serving food^_^
Even before I came to Germany, I’ve already sensed the difference a lot concerning on the table manners. As I was receiving a German guy in Beijing and went out with him to visit the Great wall, we stopped for a break at noon and ate there for lunch. In China we order dishes for all people cause everyone can share and taste different flavors which we see as an advantage. So I ordered for him and as the dishes came onto the table, he grasped “his ” dish without any thought. I knew this guy got sick because he had to finish a whole plate of fatty pork leg himself^_^. Until now I still enjoyed our way of eating on this point because even if I am now in Germany, I still keep on getting confronted with embarrassed situations in which I totally disliked the food but out of politeness had to finish it without the possibility to turn to other dishes instead. (cause dishes are served one after another in sequences)! Dear god!
Other interesting things are also worth mentioning. My German friends who once lived in China for quite a while had more than once complained that he rarely could bear Chinese spit bones of whatever directly onto the table or the ground because according to him it was really disgusting. So I told him for Chinese it was even more unacceptable to do it onto the plate which is considered to be seen more easily. While Chinese eat loudly, Germans clean the nose in front of people’s face; while Chinese mess up the dinner table, Germans lick their fingers… So it’s really difficult to say which way is better and who’s going to make compromise to the other. Anyway, that is culture!^_^
Sunday Taboos in Germany
In Germany shops get closed on sunday
Even before I came to Germany, I’ve already sensed the difference a lot concerning on the table manners. As I was receiving a German guy in Beijing and went out with him to visit the Great wall, we stopped for a break at noon and ate there for lunch. In China we order dishes for all people cause everyone can share and taste different flavors which we see as an advantage. So I ordered for him and as the dishes came onto the table, he grasped “his ” dish without any thought. I knew this guy got sick because he had to finish a whole plate of fatty pork leg himself^_^. Until now I still enjoyed our way of eating on this point because even if I am now in Germany, I still keep on getting confronted with embarrassed situations in which I totally disliked the food but out of politeness had to finish it without the possibility to turn to other dishes instead. (cause dishes are served one after another in sequences)! Dear god!
Other interesting things are also worth mentioning. My German friends who once lived in China for quite a while had more than once complained that he rarely could bear Chinese spit bones of whatever directly onto the table or the ground because according to him it was really disgusting. So I told him for Chinese it was even more unacceptable to do it onto the plate which is considered to be seen more easily. While Chinese eat loudly, Germans clean the nose in front of people’s face; while Chinese mess up the dinner table, Germans lick their fingers… So it’s really difficult to say which way is better and who’s going to make compromise to the other. Anyway, that is culture!^_^
The land of automobiles
You don’t know nobody in the world, you should have to know the king!
If you ask a German what he’s proud of at most for his country, the answers would come out from their mouths in the first second like well prepared: ” We produce the best beer in the world and we make damn good automobiles!” While living here I’ve pretty much broadened my vision as I see numerous brand cars such as BMW and Mercedes roaring by, even trucks, police cars and taxis are in our sense luxury cars which not a common person in China can easily afford. The advanced technologies of car manufacturing are exactly the reason why. I was several times at some sales centres and auto exhibitions to enjoy this magnificent babies and you can never believe how cheap (of course a car won’t be too cheap but in comparison^_^) those cars are, on the average I would say twice as cheap as in China! So if somebody tells me of the crazing idea of driving a car from Germany back to his own country, I wound never doubt about it! German People love cars and love driving cars, not only because they make awesome ones, but also Germany is one of the only several countries in which there’re still no velocity limits on its many roads. Under this circumstance Germany has become the paradise for uncountable car-lovers all over the world as well. A German friend has ever told me the story of his grandfather that although he’s too old to see anything, he still won’t give up driving his own beloved car. This may sounds crazy but Germans are exactly the people who perhaps would rather die than living a world without automobiles!
The German Language
German is easy!
What is the most difficult language in the world? The German people say it’s Chinese and there’s a clear proof for that: According to a German proverb, if you hear them say “I just know Chinese about that”, which doesn’t actually mean they can speak Chinese but that they know nothing about it. So through this you see how they fear of the Chinese language. But German is not easy either. Personally I’ve already learned German for like three or four years, but comparing to the English language, it’s so hard that until now I still make a lot of grammatic mistakes and sometimes you get so frustrated as well due to the many slangs and accents. And you get somehow confused by the reverse oder of the sentence organization and just forget about it is an usual thing and also practical for you to relieve the pain^_^ One German friend adviced me to get really melted into the daily life, but what the hell does that account when I already live with 8 German guys? He then answered: “Don’t always talk about study and academical crap, let’s also talk about some interesting things like computer games, alcohol and Bars cause learning a foreign language requires you to stay relaxed first.” I then agreed and got to their modern way of learning. Later after that we even built a learning group as they also showed great interest in learning Chinese. I still remember in our first class we started with dirts words in both languages and it is really a good beginning. No kidding, there are so many things in common to show how people all over the world think in the same way and my German learning becomes accelerated too, meanwhile I’m also proud of being able to have a bunch of German pupils!
