GERMANS AND SOUTH AFRICANS

It Doesn’t Suck, It’s Just Different

by Nompumelelo Zulu, University of Cape Town

The biggest culture shock for me during my time in Tubingen has been the people. One of the reasons why I love travelling and going to new places is that I get to meet new people from different walks of life – I love people! I love hearing about their stories, where they’ve been, who they are, what makes them tick etc. So this automatically means that I am very outgoing and social, and I go out of my way to meet people and start conversations with random people. Unfortunately this did not translate very well in Tubingen, and I have found it very fascinating (logically speaking) but at times a bit offensive and rude (emotionally speaking). I had to constantly remind myself that “it doesn’t suck, it’s just different” – this is a motto I use when travelling to remind myself that I am in a different place, so obviously things will be different from home and you will have to stop complaining just because it is different to what you know, it is afterall how we grow as individuals.

Head of Department Donato Tangredi described Germans in the perfect way, they are private individuals who operate privately in a public space. So how does this look like? No smiling, no waving, no interaction with strangers, and very little chatter to complete silence in public transport (we once got told to keep quiet in the bus because people were trying to get home in peace, quite an interesting experience). And how is it interpreted by someone who comes from a place like South Africa? It is very easy for us to say Germans are cold, unfriendly, rude, and stand offish because we are used to smilling at each other, waving or acknowledgeing someone’s presence, being loud, warm and welcoming– because it is what we know. But it doesn’t mean that what we know is what is right or how things should be done, which I think is something we battled to grasp or accept. Most times when Germans were operating privately in a public space, we got emotional and took offence instead of learning and adapting to the social rules and understanding that we are in a different cultural and social space.

Thank you Tubingen, for teaching us more about intercultural engagement – which was very important in this context – and looking beyond ourselves. And thank you for giving us a greater appreciation for home.