It is beginning to grate

Fuinseog · 17-12-2010 2:47pm

EGAR wrote: »

Sorry but I do not believe in the whole collective guilt trip and so I am not imbued with any sort of guilt and never will be. Nor do I represent Germany abroad, I am me, simple as.

Although I had to laugh when the Pope got elected and people around here felt it necessary to congratulate me on the fact . Even funnier when a real old lady congratulated me in the local shop and then whispered to her husband: "At least the Pope isn't English!".

the collective guilt trip is laughable as seen in the Harry Enfield clip.

its slowly becoming okay to be proud of Germany. no other country in europe has doen as much as the germans to promote stability in europe.

The German Pope issue was one where we let ourselves down and had to listen to Dave Norris whine about him being anti gay and a nazi.

EGAR · 17-12-2010 8:56pm

Carry wrote: »

Sorry, EGAR, it' not as simple as that.

Yes, it is - for me. I am neither proud of nor disappointed with being German. I am simply me and I don't give two figs about what other peeps think I might be.

And I am not exactly from a younger generation either

.

I don't buy into stereotypes not do I represent one. We are all individuals no matter what your passport says.

Lawrence1895 · 18-12-2010 7:47pm

I just joined this board 2 day ago, and now I stumbled over this thread

It was six years ago last September when I moved to Ireland from Germany, and there were good times and bad times...but I guess, that is not unusual.

Throughout all the years, the same stereotypes about us Germans...we build great cars, the Oktoberfest is something you must see, our beer is kind of nice, football teams from Germany are well known...and we had Hitler :mad:

Well...decades passed since he kicked the bucket, Germany paid the price for 12 years of shame, I think, it is time to look forward.

Of course, there are some twits in Germany who want Hitler and his gang back rather sooner than later, but it's only a small minority...and they were not even born when the NSDAP was in power.

But still, one thing really makes me sad...people blaming the 'Blacks and Romanians' for the recession.
Come on, do you really have to go down this track? Maybe it's only a few people who think like that...I really hope it is...

Carry · 19-12-2010 4:02am

EGAR wrote: »

Yes, it is - for me. I am neither proud of nor disappointed with being German. I am simply me and I don't give two figs about what other peeps think I might be.

And I am not exactly from a younger generation either .

I don't buy into stereotypes not do I represent one. We are all individuals no matter what your passport says.

Lucky you, if you get away with it.
But it's not about being proud, or unproud, of your nationality, it's about how the Irish choose to see you as a German.

Sure, I don't give a sugar either about my nationality. Travelled too much in my life.
But I'm still German, if I like it or not, and that's the way people see and often judge us. That's the way it is.

As my local mechanic recently said, the best mechanic in the world by the way, after my car broke down in the snow in the middle of nowhere. "What I don't understand is why you, as a German, drive a bloody French car. And as a German you should be intelligent enough to know to put coolant into your cooling system!"

Yeah, funny, innit? And rather admiring of the assumed German intelligence and ingenuity. Not mine though in this incident, obviously...

Still, it shows that there is a perception of Germanness, in a good and a bad way. Usually in a funny way, quite often in that misconceived historical way, but rarely in an individual way.
You might be as lovely as possible, but you are still German. Full stop.

And you do know, that your are still the German dog woman, not any woman who looks after dogs over here? As in "ah shure, the Germans love their animals, god help them". I don't live that far away from you, so I know what I'm talking about...

I don't mind being identified as the one who I am, and I'm German. Can't help it. Don't care, really.

But I do mind if some tools file me in as a Nazi, only because they don't know any better.

And no, I won't educate them. It's pointless.

EGAR · 27-12-2010 10:36pm

Ahm, Carrie, that is basically what my post said... I use Occam's Razor as I am too lazy to type a lot.

Yeah, I may be the German dogwoman but poor old **** who lives down the road from me for the past 40 years is still the *Offaly man* etc pp.

You must all know very strange people as I've never had any experiences like you mentioned and I am here 14 years.

Carry · 28-12-2010 2:46am

EGAR wrote: »

You must all know very strange people as I've never had any experiences like you mentioned and I am here 14 years.

