I'm sorry. I have admittedly been a terrible blogger. But, between juggling a toddler, setting up a new home, and trying to navigate a new society I feel I deserve a pass on this one. So with that, here is my newest discovery... Germans don't smile. I mean they do, but not as a rule. For example, do you ever pass a fellow mom at the store and just smile at her that smile of - I get it. Whatever you are going through in this moment, I get it because we are bonded by motherhood. Do you ever give a smile to an elder passing just because they are your elder, and you want to say, "Hey, thanks for paving the way for my existence." Well, apparently, all of my seemingly friendly smiles are taken as a sign of stupidity by most Germans. At least the Hessians. In their opinion (and really no one is right or wrong here because I can see it from both sides), what is there to smile about when there is so much wrong with the world. To smile is to be naive to what is really going on. A little doomsday-ish, but I get it. On the other hand, there is a Chinese proverb that says something to the effect of, "If you see a friend without a smile then give him one of yours." I bring this up because as I have spent every afternoon since we arrived here in September at the playground with my daughter, and this no smile phenomenon is even apparent amongst German children. How strange it is to see children playing and not smiling...
Keep smiling so the other Americans will know who you are.
ReplyDeleteAn addendum to this post (15 March)-
ReplyDeleteI have now met many Germans who do in fact possess the ability to smile. It is just not their first line of defense. I never realized that although I am not a particularly smiley American, I have indeed been taught my entire life that a smile is the best way to begin a friendship, conversation, interview, etc. because it is a known fact that Americans want, more than anything, to be liked by people. Even for a non-smiler like myself this has been a difficult concept to get used to.