Zachary Kramer
CENS 499
12/1/17
Interview Summary
A few months before moving to Germany, I was contacted by faranto e. V., a group at HTW Dresden that helps foreign exchange students. It is student-led, but is supported by the university. Faranto assigns each foreign exchange student a ‘buddy’ – a member of the program who is a local German and will help the new student with the initial issues and stress of getting settled into a new country. For instance, the buddy may pick you up from the train station and help you get the needed documentation for moving into the dorms. Some are more helpful than others. Arica’s buddy, for instance, completely bailed on her, so she used my buddy, Lena, instead. My buddy turned out to be very friendly and willing to help.
On the night that Arica and I arrived in Dresden, my buddy was there to pick us up and check us into our Airbnb. Afterwards, she took us downtown to get immersed in Germany, which I quickly found out involves lots of rain and public drinking. Over the course of the next couple weeks, she continued to help us with things like registering with the city, which is already beyond the expectation of the typical faranto buddy. I asked her questions frequently and have stayed in touch with her since, which is easy to do because we also share two classes. By American standards, I would say that we are friends now, though by German standards maybe we are just acquaintances.I chose to interview her because she has been the biggest insight to German culture for me. The unique aspect that she brings is that she has lived in the States before, and she will be studying abroad in San Jose next school year, so she is aware of deeper cultural differences between Germany and America than I am. Additionally, she is from Bavaria, which is significantly different than West Germany, so I was interested to hear about the cultural differences within Germany. Lastly, we both study computer science, so I used that to dive deeper into some questions.
It felt odd doing a ‘formal’ interview with her, since we have already naturally talked about many of these topics. In fact, just now I am getting back from a trip to Bavaria with her. During the trip, she pointed out aspects that are culturally different in Bavaria. So, although I did construct an interview with the questions I submitted, for the summary I will also draw from natural experiences with her, for which I donot have excerpts or quotes.
Cultural differences between the United States and Germany; surprisingly few. My first question was “What are the biggest differences you see between American and German culture?” and Lena stated that the States and Germany are actually very similar, minus a few obvious differences. Those obvious differences are aspects like friendliness, where Americans encourage small talk and smile frequently. In Germany, small talk is awkward, and people avoid eye contact and smiles with strangers. Lena stated that it will be challenging for me to make friends with Germans, because they only care to keep a few close friends and everyone else is an acquaintance. I have experienced this myself – people might be friendly with me because they understand that Americans are friendly, but it is obvious that there is no connection. For the few other differences she saw, she mostly provided specific examples, such as “in America the universities are very expensive” and “there are speed limits on the highways”, in that Germany’s autobahn does not have speed limits (don’t worry though, we only went 120mph on the way to Bavaria). Besides that, culturally America and Germany are quite similar. Lena stated it as “a country like Japan has a much different culture, but I think Germany is not that different from America.”I felt that this answer was too simple, so I expanded my question to “Okay, I can see how West Germany is quite similar to America [especially after visiting Frankfurt]. What about East Germany? Do you see any significant differences between that and America?” and she explained that she was answering for both East and West Germany, which I found a little surprising. As an American, I see East and West as very different, but she thinks that America is similar to both. As another follow up, I asked her what she prefers about America and vice-versa. Again, she gave a bit of a simple answer: “I prefer the weather”. I understand where this is coming from; Germany is cold, windy, and rainy for most of the year, and she will be moving to San Jose, so she is excited for the change in weather. In Germany, she prefers the public transportation, highway speed limits (or lack thereof), public drinking, and the cost of university, which I also agree with.
Next I moved onto a few personal questions, some of which did not generate interesting answers. A more interesting question was when I asked her if she would ever permanently move to another country, whether it be in Europe or in the United States. This is actually relevant to her, since she could get citizenship in the States if she wanted to, and she will be studying abroad there. She said that she does not have much interest in moving within Europe, but she is quite interested in moving to the States “for a long time”. Naturally I followed up with “But not forever?” and she said “No, when I’m old I’d want to return to my hometown in Germany”, mostly to just be in her home culture (pictured left) when she is done exploring the world.
Then I started asking some career-related questions. For instance, “Do you feel that it is harder to both study and work in computer science here in East Germany, considering that is economically much weaker than the West?” And her answer was simply “No.” She described to me that “All universities are poorly funded for technology, because they do not charge tuition to pay for things like new computers. Although West Germany has a strong tech-culture, there are still many companies here,such as Global Foundries [which I work for].” I explained to her why I had the preconceived notion that there was not much tech-culture here, and then she said “Maybe in certain parts of East Germany there is less focus on technology, but we live in ‘Silicon Saxony’”, referring to the network of over 300 computer-science related companies, suppliers, and research institutes in Saxony (pictured below). I never heard of that term before, but it makes sense.