Me, too, that is 14 years. But I didn't only live in the West, got around in Ireland a bit. More chances to meet strange people.

And yes, I have a penchant for oddballs and odd situations and attract trouble and troublesome people (especially boyfriends)... :rolleyes: ...and provoke otherweise perfectly polite people to let rip...:D
But hey, that makes life interesting and usually get's to the bone!

And sorry, Occam's Razor isn't actually my thing. I like it complicated, multilayered, contrary and controversal - and rambling.

And since you mentioned it - and I'm at it:
There is a family in my village who's ancestors moved (or were moved) from Dublin about 400 years ago to this place. They are still called "the Dubliners". There are other age old grudges and prejudices which still have repercussions until today.

So maybe it's no wonder that Germans are still seen as Nazis?
Did anyone ever told them about the German Peasants Revolt in the 16th century? (no, not you, dear mod! You wouldn't, would you?)

Maybe with their strange affinity to the past the Irish might eventually learn that the Germans are the true revolutionaries - as long as nobody tells them about the failures.
That might teach them, that we are no Nazis at all!

Rambling again, can't help it.

EGAR · 28-12-2010 9:28pm

Carry wrote: »

And yes, I have a penchant for oddballs and odd situations and attract trouble and troublesome people (especially boyfriends)... :rolleyes: ...and provoke otherweise perfectly polite people to let rip...:D

Me too on all counts - comes with the territory especially the latter. The "worst" comment ever re my nationality was being called *German Shepherd* but they have since revised it and call me *Judge Judy* instead - I think I can live with that quite comfortably

.

prinz · 04-01-2011 4:12pm

Yes and no. To start off I am Irish but a Germanophile (?) and my wife is German.

There is a definite stereotype of the the dour, serious, humourless German who just wants control etc in Ireland that does get tiresome. However it is slowly beginning to change. For instance Germany would never have been considered as a holiday destination by friends etc, but I have brought groups to Germany twice now and they have left both times with very positive impressions and some of the lads are looking to go back such was the fun on a weekend beer break, meeting, friendly, easy-going cheerful people, having the craic in a couple of micro breweries etc.

There is however a definite under-current of late along the lines of the Germans are 'taking control', buying Ireland, starting a fourth Reich etc that also gets on my tits. Have gotten a lot of this from taxi drivers as it happens. Then they ask my wife 'where are you from?'.....Answer Germany...awkward silence. On the other hand my wife has been asked numerous times if the attitude towards Ireland was negative in Germany due to the bail-out/and has been apologised to etc by people genuinely afraid that the reputation of Ireland has damaged in Germany.

On the other topic - the war. Tbh I am married to a German now because I once told the old joke about my great grandfather falling from his watchtower in a group of mixed nationalities. Only one person seemed to find it in any way funny and now I am married to her. She was also the only German present ironically enough. Personally, the best weapon I see against the Hitlers of this world is to laugh at them, thereby robbing them of their power even decades after death. "The war" as a topic of conversation still hides under the surface constantly, and as someone mentioned Fawlty Towers earlier that episode was a perfect parody of the British obsession with all things Third Reich.

Back to present day. Yes the stereotype Prussianlike German is alive and well and tolerated in this country. However when I have been to Germany, as has also been mentioned in this thread, the German obsession with the IRA etc has also often been apparent. I have been asked questions ranging from 'What do you think of the IRA?' to 'Could you get me some IRA memorabilia?' to 'Do you think the IRA didn't kill enough Brits?' That gets equally as grating. It is expected that I have some sort of anti-British axe to grind, and people have gone away disappointed when I deflect such nonsense. This seems to be tied into the anti-facist culture though, in the same way that the Baader-Meinhof's explained away their actions as fighting the 'system'/oppressor/neo-fascist state etc. There is almost a desire to always trump for the 'little guy' now, no matter the cost. On one occassion having gotten tired of the constant pro-IRA stance of some Germans I told a story... about armed men kicking in your door in the middle of the night on some trumped up 'charges' of offences against the people or other crap, taking you from your family off into the dark night, never to be seen by them again, and being tried and executed in secret... they assumed I was referring to the Gestapo.... I told them I was referring to the Provos and Jean McConville and before long the pro-IRA stance was considerably softened. There are some who equate the likes of the IRA and the White Rose and other Resistance groups when nothing could be further from the truth. So yeah, perhaps when the Germans here are back in Germany they could make it known that not all Irish people are harbouring anti-English resentment.