Football! (Part II )
Celebration for becoming world champion!
The strongest team of the world: the Women’s football team of Germany! Sexy but definitely offensive! Talking about football, surely that I can’t help thinking about that of our country in China. And you can have my words that it would be easily destroyed by the German girls! A friend of mine who lives at the moment in the South Germany tells me that along in his small city there have already been 16 football clubs for women. Fortunately I also had a chance to watch the training of a women’s football team in the near and I wonder, whether people here train them the way they train a guys’ team. There have been so many strict requirements they have to meet such as finishing a distance of 5,000m within a certain time and strength training. They’re simply “monsters” in my eyes and my friend made joke to me that I’ll also be finished if I marry a girl in that team^_^ But there remains a same problem with the women’s football game: fair treatment. Fair support from the federation, fair pay and fair rights. So it won’t be the short way to make large amount of money, the girls are fighting more for glory, of their own, and of the country!
Football! (Part I )
For what do we live in the world? Germans would say: Drinking beer! And for what do we drink so much beer? They would say: Watching football! Every time at big football events such as World Cup or European Championship Cup and so on, you will surely see masses of people gathering together in colourful costumes and make-up to support their football team. They make up passionate songs and mottos as well all by themselves and shout out loud all the way to draw people’s attention to join them in the revelry. Once the fans of the opponent side of a match are also there, then there begin very funny quarrels and sometimes even big fights. But football hooligans are rare, the most people still hold the bottom line cause they know they come to enjoy the game but not mess things up as a support for their beloved team.
Germany almost became world champion for quite a lot of times and they surely belong to the first-classic teams of the world. You never know how many football clubs there are in Germany and how much they’ve invested into it. People just love it! We watched live shows at home with friends, when the German team shot a goal, there was a loud “hurray!” not only in the chamber but everywhere and when the kickers lost a good chance, there arose a thundering “Schei……sse” all over the city at the same time! Germans turn to kids in front of football and that’s one lovely emotional side of precise German people with whom we are familiar with.
Surely this helps you better understand the fun football brings than Balack, doesn’t it^_^
Graffiti and doodle
the smart anti-spying way
In Germany everybody can be an artist to draw! Cause every cement wall is your palette to work on and express your mind, without any worried that you’ll be punished under the excuse of spoiling publish infrastructures. In many countries this action would normally be seen as foul and related to a mess, thus strictly prohibited, but Germans conceive a more tolerant mind toward it and consider that merely a way of outlet of personal opinions and also artistic talent. I never have once understood those lettered doodled on walls or surfaces of trains or ground, wherever, but I do think without these graffiti works the city would have become boring and less vibrant. I once asked one doodling guy who was going to pay for all the costs for paints brushes and so on or whether they were hired to do this, they said they paid everything all by themselves and they wanna to that because creating a more colourful world is their responsibility! What a cute argument!^_^
But I guess you won’t be very happy to find out the front door of your house is messed up with paintings when you wake up. there are indeed many people as well, who really hate this and simply go mad and even call a police. According to a research, alone in the region of Rhein-Ruhr in 2003 it cost already € 30 million to wipe the graffiti clean, which obviously would last not long till the next “attack”. So people begin to set cameras in public places and try to fight back, which did have received good results. But Graffiti and doodle still go on, constituting an amazing artificial scenery of Germany, which I do love very much^_^!
a very famous grafitti in the Cold War time on Berliner Wall
a gorgeous three demensional Doodle art
Bear City
Berlin is called the bear city, somehow I have the feeling that it’s firstly related to the Spelling. You read the name of this city as quickly as you can, and then….. you’re pronouncing like a bear: belbelbel!^_^ The city’s emblem is illustrated with the image of a bear and hence you can easily find this animal in many places and occasions as a friendly mascot such as bars, restaurants, cake shops, stadiums and so on. I guess there should be some sport teams which favor the name too, maybe. One bear, the cute knut, has made Germany’s Capital even more famous. Millions of People streamed here to watch this little creature and the city really live up to its name! Bear has become a cultural note for Berlin and they never can be separated any more. Another yearly big event to mention is the amazing and influential Berlin Film Festival, at which top stars from around the world gather here and compete with each other for the glory. If they have luck, they get a bear back, a present from Berlin! So when travelling in Berlin, do not forget to bring your friends or family some bear-shaped chocolates or other kinds of souvenirs relating to it. Have a nice time here!
little cutie:)
Red Carpet to Shine