Hello again!
It has just recently occurred to me just how little time I have left in Berlin. It’s hard to believe just how fast the time has gone. Even though I am running out of time, that doesn’t mean I’m done experiencing everything yet.
This past week was definitely one of the more lowkey weeks since I’ve been here. At Formly, I mainly did some customer prospecting and researched some platforms that could be used for some functions within the organization.
One thing that was super exciting was that my high school german teachers were in Berlin this past week. I was able to meet up with them and catch up, as it has been a while since I have been able to talk with them. I also got to see one of my friends that is still in high school, as he was on this exchange program they were doing.
On Friday, I left work early in order to go to the Fanmeile, but unfortunately, Germany was robbed by Spain and was eliminated from the Euro tournament. After that, we went as a group and celebrated one of the group member’s birthday.
Other than that, we did not do much this weekend and it kind of felt like a nice break from the trips I took the last couple of weeks. I still have some things that I need to get for some people, so my task this week is to finish up any shopping I need to get done. This weekend, I would like to go and see what festivities are going on for the final of the Euros as well.
But since my time here is coming to an end soon, I am able to reflect on something that is always a hot topic when it comes to traveling. Communication. In Germany, the style of communication is vastly different from in America. Just walking down the street, you will notice that people will not say hello to each other when passing by, unless they know that person. Germans, as people normally point out, do not small talk. When in line at the grocery store or on the bus, they will not actively start a conversation with someone next to them. I kind of like this communication style, as I find it kind of awkward when I am back home in the States when someone comments on my shirt and then will tell me their whole life story.
There’s one instance where I was working at the pizza shop and I picked up the phone to take an order. I kid you not, the order took almost 10 minutes because the person on the phone had to tell me their whole life story in order to place an order for like 2 pizzas. In Germany, you will never see someone tell any personal information to a stranger out in public.
In the workplace, it is kind of similar. While I am in a cooperative space, people really tend to keep to themselves or talk to the people they already know. What is interesting, is the majority of people here are from other countries, but they adopt the German way of not really small talking. The only German I interact with on a daily basis is my supervisor, and we talk all the time, but it is because we now are comfortable with each other.
I have to communicate in many different ways every day. I need to communicate with my coworkers, who are all in different countries, so I have to take time zones into account. I also need to communicate with the Germans I see when I go to the grocery store for lunch or if someone asks me a question. I enjoy being challenged to communicate in different ways every day. I know sometimes code-switching is difficult, but it provides a little spice to everyday life because someone could talk to you and they would never know you are American or not.
I am lucky to not really have come across many miscommunication situations. There was only one time where I had a small back and forth with a worker at a restaurant because they did not know why we were standing where we were, but eventually, he understood the point I was trying to get across.
Reflecting upon my time in Germany has helped me so much, so I am a bit sad it is coming to an end in the next few weeks.
But until then…
Tschüss!