The other one is that Irish people are irrepressible drunks, not the brightest, no work ethic and generally incapable. That attitude seems to prevail in Germany too I have noticed. So we're not all that different. National steroetypes exist. We must deal with it.

As for going back to the current German jokes these days, it's best to take it in your stride as it is usually meant in a light-hearted way tbh. Any I come across I pass along to my wife and she gets a chuckle at them too, usually if they portray the Prussian stereotype......perhaps it's because she's a Rhinelander though 'we're different' or so she says.

SteeveeDee · 17-01-2011 3:06am

prinz wrote: »

Back to present day. Yes the stereotype Prussianlike German is alive and well and tolerated in this country. However when I have been to Germany, as has also been mentioned in this thread, the German obsession with the IRA etc has also often been apparent. I have been asked questions ranging from 'What do you think of the IRA?' to 'Could you get me some IRA memorabilia?' to 'Do you think the IRA didn't kill enough Brits?' That gets equally as grating. It is expected that I have some sort of anti-British axe to grind, and people have gone away disappointed when I deflect such nonsense. This seems to be tied into the anti-facist culture though, in the same way that the Baader-Meinhof's explained away their actions as fighting the 'system'/oppressor/neo-fascist state etc. There is almost a desire to always trump for the 'little guy' now, no matter the cost. On one occassion having gotten tired of the constant pro-IRA stance of some Germans I told a story... about armed men kicking in your door in the middle of the night on some trumped up 'charges' of offences against the people or other crap, taking you from your family off into the dark night, never to be seen by them again, and being tried and executed in secret... they assumed I was referring to the Gestapo.... I told them I was referring to the Provos and Jean McConville and before long the pro-IRA stance was considerably softened. There are some who equate the likes of the IRA and the White Rose and other Resistance groups when nothing could be further from the truth. So yeah, perhaps when the Germans here are back in Germany they could make it known that not all Irish people are harbouring anti-English resentment.

The other one is that Irish people are irrepressible drunks, not the brightest, no work ethic and generally incapable. That attitude seems to prevail in Germany too I have noticed. So we're not all that different. National steroetypes exist. We must deal with it.

Just stumbled across this thread and have to agree with this here.Had a stint in Berlin and came across these exact stereotypes all too often!

It's true that the Germans get a lot of stick but they dish it out as much as any nation.I too have been assumed to harbour anti british sentiment,drink too much guinness,to have violent political stances,be lazy and have the ability to talk my way out of a death sentence..now I'm not sure what's worse,being classed as efficient and dull or the above,either way it's all nonsense.I'm not convinced people equate German's with Nazi's these days either.Folks may have a sincere interest in German people's history as it had a huge impact on Europe and may also joke about Nazism and what happened but it's mostly all hyperbole and not to be taken at face value.

I cant blame people,who live thousands of miles away with virtually no common culture,for their ignorance regarding the personalities and virtues of others as it's normal,people are different and they will discuss that differently.

Just don't rely on information based on old propaganda,surely we are all smart enough in that respect.Vice Versa of course!

connewitz · 17-01-2011 11:24am

SteeveeDee wrote: »

Just stumbled across this thread and have to agree with this here.Had a stint in Berlin and came across these exact stereotypes all too often!

It's true that the Germans get a lot of stick but they dish it out as much as any nation.I too have been assumed to harbour anti british sentiment,drink too much guinness,to have violent political stances,be lazy and have the ability to talk my way out of a death sentence..now I'm not sure what's worse,being classed as efficient and dull or the above,either way it's all nonsense.I'm not convinced people equate German's with Nazi's these days either.Folks may have a sincere interest in German people's history as it had a huge impact on Europe and may also joke about Nazism and what happened but it's mostly all hyperbole and not to be taken at face value.

I cant blame people,who live thousands of miles away with virtually no common culture,for their ignorance regarding the personalities and virtues of others as it's normal,people are different and they will discuss that differently.