Figure 2
Silicon Saxony
My next question got an answer that I wasnot expecting. I explained to her that many German computer science companies are very welcoming to native English speakers, because internally they almost all communicate in English and must also work in English because other international companies may use their code, and then I followed up with the question “Would you swap the proficiencies of your German and English skills?” I expected a flat “No”, but she quickly answered “Yes.” Keep in mind that her English is quite good, likely at a C1 level, so she wouldnot be gaining much in terms of a career. Before she went onto explain, I confusingly expanded my question to explicitly say “Even though all of your friends here are still native German speakers? Think about the cultural aspects that you would miss out on; this is your home country” and she still said “Yes.” This was a long discussion, so I will try to summarize the key points. Essentially, the first part to her reasoning was that she would be more useful and therefore more respected within any company she worked for here if she could speak native English. I can see this being a reason for women in the computer science field, who are often looked upon as “lesser” by men in the industry. Additionally, she would gain more out of her experience in the States, whether it be studying in school or working for a United States’ office of Global Foundries. The second part of her reasoning expanded on this point; American culture is more interesting to her than German culture. This is the story for many people that I have met here. America is a mass producer of media that is consumed around the world, and often times that media cannot be fully enjoyed if you are not native to the language and culture. I experienced this myself when I went to go see an American rapper in Frankfurt. Despite all the Germans I met there being fluent in English (e.g. no grammatical mistakes when speaking, could speak quite quickly), they could not sing along with the rapper. There is just some difference between being a fluent speaker and being a native speaker that prevents the non-natives from formulating words quick enough to rap. So, to them, the music and performance is less enjoyable. I suppose this is understandable in that there are also many songs that even native speakers do not fully understand the lyrics of. Aspects like this make the idea of being a native speaker appealing to others.
On the topic of American culture, I explained to Lena what aspects of America she will not get to experience during her study abroad. For instance, I told her that “I’ve lived there for 21 years and still have only experienced a fraction of the cultures in America. For instance, Portland is much different than Flagstaff. Flagstaff is much different than Phoenix. California is like its own country. So, it will be impossible for you to experience the vastness of America, both physically and culturally. Additionally, I believe you won’t be able to fully appreciate American media due to not knowing cultural references and often times hearing English that is too complicated for you to understand.” I wasnot trying to get her hopes down, I just wanted to help her brainstorm a reply for when I asked “I also have limited German skills and limited time here in Germany; what aspects of German culture do you think I will never experience?” Her answer was like a reflection of mine: “You think that Germany is small, but there are many cultures here that you won’t get to experience. Besides the big differences like Saxony and Bavaria, even within each state there are many differences. Additionally, you will have problems with understanding media here, and it will be hard to connect with Germans and make friends, which will prevent you from understanding deeper cultural aspects.” Okay, maybe a bit harsh, but I asked for it.
I asked a few other questions that generated standard answers, so I will not summarize them here. My final question for Lena was “What have you gained the most out of being a faranto buddy? For instance, do you feel that experiencing all these different cultures has helped you better understand yourself or your own culture?” My reason for asking this question is that I have learned a lot about myself by experiencing German culture. She did not directly answer the question, but her response was still interesting:
“Absolutely. This was my first time as a buddy and I had a few others besides you, but I also know other buddies that have been doing this longer and have had similar experiences to me. Maher, for instance, came here from Syria five years ago. You met him at the Länderparty(pictured left). I’m close friends with him now through being a faranto buddy. At the Länderparty it was really neat to see all of these different cultures come together. He’s a Syrian that is now also a German, helping students from other countries, and you and Arica were there as Americans. To see this mixture -- Syrians, Germans, Americans, Russians, and many other nationalities -- all get along in the same place was really nice to see. Seeing these different cultures has taught me more about where Germans stand in relation to other cultures.”
I have had similar experiences; it is truly a great feeling to see all these different people from all over the world in the same place chasing the same goal: enjoying life.
Overall, I developed my questions mostly so that I could learn a German’s perspective of America and the differences between East and West Germany. Due to the answers I was given, I had to dynamically modify my questions a bit. For instance, Lena did not see many differences between East and West Germany, so I had to ask specific questions about East Germany to learn what I wanted. I was most surprised about her attraction to America and English, since most Germans do not seem to like Americans. I was least surprised about the differences she spotted between America and Germany, since we seemed to have the same ideas. Between our natural experiences together and this interview, I feel that I have learned much about how East Germany fits into the world, such as the idea of Silicon Saxony. I hope to continue learning more about Germany and especially my own culture as I stay here.