Society & Politics

Been long in Germany; is expression of smiling fading away from the memory?

Been long in Germany; is expression of smiling fading away from the memory?


Clueless, curious and anxious, I flew from my homeland to the land of Germans. Clueless, considering the fact that the plans I made for life never included Germany. However, all the disinterest drained and I was overtaken by natural curiosity once I landed here. Anxiety increased as I moved away from Frankfurt international airport to the city given the amount of German language in vicinity increased ten folds!
While in my early days in Germany, majority of faces around were stern and unsmiling. Panic stricken, I tried to supress smiling against my normal jolly disposition all the while making myself look goofier and unconfident. People with an impressive height and overpowering build, made my small-self feel smaller than ever before. And I supressed my smile a bit more...
The trains, buses and trams (far more punctual than in my homeland) occupied quiet and serious faces against the chattering and buzzing lot of my homeland that daily used public transport. In India, everything loud and imaginable moves on street while here in Germany the transport on street is almost inaudible. People cross the street only when signalled by the street posts.
The number of children I saw in Germany was very very few compared to India since theirs is the decreasing birth rate. I missed the children playing outside my home, shouting for me to come out and play 'hide and seek' with them.


While, the work culture and academics both enforced punctuality and sincerity, novel mental and physical strain distressed me more.


The moment you put Indian food in your mouth, 100's of flavours tingle the taste buds while German food is certainly in urgency of some more spices. Although, one gets used to the food eventually as it is really healthy. (They love their coffee and cake. Sauerkraut and wurst are their fast foods.)


My Indian world painted in bright reds, yellows and greens was wiped by distasteful blacks, greys and browns. The colours of East were lost in the coldness of West. The sounds and chatter from morning till evening by the incomprehensible seriousness of inexpressive faces. The longing for going back to India overtook but I knew, I had to complete my education. I asked god, to deliver me some cheerfulness and courage to adapt myself here. To just let the phase pass. (The colours worn here are mostly on the darker side of the scale, a bit of matte red is optional.)


The sounds of Bollywood were replaced by rock and electronic music and the warmth and innocence of Bollywood was replaced. The feels I used to get watching and expressing Bollywood movies were lost. The number of channels showcasing sports and news were far more than the ones showing movies and dramas.


Been long in Germany; is expression of smiling fading away from the memory?


Sun shone but there was no warmth even in the shining sun here in contrast to the warm sun who visited my home town for almost 365 days. (Germans don't take sun casually and absorb every bit of sun when it is summer.) With scarce warm sensations around, my smile had a reason to go down again. The weather in here is not to be trusted. For me, it is always cold! Brrrhhhhh!


Everything around was so organized and weird that it took me a year to adapt. I started getting out of my shell and opening up to the people.


I had to leave being an introvert, in a place which thrived with virtually a lot of introverts. To move out of the room and approach them...I eventually learned that people here are friendly to you, when you are friendly to them. They do radiate warmth, returning your warmth back.
They talk deep when pursued with patience. It is difficult to win their trust and takes time to open their shells up, but they do open.
They are into charity and donate for good causes. One of the examples is acceptance of the refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.
They have made Germany a safe place to live. I did not experience the same sense of safety in India as I experienced here.
No, they are still not as open minded as Americans are but they are progressing. The amount of multicultural elements in Germany has increased as I observed from past 2 years. The number of Persian, Turkish, Thai, Indian, Syrian, Ethiopian restaurants, cafes is increasing in number.
They appreciate nature and a lot of land in Germany is covered under greens.
It was shocking to see people obsessed with Yoga and asked me if I knew it because I was from India. I didn’t!
Learn the language, if you do not understand German, you would not be able to integrate well or may be not at all.
Nevertheless, I have wonderful German friends and colleagues in office, university and dormitory.


Central aspect is, SMILE. I retained my smile when I began involving with the community and place here when I began learning the language. I learned that every culture has its own pros and cons and no society is perfect. Excited to see what future brings to me in here. :)


Finally, a video India vs Germany that makes all my German friends laugh :P




PS. Sorry for the kaputt Englisch and grammar.

Been long in Germany; is expression of smiling fading away from the memory?
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