Just don't rely on information based on old propaganda,surely we are all smart enough in that respect.Vice Versa of course!

I read this thread by accident and was amazed, what was going on here since over one year.
I am German and live here in Ireland since 8 years. My partner is Irish and since the whole bailout thing, he is on to me about the Germans could not win the war so they buy now Europe. :mad: It makes me sooooo mad!!! I do know, that he means to be funny, but this is well beneath the belt line!
We do have this collective guilt! It is true and this will be with us for generations to come!
My daughter went to school in Ireland and on her first day of school was "welcomed" by one boy with shouting "Heil Hitler". She was so shocked that she could not react (being in Ireland since one week and with little English). She came home and was raging. I just told her to ignore him. (Which I do know was wrong to say, I just wanted to protect her!)
But the next morning was the same greeting. This time she replied with "You idiot, Hitler was not a German he was from Austria!" This took all her courage and I do know, that she was threatening the rest of the day. She did not know, how the other students will react. As far as I do know she got only thumps up from the crowd.
But still no rest. This boy went on and on with his greetings and remarks. She complaint about it and I talked with the schoolmaster. He just told us that she should pretend not to hear it. Not my daughter!!! She had had enough by now and so it did happen - she beat him up! End of story!
No more comments or snide remarks. She finished school, done her Leaving Cert and went to College.
But does it has to be like this in the 21th century? What have the Irish learned in there History lessons? When you listen carefully to really old people than you get the message, that the Second World War brought food on the tables, because many Irish went to England to work there, while the English where at war. So you get the impression, that the war could go on for another while to help their families.
Don`t get me wrong, I do love Ireland and most of the people are nice and friendly, but since the bailout I am met more and more with awkward silence when I get introduced by my partner as his partner from Germany. Before they were all very interested and wanted to know a lot. Now I am just politely acknowledged.
There seems to be a stereotype all over the world, the British are arrogant, the Irish a drinking nation, the Germans have no humor, the Russians only sing and drink Wodka and so on. It is time to open our eyes and try to see what is standing in front of us - a human being like we, just different and we should except this difference because it makes the world so interesting!:)

axer · 17-01-2011 11:46am

SteeveeDee wrote: »

It's true that the Germans get a lot of stick but they dish it out as much as any nation.I too have been assumed to harbour anti british sentiment,drink too much guinness,to have violent political stances,be lazy and have the ability to talk my way out of a death sentence..now I'm not sure what's worse,being classed as efficient and dull or the above,either way it's all nonsense.I'm not convinced people equate German's with Nazi's these days either.Folks may have a sincere interest in German people's history as it had a huge impact on Europe and may also joke about Nazism and what happened but it's mostly all hyperbole and not to be taken at face value.

I will laugh at stereotypes since they are generally true (from a very high level) but being called or inferred as being a Nazi is not stereotyping. Thats what makes it different.

SteeveeDee · 17-01-2011 2:36pm

axer wrote: »

I will laugh at stereotypes since they are generally true (from a very high level) but being called or inferred as being a Nazi is not stereotyping. Thats what makes it different.

Certainly I agree,however I don't think this is the case 90% of the time.Again hyperbole and hypersensitivity.

Don`t get me wrong, I do love Ireland and most of the people are nice and friendly, but since the bailout I am met more and more with awkward silence when I get introduced by my partner as his partner from Germany. Before they were all very interested and wanted to know a lot. Now I am just politely acknowledged.

This is a shame and a very idiotic thing to do.It would never cross my mind that you had anything to do with a bailout,a lot of people in this country get sucked in to the blame culture so I wouldn't worry about it,it will pass when something or someone else needs a good blaming!

niallcon4re · 14-03-2011 3:04pm

Germany is screwing Ireland over , yet they complain that we complain.

Their banks lent to our banks but they expect us to take all the it.

Screw Germany!

Fuinseog · 14-03-2011 4:52pm

niallcon4re wrote: »

Germany is screwing Ireland over , yet they complain that we complain.

Their banks lent to our banks but they expect us to take all the it.

Screw Germany!

yeah, they should just give us the money with no strings attached, like they always have been doing.
in the height of the boom we did not need the EU and thought them stupid for giving us free money, which we and our government pissed away. Now we are forced to beg at their door and still we want to dictate the terms.
The Irish who are anti EU are either completely irresponsible or read too much of The Sun.

Fuinseog · 14-03-2011 4:58pm

SteeveeDee wrote: »

Certainly I agree,however I don't think this is the case 90% of the time.Again hyperbole and hypersensitivity.

This is a shame and a very idiotic thing to do.It would never cross my mind that you had anything to do with a bailout,a lot of people in this country get sucked in to the blame culture so I wouldn't worry about it,it will pass when something or someone else needs a good blaming!

in Germany people would accuse me of being an IRA member or aggressive(apparently the Irish like to fight) once they found out where I was from.
i will go to Germany ove rteh summer and will be surprsied if strangers there do not make reference to our poor economy.

Stupid people are in no short supply in Germany either.

Regarding the heil hitler jibes, if a school principal did not take that seriously I would report him for inciting racial hatred.

Fuinseog · 14-03-2011 5:02pm

alois wrote: »

i'd imagine fuinseog meant irish schools. teachers generally ignore that kind of stuff...

true, but if it is explained to hem that it is racial abuse on a par with the N word and that if it continues external action will be taken, that will implicate them, action will be taken.

having said that I was working with Brits in Germany who regarded me as an IRA sympathiser, because I have a Gaelic name and the German management did not take my complaint seriously, claiming I was being oversensitive.

niallcon4re · 14-03-2011 5:09pm

Fuinseog wrote: »

yeah, they should just give us the money with no strings attached, like they always have been doing.
in the height of the boom we did not need the EU and thought them stupid for giving us free money, which we and our government pissed away. Now we are forced to beg at their door and still we want to dictate the terms.
The Irish who are anti EU are either completely irresponsible or read too much of The Sun.

If a german pension fund lent money to a public limited company (which the banks were) then why is the Irish tax payer liable?

the pension fund made a bad investment and in capitalism sometimes you lose. This is not the debt of the Irish nation.

Germany is screwing Ireland over to protect their pension funds and their banks that made bad business decisions. they did NOT loan to the Irish state

alois · 14-03-2011 5:46pm

the problem being of course, that some stupid IRISH plank decided to put the bank guarantee in place. We voted for the government, we elected them, they were our elected representatives.

as to why you keep referring solely to Germany I don't know, France was part of it too were they not?

niallcon4re · 14-03-2011 5:54pm

alois wrote: »

the problem being of course, that some stupid IRISH plank decided to put the bank guarantee in place. We voted for the government, we elected them, they were our elected representatives.

as to why you keep referring solely to Germany I don't know, France was part of it too were they not?

Yes, France are part of it too. Between the two of them, with Germany being the bigger player they are determined to hold down the Irish taxpayer to ensure their pension funds which invested in public limited companies get their money back. The French finance minister told Lenihan (as if she was his boss) that he is not to allow an Irish bank fail.

They MUST take a hit, they are NOT bailing Ireland out as the debt is not our debt. Germany and France have teamed up to try and dominate Europe financially they way they both tried to do militarily.

Germany needs to remember that they were bailed out massively just a number of decades ago. They should also remember the damage that is done when people feel that foreigners have screwed them over (like the end of WW1 in Germany)

axer · 14-03-2011 6:38pm

niallcon4re wrote: »

If a german pension fund lent money to a public limited company (which the banks were) then why is the Irish tax payer liable?

Because our government did a stupid thing and made a guarantee.

Don't forget that Merkel is of the opinion that sovereign-bond investors should be shouldering the costs of future bailouts.

Ireland messed up on so many levels regarding regulation of banks and guaranteeing the debt. Why should the German government fund us to fix our stupid mistakes without getting anything of benefit back? What if the shoe was on the other foot? Would we be happy funding a country like Ireland?

peasant · 14-03-2011 7:43pm

niallcon4re wrote: »

Germany needs to remember that they were bailed out massively just a number of decades ago. They should also remember the damage that is done when people feel that foreigners have screwed them over (like the end of WW1 in Germany)

They need to remember none of that ...because they have moved on massively in the last 4 to 10 decades. Unlike other nations I could mention.

As for discussing the terms and conditions of the Irish bailout deal ...we do have a politics forum and an Irish economy forum as well.

Inkblot · 15-03-2011 1:17am

Coming back to the topic, I am German as well, studying here and I have to say that so far, I haven't encountered one single remark about the N-word or the bailout.
On the contrary, it is usually I who makes the jokes and quite frankly I cannot completely say that I like how Germany now behaves in the bailout. The thing is actually about togetherness and not national interests, if the EU doesn't want to fail.

But I think if somebody would make that remark, I'd probably go along with it, because I know that many countries just don't get the background as much as we do and see it as funny. As soon as one acts hurt, it is a reason to continue.

connewitz · 15-03-2011 11:03am

Inkblot wrote: »

Coming back to the topic, I am German as well, studying here and I have to say that so far, I haven't encountered one single remark about the N-word or the bailout.

Hi there, I am German myself and live since 9 years in Ireland!
I do agree with you, this whole thing is about power in mainland Europe. The "rest" is not included. But Germany and France can not loose Ireland. If Ireland falls, so will Greece, Portugal, Spain and so on.
At the moment it is not easy here. I am torn between Ireland, Germany and Austria. Being unemployed now for 3 years running has brought us to near ruin. My partner had to give up his business and is only few months in the year working. We could move to Austria (my daughter lives there) or go back to Germany, but in our age is a new start not easy. (Mid fifties).
But this aside, I do wish you all the best in Ireland. Enjoy being young and a student! Dublin`s night life is amazing!;)

Tora Bora · 18-03-2011 3:28pm

axer wrote: »

Because our government did a stupid thing and made a guarantee.

Don't forget that Merkel is of the opinion that sovereign-bond investors should be shouldering the costs of future bailouts.

Ireland messed up on so many levels regarding regulation of banks and guaranteeing the debt. Why should the German government fund us to fix our stupid mistakes without getting anything of benefit back? What if the shoe was on the other foot? Would we be happy funding a country like Ireland?

The nub of the issue, is whether or not all the stupid people in involved in the banking crisis should share the pain.
As it is now constructed only the stupid Irish shoulder the pain, the stupid Germans and the stupid French, who are involved shoulder no pain.
Mrs. Merkel's position is that this time only the stupid Irish should pay. The stupid Germans and stupid French should not pay.

In the future however she wants to change the rules so that ALL STUPID people pay.

I just dont get it!

Let every stupid fckuer, pay now and in future. Stupid Irish should pay now and in future. So too should stupid French and Germans.

peasant · 18-03-2011 7:28pm

Tora Bora wrote: »

Let every stupid fckuer, pay now and in future. Stupid Irish should pay now and in future. So too should stupid French and Germans.

<

After hours is that way

dubbie82 · 24-03-2011 10:48am

Let's look at this from another side. I am working with German tour groups to Ireland and it's quite fascinating how the general opinion shifted.
Most of them loved the laid back attitude of the irish, the liked how they socialise in the pub and the atmosphere there etc. Now this year they call the Irish lazy, wasters they wonder how and why they spend money on a a pint instead of paying more taxes etc.
They look at those signs with the EU flag that says this road project was part sponsored by the EU and say "ha this is where our german tax money went."
I also know plenty of Germans living here and some of them have a fairly high opinion of their ways that I wonder why they are actually chose to live here if everything was so much better and cheaper in Germany?

There are always at least two sides of the story it's just a matter of perespective. Does that give someone the right to call another individual a nazi or a Irish terrorist? No and it's wrong in to many ways.

connewitz · 24-03-2011 11:14am

dubbie82 wrote: »

I also know plenty of Germans living here and some of them have a fairly high opinion of their ways that I wonder why they are actually chose to live here if everything was so much better and cheaper in Germany?

There are always at least two sides of the story it's just a matter of perespective. Does that give someone the right to call another individual a nazi or a Irish terrorist? No and it's wrong in to many ways.

I do agree with you. But it is hard to explain why we Germans are like this. It has a lot to do with growing up in Germany. Everything is organized from the moment you go to the creche until you die. We are no time wasters. Punctuality is a key point and we are very tidy people. It comes as a little shock when you see the littering here, people are often very unreliable and have little or no sense of organization. So we do love Ireland in one way very much and dislike it in another. Sorry, but I can not put it better.:o

axer · 24-03-2011 11:27am

connewitz wrote: »

I do agree with you. But it is hard to explain why we Germans are like this. It has a lot to do with growing up in Germany. Everything is organized from the moment you go to the creche until you die. We are no time wasters. Punctuality is a key point and we are very tidy people. It comes as a little shock when you see the littering here, people are often very unreliable and have little or no sense of organization. So we do love Ireland in one way very much and dislike it in another. Sorry, but I can not put it better.:o

I think it is because Ireland is the exact opposite of Germany and many Germans find it a breath of fresh air not to have the constant worrying/stress that you find living in Germany. But like with everything the "ah sure, it'll be grand" attitude of the Irish that many Germans like comes with a price - and it is called uselessness. I do see many Germans that find Ireland a bit too chaotic for their liking though but they are mostly older generations from what I can see i.e. the ones that really like having the safety of structure and rules.

It is such a difference in Germany with regards punctuality - you say a time and you stick to it no matter what unlike the Irish who work in the GMT+whatever time zone.

Lawrence1895 · 24-03-2011 5:40pm

connewitz wrote: »

I do agree with you. But it is hard to explain why we Germans are like this. It has a lot to do with growing up in Germany. Everything is organized from the moment you go to the creche until you die. We are no time wasters. Punctuality is a key point and we are very tidy people. It comes as a little shock when you see the littering here, people are often very unreliable and have little or no sense of organization. So we do love Ireland in one way very much and dislike it in another. Sorry, but I can not put it better.:o

I can only say, people in my workplace highly regard my sense of organisation, time keeping and efficiency...but also can't understand, why I'm not really able to relax.

Surely, both countries are different, so are people as such...but why can't we just learn from each other, rather than labeling the other side of the coin...for example calling me 'weird' or 'mean with money' simply for the reason that I prefer renting a house rather than buying one?

connewitz · 25-03-2011 10:42am

axer wrote: »

I think it is because Ireland is the exact opposite of Germany and many Germans find it a breath of fresh air not to have the constant worrying/stress that you find living in Germany. But like with everything the "ah sure, it'll be grand" attitude of the Irish that many Germans like comes with a price - and it is called uselessness.

You hit the nail on the head! I always loved to come to Ireland for this laid back attitude and was sad, when I had to leave for Germany again. But it is a complete different kettle of fish when you live here, which I do now for 9 years and running! Then this laid back thing becomes uselessness!!!! So here I am, loving the country and hating this so called laid back attitude.
But when I try to talk to people about this, all what I hear is "RELAX"! They think that I am too stressed out and try to force efficiency upon them.
My partner lived many years with me in Germany before we decided to move to Ireland for good (his parents needed him) and he has a 50/50 German/Irish attitude. But even he is fed up with the people now. It seems, that this "wait and see" behavior is still well accepted. This will not change the situation we are in at the moment. The thinking has to change and when this happens so will Ireland.

peasant · 25-03-2011 8:46pm

Am teutschen Wesen soll die Welt genesen, oder wie ?

Noe ..lass mal stecken, das will ich nicht ...wenn sie hier die Kehrwoche einfuehren, dann wandere ich aus ...genau davor bin ich schliesslich gefluechtet

Lawrence1895 · 25-03-2011 9:09pm

peasant wrote: »

Am teutschen Wesen soll die Welt genesen, oder wie ?

Noe ..lass mal stecken, das will ich nicht ...wenn sie hier die Kehrwoche einfuehren, dann wandere ich aus ...genau davor bin ich schliesslich gefluechtet

Ich habe immer fuer die Nachbarn mitgekehrt, eine gute Gelegenheit, Geld dazu zu verdienen, oder sich selbst zum Essen einzuladen

EGAR · 25-03-2011 9:55pm

Punctual..? Tidy...? Organised...?

ICH ?!?

Wohl eher nicht

- komm ich heut nicht, komm ich morgen... And a tidy house is a sign of a wasted life

.

It is beginning to grate

Comments